Let My People Serve!: Provisions for Victory!

After my friends and I passed the requirements for the vacancies, everyone was hired, except me. I became very disappointed at the turn of events, but I continued to hope. As we prayed and fast again during the mid-year of , God gave me a command and promise. He strongly impressed to me to believe to go to Dubai and that He would bless me. I continued to pray with my Victory group and and seek counsel from my pastor.

After many prayers and discussions, I obeyed God and drafted my resignation letter. I had many worries and fears. Little did I know that God had already provided what I needed to obey Him! When I talked about my plans with my best friend, I was surprised as he offered to pay for my flights, accommodation, pocket money, and even food to go to Dubai! God also provided for my needs to transition out of my work.

Even the Chief Executive Officer of the company I used to work for supported my decision and showed concern for my welfare. As I arrived in Dubai in the latter part of to look for work opportunities, I encountered many hurdles along the way—but I still believed. It took a long time of waiting and going back and forth from Dubai, but God pulled through.

In May , I received an unexpected call from one of the companies I applied for while I was at the airport. It turned out to be an employment offer! As I opened the e-mail explaining the details of the job opportunity, my heartbeat accelerated and tears fell from my eyes! The employment offer met almost all my faith goals for work. I immediately ran to the nearest washroom and praised God. God really never fails to amaze us as we follow Him! When God transforms lives, He does more than just upgrade us. He makes all things new. Tim experienced this power of God firsthand.

Here is how his life was totally made new. I used to be addicted to drugs because I found comfort and happiness in them, but the satisfaction was always short-lived and the consequences were destructive. By the grace of God, I was given a new chance to turn away from my past and walk in righteousness. I became serious in pursuing Jesus and turning away from my old ways. I joined a faith-based rehabilitation center for substance abuse named Penuel Home for two months. By August , I finished the relapse prevention program and decided to relocate to Metro Manila with my wife and one-year old daughter.

• Financial Crisis Survival.
• The Way, Expanded Large Print Edition: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus.
• !

We needed a fresh start by leaving our laidback life in the province of Aurora. In our search for a new life, my family and I encountered many challenges. First, we were in lack. I was unemployed, finding a decent job was difficult for me, and my family did not have enough savings to cover our needs and emergencies. Second, we did not have a home.

Lastly, I found myself lacking as a father. When I was left with nothing but family and faith, God showed me in that He was powerful, merciful, and generous. I remember Him using my wife to show me a verse: Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. This verse assured me that the grace of God is generous enough to provide for me as I faithfully believe in His promises.

From then on, I made a commitment to God to give a tenth of everything I have. This decision was a blessing in disguise for us. My new job drew our families together and helped me provide for my family. He even surpassed our need for a home by giving us a brand new and fully furnished condominium unit! At my job, God provided unexpected clients for the business. We also had the privilege of a family vacation abroad with my in-laws!

Just when we thought we received a lot, God also blessed our family with another baby who was born on my birthday. When God gives, He truly gives generously. God also surrounded us with a loving spiritual family that helped us grow in our relationship with Him. My wife and I are now part of a Victory group. Now, He is also using me to minister to other drug dependents and those who turned back on the faith. As a father, God also gave me wisdom to parent my children. I was able to teach my daughter how to pray recently. God truly blessed us above and beyond through the unexpected people in my life.

In spite of everything, the best blessing is still His presence whether in trials or success. I felt like everyday was a gift and a new beginning. I used to be a drug dependent who always failed in life, but God is always there not just to forgive me, but also to love and provide with me everything I need. We always have a choice to either magnify the impossible or to fix our eyes on what God says is possible. For Mhean and her husband, it was a challenge. But despite many setbacks, they chose to consistently focus on God.

This is their story. Since my husband and I got married four years ago, we have been praying for a baby. Every time we pray and fast at the beginning of each year, we always include this as a faith goal. Around the middle of , I was diagnosed with a polycystic ovary and adenomyosis. I became depressed, but the Lord gave me hope. Two days after, I found out I was pregnant! We were so amazed that God answered our prayer! I carried our child for nine months.

However, two days before my due date in August, our baby lost his heartbeat while he was still in my womb. It was definitely a sad time. Nevertheless, we chose to praise God in spite of what just happened.

We did not allow our situation to hinder us from worshipping Him. God can turn our mourning into dancing. The Lord showed us that His power can not only heal, but can also give us the opportunity to become parents. We will not lose our hope and faith in Him because He has given us a promise and we know He is faithful to fulfill His promise.

Now, we are still believing for another baby.

• ;
• .
• Getting Your Child to Eat (Almost) Anything (Harvard Medical School Guides).
• Britannia - The Failed State: Tribal Conflict and the End of Roman Britain;
• Sun Tzu - Wikiquote.
• Wings of Hope!
• .

The question is, how will you respond when your faith is challenged by multiple setbacks? Will you continue to hope and rejoice in Him? We all have needs, and as we go through life, our needs seemingly increase. How should we respond to needs beyond our capacity to provide? Let us take a look at how Rosalie responded to hers. It has been a challenge to provide as a single mother and a breadwinner of my family for the past months. More than making ends meet, I also desire to support our campus missionaries.

During the mid-year prayer and fasting in , I asked God for a raise in my salary to provide for my daughter and nephews and support campus ministry.

On the second day of the fast, God surpassed my expectations! He did not only answer my prayer, but also gave me twice the amount I asked for in my salary increase! In this season of my life, I learned not to worry about anything because God already knows what we need and He will always provide for us. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: Are you not of more value than they?

Douglas MacArthur - Wikiquote

As I walked with Jesus, I learned to lift all my burdens and needs to Him. I depend on Him more than on my own understanding. I am always grateful for the privilege of knowing Jesus. He is incomparable to any material thing the world can give. He does not only meet our needs, but also goes beyond to bless us for His purposes. As sons and daughters of God, we can always be secured in the provision of our Heavenly Father who knows our needs even before we ask Him.

You can also have an encounter with the generous heart of God. He is never intimidated by our requests, and He will provide according to His will. How long are you willing to wait for a miracle in your life? In our time and age, waiting for a year is already a challenge.

• .
• ;
• testimony Archives - Victory - Honor www.newyorkethnicfood.com Disciples.;

Was her miracle worth the wait? I have been joining the annual fast for more than a decade. During this time of the year, I never fail to include the restoration of relationships between me and my siblings as a faith goal. Our relationships have been broken for many years and it has been a burden for me, but I continued to hope in God. I believe that the God we serve is a God of restoration, so I always asked him for a miracle every time we pray and fast at the beginning of the year.

It has been a long time of waiting, but the Lord proved Himself faithful. After more than a decade of prayer and fasting, I received the sweetest gift last June 22! The Lord made a way to restore my relationship with my brother and sister. We finally had a meaningful conversation which led to forgiveness and understanding. Many years have passed since we last talked to each other, but on that day, we had the opportunity to resolve our misunderstandings and start a new page in our relationships with one another. I praise the Lord for sustaining my faith in Him and demonstrating His power to reconcile what seems to be irreconcilable.

If you delight in Him, He will truly give the desires of your heart. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Sometimes, it takes a while to see hope come to pass, but we can be confident because our God is faithful. Do you have faith goals in your life that seem to go unnoticed for years? As we have our annual time of prayer and fasting from January 8 to 12 in , we pray that you will persistently believe that God is able to fulfill His will in your life.

Have you also experienced a breakthrough in your life like Luzviminda? We would love to hear your story!

Douglas MacArthur

Share it with us by sending it to stories victory. Over the past couple of years, we encouraged him to join a Victory group or go through ONE 2 ONE with someone, but he always hesitated, mostly because of a speech impediment that he had as a result of a stroke he had suffered six years ago. We soon took out a loan from a bank, with our house as collateral, to raise funds.

They will pray for you, support you, and even help you practice your speech. He would reference how the right side of his body was paralyzed. We would pray, then we would stop pursuing it for that moment. Over time, however, we knew God was working in his heart. Then, February 18 and 19 arrived, the fateful days of his Victory Weekend.

And I want people to know that nothing is impossible with Him. That newfound faith proved to be crucial in the months to come. We still had a balance of almost PHP , from the loan we took out from the bank. In May , the bank sent us a letter of foreclosure, should we not be able to pay off that loan. We had no idea where we could get that kind of money in such a short period of time.

Our entire family was literally on our knees in prayer by that point; we were so worried we would lose our beloved house. Then, God came through! God then paved the way for one of our cousins to buy the lot for the money we needed to pay off the loan, keeping the lot in the family. We always knew that God is capable of great things, but it was in that moment when we received the title deed that we saw the results of months of prayer, courage, and faith that comes only from a relationship with Jesus. Today, our father reads his Bible without fail and regularly attends his Sunday morning Victory group.

