The Myth Of The "Self"

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

The Portent

    THE PORTENT   
  These are the signs of the times.  There is global warming and the weather of the world becomes very erratic.  Strong typhoons, devastating hurricanes, cyclones  and massive snowstorms have wrought havoc to many countries causing so much destructions to lives and properties.  It's either extreme heat or extreme cold.  The polar caps are melting and soon low lying islands will start to submerged in water.  We have now seen the beginning of the collapse of the world economy on a scale never seen before.  Not even a package of $ 700 billion from Washington could stem the tide of world wide recession and panic selling of stocks and properties.  Values of world currencies are on a tailspin.  Big and prestigious companies have collapsed or declared bankruptcies.  Governments have to shore up the financial images of big banks or there will be massive bank runs.  There is melamine scare from Chinese milk and milk products.  There are ever present dangers of terroristic attacks that have produced horrible sufferings from innocent civilians and bystanders.  There are prevailing presence of so many exotic and dreaded diseases that are incurable and extremely painful to the sufferers.  Earthquakes and massive tidal waves or tsunamis have claimed the lives of so many people.  There is widespread apostasy in the world where personality cults abound.  There is evil and moral degeneration in mainstream society as if sinning and wanton living are the mode of the times.  

          Are these signs of the times not  a portent of things to come?            

Tags: Signs of the Times, Portent, Global Warming, Global Financial Crisis, Depression, Recession, Terrorism, Exotic Diseases, Apostasy

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Philippines

Inspirational/Motivational

Dial P.R.A.Y.E.R.

DIAL P.R.A.Y.E.R.

Are you at the very bottom of your life and have nowhere else to go? When you call up your most trusted friends and relatives to seek solace and comfort from the heavy burdens on your shoulders, do you always get a busy line or an answer from an answering machine? Do you feel that there is nobody in the world that you could talk to, to whom you can unburden yourself? Why not try God? He is always available 24 hours a day. There is no busy line in His hotline and He is always available to attend to your most pressing needs or your most troublesome burdens. His hotline? Just dial P.R.A.Y.E.R. and you are connected immediately no matter wherever you are or at what time of the day you call up. He loves it when you pour out all the anguish, the pains, and the frustrations of your soul to Him. And He will not be readily judgmental. He will wait for the perfect time when you will see your own faults and repent them all and turn a new leaf in your life by surrendering your life to Him and accepting Him as your Lord and savior. And what does He give you when you do all of these things? Nothing much really. First, He gives you peace of mind and joy in your heart. You will feel as though the pressing load of a heavy rock was lifted up from your chest and you breathe again freely. Secondly, He will take away the hardened scales in your eyes so that you can clearly see the spiritual truths of His words. Then, He will comfort you in everything that you will do and you will be aware of His very presence in your life. Then He gives you eternal life. Then, oh I don't want to be a killjoy. YOU WILL FIND OUT ALL THE GOODIES HE HAS IN STORE FOR YOU WHEN YOU TALK TO HIM IN HIS HOTLINE.

  Tired of always having a busy line or a mechanical answer from an answering machine whenever you call up your close friends and relatives?  Why not try  to call up God's hotline.  You just dial P.R.A.Y.E.R. and you will get an instant connection to God.  HAPPY DIALING!!!

Tags: Dial P.R.A.Y.E.R., Prayer, God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Busy Line, Answering Machine, Problems, Frustrations, Heavy Load, Joy, Peace of Mind, Eternal Life

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla           

The Eternal Thief

(Addendum: I have to repost this article for lack of showing days because it gave way to an emergency post. I apologize for those who made previous comments in this post like sis Emmyrose, Christina and Tey. I'm sorry that your comments were inadvertently deleted. God bless you all)

THE ETERNAL THIEF
Have you worked out the deal of your life that would have rewarded you with a handsome sum only to see it fizzled out at the last minute? Have you been so happy in your life that you felt as though you were on top of the world only to see yourself in a whirl of problems later on? Have you felt the love and warmth of your family then later on found your family on the verge of a major breakup? Have you been so successful in your work that you could almost attain the highest level of corporate success only to find out that you were unceremoniously eased out of the coveted position because of intrigue? You may feel that fate has handed you a bad deal in these scenarios but is that the real situation?

There may be something else here than just pure luck or a bad day. Somebody, since time immemorial, has stolen all the blessings and happiness of mankind. In fact, he was cast down to earth and he continues to seethe and foam in his malevolent intent to do mayhem and destruction to mankind. The Bible says that "the thief comes but to steal, to kill, and to destroy." He is the eternal thief who steals everything that is good from mankind. His fate has already been sealed. He is doomed to suffer everlasting death and he wants mankind to lose its divine patrimony which is eternal life. He is a master deceiver who masquerades as an angel of light to deceive the unspiritual and the spiritually puffed up.

But his nemesis is the Holy Spirit. The covering of the blood of Jesus protects us against all his wiles and malevolent intents. He was already vanquished at Calvary. All he could do is to deceive mankind. He is now the lord of the world adored by those who cling to all forms of godlessness and sinful living. Would you let him steal all the blessings intended for you, especially your eternal life with God?
Tags: God, Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, The Devil, Eternal Thief, Godlessness, Blood of Jesus, Eternal death, Eternal Life

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Inspirational/Motivational

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