Amazing Grace

By: Ellen G. White

“Pride of the heart is always associated with ignorance of God. It is the light of God that discovers our darkness and destitution.” – Review and Herald, Feb. 9, 1897

“We are called by Christ to come out from the world and to be separate. We are called to live holy lives, having our hearts continually drawn out to God, and having in our lives the Holy Spirit as an abiding presence. Every true believer in Christ will reveal that the grace of His love is in the heart. Where once there was estrangement from God, there will be revealed copartnership with Him; where once the carnal nature was manifest, there will be seen the attributes of the divine.” -Review and Herald, Aug. 19, 1909

By: Gabriela Yareliz

True religion and spirituality changes the life and heart of a person. We no longer want to be the same, but we strive for something better through the power of Jesus Christ. We realize we cannot do it on our own. Time and time again we fail; it can be frustrating. You want to go in one direction but as Paul said, you do the opposite. On our own, we are weak. If only we could realize His power is enough to overcome.

It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, what is important is that we are willing to stand up again. This takes humility and courage. This journey is only for the humble and brave. If we are willing, He extends His hand to us.

With our permission, He changes our hearts and all things are made new.
Conversion means change. Without change we deny the power of Him who overcame everything, even death.

Praise God that His grace and His power is greater than our sin and need.

Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly. I’m a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.-John Newton

Creator

By: Gabriela Yareliz

A Stylish Creator

Designers pride themselves in their work.(That is an Oscar De La Renta up there.) They carefully craft together different fabrics and create something magnificent. A piece of them that goes out into the world for all to see. The materials are placed carefully where they are needed, and when it all comes together, often times what you have is perfection.

If something like a dress takes so much time, planning, designing and stitching, why is it that man thinks we randomly came into existence and for no purpose at all? We are much more intricate and fascinating than a dress, are we not?
For life to exist on this planet, conditions must be just right–which didn’t happen at random.

Genesis, EX NIHILO (From nothing)

DAY ONE-Light and time

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was[a] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

By God’s word, things came into existence. Now, because there was morning and evening, time comes into being, and the first literal day passes.

DAY TWO-Firmament, atmosphere

6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

DAY THREE-Water and land organized

9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

DAY FOUR- Sun, moon and stars

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

DAY FIVE-Creatures of water and sky

20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

DAY SIX- Land creatures, man

24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all[b] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

DAY SEVEN- THE SABBATH INSTITUTED

2 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Why is creation important to us? It reminds us that God is sovereign and above all things. It reminds us that He spoke things into being and that just as He made something organized and lovely from nothing, He can take our lives and make them new. He can take our hearts and change us, He can make something beautiful from empitness. It reminds us that we should keep the day He sanctified from the beginning of time,

“And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:” Mark 2:27

Every boy and every girl deserves a chance to see this world…

Lyrics by Keegan Smith: Road Trippin’

I got the pedal to the medal
My foot through the flow
My windows rolled down
Music blasting so loud
I’m just road trippin’
Rock it out, Road trippin’ (x3)

Let the concrete jungle full of pain
Replace my struggles with a mountain range
From fast pace cars they roll so slow
To a rippling river that only flows
In one direction
My direction

The outside world is so refreshing
This connection is a blessing
Trail blazin’
Life lesson

Every boy and every girl
Deserves a chance to see this world
So put away your MTV, your ipod players and your DVDs
Wakeup, stretch out
Get out, move on
The air out here is best at dawn
Wakeup, stretch out
Get out, move on
The air out here is crisp and

I got the pedal to the medal
My foot through the flow
My windows rolled down
Music blasting so loud
I’m just road trippin’
Rock it out, Road trippin’
(x3)

I got the pedal to the medal
My foot through the flow
My windows rolled down
Music blasting so loud
I’m just road trippin’
Rock it out, Road trippin’ (x3)

Inspiration for the day, Jan. 15, 2013

By: Gabriela Yareliz

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” -Mother Teresa

“One often sees a call only in retrospect. This too is God’s design. God often reinforces our faith after we trust him, not before.”-Ravi Zacharias

“There is no greater discovery than seeing God as the author of your destiny.” -Ravi Zacharias

“Having the answers is not essential to living. What is essential is the sense of God’s presence during dark seasons of questioning.”-Ravi Zacharias

“The four absolutes we all have in our minds: love, justice, evil, and forgiveness.”-Ravi Zacharias

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.” -Mother Teresa

Echa pa’lla

By: Gabriela Yareliz
Today, it looked like sunset all day in NYC. Not a pretty sunset, but darkness. The positive was it was 50 degrees.
School starts tomorrow; some things have gone amazingly; other things haven’t exactly gone as planned, it doesn’t mean they aren’t working out but it isn’t what I had in mind… but that is how God works. My pastor told me last Sabbath: Sometimes, our greatest disappointments turn out to be our greatest blessing.

Anyway… embracing the heritage, here are two songs. Positive songs reminding us about the beauty of life and its simple and fantastic miracles. Human emotion, happiness and dance.

STAY POSITIVVVVVVEEEE (as my friend Olga would say) and

get up and move! 😉

Take the bad and move it to the side and lift your hands [enjoy the moment]!
Then move to the side and then to the other.
This is the Latin invasion, don’t like it? Keep walking…
Everybody up, up–time to enjoy life.-Pitbull

ZUMBA-Don OMAR (This is how I exercise [Zumba]–oh, the fun)

Madness!

By: Gabriela Yareliz

The more I see of this city, it still amazes me that we humans are willing to live in certain conditions…especially when other places have a lower cost of living and better lifestyles to offer. Like, there are places where you don’t pay $7 for a loaf of bread and $12 for a regular jug of Tropicana (no joke… true story); places where the sun shines, and you can live in a place with space that doesn’t look like a dungeon. Let’s just say I feel lucky to live where I live in the city. Manhattan, the island of rich people. New York City is quite deceiving; the glitter and glamour is not for all–only those who can afford it or can pretend to afford it– anyway, enough with my New York sentiments. It is just hard to be in this gray city watching people around you either living in their own world or simply trying to make it.

Today, I saw a guy reverse down 5th Ave in a silver BMW. Another guy crossing 5th Ave., with a stroller, dropped his baby’s toy and is on his cell phone (FOLLOW THIS SEQUENCE), and he lets go of the stroller to pick up the toy while the stroller rolled away (with the baby in it, mind you); he then ran after it. Another guy cursing out a woman on his phone. Amazing.

Oh, the madness.

I loved my time in Florida. It was a time of family. I miss them very much. Moments with family can be so random, funny and wonderful. There is nothing like family.

Sigh… classes start up again soon. Thank God first semester went fantastically. Praise Jesus! Spring is on the way, Valentine’s Day will be romancing us before we know it…I hope that soon an end to what seems like an endless stretch of gloominess in this city will end.

I flew back into the city, got my room ready for the new semester; the new routine.

I wish you all a good night my lovely friends. Thank you for your amazing readership this past year. Thank you for caring about the things I care about even slightly, and for taking the time to read what I write.
Sending my love …