Schopenhauer

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I’ve been an insomniac lately… this reminded me of Robert Benigni in “Life is Beautiful,” “La Vita E Bella,” where he tries Schopenhauer to go to sleep (because everything is possible when you want it to be and you can be what you want to be), and he also uses it on the woman he likes when he wants her to look at him. I love how he moves his little hands 🙂

Ferruccio says, “I wanted to sleep so I told myself, ‘sleep, sleep’…”

Then, Guido wakes him because he is literally saying it in his ear and moving his little hands… The secret is to not move your hands and not say anything out loud, Ferruccio says.

So– dormo, dormo… sleeeeeeep.

Painting by: Arturo Espinosa 

A man’s face as a rule says more, and more interesting things, than his mouth, for it is a compendium of everything his mouth will ever say, in that it is the monogram of all this man’s thoughts and aspirations. Arthur Schopenhauer
Every parting gives a foretaste of death, every reunion a hint of the resurrection. Arthur Schopenhauer
 “To live alone is the fate of all great souls.” Schopenhauer

Hope for triumph over evil and evidence

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Hey guys!

So, I was reading this morning and I read this passage that really made an impact on me. Because I wanted to share I typed it out, so you could read it… (I am just cool like that-kidding). I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to send me a message or comment if you wish (I do like dialogue).

From “The Great Hope,” Pacific Press and Review and Herald publishers:

“In His Word God has given enough evidence of its divine character. Yet finite minds are inadequate to comprehend fully the intentions of the Infinite One.  “How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). We can understand His actions and motives enough to see unlimited love and mercy united to infinite power.  Our Father in heaven will reveal to us as much as it is good for us to know. Beyond that we must trust the Hand that is all-powerful, the Heart that is full of love.

God will never remove all excuse for unbelief. All who look for hooks to hang their doubts will find them. And those who refuse to obey until every objection is gone, will never come to the light. The unrenewed heart is in conflict with God. But faith is inspired by the Holy Spirit and will flourish as we cherish it. No one can become strong in faith without persistent effort. If people allow themselves to raise trivial objections, they will find doubt becoming stronger.

But those who doubt the assurance of His grace dishonor Christ. They are unproductive trees that block sunlight from other plants, causing them to droop and die under their chilling shadow. The lifework of these people will always stand as a witness against them.

For those who honestly want to be freed from doubts, there is only one course to pursue. Instead of questioning the things they do not understand, they should pay attention to the light that already shines on them, and they will receive greater light.

Satan can produce a counterfeit that so closely resembles truth that it deceives those who are willing to be deceived, who want to avoid the sacrifice that the truth demands. But it is impossible for him to hold even one person under his power who honestly desires to know the truth no matter what the cost. Christ is the truth, the “Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” (John 1:9). “If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine,” (John 7:17).

The Lord permits His people to go through fiery ordeal of temptation, not because He enjoys their distress, but because this is essential to their final victory. It would be inconsistent with His own glory to shield them from temptation, because the purpose of the trial is to prepare them to resist all attractions of evil.”  (pg. 24)

…

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel,” (Genesis 3:15).  “This enmity, or hostility is not natural. When Adam and Eve broke the divine law, their natures became evil, in harmony with Satan… When Satan heard that enmity would exist between himself and the woman, and between his seed and her seed, he knew that by some means human beings were going to be enabled to resist his power.” (pg. 12)

“No one is safe for a day of an hour without prayer. Plead with the Lord for wisdom to understand His word. Satan is an expert in quoting scripture, placing his own interpretation on the passages in hopes of causing us to stumble. We should study with humility of heart. While we must constantly guard against Satan’s deceptions, we should pray in faith, continually, “Do not lead us into temptation” (Matthew 6:13).” (pg. 25)

-E.G. White

 

Vent

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Warning: What follows is a complete ventilation of feeling (really, more specifically, frustration)…

So, the creepy guy at the library who always looks around at people, more specifically Felicia and I, like he wants to abduct us, GO AWAY. No one likes the way you cough all over the keyboard and look around like you want to do something criminal. I was nice and gave you the benefit of the doubt for a while, but by the time you showed up next to me in a different library, I knew something was wrong. I have come to the conclusion that you are indeed creepy, and this is not an assumption. I am a journalist, and I work based on facts. Stop sitting next to us, and go see a doctor (this cough is a genuine concern)!

