SOS - An Urgent Request For Massive Prayers For Sis Emmyrose

May I request from all my readers to please help me pray for Sis Emmyrose of Just Let Go who is confined right now suffering from lupus flares. I am reproducing here her latest post in her blog Just Let Go. You can also visit her site to give her words of encouragement. I am hoping for your very kind response to this post. God bless you all.

This is her post.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Weekend Snapshot #32

I wish I could post a more cheerful snapshot but I've been sick for almost three weeks now and this is where I spent the last two weekend that had passed.

Tags: Sis Emmyrose, Just Let Go, Lupus, Flares, Fibromyalgia, Pain, Suffering, Hope, Grace

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational

Do You Dare To Be Different?

 DO YOU DARE TO BE DIFFERENT?
Do you dare to be different? Do you dare to swim against the current of popular world views? Can you stand for your principles and for what you feel are the right things to do when everybody else is doing the opposite? Can you maintain your scruples and principles amidst the darkness and permissiveness of the world? It is easy to go along with everybody else and be comfortable with the popular and accepted views. It is easy to justify a morally warped principle and way of life when everybody else is doing it. After all, did not the popular maxim says, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do." Yes, it is so easy to swim with the popular current of worldly living since almost everybody else is doing it. Anyway, no one gives a hoot as to what we do with our private lives. Or is there really nobody who cares for what we do? But at the end of the day, when the life of our individual candle is snuff out, we will give an accounting for each and every thing we did, said and thought while we were alive in this mundane world. We did not sprout out of nowhere and we will not be extinguished forever like a flame of a burning candle. There is an existence beyond this present life and we will be giving an accounting to our Creator after our mundane lives are over. So to those who live for the day in excessive pleasures and wanton living, disregarding the norms of morality that God has prescribed to the world, there will be judgment that they will never forget for all eternity. They will rue the day that they disregarded the dictates of their conscience and instead live for their own selves in excessive and profligate living. They had their own "rewards" while they were still living.

Tags: Dare To Be Different, Principles, Going Against The Current, Morality, Excessive and Profligate Living, Conscience, Just Rewards

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational

Teach Us To Number Our Days

 TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS
How do we look at our lives? Do we look at it as one straight line to nothingness, or do we fill it with purposeful living? Have we brought sunshine to the lives of others? Have we put smiles on the faces of those we met? Have we become an instrument of God in bringing peace and harmony to our surroundings? Have we filled the world with love every day of our lives?

The Bible tells us to number our days so that we can be aware that life is but a transient experience. It is not the end all and be all of our existence. One day we are alive and healthy, and the next day we may be gone. Numbering our days makes us also aware of our total dependence on God for everything. Hence, we are grateful for each day, each hour, each minute and each second that we are alive. When we awake each morning, we thank God for another day of life to serve Him and please Him in everything that we do. We join with the whole of creation in giving Him praise and worship because of His glory and greatness. Look at the birds. They never fail to sing and glorify God every morning. The wind, the blades of grasses, the bubbling brook, the majestic mountains, the clear sky and the dawning of the sun- they never fail to give glory to God each day since time immemorial. And so we breathe the fresh air in our lungs and savor God's all encompassing glory and splendor in the morning.
Like dew that refreshes all plants, God gives us His tender mercy and love as we awake each morning. And so we learn to number our days to spend them to please Him and give glory to His name.

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Number Our Days, Glory of God, Whole of Creation

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational

We Live By Faith Not By Sight

WE LIVE BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT
What is the difference between living by faith and living by sight (senses)? Let us illustrate the examples of each one to see their differences. To live by sight (or senses) is to live in this physical world with all its physical realities. We use our five senses, our own strength, our own resources, our connections, our human intelligence and our inter social activities with other people. We live by the standards set forth by man. When we get sick we see our doctor and take the prescribed medicines. We breathe, we live and die by the standards of men.

Not so with those who live by faith. They live by the standards of God. They cling to God's promises even if the physical reality says otherwise. They cling to the very idea that all things are possible with God. They have surrendered their will to God and have let God have a free reign in their lives.

Let me illustrate this with my own personal example to see how God works with individual persons. My eldest sister had recurring hypertension for just a little over two years and had diligently taken her prescribed medicines. When her finances got strained, she failed to take them for about a week. She got a massive stroke that almost resulted in her death. She was confined at the intensive care unit of a hospital for two months. Lately when I visited her, she was so emaciated and could no longer talk. She had her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. I have a brother in the province whom I was not even aware had diabetes like me. It was probably very recent only. I was shocked to hear that his right leg was already amputated because of his diabetes.

Then I consider God's protection and guidance over me. I have hypertension for more than 20 years now and diabetes for about 10 years and have been in the valley of the shadow of death so many times that I lost count already. It has been two years since I last saw a doctor although I am regularly taking my prescribed hypertension and diabetes medicines. I was scheduled for three major operations two years ago which did not push through due to some problems. After all those years, I am still alive and relatively healthy to give glory to God and becoming a living testimony to His goodness and grace. Not that I commend myself for what I am doing but I am giving all the praises and glory to my living God who provides for all my needs and have never left me nor forsaken me. TO HIM BE GLORY, HONOR, PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING FOREVERMORE.


Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Living By Faith, Live By Sight, Living Faith, Grace, Trust in The Lord

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Climb Every Mountain

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN
Are you facing a mountain of problems right now and you feel so helpless and alone? Are you traveling in your own desert of trials right now, thirsty and forlorn for your long sought after deliverance and the advent of your own promise land? Is your back against the wall and you feel that the whole weight of the world is crumbling down upon you and you have nowhere else to go? Are you so sick that you could almost smell the scent of death lingering around your bed and you feel that there is no longer any hope nor remedy for your illness? If you are in these kinds of situations right now, cast off your long faces and rejoice for your deliverance is at hand.

Yes, you have now felt the full power of God bearing down upon you. He permitted these things to happen so that you will humble yourself before Him and finally acknowledge that you are totally helpless and that apart from God you can do nothing. Remember, these situations were a result of your own making, when you casted out God from your life in your mad quest to be your own "captain of your ship and master of your soul." They were caused by excessive pride and self glorification and the total disregard of God in your life. It is a good thing that God has given you a last chance to turn a new leaf on life and retrace your steps back to His loving arms once more. Let us surrender our lives to God and cast all our burdens to Him for He cares for us. Let us trust God that He will deliver us from all our predicaments and trials in life. Did He not promise, "Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33) All things are possible with God to him who believes and trust in his unfailing love. So next time that you are confronted with a mountain of problems so high, just go ahead and climb it, for the Spirit of the Lord is with you and you will surely succeed. GO AHEAD AND CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN.

Tags: Climb Every Mountain, God, Mountains of Problems, Back Against The Wall, Trials, Desert Experience, Promise Land, Deliverance, Kingdom of God

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational

"The Kingdom" (A Short Story)

He surveys his kingdom from all directions. His kingdom extends far beyond his eyes could see. There is so much abundance in his kingdom. Supplies are plentiful.
Here, he reigns sovereign over all his subjects. His subjects love and respect him so much that there is nothing they will not do for their king. He walks leisurely refreshing his lungs with the pure air that he breathes. Ah, how lucky can he be. He is almost on top of the world. Here, he reigns supreme. There is no rival nor opposition to his kingship. Here, his loyal subjects obey his every wish and command. All kinds of sweet and delectable fruit bearing trees abound his kingdom. The majestic flower beds in his numerous gardens are unmatched in beauty and perfection. He even has a harem of of beautiful and subservient wives. What more can he ask for? A majestic mountain with a perfect blue top stands majestically guarding his kingdom. Birds of all kinds fly in the air resonating with their melodious voices. Even the animals in the forest beyond his kingdom are tame. They would willingly and leisurely saunter in the yard of the king. Music wafts melodiously in the whole kingdom as though a dozen symphonies were waxing their classical repertoires. Yes, it is a perfect kingdom, fit for a sovereign king such as he.


He sleeps peacefully knowing that all is well in his kingdom. Suddenly, he heard a buzzing sound in his ears as though a bee was surveying his ears as a possible hive. He awakened and was startled to see a barren and desolate isle with nary a sign of life nor activities. Now, he awakens from his delirious stupor. Yes, he is in a desolate island alone. He was shipwrecked and was carried ashore by giant waves. He has been there for three weeks with no food and in his weakened state, he dreamed of his beloved kingdom. He gingerly sleeps again to awake no more.


Tags: The Kingdom, Dreams, Sovereign, Loyal Subjects, Castles in the Air

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational

God's Perfect Time

 GOD'S PERFECT TIME
Are we so anxious for the answer to our prayers that sometimes we feel that God is not listening to us? Do we sometimes teach God what to do to answer our petitions? Church Fathers say that God has only three answers to our prayers: yes, no and later. We may wonder, why later? Could not God give us what we ask for now, at this very moment when we feel we need it most? The Church Fathers also teach us the doctrine of God's sovereignty over all His creation. We can never question God nor His motives for everything He does, for He is God. God gives us what we need and not what we want. And God answers our prayers in His own perfect time and not when and how we want it to be. God is also dramatic. He is fond of pushing us to the very edge of the cliff where we have nowhere else to go, and at the very last moment, He delivers us with dramatic and unmistakable effect that we can never deny His divine intervention and providence.

God's intervention and providence are greatly influenced by the degree of faith by the petitioner. The Bible says, "it is impossible to please God without faith." Faith is the language of the spiritual realm. Who among us would readily sacrifice the life of his beloved son if ordered by God to do so? But Abraham did. And God rewarded his faith and credited it to him as righteousness.

When we pray, let us humble ourselves before a sovereign God who created everything visible and invisible, and let us trust in His unfailing love that in His own perfect time, He will answer our petitions. Prayer with unshakable faith can move mountains.

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, God's Perfect Time, Divine Providence, Faith

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational