God's Sovereignty

The reason why some people could not cope up with idea of God is because, they do not have an intimate knowledge of God. They think of God based on their outdated or erroneous idea of Him. They put God in a box and expect God to act the way they want Him to act. Thus, you will hear such words from them as, 'where is God at this moment? Does He not care what happens to us? ' These statements and other statements of hurts and doubts are so common in times of tragedies, personal or collectively. During the Second World War, when people heard of the horrors of the holocaust, and where millions of Jews were gassed, tortured and were made subject of human scientific experimentation by the Nazis, these same questions were heard from many people of those days. But who and what is God really? To better understand Him, let us consider His own words. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). Here, God clearly demonstrated the disparity between God and man. If the disparity between ants and man is already mind boggling, think of the disparity between puny man and the Creator of the whole universe who holds the destiny of each planetary system, each galaxy, entire nations and each and every living thing, including man, at the palm of His hand. Then we will realize who we really are in the presence of an almighty, all knowing and all seeing God who knows each and everyone of us by name and who knows even the numbers of hair on our head. Job found out about the all encompassing sovereignty of God and paid obeisance to that all encompassing glory. What is wonderful about our God is that, He is an all good and loving God who would never leave us nor forsake us and is faithful to the very end. Let us thank God for everything He has done in our lives.



Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Sovereignty, Intimate Knowledge, Box, Misconception , Second World War, Jews, Holocaust, Nazi, Disparity, Mind Boggling, Creator, Universe, Existence, Almighty, All Knowing, All Seeing, Obeisance, All Good, Loving God, Faithful, Word of God, Holy Bible

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Inspirational/Motivational

Tame Your Mind

Tame your mind as you would tame a wild horse. A wild horse is very dangerous because it hates to be ridden upon . It will throw off any rider that dares to ride on it and may even trample the rider to death. That is what our untamed mind is. It wants to have a mind of its own, wandering to all places it wants to go. There is a saying that, "an idle mind is an evil mind." And that is very true. An untamed mind wants to think of pleasurable things where the I or the ego is always the center of everything. An untamed mind will relish all forbidden and sinful acts of the mind, savoring all orgies of all pleasurable objects of its fantasies. But an untamed mind is very far from the kingdom of God and its sublime influences. The untamed mind is being manipulated by evil spirits enjoying the pleasures of full immersion to sin of the uncontrolled mind. Since his mind is not surrendered to Christ, it is being reined in and manipulated by the lord of the world- Satan and his cabal of evil spirits. The opposite of the untamed mind is the mind surrendered to Jesus Christ where only good and noble thoughts prevail. Since as they say, "birds of the same feathers flock together," a mind surrendered to Christ will attract like minded minds. Unlike an untamed mind that will gravitate to similar minds that are in full participation to sin and wanton living. Better tame your untamed mind if you have one, for sooner or later, you will realize that it is carrying a one way express ticket to hell.



Tags: Tame Your Mind, Untamed Mind, Wild Horse, Rider, Mind Of Its Own, Idle Mind, Evil Mind, Forbidden Acts, Sinful Acts, Orgies, Pleasurable Objects, Surrender To Christ, Good Thoughts, Noble Thoughts, Birds Of The Same Feathers, Flock Together, One Way Express Ticket To Hell

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational/Uplifting

God Knows Our Names

God knows the name of each and every person on earth especially His children, or those who accepted His only begotten Son as their Lord and savior. He knows their every moves, each tear that falls from their eyes, each misstep in their lives and all the pains and sorrows they are facing. He knows our fears and loneliness, our dreams and aspirations, our despair and hopelessness. He cries at the saddest moments of our lives and laughs at the glorious moments of our existence. He never gets tired of waiting for each and everyone of us to open the door of our hearts and to invite Him to come in and dine with us. Oh, He is ever so patient, waiting and hoping for the day that the scales from our eyes will be removed and we will see the light. His Son has done His part. He opened the gates of heaven for all men to enter and enjoy eternal life. And the invitation to enter has always been there since the death of Jesus on the cross. His angels collect each and every tear that falls from our eyes and lovingly place them in individual bottles with our names on them. He calls each and every one of us by name. He has numbered all the hairs on our head and has ordained the number of years of our short earthly lives. His angels guard us night and day, admonishing us not to fall by the wayside. In the stillness of the night, when everything is so quiet, you will her a gentle whisper calling you by name. Yes, He knows our names.


Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Name, Only Begotten Son, Lord and Savior, Tears, Misstep, Pains, Sorrows, Fears, Loneliness, Dreams, Aspirations, Despair, Hopelessness, Saddest Moments, Glorious Moments, Door Of Our Hearts, Patient, Scales, Light, Gates of Heaven, Tears In A Bottle, Stillness of The Night, Gentle Whisper

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Inspirational/Motivational

And God Smiled

Once a little cherubim was looking at God in heaven. God was watching the whole earth and His face was full of sorrow and pain. He was very sad and the angel thought a tear was welling in the eyes of the Lord. The angel decided in his heart to make the Lord happy and bring a smile on His face. The angel swooped down to the earth to search for something that will make the Lord smile. In a medium size church, he heard an outstanding sermon by a pastor and he saw that all the church goers were mesmerized by his Gospel message. They were all clapping so loud because of his earth shaking sermon. The angel decided to scoop the sermon in his tiny hands and brought it to the Lord. When he faced the Lord, he bowed down and opened his tiny hands and the sounds and sights of the earth shattering sermon penetrated the whole heaven . The Lord smiled a little but afterwards He became solemn again. The frustrated angel went back to earth and roamed its four corners to seek what will make the Lord smile. From a little cathedral he saw a huge choir singing a heavenly praise and worship song to the Lord as the whole congregation joined in the mighty song. Surely, this will bring a smile to the Lord, the angel thought. He scooped up the praise and worship song of the choir and hurried up to heaven. Facing the Lord again, he opened his tiny hands and there erupted a mighty song of praise and worship that reverberated throughout heaven. The Lord smiled a little but again returned to His somber expression. The angel became desperate. He roamed the whole earth to and fro in search of what can make the Lord smile. Going back to the first church he came from, he heard a faint cry of anguish and pain. Curious, he swooped down to that church and there at the farthest and darkest corner of the church was a solitary man who was beating his breast and was full of tears. He was crying to God and was asking for forgiveness for all his sins as he bowed down to surrender his entire being to God. Suddenly a flash lighted up in the mind of the angel. He scooped the repentance and surrender of the sinful man and flew straight to heaven. When he opened his tiny hands in front of the Lord, the sob and cries of the repentant sinner reverberated throughout heaven and a wide smile broke out in the face of God as He wipes the tears in His eyes. He embraced the tiny angel as the whole heavenly host erupted in triumphant shouts of joy and singing.

"THERE WILL BE MORE REJOICING IN HEAVEN OVER ONE SINNER WHO REPENTS THAN OVER NINETY NINE RIGHTEOUS PERSONS WHO DO NOT NEED TO REPENT." (Luke 15:7)

Author Unknown

Note: I heard this story a long time ago and it lingered in the inner recesses of my mind. When the inspiration came from the Lord, I recreated that story to suit the heavenly purpose of God. TO GOD BE THE GLORY.


Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, God Smiled, Cherubim, Heaven, Outstanding Sermon, Pastor, Praise and Worship Song, Forgiveness, Repentance, Heavenly Host, Rejoicing In Heaven, Sinner, Born Again, Eternal Life, Amazing Grace, Love, Joy, Peace, Word of God, Holy Bible

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Inspirational/Motivational

God Is Crying

Does God cry? Yes, He does. He did during the death of Lazarus when He saw the multitude of people grieving the death of Lazarus. He was so filled with compassion and mercy, and so He cried. He is still crying today, seeing the magnitude of suffering and pains in the world. But He could only hope that people will see the light and free themselves of those unnecessary pain and suffering. To understand fully how life works, we must fully and intimately know the Creator of life. Let us consider several facts:

1. God is love.
2. God is a God of justice.
3. God created moral, physical and spiritual laws that cannot be circumvented nor disregarded.
4. God demands praise and worship from men through their own free will. He will never force men to worship and obey Him.
5. Man was born in a state of depravity because of the fall of our first parents. Thus, man was doomed to suffer eternal death.
6. Because of God's great love for fallen mankind, He sent His only begotten Son to suffer the penalty for man's sins and regain his original birth right of being born in the image and likeness of God.
7. Thus, Jesus Christ's death on the cross and His triumphant resurrection from the dead afforded man the chance to gain eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior.
8. Because of Jesus triumph on the cross, man was freed from the shackles of Satan and from all his bondages. Thus, if we receive Jesus Christ, we are assured of abundant eternal life.

