Light Of The World, Salt Of The Earth

LIGHT OF THE WORLD, SALT OF THE EARTH
God admonished us to become the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Why? Because there's so much darkness in this world that people are groping for the true light that will illuminate their perilous paths through life. Man's life has been so drab and tasteless that God needs people to become the salt of the earth to give flavor to an otherwise tasteless existence of mankind. Man has lost his true perspective in life. Man has associated himself with worldly pursuits in life where everybody else wants to get ahead and to be on top at the expense of others. It does not matter whether he steps on the lives of so many people just so he can reach the summit of success, fame and fortune. But once he reaches the top, man realizes that it is so lonely up there, bereft of the true happiness and contentment in life. How many rich and famous people who, after ascending the heights of fame, fortune and success, have become so disillusioned of the emptiness of it all and have decided to end their lives by suicide. Others die at the height of their popularity through reckless and insatiable quests for thrills and the ultimate highs in life. They drown their lives with an overdose of sex, partying, drugs, thrills, extravagance, orgies and whatever it is they fancy that can give them the ultimate high and thrill of their lives.

But at the end of the day, in their own private moments, they weep in loneliness and despair because they realize that they were left holding an empty bag of sheer emptiness and loneliness and the darkness of their souls. And since they have become too proud and defiant to go back to God and humble themselves before Him, they decide instead to end their meaningless existence.

Yes, God needs more people to become a light of the world and a salt of the earth. Would you rather be included in the Guinness Book of World Records or in God's Book of Life? Think about it, my friend.


Posted by Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Inspirational

Humility- A Trait Of A True Child Of God

 HUMILITY- A TRAIT OF A TRUE CHILD OF GOD
Of all the traits that God so admires in man, humility tops them all. This is in accordance with what God said in Isaiah 66:2b, "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." In fact, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6b) Why? Because God is Himself meek and humble in the person of Jesus Christ.
An example of forgiveness and restitution of rights given back to a returning and humble sinner is the case of the Prodigal Son in the Book of Luke. After getting his entire inheritance from his father, and after squandering it all in profligate and wanton living, he became so destitute and hungry as he sought a job feeding pigs. Realizing his grievous sin and humbling himself, he decided to return to the house of his father to seek employment as a mere hired man. He was yet a long way off from their house when his father saw him and ran after him and embraced him. Seeing that the prodigal son was repentant and humble, he fully restored to him all his lost privileges as a son.
So it is with us. No matter how sinful we may have become, no matter how wretched our conditions maybe, if we humble ourselves before God and seek His divine forgiveness by believing in Jesus Christ, divine forgiveness and complete spiritual restitution will immediately be given to us. This is the grace of God and it is not contingent on our own worthiness before Him or what accomplishments we may have achieved. It is solely contingent upon the amazing grace of God as we humble ourselves before Him and ask forgiveness by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are humble of heart and sought the Lord's guidance and protection after forgiveness were granted to them, are assured by God to enjoy a blissful life with Him in Paradise.

Posted by Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Inspirational

Be Like Christ

BE LIKE CHRIST
If you are a Christian, then why are you not following Jesus Christ? Christians mean followers of Jesus Christ. If so, are we not supposed to be like Christ so that people will see our good works (our sweet fruits) and glorify our Father in heaven?

We can not be Christians and still immersed ourselves in the licentiousness and rapacity of the world. "What has God have in fellowship with Belial." We can live in this world but not of this world. We can not use other people as standards of spirituality. In any situation that we may face, especially if we are in doubt, let us ask ourselves this question. "If Christ were here, what would He have done in this situation?" Then we can be assured that our decision will be right and in accordance with His will.


How can we do this? The answer lies in Romans 12:2 which says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will."

The will of God is for us to be holy like Him and to dissociate ourselves from the sinfulness and carnality of the world. We can not have our cake and eat it too. The verse above said that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. That means, our minds must think only godly and sublime thoughts, thoughts that edify, thoughts of loving unconditionally, thoughts of selflessness, thoughts of hope and joy, and thoughts of peace.

Let us not run our races to win worldly prizes, they are like steel weights that chain our souls. Instead, let us run our races to win the heavenly prize- to be with the Lord forevermore.

You want to be a good Christian? Be like Christ and follow Him.


Posted by Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Inspirational

Can Faith Heal?

