LORD GOD

You're my Love
my Life
the Air that i breathe.
You're my Soul
my Happiness
the All that i Need.
You're my Light
my Moon
the Stars in the Sky.
You're my Ups
my Inspiration
the Reason i Try.
You're my Strength
my Life
the Love from the Start.
You're my God
my Lord
the Beat of my Heart.
You're my Tears
my Joy in the Love that You bring.
You're my World
my Galaxy
You are my Everything.

LORD GOD

You are my Rock, my Number One, the Good Ending to a bad day and the Best Start to a new day.

WHEN TRUTH APPEARS TO BE FALSE

“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor.”

Ephesians 4:25

Three people were talking about a mutual friend. One told how the friend had been struck by a car and killed. The second said, “No, you are wrong.” He explained how their friend, riding in a taxi, had been involved in an accident. Their friend was fatally injured.

“No,” said the third. “You are both wrong. The truth is our friend died at our local hospital. I know that because his wife called me from the hospital and told me herself.”

Each was convinced that the others were wrong. Here is what happened: as the man got off a bus, he was hit by a car and badly injured. Passers-by flagged down a taxi and shoved the injured man into the back seat. But the taxi went too fast, struck another car and the injured man was hurt even more. He arrived at the hospital and soon died.

There are times when individuals are completely honest in giving their perception of a situation.  No one is purposely deceiving the others nor lying, yet their stories contradict. The most persuasive individual usually is considered to be the one telling the truth.

 A generation ago truth telling was considered very important and dishonesty was considered a flaw in a person’s character. Today, we prefer to call a lie “disinformation” or “misstatement.”

We used to say “Honesty is the best policy.” God places a premium on truth. Even if there were no God, no heaven or hell, and no judgment hereafter, honesty is the only way that a society, a family, or a marriage can survive. When we begin to live and practice deceit and falsehood, relationships cannot survive. A person who lies is rending the very fabric of his soul, and eventually, there will be nothing of value. Think about it.

THE VALUE OF LIFE

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life.”

John 3:36

What is the value of a human life? There is enough phosphorous in the human body to tip twenty-two hundred matches, enough iron to make a small nail, enough fat to make seven bars of soap – (in some cases a few more than that), enough calcium to white-wash a chicken coop, and enough sugar to fill a small bowl. But, is not life worth a great deal more than a few elements from a periodic table?

Two thousand years ago, God considered your life so important that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to provide eternal life for you. There are some things that money cannot buy. When you have a loved one in the hospital, you would spend all your money to save that person’s life. We may be able to sustain life, but when the human heart stops we cannot create life.

That is how God views your life. He looked on your helplessness and inability to create eternal life, and God said, “I’ll send my Son to provide eternal life. I’ll do for you what you can never do.” What is the worth of the human soul? In God’s eyes it was worth the death of His only Son.

Amidst the fantastic achievements of the twentieth century, there is a tendency to minimize the individual. You are one of 5 billion but in God’s eyes, you are an individual and He loves you just as you are. You were born as an individual and you will die alone. Your life is so important that God sent His Son to be your Savior.

Here is Christ’s invitation to you, “Come to Me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). May God help you to make faith in Christ your guidelines for living. When it comes to life and death, nothing of material value is important as human life.

NESTOR SARMIENTO

“You deserve someone who will make you see that you’re worth a text back, you’re worth a relationship label, you’re worth all of his/her time and attention.”

NESTOR SARMIENTO

“Isa kang alamat na masarap basahin. Isa kang kanta na masarap pakinggan. Isa kang tugtog na masarap sayawan. Isa kang videoke na masarap rentahan. Isa kang ulam na masarap kainin.”

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com

#I am the kind of person who says hi to cats.

#Christianity is a relationship. Not a religion. I did not convert, I was reborn.

#Perfection is found in accepting your imperfections.

#Great marriages don’t happen by luck or by accident. They are the result of a consistent investment of time, thoughtfulness, forgiveness, affection, prayer, mutual respect and a rock-solid commitment between a husband a wife.

#A perfect relationship is not that you never get angry, upset or irritated with each other. It’s how fast you resolve and bounce back to normal.

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com

"Get out of the safe zone and step into the faith zone"

"As i walking through a valley, my declaration was God is on the Throne, and my impossible became possible through Jesus Christ."

