In the middle of a Storm....

¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷ where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. ¹⁸ A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.

 John 6:16-18

How many times didn't you find yourself in the middle of a storm, and you prayed and prayed but nothing changed? Well, I think we've all been there. You wake up one day and BAM! you're stuck in the middle of a storm, it can be a physical one, but most of the time these storms are in our minds. We struggle with our thoughts of not being enough, not being able to please those around us. Or we also feel like we aren't doing enough in the Kingdom of the Lord. We feel sad or empty, and we start thinking about all that we lack. Yeah, we've all been there.

The disciples were caught in the middle of a storm, a physical one, and Jesus was not there. They were afraid  they thought they were going to die, and Jesus was not there. They prayed and cried out His name, but he was not there, YET! You see, God is always there for us, we just can't see him, because we ignore his presence, it's like our spiritual eyes, are so focused on what we can see with our natural eyes, that we can't see God's work in our lives. Our focus is wrong. We torment ourselves because of what we feel, and see but we don't ask the Lord to show us how to see with His eyes, feel like He feels. We want Him to fix things, calm the storm so we can carry on, but we never stop to think, that maybe this storm is there to teach us something. Teach us to Trust in Him...

My mother always says, when a friend tells you your doing something wrong, listen. When the enemy is attacking you, analyse yourself, look for that open door or window that allows the enemy to enter and attack you. My mother is wiser than she thinks. Most of the time these windows or doors are in our minds. Our minds control everything. Our every movement is controlled by the way we think. We have to allow God to control our minds, not the enemy. The way we can overcome our storms, is by trusting God to let us see what he sees. Where we see an obstacle, He sees an opportunity to teach us something that He has always known, but we have to yet discover, sometimes about ourselves.

¹⁹ When they had rowed about three or four miles,^[b]they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened.

Jesus finally came to them in a very unique way, He walked on water. They thought he was a ghost, and they were afraid. When we are in a  storm,  and pray with no answer. When we finally get the answer, we don't want to believe it and start doubting, but then Jesus tells us, "It is I, don't be afraid".
We shouldn't be afraid, we should trust that with Him in our boat, with storm or no storm, we will always get safe to shore.

My friends, my encouragement today is a bit obvious. If you are right now in the middle of a storm, don't just ask God to calm your storm, ask him to come into your boat with you. And trust Him, to let you see with His eyes, the opportunity to learn and grow that He is giving you. Just like in the desert, we have to learn to trust Him, and be positive because He has a Perfect Plan.

Be strong, and God Bless you!

A good Future...

"11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11

I love this verse from the Bible. The Lord promises us that He has a great plan for our lives.  Many times we forget about this. We forget that He does have a plan and that we should not worry about what the future holds, as long as we are following Him. When life hits us hard, and brings us down is then when we forget about this great verse, this great promise. Many things in our lives don't go as we plan and we try to blame others or God for this, instead of realizing, it's not part of His plan.

This week I've received a few bad news. Things people did that I completely disagree with. But what really struck me was when I saw my father in traffic yesterday, and he had no idea who I was. That SUCKS! How can the person that is my father, not recognize his own daughter?? It really bothered me :(

Then it came to me, my life has to be a testimony. All that happens or happened is part of the purpose and beautiful plan God has for my life. With all this I can relate to others and bring the message, with my own life. Being a Christian is not just knowing scripture from your head, but living the scripture and truly feeling it. When you know how it feels, you can touch others in a deeper way.

God did this, through Jesus Christ, He made himself human, poor, a simple man, just like us. Vulnerable to all the attacks of the enemy, to show us that we can do it. Through Him we received life, even though it cost Him taking all our sins and dying like a criminal. (Death that we deserved, for our sins)

The Lord makes a great promise in this verse. He promises a future, he promises Hope for those who have lost all. When you think you are unworthy, that not even God can use your life because everyone else has lost faith in you, even you, remember this verse. Remember all those great unworthy cases that God used in the Bible. Remember the apostles, remember the great Christian warriors around you, who are in this daily battle, and are victorious. It's not an easy task, but we have our shield  and we have our weapons.

I would like to encourage you today, to remember this verse, as you go out to the battlefield. Stay Strong for He has a purpose with this trial. It's not for nothing, He has a plan. Just trust Him and Carry on.

I know He has a plan for me, for my family and for all who surround me. Let them see your life as a living testimony of the Word of God and touch the lives of those who need it.

Be blessed and Be a blessing.

Leaving Egypt...

6"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will free you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with mighty power and great acts of judgment. 7 I will make you my own special people, and I will be your God. And you will know that I am the LORD your God who has rescued you from your slavery in Egypt. 8 I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It will be your very own property. I am the LORD!'"