 CAN FAITH HEAL?
Can faith heal? Believing in our doctors help a lot to heal us, doesn't it? We are not healed by a doctor we don't trust and believe in. So with the medicines we take, with the people who surround us to give us counsel and moral support. They augment our faith so that we can be healed. But that is only faith in people and things. How much more do we think faith in an Almighty God will do wonders for us and completely cure us of the most dreaded diseases known and unknown to man. To give an illustration, let us cite two examples of two incurably sicked persons in the Bible. One was completely healed because of complete faith, and the other one was not healed at first because of unbelief. Mark 5: 25-34 described a woman bleeding for twelve long years, who failed to get relief from so many doctors and after spending a fortune. When she heard about Jesus, she thought to herself that if she but touched the hem of His garment, she would be healed. Following Jesus, she did just that and immediately got healed. Jesus sensed that power escaped from Him and He asked who touched Him. Trembling with fear, the woman fell at Jesus feet and told Him everything. Jesus told her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." (Mark 5:34) In 2 Kings 5: 1-27, Naaman was a commander of the army of the king of Aram. He had leprosy. Hearing from a Hebrew slave girl that a prophet of God by the name of Elisha could heal him, he sought after the prophet. Elisha sent his messenger to tell Naaman to dip seven times in the river Jordan. Expecting a grand miracle and disappointed by the seemingly preposterous instructions, he left Israel uncured. Upon hearing this, the Hebrew slave girl persuaded Naaman to do as the prophet instructed. He went back to Israel and dipped seven times in the river Jordan and immediately, he was completely healed.

How many people who have terminal incurable diseases, who were advised by their doctors of their impending deaths, survived their dreaded diseases by acts of faith and were completely and miraculously healed? Just ask the thousands of people healed by God through the ministry of Benny Hinn. Or the thousands of people who trekked to the grotto of Lourdes, France, who went home completely healed and their faith in God totally restored. God sometimes uses sickness, pain and trials to get our attention so that we can go back to Him for relief, deliverance and salvation. If He allow us to bask in sin and wanton living, where will those lifestyles lead us? Surely not to God's kingdom but to eternal destruction. "All things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 10:27) "Your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." (Mark 5:34) "But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) "For I am the Lord who heals you." (Exodus 15:26b)

Yes, complete faith in God does heal.

The Philippines Monkey Eating Eagle

The Philippine Eagle, Pithecophaga jefferyi, also known as the Great Philippine Eagle or Monkey-eating Eagle, is among the tallest, rarest, largest, and most powerful birds in the world. A bird of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae, it is also known as "Haribon" or "Haring Ibon," which means "Bird King". Its local name is banog.^[2]

The species was discovered in 1896 by the English explorer and naturalist John Whitehead, who observed the bird and whose servant, Juan, collected the first specimen a few weeks later.^[3] The skin of the bird was sent to William Robert Ogilvie-Grant in London in 1896, who initially showed it off in a local restaurant and described the species a few weeks later.^[4]

Upon its discovery, the Philippine Eagle was first called the monkey-eating eagle because of reports from natives of Bonga, Samar [1] where the species was first discovered that it preyed exclusively on monkeys; from these reports it gained its generic name, from the Greek pithecus ("ape or monkey") and phagus ("eater of").^[5] The specific name commemorates Jeffery Whitehead, the father of John Whitehead.^[4] Later studies revealed, however, that the alleged monkey-eating eagle also ate other animals such as colugo, civets, large snakes, monitor lizards, and even large birds like hornbills. This, coupled with the fact that the same name applied to the African Crowned Hawk-eagle and the South American Harpy Eagle, resulted in a presidential proclamation to change its name to Philippine Eagle in 1978, and in 1995 was declared a national emblem. This species has no recognized subspecies.^[6]

Monkey Eating Eagle of The Philippines

Sourced From Wikipedia and YouTube

Crossroads

We face crossroads in our lives. And how we take the different turns in life, determines what we become. I have made so many wrong turns in my life, turns that will haunt me till the day I die. When we are alone and we turn our gaze backwards, we see that many things happened to us because of the wrong turns we made at crucial intersections of our lives. They made us what we are now. But whatever mistakes and blunders we committed along life's perilous paths, they have become our stern teacher and corrector in life. We pity the person who does not know how to mend his ways after so many bumps and pitfalls in life. He will finish life's race limping home, bruised, battered and unbowed.


Do You Know Where You Are Going To - Diana Ross

The Problem Of Pain

 THE PROBLEM OF PAIN
There will always be pain in our bodies, pain in our hearts, pain in our minds. In fact, pain is an integral part of our lives. It is how we react to pain that determines our standing with the Lord. If we blame Him for all the pains that we go through, then we miss the whole point. Pain is the instrument of God to make us closer to Him. If we cannot endure the temporary pain that we are experiencing right now, think of how much we can endure the pain of losing God and heaven for all eternity. Or think of how much we can endure the scorching flames of hell that will sear our very souls forevermore. Think about that! "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Matthew 25: 46).

But God is so good and merciful. He will not give us any pain, any trial, nor any sorrow that we cannot overcome. Because together with the pain, trial or sorrow, He will give us His amazing grace (a tremendous spiritual force of comfort and deliverance) to overcome all these. As we emerge triumphant over the pains, trials or sorrows, then we become stronger, more patient and more compassionate towards those who are undergoing similar experiences in life. As we have been comforted by the Holy Spirit, so shall we become conduits of God's graces and blessings to those who are in distress. NOW YOU UNDERSTAND WHY YOU HAVE TO ENDURE YOUR PAIN. CHEER UP! THERE IS ALWAYS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. SMILE. GOD LOVES YOU NO MATTER WHAT!

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12: 9a)