NESTOR SARMIENTO

I prayed that we will be in each other's lives as long as we are on this earth - sharing stories above unli rice, sharing laughters above balot penoy, and a soul connection until the sun comes up.

NESTOR SARMIENTO

Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for making me smile like crazy. Thank you for making me happy.

NESTOR SARMIENTO

Naaalala kita sa bawat librong nababasa ko. Sa bawat tauhan ng kuwento, iniisip kong ikaw iyon. Sa pagtitimpla ko ng kape. Sa bawat paglubog ng araw. Maniwala ka, naaalala kita araw-araw. Sa lahat ng bagay. Sa bawat paghinga - at wala akong balak na magpahinga na alalahanin ka.

UNWELCOMED SURPRISES

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.

-Isaiah 30:18

The world is full of surprises – some of which are not welcomed. A position opens up in your company, and you express an interest in it. But when your boss interviews you, he says management has decided to no longer fill that position, but to eliminate your job as well!

Your phone rings one evening after you have retired. “Who could be calling at this hour?” you wonder. It is a friend telling of a death in the family.

How do you handle unwelcomed surprises? Psychologists call it “Coping.” Others say with resignation, “That’s life!” When unexpected surprises come our way, we fight them and become bitter, or we reach out for the grace of God and become better because of what we have endured.

What is this gift called “grace?” It is God’s help that enables you to cope with unwelcomed surprises of life.

Long ago, the Apostle Paul faced many unwanted surprises, yet he welcomed them. In responding to what he called “A thorn in the flesh” Paul said, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

When unwelcomed surprises confront you, learn about God’s grace and you will also find strength to cope. It’s worth discovering.

GROWING OLD GRACIOUSLY

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom

-Psalm 90:12

“Dear Dr.Sala, would you have any suggestions to help people who have reached their 80s and feel very useless at times? I am 82, in a wheelchair and have little energy.”

One: Come to grips with the fact that you are here by the will of God. God makes no mistakes, “In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.” –Ephesians 1:11

Two: Realize that your true value as a person is dependent on your character and not your productivity. As we age, we tend to think that we are worth little unless we are producing. The Bible tells us that you are valuable not because of what you do, but because of what you are. Paintings and fine books become more valuable with age, and so it is with people.

Three: Accept your lessening strength with grace. “I greet each day as a gift,” says Beatrice Cole, at age 90. She says that the last decade, from age 80 to 90, has been the best gift of her life although she has been alone most of the time.

Four: Force yourself to get out and mix with people. “After I lost Ethel,” says Frank Emery, “I forced myself to get out, to travel, to play golf, to be with people. It was the only way I could beat the loneliness.”

Five: Refuse to accept defeat at your own hand. Loneliness never leaves us where it finds us. We either greet it as a friend or as an enemy. As a friend, loneliness can cause us to reach out and make new friendships and enrich our lives.

WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS

“Keep your lives free from the love of money because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

-Hebrews 13:5

Long ago, Jesus said, “Do not store up yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

It seems to me that our generation has its value system upside down. We aren’t willing to wait for anything tomorrow; it must be ours today. So much of our time is spent in the pursuit of “things” that we have lost sight of what really counts. It often takes a tragedy to understand this.

When a friend and I were finishing on the end of a pier, we noticed smoke coming out of a nearby house. We raced for the humble little cottage but it was too late. Flames were coming out the doors and had turned into a raging inferno. We learned that an oil furnace had exploded, and the house had almost instantly been enveloped in fire.

Outside stood the young father and mother and a little girl of about seven. The mother was crying and the dad was wringing his hands as in anguish he cried, “My God, all is lost.” The little girl reached up and took her daddy’s hand saying, “All’s not lost, Daddy, you got Mommy and Me!”

Houses can be rebuilt, but relationships endure long after the taste of material success has turned to ashes. What’s gone wrong that causes us to place greater value on things than people; that considers gold and glitter more important than love and friendship?

Jesus said, “Lay up treasures in heaven for where your treasure is your heart will be also.” The treasures that really count can’t be measured in gold and silver. Think about it.

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away.”

-Matthew 24:35

It has finally happened: the long-awaited Dead Sea scrolls are now available for scholarly translation. We will soon learn why Israeli officials have withheld releasing the translation of these very important documents.