As for me, my mother, and my sisters, it was a powerful faith-affirming moment. Jesus said in Matthew Because we have seen in our family that He is truly faithful, we encourage you to cover your family in prayer and trust that God will hear your prayers and answer them according to His will and timing. God loves using young people to preach the gospel and make a difference in the world. After posting her graduation picture on Facebook with a caption narrating her testimony, she was able to reach thousands of people online. It also led her to a unique opportunity to preach the gospel to a crowd she never had the chance to speak to before.

Here is her story. On July 13, , I received a call from an unknown number, which turned out to be the head operations manager of a prominent health and pharmaceutical company in the Philippines. As I heard this, I was surprised and overwhelmed. Magsasalita po ako sa harap ng mga manager?

Sigurado po ba kayo? Bakit po sila makikinig o maniniwala sa akin? I will speak in front of managers? Why would they listen and believe me? Ikaw ang gusto namin kunin na speaker. We would like to get you as our speaker. We were so inspired, so we would like you to speak to our managers.

The manager gave me time to make a decision. I immediately prayed about it and asked God if this was a door He intended for me to enter. That night, I came across this verse while reading the Bible: At that moment, I knew that accepting the speaking invitation was my act of obedience before God.

So with a nervous heart and trembling knees, I said yes to the offer to speak. It became a challenge for us to go to the venue because it rained hard and the traffic was bad. Thankfully, the event organizers moved my time to speak to the latter part of the program. I was nervous on the way to the summit. I even continued to edit my outline while we were on the road! But when we arrived, I felt an indescribable sense of peace, confidence, and comfort that could only come from God. I have gone to this place before you. This place is mine. The people here are mine.

I brought you here to claim this as your inheritance. Go and preach the gospel. While focusing on what was asked of me, I also boldly included the Word of God in my presentation slides with the help of my leaders, namely Liane Silla, Lory Manalo, and Maj Yu. I talked a lot about Jesus. Some cringed when they heard the Bible verses, but I am sure it stirred something in their hearts because the Word of God is powerful.

As I spoke, I felt eyes critically observing me from head to toe. Even I was amazed! I felt that God was working in and through me. As I ended my talk, everyone in the audience started to cry! At that moment, I knew it was the perfect time to preach the gospel. I asked if I could pray for them, and they said yes.

When I gave them the opportunity to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, six people immediately raised their hands. I felt that some were hesitant because they were shy, so I asked again. The second time I asked, almost everyone raised their hands! Even the organizers, technical personnel, and waiters at the back of the hall wanted to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Around thirty people surrendered their lives to Christ that day. I had to stop myself from crying as I led them to a prayer of salvation. It was a beautiful moment!

After I prayed, the floor was opened to questions, so I stayed in front. Things turned out differently though. Instead of asking questions, the managers shared their insights from my talk. I will never forget the old man who was known in the company as the man with a stone heart. During my session, he cried like a baby! It can soften the hardest of hearts! Other managers also opened up about their lives and problems. They apologized to their teammates and thanked each other.

They also started encouraging one another as a team! I am grateful for the privilege of witnessing the managers humbling themselves to appreciate their team. It was an honor to be a catalyst of restoration for their relationships at work. We are called to be an example, not only for the next generation, but also for older people.

I am a firm believer that the youth is the hope of the future. Know that we have nothing to fear, nothing to doubt, because Jesus, the King of all kings, is on our side! Take courage and rise up! We can see the opposite happening in the testimony of Geoselle. Dennis Poliquit first met his wife Monica at the radio station where he worked as a DJ. I mean, a beautiful lady I can talk to about a wide range of topics.

That was pretty attractive. He and Monica soon became intimate, and in , Monica gave birth to their first child, a daughter. We had great conversations. We had so much laughter. Over time, financial issues and the fact that neither of them was serious in pursuing God, found them drifting apart. Stuff we could have avoided only if we chose to actually listen each other instead of just waiting for our turn to speak or get loud.

If I really loved her, I needed to love her for who she really is, and not who I think she should be. He identified with the Christ-like love that the verses encouraged husbands to give their wives, and he knew God was telling him something: Still, he was hesitant to take the initial steps. That jolted me wide awake and opened my eyes about what I had been doing. In , Dennis and Monica decided that they needed to get right with God, and began to pursue God in earnest.

