Yes, There Are Still Angels In The Internet

Despite the growing cynicism of the times where people tend to be more greedy and avaricious; despite the widespread distrust of man against his fellowmen; despite the turbulent situation of the world's economy; yes, and despite the coldness of man against his fellowmen, it is heartwarming to note that, yes, there are still angels in the internet. No, it is not the winged kind with glowing halos on their head. These are faceless angels I have met in the internet in the course of my blogging activities. It just so happened that I made an innocent comment in one of the post of a Christian blogger friend from the Philippines about how the verse she posted- Proverbs 3: 5-6 ("Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."), came to me like a sudden burst of spring shower in the desert land I was in, facing a financially gloomy Christmas. She asked for my Paypal account address. I said no, she needed the money herself because of a very recent and expensive major operation of her mother. But she insisted and I finally consented. Yesterday she deposited a generous amount to my account. It was heaven sent and what could I say but thanked the Lord for the generosity of this lady angel. I will not mention her name lest a beeline of opportunist bloggers come knocking at her door. Suffice it to say that I prayed hard for her that the Lord will return back to her a thousand fold what she gave me.

Another blogging friend from Canada who is suffering from multiple debilitating and painful diseases offered to send me a custom built cane that functions as a seat as well. I gently declined the offer, citing her own need for the medicine and treatment cost of her diseases and the exorbitant cost of shipping it from Canada. I can't believe that there are still people out there whose hearts are gold and still beating with love and tenderness for their fellowmen. May your tribe increase. Yes Virginia, there are still angels in the internet.

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Angels, Internet, Blogging, Heart of Gold, Uplifting, Feel Good, Good Samaritan, Generosity, Blessings, Philippines, Canada, Disease, Healing, Faith, Love, Joy, Peace

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational/Feel Good

Where Eagles Soar

All of God's creatures including men seek shelter when there is a storm. No creature can withstand the fury of a raging storm. All except the eagle. As all the animals on air, land and sea seek shelter when a storm rages, the eagle actually welcomes the storm. He revels in it not by fighting it but by using its mighty wind to soar above the storm and reach far away places with nary an effort. High above the storm is calm air where the eagle love to soar and glide. Such is the outstanding qualities of this creature that God has use it to illustrate God's mighty provision and protection for man when the storms of life come crashing down on him. God says that He carries His children on eagle's wings and fly them through the raging storms of their lives and soar with them above the storm where they can glide in safety.

Think about that and picture it in your mind. God bringing you over and above the storms of your life to the relatively peaceful air above the storm where He carries you in peace and tranquility, borne by His mighty wings of love and protection. If we put our trust in Him, that is what He will do for us. He will shield us from the onslaught of the mightiest storms in our lives. He will bring us to the rarefied and tranquil air above the storm where we can glide in safety and joy. He promised us that no one can separate us from the love of Christ so long as we seek shelter on His wings.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8: 35-39) So let us soar with God like eagles above the storms of our lives.

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Eagle, Soar Above The Storm, Storms of Life, Struggles, Problems, Deliverance, Protection, Love, Peace, Joy

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational

Forgive In Order To Be Forgiven

Are you holding on to grudges and pains in your heart because of broken relationships caused by betrayal of trust? Are you still feeling the pain of a bruised heart because you were left alone by the love of your life for somebody else? Did you feel cheated when a close friend spilled out to others the secrets you confided to him/her? Is the spirit of unforgiveness and bitterness lingering in your heart causing you sleepless nights, unnecessary tears and sickness of body and soul? Learn to forgive and forget. The Bible says, forgive so that your sins maybe forgiven also. Yes, I know how hard it is to forgive as long as we are still feeling the pain in our hearts. But we can do the act of forgiveness by saying it orally that we forgive the person who hurt us and pray to God that we can also forget the bitterness it brought to us. Try not to get even or to equalize things on your own. This might lead to revenge which is sinful. Turn over the person's wrongdoing to God and relate to God all the pains and heartaches you are suffering due to that person's wrongful act. Ask God to resolve the conflict between the two of you and rest your case to God. In due time, your wounds will heal and you can actually forget the wrong that was done to you. It will be easy to forgive and forget if we keep in our minds that we also hurt other people before. We are not clean ourselves. If we can still ask forgiveness from the person we hurt and if we can restitute the damage we have done, then maybe that person may forgive us and we can have genuine reconciliation and peace of mind. Never dwell on past hurts and pains. Surrender them all to the Lord. Focus on love, forgiveness, joy, reconciliation and peace in your mind and you will experience a more pleasant and blissful life. Did not God say that the kingdom of God is in our hearts?