The whole controversy centers around some 800 different fragments or scrolls which were written between the year 200 B.C. and A.D. 67. The scrolls which had been meticulously copied by members of the Qumran Community (an ascetic, monastic group) had been hidden in caves. In their wildest nightmare, monks never thought that for almost 2000 years the scrolls would remain hidden until they were discovered in the twentieth century. Dr.William F. Albright, an authority on biblical antiquities, called the Isaiah scroll, “The most important discovery ever made in Old Testament manuscripts.”

Of the 800 documents of the collection, about 127 are biblical texts including portions of every Old Testament writings, there have been no known New Testament fragments found on public record.

Why are the scrolls important? If the text of the Bible had been corrupted or altered, comparing these very old copies of scripture with modern ones would indicate that quickly. Are they different? The answer is no! Analyzing the most important one, the Isaiah scroll, scholars conclude there are no doctrinal differences at all, only minor differences in spelling and the syntax of sentences. That is extremely significant.

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED

“People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have Him touch them.”

-Luke 18:15

When writer Elisabeth Elliot visited Dohnavur Fellowship in South India to do research for a book on the life of Amy Carmichael, she met Pungaja, a remarkable woman working with the mentally incompetent. Pungaja herself was handicapped by the loss of one eye.

When asked how she had become involve in such a work, Pungaja explained that one day, tremendously burdened by life, she went to Amy Carmichael who was affectionately called Amma by nationals of India. “When she hugged me,” she said, “All of my burdens went away!” The Indian men and women who followed Amy Carmichael’s footsteps in serving others have been witnessed to her life.

Have you ever considered the impact of a loving touch? There were times when Jesus healed sickness with a command. But there were other occasions when He reached out and touched someone. He touched the leper who went through life crying, “Unclean, unclean!” He touched the blind man by the gate of Jericho and He still touches those who are neglected by society today.

People respond to the loving touch. A family counselor says that most unwanted teenage pregnancies could be prevented if a father only hugged his teenage daughter everyday.

“Is any sick among you?” wrote James to the infant church almost 2000 years ago, “Let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14). There is healing in the touch of love and faith.

GOOD NEWS

“For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit”

-Hebrews 4:12

Crucial debate in the Russian parliament came to a halt as legislators, policemen, cooks, secretaries, and bureaucrats rushed into the main hall. Had a fire alarm sounded? Was another coup in progress? No, the Moscow Bible Society was giving away Bibles, New Testaments and a special edition of a Children’s Bible – an unprecedented event in the 70-year communist government. Some 6,000 volumes were given away, and as the supply dwindlend, “clamor gave way to near chaos,” an official reported.

In the same month that Bibles were being distributed in Russia, individuals inside China were being arrested for receiving them. Chinese officials learned of a pipeline of Bibles being carried from HongKong to individuals inside China. Local authorities informed believers that Bibles were being brought in, and asked them to meet a certain train. Local believers came but they were met by the arresting officers.

A very limited numbers of Bibles are available for purchase in China today through government-approved sources. These demand to know details about the buyer, information which many people are reluctant to disclose, with the arrests and imprisonment of the Cultural Revolution still fresh in their minds.

The Bible continues to be the world’s best-loved and most widely distributed book. Books of the Bible have been printed in 1,646 languages and dialects, according to the United Bible Society. Complete Bibles have been published in 318 languages as of the end of 1990.

FRIENDSHIP – TELL THEM NOW

“A friend loves at all times.”

-Proverbs 17:17

Have you ever had the feeling that you ought to pick up the phone and call someone, or drop by for a visit, but then someone interrupted you, or your phone rang?

Charles Hanson Towne knew something of this when he wrote the following poem:

Around the corner I have a friend,

In this city that has no end;

Yet day’s go by, and weeks rush on,

And before I know it a year has gone,

And I never see my old friend’s face,

For life is a swift and terrible race.

He knows I like him just as well

As in the days when I rang his bell

And rang mine.

We were younger then

And now we are busy, tired men:

Tired with playing a foolish game,

Tired with trying to make a name,

“Tomorrow,” I say, “I will call on Jim,”

Just to show that I am thinking of him.

But tomorrow comes – and tomorrow goes,

And the distance between us grows and grows

Around the corner, but miles away..

“Here’s a telegram, Jim died today.”

And that’s what we get, and deserve in the end:

Around the corner, a lost friend.

Your life will be a great deal more cheerful if you take advantage of the opportunity to say, “Thank You,” or “I Love You,” or “I Appreciate what you have done.” Never make the mistake of thinking that he knows, or she knows. Tell him. Tell her.