Have you ever sat through a class with a person chewing gum like a cow into your ear the entire time? This is also the class where your poor, overworked, exploited TA is sick as a dog because of the previously mentioned reasons and the fact that he doesn’t sleep probably thinking about how he will pay his next set of groceries. Get well soon, beloved TA. We all love your class. Sleep, and forget about administration and fee hikes. Sympathetically, your class.

Or how about a mediocre professor who sits there with a notepad and stares at the class, and if you have no new update on your reporting (which is often times not your fault because you rely on people you can’t control to get back to you) he will just scold you and say, “See you next time,” (this is followed by a eerie wink). He also gives you no advice, and watches you slave over a piece, and when you edit what he wants you to change, he gives you a grade that matches his teaching style. This is also the professor who doesn’t mention a book the whole semester and then wants to give a final exam on it. He is HILARIOUS. Only 3 kids do something in this class (ME INCLUDED).

THIS- is not my idea of quality education.

One last thing, since when do people talk about the meaning of life in the bathroom? Lately I have heard about boyfriends, life, and how to take naps. People… really… the bathroom?

I am over this. I had to express my disgust with the world today. And I promise I am smiling while I am writing this.

Got to love college life, and the sunshine which makes me smile.

Henry Ward Beecher: Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things.

Let us hope so, (non-creepy wink), let’s hope so…

Belief &Truth

By: Gabriela Yareliz

The words of this song are so meaningful. In times of uncertainty, it pays to think of those who faced big decisions and trials before you and how God delivered them in the past. God does not change, He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

/Many nights we’ve prayed

With no proof anyone could hear

In our hearts a hopeful song, we barely understood;
Now we are not afraid

Although we know there’s much to fear

We were moving mountains long before we knew we could–
There can be miracles, when you believe

Though hope is frail, it’s hard to kill

Who knows what miracles you can achieve, when you believe, somehow you will; you will when you believe.
In this time of fear,when prayers so often prove(s) in vain; Hope seems like the summer birds, too swiftly flown away.
Yet now I’m standing here; My heart’s so full I can’t explain; Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I’d say…
There can be miracles, when you believe. Though hope is frail, it’s hard to kill. Who knows what miracles you can achieve, when you believe, somehow you will– You will when you believe.
They don’t (always happen) when you ask; And it’s easy to give in to your fears; But when you’re blinded by your pain– Can’t see your way straight throught the rain; A small but still resilient voice Says hope is very near./

“Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.”    ― Max Lucado, He Still Moves Stones

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”    ― Corrie ten Boom

 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Faith is believing in what is not seen, and the reward of faith is seeing what we believed in.

Faith is about trust and truth. It is not blind, however. God gives us evidence for belief.

This video, with the ever-so-philosophical Clifford Goldstein, is great.

/Give your heart a break/

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Latina.com was raving about this song, and at this point so am I. Demi Lovato’s vocals are perfect. She modulates her voice super well, and the lyrics are really sweet.

The day I first met you

You told me you’d never fall in love

But now that I get  you

I know fear is what it really was

Now here we are, 

so close, yet so far, haven’t I passed the test?

