unwavering

Obeying God No Matter What

September 26, 2018

Will you choose to stand firm in your faith and follow God even if it’s hard? Be encouraged as Jerome shares how he continued to obey God in spite of trials.

After years of breaking God’s heart and not honoring Him—in my business and in my marriage—I made a decision to set things right with Him. I let go of the things that had hurt God in the past and vowed to focus on my walk with Him. However, just when I made a decision to follow the Lord, life got harder and things in my life began to crumble even more.

I have been a Christian ever since I was a kid. I grew up attending Sunday school in our church, where my father was a pastor. I knew a lot of things about God, but it was only recently that I truly understood who He is.

Years ago, I made a decision to enter a business that was not pleasing to Him and left my wife for someone else. Everything fell apart in my life after that. Instead of leaving me there, God used those things to speak to me and take me out of that pit.

Though we were already separated then, my wife invited me to attend a worship service in Victory. A pastor reached out to us and eventually helped us fix our broken relationship. Realizing the gravity of my mistakes, I made a resolve to follow the Lord and have faith in Him every day while continuously battling my old ways. The desire to serve the Lord by being part of a ministry also grew in my heart; I later volunteered to be an usher in the church.

As I walked on a new path, different “rocks” and trials started blocking my way. I lost the business that was not honoring the Lord and all the material things that came with it—our house, money, and car. It was hard for me and my family, but I soon realized that it was actually God’s way of removing the things that were not from Him; He was renewing my heart.

Though unlikely of me, I swallowed my pride and took a job in my sister’s company. The salary was lower than what I was earning from my business and I had to commute to work, but I pressed on knowing that it was God’s way of keeping me aligned to His will.

Each time I would feel the desire to go back to my old ways, I would repent and consistently seek God. I would remind myself every single day of my commitment to Him and earnestly pray with my family. I knew in my heart that after He freed me from my past, I could not afford to go astray and hurt Him again—no matter how difficult.

While trusting the Lord, my wife and I got an offer from my sister to manage the two properties she invested in. She was also beyond generous to give us a share of the earnings on top of our monthly salaries! As if that were not enough, she also provided a place for us to stay so we do not have to rent anymore! We were overwhelmed by how God’s blessings simply poured into our new life with Him. Everything that was taken from us was slowly replaced with something far better and bigger. Each rough patch became a channel of His grace. He did not just free me from my old ways, He also blessed me while I was walking in obedience.

Now, more than ever, I want to continue to grow in my faith and be a testimony to others. I am now on a discipleship journey while serving God in Victory Sta. Maria.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Indeed, our faith will always be tested. But as we choose to obey the Lord and keep trusting Him, He will also reveal Himself even more and bless us beyond what we can imagine. When it becomes hard to obey God, let’s remember His love for us and His ability to provide for everything we need.

Finding Hope Amid the Rubble

September 21, 2018

“What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mark 10:9) — See how this promise continues to manifest today in a world where things often fall apart. Find hope and assurance in God as Tehz recounts how He worked in her life and restored her once broken marriage.

1986. It was a significant year for me; it was the year I married my husband, Gary. It was supposed to be a happy year for me—for us—but instead of joy, bouts of shame and guilt crept up on me.

I was pregnant when Gary and I made the decision to get married. It was not out of love nor commitment for each other. There was no solid foundation right from the start. After the wedding, we fought several times and even agreed to throw away our marriage. We were so immature. Our relationship was full of issues.

In 2002, we faced our greatest challenge. My husband lost his way and began a relationship with someone else. That, for me, was the final straw. Though unable to bring our children with me, I left our home to stay with my family in Olongapo. I was torn apart inside.

In Olongapo, I tried my best to support myself. I wanted to prove that I could stand on my own, so I took whatever job I could get and soon found a place in a music bar owned by a relative. While I was there, I got involved in relationships that were not pleasing to the Lord. I tried so hard to justify my actions, but God never got tired of reminding me of His love—no matter how much I was hurting Him and myself. He loved me too much to let me stay in that mess.

One day, for some reason, a pastor reached out to me. He found out that I was a Christian—something even I had forgotten for a long time. He listened to my story and encouraged me to go back to God. I did not know why, but amid my hopelessness, he made me realize that God had a better plan for me and for my seemingly irreparable marriage.

