Archivo de la categoría: David
3 things a believer has to be on
The ways of God
Psalm 103.7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.
Ex. 33.12 Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ 13“Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16“For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?” 17The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.”
His ways reveal how He is – His preferences, His choices, His ideas, His feelings, His character: v13 IF I have found favor – show me your ways -> which will show me You -> so I have MORE favor -> so that (v16) I can have your Presence with us
Numbers 12 – The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron:
v 6-8 He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream.
7“Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household;
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?”
Moses was TIGHT with God, mouth to mouth – Face to Face – we are called to a face to face relationship with Him, anything less than that is wasting the Lord’s efforts and sacrifice for us:
Heb. 4.16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The will of God
Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane
Mt.26
36Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
39And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.
Luke’s account mentions an angel’s help:
Lk. 22.39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. 40When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
The agony and pressure seem to pass… and Jesus seems to go back to his normal state, so much that Matthew mentions him saying when Peter cuts off an ear:
Mt. 26.52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. 53“Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54“How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”
John adds:
Jhn 18.11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”
I personally believe that the phrase “remove this cup from me” or “let this cup pass from me” is not indicative of Jesus’ unwillingness to offer himself up for sacrifice – He vehemently rebukes Peter when he mentions such option – at some point the word says that to follow Him we must take up our cross and follow him – which leads me to believe he knew the kind of death He would endure. So I believe that possibly Jesus is asking for more time on Earth before his sacrifice has to happen. It is possible as well that the pressure was catching up to Him, making Him shaky on His own convictions about what He had received from the Word and He needed confirmation, yet in the face of doubt, He chose to remain in submission to His Father, and let – and I mean LET – the story move on, as He said:
Jhn. 10.11“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12“He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13“He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
No one has taken (my life) away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. – So the Lord allows His own sacrifice.
Hebrews says about this:
Heb.5 7In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation
The will of God is to be revealed as it was to Jesus. I believe there were two sources where Jesus found God’s will: the scriptures and the Spirit’s witness.
I believe the Scriptures give us a spectrum where to move, what to do, how to do it – a range of motion.
I believe we need to see ourselves in the Book. I believe that the Scriptures need to speak to us personally. We need to identify which verses are about us. We need to grab them, memorize them, engrave them in our hearts and defend them from all external influences that would cause us to abandon them, or stop believing them, or simply cause us to not pay attention to them. The Scriptures are to shape us, they are to give us identity and purpose.
They will lead us into an encounter with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit will bring those Scriptures in our hearts from our hearts out to our every day life. This is why the Lord had 30 years of preparation prior to His manifestation.
Once Holy Spirit descended on Him, His ministry began – not before. Jesus’ internal realty was made external through Holy Spirit. From that point on, Holy Spirit was able to echo what the Father’s will was for the Lord through the inner witness.
I believe one of Holy Spirit’s rol for the believer is to time. He both reveals God’s will and WHEN to execute it. I believe He takes Scripture and brings it to life. I believe Holy Spirit reminds us of certain Scriptures at a precise moment in our story so that we may react accordingly.
I believe God’s will is portrayed in broad strokes in many subjects through the Scriptures. I believe Holy Spirit is who is able to fill in the blanks within those broad strokes.
I believe that we are to allow Holy Spirit to highlight the Scriptures that will build our identity and purpose. I believe that once we allow His Scriptures to take root in our heart, and we are able to nurture them through the revelation of His character – the revelation of His ways – the revelation of Himself – we will develop the necessary favor to bare the fruit of His seed within us, which will in turn manifest in our own personal Pentecost – Holy Spirit exploding within us, making our internal reality manifest in the external.
Jhn. 6.37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
I believe the will of God is to make us “beholdable” – something that will only benefit the Kingdom if when people see us, they see the Lord.
Jhn.14.21“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” 22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” 23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
And God, and Holy Spirit, and the Lord and the world are CRAVING for you to become “beholdable”:
Rom. 8.19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
The Word of God
Psalm 119.105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
There is simply no way be ON the Ways of God, nor to do the Will of God, without the Word of God.
Much about this was said in the prior point, but there is a faith process that is good to be highlighted:
Rom. 10.17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Hebrews 1 adds:
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son…
So following Jesus’ example – He read the Scriptures. He was able to interact with the Scriptures as we do now. It seems that He was able to identify which ones spoke of Him and which did not. For example, some Scriptures spoke about John the Baptist’s rol, and some about Him. It would have been awful for them to get those mixed up.