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Forgiveness, Key To Joy and Peace, Reconciliation, Happiness, Love, Kingdom of God, Peace of Mind

Posted by Mel Avila Alarilla

Philippines

Inspirational/Motivational

Childlike Innocense, The Door To Heaven.

The Lord said, "unless you be like these little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of God." Why, what qualities of children make them qualified for the kingdom of God? That quality is childlike innocence and the capacity to trust their parents to provide for all their needs. Did not God want us to treat Him as a loving Father who would lavish His children with all the good things in life? Have you seen the faces of children? Their angelic and innocent faces are full of love, warmth and affection for everyone. Their laughter are engaging and contagious. They play games with complete abandon. They love their parents and never worry for anything they want since they know they will be well provided for. Teach them about God, the love of God for men and Christ provision for salvation and they will readily understand them. It is as if they know all of these things by heart. Children love flowers, love to play under the sun. Even when it rains, they shriek in sheer delight for the wonderful provisions of nature. They are as curious as the cat and would ask you endless questions about everything under the sun. They appreciate beauty and nature far beyond what adults could appreciate. They bask in the magnificence of the morning sun and marvel at the dawning of the setting sun. They love to smell the fresh scent of flowers, of new mown hay, and love to hear the bellowing of the cows. Who would never get tired of playing their favorite pets of cats and dogs but little children? And the pets love them too, sometimes even more than their own kind. There is a bond between children and pets that no one can fathom. And at night before going to sleep, you will hear the most solemn and fervent prayers uttered to God for the blessings of family, friends and pets. Truly, if we could imitate the innocence and trusting attitude of children, then the door of heaven becomes wide open for us.

Tags: Children, Innocence, Child Play, Playing Under The Sun, Playing In The Rain, Beauty, Love, Joy, Sunshine, Provisions, Pets, Friends, Parents, Kingdom of God

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Philippines

Inspirational/Motivational

Smile And Be A Ray Of Sunshine To Others

Smile to everyone you meet and be a ray of sunshine to others. When you smile to others, it warms their hearts and dissipates whatever gloomy mood they are in. And when they smile back to you, you feel that warmth of sunshine radiating back to you and you feel happy and lighthearted. Do not wear that frown on your face since you will just communicate your somber mood to others and they too will feel whatever bad moods you are in. There is such a thing as transference of spirit for everyone. Never be with people who are whiners and cry babies who pour out litanies of their woes. Yes, you can listen to their tales of woes but guard yourself from absorbing any negative spirits from them. Do not be with people who gossip and find fault with everybody. Sooner or later, you will be like them if you do not distance yourself from these negative people. As the saying goes, "birds of the same feathers flock together" and "misery loves company." Sure, there are so many things wrong in this world, but why focus on them? Instead focus on the positive aspects of life and radiate that ray of sunshine and positive outlook in your life.

Go ahead, smell the flowers in the fields. Enjoy the sweet singing of the birds. Watch the beautiful sunset at the bay. Feast your eyes on the full moon in the skies. Let the tiny drops of rain in your roof sing you a lullaby that will lull you to sleep. Life is so wonderful and so are you. Be a ray of sunshine to others. Always smile.

Tags: Smile, Ray of Sunshine, Wonderful World, Be Happy, Love, Joy, Happiness, Warmth of Sunshine, Wonderful Life

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational

Are We "gods" IN The Making?