They soon began to see changes in each other. We also learned to forgive and let go as we get to be forgiven too. I have learned my lesson. Realizing he desired to honor Monica in the best way the Bible says how, Dennis formally asked Monica to marry him, and they tied the knot in May Looking back, Dennis sees how God lovingly yet consistently called him to passionate leadership in their marriage.

I cannot always be stubborn and see her as the enemy in the argument. I learned that we were both coming from a place of love, and to listen more and more to each other. She has learned to pause and ask me to clarify things to make sure she understands what happened or what I said.

It is not my role to change my wife, nor should she expect me to change for her. Today, Dennis and Monica are parents to five children, including two sets of twins. Fueled by their love for God, their passion for each other and their marriage continues to inspire others in the church, especially couples who are experiencing what they have. Go back to God. The only real solution for us was to go to God. He is our arbiter. He has final word on things my wife and I cannot agree on. Even how we treat each other, His Word is our ground zero. It is the only way to live married life.

Respect, honor, love and most of all, the pursuit of and obedience to God will ensure a storm proof married life. It was there that she had a personal encounter with God. However, she struggled with change. It was clear that he wanted me to surrender. Yet I was not ready for His Lordship. I was not willing for God to take over every area of my life. Keevee continued to seek God when she became a university student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Underneath the good-girl exterior, Keevee freely admits that she was selfish.

Her kindness and obedience was not out of a genuine care and concern for people. In all her efforts, however, she felt empty deep down. After some time, Keevee agreed to be baptized—but she still held on to her hesitations on lordship. I felt like was stuck, and I lost who I was, in the process.

Navigation menu

Keevee decided to lay her cards before God at this point. At that point, God was giving Keevee the grace to put Him above her own desires and that of her boyfriend. Keevee acknowledges that it was God who helped her through her challenges with Lordship. Jesus being Lord means He cares for every small detail of my life.

Keevee now knows who is at the center of her relationships. Now, Keevee is seeing things through a different lens. Interestingly enough, now that Keevee has put God first, He also multiplied her time with those she loves. Underneath the surface, however, Bomboy and Vicky had constant disagreements, and twenty-one years after they got married, the couple separated, deciding to live apart for good. I heard the Word of God and found myself submitting to His lordship.

Soon, their eldest son, Joe, started preaching the gospel to Bomboy. Incidentally, father and son had a rocky relationship with each other before Joe started reaching out to him. A month after accepting Jesus as his Savior, Bomboy reunited with Vicky. After eight years of living apart, the couple patched things up.

In , the couple celebrated their 50th anniversary and renewed their marriage vows in the presence of treasured friends, family and loved ones, including eighteen beautiful grandchildren. Being disciples of Jesus helped Bomboy and Vicky realize that they needed to honor each other as husband and wife, and that real love is desiring the good for the other person. From a seemingly impossible situation, God resolved and restored. Husband and wife also graciously welcomed people to their home, mentored them and discipled them. Many of these men and women are now serving in church as leaders.

Last September 4, Bomboy passed away at the age of Friends and family remembered him fondly as the man with a big smile and a big, generous heart that matched his stature, and a humility that served as an inspiration to everyone he met.

His life has blessed many people through the years by his passion for the lost, his generosity, humility and friendship. But beyond all his work in the ministry, Bomboy is remembered best as a family man. Born to a religious family, the twenty-one year old grew up with a head knowledge of salvation.

When he was younger, Nevin was bullied in school by his classmates. He was also abused by his teachers emotionally and physically. Nevin made a degree turn and subscribed himself to self-worship Satanism, which advocates egoism and fleshly indulgence. I just lived in total darkness. He had Christophobia, which is the irrational fear of Jesus, and staurophobia, which is a phobia toward crucifixes, and causes him to be disturbed during Holy Week, when crucifixes are more prominently displayed.

Isolating himself from his friends and family, Nevin started getting used to his solitary lifestyle. He found himself hating God and other people. He felt that being alone was much better. I was drawn to the power of authority that the devil gave me over people. Years went by, and Nevin knew that God was trying to get his attention amidst the dark life he built for himself. He was invited to church by the few people who remained his friends, but he rejected them twice. On the third instance, Nevin had no choice but to take notice. His academic life was a failure, the number of his friends was dwindling fast, and he was estranged from his family.

Feeling tired and defeated, he finally went to a worship service for the youth last October at Victory U-Belt. He was then introduced to Karlo, his mentor and Victory group leader. Nevin was also connected to a Victory group, and started getting discipled through One 2 One. Unshackled from the bonds of his former perverse lifestyle, Nevin underwent a drastic transformation emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Formerly someone who hated people, he developed compassion and generosity towards homeless people and street children—the same people he used to laugh at and ostracized. Best of all, Nevin was filled with a yearning to share to his friends and classmates how God changed his life. On his birthday, Nevin shared the whole One 2 One booklet to his family. Seeing the power of the gospel at work in his life, they attended Victory the following day.

Now, his mother and his brothers are now attending Victory regularly, and have also experienced the transforming power of the gospel. Today, Nevin leads his own Victory group and believes that discipleship is crucial to anyone intent on maturing and growing in his walk with God. Nevin is excited to be a disciple-maker to the nations and hopes to fulfill his calling to be a cross-cultural missionary in the future.

To love God and to love others, just as Jesus told us to do. Adette Purto is a year old mother of three who financially supports her parents, apart from taking care of the needs of her own family. Blessed with the kind of work that affords her to live comfortably, she enjoyed many things that money could buy. I longed to be loved. After she got married, Adette faced a different battle but it still stemmed from the same issue she had faced for years: In February , she found herself telling God to take away everything, and to just give her peace and happiness.

She may not have understood the depth of her prayer, but Adette felt so mired in misery, it was her only recourse. In the months that followed, Adette felt God taking things from her. Interestingly, it was also the time she started to look for ways that would get her out of misery.

She started engaging in new age philosophies and witchcraft. With nary a bruise on her, Adette knew God was reaching out to her. She did not know it then, but that moment became her turning point in life. Her best friend ministered to her after her accident, and told her that God wanted her undivided attention. She attended the first worship service of Victory Pioneer on the first Sunday of Despite being financially broke, emotionally hurt and physically tired, she felt welcome and at peace; t hat night, Adette responded to the altar call and surrendered her life to Christ.

Before long, she declared her faith and was water baptized at Victory Weekend. With God now at the center of her life, her relationships with her family changed. I was able to forgive because I was forgiven, too. Today, Adette is one of the Discipleship coaches of Victory Pioneer. She has been serving in that capacity since , and was also the Discipleship coordinator for the 5pm worship service. This means that she is coaching Victory Group leaders how to lead their respective Victory Groups.

Juggling the demands of being a working mom and a discipleship coach, Adette still finds time to lead her own Victory Group. She is grateful for the people who have stood by her throughout her journey. Having experienced the true value of belonging to a spiritual family, Adette has put it in her heart to continue reaching out, mentoring and raising other leaders.

When she was in college, Jam dela Cruz was invited by her best friend, Jhai, to a big event in Cuneta Astrodome. Clueless, she agreed to go, thinking it would be fun because Jhai would be there. The big event turned out to be Ignite , and became one of the most unforgettable events of her life. At Ignite , she saw how joy seemed to radiate from the people around her, as if they knew something she did not. Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price. Attributed to Sun Tzu in multiple books and internet sites, but this text does not appear in The Art of War and seems to be a more recent creation.

Misattributed [ edit ] Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. This has often been attributed to Sun Tzu and sometimes to Petrarch. My father taught me many things here. He taught me in this room. It is easier for the prince to make friends of those men who were contented under the former government, and are therefore his enemies, than of those who, being discontented with it, were favourable to him and encouraged him to seize it.

To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy. This is sometimes attributed to Sun Tzu in combination with the above quote, as well as alone, but it too has not been sourced to any published translation of The Art of War , though it is similar in concept to his famous statement in Ch. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. This quotation does not appear in any print translation of Sun Tzu. The true objective of war is peace. Nonetheless the essence of the quote, that a long war exhausts a state and therefore ultimately seeking peace is in the interest of the warring state, is true, as Sun Tzu in Chapter II Waging Wars says that "There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on. Opportunities multiply as they are seized. Sun Tzu among many other military thinkers and leaders believed in fate and determination from the correct application of theory, the state of the opponent's and one's own power, and a code for the general and a code for the soldier to follow, rather than the Machiavellian type of intuition that evokes an evolution of opportunism that brought great historical consequences as it dominated over the classical and medieval ethical doctrines.

Thus this statement is contrary to Sun Tzu principles. Nevertheless, there is a possible relation to the quote: Quickness is the essence of the war.