Happy Ever After!

 My brother got married, and I planned to write something awesome to speak at his wedding, but like always I get so nervous and have no idea what to say, so I turned to God and books about relationships.

I have learned so much about marriage, that when I get married I know I have all the tools to have a great Godly marriage, knowing also that I've been warned that Disney has no idea what marriage really looks like.

So I've read a few books about marriage, lots of articles and found quiet a few verses on marriage, love and relationships in general. Of course it all comes back to the relationship between the two people and Jesus. He is the center of it all, He is love!

I learned that in a relationship no matter what kind, either friendship, family or romantic, if Jesus isn't part of it, it will eventually collapse.Why? Because we all carry baggage that only He can take away, because we all sin against each other and against Him, but only He has loved enough to forgive and show us that we must forgive. And that is one thing that I learned that all these books and articles have in common: Forgiveness! -

25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

- Mark 3:25

Without forgiveness, a house becomes divided. In this verse Jesus is talking about the fact that the religious people where saying that Jesus had an evil spirit and that's how he could cast out demons.... Right! Jesus responded with all his wisdom, a house divided against itself cannot stand. If Satan works against himself he cannot stand. Same principle works also in the church, in the families, and in all relationships. A house divided cannot stand. A family divided, stops being a family, you may be blood related, but you are no longer a family.  Not being able to forgive divides us. Why? Because we hold grudges, we hurt, we get angry, we create walls, we separate ourselves from each other and eventually we fall.

I wanted to dedicate this post to my brother and his wife. I would like to encourage them to no matter what they do, whatever they sin against each other, if Jesus was able to forgive us from all that we have sinned against Him, who are we to not be able to forgive each other. Always forgive in time. Always talk it out, and forgive daily if it still hurts. Choose to love.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 

- 1 Corinthians 13:13

The Greatest gift of all is Love. God's Love. Unconditional, all forgiving Love. And I encourage you today to love the way God loves his Church, His bride.

So lets all take a moment today, and think of all the things that people have done to you that have hurt you. Think about them in prayer. Now think about all the things you have done or said to people around you that might have hurt them. You see now, you deserve as little forgiving as you claim those who have hurt you deserve. Now think about how gracious Jesus has been to you. He went to a cross, he died the most shameful death anyone could have thought of in those times. Think of His great love for you. And now take a stand like He did. Forgive those who have hurt you. We were separated from God because of our sin, we were reunited with God because of His forgiving love. Now I encourage you to do the same.

Love can conquer all. His love conquered death! His love can give you a happy ever after.

I love my brother a lot!! And I know the girl he has chosen to be with is a very blessed girl, just like my brother is also a very blessed guy. And I know that if they keep living for Jesus and working and striving to be closer to Him each day they can be an example of how Marriage through God always works. Love is a choice, forgiving is also a choice. God chose to love us, let us choose to be like Him!

Be blessed and be a blessing to those around you!

Read, Understand, Live and Listen.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

For the last 27 days I've been reading the Gospel of John and The book of Acts. I took the Jesus Culture 30-day Challenge to read these books. And I have learned more then I would've ever thought.

A lot of times we think that in order to truly serve God we have to become missionaries like Paul, Peter, and the other disciples and the disciples of the disciples. But I understood that as the children of God, being a missionary doesn't always mean going to Africa or India or South America to preach the Gospel or to live out your life for God. It is way more than that. I'm not saying it is not also a great way of living it, but it isn't always your calling.

Living a life for God is that in everything you do His Holy presence is with you. Either as a lawyer or as a teacher, you are constantly being challenged to reach out to those around you and teach them the Word of God, the Good news about our Savior.

Sometimes we are confused about what the Plan of God is for our lives and we worry that we can't hear His voice telling us what to do. We get discouraged that maybe He isn't listening. And one time I read this:

When the students are in a test, the teacher stays Silent!

And that is exactly what is happening, maybe you are going through a desert and you have no idea what's going on, but what if that is your test. He is polishing you to show you the great plans, but you must trust him. He has great plans to prosper you, but most importantly, He has Great plans to USE YOU for HIS KINGDOM. In all the ways possible, using all your talents. Talents that He has given you, so you can offer it back to Him in Worship.