So the Lord took what was written, put it in His mind, into His soul, most likely His mouth – and began a faith process.
The faith process is allowing the Scripture to carve out who we really are – who God created us to be. The Scripture needs to penetrate deep within us, so we are able to discern which “part” of us is really us and which part is actually a lie we’ve come to believe as part of who we are.
He will speak to us and we will be confronted with the choice to either believe Him, or believe ourselves – to believe Him or believe our circumstances – to believe Him or believe our fellow man – to believe Him or believe our own senses – to believe Him or believe our own thoughts.
Once we chose to believe Him, we are confronted with the gestation part of the process – where time goes by and we have nothing to show for, where His Words become dull, or stagnant and we might be tempted to doubt if it was truly He who spoke.
Abraham, the one called “Father of Many Nations”, having no children, knew this process and he was able to model the process to us.
He knew God. He spoke with Him. He presented his issue to God. God responded with a promise. Abraham went through a faith process. Abraham did not quit. Abraham received his promise.
The Scriptures narrate it like this:
Rom. 4.16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17(as it is written, “A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. 18In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” 19Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
So Abraham came to a point of being “fully assured that what God had promised, He was able to also perform”. The paragraph adds in verse 16: “it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace”.
I believe that Abraham came into this reality within himself. I believe that it is very possible that both Abraham and Sarah did not possess this “assurance” – and that hindered them from receiving what was spoken over them.
We see in Nazareth – Jesus’ ministry being hindered by unbelief. We see Hebrews 3 and 4 account that Israel was stopped from what was spoken because of their unbelief.
Worthy to be noted, crucial to the faith process we need to undertake, Hebrews 3.13 reveals that sin hardens the heart – which in turn causes unbelief.
So then Abraham grew into this assurance. I believe this is because Abraham became close with God. At some point Abraham was not a friend of God. At some point Abraham became a friend of God. So again we are able to go back into the importance of knowing His ways – that we may know Him – that we may find more favor – that we may have Him present – that we may dispel any doubt or unbelief that sin may have caused, that we might receive a believing heart.
In this walk with Him, we are able to show off to Him, by remembering His words and putting them into action. We are able as well to hold on through thick and thin to His word, to show Him our trust.
To the point of Romans 4.16 – it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace – there is also a process, where we must die.
I see a parallel with Abraham / Sarah and Israel. They both receive His Word, then nothing happens, years go by, and then His Word gets executed.
With Israel, we are able to know through Hebrews 3 and 4 that the generation of those who did not believe died in the wilderness. With Abraham and Sarah we are able to know that not only Sarah’s womb was unfruitful, but Abraham became so old that now he was also unable to be fruitful. In both instances, after this process of death, God came and turned things around.
The Lord says this about death:
Jhn.12.24 – Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
This process I believe is what makes the process to be long. I believe that God is able and willing to fulfill His Word instantly. I believe that as long as there is unbelief in our hearts, we will be roaming around the wilderness, until we run out of time, or until we are able to enter into our promises. I believe Jesus went through this process, I believe Abraham did as well, I believe Israel did, I believe Paul did. I believe you and I must as well.
The delay is mostly on our end. I do believe as well that there is the factor of God’s timing. I believe most (if not all) of what we hear about “God’s timing” is actually unbelief. It is so much easier for one who does not want to go through the death process to say “it’s not God’s time” than to say “I don’t believe God” – the first allows us to appear pious before men, delay the death process and furthermore make us feel good about ourselves – not confronting the fact we have hardness in our hearts. Some have taken this vice into a doctrinal level – they deny certain truths in the Word – they don’t say they do – they just adapt the Word to accommodate their unbelief – which in turn allows them not to go though this death process – which becomes very appeasing to the soul – they get to both be in good terms with God and their conscience AND also keep their lives. This would be equivalent of Abraham birthing Ishmael.
I believe a lot of religion is birth this way. I believe a lot of doctrine is developed this way.
Jesus, again, is able to also speak to this issue:
Jhn. 5.39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
Let’s repeat
Jhn 5 …come to Me so that you may have life
Jhn 12 …he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal
Jhn 3 …For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life…
…He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The faith process then seems to corner us into being forced to give up our lives – so faith can manifest.
I believe this death involves one or more of these elements: self will, desires, ideas, goals, methods, material possessions – to name a few. In essence, whatever would make it appear as the promise being FROM us.
