God uses us just as we are

I have learned this week about the different contributions of different people who are John Chrysostom, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Gregory the great, Augustine Redivirus, and Francis of Assisi. Two of them have become my favorites. One is John Chrysostom who was considered to be "Golden-mouthed" because of his excellent preaching skills. He became a doctor of the church and became a pope in 500 A.D. Another is St. Augustine. He was a pope in Hippo. He pursued worldly success and was attracted to several non-Christian movements. He was converted because of Ambrose's preaching. He believed that humans are biased to sinning and that people can not be saved unless helped by the grace of God. He believed that God chooses certain individuals to receive His grace.



I have learned from John Chrysostom to be passionate on what God has gifted me personally. I could imagine how John Chrysostom developed his speaking skills. He learned and studied more of it and so the result was that he became an excellent preacher of God's Word. It is really necessary for me personally to find my niche or my passion in the area of any ministry that God would entrust to me for me to become an effective minister just like John Chrysostom had become.  I believe that what I am going through in life today are part of the training that God wants me to experience for me to soon become the person He wants me to be. I have learned form St. Augustine about being righteous before God through His sustaining grace. Without any judgment of St. Augustine's life, I believe that what he had written about God's grace and its all-sufficiency, had come upon him by real life experience. I think positively about St. Augustine experiencing it himself and so urged every human to admit the sin being committed and to trust God's grace through faith in Christ for salvation. Because of this teaching, I am more thankful of God's sustaining grace.



 In the ministry I find it easily to mingle or to minister to adults than to little children. So, I believe that my strength in the ministry is in teaching the adults. I am developing it through preaching and leading Bible studies to adults. I praise the Lord because I have been practicing a new way of communing with God every time and it is through sending Him breath-prayers. I include thanksgiving, asking for guidance, protection especially when I travel or am facing a test, exam, or leadership opportunities. I find it very helpful and beneficial to always thank God of His goodness and grace in my life. I notice that every time I communicate with God, I feel much in need of His guidance and presence in my life.