Do we act what we believe in or do we believe in how we act?

It might sound the same, but it is not. Perhaps the question is not the correct one; maybe it should be: “Do we act as we say we believe?” Because if we say we are something why would we do things to discredit it?  If we say “we are good” Why do we act badly? Most probably we believe in how we act, because that we do without thinking about it. Like it is said; “if it has four legs, feels hairy and it barks, it has to be a dog”. So it’s no use to disguise oneself, whatever we believe in is going to show somehow. No matter what we say, the way we act prevails on.. Of course that does not always mean we like the way we act. Sometimes we feel we should have said something else or acted differently if we are trying to behave the way we should. And how should we behave? Well if we say we are Christian, for instance, and behave as nonbelievers, we are not being truthful to ourselves or to the ones surrounding us. I know that we are human beings and sometimes our behavior might seem a little too liberal due to what we are used to, because our lack of knowledge or our inflexibility. We are then being false to whom we promised faithfulness. If I say I am a Christian I should follow the Scriptures that say: Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (I Peter 4.11)

Jesus himself said “For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, in the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit.” (Luke 6.43-44a) But we still do what we do not want as you have also heard “the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” And Paul, apostle said: “For what I’m doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate”.(Romans 7.15)

Nevertheless, if we believe that Jesus became human to pay our debts with God dying in the cross, as the Holy Scriptures says, we have to say like Paul: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin.  Therefore there is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. . . the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 7.25-8.2, 6) 

So if we want Life and Peace we should set our minds on the Spirit and act like it too and let no one discredit us for not trying, and whatever we say or do, people see the good on us. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come. (II Corinthians 5.17)

Let us truly say with our actions what is certain: He was born to save us from perishing.eternally. Let’s celebrate. Merry CHRISTmas!!!

Is GOD grateful with us?

 It should be the other way around: Are we grateful with God for all He has permitted us?  I just wanted to change the question thinking He does not have to be grateful, but acts as if he was.

 During this time we celebrate THANKSGIVING to have a special day to remember the ones who thanked Him when He blessed them with a great harvest. That is why in our schools, the children dress as Pilgrims or Indians, to celebrate when they got together in that mission. During those days it was harder to have such a day for it was not usual to get those groups together. Thinking about it and the way things are turning out, we are probably going back to “more difficult” to praise GOD for his blessings, the way people are demanding “rights” that don’t belong to us.

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Is GOD grateful with us? Yes, Yes, YES! He made himself human to come and pay for our guilt even when we are not worthy of it. He loves us so. (John 3.16) And if we accept him, everything will work to our benefit. (Romans 8.28)  So, what else do we want? Whatever argument we have not to believe is of no account because He gave us free will, but He also gives us wisdom if we ask for it and responsibility to choose well. He will then help us in our weaknesses to do what’s right. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. (Lamentations 3.25)

Know that our stubbornness will prevent us to enjoy the good life our Lord has reserved for all who choose Him.

The Lord’s loving-kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness! (Lamentations 3.22-23)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Do we praise other gods by celebrating a tradition?

We are in the month of October where the tradition of Halloween is celebrated by many. Just as there are many different religious denominations, there are also different opinions about the fact, because each denomination has its own view, according to its belief.

Before it became Halloween — (All hallows eve) or the night before Christianity celebrated Hallowmas or All Saints day on Nov. first and All Souls on the second, which were ancient Christian holydays to pray for the souls of the dead who were believed to be roaming around on that day before they left for purgatory, which is the reason for the disguising so the “ghost” would not recognize the people, the feast used to be a pagan one. There are also many different opinions as to where it originated. The Christian custom of praying for the souls of their dead goes as far back as the 15^th century, but the pagan originated earlier. Some say its roots are from Celtic speaking countries, from Northern Ireland and Scotland; others say it was from Roman feasts of gods of the seeds or of the dead. The name is an English contraction so it is most provably Gaelic. There were offerings of food and drinks, for the dead who came to visit their home. Some people even set places for them at their dinner table. And there were festivals and rituals of divination games and bonfire to scare the witches of their punishment in hell. (Go to Wikipedia.com to learn more)