If we work for the promise to be ours, then it is owed to us. If we are able to craft it, then we own it. If we are able to use our abilities, aside from Him, and enter into our promised land, then we are our own liberator. This of course will not be allowed.
Rather, if we recognize humbly that any ability, skill, strength, opportunity, resource comes from Him, then we are able to take a step further into faith.
So then I believe the faith process is:
1 – He shows me favor – allowing me to hear/read and understand His Words
2 – I allow them to take place in my heart, mind, soul – which causes Him to favor me more
3 – Through that favor – I approach Him boldly as Hebrews instructs, allowing Him to nurture His own seed within me, allowing Him to dispel doubt in my heart, mind and soul, allowing me to build up assurance, as Abraham and Sarah did, of both His character and His power
4 – If I chose to go through the death process, His Word outlasts, outgrows or better yet, replaces the lies within my heart, mind, soul
5 – His Word grows within me, I now have the assurance as Abraham and Sarah did
6 – I do not waiver/abort the Word through unbelief
7 – I bear fruit / His promises manifest
Jhn. 15.8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Whenever our hearts spring faith, His manifestation comes as stated in John 14.21 in the KJV and ASV:
«He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him.”
So, again and in conclusion – God, and Holy Spirit, and the Lord and the whole world are CRAVING for you to be one through whom He manifests:
Rom. 8.19 For all creation, gazing eagerly as if with outstretched neck, is waiting and longing to see the manifestation of the sons of God. (Weymouth New Testament)
Be ON His Ways – be ON His Will – be ON His Word…
Be ON – not Off – but ON!
Deja de quejarte
“Deja de quejarte y haz algo – deja de quejarte y poner excusas” – son frases que he oído/leído – y honestamente hay mucha verdad en ellas – a veces nos ahogamos en nuestros vasos de agua…
—– Bienvenidx a mis reflexiones espontáneas —–
Sin embargo, hay problemas que atañen a una sociedad o grupo en donde éstas frases han sido una herramienta altamente efectiva para fomentar la falta de unidad.
Ante problemas de esta naturaleza, cuando alguien externa su molestia, lo correcto es que quienes escuchamos o leemos su queja – en conjunto – podamos adherirnos a la causa promovida y atender la situación que irrita a nuestro prójimo.
La apatía que tanto nos ha caracterizado, fomenta la permanencia del problema – lo cual a su vez, dado que el problema persiste, provoca la reiteración de la queja inicial…
—– Auguro que para este punto, ya te perdí… y no… no fumo de esa aunque parece… —-
Finalmente nos harta la constante exposición a la queja, nos irrita el mensaje, así que decidimos cambiar el canal, evitar el tema, silenciar la voz de aquel que busca empatía.
Cuando un problema, necesidad o proyecto supera la habilidad o recursos de un individuo, este individuo queda a la merced de quienes le rodean para encontrar la solución.
Una situación metafórica que ilustraría esto, es como cuando en un accidente automovilístico, el conductor y sus pasajeros quedan atrapados bajo el peso del auto – o la fuerza del metal.
Imaginemos que un tercero que escucha las peticiones de auxilio, analiza el problema y exclama un: “¡Ya deja de quejarte y salte del auto!” – Esta respuesta nos parece inmediatamente inverosímil, dada la naturaleza del problema en donde instintivamente reconocemos la inhabilidad del afectado para superar su problema sin ayuda. Así mismo entendemos que la labor del tercero es obligadamente prestar su ayuda.
Quienes se ven beneficiados de las situaciones malas que aquejan a los demás han utilizado estas frases para perpetuar en nuestra sociedad el statu quo.
—– Me acabo de enterar que es «statu» – y no «status» ->https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statu_quo —-
Por ejemplo, en nuestra sociedad hay una abrasiva y generalizada conducta en contra de las mujeres. Regresando a la metáfora, son ellas quienes están atrapadas en la cultura y los sistemas que han permitido la dominancia masculina que hay. Por muchos años, los hombres hemos recibido el beneficio de esta condición y somos nosotros mismos, los hombres, quienes debemos escuchar la queja, sumarnos a la causa, y forzar la ejecución del cambio que hace falta para alcanzar el bienestar común. A últimas fechas, y con muchísimo trabajo aun por hacer, el mensaje de igualdad de género es ya parte de la conciencia colectiva – ya se ven anuncios en la televisión al respecto, ya hay movimientos sociales y gubernamentales que buscan cese el abuso ejercido.