FORGIVE THEM

“The Lord forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”

-Psalm 103:3

Sigmund Freud, the Austrian psychiatrist, said, “One must forgive one’s enemies, but not before they have been hanged.” I thought of those words as I spoke with a dignified, cultured woman in her 70’s. She had grown up with loyalty instilled in her, but someone betrayed her, and that person became an enemy until death.

But late in life, she had been forced to reexamine this.  Jesus Christ had become real to her. He said, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14, 15). This last part got to her. She said, “If God won’t forgive me unless I forgive my enemies, I guess I had better learn how to do it.”

What does forgiveness do?

First: It breaks down the door of the prison where you have been both prisoner and jailer. Bitterness has imprisoned you, and your isolation from someone who was once your friend has nailed shut the door. Life is far too short to be lived with anger and hatred.

Second: Forgiveness restores and heals broken relationships. “I’d so much like my brother to come to my wedding,” a man told his counselor. “Well, why don’t you invite him.” There was a long pause as the man said, “Something happened and we just drifted apart.” Drifting apart is the result of an unforgiving spirit. To forgive reverses that trend and brings you back towards each other.

Third: Forgiveness also add years to your life and health to your soul. Make a study of those who have lived over 80 years and you will find people who are at peace with themselves and have learned to forgive their enemies.

COMPASSION

“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

-James 5:11

When C.Leslie Miller was chatting with an elderly surgeon friend, he asked, “Doctor, do you ever worry about the time when your fingers will lose their skills?” The doctor paused and then replied, “No, but I do confess that at times I worry that the day may come when my heart will no longer feel the suffering of my patients.” What he was describing was “Compassion.” Another man put it, “Better that your heart has no words than your words have no heart.” The Greek word for compassion literally means to “Suffer with someone.” It means you feel what they feel – you hurt where they hurt.

Many of our problems could be solved if we learn to hurt where others hurt. Jesus did this. When He was criticized for eating with tax-gatherers and sinners, Jesus replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means..” (Matthew 9:12, 13.)

How can your heart feel again? First – ask God to break up the hardness of your heart. We have become desensitized by our video-saturated world. We think of tenderness as weakness rather than strength. We need to learn that it’s okay to cry, feel, and respond to our emotions. Read 2 Timothy 3, and note how Paul’s words are a description of so many today.

Second, take a genuine interest in others. The heart has an amazing capacity to love, provided it is not suffocating with self-love.

Finally – reach out and touch somebody who is hurting. You won’t have to go very far for the world is full of hurting people. When you reach out, you will discover that healing comes for your needs as well.

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”

-Psalm 37:7

Animal lovers recognize that only the dog who trusts his master will lie on his back while you scratch his chest because in that position, it is totally vulnerable. So it is with us – nothing makes us more helpless than being in the position of having played out our options. There is nothing more we can do except trust God.

About 3,000 years ago, God addressed this issue as He said, “Be still and know that I Am God” (Psalm 46:10). The word translated “Be still” also means “Relax, let go, stop pushing.” Is anything so contrary to our nature? But there are times and situations which are beyond our scope and power to fix, and it is then that God says, “Be still and know that I Am God.”

In her book “The Edges of His Ways”, Amy Carmichael wrote, “There is no command in the whole Bible so difficult to obey and so penetrating in power, as the command to be still.” Amy Carmichael was never a woman to sit idly by and do nothing when she saw difficulty. Working in India among the outcasts, Amy began to notice with horror that thousands of little girls were temple prostitutes. Rising to do battle with this evil, she spent her life rescuing them and establishing training schools for them. Yet Amy learned through difficulty and physical pain, that there are times when we only do nothing but wait upon the Lord.

God not only tells us to be still, but adds a second command, “Know that I Am God!” Meditation or being quiet may have some therapeutic value. Taking time from a busy schedule never hurts anyone, but just slowing down isn’t enough. Understanding that God is God gives meaning to what otherwise would be a hopeless situation.

NESTOR SARMIENTO

You are a man who drive and let the wind rustle through your skin. You are a man who make people around you feel alive. You are a type of person that brings good energy wherever you go, and the type of person people want to be around. I hope you will continue to live louder, shine brighter from this moment on.

#NestorYang

#NeYa

NESTOR SARMIENTO

Deserve natin na paggising ng umaga ay maramdaman nating espesyal tayo sa isang tao. Deserve din natin na pagkatapos ng nakakapagod na araw ay maramdaman nating hindi tayo nag-iisa.

We deserve to fall in love. We deserve to wake up one day and know we are with the right person and we will never doubt that.

#NestorYang

#NeYa

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com

Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.

A negative mind will never give you a positive life.

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

THE PRICE FOR YOUR FAITH

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

-Matthew 5:5-10

You are a single male, an educator teaching in a local junior college. You show up for classes on Monday morning to be greeted by a trio of khaki-clad men who ask to talk with you. You are escorted to a small room where one of the men reads a document accusing you of being a religious zealot. They show you a photo of yourself, obviously shot with a telephoto lens. Your mind reels, trying to place the location. The building in the photo is the apartment where your friend lives, the one who invited you to attend a small gathering of believers who meet weekly for prayer and Bible Study.

The three men say you need to reeducated and effective immediately, you are relieved of your teaching duties. You have seven days to report to a country farm where you will work and attend indoctrination classes. There’s no trial, no appeal.

Absurd! That all depends on where you live. The fact is that this very scene, reminiscent of what took place in the Cultural Revolution in China, is again taking place.

Donald, my son-in-law and I have been to China and got to talk to a lot of people including veterans of previous repressions. “What can believers elsewhere do to be ready should persecution ever come to us?” Donald asked them. We heard them suggest three things.

First – tell people to make sure that they are Born Again. Scores of people know about Christianity and consider themselves Christians yet have never been Born Again. Second – tell people to internalize their faith. In other words, get your faith in your heart. Don’t wear in on your sleeve. Third – tell people to know the Word of God and be able to stand on it.

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

THE GREATEST TEMPTATION

The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?

-Psalm 27:1

There is an old story that says when Christians were under severe persecution in Rome, Peter decided he would leave. As Peter walks out of Rome, he encounters the resurrected Christ who is going the opposite direction. When asked by Peter, “Quo Vadis?” (Where are you going?), Christ replies that He is going back to Rome to die again. Whereupon Peter returns to Rome and there, according to tradition, is martyred, having been crucified upside down.

Anyone who has ever experienced the fear of persecution can understand the struggle, the desire to flee, and save his hide. But only those who have survived have any right to criticize those who waver. Such as Wang Ming Tao, who lived most of his life in seething caldron of controversy and challenge.

Finding Christ as a young man, Wang first felt the bitter taste of rejection when he was thrown out of school because of his decision to be baptized. Eventually, Wang Ming Tao and his wife were both sent to prison; he for 22 years, and she for 20 years because of their refusal to give up what they believed in.

Shortly before of his death, Wang told a friend, “Living in this world, a person will encounter three strong temptations. The first is the temptation of material things. The second temptation is that of vanity. The third temptation is of the flesh.” Reflecting on these he continued, “I have encountered all of these, and thanks be to God, for none of these things did I ever fail.” Then with remorse he said, “But at the end I fell, but for what reason? Fear.” Then he added, “And now, after many years of great trial, I have learned another lesson. Even fear will give way to victory!”

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

ON GIVING THANKS

“Give thanks in all circumstances.”

-1 Thessalonians 5:18

Give thanks? How can I give thanks on such a day as this? All over the world there are wars, hunger, oppression, and unrest. How can I truly give thanks under the present conditions?

There is a man in history called Habakkuk. He lived about 600 years before Christ, when the world was in great turmoil. There appeared to be no hope for Habakkuk’s nation of Israel. He saw corruption and confusion everywhere. “Why does God not intervene?” He asked. “Why is God silent in times of disaster?”

Habakkuk did find answer. The answer lies in that God is still on the throne of the universe. He is from everlasting to everlasting. Said the Psalmist: “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hand. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure, thou changest them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end” (Psalm 102:25-28).

Habakkuk had questions in his mind; but he brought them to God. God not only answered his questions, but He also put a song in his heart.

You will find that as you put your faith in Jesus, peace and joy will flood your heart, in spite of difficult circumstances about you. Any thanksgiving time will be the best ever, because your happiness does not depend upon world conditions or material gain but upon a loving heavenly Father who is still on the throne and who cares for us individually. Give thanks? Yes, you can if your faith rests in God.

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

MEN AND WOMEN DO NOT TALK THE SAME

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

-Genesis 2:18

Men and women just don’t communicate the same way, contends a new book “You just don’t understand women and men in conversation.” Written by sociologist Deborah Tannen. Tannen videotaped hundreds of hours of conversations between males and females and analyzed the substance of their conversations.

Have you experienced difficulty in communicating with your mate or members of the opposite sex?

One: Remember that men communicate from the realm of the physical, women the emotional. Communication has three levels (1) trivia (2) facts (3) emotions. Men reach the limits of their ability to communicate when they explore feelings. With women, however, it begins there and go from the physical to the emotional.

Two: Remember that communication means something totally different to men. When asked to rate themselves as a communicator on a scale of 1 to 10, men always rate themselves 3 points above their wive’s rating.

Three: Understand that every person has a vital need to communicate; look for the level of communication which allows adequate expressions. For a man, it means opening up to vent emotions and feelings; for a woman, it means understanding that her husband may be trying when she reads his efforts as insufficient. And she offers criticism.

Four: Accept that communication skills can be learned no matter how you grew up.

Five: Learn to interpret the non-verbal signals which communicate in more than 700, 000 ways.

Six: Tell your mate how much you value your relationship and why communication is important to you.

Charles Dickens gave good advice when he said: Never close your lips to him to whom you have opened your heart.

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

LIFE IS FRAGILE

Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow, what is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

-James 4:14

Boris Yeltzin was weathering the stormy coup in Moscow. As he mounted the barricade outside the parliament, he allowed his five-year-old granddaughter to climb up and stand by his side. History was being made and it was a grand moment to share with this little girl.

Seeing the soldiers and tanks, the little girl turned to her now powerful grandfather and asked, “Grandfather, will the soldiers shoot us in the head?” at her question, reality turned and I felt the fragility of life, Yeltzin said in an interview of CNN.

“What is your life?” asks one of the first New Testament books to be written. I thought of those words as I stood beside the bed of a friend’s dad who was described as a very careful driver. He always wore seatbelts and never exceeded the speed limit. Yet a car approaching from the opposite direction drifting off the highway and injuring him.

Moses, who had known both the classroom of Egypt and the vastness of a classroom under the stars as he took care of his father-in-law’s sheep, said life is like a tale that is told, or a story which a shepherd would tell around the camp fire at the end of the day (Psalm 90:4).

Three thousand years ago, Moses talked about our years as being “Threescore years and ten” (Psalm 90:10), or 70 years, still about the length of the average life span today. But of one thing I am certain – eventually, we will cross the threshold which separates us from eternity.

The real enemy is not death: it is an empty life which brings us to the end with no assurance of life beyond the grave. Think about it.

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED

I will remember the deeds of the Lord… I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.

-Psalm 77:11,12

How would you like to be remembered when you die? The American humorist Mark Twain said, “So live that when you die, even the undertaker will be sorry”  - not an easy accomplishment. Douglas Mac Arthur is remembered for saying, “Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away.” Jonas Salk as the man who discovered the polio vaccine. And some will be remembered for their evil deeds – as serial killers, assassins, political terrorists, rapist or thieves.

 In the Old Testament book of Chronicles are fascinating stories of famous and powerful people. Some went to their deaths in disgrace and some in fame and glory. Their life stories finish with a one – line summary. For example, King Jehoram, was arrogant and ill-liked. He died at 32 of an incurable disease. The chapter on his life closes with these words: “He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.” (2 Chronicles 21:20).

What a contrast to another king Josiah, who lived a few generations later. Of him it was written, “He was buried in the tombs of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.” Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah which to this day are sung.

If for some strange reason God draws a line at the end of your life at 12 tonight, how would you be remembered? No one knows when we should prepare the epitaph for our final resting place. Yet we are remembered both for what we are and what we do, negatively or positively.

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

CIRCUMSTANCES

Be still and know that I am God.

-Psalm 46:10

Two prospectors went to a desert in search for a gold. They carefully noted every landmark, because to be lost could mean certain death. One night a great storm drove them into a cave, and from there they watched the lightning flash. Soon the rain began to pour and floodwaters gushed across the desert, ripping up cacti and completely changing the terrain.

One of the prospectors cried out in panic, “All the landmarks are swept away and we are lost!” But the other man calmly said, “Wait! Soon the storm clouds will be gone, and we will see the sky.” Sure enough, the clouds rolled back and when the two old prospectors saw the stars, they found their bearings.