I remember knowing this tradition throughout my entire life. I was born a Presbyterian, went to a Methodist school with American roots, used to go to Baptist schooling when attending Summer Camps, and I had always seen that tradition as a fun one in all those denominations. When I came to this country I attended a Christian high school (Presbyterian Pan-American School at Kingsville, Texas where I met my first dear friends in the US) There we celebrated it as any party where we dressed up, to have plain fun and with no other bad intention. When I became a mother, I dressed my babies as bunnies, chicks, little angels, Chinese vendors, and many pretty customs. The adults dressed up as “red riding hood” or pirates, French maids, and things as awkward as a TV set or a refrigerator, and participated in originality contests. And at Church we had a blast where we had simply a lot of FUN. When did the Church decide we could not have fun because it was diabolic? When do we scare our children into not dressing up or go “trick or treating” having done it ourselves? When does it all deteriorate and becomes a sin to celebrate “Halloween”? Are we praising the devil? Is God going to punish us for it? Are we praising other gods by having fun?

First of all we should know what the Holy Scriptures say about our Creator.  Precisely, the first of the ten Commandments, which He Himself spoke to Moses: “You shall have NO OTHER gods before Me. You shall not make yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above, or on the earth, beneath, or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exodus 20.3-6). . . For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4.24)  So, anything that does not praise God is praising and honoring “other gods” and many times people fall in the trap of fun making the devil is tending us to make us sin, so Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partaker with them. (Ephesians 5.6-7) It would be worse if our children do not have the chance to participate in life eternal because of our stubbornness.

All throughout the Word of God (our Creator, the Almighty One) we are going to find wisdom and if the new church found it, it will teach us so we would not fall in the deceit of not knowing. So we should thank God for the truth so we do not perish on account of ignorance.  

Churches have created fun and candy festivals during these times and give them other names so their children do not feel left out on a fun celebration, but one is responsible to explain the truth to them on their understanding level so they know what to defend in the future. Of course, many people might say there’s nothing wrong with the tradition and we might fall in, so let’s read about it and do not be ignorant. Read the Scriptures to obtain wisdom, go to a church and teach your children so they become wise adults who are a blessing and not a shame to society. Many parents whose kids are behind bars or dead would probably wish it had occurred to the before it was too late.

How much better is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver. The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; he who watches his way preserves his life. He who gives attention to The Word will find good.  And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. (Proverbs 16. 16,17, 20)

Why do you allow yourself to be condemned?

“I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes Father for this way was well pleasing in your sight.” (Jesus, Luke 10.21)

Not long ago I heard a news bulletin on the radio about a boy who had gone to heaven and was saying what he saw. I said to my self “He probably went through the tunnel and saw the same things that the people in other similar cases have.” I was wrong.

Last night, I saw the movie on what happened and I was impressed with what I learned. It answered many questions I myself had about heaven:

1-What would we look like?  We would be like normal people, but young; no glasses, no sickness..

2-Would we recognize each other? We would not only recognize the ones we know now, but will know all the ones we do not know now because they passed away before we could meet them, like it happened with his unborn sister. That tells me that the conceived children are real people in the Kingdom of God. Can you imagine that a child you have knowingly aborted could actually accuse you of murder? Remember the Final Judgment.

Why do I believe these things? Because it was a four year old that has no reason to lie and because I had a similar experience when I had my accident, although I did NOT go to heaven, but I did see myself laying in the stretcher as the nurses rushed me to the operating room and I heard them talking between them asking if I would be allergic to something and I said “Penicillin”. At a moment, later, I thought I was in heaven and even asked my aunt, then beside me, if she had also died. Somehow I knew my husband had passed away, reason why it did not surprise me when I was told. I have no knowledge of having died, just like the little boy. It was an “out of the body experience”.

I do not discard the fact of illusion, but what illusion could a four year old have about something he had not experienced before? If he had been a little older like I had thought he was when I heard the news bulletin, perhaps. The parents also researched into that possibility. But the fact is God reveals His truth to whoever He chooses so people can hear and stop the wrongdoing. If you do not want to see it, you are allowing yourself to be condemned. But the good part of all of this is the redemption we have in Jesus if we let Him. And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; so by His wounds you were healed (I Peter 2.24).

The boy saw Jesus, and has agreed on His look with the ones who have also seen Him. Jesus is the Son of God who came to rescue us from eternal condemnation, so, do not let anyone fool you into sinning. Ask God to help you in the name of Jesus. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3.36)

Are we sure of our destiny? Who are we entrusting our life to?