(Exodus 6:6-8)

Last Sunday, we had a service at our church to offer our First Fruits. I love this service because it gives me a chance to thank the Lord for so many things that He has given me. During service however, our pastor preached about when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and they lived under the yoke of the Pharaoh. He explained how some of us, who work have bosses that treat us like the Pharaoh treated the Jews in Egypt. This made me think about the time when I was a little girl, and my mom worked really hard to be able to raise my brother and I. She was under the yoke of a few Pharaohs, but she never let them bring her down. Actually even when I told her that she was under their yoke, she denied it, telling me that even though they tried to bring her down, she wouldn't because she is the Daughter of The Father. My pastor tried to teach us this mentality. To keep the Faith in our heavenly Father, for he has so many promises for us.

But I think we shouldn't see this Pharaoh thing, only as a foolish boss, who tries to make our life impossible. We have pharaohs in our everyday life. Surrounding is, even in our family. Pharaohs come in all shapes in sizes. It could be a friend, that makes you feel bad about yourself, it could be one of your parents, who just won't listen to you. It could be your husband, who treats you disrespectfully, it could be anyone. But you have to remember this promise of God. He will free you from Slavery, He will redeem you with mighty power and great acts of Judgment, He will make you his own special people! We are His own special people who he has rescued from slavery. From mind slavery, from Sin. We are God's property sealed by the blood that Jesus shed on that cross for us. He is our Lord and Savior.

Don't ever let Pharaoh think he has power over you, for you are the Daughter or Son of the KING, He who reigns over the Earth. You have to keep your faith, and like my pastor says: You have to take your promise in God. He promised us prosperity, for we are His people. We are co-inheritors with Jesus.

My encouragement today is very simple. Keep the Faith in this moment of darkness, for He has promised you and I so many great things. When you feel like Pharaoh is getting to you again, trying to bring you down, read this verse again, and be reminded of the Promises He made to His people. And tell Pharaoh who your God is.

Be blessed, and be a blessing to others.

Change the World!

My year has started Great! With exams but GREAT! I've been watching a lot of movies lately, and the last movie I saw was Les Miserables. As tragic as the movie may be, I did enjoy it. And I would like to take one part of the movie that touched me.

The guy who was a prisoner, had been marked as a dangerous man, and this pastor showed him mercy and grace when nobody else did. Even when he tried to pay this mercy and grace with stealing from him, nothing changed, the pastor showed even more mercy and grace. This mercy and grace shown by a man of God, in the name of God, made this man marked by his sins, a new man.

This is how we should always be. Even when people turn against us, let us not be fast to judge them or condemn them. We should show grace like God has shown us. We have been forgiven of so much, who are we to not do the same to others? What changed us to be better people, is the grace and mercy, the forgiveness that God has given us. This change can be contagious, we can help to change others, by showing what God has done for us. And not only telling people what He did, but doing the same as he did, with those who surround us. Like I have written in previous posts, we have to be like a river, flowing with water, but then it flows into the sea, which is part of an ocean, which is connected to other oceans, and it keeps exchanging this flowing water, that came from the mountain with grace and mercy. As human beings, we are all connected. As Christians, as sons and daughters of Our Heavenly Father, we are all one BIG FAMILY. An always and forever growing family. And for this to be possible we have to share and love each other and be united with the love that God has shown us.

When we become Christians, we become part of a body that is moved by the Holy Spirit. Let us be truly moved all together as one, connected like rivers are to the sea and that to the oceans and all of them sharing and being one big life source. We have to be the ones to move this world into what God wants it to become.
One time in a preaching I heard a preacher say, We are the ambassadors who bring the Kingdom of God to the world. With our prayers, we move God.

Today I would like to encourage you to be that river, that starting point, that domino that starts a chain reaction of mercy and grace. I know this world can truly change for the better if we can see how our action can affect others. Good or bad, we always move each other. Let us make it a good effect. Let us as Christians and even if you are a non-believer, lets make this world a better place for all of us, by starting with our own everyday actions.  Lets be a blessing into the lives of our neighbors, so they can be a blessing to others around them.

Be blessed and keep being an awesome blessing to each other.

Let go and Start empty...

The year is coming to an end and we reflect on what we have done this year, what we have accomplished, how far we've come or even how much we went back.

God has done so many things for me this year. I don't even know where to begin. He has blessed me with work, education, spiritual growth and I've come far in my overcoming. And I know I still have a LONG way to go, but I am following my Father, who guides me and leads me to where He will use me for His Kingdom.

Today I would like to bring a small testimony. Something I learned this Christmas while spending time with my family. A lot of times we worry so much about ourselves we forget that God wants to use us, not looking at how much we lack, but using even that to do Great things. My family in Venezuela isn't Christian, yet!, though I have a cousin who is. And I just met him. He was an evangelist, but he failed and fell off track. What I admire the most about him is that even though he fell, he accepts it and is working to get back on it.