En cuestión social política hay una complicidad entre quienes tienen intereses económicos y quienes tienen intereses políticos – a quienes llamaré “ellos». Siendo “nosotros” quienes necesitamos ayuda, el resto de los mexicanos que no contamos con capital ni económico ni político.
Escuché la cifra de que nuestro país está en manos de al rededor de 5mil personas. Ellos son 5mil – nosotros somos el resto.
Ellos, viendo nuestra necesidad, podrían buscar nuestro bienestar, sin embargo saben que eso implicaría ceder ciertos beneficios de los cuales gozan con exclusividad. Ellos ven nuestros esfuerzos por salir de nuestro accidente, nos escuchan en nuestros llamados de esfuerzo colectivo para poder salir adelante y nos sugieren mejor no hacer caso, mejor enfocarnos en la historia de cada quien, en no quejarnos sino en encontrar la manera de aceptar pacíficamente nuestras condiciones – “el cambio está en ti” – nos dicen.
El sistema político y económico que nos ha sido heredado es una democracia capitalista y que ideológicamente no le encuentro problema con la excepción de que asume la existencia de un sentido del bien común.
Dado que no todo miembro en el sistema busca el bien común, el sistema se ha enviciado a favor de estos 5mil. El capitalista ha empleado el sistema democrático para incentivar o perpetuar ciertas condiciones de modo que su poder no se vea reducido o aun, pueda expandirse.
La evidencia de la existencia de esta realidad se manifiesta cuando el hombre más rico del mundo es un nacional – mientras que millones de sus connacionales viven en pobreza extrema y moderada – adjetivos que me parece aberrante tener que utilizar – como si un moderado cáncer fuese mejor, como sin un moderado abuso fuese preferible – siendo éstos últimos en total un porcentaje cercano al 50% de la población.
No es casualidad que el sistema actual esté fallándole a la mitad de la población. No es casualidad que los números de pobreza incrementen. El sistema así lo demanda – y no es por que estos 5mil son super villanos y nos quieren matar, es más bien, como el CO2 resultante de la combustión de un auto, es un efecto inevitable.
¿Qué pasaría si el resto de estos más de 50 millones se organizaran para equilibrar las balanzas?
—- En este punto, me imagino estarás ya comiendo unas palomitas… está bueno no?? Llevo como 3 o 4 veces que lo leo… —
Regresando a la metáfora del auto accidentado, estos 50 millones son los más apretados – si me lees estas líneas, quiere decir que seguramente no perteneces a este grupo, no estás tan apretado, no tienes que luchar tanto por tu bienestar ni el de tus seres queridos… sin embargo sigues dentro del auto – menos apretado, pero ahí estás.
La historia nos enseña que este tipo de condiciones eventualmente encuentran un fin drástico – es por eso que hay revoluciones, levantamientos, golpes de estado.
Nosotros quienes no estamos tan mal, tenemos la obligación de que por el bien colectivo, cambiemos los sistemas que han perpetuado el dolor y la necesidad antes de que se geste un conflicto en esta generación o en la que sigue.
Ellos saben que es muy fácil para nosotros quitarles su abusiva ventaja. Ellos conocen también nuestra apatía y desunión, nuestra debilidad ante el entretenimiento y frases como las inicialmente mencionadas son herramientas efectivas en contra nuestra.
Ellos tienen algo que nosotros quisiéramos – representatividad en el gobierno, acceso a servicios de salud y educación, capital, influencia y bienestar para sus familias – por mencionar algunas.
Ellos tienen la libertad de gozar de estos beneficios en exclusividad – que aparentemente es algo admirable el excluir – esto es: poder dejar fuera a alguien. Comer en un restaurante exclusivo – vestir ropa exclusiva – ser V I P mientras los demás no lo son – y por alguna razón hemos aceptado que esto es correcto porque nosotros aparentemente no merecemos estas distinciones, porque no hemos trabajado lo suficiente o porque esta es la suerte que nos tocó en la vida.
Concluyo con dos preguntas, una que me hace soñar de ilusión y otra que me apaga el ánimo – ¿Qué pasaría si nos organizáramos? – ¿Por qué no lo hemos hecho?
Dicen que no te quejes si no vas hacer nada al respecto. Pero al quejarnos estamos externando un mensaje – el cual tiene el potencial de llegar a los oídos de alguien que quiera y pueda hacer algo.
