There comes a point in your life where everything is grumbling, the jobs not going very well, the marriage is on the rock, yung kaibigan mo wala na rin, even the bible study nothing is going right and who do you blame? Yourself, I am no good, who told you that? Satan. And tayo naman, ladies they give us the answer: Experience is the best teacher. Is that true? Do you notice her words, sabi niya, Does everyone get wise from experience? So mistakes we can learn from them. Do we all make mistakes? Look at this, Lucy is a very smart person, sabi niya what kind of people get wise? Great people get wise from the bitter lessons of defeat rather than constant success. You cannot have it blessing all the time, you cannot be successful all the time, there will be times in our lives na hinde mountain top experience eh, valleys nasa baba, bagsak na bagsak and saan ka matututo dun sa success o sa bagsak? Eh sabi nga ni Charlie Brown, "Kung ganon ang katotohanan, "I’ll be the smartest guy in the world," You know what he’s saying? Wala siyang mountain top eh puro siya bagsak. But there is a big truth here, a lot of people are like Charlie Brown. If they read in the news paper, O maganda yan meron kang mga set backs in life, then you can become great man, you can become wiser. But the trouble is we’ve set backs in our lives and we don’t become wiser, become bitter in life. We don’t become wiser, we become bitter and at some point it will "boom" explode. Therefor our lesson this evening as we begin to close bondage breaker, how can we become wiser from life rather than bitter, sabi nga better rather than bitter. It’s nice to hear very hard to implement, is that true? Kasi when you’re down, when you’re hurting the pain is so strong, what do you want to do? You want to quit. Is that true? If your pain is so strong you will want to quit until you hear encouraging words. This morning I have one of my worst bow with this kind of thing, do you think I’m perfect? But really your leaders, do we struggles? Absolutely! That’s why you have to pray for us. The cases we have been facing are so.. talagang wala kang magawa, grabe. We have a father molesting his 12 year old daughter. How do you handle it? How do you become wiser? What we see from life, Lucy is correct but you know are few great men, that become wiser. We like to share with you from God’s word. How that is possible? Because honestly bitterness prevails, would you agree with me? From where we are sitting as we look at people when you are hurting the pain is so strong you will lash out the people. Today I had a lot of personal struggles and it’s been a long time since I have been down for more than ten minutes. But today this morning I was down, I was literally as I teach this lessons to us, I teach it to myself I struggle. Thoughts came into my mind because good friend of mine said words that were really hurting, I never thought I would here. And it hurts when something is not true and people accuse you. And okay lang yun kung ibang tao di ba pero kung kaibigan mo and you hear words judging your motives amd you know na hinde naman ganon yung motives mo. How would you feel? Talagang down, masakit, painful. And God taught me a major lesson today which I think will impact me. You know I had occasion to share my struggle with my son and my son acted like Lucy Brown. Because ladies and gentlemen I wanted to give up. And I wonder whether all the good things I’m trying to do, is it worth it? I could do anything this morning, I cry it and fortunately my son call me, humihingi ng advice sa akin yung anak ko, so I gave him advice and then I found myself discussing things with him. And yung lesson nating last week, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and so my son began to give me advice. And all the advice that I have given to him years ago, binabalik niya sa akin. I’m a bible teacher for a long time alam ko dapat yung mga truths eh and yet for a while I was down, I was discourage. Thoughts came to my head that should not be there at all. And I began to realize how powerful the devil can be. I told my wife yap I’m hurt and I’m thinking of taking a break but I remember this cartoons. Great people get wiser from the bitter lessons. So, I have decided no I will not make a stupid decisions like quitting because I got hurt. I’ve been hurt before, I’ve been hurt many years from now by those closes to us. And this afternoon I scan the bible, left my bondage breaker materials. I just got impress on, God works in my life, He teaches me what to teach you and I teach from where I am. There are some of you in this room who I know in very much pain like me. Your pain is a little bit different from mine. There is so much struggles and I want to assure you is that maski na anong yung struggle na yon its all right, its part of life. Last week we said, Philippians 4: 13, An attitude that we should have is I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now when we begin to look on that context, can we do all things when just things are going great or when things are down. Philip. 4:13, anong context nun? I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Let’s look at v. 10 Philip. 4:10-13, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. [11] Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. [12] I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Then he says, [13] I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Do you hear what Paul is saying here? Sabi niya I rejoice in the Lord greatly. Ang joy natin comes from God. The devil had put some wrong thoughts in my head and eto ako I’m teaching this class and yet the attack was so strong because when you have pain, when you have emotional struggles and hirap mong makita.

When friends hurt you, you just want to kind of step back, get away and yet when I look at the bible, when I look at everything, I said, "Wrong decisions." Those are wrong thoughts. Sure merong disagreement, sure there is pain, so he said that, so, okay. Even if I don’t make a mistake and I hurt a brother, I’m gonna come back and apologize and do whatever is necessary to restore that. But I discovered a key truth how can I become wise if there’s pain and all of us are undergoing it. Look at this, sabi dito Philip. 4:10, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. What I learn today is that si Paul alam niya yung mga Philippians concerned with him, he was the spiritual leader of the Philippians. Kaso lang what did they lack? An opportunity to show it kasi wala sigurong problema nun eh. Pero nung nagkaproblema si Paul then there came a point where they were able to show their concern and so I thought about that, Boy! If this did not happen to me, and I did not share it with my son then the opportunity from my son to minister to me would not have been there. And yet what I discovered was as long as I’m real, if I’m hurting, I’ll show it. and I open myself up and it gave him an opportunity to minister to me and as I thought about that I really have to thank the Lord because it such a great blessing. You know yung pain that was initially there because of somebody else. God used so that sa ibang avenue naman it would now be a source of opportunity for my son to minister to me and then I praise God. And so dito, so many of us we do to this fear of failure and whatever kind of fear you have, and fear brings paralysis, fear brings a sneer. What I learned today is that there might be pain in my life, sure I don’t know what tomorrow will bring but there’s one thing I can be sure of what? I rejoice in the Lord Greatly, no matter what the circumstance, what can I be sure of? I will never, never ever be a failure in God’s eyes as long as I do my best for God. It doesn’t matter what other people say. We want to tell you that you are not judge by God on the basis of what you do, What’s the basis? It’s here, God reads your heart. Not really what you do. So when I thought about this. I can’t do anything right. Ganon ang sasabihin sa yo ng demonyo. You keep hurting people… Those thought that cross my minds a lot of times. Frankly, honestly I don’t need.. I’d rather have a long vacation in Australia and play golf rather than teach bible. But sabi nga I feel God is really call me to be a teacher and I know lots of people are blessed and so my son told me, he is trying to cheer me up and say, "Madami namang nakakagusto ng mga messages mo etc.. but I learned even that should not be part of my evaluation process, hinde counted yon whether they like it or not, hinde ganon yung basehan. That is not where you judge whether what you did got a failing mark or not. That’s what Paul is saying here, sabi niya, I rejoice in the Lord greatly. He did not rejoice that the people where… saan yung joy niya? kay God, doon siya lagi nakatingin and he always thought the best of people. Tingnan mo si Paul, I know you’re concern for me. Whereas in a church system rather have that point of view anong point of view ng maraming tao? "Hmp, hinde mo naman ako binabati eh." You understand what I’m saying? Paul comes through and he has won over the devil because when I was thinking about the lesson last week the devil really struck home and then when I read this sabi ko, "Ah the devil is lying again." If you have a desire for something kung wala kang pera tapos lumapit ka sa kaibigan mo supposing hinde ka pinahiram, how will you feel now? there will be pain, there will be bitterness. This is the way we interpret things, the way we interpret things is that pag lumapit ako sa iyo, ang basa ko kaibigan ka kailangan tulunga mo ako. Pag hinde kita tinulungan hinde na ako kaibigan. And without you really researching baka at that point in time wala siyang pera or baka at the point it time ayaw ka talaga niyang pahiramin because he does not think it is good for you and yet what’s our reaction? Galit tayo, we get angry, we get bitter. And you need to understand that that’s how the devil works. So sabi ni Paul, not that I speak from one for I have learned to be what? Content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means but I also know how to live in prosperity. In any, in every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry both of abundance and suffering needs. In other words maski na anong mangyari sa buhay niya, he had learned the secret of life. Whether kung nakuha mo o hinde what should your attitude be? You learned the secret. What’s that? The secret is never quit. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Don’t blame God, don’t blame yourself just continue to obey. Sure it’s painful but after a while as you think things through I rejoice in the Lord. In any trials it’s always good di ba? Kasi tinitesting yung faith natin. Pag merong pain there is gain you can become wiser. Let me summarize how that can be. If your pain leads you closer to God you became wiser. If you pain moves you away from God you became stupid. Why should I quit, I shouldn’t God should be the one to tell me to quit. I shouldn’t quit because of the pain neither should any of you. Let’s bring it down to your level. Examples. There are many here for example who… kunyari merong nanliligaw sa iyo, annulled or divorce what should you do? Siyempre deep in your heart kung emotionally… you like Ricky S. say yes, okay lang kasi may asawa na ng iba. Husband and wife naghiwalay may asawa na itong wife na iba so itong lalaki libre na and you like me to tell you it’s all right go with him, eh I don’t say it. I always say, What do you think? And then lalo na if I advice you, If you’re my daughter I wouldn’t. is there pain in your heart? Yes. But you got to go beyond that and say what does God want. Just read scripture and you will know. God will bring the best in your life, the best for you. And sometimes it’s hard to obey God kasi involve ka eh. There are times when I have to say things that I know hurts, that’s really hurts and its difficult to make decisions lalo when it involves you. Following God is not a rose garden, it will never be, There you will have to make decisions that are very, very difficult. You have to deny self, take up the cross. But you know if you make those decisions you may cry now but you know you’re wiser. I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am. Never blame yourself. If your singles and say I’m a failure walang lumapit sa akin, ang dami daming lalaki sa mundo wala akong nakuha, that means I am no good. Don’t make that conclusion, that’s not the correct conclusion. Who put those thoughts in your head? That’s the evil one. Remember we said, we won the victory, we have power over… since salvation brings what? The death of Christ pays for the penalty of sins. But then we studied last week the presence of Christ gives us what? Power over sin and that basically ladies and gentlemen have to do with the decisions you make in your life. Ano ang gagawin ko sa buhay ko, will I move closer to what God wants or will I move away and sin and do something that I know God does not really like but I’m sure God will understand. Sabi sa bible, we your spiritual leaders we are your shepherds eh, as father, mother we need to advice everybody, I need to advice myself because there are times when I’m down. Everyday is a blessing, no matter what happens it’s a blessing never interpret it as a curse or anything like that, it’s always a blessing, all you have to do is look where God. I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry. There maybe days when we will go hungry emotionally, spiritually. Never judge yourself, what you do by what others say or do not say. Whether they say good that’s nice pero hinde yun ang criteria, whether they say bad hinde yun ang criteria. Ang criteria napakasimple, lumapit ka ba sa Panginoon or hinde, did you do it for God or not? God will know. Sometimes we will make mistakes at for sure but will be maybe the lesson for us is when people around us make mistakes let’s accept them, let’s lift them up rather than turn them down. Let show them our secret that no matter what nandiyan si Jesus eh, hinde mawawala yan eh. So if people make mistakes around us lets walk around it, lets not divide, lets come closer to each other rather than.. There’s much bitterness in many people heart that means they’ve not learn the Christ presence gives us the power over sin. If there is bitterness in your heart or anyone it does not matter who. You know what the bible says? Learn the secret "Don’t be bitter," be content with whatever gives to you, in your life, treat it as a blessing, don’t be bitter be wise and one day our salvation will complete in heaven. Christ will remove us from the presence of sin. As I meditated today we will close with two verses. What I learned from God, how can I be content. Sabi ni Paul, notice it’s not automatic, you learn it, you learn the secret. In Philip. 4:12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