Being a Christian isn't about being perfect. Just because I accepted Christ in my life doesn't mean I wont fail or fall. But accepting that I'm not perfect, surrendering to my Savior and letting Him help me get back up after falling is what makes me a Real Human Christian. I learned that we have to be living testimonies of the word, of the wonderful works of God. That our lives have to reflect and be proof of what He can and will do.

As this year comes to an end, let's think about that.

A lot of times we carry our unworthiness like a burden. We bind ourselves into this Victim mentality, thinking that we are going to fail, and fall. And trust me we will. But that's not where our focus has to be. We fail and people fail us all the time. We are selfish, egocentric, mean, sinners, we hold grudges and we like to hold on to things. And yet God sees in us prophets, teachers, evangelists, worshipers and pastors. He sees what we are meant to be, while we are busy drowning ourselves in a cup of water.

To start this year I would like to encourage you to LET GO AND START EMPTY. Surrender it all to God, crucify yourself, your flesh on the Cross and start empty. No Traumas, no grudges, no victim mentality. Surrender it all and let God start a new you. The real you. The main resolution for this year should be that God will use us for greater things. That we will grow spiritually in what God has for us.

Brothers and Sisters, let our lives be testimonies to the word of God. Let others see that Jesus lives in us and that His Holy Spirit is what guides us. Let God be shown in our everyday life, in everything we do. In doing the dishes, changing diapers, talking to our friends, the way we treat ourselves, how we dress, how we treat others. Let's be the real bride of Christ, The Church He wants us to be.

Lets have a very blessed year and be a blessing to all those who surround us. That they will all see the Greatness of God in our lives and theirs.

God bless you and keep being a blessing to all those around you.

Freedom..

A lot of times we want to grow up fast, because when you become an adult you are free to do as you like. You have your freedom, your parents do not rule over you anymore. And trust me, I am very familiar with the wanting of this. But when you are a Christian you learn a different type of freedom.

As a christian freedom has a whole different meaning. Freedom isn't leaving home, it is coming home.When Jesus died on the cross he conquered death, and with that he gave us life, he gave us the freedom we needed to go back home. He frees us from our sins, so we can run back to our Father.  We are no more slaves of the darkness, we are free in His light.

When Adam and Eve fell in sin, we turned away from God. We left our home. To keep us on a path, came laws. Rules that condemn, that bind us. We became slaves. We were no longer free. Jesus came to break those boundaries, and set us free again. Our chains are broken. We can go back home. We can go to that promised land God has for us.

Today my encouragement is very simple. I would like for you to take a moment, and accept this freedom and share it with those around you. Stop thinking about when you will be free in this world. Accept the freedom Jesus has given us, now. And let's walk this walk together as brothers and sister. We are all going home.


God Bless you, and keep being a blessing to others.

"Dios se lo pague...."

There is a story my mother always tells me, about my grandmother in Venezuela, and today she repeated it. There is a saying in Spanish that says: "Dios se lo pague", meaning "May God pay you back", it is used to say thank you when someone does something you can't pay back. And that is what I want to share with you today.

My mother was always a very outspoken little girl. My grandfather wasn't the best man of the house so my grandmother always found a way to make money to feed her children. She sold ice, and some other things I don't remember, and there was always people in her house. Who stayed to eat or drink coffee. The whole neighborhood came by my grandmothers house. My mother didn't agree with that because the prices were going up and everything was getting expensive, if all these people got these things for free, one day, she would have nothing to feed her children. My grandma always said: " Mi'ja en una casa nunca debe faltar un Dios se lo pague", in a house there should always be a May God pay you back.
One day my grandma saw that there was  no food for the next day. She only said: "Hmm there's no food for tomorrow" the next day at 5 am her brother came by with a goat. So there was food for that day.

The lesson we have to learn from this, is that a lot of times we think that because we don't have much we shouldn't give and God will understand. But in the bible it says, if you give you will have more. God gives seed to those who sow. Today my grandma is missing nothing, because during her entire life, even when she didn't have she gave, and she did abundantly, so God keeps giving her all she needs.

We worry so much about what we are missing in our lives, and we worry so much about what is going to happen tomorrow and we forget that tomorrow is not in our hands but in His. If He gives food and shelter to His other creation. How much more won't He provide for us who are His children?

So I guess today I bring a double encouragement. Like my Grandmother did and does. Always give, without holding back. Give love, give shelter, give and you will receive from God so you can continue giving. Be a river that flows and calms the thirst of those who are in need. And while giving, surrender it all to God. He is our provider. So why worry about tomorrow? He provided yesterday, He provides today and He surely will provide tomorrow.

So don't worry about what's going to happen tomorrow and Give =D

God Bless you and be a blessing to others.