(This is the message I delivered at St. Paul United Methodist Church, Tondo, Manila, during their Recognition Sunday, April 27, 2014.)
As I had my bachelor’s degree two times, I also experienced the same excitement as the graduates and honor students here with us today. At long last, 4 years of going to classes, making homeworks and projects, sleep depravity, cramming, reviewing and memorizing for exams, crying to the point of giving up, and of course working with classmates and making friends with them later on – these will come to an end, and a new chapter begins. You see the reward of all your hard works, and your family who is so proud of your achievements. This is going to be a major point in my life!
Graduates and honor students, we are here as a testimony that God is great and that by His grace and His grace alone were we able to finish our academic requirements. We are blessed beyond measure. I looked at the latest statistics on educational attainments of Filipinos, and here are the results:
The Educational Attainment of the Household Population (Results from the 2010 Census)
1. More females than males had attained higher levels of education
2. Among children 6 to 12 years old, 81.1% had reached or finished at most elementary education while 5.6% had no grade completed.
3. More than two-thirds (68.8%) of the household population aged 13 to 16 years reached or completed at most high school.
4. About 36.3 % of the persons aged 17 to 24 years had post secondary and college education.
For elementary graduates you are among the 81%. For the high school graduates, you are among the 69%. And for the college and technical graduates, you are among the 36%. What do we do now? Shall we become proud? Or shall we remain humble acknowledging God in all our successes? Let me give you three points from Proverbs 3:5-10.
1. TRUST IN THE LORD
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (vv.5-6)
Sometimes it’s tempting to trust in our instincts. It’s tempting to follow our heart’s desires and dreams. But we must learn to trust God. He knows what’s best for us, better than we do. We make mistakes, God doesn’t. Remember Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
It’s easy to say, “I trust in God.” But when we are faced with conflicting situations, do we really trust God?
I believe I am called to be a deaconess. But during high school, I was dreaming of pursuing music in college. At an altar call during a Christmas Institute, I was deeply moved by the Holy Spirit to come to the front and respond to God’s call. I was crying heavily as I gave my own desires to God and offered my life to him as a deaconess. So I entered the deaconess ministry.
After 5 years in the ministry, God stirred my heart to continue my dream of pursuing music. I learned that a deaconess friend was studying at the UP College of Music, and she encouraged me to follow. I prayed to God, and then relying on His promises, I entered the College of Music the following year. I did not pay any centavo for my studies and my graduation requirements because the Lord provided for me through the UP Church of the Risen Lord and friends. God is great! When we entrust to God our plans, our future is secured.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
2. GET GOD’S WISDOM
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (vv.7-8)
Godly wisdom and man's wisdom are two different things.. Godly wisdom is foolishness to the world; and worldly wisdom is foolishness to God. I read this comparison from a blog. Let me quote:
God in His wisdom teaches the sanctity of life; Man’s wisdom promotes abortion.
God in His wisdom teaches responsibility and accountability; Man’s wisdom looks for someone to blame.
God in His wisdom promotes initiative and hard work; Man’s wisdom teaches dependence on others for survival.
God in His wisdom instituted marriage; Man’s wisdom promotes divorce and immorality.
God in His wisdom created males and females to marry and procreate; Man’s wisdom embraces homosexuality.
God in His wisdom inspired the Scripture; Man’s wisdom revises and rewrites and rejects the Scripture.
God in His wisdom desires for all men to be saved; Men’s wisdom denies the need for salvation.
God in His wisdom provided salvation full and free to every person; Man’s wisdom insists on paying his own way. (From Get Wisdom Sermon Series)
James 3:13-18 says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”
‘Do not be wise in your own eyes’ is a word of caution to us. Consider our government officials who graduated from prestigious universities with flying colors. Were they faithful in their tasks as servants of the Filipino people? We cannot judge them. But hearing from the news about their scandals and cases pressed against them, they may have tried but they failed. Why? Because they became wise in their own eyes. Let us not fall into this temptation.
Christian author Charles Spurgeon said. “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.”
Do you want to be wise? Fear God and shun evil. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
3. HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR WEALTH
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (vv.9-10)
To high school and college graduates, finding a job is a new hard work. Thankfully for a Harris graduate like me, I automatically got a job - at church! Getting a job to apply the skills acquired during school days and to have an income is a blessing.
This is how I understand this verse “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops” --- When we get our first salary, we give it all to the Lord - it is not for us, it’s the Lord’s. when we receive our following wages, we offer to God our tithes and offerings. This principle is from the His Word, the Bible. God, by His grace, gave us all we need during our school days. He is worthy to be given our firstfruits. Why not? He gave to us His firstborn, Jesus Christ.
I only understood this principle lately. When New Year came, at the challenge of our pastor, my husband and I decided to give our first fruit, our first salary this 2014, to God. And we see so many blessings coming to us, including our son’s operation expenses. Our son, who was born with multiple congenital bands was operated at the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) last March 25. We stayed in the hospital for 11 days. And when we paid the hospital bills, our cash out is just around P1,000. Wow! Two operations and hospital stay for 11 days with very little cash out is an enormous blessing. God gives more than we give. We cannot outgive God. Praise God!
For some of you, your degree or job will give you big wages. Remember God. Honor the Lord with your wealth. For young professionals, be faithful. It is not the amount we give to the church that counts. It must be out of a grateful heart of a sinner who is saved by grace. Then God will bless the work of our hands.
God be glorified in your successes. I pray that each one of you, especially graduates, follow the advice from Proverbs 3:5-10:
1. Trust in the Lord.
2. Get God’s wisdom.
3. Honor the Lord with your wealth.
As I had my bachelor’s degree two times, I also experienced the same excitement as the graduates and honor students here with us today. At long last, 4 years of going to classes, making homeworks and projects, sleep depravity, cramming, reviewing and memorizing for exams, crying to the point of giving up, and of course working with classmates and making friends with them later on – these will come to an end, and a new chapter begins. You see the reward of all your hard works, and your family who is so proud of your achievements. This is going to be a major point in my life!
Graduates and honor students, we are here as a testimony that God is great and that by His grace and His grace alone were we able to finish our academic requirements. We are blessed beyond measure. I looked at the latest statistics on educational attainments of Filipinos, and here are the results:
The Educational Attainment of the Household Population (Results from the 2010 Census)
1. More females than males had attained higher levels of education
2. Among children 6 to 12 years old, 81.1% had reached or finished at most elementary education while 5.6% had no grade completed.
3. More than two-thirds (68.8%) of the household population aged 13 to 16 years reached or completed at most high school.
4. About 36.3 % of the persons aged 17 to 24 years had post secondary and college education.
For elementary graduates you are among the 81%. For the high school graduates, you are among the 69%. And for the college and technical graduates, you are among the 36%. What do we do now? Shall we become proud? Or shall we remain humble acknowledging God in all our successes? Let me give you three points from Proverbs 3:5-10.
1. TRUST IN THE LORD
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (vv.5-6)
Sometimes it’s tempting to trust in our instincts. It’s tempting to follow our heart’s desires and dreams. But we must learn to trust God. He knows what’s best for us, better than we do. We make mistakes, God doesn’t. Remember Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
It’s easy to say, “I trust in God.” But when we are faced with conflicting situations, do we really trust God?
I believe I am called to be a deaconess. But during high school, I was dreaming of pursuing music in college. At an altar call during a Christmas Institute, I was deeply moved by the Holy Spirit to come to the front and respond to God’s call. I was crying heavily as I gave my own desires to God and offered my life to him as a deaconess. So I entered the deaconess ministry.
After 5 years in the ministry, God stirred my heart to continue my dream of pursuing music. I learned that a deaconess friend was studying at the UP College of Music, and she encouraged me to follow. I prayed to God, and then relying on His promises, I entered the College of Music the following year. I did not pay any centavo for my studies and my graduation requirements because the Lord provided for me through the UP Church of the Risen Lord and friends. God is great! When we entrust to God our plans, our future is secured.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
2. GET GOD’S WISDOM
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (vv.7-8)
Godly wisdom and man's wisdom are two different things.. Godly wisdom is foolishness to the world; and worldly wisdom is foolishness to God. I read this comparison from a blog. Let me quote:
God in His wisdom teaches the sanctity of life; Man’s wisdom promotes abortion.
God in His wisdom teaches responsibility and accountability; Man’s wisdom looks for someone to blame.
God in His wisdom promotes initiative and hard work; Man’s wisdom teaches dependence on others for survival.
God in His wisdom instituted marriage; Man’s wisdom promotes divorce and immorality.
God in His wisdom created males and females to marry and procreate; Man’s wisdom embraces homosexuality.
God in His wisdom inspired the Scripture; Man’s wisdom revises and rewrites and rejects the Scripture.
God in His wisdom desires for all men to be saved; Men’s wisdom denies the need for salvation.
God in His wisdom provided salvation full and free to every person; Man’s wisdom insists on paying his own way. (From Get Wisdom Sermon Series)
James 3:13-18 says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”
‘Do not be wise in your own eyes’ is a word of caution to us. Consider our government officials who graduated from prestigious universities with flying colors. Were they faithful in their tasks as servants of the Filipino people? We cannot judge them. But hearing from the news about their scandals and cases pressed against them, they may have tried but they failed. Why? Because they became wise in their own eyes. Let us not fall into this temptation.
Christian author Charles Spurgeon said. “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.”
Do you want to be wise? Fear God and shun evil. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
3. HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR WEALTH
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (vv.9-10)
To high school and college graduates, finding a job is a new hard work. Thankfully for a Harris graduate like me, I automatically got a job - at church! Getting a job to apply the skills acquired during school days and to have an income is a blessing.
This is how I understand this verse “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops” --- When we get our first salary, we give it all to the Lord - it is not for us, it’s the Lord’s. when we receive our following wages, we offer to God our tithes and offerings. This principle is from the His Word, the Bible. God, by His grace, gave us all we need during our school days. He is worthy to be given our firstfruits. Why not? He gave to us His firstborn, Jesus Christ.
I only understood this principle lately. When New Year came, at the challenge of our pastor, my husband and I decided to give our first fruit, our first salary this 2014, to God. And we see so many blessings coming to us, including our son’s operation expenses. Our son, who was born with multiple congenital bands was operated at the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) last March 25. We stayed in the hospital for 11 days. And when we paid the hospital bills, our cash out is just around P1,000. Wow! Two operations and hospital stay for 11 days with very little cash out is an enormous blessing. God gives more than we give. We cannot outgive God. Praise God!
For some of you, your degree or job will give you big wages. Remember God. Honor the Lord with your wealth. For young professionals, be faithful. It is not the amount we give to the church that counts. It must be out of a grateful heart of a sinner who is saved by grace. Then God will bless the work of our hands.
God be glorified in your successes. I pray that each one of you, especially graduates, follow the advice from Proverbs 3:5-10:
1. Trust in the Lord.
2. Get God’s wisdom.
3. Honor the Lord with your wealth.