I made a bold move and started praying for my husband. I knew it was a long shot.

While serving in church, I held on to that small hope in my heart and kept praying that God would heal me and Gary. I told God that if it was His will, my husband would find his way back—even though it had been years since our marriage had fallen apart.

Beyond my belief, in 2011 (almost a decade since we had separated), my husband reached out to me through our children. He talked to me and asked for forgiveness—something I never imagined he would do. I cried out to God. I knew in my heart that it was what I had been praying for, but I wanted to be sure that things would be different. I kept praying while braving the uncertainties in my head.

A year later, God answered all my questions.

I learned that while trying to restore our marriage, my husband had also been actively seeking God with his Victory group. His resolve to follow Christ took away my fears and doubts. On March 22, 2012, I made a decision to start a new life with him again—Gary and I remarried.

It is a sweet thing to be married once more to the man I had loved all these years, but it is a far better blessing to honor God with a man who had been powerfully transformed by His love and grace. Gary and I are now growing together in our faith in God while serving in Victory Subic.

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27

Indeed, only God’s power can heal our wounds and pull us from the rubble of pain and heartache. Only He can change hearts. Our job is to trust Him and hold on to the hope we can find in Him. Nothing is too hard for the Lord!

Believing God for the Impossible

September 12, 2018

Seeing his whole family in church choosing to follow Christ was a far-fetched dream—until God did what He does best and made it all possible. Be encouraged as Junnel shares his powerful story of forgiveness and faith.

I was in high school when my father left our family. My mother, my younger sister, and I were all clueless about where he had gone. I spent most of my teenage years wondering where he could be, harboring ill feelings for what he had done.

Several years later, I learned that he was in jail. I visited him there not knowing what to feel. Being reunited with him that way somewhat intensified the pain I had been dealing with all along; it planted further seeds of resentment in my heart.

But God has His ways indeed. One day, a campus missionary visited our school and reached out to me. He preached the gospel to me and started spending time with me every week, guiding me in my budding relationship with God. Not long after, I surrendered my life to Christ and believed that one day, my whole family would do the same—no matter how impossible it seemed.

As I grew deeper in my relationship with God, He slowly took away the anger in my heart and replaced it with compassion, forgiveness, and love. I soon found myself spending a lot of time with my father, encouraging and building him up while he was in jail. During one of the court hearings for his case, he asked me why I was still extending love to him despite everything. Though emotional and in tears, I boldly took that opportunity to preach the gospel to him. Right then and there—in the middle of the courtroom—my father received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

A photo of Junnel and his father, Noel, during Victory Weekend.

Immediately after choosing to follow Jesus, my father was released on bail. He then made the most of his time outside jail going to the services and learning more about God with his Victory group. His new life with Christ also soon paved the way for his reconciliation with my mother. We are now living together again under one roof—as one family.

And God did not stop there.

Brimming with faith, my father did the most unexpected thing—he reached out to my mother and sister. He preached the gospel to them, and not long after, my far-fetched dream of seeing my family together, not just in one home but also in one church worshiping God, finally came to be. Now, every weekend, my whole family attends the worship service in Victory Lipa.

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 23:19

It is true that when God makes a promise—no matter how big or small—He is faithful to fulfill it in His perfect time. Do not give up, and do not stop believing God. He is faithful to His Word and always keeps His promises.

Unwavering Series

August 9, 2018

In this new series, we will look at the life of Abraham to see what it means to live by faith. His journey of faith was not perfect; he did not always make the best choices while waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled. But Paul describes his faith in Romans as unwavering, not because it was perfect, but because his faith grew stronger as he continually trusted God in the big and the everyday moments believing that God is able to do what He had promised.

Here are the topics for each week:

Week 1: Faith and Relationship
Week 2: Faith and the Word
Week 3: Faith and Purpose
Week 4: Faith and Covenant
Week 5: Faith and Waiting
Week 6: Faith and Circumstances
Week 7: Faith and Testing

God also has promises for you and He invites you to trust Him and His word in all circumstances.

See you at our worship services across the Philippines!