It is well known that whoever you truly like, you will follow. Or the other way around, if you follow someone it’s because you like him/her. You like his ways, his criteria, his standards, he seems to be a winner and you want to walk in his footsteps. But it is well known too that wherever those footsteps take you will also be your destiny. But, what if your role model or idol is a phony or a fraud? It is like a big balloon full of air that when it gets punctured, it blows out and disappears. That is very sad, because you probably give up your life to follow someone who is not worthy of it, and when he gets to the end, his career, his teachings, ideas, and everything about him simply vanishes., and you end up as empty as he does. What an awesome end, though, have the opposite people!, the ones who entrust their life to the Truth. The ones who do not follow balloon ideas, but sounding teachings where everything harmonizes, because they live what they preach and have nothing to hide. Not like the ones who preach humbleness and live like Daddy Warbucks. What a great way to end when you abound in goodness and grace. It is like leaving a shimmering path as you walk by; like a pleasing aroma left behind when you walk in the ways of the Lord. That is what I sensed he had done when I went to the funeral service of my friend and brethren Liberato Vega who had passed away on July 2014 somewhere else; a devout Christian and a straight patriot who always strove to do the right thing by his heavenly Father with whom I know he now dwells. Former congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart was one of the speakers, so was Rev. Martin Añorga, close friends of the family. There I learned how my friend and his family had been harassed, back in our country of birth, by the Castro regime for only turning down a “great” position on the new government on account of my friend’s Christian beliefs that clash with Communism. Just for that, their home was ransacked by government officials who condemned him as a Persona-non Grata, thus making them flee to freedom in the U.S.  That is what they (leftist/socialists) usually do to anyone who dares to oppose them.  Even though the government tries to ridicule, vex and/or eliminate opponents, the just and the smart persons know, and call the victims, heroes, like my friend’s granddaughter did in a school essay. That is what we are when we endure due to standing up for righteousness against anything that opposes love, goodness, and mercy. And even when many would have accepted a position with the enemy, a man with integrity would have not been able to live in cheating, lying, killing, or destroying, for envy’s sake, with no God.

When we follow Christ, we are sure of our destiny.  Liberato did, and was also a proud Cuban, that is why he wanted to be buried like Cuba's apostle José Martí who wrote, in exile, something like this:

Even if I’m overseas

When I die, I shall be free.

On my tomb should be displayed

My birth Flag, and a flower bouquet.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1.1-2)

What is God’s priority? . . . Hasn’t He made a great choice?

Last month I commented of our priority which should be Him, for His is us, the people who make up the world He made for us to live in. 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. (John 3.16)  And He did it for us, the people who make poor choices and do, in our stubbornness, as we desire instead of abiding to His law which is, at last, the best,  the safest and most rewarding way to use our time to enjoy ourselves on His companionship. How great! And all we have to do is to believe in Him. Jesus said: “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light”. (Matthew 11.28-30) Why would He say so if He didn’t mean it?  Have you not experienced His love and mercy? I have, but it would take me hours or days to mention them and would probably overlook many. When we ask Him in the right attitude, He is never too busy to turn us away and His vulnerability to our plea is genuine. He created this perfect world where the natural catastrophes happen to avoid worse ones and the heavenly bodies orbit with no collision in million of years. Every thing is perfect, yet, nothing is more important to Him than us. We are His masterpiece created to His image. In case you think otherwise, we are His priority.

When I think He chose to make us His priority, I can not but to be amazed and say like the psalms author:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained; what is the man You take thought of him, and the son of man You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.  (Psalm 8.3-6)  Yet, there are people who deny Him as a Creator.  I pity them, for they have put their trust in man made institutions and irrational ideas made up by unsound, yet acclaimed by the world, men.  I have enough reasons to believe in The One who created all the wonders for us, placed us as His priority; and didn’t rest to find a way to cleanse us to be able to share an everlasting life together.

For that reason I say:

Bless the Lord, o my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord o my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. . .The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. . .As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and its place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children to those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them. The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the Lord all you works of His, in all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, o my                                                                  soul! (Psalm 103.1-5, 8, 15-19, 22)

What is the priority in your life? . . . Have you made a poor choice?

