This is the product of my fertile thoughts. I am recreating them here and am sharing them with you, dear bloggers, for whatever benefits, if any, you could derive from them. I wish you could be more open and share with me your comments and suggestions so that I can improve on my blog. Thank you, God bless and have a nice day. Mel Avila Alarilla
The first time I saw this term in almost all the blogs of bipolar patients, I was intrigued by it. Now I know the meaning of the term and how it encompasses the very lives and interconnections of its members.
It is as if they are living in their own world and what matters to them is their illness, its symptoms, its effects on their lives and how they interrelate with one another. It is as if they literally cling to the saying, "misery loves company." Now, don't get me wrong. It is never my intention to do group bashing or anything to that effect. I love them, individually and collectively. I pray hard for them.
Their own world (bipolar planet) is very sacred, almost exclusively for them, and they are weary and suspicious (not all of them, though) of strangers who would intrude on their sacred ground.(I should know. I have been the victim of savage rebuffs by a few whom I tried to reach out and relate to. God bless them.)
I don't know if the effect of this on their sickness is good or bad. Good, because they have one another to interrelate to, and bad, because there is a tendency for them to over focus on the disorder itself and its damaging effects on their lives and behaviors, so much so, that they are liable to wallow more in self pity and severe depressions. There is also a tendency to turn a blind eye on the extreme behaviors of other members like attempted suicides, self mutilations, promiscuities, and other anti social behaviors.
As far as I know, bipolar disorder is not incurable. Many cases of patients with bipolar disorders were cured and are now living normal lives. In fact, many of them do live normal lives. Bipolar disorder is not as bad as cancer of the brain, cancer of the bones, leprosy or aids.
The problem is, they are so focussed on the physical reality of their illnesses. But whether they agree or not, there is a spiritual reality of everything that encompasses our physical reality. That's why, miracles happen.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.....The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." (John 1:1 & 14a) The Word and Jesus Christ are the same. When tempted by the devil in the desert, Jesus did not use His power to foil the devil. He used the Word of God to defeat him.
Jesus never lies, and when He said, "Your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering" (Mark 5:34), He meant just that. The wounds that was inflicted on His body represents divine healing for all kinds of diseases, known and unknown to man, even bipolar sickness.
Medical science has proven that a certain amount of faith or belief can heal. Case studies of some patients given placebo pills (sugar coated flour pills with no actual medicinal contents), who were told that they were taking their regular medicines, have actually experienced healing. And that is just faith or belief in a small pill and the word of the doctor. How much more will living faith in God's words and His faithfulness will produce miraculous healings. Ask those thousands of people healed by God through the ministry of Rev. Benny Hinn.
But alas, in this world, we believe in what we want to believe in.
(With profound apologies to all bipolar sufferers. I never had the intention to hurt or malign you, nor make any disparaging comments on any of you. I just have to cite specific instances to elucidate a point and not to malign anyone. There is no actual allusion to anybody in particular. If I have inadvertently offended anybody, I humbly apologize for it. No malice whatsoever was intended in putting up this post. God bless you all with His amazing grace for your actual healing and deliverance).
Where do we place God in our lives? Do we place Him at the very center of our existence? Or do we put Him at the farthest corners of our hearts and minds? Some sort of a spare tire to be used when the need arises?
When we are in distress, when fear and anxiety beset us, when tons of problems seem to overwhelm us, when we feel that we could not possibly cope with the stressful situation confronting us, who do we seek? Our doctor? Our psychiatrist? Our closest friend? Our spouse? Our parents or any relative we hold near and dear? When do we turn to God for relief? When things start to fall apart and when we completely lose control of the situation? Then afterwards , we blame God for the disaster that befell us, forgetting that it was caused by us in the first place.
The answers to these questions determine how we relate to God. To most of us, God is a far away and distant despot who does not care about us, leave us to our fate and circumstances, who disturbs our peace when we sin and who demands an accounting from us all the time. But when the chips are down, He is nowhere to be found and do not give an iota of concern whatever happens to us. In fact, God is an ever reliable scapegoat for all our troubles and misfortunes in life. But is He?
God said, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength." (Isaiah 45:22-24a)
He further added, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please....What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that will I do." (Isaiah 46:9b-10, 11b)
God is not affected by how we perceived Him to be. He is not changed nor affected by our puny perceptions. He is sovereign. He do as He please. The good news is, He is everything that we could ever think of as good and positive. And He could not contradict His own nature. The bad news (or good news, depending on one's perception) is, He created us with our own free will, and that we have the choice to accept or reject Him. He will never force Himself on us.
There lies the problem. We know that there is a God, but we limit His power over us by our inability to perceive Him as He really is. So we make do with a counterfeit "God" who is capricious, whimsical, moody, revengeful, catankerous, self seeking and avaricious; who expropriates everything for His own glory alone. Pity the people who looks at God this way.
Hosea 4:6a says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Wrong perception of God may lead us to our own destruction, and greatly tie up God's hands to help us out of our predicament. The only solution is to know the real God through His words in the Bible.
Jesus Christ shows us the way to the Father. "Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me." (John 14:6) Also, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) You want to know the real GOD? Read your Bible.
Posted by Mel Avila Alarilla Philippines Spiritual/Inspirational
This Post is Dedicated to Amateur Dancer, Marie Coppla and All Those Suffering From Bipolar Disorders
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 imediately 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 thru 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.
As I write this post, I am almost completely healed of the debilitating pain of scoliosis and pinched nerves that threatened paralysis in my torso. I can now walk again. Praise the Lord for His amazing grace and mercy. Even my other diseases- hypertension, diabetes, acute hernia, prostate gland enlargement, hypothyroidism and other diseases I may not even be aware of, are almost completely healed. Now, I am rededicating my entire life to serving Him and leading other sufferers of pain to the feet of the Master Healer- Jesus Christ. TO GOD BE THE GLORY.
"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)
"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts" (Hebrews 4:7b)
DO YOU NEED HELP? ARE YOU IN THE DARK? CAN'T FIND YOUR WAY AROUND? NEED A FRIEND WHO WILL STICK WITH YOU THROUGH THICK OR THIN OR WHEN EVERYBDOY ELSE HAS DESERTED YOU?
