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
FEAR OF THE LORD Proverbs said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." When I was just a new Christian, I often shun away from this verse because fear has a negative connotation to me. I would reason out that I loved God more than I feared Him and that perfect love cast away all fears. But as I grew and matured as a Christian, this phrase assumed a new and different meaning to me. Why would the author of Proverbs associate the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom? Seen in the light of John 3:16 ("For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.") which showed the incomparable love of God for all men, I began to understand and appreciate that verse.
Fear of the Lord means fear of offending Him who has given the most precious possession He has to save all mankind. And to do the one thing that He abhors most, and that is- sinning, is really unthinkable. When we realize all the wonderful things He has given us- from birth to eternal life, to countless blessings- there is a reverential fear and awe of Him and the desire to please Him and do His will. Fear of the Lord then simply means to live in order to please God and give glory to His name. Fear of the Lord means to avoid the one thing that will separate us from Him, and that has always been sin.
So as we fear the Lord and avoid incurring His wrath through sinning, we reap the incalculable harvests of blessings and graces that He so abundantly bestow to those who fear Him and obey His will. Did He not promise in Matthew 6:33 that, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Truly, it is wisdom to choose the path of grace, salvation, blessings and fellowship with God and our fellow brethren and the joy and glory of eternal life with the Lord. SHALL WE START TO FEAR THE LORD?
Tags: Fear of the Lord, God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Righteousness, Salvation, Grace
I AM MY BROTHER'S KEEPER Cain committed the world's first murder by killing his brother Abel. When God confronted Cain about his brother's whereabout, he gave this classic remark, "Why, am I my brothers's keeper?" Throughout all the ages, man carried this same cavalier attitude towards his fellowmen. He always turned a blind eye on the sufferings of others and we could almost surmise that in his mind, he always carry the same answer that Cain gave to God- "Why, am I my brother's keeper?"
Now, is the time to reverse this decadent attitude of man towards his fellowmen. Instead, let us show our concern and care for the least of our brethren by declaring these words:
Yes, I am my brother's keeper. His pain is my pain. His joy is my joy. His sorrow is my sorrow. His happiness is my happiness. His hunger is my hunger. His deprivation is my deprivation. His ignorance is my ignorance. His poverty is my poverty. His sickness is my sickness. His struggles are my struggles. His loneliness is my loneliness. His isolation is my isolation. His imprisonment is my imprisonment. His tortures are my tortures. His agonies are my agonies. His search for truth is my search for truth. His cry for freedom is my cry for freedom. His quest for salvation is my quest for salvation.
I cannot just sit here and mind my own business oblivious to what's happening to my brother. I cannot keep a blind eye to his cry for deliverance. I will make a commitment right here and now that henceforth, I will be my brother's keeper and I will do everything in my power to help him in every way I can. So help me God. Signed this day and attested by me.
Please copy this manifesto and affix your signature, and post or send it to your friends. Send me a copy of your post or email so I can consolidate the complete manifesto. Thank you so much. God bless us all.
Tags: We Are The World, I Am My Brother's Keeper, Universal Brotherhood, Love, Peace, Joy
I want to share with you, my dear readers, this beautiful love song that haunted me throughout my life. Its lyrics and melody epitomize the whole of me and my romantic inclinations. I was born a romantic person and I will die one. Hear this musical video and I'm sure you'll also fall in love with the song. I included the lyrics of the song here for your better appreciation and enjoyment. Sit back, just relax and enjoy the beauty of this love song.
Distant Shores by Chad and Jeremy
Sweet soft summer nights The dancing shadows in the starry nights You came for me to follow As we kissed on the distant shores.
Long quiet hours of play Songs of tomorrow sung yesterday Love came for me to follow As we kissed on the distant shores
Refrain Cathedral bells and children playing Raindrops fall as if they're saying: Quiet thoughts of you caressed my time.
The dream of summer's gone Whispered memories as the nights grow long Love came for me to follow As we kissed on the distant shores.
Distant Shores by Chad and Jeremy
Tags: Distant Shores, Chad and Jeremy, Memories, Love, Summer Song, Romantic
ARE YOU A WORRY WART? Are you a worry wart? If so, you are in deep trouble. Worrying leads to so many diseases like hypertension, ulcer, obesity, anorexia nervosa, sleeplessness, tension reactions, restlessness, loss of appetite, neuralgia, and so many other diseases. It attacks the brain and nerve functions of the body. Excessive worrying can also lead to severe nervous breakdown and weakening of the immune system. At the back of worrying is the fear and dread of something awful that is forthcoming. It is like the proverbial sword of Damocles hanging in the air over our heads.