Now God is crying because man is unnecessarily suffering because of ignorance and self pride. God wants to help man overcome all his sufferings, pains, and burdens by offering that man exchange them all for the joy and abundance of the Lord. All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.



Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, God Is Crying, Death of Lazarus, Compassion, Mercy, Magnitude of Suffering and Pain, Creator of Life, God is Love, God of Justice, Moral, Physical and Spiritual Laws, Circumvent, Disregard, Praise and Worship, Free Will, Man, State of Depravity, Fall of First Parents, Eternal Death, Only Begotten Son, Penalty For Man's Sins, Original Birth Right, Image and Likeness of God, Death on The Cross, Triumphant Resurrection, Bondages, Abundant and Eternal Life, Ignorance, Self Pride, Joy and Abundance of The Lord, Word of God, Bible

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Inspirational/Motivational

My Most Hilarious Experience In My Life

I was working then as an export manager of a food firm somewhere in Makati City in Southern Metro Manila, Philippines. There were three sister companies in our holding firm owned and managed by a flamboyant Chinese businessman. There were probably a thousand employees of the three companies. We used to have our annual Christmas party where all employees of the three companies attended to enjoy the raffles and the contest that provided fabulous prizes. We had a regular team of participants in our company who rehearsed daily for the contest. But less than a week before the contest, the wife of the owner informed me that we have to form another team for the contest to make it more exciting and merrier. Nobody from our remaining employees wanted to form another team because of the proximity of the contest. In desperation I picked up a stout and jolly assistant and we formed a team to belly dance and do the hula. We practiced everyday almost nonstop. I purchased the wigs, hula dresses and the sexy outfits for our belly dancing. Come the day of the contest, we were made up by our female staff and were shielded from the audience by a large blanket that covered us. We were such a hit that everybody were standing and all rushed in front of the stage, taking pictures and having the best laugh of their lives. The judges loved our act and awarded us first prize. Only after the contest and the party were finished and everybody started teasing us did I feel the embarrassment of it all. Oh what we will do to give others a good laugh.

(Note: I lost all the pictures of that event because of the great flood that inundated our house two years ago.)


Tags: Party, Contest, Christmas Celebration, Gaiety, Company, Makati, Southern Metro Manila, Philippines, Flamboyant, Merry Making, Hula, Belly Dancing, Stout and Jolly, Winner, First Prize, Embarrassment, Teasing, Good Laugh

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Laughter/Funny Event/Hilarity

WIP (Work In Progress)

Do we remember how we were when we were not yet rescued by Jesus Christ from our decadent and evil filled lifestyles? How we sinned on the inside while professing piety and righteousness on the outside? How we enjoyed the orgies of sin in our minds through our fertile imagination? How we indulged in the revelry of sensual pleasures and the pursuit of happiness? How cruel we were to our loved ones, loving only ourselves? But all of that changed when we came to know Jesus Christ and have surrendered our lives to Him. Our dead spirit, steeped in endless sins, was reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we became a new creation in Christ. The battle had only begun then. There were constant struggles as our former selves, steeped in evil habits, tried to reassert itself over our reformed selves. And by the amazing grace of God, we have survived one onslaught after another by the evil one.

How we struggled to keep in step with fellow believers and how we persisted each time we fall to sin, as we were strenthened by the Holy Spirit to keep on going no matter how many times we stumbled. It is not a matter of how many times we fall and get back to our feet again, but it is a matter of finishing the race at all costs. The victor's prize is not crowned on those who started fast on the starting line or on the bend, but on those who finally finished the race however bruised and battered they may be. We must not worry because God is so patient and loving and have given us all the incentives and strength to finish our own individual races. Are we not all WORK IN PROGRESS by the Lord?

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Work In Progress, Decadent And Evil Filled Lifestyle, Piety, Righteousness, Orgies of Sin, Fertile Imagination, Sensual Pleasure, Pursuit of Happiness, Reborn, Power of The Holy Spirit, Constant Struggles, Stumble, Finishing The Race, Victor's Prize, Eternal Life, Love, Joy, Peace, Kingdom of God, Word of God, Bible

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Philippines

Spiritual/Inspirational/Motivational