Sick-day Sabbath

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Today, I am anti-social and sick. I feel better than I did last night. I hope this is as bad as it gets, because believe me, at school the last two rows of my property class are like the cloud of death. Everyone sneezing and coughing.

I have been taking weird concoctions of wheatgrass, vitamin C and echinacea. I have been sanitizing everything, and yet I am here–it could be worse though.

So, because I missed church today, I thought I would post some stuff that inspired me today.

1. Life is like a vehicle. There is no reverse, but don’t speed… just enjoy the ride.

2. “Nothing else matters anymore, than knowing you are fulfilling the purpose for which you were placed on the Earth–because once you have that, you are now alive.” Tony Evans

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5. Tony Evan’s: The Concept of Calling, Part I

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Sometimes, in life you feel you are blindfolded on the edge of a cliff–but the just shall live by faith.

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This week’s picks: Jan. 28, 2013 (last of January)

By: Gabriela Yareliz
This week has been so strange. It has been overwhelming. More reading, assignments and cold calls than ever. I got an offer and accepted a fantastic internship that I never imagined I would be working in (thanks for the prayers guys), and I helped head up a panel that was a complete success, thank God.

Also, I will admit the heart has been feeling fly– it has been an excellent week. Very overwhelming but soarin’.

My friend/doorman told me this week: Don’t believe anything is impossible, because with God, all things are possible. Even when there is no human way out and everything looks crazy or you feel trapped, it is only an illusion. The sea will be opened for you.

Believe in the impossible; expect the unexpected; never give up; be humble; allow providence to unfold.

Standing in the hall of fame

The Script-Hall of Fame

Yeah, You could be the greatest
You can be the best
You can be the king kong banging on your chest

You could beat the world You could beat the war
You could talk to God, go banging on his door

You can throw your hands up
You can be the clock
You can move a mountain
You can break rocks
You can be a master
Don’t wait for luck
Dedicate yourself and you can find yourself

Standing in the hall of fame
And the world’s gonna know your name
Cause you burn with the brightest flame
And the world’s gonna know your name
And you’ll be on the walls of the hall of fame

You could go the distance
You could run the mile
You could walk straight through hell with a smile
You could be the hero
You could get the gold
Breaking all the records that thought never could be broke
Do it for your people
Do it for your pride
Never gonna know if you never even try

Do it for your counrty
Do it for you name Cause there’s gonna be a day

When your, standing in the hall of fame
And the world’s gonna know your name
Cause you burn with the brightest flame
And the world’s gonna know your name
And you’ll be on the walls of the hall of fame

Be a champion, Be a champion, Be a champion, Be a champion

On the walls of the hall of fame

Be students
Be teachers
Be politicians
Be preachers

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions
Be true seekers

Be students
Be teachers
Be politicians
Be preachers

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions
Standing in the hall of fame
And the world’s gonna know your name
Cause you burn with the brightest flame
And the world’s gonna know your name
And you’ll be on the walls of the hall of fame

Lift up your head

Lift up your head

By: Gabriela Yareliz
Lift your head, the crown may fall.
You are a child of the Most High God.

He is owner of all in the world,
and will only give you His best.

Fear not if you lose something or sparkles fade.
He is standing by with Amazing Grace.
Things won’t be perfect, some things will bring pain–
in the end you may not be the same.

Withstand the test, and don’t lose your game.
Never doubt His goodness, never doubt His plan–
Never doubt that He is always holding your hand.

Do not be saddened and dry all of your tears,
the King of all Kings is your Father, here.

Lift up your head and act like who you are;
royalty darling, a child of the Most High God.

The Same God

Song by Lilly Goodman

That you heal the hurt;
and you give the blind man sight;
that you teach how to forgive;
I have heard all of those things and more…

That you help the fallen and give him words of faith;
that in you, people find peace;
all those rumors I have already heard…

And today, here you see me;
after so much searching, I found you;
and while bowing to your feet,
I confirmed what I had heard about you:

You are the God that transforms lives and
you give a way out when one prays with faith;
that God that breaks chains and the heart fills if you open it to him.
The God who says all things have changed and been made new;
the God that does miracles bigger than the ones He did yesterday.
The God that I want to adore and more than honor–
It is a pleasure to know you.

That you give hope and can change tears for a smile and more,
I read that somewhere…
That you calm the storm and can divide the sea,
I thought they had exaggerated,
but today, I see it is true.

And today, here you see me,
after so much searching, I found you,
and while bowing to your feet,
I confirmed what I had heard about you:

You are the God that transforms lives and
you give a way out when one prays with faith,
that God that breaks chains and the heart fills if you open it to him.
The God who says all things have changed and been made new;
the God that does miracles bigger than the ones He did yesterday.
The God that I want to adore and more than honor–
It is a pleasure to know you.

Powerful Address to Athens

By: Gabriela Yareliz
This is one of my favorite speeches and discourses ever given. It was Paul’s address to the men of Athens. It is an address to men of education, skepticism, spirituality and philosophy everywhere. It is poetic, deep, powerful and most of all, truthful.

Paul Addressing the Areopagus (Acts 17:22-31)

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood[a] every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Come now, let us reason together

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. ISAIAH 1:18

By: Gabriela Yareliz

We have a God who doesn’t ignore us. In fact, He tries to guide us and lead us in the best way for our lives according to His providence and mercy. When we are following our own inclinations, when we are dirty and full of mistakes and a mess–He doesn’t say, “Get away!”
Instead, He says “Come now, and let us reason together…” He wants to reason with us. He doesn’t force us, instead He reasons with us; He appeals to our intellect so we will choose to accept Him. He doesn’t force Himself onto anyone. He doesn’t just stop there. He also wants to change us. He offers an exchange. Our crimson, deep, humiliating stain for purity and white.

God sheds light from heaven on us, and admonishes our souls. He is constantly inviting us to come and reason with Him, so that we may be cleansed, renewed and changed.

It is our choice whether we listen to God and accept His invitation to change our scarlet for pure white.

“By every hesitation and delay, we place ourselves where it is more and more difficult for us to accept the light of heaven, and at last it seems impossible to be impressed to be impressed by admonitions and warnings.” Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, June 29, 1897.

If we ignore God’s invitation, He gives us freedom of choice. God never gives up on us, but He gives us our space. When we harden our hearts, we make ourselves deaf. He is still there inviting us, but we can’t hear Him anymore.

If we insist to be left alone it will be said as in Hosea 4:17, “[He] is joined to idols, let him be alone.”

“The Holy Spirit [God] seeks to abide in each soul. If it is welcomed as an honored guest, those who receive it will be made complete in Christ; the good work begun will be finished; and holy thoughts, heavenly affections, and Christlike actions take the place of impure thoughts, perverse sentiments and rebellious acts…But we need to guard well our hearts, for too often we forget the heavenly instructions we have received, and seek to act out the natural inclinations of our unconsecrated minds. Each one must fight his own battle against self.” Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases,vol. 18, pp. 47, 48.

Today, He tells you: Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.