In this verse we can see how Great God is, and how holy and yet we are able to be in His presence because Jesus Christ came and saved us, he cleansed us from our dirty ropes, with His precious Blood so we can come into the presence of the Judge, The King, the Almighty and Powerful and Holy God.
What else can we possibly want?

He has a mission for all of us. We are all working for His cause. For His Kingdom. But His laws, his Commands the whole mission plan is in His book. Read, Understand, Live and Listen.

He whispers to you, while the world is screaming and crying out to get your attention. Focus on Him, get into His word, and he will reveal to you in Spirit what it is that He has planned for you. It's there, you just have to take it.

Today I want to encourage you to not be discouraged when you feel like maybe you aren't doing enough. We all had to go to school before we could get the Diploma to then work in our "dream Job". We all have to study His word, get to know Him. Be persistent in your walk with Him. Do what the world is doing to you, shout to him, cry out to Him, get his attention. He is listening to you, Pray! And then Shut up, and Listen to His whispering voice. He will speak to you, but He is a gentleman so he will let you finish talking to then speak.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others.

United we are Stronger!

"42 They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord's Supper and in prayer." - Acts 2:42

I hear this a lot! 'I don't like church, I don't need to go to church, filled with hypocrites because I can pray at home on my own.' From a person that has gone from one church to the other until I found one where I felt at home, I can say I have felt this way. Seeing other believers' lives and thinking: "This or that person should really check his or her life, they aren't living what they preach!" And after thinking this, reading:

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Mathew 7:3

Understanding this, we would also understand the importance of Church. As a community, a home, a body of Christ where we can all find a room. Church is a Hospital, for those who are sick in their sin, a training camp for soldiers in the Army of the Lord against sin. It is where we recover strength to go on our daily battles. We all need this!

Yes, being alone with God is a must in our daily lives, to hear Him and have a relationship with Him. We have to have time alone with God. Where not our Facebook, or Phones, or friends or family, anyone can distract us from being in His presence. But being part of a community of Christians, as a Christian is very important. When we are sick, they can lay hands on us and pray. When we are in our down moments, they can give us a word from the Lord, to cheer us up. On Saturday my pastor preached about being "Carriers of Christ". Christ is living within us as Christians, and we have to bring Him to those who can't come to Him. And also bring those who don't have any strength left, bring them to Him. Carry them to His presence in our prayers.

But for us to be able to bring Him to others we have to also have Him in us. Be strong in Him. We must have been in His presence, before we can bring others. Our faith has to be strong enough for us to be able to bring healing, compassion, companionship, friendship and Love to those who need us, who need Him. You can't take someone to a certain place if you don't know where it is. Or explain a math problem if you don't understand it yet. It's as simple as that with the presence of the Lord. If you haven't yet been in His presence, how do you expect to bring others to His presence?

My encouragement today is for us, as this New Generation of Christians, to be so filled with the presence of Christ, that wherever we go, we bring church with us. We bring healing, restoration, renewed strength, LOVE to those who are in need of it. That we won't need to hear anyone ever say again, "Church is filled with hypocrites, I'd rather pray at Home", but instead we hear, "Church is where I find brothers and sisters who are struggling, but persevere and want more and more of Christ each day." That yeah alone we might get somewhere faster, but in Christ together we can get where He wants to see us as His Bride.

Let's work on this! Let's be filled again, let the fire Burn again and never stop burning! Let's share as brothers and sisters, all those blessings God has sent for us. We all have a duty in our Church, lets all do our part and bring down the Kingdom of God!

Bless you and keep blessing Others. United we stand stronger!

Power to the People!

So my writing has become less, not exactly what I wanted, and I will try to write more because there is so many things I want to share that I know some are helpful, they help me, and others are just random thoughts I want to let out.

Lately there is a lot been going on in different countries. Mostly protests against the government or the way they have been managing things, or against big corporations, save the planet type of activism. And I must confess I do Agree that we have been quite enough time, and it is time to rise up for a better world.

Even though I agree with lots of things the Anonymous Group do, I still have some concerns about their motto and the way they do things. "We are Anonymous, we are a Legion, we do not forgive we do not forget. Expect us." They don't forgive or Forget! Not your most Christian way of changing the world.
I do agree that we must Unite, more so as the people of God to bring down the Kingdom of Heaven and make changes in this World. Not like some of our ancestors have done, with crusades and killing so many innocent people, but like Jesus did. He is a great example of how we can change things. He saw how the leaders of that time weren't doing much good, using the word of God to their advantage instead of using it the right way. Kinda like what is going on now, the governments are using the laws to their advantage, using the peoples money to do the things that maybe aren't so legal. Violating our Rights, that they agreed upon to respect and honor.