One thing that Gnosticism and ancient Greek philosophies have taught us is the doctrine of emanation and cyclical evolution. From the spirit plane, the spirit travels
down to mater to experience material existence. From the densest physical matter, the spirit evolves into mineral, vegetable, animal, human and demigod forms until it is reabsorbed again into the spiritual world to become a god. This is the reason why Greek philosophers insist on humans to know themselves. Greek philosophy and other religions also teach us about the doctrine of dualism, that there are always two opposing forces in creation contending against each other- the good and the evil, heat and cold, light and darkness, the human and the divine, and so on and so forth. Other religions even adore god in his dual nature- both benevolent and destructive. Thus we see in their temples pantheons of all sorts of gods including sinister looking demigods with horns and fangs or with animal representations. Other philosophies outrightly deny the existence of a personal God insisting that the real god is just a force, a light or divine energy from which the whole universe was created. There are spiritual books of all beliefs, some dating back to antiquities, like the Mahabharata and Vedas of Hinduism, the Four Noble Truths and Eight Fold Paths of Buddhism, the Koran of the Muslims, the Egyptian ancient writings like the Egyptian Book of The Dead, the Buddhist scrolls of Tibet including the Tibetan Book of The Dead, the Kabbalah of the ancient Jews, the Torah of Judaism, ancient manuscripts, esoteric writings of the Essene, the Druids, the Parsis, Zen Buddhism, Shintoism, teachings of Confucius and Lao Tsu, the Rosicrucians, Masonry, the Knight Templars, Theosophy, the New Age, etc., etc.

Some say that the gods were actually spacemen who visited the earth in its infancy and has taught primitive men what would be the precursors of modern day amenities as described in the book- Chariots of the gods by Eric Von Dainiken. They explain that these gods built the Pyramids in Egypt and South America, the Stonge Henge, the massive structures at Easter Island, even the unmistakable ancient landing strips in South America and other parts of the world.

Then some believe that God revealed Himself to men through divine revelation and through the person of Jesus Christ. What to believe? Your choice is as good as mine. The Bible says, "you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." I will always readily believe the words of God as contained in the Bible. There, I will stand and fall in my beliefs.

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Myths, gods, Chariots of the Gods, Eric Von Dainiken, Gnosticism, Greek Philisophies, Emanation, Dualism, Spirit, Mater

Posted by:Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivation

The Myth Of The "Self"

One thing the world view has taught us is to uphold and protect the interest of the self. This world view teaches us that what matters most in this world is the preservation of the interest of the self. Thus, we are taught to strive for the highest achievement of the self. We see people competing and striving hard to elevate one's self. We hear of self esteem, pursuit of happiness, the good of one's self, even the myth that the self is an emerging god. We are told to seek pleasure because that is the goal of the self. People seek recognition and acclaim from others to elevate one's self. We can see this with the efforts of people to establish records of all sorts as attested by the Guinness Book of World Records. People climb the highest mountains, swim the deepest seas, explore the uninhabitable frontiers of the earth, even strive to conquer the whole universe in their efforts to establish the highest achievements in life. All of these in the mad quest to establish the self. But is this what God wants us to do? People who pursue the quest to elevate one's self has denied or at least push God out of the equation of life. To them, what matters most is the human mind, the human experience and the human challenge to conquer the unknown. But God said, "apart from Me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5b).

Silly that mortal man should fall into the trap of Satan. To insist in pursuing the human will, instead of obeying God's will, is the goal of those who project the self as the end-all and be-all of everything. They insist that the self is "the captain of the ship and the master of the soul". But in the end, those who pursued these same goals have perished in defeat, isolation, loneliness and destruction. FOR THE WILL OF GOD REIGN SUPREME OVER ALL OF HIS CREATION SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL TO THE END OF THE AGES.

Tags: Self, Ego, God, Myth, World, World View, gods, Self Esteem, Pursuit of Happiness, Guinness Book of World Records

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational