Treasures In Jars Of Clay

"The god of this age has blinded the minds
of unbelievers, so that they cannot see
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God.

For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of
darkness,' made His light shine in our
hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to
show that this all-surpassing power is from
God and not from us."

2Corinthians 4:4; 4: 6-7


People, who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior and who have not been born again, are blinded and cannot see the glory of the word of God. For they are steeped in sins and are still in the state of depravity. They laugh and make fun of those who follow the way of the Lord as presented in the Bible. But the Holy Spirit, who dwells in our hearts as His very temple, made His light shine in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And to show that His light and His power came from God and not from men, He placed this light and His power in jars of clay (our puny mortal bodies) to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from men. As we continue to follow the way of Christ in living in this transient and decadent world, we reflect the glory of Christ in our lives transformed by the Holy Spirit from glory to glory until we reach the whole measure of the fullness of Jesus Christ where we shine like shining stars in the firmament of heaven.


We Will See Him - Hillsong



Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Treasures, Jars of Clay, Blinded The Minds, Unbelievers, Light of The Gospel, Glory of Christ, Image of God, Darkness, All-Surpassing Power, Lord and Savior, Born Again, Word of God, Steeped in Sins, State of Depravity, Way of The Lord, Temple of The Holy Spirit, Knowledge, Transient, Decadent World, Fullness of Christ, Holy Bible

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Gospel/Word of God/Holy Bible

The Day Of The Lord

"Now brothers, about times and dates we do not
need to write to you, for you know very well that
the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,'
destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor
pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you, brothers, are not in darkness that this day
should surprise you like a thief.
You are all sons of the light and sons of the day.
We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep,
but let us be alert and self-controlled."
1Thessalonians 5: 1-6


The Lord will come like a thief in the night while majority of the people least expect of it. People who are living in sin and worldly pleasures have already developed a hardened heart. Since they refused to listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit warning them of an impending doom if they continue to disregard His voice in their conscience and still continue to wallow in sinful living, their hearts became hardened and their conscience became immune to the voice of God. Most of these people turn to hollow philosophies and other deceptive teachings to justify their evil ways. When the Lord comes, their evil ways will be exposed and they will receive their due punishment. Not so with the children of light who keeps their spiritual fire burning in their hearts. They live in total obedience to the will of the Lord and live righteous lives. They are ever expectant of the eventual coming of the Lord and are praying hard and trusting God to overcome their trials in life.


Find Us Faithful - Steve Green



Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Brothers, Times And Dates, Day Of The Lord, Thief In The Night, Peace and Safety, Destruction, Labor Pains, Pregnant Woman, Darkness, Sons of The Light, Alert, Self Controlled, Hardened Heart , Still Small Voice, Conscience, Sinful Living, Voice of God, Hollow Philosophies, Deceptive Teachings, Total Obedience, Spiritual Fire, Prayers, Find Us Faithful

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Word of God/Gospel

Imitating Christ's Humility

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Each of you should look not only to your own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the very nature, God, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped, but made
Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to death- even death on
a cross!

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave
Him the name that is above every name, that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth
and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2: 3-11


We must imitate Christ by being obedient to God's will and by exercising humility. We must not only think of our own interests but also the interests of others. We must follow Christ's examples of perfect obedience to His Father's will and extreme humility. Jesus Christ, being the only begotten Son of God, adored by countless angels in heaven and saints on earth, became obedient to the will of the Father to redeem lost humanity. He was born in the most humble way imaginable- among lowly animals in a manger on a stable. He became obedient to the will of the Father even up to His own death on the cross. He never thought of His own welfare and safety but sacrificed His very Self to reopen the doors of heaven to men. How many of us can imitate Christ's ways of becoming obedient and humble? We can cooperate with the Holy Spirit for the complete transformation of our selfish selves to the selfless attitude reflective of Jesus Christ.

He Knows My Name - Tommy Walker




Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Humility, Selfish Ambition, Vain Conceit, Attitude, Servant, Obedient, Exalted, Name, Knee, Bow, Tongue, Confess, Imitation of Christ, Interest, Salvation, Welfare of Others, Selfless, He Knows Our Names

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Spiritual/Gospel/Holy Bible

The Fruit Of The Spirit

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify
the desires of the sinful nature.
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to
the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the
sinful nature.
They are in conflict with each other, so that you
do not do what you want.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under
law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual
immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry
and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of
rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and
envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I did before, that those who live
like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self control.
Against such things there is no law.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the sinful nature with its passions
and desires.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in
step with the Spirit."

Galatians 5: 16-25


When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior and became born again, we have already discarded our old self of sinfulness and evil desires. Then we became new creations in Christ nurtured by the Holy Spirit to do good deeds as fruits of righteousness. We must never live again as we did before, satisfying the desires of our evil nature. If we still keep on doing our old evil ways, we will be alienated from God and will grieve the Holy Spirit. Backsliding and prolonged separation from the Holy Spirit will result in the hardening of our heart and the suppression of our conscience. There will come a time when we will no longer hear the voice of the Holy Spirit nor be convicted of our sinful acts. The safe way is to live by the Spirit, by surrendering our will and life to God. That way, we will be cooperating in the work of the Holy Spirit to transform us from the lowly humans that we were to become the children of God, doing righteous acts for the glory of God alone.


Holy Spirit Come Fill This Place - Cece Winans



Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Fruit of The Holy Spirit, Live By The Spirit, Desires. Sinful Nature, Conflict, Sexual Immorality, Impurity, Debauchery, Idolatry, Witchcraft, Hatred, Discord, Jealousy, Fits of Rage, Selfish Ambition, Dissensions, Factions, Envy, Drunkenness, Orgies, Kingdom of God, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self Control, Crucified, Passions, Word of God, Holy Bible

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Word of God/Gospel/Holy Bible

Live By The Spirit As Children Of God

"For if you live according to the sinful nature,

you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to

death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

because those who are led by the Spirit of God

are sons of God.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you

a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit

of sonship.

And by Him we cry, Abba, Father.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that

we are God's children.

Now if we are children, then we are heirs- heirs

of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we

share in His sufferings in order that we may also

share in His glory."

Romans 8: 13-17

When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior and became born again, we became children of God and co-heirs with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God. Now as children of God, we must put off our former way of life when we were yet slave to sin. We must live by the Spirit, sustained by the infinite grace of God. We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit for the full transformation of our lowly selves until we reach the whole measure of the fullness of Jesus Christ. Then we truly become the light of the world and the salt of the earth, doing our righteous fruits for the glory of our living God who has given us all spiritual gifts according to His infinite grace.

Amazing Grace - Hayley Westenra

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Live By The Spirit, Children of Light, Amazing Grace, Sons of God, Children of God, Co-Heirs With Jesus Christ, Transformation, Light of The World, Salt of The Earth, Spiritual Gifts

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Philippines

Spiritual/Word of God/Gospel

Jesus Is The Gate And The Good Shepherd

"I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.

All who ever came before Me were thieves and

robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will

be saved.

He will come in and go out, and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

I have come that they may have life, and have it

to the full.

I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and

My sheep know Me- just as the Father knows

Me and I know the Father- and I lay down My

life for the sheep.

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.

I must bring them also.

They too will listen to My voice, and there shall

be one flock and one shepherd."

John 10:7-10 , 10:14-16

Jesus Christ is the gate and also the good shepherd. All the others who came before Him were all thieves and robbers. He is the only way to salvation and nobody can enter heaven except through Him. He is a good shepherd who knows the name of each and every sheep He has. He calls them by their name and they listen to His voice. Jesus is the good shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep so that they may enjoy eternal life. He knows that there are other sheep not belonging to His sheep pen. He longs to bring them to His sheep pen too so that the day will come when there will be but one sheep pen and one shepherd. We are all called upon to gather the lost sheep of God and bring them to the sheep pen of the Lord so that they may also enjoy abundant and eternal life.

All Things Are Possible - Hillsong

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Gate, Good Shepherd, Thieves, Robbers, Sheep, Pasture, Kill, Steal, Destroy, Abundant Life, Sheep Pen, Voice, Call Them By Name

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Philippines

Spiritual/Gospel/Word of God

Wisdom And Humility- The Keys To A Life Pleasing To God

"Pride goes before destruction,

a haughty spirit before a fall.

Better to be lonely in spirit and

among the oppressed than to

share plunder with the proud.

Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,

and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

The wise in heart are called discerning,

and pleasant words promote instructions.

Understanding is a fountain of life

to those who have it,

but folly brings punishment to fools.

A wise man's heart guides his mouth,

and his lips promote instructions.

Pleasant words are a honeycomb,

sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

There is a way that seems right to a man,

but in the end it leads to death."

Proverbs 16: 18-25

The Bible says, "that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." A reverential fear of the Lord, whereby we avoid everything that will cause any displeasure to Him and alienate us with our Creator, is the right path to a righteous living. And humility is a virtue highly esteemed by the Lord. He brings down those who are proud and conceited and promote the cause of the lowly and humble of heart. Without wisdom and discernment, we may be living a life that seems pleasing to our eyes but without God's discerning wisdom in our heart, that same lifestyle might lead us to eternal death. Blind are those who follow their heart's desires for pleasure and fame. They are treading a wide path to destruction. Better to be humble and have a discerning heart that will teach us to follow the narrow path to eternal life with the Lord.

Majesty

Open Our Eyes

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Wisdom, Humility, Pride, Destruction, Blessings, Discernment, Understanding, Fountain of Life, Folly, Punishment, Pleasant Words, Word of God, Eternal Life, Grace, Love, Peace, Joy, Born Again, Holy Bible, Kingdom of God

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Philippines

Spiritual/Gospel/Word of God