When  will you realize

Baby, I’m not like the rest

Don’t wanna break your heart

I wanna give your heart a breakI

 know you’re  scared it’s wrong

Like you might make a mistake

There’s just one  life to live

And there’s no time to waste, to waste

So let me give your heart a  break

The world is ours,  if you want it

We can take it, if  you just take my hand

There’s no  turning back now

The Spanish cover is awesome, too 🙂

The reality of salvation and being “saved”

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Yesterday, I decided I would actually take time to eat my lunch, so I went to the outdoor area by the Welcome Center in front of the fountain to watch as parents and their children took tours where the tour guides would be bubbly and lie about where students love to hang out and talk about the importance of certain things on campus none of us notice as parents delightedly laugh and swell with pride at the fact that their child was accepted into such a fine institution.

It strikes me how all the tour guides are the same type of people except with different color skin tones. Wow, such diversity. Anyway, that is a tale for another time…

The thing is, that as I began eating my sweet potato chips, two girl approached me and decided to ask me about my personal experience and relationship with God for some survey.

They shared with me their view of salvation, one I’ve been hearing a lot about from people and even radio talk show hosts. A view that is erroneous and unbiblical in many subtle ways.

I am not going to go through our entire discussion, but I will summarize some of the arguments they presented.

I mean basic case and point:

1] You are “saved” in an instant. It bothers me when people say they got “saved” when they were nine or something. Like it happened just once. What is that all about? Okay, so you accept Jesus in your heart, that is wonderful. Jesus’ sacrifice covers our sins when we repent and turn away from them. Understood.

These young women were arguing that once you are filled with the Holy Spirit then you are good-to-go, and your sins for past, present and future are forgiven.

Where does Paul’s statement of dying daily go then?

1 Cor. 15:31

“I protest by your boasting which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily“

Why does Christianity become a slogan, where people feel they are safe and fine and nothing they do will make them lose their salvation.

Don’t get me wrong, Jesus is powerful to save, and we are saved only by grace, but then where does the biblical thought of: sin separates us from God, the penalty for sin is death, therefore, to have eternal life we must through the power of Christ obtain victory over sins and have His blood cover us– if not we are separated from God?

The young women seemed not to believe in sanctification. Sanctification is key to our growing in Christ. We can do NOTHING to earn salvation, but if we love Him, we keep His commandments and by beholding His eternal and righteous law (His character) we become changed.

2] They asked me if I believed that if I died now I’d be saved. I laughed at this thought. How can I say whether I am saved or not. Sounds a bit presumptuous in a way.

I have NO doubt that Christ can save me from my sins, and that by accepting Him daily, and moment to moment (not just through words but through the way I live) He can save me. But what if God has spoken to me, and I have rejected Him? What if I am harboring sin in my life without realizing it? After all, the heart is deceitful above all things… I have no doubt in the power of Christ to save me but salvation is a choice, my choice of whether through my life and how I live, I am accepting His sacrifice.

People fail to remember that Christianity is not by word but through following the Bible.

I told them that I could accept Christ today, but if I reject him tomorrow, then I have made my choice. If I die after I reject Him, He is just and will not give me the eternal life I decided I wanted no part of. That is why our walk with Christ is so crucial. Every moment, every thought, every act counts. I want to think I have followed and walked in the light He has given to me, but if I instantaneously die then it all depends on where I was in my walk with Him at that very moment.

The young women proceeded to say that if people end up away from the Lord, it is because they were never saved in the first place and had no experience with God.

Who are we to judge? Mercy! I am no one to judge. People make mistakes and decide for eternity at every step of the way. Pastors and great men have all fallen. Even David sinned and you are going to tell me that by Him turning away it proves He had never experienced God truly?

Let us look at King Saul: look at 1 Samuel 15 (his fall), and then 1 Samuel 16:14

“But the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.”

He was the anointed one, and the Holy Spirit departed from him because he made his choice. Was it that he had never experienced God? No, he had, but he still made his choice.

If the Holy Spirit, according to the young women, never leaves us, why did 5 of the 10 virgins (which represent the church in purity) run out of oil (a symbol of the Holy Spirit throughout scripture).

My point is you are not “once saved, always saved.”

