The Powerful Tongue

"The tongue is but three inches long, yet it can kill a man six feet high." - Japanese Proverb

"One thing man hasn't been able to tame is his own tongue. It can cause the most uncontrollable evil in all creation and can spread the deadliest poison. If not disciplined and controlled, one minute it can praise and bless God and the next minute it can curse those created in God's image.'' - Inspired by James 3:8,9.

True, the tongue is just a small piece of flesh in the human anatomy, yet how many morals have it destroyed? It is a muscle part of the digestive system yet many times it becomes a double-edged sword that violently quells the values of an individual. How many dreams, decisions, reputations and even families have it slayed and hurled into the fiery furnace of doom?

From elite brains to morons, this piece of flesh doesn't choose whom to wreck or regard. It is not even learned nor educated. It just flaggelates anytime when jerked.

And have you ever wondered yourself of the time when you became either the hero or the villain in the battlefield of the tongue? How many times did you become the villain or the hero? Did you feast upon your triumph?

It is such a tragedy that man easily embraces the deceptions carefully woven by the tongue into the norms of society today that psychologists would even justify as a favorable response. This sets me then to wonder that if as long as a man lives (that includes me of course), how much is the ratio between the correct usage of his tongue to its grave misuse.

It's not surprising though that the first misuse of the tongue happened at the Garden of Eden by the earliest couple of human beings which had since then been passed from generations to generations. Unfortunately, the misuse was thoroughly bred through the years giving birth to multiple deceits, debaucheries, treacheries to name a few.

If we want however real change and live in a world of honesty and Godly ways, where then do we divide the line and promise to use it in pious ways. How do we guard it from the imps around and cease from hissing?

Taming the tongue is a task so huge to undertake and one way to conquer its deceptive powers is to acknowledge that we are sinful and need to sincerely repent and totally turn around for change. The evil powers of the tongue must not be allowed to prevail.

"Such a tiny flicker it begins, sets many mountains into flames. Friend or foe this li'l creature power it so keeps." - Yolanda B. Botigan

Luck Vs. Blessing

"Oh, you're lucky!"

Whenever something gets rewarding is usually owed to luck.

I am an individual who believed in luck during my earlier years so that I, too, always had the "good luck" words dangling in my vocabulary.

Luck in the common lingo is basically defined as, "the accidental occurrence of events affecting an individual, fortune and fate." Concluding thereby that luck is not something to be achieved.

A blessing on the other hand is defined as a "divine benefit or gift, that which promotes happiness or prosperity." It is a "consecration" and further means that it is a "special favor or approval."

Luck plays a lot in the lives of many whatever race and culture one belongs. It even goes to the extent of keeping charms and gems just to attract it to the bearer. We bid friends good luck if they are to undergo something challenging, i.e. exams, sport competitions, etc.

Unawarely though, too much dependency in luck leads a person to cast wholely his/her faith to it tending him to become either an agnostic and/or forgetting God the sole provider.

Here are some reasons why we put our faiths in the name of luck:

a. We are afraid of failures and other shortcomings the reason we even gamble the rest of what lies ahead aiming to double or triple that fortune. At the end though, imps will be laughing at our loss.

b. Plain laziness.

c. Offering life and fate in the name of luck is a form of greed because of discontentment.

d. Unbelief in one's capacity to face life's challenges and then immediately surrendering to weakness/es.

e. Unbelief in Jesus Christ our Saviour and God who provides everything.

In any achievement where efforts were invested, a blessing of course will surely follow. Blessings are in uncountable ways and these have not just existed or accidentally given. It is/was with a purpose that blessings are/were infront of the blessed.

We live daily with all the undue blessings that the Almighty God gave and is giving us. Only we just ignore or lack to acknowledge their presence in us, i. e. our very own lives, the whole creation where we stay and enjoy, the smile of a child, the encouraging words of friends, the smell and site of blooming flowers, the foods on our table, etc...

Just as there are reasons why we put faith in luck, so are there reasons also that hinder blessings to flow:

a. Unbelief in God who provides all blessings.

b. Greediness. One can own acres of land and fine houses here and there through greedy motives. But one may ask, are these still blessings because they were of course acquired through efforts? Material things are of course blessings provided, they are/were acquired through the most legal and Godly way sacrificing no one.

c. Unconfessed sins. We hide sins that hinder the normal flow of events in our lives.

d. Pride. This is also an unconfessed sin that we always blanket with all sorts of lies, artificial smiles, etc...

e. Plain laziness.

In my own tribal dialect, luck is termed, "gasat." If one wins in any game show or lottery draw, or is given a house and lot from any sponsoring agent, he is usually said to be "nagasat."

Winning in game shows and lotteries which involves betting are best examples of luck, an accident or probability that befalls upon one's name. This is in no way a blessing but is a form of gambling!

Remember that there is no such thing as luck or "gasat" to the one who has faith in God Our Saviour and Provider.

Learn to identify what is a blessing and what is luck.

The Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ

"2008 is the year of the rat." "I was born in the year of the boar." "Last year was the year of the horse." etc...

Most Filipinos believe on these named years dictating them even on what to and not what to do, what to wear, where to go, what's good for business and many more.

Where did these, "in the year of the animals," originate though?

The Chinese people believe so much on lucks and omens so that they have all sorts of charms and calendar guides for direction on what to either keep or let go of. Their calendars are full of symbols to follow everyday. Each new year is welcomed with extravagant celebration owing to tradition with all eye-catching decor of antique and period pieces to all sorts of delicacies with tikoy never to be forgotten. The captivating lion and dragon dance symbolizing a prosperous future and long life respectively are parts that complete each celebration. And each year is named accordingly with an animal. Whenever unfavorable situations cross paths is usually blamed to the animal symbolizing the year.

As Bible believing Christian, each day, week and year is the day or year of the Lord Jesus Christ! He made each day of the year and blessed it for every human being to enjoy. Animals have nothing to do with each turn of the year. Any event, therefore pleasing or not is generally the consequence of man's own doing.

2008 is the year of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

The Paradox of Our Age

(I found truth in this poem so I posted it here to share it to you. I don't know who the author is.)....

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;
Wider freeways, but narrow viewpoints;
We spend more, but have less;
We buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families,
More conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge but less judgment;
More experts but more problems;
More medicines, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke to much,
Spend too recklessly, laugh too little
Drive too fast, get angry too quickly,
Stay up too late, get up too tired,
Read too seldom, watch TV to much,
And pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values,
We talk too much, love too seldom and lie too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life;
We've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back,
But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We've conquered outer space, but not inner space;
We've done larger things, but not better things;
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul;
We've split the atom, but not our prejudice;
We write more, but learn less;
Plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait;
We have higher incomes, but lower morals;
More food but less appeasement;
More acquaintances, but fewer friends;
More effort but less success.

We build more computers to hold more information
To produce more copies than ever
But have less communication;
We've become too long on quantity, but short of quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion;
Tall men, and short character;
Steep profits, and shallow relationships.

These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare,
More leisure and less fun;
More kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce;
Of fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away mentality,
One-night stands, overweight bodies,
And pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window
And nothing in the stockroom.
INDEED IT'S ALL TRUE!

- Anon-