God is with us.

Friends, the prophet Jeremiah was called by God before he was formed. Before he was formed God had a specific purpose for his life. I believe nothing could divert or stop the call and purpose that God had for Jeremiah, but his own actions. In Jeremiah 1:5 it states "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart, for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations."(GWT) I believe that God deals with us in the same way as He did with Jeremiah. Friends, God knew us before we were born, and He has a specific purpose for each one of us before we are formed. God's power working in us has set us apart from this world and a life of sin. It was not our self-effort that did this, but it was God. Our part is to agree, believe, and submit to His will for our lives. At first Jeremiah resisted God's will. He said in Jeremiah 1:6 "Almighty Lord, I do not know how to speak. I am only a boy!"(GWT) Today we might resist God's will by stating that we have little experience or that our personalities don't fit the task. However, one thing is for certain if God calls us He will not leave us to fend for ourselves. God will be with us. God reassures Jeremiah of this by saying to him in Jeremiah 1:8 "Don't be afraid of people. I am with you, and I will rescue you..."(GWT) God never told Jeremiah that his call would be easy or that it would be free of hardships. What he did tell him is not to be afraid because He would be with him every step of the way. As with Jeremiah, God is with us in our calling as long as we are obedient to His will. So, don't be afraid, God is with us!!!!!

Who is your god? (part 6)

Who is your god? My God is my shield. Roman soldiers used shields that were as tall and wide as a man as defensive tools that protected them from the arrows of their enemies. If you believe in Christ Jesus you have a very determined enemy that wants to destroy you. The devil is not only interested in wounding us but his ultimate goal is to kill us. Arrows come from many different directions and places in life. They come as doubt, fear, unbelief, sickness, stress, and hurt. They come as thoughts into our minds attempting to pierce us so that we question our trust in God. If we put our shield down for one instance we risk being fatally pierced by one of the enemies arrows. He watches for an opening to strike us especially when we are tired or exhausted. What does it take for me and you to keep the shield from falling? How can we keep the shield up after having a bad day at work? How can we keep the shield up after feeling stressed out? How can we keep the shield up when everyone at home, especially our kids, wants our attention? How can we keep our shield up when we have lost our job or are working two jobs with no benefits just to pay the bills? The Bible states in Psalms 18:3 "All I need to do is cry to him--oh, praise the Lord--and I am saved from all my enemies!"(TLB) When we feel like we have come to the end of ourselves and when we feel like we have no more strength in us left, we cry out to Him. We cry out to Jesus. JESUS HELP US!!!! We cry out in faith not seeing but believing in our mighty God. We cry out to Him believing that he has the power to save us from ALL our enemies. Everyone of them will be defeated. Every part of us will be protected as our shield is lifted up. No arrow of doubt, fear, lust, hurt, unbelief, sickness, or stress will fatally penetrate us. Jesus already took these arrows for me and you when he died on the cross, and faith in what He has aready done keeps us safe from the destructive plans of the enemy. Don't be fooled, the devil will not stop battling against you if you believe in Christ Jesus, because you are a threat to him. You will need to use your shield. As the Bible states in Ephesians 6:16 "In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan."(TLB) Praise the Lord!!! He is my shield. Is He yours?

Are you clean?

Have you ever been so filthy that your entire body is covered with dirt? I am a father of three boys. My youngest (Andres) is 4 years old and my oldest (Matias) is 13 years old. Benjamin, who is in the middle is 7 years old. If you have boys then you know they love getting dirty. They run around outside in the mud and dirt, and in no time at all they are totally covered in filth. When they come inside the house in this condition I tell them they have to take a bath or a shower. I want them to be clean. Imagine if I let them run around the house without being clean. The dirt on them would be passed on to me, the furniture, the floor, and all over the house. Dirt has a way of sticking and spreading all over. Our Heavenly Father also dislikes dirt (spiritual dirt). Sin is like spiritual dirt it has a way of spreading and contaminating everything it touches. The dirt of pride, anger, lust, greed, can affect us and others if we resist the cleansing power of Jesus. The dirt of any secrete sin makes us filthy if we play around in the mud of things like adultery, pornography, stealing, and pride. God tells us take a shower! In other words, repent. Turn away from the dirty stuff and turn towards the cleansing hands of Jesus. Praise the Lord!!!! The cleansing power of his blood that was shed for you and me. The blood that can make us whiter than snow. This not an external cleaning, but rather an internal cleaning were he totally changes us into a new person like Christ daily. Daily we need his cleansing stream to wash over us. Getting back to my kids, one of the hardest parts of the body to clean is their feet. Dirt has a sneaky way of getting in between their toes and underneath their toenails. Also, feet are generally more exposed to dirt because of the consistent contact this part of ones body makes with the ground. In the same way there may be parts in our life that seem to be too dirty for cleaning. Let me encourage you by stating the truth that nothing is to difficult for the Living God!!!! No area of your life or my life is out of His reach. The only thing that can hinder His cleansing power is our unbelief. Do you believe he can cleanse you? If you do, submit to Him. Repent and turn your life over to Him totally. In John 13:5 Scripture states that Jesus "poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to whip them with the towel that was tied around him (NRSV)." He still desires to clean us in the same way today. He still desires to cleanse us from our most filthy sin. Will we let Him? Will you let him?

Who is your god? (part 5)

Who do you trust? Lot's of people trust in their money. However, that can vanish during one bad day at the stock-market. What good is that. It's not stable or certain. It changes depending on market forces. Other people trust their friends. They tell their friends everything. They even tell them their secrets, but they hardly ever talk to God. It's good to have close relationships with people that understand what one is going through. It's fine to have fun with your friends, but not at the expense of ignoring your best friend, Jesus. Remember, friends are good but God is the best. Other people trust in their abilities and talents. However, even abilities and talents fade as the years pass and one gets older. Some may possibly trust in their good looks. External appearances eventually wither, but the internal and eternal life of Jesus never fades away. Psalm 18:2 states "........my God my strength, in whom I will trust....". I can trust God because I know He loves me. I can trust God because I know He never changes or fades with time. I can trust God because He is my best friend in great times and dark times. I can trust God because He never has left me or forsaken me in tough times. I can say these things about God because I have a deep, intimate relationship with Him. I know Him. Do you know Him?

Who is your god? (part 4)

Did you know that the living God is a fortress and deliverer? In Psalm 18:2 it states "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer...."(ESV). I need Him. Life is hard but I know I have a fortress in God. To Him I go too when my enemies (external and internal) are trying to drag me down. To Him I go too when I have a tough day at work or at home. To him I run too when I am sad or hurt. A fortress is a place of protection. It's a place were one is safe. Safe in His presence, love, mercy, compassion, and justice. Friends, He does not only protect us but He also fights for us. Praise the Lord!!! He is our Deliverer!!! He fights with our enemies (external and internal) in order to set us free. Freedom from fear. Freedom from condemnation. Freedom from doubt. Freedom from lack of purpose. Freedom from selfishness. Only He has the power to set us FREE!!! Don't run from Him but run too Him today.

Who is your god? (part 3)

Psalm 18: 2 says "The Lord is my rock...". A big rock. A giant rock. He can't be moved. His character never changes. He is always the same. He is merciful. He is love. He is full of justice. He is patient. He is non-selfish. He puts the interest of others before His own. He is holy. He is always right. He never lies. He is an awesome God!!!! I hope he is your God as well. If He is your God you should be very excited and blessed. We can trust Him. We can be filled with His mercy and love. We can depend on Him. He will make things right. We can allow the Holy Spirit to work in us patience. We can allow His word to cut away all selfishness. We can allow His holiness to make us more like Jesus ever day. The rock never moves, but it also is used as a weapon to break the sin in our lives. My God destroys all the self-life in those who submit to Him and he fills us with His life. Praise Him!!! Is this your God? Is he this awesome? Don't ever limit Him. Nothing is impossible for Him. A giant of a problem is nothing compared to my Rock. A dark, deep valley of sorrow can not stand against my God. The storms of this life are shattered by his mighty presence. Get the picture. Turn to Him. He loves you.

Who is your god? (part 2)

Psalm 18:1 says ".....O Lord, my strength." Friends, when I think of strength I think about an athlete. An athlete trains very hard to get strong in whatever sport they practice. A swimmer has to develop certain muscles in his body to become an excellent swimmer. As the swimmer trains he/she develops the endurance, speed, and muscles needed to compete. If you are a believer in Christ Jesus you may think that like the swimmer you need to train harder to become like Jesus. Do you think you will become stronger if you try to be like Jesus with all your strength and with all your power? You wont!!! In fact to be strong in Christ means that you must become weak in self. This means that all of our self-effort must die so that He can be my only source of strength. If we pray, fast, read the Bible, and attend church motivated and driven by self it means Jesus is still not our strength. My friends in this wicked world that we live in I need supernatural strength to make it. How about you? The key to having His strength and becoming more like Him is to die to self. The key to dieing to self is to obey the Holy Spirit and totally submit (have faith) that His power will give you the supernatural ability to overcome any obstacle in your life. Do you believe this? My God is my strength!!! How about your god?

Who is your God? (part 1)

I don't know what God you serve, but I serve the living God. I serve the God that created the heavens and the earth out of nothing and turned something that was ugly and dark into something good and filled with life. I serve a God that is not made with human hands, like something made of stone, rock or something created in our minds. My God is alive!!!! My God is real!!!! I like to shout this declaration. Who is your God? Is your god sex? Is your god money? Is your god praise? These god's can't save you, but they can sure take you strait to hell!! My God is the way the truth and the life. He is the only way. He is the only truth or reality, and he gives us His life when we admit our sins and turn away from them towards Him. One of Israels kings was King David. He wrote Psalm 18. He wrote this Psalm out of his experience when the Lord delivered him from his enemies and from the hand of King Saul. Read this Psalm and you may begin to understand who my God is. Psalm 18: 1-2 says "I will love You, O Lord my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation and my high tower". More to come on this subject in part 2.

Somethings never fade

My friends, are you aware that somethings never fade. Physical appearance can fade as we get older and so can our health. Mechanical things fade when repeatedly used. Our memories can fade. Even culture changes and what is useful today becomes useless in the future. I can remember when the tape recorder was a very useful device, but today it has become useless compared to i-pods and mp3 players. So what stays the same forever? In 1 Peter 1: 3-4 it says " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you,". If we believe in Jesus we have a hope that never dies. We have a hope that never fades away. We have a hope that is based on reality. It is based on the truth that Jesus Christ is alive!!!! If Jesus is our Savior and Lord we have an inheritance in heaven that is pure and will never pass away. This earth as we know it will pass away, and the monetary systems this world has in place will pass away. Are you investing in the things that will perish or are you putting your time, energy and finances in the things that have an eternal reward and will never fade?

Praise the Lord !

Do you consider praise as a weapon? Psalm 8:2 says "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have You ordained strength because of your enemies, that You might still the enemy and the avenger." Friends, praise is a powerful weapon that the Lord has established for us to use against our enemies. It has the power to silence the enemy and his demonic forces. Praise comes from the mouth of children and nursing infants. Children and infants represent purity, innocence, and a pure heart. Out of a pure heart that is filled with the Lord's righteousness and a redeemed life praise can come forth that will silence the enemy. My friends, the enemy is busy putting us down, but our praises can silence him. Is that not good news? Praise the Lord!!!

Darkness and Light

My friends in Genesis 1:4 it says "God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness." Darkness and light can never exist at the same time. You notice this when you walk into a dark room. The room is dark, possibly so dark that you can't even see your body. Perhaps, you stubble around for a light switch and you find one. You turn the light switch on and the room is no longer dark, because light has entered the the room. When light moves into a room it does not mix with the darkness, but rather darkness leaves. The opposite is also true. Lets say you turn off the light in the room, darkness returns and the light leaves. Darkness and light can not mix, and that means you will either have one in your life or the other. There is no such thing as a little darkness or a little light. You have light in your life or darkness but you can't have both. Light and darkness are like the flesh and the Spirit in that one or the other controls my life, but both can't. The flesh is all about the self. If you are dominated by self-interest, self-pleasure, and self-praise then the flesh controls you. You may go to a nice church and look very nice with your Sunday best but what rules your heart? Does darkness rule or does light? The Spirit gives glory to God and the Spirit directs us to Jesus. Jesus directs us to the cross were darkness and light can never mix. At the cross the self dies and darkness is expelled from our lives. Do you see the difference? If you are a Christian you should no longer live for yourself, but rather you should be living for Jesus who purchased you with his blood.

Two great gifts

My friends in Galatians 4:4-6 it says "But at the right time, God sent His Son. A woman gave birth to Him under the Law. This all happened so He could buy with His blood and make free all those who were held by the Law. Then we might become the sons of God. Because you are the sons of God, He has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The Spirit cries, Father!" God has given humanity two great gifts. First, He gave us His Son. Without Him salvation, freedom from the influence of sin, and total redemption would not be possible. Without Jesus it would be totally impossible to be sanctified, transformed, and changed to be more like Him. Secondly, He gave humanity the Holy Spirit. Oh how we need the Holy Spirit to be our all in all! We need Him to take full control of our lives. We need Him to help us to live under great pressure. Sometimes the pressures in this world make one feel as if one is being pressed together like grapes in a wine press. God allows struggles to come in our lives in order to break us and to change our character as we trust in the work of the Holy Spirit. The "holy wine" that comes out of a broken life is wonderful, pure, the best, but it is only produced with time, pressure, and as we submit to the Spirit and crucify our self-life daily. Have you ever prayed to the Lord, "Lord purify me and make me a vessel fit for the Masters use?" I have. Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to break you or have you allowed your self-interest to get in the way? It is encouraging to know that God never gives up on us, although we may fail many times. I hope my friends that you will not give up on God. Cry out to Him. Abba Father help us!!!!

The battle for your mind

My friends in 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5 it says "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" We live in a material world but our battle is in the spiritual. The battlefield is in the mind. Our weapons are spiritual weapons, such as the Word and prayer. These weapons are to be used against strongholds in our minds. Strongholds are equivalent to stinking thinking developed while growing up. When I worked as a residential counselor many of the kids I worked with had stinking thinking, such as, I will take this because I like it. Liking something does not give you the right to take it, but these were strong and wrong patterns of thinking that were established over many years. We all have them, and the devil exploits them to try to get us to do something that goes against God's will for our lives. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the Word of God, and a consistent prayer life to tear down these strongholds and in the process renew our minds. With these spiritual weapons strongholds like pride, prejudice, false arguments, thoughts and knowledge can come tumbling down. I have only mentioned two weapons in this writing, prayer and the Word. Our prayers are like long range rockets blasting away at destructive thinking patterns, and at the enemies attempts to use them against us. The Word is a sharp two edged sword used for close range combat. Used in this way it is an offensive weapon, causing great harm to the enemy but also the Word applied in our lives is like a surgeons scalpel cutting away the self-life and all of the stinking thinking that is part of it and leaving us totally dependent on Jesus and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. My friends don't let stinking thinking stink up your life, but rather apply the Word of God and prayer to your life. Allow the Holy Spirit to renew your mind.

Faith to move mountains

One of the biggest and toughest mountains to move is an unforgiving attitude. An unforgiving attitude is a big mountain standing in the way of our relationship with Jesus. In Matthew 6:14 Jesus says "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." It is not easy to forgive others. Have you noticed how easy it is to get angry, get bitter, desire revenge, and explode. It hardly takes any effort to have an unforgiving attitude, because it comes natural to us. However, to forgive is impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Jesus said that if we have the faith the size of a tiny mustard seed we can move mountains. This includes any unforgiving attitude. It can be removed and replaced with God's love and forgiveness. Faith in Jesus can move any mountain no matter how tall or strong. It is possible to forgive.

Religion or Relationship

In Matthew 6:1 Jesus says "Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." My friend, religion is all about pleasing people. Religion, believes that by pleasing people one gets rewards. It's all about what we can get now. At its core religion is totally selfish. Faith in Christ should be radically different. A relationship that is personal and intimate with God should motivate our actions rather than wanting to be recognized by others. I must admit that it feels good when people praise you for something you have done. It feels good to get that type of attention, but if that becomes our motivation for action it goes contrary to what the Lord desires for us, because our focus shifts from the Father to earthly rewards. Lets focus on Jesus, the Word of God. Jesus is eternal and our relationship with him can be everlasting if we stop looking towards pleasing people and start focusing on obeying and pleasing Him.

Distinct from the world

In Matthew 5: 46-47 it states "For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others do not even the publicans so?" My friends, the worlds mentality is you scratch by back and I will scratch your back. In this world nothing is unconditional and strings are attached to every thing. The other day on my e-mail I received a note stating that I had won a free laptop computer. I opened the e-mail. It stated that all I had to do to get my free laptop computer was fill out a survey. The survey asked me if I was interested in buying different services and/or products. It also stated that I did not have to purchase anything in order to get my free laptop computer. All that was required was that I complete the survey. I completed the survey, and to my shock at the end it was asking me to purchase something or else no free laptop computer. My friends that laptop computer was never for free. I should have figured that out when the e-mail instructed me to fill out a survey in order to get it. The world that we live in operates in this way. However, Jesus' way is totally distinct from the way of this world. His love is not based on what we can do. It's based on what He has done. His love is without conditions and with no strings attached. Are you like Jesus? Are you distinct from this world? Do you love the unlovable or do you have strings attached to your love? In Matthew 5: 44 Jesus says "But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you." If you do these things you will be distinct from the world and they will take notice.

Hell is real

My friends in Mathew 5:29 in the Bible it states "And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell." Hell is a real place. A place of torment and a place were God's presence is not found. It is a place of total darkness. The light of God does not go there. Some people say that living on earth is the only hell anyone will see, but that is not true. Living on earth is temporary but hell it is for eternity or forever. Living on earth is a walk in the park compared to living in hell, excluded from God's presence, and in everlasting torment. Jesus in Mathew 5:29 warns us about hell. He desires that we submit every part of our lives to Him. Is there anything you are holding back? Have you given Jesus all of you or just a part of you? There is no such thing as partial salvation. It is all or nothing. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? If you do you will desire to obey Him, and submit all to Him. If you don't repent, confess your sin and in your heart believe in Jesus. Turn away from your sinful past and turn towards Jesus. Give Him your all! Hell is real lets not go there.

Salt has flavor

In Mathew 5:13 in the Bible it states "You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is therefore good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men". My friends, salt has flavor and salt gives flavor. Without salt things taste blah!!! In the same way our Christian life can become tasteless, it can become blah!!! This can happen when we do not obey the perfect will of God. It may not happen fast but over time if one continues to go against God's will one is transformed into a blah Christian. We may have a form of Godliness but no power. What a terrible state of being. Do you find yourself loosing some of your saltiness? Have you felt the blah syndrome creep into you? If so then repent and start obeying His will for your life. Get into His Word and start meditating on His good and perfect will. You will find that your life will be filled with His flavor, His power, and His life. The life of Jesus Christ will transform you and your life in Christ will give flavor to others around you and to what ever situation surrounds you.