Friday, February 8, 2008

The Imp Who Thought He Was A Cherub (A Short Story)


The Place: Megiddo- A vast plain in Saudia Arabia said to be the crossroad of those who travel from the east. It is also called Armageddon.

The Event: The last great battle for supremacy in the world. It is the mother of all battles.

The Protagonists: Jesus Christ and all the heavenly host and all the saints on earth on one side, and Satan and all his arch demons, deceivers, mockers, idolaters, atheists and all who do evil in this world on the other side.

From among the frontliners of the army of the Lord Jesus, a small cherub stands out. Unlike all the other angels, this cherub has different wings. Yes it is white like the others, but is is not made of feathers but rather, it is made of one piece very much like that of a bat. But he has the most holy appearance of all.

The Scene: As Satan with his millions upon millions of corrupted souls who seethed with anger and malice approached their enemies, he spotted the cherub from among the ranks of the frontliners of the Lord. He recognized him and gave out a loud booming laughter. "Ha, ha,ha, ha, ha. Come here little imp. You don't belong there. You belong here in my army. Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"No, I belong here in the army of my Lord Jesus Christ and I am determined to fight to death." Replied the little cherub. "Have you forgotten how I send you to wreak havoc among men, O you of short memory?" Satan boomed in the tense atmosphere at the frontline.

The cherub thought back. Yes, I remember the time when I came to help a little child at the edge of a precipice. He was crying and calling out the names of his parents. I remember that I came to him and tried to comfort him. I was already holding his hands to save him when he suddenly lost his grip on my hands and plunged to his death. Oh, how I cried because of that.

"No, you have not seen everything. As you were holding the hands of that child, I sent another demon to help you. He was the ugliest and most frightening of all. When the child saw him, he panicked and lost his grip on you. That's why he fell to his death. Ha, ha, ha, ha! Now come here little imp so that the batlle can begin." Boomed Satan.

The little cherub looked at his Lord Jesus and asked what he must do. The Lord Jesus told him that it's all up to him where he wanted to fight. And the cherub straightened up with all the strength he could muster and shouted to Satan at the top of his voice. "Here will I stand with my Lord Jesus Christ. I cast my lot with Him and if I die, I will die in glory in the company of my Lord." He defiantly shouted at Satan.

At this, Satan became so furious that he ordered his vast army to attack the heavenly host and the saints.

At the first exchange of battle, Satan dealt the little cherub a mortal blow and the little cherub fell at the wayside dying from a grievous wound. Oh, the battle raged on in pitch savagery as the superior army of Satan marched on defiantly in the vast field of Megiddo. He sniffed the air and was so confident of final victory as he egged his vast army of evildoers to finish the job.

Just as victory was within the grasp of Satan, the heavens suddenly opened up and a hail of fire and brimstones rained down from heaven. All the remaining army of the Lord Jesus was swept aside to a safe place and the vast horde of Satan's impregnable army crumbled under the deluge of rain of fire from heaven. Oh, the screaming and cursing was deafening as the evil ones died one after the other.

Finally, all was quiet in Megiddo. And all that was left was the army of the Lord Jesus Christ. So great was the casualty on both sides but more so with Satan. They were annihilated all and were thrown to the Lake of Fire, there to suffer eternal punishment forever and ever.

As the army of the Lord surveyed the dying, they saw the little cherub splashed on the pavement, breathing heavily because of the mortal wound.

The Lord Jesus reached out to get a leaf from the Tree of Life and water from the River of Life. He washed and cleansed the wound of the little cherub and bandaged it with the leaf from the Tree of Life. Suddenly, a beacon of light shone from heaven and illuminated the little cherub. Immediately, he stood up and wonders of wonders, he now has wings of feathers just like the other angels. He lives to tell this story to everyone.

The whole army of the Lord Jesus Christ roared with one voice of joy and resounding delight at this miracle. And they marched on from the plains of Megiddo
(Armageddon) to the heavenly dwelling place of God.

Epilogue: The Lord is coming back very soon. Are you prepared to meet Him? When He comes back, will He find us faithful?

Footnote: This short story was written by the author through the inspiration of my wonderful friend Sameera of India who has been my source of inspiration for the wonderful and exquisite short stories she has written in her blog.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!


Mel Avila Alarilla
Copyright@
Manila, Philippines

Monday, February 4, 2008

A Heart That Is Full Of Gratitude And Thanksgiving To God



 A HEART THAT IS FULL OF GRATITUDE AND THANKSGIVING TO GOD
A heart that is full of gratitude and thanksgiving to God for what He has done to our lives is a heart that is beating with love and compassion for his fellowmen.

There are so many things we ought to be thankful for to God in our lives. Though we may not be in the best situation in this world, we are not in the worst either.

If we can put the lives of all the people in this world in a vertical line until it reaches up to heaven, we will see that we are not badly situated as we think we are. True, we are not in the topmost portion of the line, but neither are we in the bottom most portion.

Do you not know that we are perfectly what God intended us to be? And we are exactly where God intended us to be, no more no less. Or do you think God is capable of committing a mistake?

Instead of brooding over our fate and asking God why we were made this way, are we not supposed to thank Him for making us the marvelous creation that we really are? The Book of Psalms says, we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God.
And that is not an overstatement.

Science has discovered the fact that man, especially the human brain, is the most complex and fantastic creation in all the universe. No machine that can be invented by man can ever duplicate the wonderful creation that man is.

Man is like a miniature universe that functions in clockwise precision and beauty that it can never be simulated by science. The capacity and latent ability of the mind of man is mind boggling.

Scientists say that an average man is using only less than 10% of the capacity of his mind. With this less than 10% usage of man's capability, we are already astounded by the fantastic feats of the human mind. Just imagine what man can achieve if he can learn to harness and tap the other latent 90% capability of his mind.

We were created by God in His own image and likeness and was given the authority to subjugate the world. We can be the near perfect overseer of this world as God has originally intended us to be. We just have to learn to be totally obedient and subservient to His divine will and not intransigently impose our own puny and imperfect will.

Have we not learned from the mistake of our first parents? Instead of trusting God's words and obeying His commands, they chose to listen to the beguiling lies of the serpent (Satan) and aspired to be like God.

We are falling into the same trap just like our first parents. Instead of trusting God and obeying His divine will in our lives, we choose to follow the path of our own greatness and glory, and as all those who have trodden the same beaten path before, we are doomed to failure and destruction.

Let us learn to trust God once more and cultivate the culture of gratitude and thanksgiving in our hearts. Let us learn to obey His commands and follow His divine will in our lives. Then we can see the realization of all His wonderful promises in our lives.

"SEEK YOU FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU." (Matthew 6:33)

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Posted by Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Inspirational

"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts" (Hebrews 4:7b)

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AND YOU WILL FIND THE ANSWER.


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