The prospectors have faded into history, but the panic that one feels when the landmarks are swept away is still in the hearts of many people today. People see the landscape of humanity destroyed and are quick to panic. As the prospectors had to wait and look up, so the solution to your concern lies in looking upward.

Two things give me peace amidst the storms of life. One is by looking at the stars in the heavens, I realize that the God who placed them above, eons of years ago, is the same today. Second, by remembering the ruins of ancient civilizations, I realize that the problems confronting me are not here to stay. They are merely part of the challenge of life, and they, like the civilizations of the past, will not be with me forever.

It is by looking upward that gives us our bearing when the circumstances of life are chaotic. There is the anchor of a loving God who never changes. He speaks to our hearts today amidst the thunder and roar of life.

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

BELIEF WITHOUT PROOF

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

-Hebrews 11:1

“Faith,” wrote the Quaker scholar Elton Trueblood, “is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.” Yet the fact is, faith seems to contradict the world of reality.

The saying goes, “Seeing is believing” but in reality, believing is seeing. This is what Jesus taught in John 10. It was part of a heated conversation Jesus had with some religious leaders of the day who called Him “demon-possessed” (John 10:19). The people, who had more spiritual insight than their leaders said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” (John 10:21).

Jesus said, “Believe the miracles, that you may learn and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (John 10:38). Notice the progression of those three verbs which are like steps to spiritual understanding: First, believe – then learn, then understand.

We reverse it today. First, we want to understand everything. We want proof. Only then are we willing to believe. That’s our problem. Believing comes first, said Jesus. Then knowing, then understanding.

In writing to the Corinthians, Paul said, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corintihans 2:14).

Have you reversed the order, insisting that you understand first, and then you will believe? Try it the other way around. Believe, and with the step of faith will come knowledge, then understanding. Believing is seeing!

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com

MOOD: wanna move to another city and start a new life

I love the sound of smooth winds and gentle wings of butterflies and dragonflies on a quiet field. I find it so peaceful.

I love the sound of heavy rain and thunder on a dark night. I find it so peaceful.

It is always nice to stop and smell the roses, or the sunflowers.

cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com

THE FIVE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN YOUR LIFE

1.JESUS and your relationship with Him

2.To be like Him

3.To do His works

4.To win the lost

5.To live ready, rapture ready

-Apostle Renato D.Carillo

www.miraclehour.org

THROUGH FAITH WE UNDERSTAND

“For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

-2 Corinthians 4:18

Long ago, a poet remarked that birds fly but we cannot because birds have perfect faith and we do not. Aeronautical engineers tell us that it is impossible for birds to fly because of the way they are made. Yet birds, not knowing that they cannot fly, rise to heights above.

The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, “Through faith we understand that the world’s were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3). Let’s look into the phrase, “Through faith we understand…”

Faith and logic seem to be contradictory. Some things seem not to have logic to them whatsoever. Yet, when taken by faith, we can come to accept and understand what may not be perfectly logical. Some people, lacking faith, are stumped by the lack of logic and struggle for most of their lives, waiting for explanations which will never come.

One of the reasons that Scripture talks about “faith as a little child” is that children are not connected with logic; theirs is simple, straightforward trust, and on the wings of faith, they understand.

It isn’t that faith is an enemy of logic, for there are times when faith is the most logical thing in the world. But faith transcends logic; this means through faith we understand what you consider that logical is somewhat of a judgment call – it’s an understanding of what you think. God’s logic, however, is totally different than ours, and by accepting His point of view by faith, we understand many things which would otherwise escape us.

Faith transcends logic, and apart from faith, relationships break down quickly. This means there is a logic to faith and through faith, we understand.

THE BLANK SPOT

“I Am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

-John 14:6

In 1911, thieves broke into the prestigious Louvre art gallery in Paris and took the Mona Lisa. During the two-year period when the haunting image of the woman was missing, there were more people who come to the gallery to stare at the empty spot on the wall than those who had gone to look at the masterpiece in the twelve previous years. People were coming to the Louvre to see what wasn’t there.

Have you noticed that the most of us do the same thing? When we are blessed with health, we never stop to think about how our circulatory system works or our legs and arms function, or how our eyes focus properly. But let illness strike and suddenly we understand how much of these we have taken for granted.

Hellen Keller once wrote, “I have often thought that it would be a blessing if human beings were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during their adult lives. Darkness would make them more appreciative of sight; silence would teach them the joys of sound.” She had a point.

In China and Russia, I have given Bibles to individuals who had never owned one before, who had lived under repressive governments where Bibles were not allowed. It is impossible to describe the look of joy and gratitude in their eyes as we presented them with one. How carefully they grasped the book with both hands as though dropping it would be a tragedy of indescribable consequences.

Like the people who came to visit the blank spot on the wall when the Mona Lisa disappeared, I suspect that we would all protest if we lost the right and privilege to own and carry Bibles. Yet scores of us never take advantage of the grand Book which guides us to heaven’s shore.

MAXIMILLAN KOLBE

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down His life for His friends.”

-John 15:13

It was 3pm in one of the last days of July 1941 at the Auschwitz concentration camp. The sirens began to shriek and German sentries shouldered their guns. There had been an escape. Silently the men of Block 14 prayed that the escapee had not been from their block. That evening their worst fears were confirmed. The missing prisoner had been from Block 14.

The next day, the remaining 600 men from Block 14 were forced to stand on the parade ground under the broiling sun. Those who collapsed were left to die where they lay. At the day’s end, the deputy commander, Fritsch, arrived to announced the fate of the terrified men.

“The fugitive has not been found,” barked Fritsch. “In reprisal for your comrade’s escape, 10 of you will die by starvation. Next time it will be 20.”

The ten were selected. One of those men, Franciszek Gajowniezek, a Polish army sergeant, was sobbing, “My wife and my children.” Suddenly, a Polish Fransciscan priest, Maximillan Kolbe, pushed his way to the front as guards sighted their rifles on his chest. “I want to talk to the commander,” he said, looking Fritsch straight in the eye. “I want to die in the place of the prisoner,” he said pointing to the sobbing Gajowniezed.

Maximillan Kolbe died in place of a man who bore the sentence of death. In all probability, God will never ask you to make the decision Kolbe made. Yet He does ask you to make a decision – for to love demands sacrifice for someone else. None of us has the right to live selfishly, for all of us have been the recipients, in some way, of the love that prompted Maximillan Kolbe to give up his life.

DOES IT MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE

“And without faith it is impossible to please God.”

-Hebrews 11:6

Does it make any difference what you believe, just so that you believe it with all your heart? Millions of men and women would answer no. They would respond that it does not make much difference what you believe as long as you believe it will all your might. Some would perhaps add that all religions lead to the same place if you do your best and follow the teaching.

A number of prominent medical authorities recognize the therapeutic power of belief as opposed to the debilitating and unhealthy effects of doubt and skepticism.

Several months ago, I was on an airplane when it was hit with a strong turbulence. Trays of food were dumped left and right. The coffee cup I was holding stayed in my hand while the coffee spiraled towards the ceiling in an eerie column for a few seconds before it dropped. Most of it missing the cup. I turned to the young man seated next to me and said, “This turbulence would make even an atheist a little more unsure of himself, wouldn’t it?”

He smiled and we joked for a minute. But the incident did trigger off a rather serious discussion on the importance of faith. As our plane tossed back and forth, I said to the young man, “It isn’t my faith in those jet engines that is going to get us to our destination, it is their power to lift us above the storm. No matter how great my faith in them, if they have not the power to overcome the force of gravity and the turbulence of the storm, we are in trouble.”

That is the big difference between faith and belief and faith in God. The validity of Christianity is not the strength of your belief, but rather its strength is in the empty tomb and God’s power that brought Jesus forth from the grave.

COLD OR HOT

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.”

-Revelation 3:19

In the first century, Laodicea was a wealthy banking center. It became famous for its medical center which specialized in eye problems. And eye salve was produced in Laodicea which was exported all over the known world.

Laodicea was also not without a Christian witness. We know that Paul instructed the Colossians to read the letter he had written to the Church at Laodicea, and asked that his letter to the Colossians be copied and sent to the Laodicean believers.

A generation after the Laodicean church was born, another letter was sent to the Church there – a stinging rebuke which came from the pen of John the Apostle. In this letter, Christ says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15, 16). The rebuke continues, “Because you say, ‘I am rich and I have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes that you may see” (3:17, 18).

What happened in the generation that had passed since the warmth of first love was born in the hearts of the Laodiceans? Complacency, smugness, and indifference had taken its toll. The Laodiceans thought they had everything they needed. They had material riches but were spiritually impoverished. They exported eye salve all over the world but were blind to their true condition.