God wants to be the MIP in your life.
MIP stands for “most important person”
How do I know? The Bible says that the greatest commandment is to love God. And that we’re to seek God first above everything.
I don’t know about you, but I want God to be my MIP.
Why?
Here’s a fact of human nature: We value the opinion of our MIPs. This fact is critical to our self-esteem because how our MIP sees us largely determines how we see ourselves.
Let me give you an example.
After I preach, a lot of people come up to me, telling me that they loved my talk. Ten, twenty, thirty people tell me “You gave a great talk” or “You blessed me with your words”. If it’s a large audience, a hundred people may come to me telling me I gave a great talk.
But when I drive home, I still find myself asking my wife, “Uh, how was my talk?”
Even if a hundred of people just told me I gave a great talk, for some crazy reason, I want my wife to tell me that.
I’ve asked my preacher friends if they do the same crazy thing and all of them tell me, “Yes, I do that too!”
Let me now ask you a question.
Who’s your MIP? Your mother? Your father? Your spouse? Your friend?
Let me say it again: How your MIP sees you will have a large impact on how you see yourself.
Here’s the Good News. If God becomes your MIP, you’ll start seeing yourself the way He sees you.
How does God see you?
He’s crazy about you. He thinks you’re wonderful. He thinks you’re terrific. He thinks you’re awesome.
“No Bo, I’m not wonderful!”
But you see, your perspective is limited. It only includes your past and present.
But God sees beyond that.
God does not dwell on your past. God dwells on your future. Because He thinks your future is more important than your past. God is not focused on your history. God is focused on your destiny.
God does not just see who you are now. God sees who you will become 10 years from now and 20 years from now and 50 years from now and 100 years from now and 1000 years from now…. The reason why He thinks you’re amazing and wonderful and terrific is because He sees you 10 million years from now when you’ll be shining as bright as 10 million suns!
God Is Like My Mother
In Deuteronomy 32, God says, “You’re the apple of my eye…”
That’s why I believe God is like my mother.
My 85-year old mother has my enlarged photos hanging on her bedroom wall. Everyday, I suspect that every time she passes by the photos, she bows in homage. I told her that she may be going against the first commandment–“Thou shalt not have other gods before thee.”
When I was 13, 14, or 15 years old, preaching as a young preacher, I remember a curious scenario take place.
I’d leave the house alone for my speaking engagement, usually picked up by my hosts.
But as I go up the stage, I see a woman slip in at the back. And she carries on her shoulder a monstrous tape recorder. And before I finish my talk, she’d slip out.
When I arrive home, I look for my mother. My sisters say she’s in her room. As I approach her door, I hear the voice of someone preaching inside her room. I knock. She opens the door and from the crack, I hear my voice preaching. She says, “What do you want? Go away. I’m busy.” And she closes the door to listen to my talks.
No doubt about it. My mother is a Bo fanatic.
I can make all sorts of mistakes. I can stumble and fumble and fall and falter–and it wouldn’t matter. She will still love me.
I repeat: God is like my mother.
Friend, He’s got your photos hanging on His bedroom too.
He’s got your photos in His wallet.
He loves recording your every move and word.
When He’s talking with his angels, He’ll find a way to veer the conversation about you. “By the way, did you see what my son did yesterday? He’s just amazing…”
What Day Are You In?
Last Easter, I preached a very popular Easter message entitled, “Today is Friday, but Sunday is coming.”
Is it “Friday” in your life?
Some of you have strained relationships. People aren’t talking to each other in your family.
Some of you are broken-hearted. Someone special walked out of your life.
Some of you have a problem in your job and you want out.
Some of you are very worried about your kids.
Here’s God’s word for you: Don’t be discouraged. Don’t give up. Hang on. Today may be Friday all around you but you’ve got to fix your eyes on Sunday.
Let me tell you about Beth Corral and her long Friday.
Your Best Days Are Ahead Of You
Once upon a time, Beth was known as Prisoner C91048.
Beth was found guilty of illegal recruitment and estafa, sentenced to 72 years in prison.
That was like telling her she was going to die in prison. And for a long time, she felt that she died already. She was taken away from her children and her husband.
But in prison, God sent her an angel. Babes Zambrano of the Light of Jesus prison ministry. Babes was also in prison and God was using her to bless her fellow inmates.
When you go through your Friday, God sends angels to you. (Have you experienced them? Thank God for your angels!)
Beth attended the Light of Jesus prayer meetings in prison. And she gave her life to God. Physically, she was still in chains, but spiritually, she was already free. And though it was Friday in her life, she held on to her faith that in due time, her Sunday was coming.
Many years later, Beth woke up one morning and received the news. Malacañang was granting her pardon. Finally, she stepped out of jail and reuniting with her family.
How long did her Friday last? Sixteen years in prison.
But today, Sunday has come. Beth is now serving God. Beth is a writer of Didache, our Daily Bible Reflection Guide. She’s working fulltime in Shepherds Voice Publications, and as her boss, let me tell you that she’s one of our best employees.
Do you feel like Beth today? Do you feel trapped by an impossible situation? Do not give up! Today may be Friday, but your Sunday is coming.
Two Kinds Of Thinking
You’ve got to change your thinking.
Because it’s when you change your thinking that you will change your living.
There are two kinds of thinking.
There’s Friday thinking and Sunday thinking.
Friday thinking is thinking about your problem. Sunday thinking is thinking about your purpose.
Here’s the key for victory: Even if you’re still in your Friday, fix your eyes on Sunday. Because Sunday is coming.
Shake Off And Step Up
One day, a donkey fell in an old well.
The donkey’s owner looked down and realized the old well was too deep to pull out his donkey. It was hopeless to rescue his beloved animal.