Unwillingness to obey equal to Disobedience?
Two days ago I found myself with nothing to do, no work pending, no urgent things to deal with and I thought of asking Him what He wanted me to do for that day.
In the past I’ve had bad experiences when asking Him certain things. I have to grow out of a certain lack of ability to hear Him – or something of the like. I feel that if I was to hear him clearly, I would obey – but sometimes I’ve felt I hear Him tell me to do certain things that I honestly don’t want to do. For example, I’m fixing myself a delicious sandwich, and I feel as if He said: Fast. 
I’m about to brush my teeth (I’m not kidding, this happened once) and I feel as if He said: Don’t brush your teeth.
These kind of ideas make me reason that the information flowing might not be exclusively His – maybe I’m imagining His voice or the enemy is interfering. What puzzles me is the fact that this «channel» of communication is the one where I hear from Him – things that are good, things that are true, things or events He warns me about which happen – for example, when my dad had a health problem, I felt Him say my dad was going to be all right and he is – when an aunt had a health problem, I felt Him say she was not going to make it, and she didn’t. Some other things I believe I’ve heard don’t happen, or are not good…
So when I prayed «God, what would you like me to do today?» I was taking a risk – what if He asks me to do something I don’t want to do? – Thank God! What I felt Him say is that He wanted me to pray… and I thought: «Ok, I’ll pray for 3 hours…» but I felt Him say: «30 minutes».
So I did — ish… at the end of the day, I dozed off at some point, woke up prayed a bit more and tried to fill the 30 minutes I felt He requested.
Today I am kind of free as well… but I’m not feeling as bold as two days ago. What if I feel He asks me to do something I don’t want to do… like fast, or pray 5 hours, or read a certain amount of scripture, or call such and such…
So He already knows this – so I approach Him in prayer and I tell Him that I feel this way and this thought comes to mind: Is unwillingness to obey the same as disobedience?
If I ask Him and I feel Him say something, and I don’t obey I make myself disobedient – so I rather not ask, so I’m not guilty of disobedience.
This reasoning lead me to another thought, which is: What if the things I’ve been asking (regarding ministry, anointing, and what-not) require certain willingness in my heart – and He sees that unwillingness to obey – so He protects me from my own «nature» by not opening those doors or allowing those things, because He knows there is unwillingness that might turn into disobedience, which would turn into greater condemnation or guilt when judged?
Maybe – right?
So then I pray: Father, fill my heart with the willingness to obey You, for reasonings so I accept whatever I hear You say and yield, and for ears that hear You and only You, that no confusion may enter, or discernment to know which thoughts come from You and which ones don’t.
My main reason for writing this is for me to have a place where I can keep record of these thoughts – I need to fill my heart with willingness to obey, so whatever He requests, I obey and follow.
Oh, that we would unite…
Let me begin by acknowledging that there are great things happening around the world with the church of God.
I totally acknowledge God’s hand is moving more and more, and things are picking up in a lot of ways and in a lot of places and with a lot of people but…
There is a certain «nature» within me that every now and then I get a glimpse of, whenever I get to get exposed to His presence. It awakens this absolute hunger and thrust that I actually try to mute, because whenever I let go I just cry and cry and cry and then when I’m all cried out, I sort of get my fix and a few weeks, months later I’m back in that place of void, of hunger.
The feeling is that we are meant (as it’s been said) for so much more and we live with so little… we have normal lives… we seem to be subject to the same issues, the same ailments, the same problems, dilemmas, troubles as anybody else… we worry (or at least I do) about the bills to pay, the wellbeing of my house, how my kids will be, about the normal issues of life while we should be planning out next move in the transformation of this world… we worry about petty things, little things while there are people in desperate need for the manifestation of the children of God.
We are created, and we are able of so much more than what we are doing… globally… I once heard this missionary say that if we all got together in reaching those people groups who have never heard the Gospel, we could be done really quick – I don’t quite remember – a matter of months – but no… we rally around the next conference, the next CD, the next whatever—
We should be planning on how to move on to the next city to be conquered, the next country, the next «realm» of society to be taken up for the King, for the Kingdom – yet we spend thousands recording several versions of THE SAME SONG, over and over… we plan trips to Israel instead of changing an orphan’s life— we pray from afar instead of reaching out… AHHHHH!!!!! it’s so frustrating—
We get sucked into this middle ground between not being too out there, not too coo coo, not too absolute, and being «worldly» – so we go to church, yet our marriages still struggle, we pray yet we need doctors as much as the next guy, we live our happy lives, or at least we try, we get to Earth, we grow, we reproduce and we die – like a plant, like a blip in history – but we are His children! we are His people!! I bet HE expects more of us!!!