But getting back to the Anonymous thing. We do need to stand up, and fight (in a pacific way) for our rights, and it will happen that when they feel threatened they will fight back, probably in a non-pacific way. If you know history, more even, if you know biblical history, if you just know the story of Jesus, you know that he fought against those who abused his people, and he was crucified. It had a bigger meaning of course. But when we fight, we will get a response, probably not always the "I surrender" type of response, like in Syria, but if we stand together, something will happen.

I guess that what I am trying to say is that, there are many ways to fight against the oppressor. But the best way is always the most pacific way. Stand up, Go out there, preach the Good news. If we all know where we stand and know that we have a greater purpose we won't need those corrupt politicians to fix things. We would only need God, our Lord, and our brothers and sisters. Working together we can go further.
All these protest have thought me one thing, when the people unite, the oppressors tremble. When the oppressed neglect the power they have, the oppressors gain more power. And the Power we have as Christians, is the greatest of all power.

So my encouragement for today is to acknowledge the power you have, people of God, for the Army of Heaven is fighting with us. Love is the greatest weapon we have, use it. Use it in excess, love everyone, teach love! It will bring change to this world. When we love, we give, we FORGIVE, we change.

Love!

Let it burn...

When I was little I went to the Catholic Church and I also visited a Baptist church for a little while. I never understood or saw much difference between the many different churches and their doctrines. When I was little I thought and still think that God doesn't judge us based on what church we visit, he doesn't put us in a group. He judges us based on one perfect example. Jesus Christ.  He judges us based on whether or not he sees Christ in us. So your church isn't as important as your relationship with Him. That direct link with God through Jesus Christ. In john 14:6 Jesus says: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Do you live according to His will or yours? Are you coming to church because you want to please God and try and work hard to live the life he wants you to live or just because your parents make you? Or are you coming because you want to go out with your friends after? What is the motive behind your actions? Is it God or is it your own sinful nature?

A true Christian isn't one who goes to this church or that one. A true Christian is one who has been washed by the blood of Christ and daily walks with God. And I must admit a daily walk with God isn't the easiest task. With our lives filled with distractions, we work, we study, and we want to do other things like sports, music. One day we are full of passion and a fire burning from within and the other our fire has totally dimmed and is barely holding. It happens, we set goals, “I will pray 2 hours each day”, then it becomes 1 hour than it becomes 5 minutes. And then we stop praying. The danger starts there.

I love reading and I read this book one time and it spoke about Romans 12 and Leviticus. He explained how in the Old Testament their sacrifices were animals and  How our lives have to be living sacrifices now. In Leviticus 6: 12 -13 the Bible says: `and the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. `A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.

 The fire shall always be burning. Why? Because it’s hard to start a fire. It was crucial to burn wood on it every morning.  The altar is where we burn our sacrifices.  In Romans 12 we are asked to make of our lives the sacrifice, we want to be a beautiful aroma for God. But we need to have wood burning on our altar. The fire is the presence of God, in order to start a fire you need wood. Wood is our prayer, when we pray we are asking God to be present in our lives. So every morning we shall put wood on the altar is for us to pray every single day, and put our lives on the altar to be the living sacrifice God wants from us. Every day worshiping the Lord, repenting from our sin. It’s a daily walk, We keep on keeping on. We bring our sacrifices of repentance daily. We are daily washed by His Blood. We are daily igniting our fire, feeding the passion for our Father.  He doesn't want animals he wants You. It's like this, you brush your teeth everyday, if you don't you'll get cavities. If you don't repent everyday from your sins, your life gets filled with cavities, until it rots and falls out.  

Once we have that, which is the most crucial, the most important part of our daily walk. Others will see a difference in us. I mean it sucks when you've had a friend, your best friend, and you've been a Christian for over a year, and they don’t know that you are a Christian. It’s bad. Our lives are the most important testimony. When people see God in us, they will see and believe that God is God. People don’t listen to what you say. People listen to your actions. If you don't brush your teeth everyday, your mouth starts to stink.  