No one who comes to Him will be cast out, He has all the power to save anyone, but as stated before it is a daily walk and a moment to moment surrender. We must also remember that He gives us power to overcome sin. He didn’t tell people in the Bible to “go and sin no more” to be funny or in a joking way. By saying that we cannot change, we deny the very power of Christ.

“Peter’s fall was not instantaneous, but gradual. Self-confidence led him to the belief that he was saved, and step after step was taken in the downward path, until he could deny his Master. Never can we safely put confidence in self or feel, this side of heaven, that we are secure against temptation. Those who accept the Saviour, however sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or to feel that they are saved. This is misleading. Everyone should be taught to cherish hope and faith; but even when we give ourselves to Christ and know that He accepts us, we are not beyond the reach of temptation. God’s Word declares, ‘Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried’ (Dan. 12:10). Only he who endures the trial will receive the crown of life (James 1:12)” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 155, emphasis supplied).
I am concerned with the growing number of people who believe they are saved and can live however they want disregarding biblical standards and true sanctification, not an outward show. I am concerned that people think that if you stray from the path, then you never experienced the Lord and that if you are “saved” you are saved no matter what you do. It is so easy to think that way. Wouldn’t Christianity be simple then?

If it was to be so easy, why does the Bible call it spiritual warfare?

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.” Eph. 6:12

Let us make sure we don’t end up like the people in Matthew 7:21 “Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

I ate my lunch after sharing with these young women what the Bible says about salvation, and we prayed together. My lunch hour ended up being not so peaceful, but instead disconcerting.

Let us accept that eternal sacrifice, not just in word because this can be so shallow, but in deed. Let us do as Phil. 2:12 says:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

I’ve had the time of my life

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I really love this movie. The Heartbreaker (L’arnacoeur) is about a man who breaks people up for a living, and while faking to be his next job’s bodyguard, he of course falls in love with her. Her favorite movie is “Dirty Dancing,” so he learns and dance and takes her out and surprises her. I thought it was a really romantic scene, and the song of course is a classic.

Below is him practicing, and then, their dance:

Boy: Now I’ve had the time of my life No I never felt like this before Yes I swear it’s the truth and I owe it all to you
Girl: ‘Cause I’ve had the time of my life and I owe it all to you
Boy: I’ve been waiting for so long Now I’ve finally found someone To stand by me
Girl: We saw the writing on the wall As we felt this magical fantasy
Both: Now with passion in our eyes There’s no way we could disguise it secretly So we take each other’s hand ‘Cause we seem to understand the urgency
Boy: just remember
Girl: You’re the one thing
Boy: I can’t get enough of
Girl: So I’ll tell you something
Both:This could be love because
(CHORUS) Both: I’ve had the time of my life, No, I never felt this way before Yes I swear it’s the truth And I owe it all to you ‘Cause I’ve had the time of my life And I’ve searched through every open door ‘Til I found the truth And I owe it all to you
Girl: With my body and soul I want you more than you’ll ever know
Boy: So we’ll just let it go Don’t be afraid to lose control
Girl: Yes I know whats on your mind When you say: “Stay with me tonight.”
Boy: Just remember You’re the one thing
Girl: I can’t get enough of
Boy: So I’ll tell you something
Both: This could be love because
(CHORUS) Both: ‘Cause I had the time of my life No I’ve never felt this way before Yes I swear it’s the truth And I owe it all to you ‘Cause I’ve had the time of my life And I’ve searched through every open door Till I found the truth and I owe it all to you
*Instrumental*
Boy: Now I’ve had the time of my life No I never felt this way before
(Girl: Never Felt this way)
Boy: Yes I swear it’s the truth and I owe it all to you
Both: ‘Cause I had the time of my life And I’ve searched through every open door Till I’ve found the truth and I owe it all to you
Both:  “cause I’ve had the time of my life No I’ve never felt this way before Yes, I swear it’s the truth And I owe it all to you…