I know He does!!! He has called us gods, His children… (don’t pick up the stone yet, read psalm 82) – and some people explain it away with a mistake in translation but that wouldn’t make sense, because Jesus used that same passage to defend himself when being accused of calling himself Son of God.
And there, in psalm 82, it ends with «but you will die like mere men» — mere men!!!! Is there an alternative??? There must be!!!! Could we change something??? Could we do more than what seems possible???? – and I’m not talking about a mega church, or a stadium gathering or a whatever—- I’m taking about WORLD DOMINATION!!!! I’m talking about every knee bowed, every tongue confessing His Kingship… changing governments, corporations – that we would start winning governors for Him, artists, movie executives, law makers, intellectuals, poets, novelists, tv producers, businessmen, scientists… That instead of making cheesy movies that no one watches, we could get the best movie producers and make the next Oscar winner movie, that the next best documentary would be about the Church, that the next #1 song would be ours, that the next billion dollar invention would come out of US – the church!!!
And I want to rise up in arms and fight for this that seems real within me and I feel bound… tied down to «normal» – tied down to needing money, tied down to the fact that I have little to none influence (yet), I feel restrained… and It SUCKS… If only I could organize a mega conference, make a Kony 2012 video of my own, If I could mobilize the church into this movement… but I cant… reality hits… it’s 5am and here I am thinking, hoping the world, the church will change and I’m gonna have to wake up to «reality», and go back quietly to my corner…
This little blog is my attempt to not let myself down… not to forget I feel how I feel – That us, children of God were made for more. I am made for more than paying bills, going to church and wait it out… wait what out??? Death… I’m talking about people who don’t do much and hope the next life will be better.
And a small glimmer of hope arises… because «united» things have happened lately… united, communities have freed themselves from tyrants and united evils have been stopped, and united we have a louder voice… I only have one voice but I bet you are out there, you, who feels like I do… u know there is more to life than this… we are not mere men, we are children of the Most High God – and we can do something more than comply.
This is the challenge I face – for the church to unite, we need to look beyond our differences. Sometimes we hold closer our doctrine, than we do one another – I think this might be why 2thousand years have gone by and we have not fulfilled our calling, our purpose, but I feel that if we rally around our purpose and we unite against our enemy, we could find a way out of complacency and a way into the greatest move of the church we have ever seen or heard about.
The stage is set for world wide coordination – internet can help us get there – instant communications, instant updates, instant unity!!!
I’d love to see poverty quenched, abuse eradicated, murder bound, injustice exiled – abundance in every household, health for everyone, justice for everyone, help for those in need, opportunities for everyone who needs them, and most of all, a generation of the church who can look up to Him completely sure of the fact that we are not returning to Him void, but that we fulfilled the purpose for which He sent us here…
Can we rally around that? Can we see that He didn’t just forgive us and freed us but that He actually empowered us and that whatever happens and whatever has happened is in our hands to change???
Let’s be more than religious organizations! Let’s be a people!
As long as we are cheering for our own piece of the body of Christ, or as long as we are filled up with «normal» things to do or worry about we are perpetuating what has happened so far and 2thousand years from now we are still going to be just «another» religion, «another way» to see life, «another» source of morality – lets be the children of God!!!
Oh that we would get our heads out of the sand… oh that we would unite, oh that we could reign as He showed us how to reign…
El nuevo papa…
Creo que tenemos una gran oportunidad como cristianos «protestantes» de influenciar, por medio de oración, la elección del nuevo papa de la iglesia católica.
Independientemente de nuestras diferencias doctrinales con la iglesia, creo que es bueno no darnos por vencidos con la iglesia «madre». Imagínate que el siguiente papa tuviera el ánimo de regresar a las raices del cristianismo y dejara atrás todas las tradiciones y la política que ha influenciado al catolicismo durante todos estos años.
No nos demos por vencidos, que nuestro Dios se especializa en lo imposible.
Adiós al dios Dinero…
¿Alguna vez haz hecho algo indebido por dinero?
