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

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 destruction 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 have declared bankruptcies. Governments have to shore up the financial images of big banks or there will be massive bank runs. There are ever present dangers of terrorist 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.

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.

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 nonspiritual 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