Philip. 4:13, I can do everything through him who gives me strength. The secret is the focus that you and I have must be on Jesus Christ. We must know how Jesus evaluates us and we must never allow the devil to put those wrong thoughts in our heads and to break free, Jesus said the truth shall set you free. I was down in doubt because I miss the truth after twelve years of studying bible, I was so engrossed in the pain, it hurts so much that I did not focus on the truth, the focus was on the pain. I forgot the secret, it took my son to bring me back there and with my maturity I kind of God led me to the bible here and said, "Ricky you know this, apply it". So don’t focus on the pain, focus on the gain. Focus on Christ. Now I’d like to leave you with two verses that has really touch my heart. Let’s go first to Romans 7:16-17, But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. [17] So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. You know one of the truths that you can see here is how many players are there? There’s you, there’s Paul, there’s God and there’s who? Sin, may kalaban. Ibig sabihin nun we don’t blame God, or we don’t blame ourself. Meron tayong talagang kalaban satan or sin. V. 21, what’s the principle Romans 7:21-24, I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. [22] For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, [23] but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. [24] Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? V. 25, Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Has He set us free? The only way you can say yes to that is if you know the truth and apply it in your life. Look at Romans 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In other words if He says things to you that hurt you and you feel rejected and you feel condemned you got to know this verse, there is no condemnation for you in God’s eyes. People might condemned us, people might criticize us but God never condemned. God is not in that business anymore of condemning you and me. That’s a great liberating truth, the truth will set you free. When you’re hurting from other people, remember this verse. Therefor now Ricky S. there is no condemnation for you. Continue doing what you are called to do. The other thing that I learn Romans 8:2, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What does it mean? It means it’s all right no matter what happen. God also taught me the last lesson, the last verse I want to share with you, How can we overcome to become wise is this, it will improve all of our personal relationships. Turn to Ephesians 4. You have two options if you feel pain, the first option that we normally take is you want to just quit, get out. The other option Don’t quit, come closer. And do you know I learned a major truth about God. isipin po natin si God, tayo if we feel pain, Do you think God feels pain, do you think God when deals with us that there are things that we do that pain God? If God is pain and God goes away what will happen to you and me? My advice to myself, my advice to all of you if you are in pain be wise, go closer to God, go closer to whoever is causing you the pain. Minister to them, if there causing you pain that means they are hurting. Get to them. Look at Ephes. 4:29, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ang sinasabi niya sa atin ay pag tayo’y nagsasalita sa ibang tao hinde dapat mabaho ang sasabihin natin, dapat ay maganda. We should be an encouragement like Lucy. Let’s be an encouragement to others, let no unwholesome words proceed from your mouth but in case some people hurt you with their words, What is our tendency? To become bitter. That’s why the next verse has now to do with what? Look now Ephes. 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephes. 4:31-32 Let all what? bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. [32] And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. If you look at the structure of this in the bible una sa v. 29, sabi huwag kang magsasabi ng hinde maganda dapat uplifting, edify. Now kunyari merong nag-violate nun, anong tendency natin? Maging bitter tayo. Pag nangyari yon do not grieve the Holy Spirit. You know what that saying? Puede nating paiyakin yung Holy Spirit eh. If I respond in bitterness, who am I grieving? God, I am causing God pain. Brothers and sisters, father and son, parents, if you have bitterness please let it go, that’s the essence of how you break the bondage of the devil. If you have bitterness, the devil is there, the spirit of God is grieve, if you let it go you become wiser. Let’s pray.