The antidote to worrying is complete trust in God and in His inherent goodness. Those whose trust in God is intact and solid never worry because they believe in His promise that He will never leave them nor forsake them. Even in the direst situations, when everything seems impossible and we feel the whole weight of the world crushing down upon us, we just have to surrender all our cares and troubles to the Lord and He will lead us to the way of deliverance we never imagined before. Have we not overcome all the severest trials in the past when we put our trust in Him? Surely, He will do it again and give us the peace of mind we so long for. Those whose hearts do not rest on the Lord have only themselves to blame if worrying becomes their normal fare. As it is, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD.
Tags: Worry Wart, Nervousness, Anxiety, Dread, Hypertension, Obesity, Anorexia Nervosa, Sleeplessness, All Things Are Possible With God
VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH Have you been through the valley of the shadow of death? If so, what was your experience there? I have been through that valley so many times before that I lost count of them. My first experience there was when I was a little child barely six years old. I was pulling a toy cart at the backyard of my grandma in a faraway province where my mother was born. I never saw that old well since I was pulling my toy cart and was walking backwards. The next thing I knew was that I was falling inside that old scary well. It was an eerie experience as though I was transported to another world. All that I could remember was that scenes from my life flashed through the screen of my mind. I was lucky that it was summer during that time and the water level of the well was only chest deep. I became an instant celebrity in that quaint town when I was pulled out to safety still clutching my rubber slippers.
My next near death experiences occurred when I was already an adult. I have been with hypertension for more than twenty years now. I am also suffering from type 2 diabetes. I have congenital scoliosis (bone deformity) on my lower back. I also have acute hernia and prostate gland problem and an enlarge thyroid gland. I have been on the verge of near strokes so many times that I lost count of them. There were times when I thought death was already imminent. I had all the classic symptoms of full blown strokes except the actual stroke itself. Through all those near death experiences, I never panicked but I just relaxed and left my fate to my faithful God. I was never afraid to die because I knew I would be with Him when I do. For more than twenty years now, He has kept me alive to bear witness to His faithfulness to those who really trust and believe in Him. MAY HIS NAME BE GLORIFIED FOREVERMORE.
Tags: Near Death Experiences, Valley of The Shadow of Death, God's Grace and Faithfulness, Trust in His Unfailing Love
CHOICES The choices we make in our lives will determine what we will become. They are some sort of a crossroad where we choose whether to go to the left or to the right. First of all, we have to choose which will we will exercise. Is it our own personal will or the will of God? We have been trained and nurtured by worldly wisdom to learn to exercise our own will in everything that we do. As the poem goes, "I am the captain of my ship, I am the master of my soul." In the competitive world in which we live, it is the battle of wills of different individuals with different vested interests and persuasions. But the Bible says, we have to follow in and walk by the will of God. As the Lord's Prayer says, "let Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." That is the first choice we have to make.
The second choice we have to make in our lives is how we should live our lives. Shall we live by faith or shall we live by sight ( the senses)? We have our senses to use and we are so dependent on them. But in difficult and trying times, when our senses tell us of the impossibility of things, shall we not rely on our faith to carry us through? Remember, the Bible says that faith can move mountains. Those who hold on to the functions of their senses and those who exercise their own will are limited in the things they can accomplish. They cannot go beyond the possible. Not so with those who surrendered themselves to the sovereign will of God and have exercised their faith rather than their sight (senses). Nothing is impossible for them. They will experience out of this world possibilities. NOW WHICH OPTIONS WILL YOU CHOOSE?
Tags: All Things Are Possible With God, Divine Will, Personal Will, To Live By Faith Not By Sight, Miracles Do Happen For Those Who Believe
VOICES There are so many voices that compete for our attention. Which voice we will heed will determine the path that we will take on our journey through life. The earliest voices that we heard were those of our parents. Theirs were the voices that nurtured us in our formative years. Then, there were voices of tiny angels like us who dreamed and wondered with us when we were groping for answers for the unending questions of life. We have encountered the different voices of our teachers and mentors as they instilled in us the disciplines and idealism that helped shaped our formative years. Yes, theirs were the voices of our heroes of the past, the ones we placed in our pedestals. Then, there were the cacophonous voices that proliferated our world when we competed with other wannabes as we climbed the stairway of the corporate world. Those were the voices of intense rivalries, of backstabbing and rumor mongering, of idle talks and gossips, of dressing downs and praises for jobs well done. There were even sinister voices that led us astray, who promised pleasures galore, but led us to the decadence of our souls.
But there is one particular voice that we must heed and take to heart. That is the still small voice that whispers so softly in the stillness of the night when everything is so quiet. We can only hear it when we are at peace with ourselves and not agitated. It is the voice of God coursed through our consciences. Continuous disregard of that small soft voice will result in the hardening of our hearts and losing the ability to hear that still small voice. Which voice we follow will determine our destiny for eternity. SHALL WE HEARKEN TO LISTEN TO THAT STILL SMALL VOICE? Tags: God. Jesus Christ, Conscience, Still Small Voice, Voices
"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?