– A veces mentimos por dinero. A veces permitimos injusticias por dinero. A veces tomamos proyectos que no podemos cumplir por dinero. A veces nos peleamos por dinero. A veces traicionamos por dinero.
Y no siempre es por obtenerlo… a veces es solamente por «ahorrarlo».
El punto es, que a veces, el dios Dinero dice Rana – y nosotros inmediatamente saltamos.
————-> PODCAST
Que disfrutes…
La Sanidad es como un agua de limón…
En esta preach del 27 de Nov, les compartía de una «parábola» que creo que nos puede ayudar a entender cómo funciona esto de ser sanado.
Es interesante cómo la Palabra dice (Lucas 5.17) que «su poder estaba para sanarlos» – sin embargo no «estaba sanando» – ¿Cuántas veces no hemos tenido disponible el poder de Dios, pero no se ha activado? – ¿Cómo activarlo? – La respuesta, es como un agua de limón…
LINK: http://www.manantial.org.mx/podcast/Manantial27Nov11.mp3
Cheers!
Una Conciencia Limpia – Llave de Bendición
Un mensaje que tuve oportunidad de compartir hace unas semanas en Manantial.
En resumen:
Estar conciente de que un día daremos cuentas de nuestras elecciones, nos llevará a decidir hacer lo correcto. Cuando en un problema, la única salida correcta es confiar en Dios, nos obligamos a utilizar nuesta fe en vez de resolvernos nuestros problemas.
Cheers!
La prosperidad de Dios
Dice la palabra que Dios desea que prosperemos (así como prospera nuestra alma).
Se ha criticado este mensaje por que aparentemente está diciendo: «Acercate a Dios, y tendrás dinero, salud y felicidad». – No toma mucho tiempo en el camino del cristianismo para que te des cuenta que no todo es dinero, salud y felicidad.
Pero por otro lado, sí es la voluntad revelada de Dios que seamos un pueblo próspero. Aquí en México necesitamos cristianos con dinero. Aquí en México necesitamos creyentes con influencia política, con influencia en los medios.
Un cristiano que tiene que preocuparse por llevar comida a su casa, rara vez podrá además preocuparse por expander el Reino. Se denota en el horario usual de un cristiano promedio – L a V de 9 a 5 – 40 o 50 horas o más a la semana de trabajar + unas 56 para dormir + 21 para comer, bañarse y vestirse – y con las horas que nos quedan ni de chiste las usamos al 100% para esto del Reino —
Chistoso que TENEMOS tiempo para trabajar, comer, dormir, ir al cine pero no para compartir la fe, o dedicar un tiempo a solas en oración o así…. pero ya de esto, que suena medio depresivo… el punto que estoy haciendo es que honestamente, tener necesidades económicas nos RESTA.
¿A qué le dedica tiempo la gente rica? ¿Qué hacen con su día?
— Yo creo que hacen lo que se les pega la gana…
¿Será que Dios quiere que prospere para que tenga tiempo para hacer lo que se me pegue la gana?
¿Será que si en verdad camino con el Señor, lo que «se me pega la gana» hacer es pasar tiempo con Él, expander el Reino, ayudar al necesitado?
Creo que Dios desea que su Iglesia sea próspera con propósito… prosperidad con propósito… no como dice Santiago: «para gastar en nuestros propios deleites» – sino para deshacer las obras del diablo que son «robar, matar y destruir» a veces se necesita dinero…
So… que el Señor nos enseñe a prosperar, para poder vivir LIBRES — y que Dios nos libre de vivir atados al dinero… la verdad es que no se necesita dinero… pero eso es para otro post.
Sé que tenemos abandonadón el blog pero aquí seguimos.
Cheers!
testimonio/preach
Este Domingo 1° de Mayo tuve la oportunidad de compartir algo de mi testimonio y de un mensaje que tengo muy arraigado en mi corazón: Todo lo de Dios, sin el Espíritu Santo, apesta, aburre, no sirve — y todo lo contrario cuando Sí está el Espíritu.
Título: Necesitas al Espíritu Santo, Necesitas al Espíritu de Dios
Audio: www.manantial.org.mx/podcast/Manantial01May11.mp3
Duración: 50 min.
Tamaño: 11.5 Mb
Quiero seguir buscando más… quiero más… sin el Espíritu, me aburre todo esto…
Les recuerdo que Manantial tiene un Podcast que cada semana saca un nuevo capítulo.
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conmpasion
Compasión ConPasión 