My mother always says: clean your house before you want to clean someone else’s house. Why? So you don’t come off as a hypocrite. If you can’t keep your house clean, you have no business judging my house. What I hear a lot from friends who aren't believers is the crusades and the Christians who killed in the name of Christ and the church killed people, the pastors who rape children, abortion. What god lets kids starve in Africa.  You know what,  yeah, I know this happens, God knows this happens, but it’s not God who does these things. It’s the greedy mean, evil filled, money worshiping people who do this. 

We are here to make a difference, when the church started, it wasn't the church chasing the people to convert, it was other people chasing the church to wipe out Christianity. So let’s go back to the roots. Of course not be followed and murdered, which still happens in some countries, but to give more value the being called a Christian, a follower of Christ. Let’s truly live what the word of God has for us. What God’s will is for our lives?  Let’s not be cold anymore, but ignite a fire that we keep on feeding, daily no matter what happens. Let’s put wood every morning on our altar, and bring our lives as a living sacrifice on that altar and give it all to God, in Worship. Let us be that beautiful aroma. 

I encourage you today, to start over, if you let your fire dim, feed it with prayer, God is there, waiting for you to take that step. He already made the first move. Now it's time for you to make yours.

God bless you and be a blessing for others. 

The Power of 300...

⁷ The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” Judges 7:7

 When I wrote the title for this post, I couldn't help but  think about the movie 300. But even though it sounds so Hollywood-like, imagine 300 men marching against "The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples who had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore." They were MANY MANY people, and God sent only 300 men. But He didn't need any more. He told Gideon that there were way to many people. God only needed 300 men. Who he tested before sending out. He needed men who are alert, and willing to do as he says. Willing to do as he does. 

At first Gideon couldn't believe that God would want to use him to save Israel. He was a simple man, with a simple life. Sound familiar? A lot of times we want God to use us, but when it comes down to it, why do we doubt Him so much? We aren't perfect, we lack so much, and yet God would use us. Gideon even tested God, to see if it was Him truly who wanted to send him out. TEST GOD?!?! Yes!! And We all do that. "God please send me a sign, to know it's really what you want." We love to put God to the test. Why?

Today my pastor talked about faith. I think we lack so much of that. Our modern lives consume so much of who we are, that we have no idea what God wants from us or even when he speaks to us. We don't know him, because we don't seek him. When the church started, the apostles and the first followers could be easily used by God, because their faith was strong. They not only believed that one day something will happen. The were convinced of its truth and they knew how to work for God to make these things a reality. They were not afraid of letting God use them. They knew what God wanted, because they knew who their God was. And this doesn't have to change. God still wants to communicate with us as he did with them. But it's up to us. What are you willing to do, what sacrifices are you willing to make. 

Our lives are so consumed by ourselves, we want God to do everything for us, but we aren't willing to allow Him to command our lives. This week I heard a preacher in the radio say: "We have to make God, ADONAI". Adonai means Master, Lord, Owner. God owns us. He bought us when he shed the blood on that Cross. We are slaves of Freedom. As confusing as that might sound, it's very simple. He explained that we were slaves of sin, of death and darkness. Then Jesus came along, he bought us with his blood and now we are free, but we are also slaves of Light, of Love. We are Children of God. As our father, just like a father is the head of the house, he is the head of the House. The King, in His Kingdom. A father knows what's best for his children, a master knows what's best for his servants. For God to become Adonai, we have to let him rule over our lives. Not think Woe is me, but know that if God wants you to face an army of millions, with just a 300 men, you will not just be an army with 300 men, but you will be an army WITH GOD, of 300 men. God was, is and forever will be. He knows the plans he has for us before we were made. He knows what will happen before we take each step. So why do we still doubt the great plans he has for us?

My encouragement today is to Always Trust the Lord. He is Adonai, he is our master, our lord, our owner. He has great plans for us, if we have a willing heart, he will surely open the way for us and use us. 
If you are struggling today with this, you don't know what God wants for you, or have no idea what to do, start with the first step. Prayer. Surrender all of who you are to God. He Created you, and He knows with what purpose He did so. Why doubt? Let the one who knows it all take over, and lead the way. Like a father leads his children, Our father in Heaven will surely lead us to Him. 

Be blessed and be a blessing!

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!