It was heartbreaking, but he knew there was only one thing to do–to bury his donkey.
And his neighbors came to shovel dirt in the well.
When the dirt fell on his back, the donkey became hysterical. How dare they bury him alive! But in a flash, a bright idea struck him. The next time dirt fell on his back, he said to himself–“All I have to do is shake it off and step up”–and that’s what he did. And it worked!
Everytime dirt fell on his back, he’d say, “Shake it off and step up… Shake it off and step up… Shake it off and step up…”
The dirt that was meant to bury him was the same dirt that saved him. You’ve got to say this out loud: “The difficulty that was meant to destroy me, God will use to delver me.”
God Is Planting You
When you have big problems, two things can happen to your life. You can either be buried or you can be planted. It really depends on what kind of thinking you have.
If today is Friday, and you’re thinking Friday, you’re buried.
If today is Friday, and you’re thinking Sunday, you’re planted.
Being buried and being planted feel very similar. But they’re worlds apart. When you’re buried, you stay in the ground. When you’re planted, you resurrect and bear fruit a hundredfold.
Why is God letting you go through Friday? Because God is planting you. Because unless you get planted, you’ll be useless. You’ll never grow. You’ll never bear fruit.
If you believe you’re planted, say out loud, “This is not the end. This is only the beginning.
Remember: A piece of coal and a diamond are made of the same thing. The only difference between a piece of coal and a piece of diamond is the amount of pressure it goes through.
Are you going through pressure right now?
That’s because God wants you to be a diamond.
Can A Poor Boy Become President?
My friend Carl went through a long Friday.
Carl was born very poor.
Carl’s mother was a domestic helper. His father was a soldier who had another woman in his life. His mother ran away from him, taking along little Carl when he was 3 years old.
All his young life, Carl grew up in poverty. They lived in a tiny rented room. There were days when she had to leave him in that room because her employer didn’t want her to bring him to work. In this tiny room, this 3 year old boy would stay locked up the entire day, waiting for his mother to come home at night. Today, Carl is such a quiet man, and I wonder if it has anything to do with what he experienced as a child.
Whenever her Amo (employer) will allow, his mother would bring little Carl to work. At 3 years old, he’d help her clean the house.
When Carl went to school, his mother gave him P2 for his daily allowance. In order to save fifty centavos, he’d walk to school for miles. He’d put his coins in an empty plastic bottle of Johnson’s Baby Powder.
But one day, my mother said tearfully, “We have no money to buy food.” Carl brought out his savings–the Johnson’s Baby Powder bottle–and gave it to her. And they were able to eat for a few more days.
It seemed as though Carl was buried by his poverty.
But Carl never gave up. He wasn’t buried, he was planted. After high school, he was able to get a college scholarship. He worked in a company and rose the ranks.
Today, that poor little boy who walked everyday to school to save fifty centavos is now President and part-owner of three companies, including a mining company!
All the trials that Carl went through shaped him to become who he is today.
Here’s a truth you need to hear: Your Friday prepares you for Sunday. Friday is the fuel that you need in order to arrive at your Sunday.
The Bible says, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18)
What does this mean? That your best days are still ahead of you.
Psalms 30:11 says You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy…
Have You Gone Through Loss?
I know some of you have suffered loss in your life.
A few years ago, I got into the business of organizing concerts. We invited foreign artists and paid their huge talent fees. The problem was we knew nothing about organizing concerts.
Needless to say, I lost all my money. All my savings. Kaput.
I felt so depressed. Not only because I lost my money but because I was losing my dream of becoming an entrepreneur. During those dark days, I wondered if God really wanted me to be an entrepreneur. Perhaps He just wanted me to be a Preacher.
And then I remembered the story of Job in the Bible. He went through a severe loss for 9 months–where he lost everything. But after the trial, the Bible says, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10)
Twice what he lost! Twice the livestock, twice the crops, twice the happiness, twice the blessings.
So I told myself, “Lord, I’m claiming to regain twice what I lost.”
That was 5 years ago.
I didn’t regain twice what I lost.
I gained back ten times what I lost.
Have you experienced a loss?
Perhaps you experienced a business failure. Or someone cheated you. Or someone stole from you. Or a flood or a fire destroyed your home.
My prayer for you today: That God give back to you twice what you’ve lost, in Jesus name.
Today Is Friday
Once upon a time, it was Friday in the life of Jesus.
Judas was betraying. Peter was denying. Pilate was hand washing. The soldiers were whipping. The disciples were running. Mary was crying. Jesus was dying. But all that had to happen because “Today is Friday”…
They nailed his hands on the cross. They nailed his feet on the cross. They lifted Jesus up on the cross. The soldiers gambled his tunic underneath the cross. The two thieves debated about Jesus on the cross. But that’s because “Today is Friday”.
The women were weeping. The apostles were wondering. The people were questioning. The Pharisees were rejoicing. The angels were waiting. But that’s because “Today is Friday”
There might be sickness in your body. There might be conflict in your family. There might be shortage with your money. But that’s because “Today is Friday”.
And there’s still no answer for your prayer. There’s still no ring on your finger. There’s still no baby in your rocker. But that’s because today is Friday but Sunday’s coming.
Today is Friday… but Sunday’s coming!
What Is God’s Joy?
The Bible says, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross… (Hebrews 12:2)
Have you ever wondered what that joy is?
I know that a part of that joy is you.
You’re God’s joy.
How do I know?
In Ephesians it says “God decided to make us his sons and daughters–and this was His pleasure…” In other words, you give God pleasure. You are God’s joy!
Everytime you look at the cross, it is God telling you, “I will do anything and everything to have you.”
Including going through Friday.
Receive that love today.
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez
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