I heard of a very smart boy who made his future career his priority. He knew how to live for it and made his parents live for it too. The parents did not have a “life” of their own for they invested everything in their son’s future. They were kind of old and sick and were counting on their son with a great career to be their future helper when they could not work anymore. They could save with no problem for they had good paying jobs and an ability to make money, They lived in a very nice place and were able to have anything at their fingertips if they needed it. But they were involved in an accident and died and the “bright” boy had to use his career money to live up his life as he was used to. And when the money ran out, and the cost of living got too high, he got into the easy money business and, of course, his life ended very fast making “smart” choices. Was all of that bad luck?. . . There’s not such a thing as “bad luck”; it’s all poor choices?

What is the priority in your life? Is it your studies, your business, your family, your community?  All of that is great but it should go second to the best choice at knowing and understanding your Creator. Of course you could say: “I do not believe in him” It might not matter to you if you know Him or not; what really matters is that HE knows you and sooner than you think He’s going to be asking you what you did with your life and why you made those poor choices. What are you going to answer? I am sure you will not say what you would now do like: “I don’t care about you because you are not real” No! You are not going to blame yourself. You will say something like: “I was so busy with the life you gave me that I did not have time to think about it” or, “My parents never taught me about you” or “My teachers in School told me the Bible was a lie. I needed to graduate.”  When these last two could be true in some cases, they are NO excuses to look for the truth. If you’re a child, there’s no problem. Jesus said: “Permit the children to come to Me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Luke 18.16) But if you’re not “one of these” you will be responsible for your own safety. If you’re hiking with your parents and get lost in the woods and your father says “there’s no way out” would you stay still as nothing waiting for a ferocious hungry animal to take care of you? Or would you look for some way to get out of the mess? You are not going to get to safety by somebody else’s decision of “not doing anything”

My advice to you is to start making the correct choices of looking for the truth in the real Word of God, written by many men who were inspired by God Himself, and make Him your priority. Make the time to learn about Him and how you can get out of this jungle (of “great opportunities to get rich, or good looking, slim, or desirable”) to safety which is enjoying life with your loved ones in the truth and mercy of God. You might not know Him, but He knows and loves you. And do not worry about anything. All you have to do is ask Him to give you His wisdom. Pray and He will. Jesus once said:

 “And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but you Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you (Luke 12.29-31)

Today we celebrate the independence of our country. Independence from another country, but as long as we keep our dependence of the true GOD we can be blessed abundantly..

GOD BLESS THE USA! HAPPY 4^TH OF JULY.

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Would you reject a precious gift given by your father?

Imagine that your father, a very wealthy man, comes up to you on your birthday or any other special date to congratulate you and give you a small wrapped box. Would you say: “No, thanks, I don’t want it; give it to somebody else”? What would anybody who sees that say?  How ungrateful? . . . How foolish?  What would you think if you saw that?

Well, we see that every moment of our life. It happens constantly. Some are rejecting what our Creator is giving us by His grace. God is always calling us. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me. (Revelations 3.20).He wants to give us a present The greatest gift that GOD, our father, gave us was Jesus Christ, His son: For God so loved the world that He gave us his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him shall NOT perish, but have eternal life. (John 3.16)  He did it so we could have a good eternity. And how many of us reject him every day? How many say NO to his grace of giving us eternal life? I’ve heard people saying: “I do not want to spend an eternity on a cloud playing a harp,” because that’s the image they have seen on cartoons that someone invented, and have rejected the true experiences many have told of the joy they have felt when they rest in the arms of the Lord. Perhaps they do not want to spend an eternity in a cloud (something I have NOT read in the Bible) but rather do it on the “lake of fire”: But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelations 21.8) So, if they rather spend their eternity there to not believe now, it’s their choice. The Lord says it: My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11.30) He is giving us ALL the opportunity to spend enjoyable time NOW and forevermore. Do not reject it.

The other invaluable gift was given by Jesus to the disciples and to all who receives the first gift. Before He ascended to heaven he said: “I will ask the father and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” (John 14.16)

And all of us who let the Spirit abide in us, are confident that all God’s promises in the Bible have been, are, and will be true which is something that makes us enjoy life and have great expectations for the life after death. Don’t reject that gift, and listen to His calling:

  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

 (Matthew 11.28)

If you do listen, He will live within you and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses. (Acts 1.8a)

Let’s welcome Him, and enjoy!

Are you content with everything as it is, or are you like the Rolling Stones that can find no Satisfaction?

 

Many people have told me how miserable they were before when they felt an emptiness they could not figure out. There was nothing wrong with them: no sickness, no death, no problems of any kind, they had no lack of anything good, on the contrary, they were healthy and prosperous people, YET they lacked something they could not understand; felt a worthlessness they could not control.  

I also felt like that once. Everything good that I ever desired for did not feel me up like I                                  thought it would. Was it that I was wrong in my good desires? What was I seeking for?  I was healthy, I had love, means of good living, traumatic living or any kind of distress had not touched me so far —I got that later on when my life turned completely around.— I was apparently fine, but there was something that didn’t let me rest; that did not make me feel complete. I had every thing to be pleased, and I did not owe anything to anybody, yet . . . that feeling of fright, like when you are going someplace and you feel something is missing from your luggage, but you don’t know what it is. And you go over everything you did to pack and still can not think of something important you have forgotten like, for instance, an important medicine you must have on an emergency and no pharmacy will dispense without the approval of your doctor who won’t be around. Or the feeling of not belonging that you get when you go to another city and can not find a place to stay and all the hotels show a No Vacancy sign.

All those feelings of not being able to solve a simple need due to facts you have no control over are what make you miserable and make you feel afraid, not satisfied, empty, and many more negative feelings that can lead to a disastrous living. And can you call that a living? Why should you be tormented with things you can not control? I learned that the hard way, and when I went through a “storm” in my life that left me upside down the first thing I did was to cry out to my Creator to give me everything He promises in the Scriptures He would to all who ask;

-“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33.3)

-The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him. (Psalm 34.7)

-I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41.10)

-He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”

 (Hebrews 13.5 b)

-The Lord is good to those who wait for Him. (Lamentations 3.25)

How great when we take possession of these promises. There are hundreds of them in His Word that we can hold on to on bad times, but there is a particular one that when God grants it will do away with all fear, emptiness, or dissatisfaction, no matter how bad the situation might be around you. It was not only promised to the disciples, but to us too:

“It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you                       and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1.7-8)

And hasn’t it been true? How powerful we can be if we embrace this one. Let the Holy Spirit dwell in you and you’ll say like the author of Hebrews:

“The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid, what will man do to me?” (Hebrews 13.6)

Are we doing what we are supposed to?

We are celebrating Holy week, or the week of the Passion or whatever you want to name it. It was the last week Jesus spent with his disciples before He died and resurrected. In that particular week many things happened. One of them calls my attention, when He gets mad. And it does not happen once, but twice. Once is in the temple, when he turns the tables upside down and things fly around and the money of the change –I imagine of the different monetary units for people from all over came to that temple (built by King Solomon and rebuilt by Ezra with the help of the king of Persia) to worship. Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, “The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem. …”(Ezra 1.2)

When Jesus got mad in the temple was because people were doing what they were NOT supposed to do there, the temple´s patio area had become a commerce area . The next day He got mad when hungry, He could not find fruit on a fig tree on the road, only leaves, and He cursed it. (See Mathew chapter 21) The tree did NOT do what it was supposed to, which is to bear fruit, so it withered at once.

What are we supposed to do? We were created NOT to only be pretty like that particular fig tree; NOT to use the Holy places or institutions to make money off them, either. We have to bear fruit: love one another, give to the hungry and needy, and do like Jesus instructed us: “Go into all  the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”(Mark 16.15): tell the truth to everyone that God came to our world and made himself human so we could learn to be like him and become of His family, and when He died and shed blood to pay for the sins of the world, rose up at the third day and went to heaven after 40 days to be with the father. We should  bear fruit, and use the holy places to get together with the chosen ones to worship and sing hymns. If we do not bear fruit, we deserve to be treated like the fig tree. Paul the apostle wrote to Titus who was his assistant in some of his missions and advised: “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they not be unfruitful.” (Titus 3.14) That is what we must do and celebrate salvation, if of course, we want to be with Him. If you want to be with the devil, you are probably already doing what you are supposed to. Before He ascended to heaven Jesus said: “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” (Mark 16.16)

Do not take me wrong, I am NOT saying you have to do (to earn) anything “to be saved” for that is a gift from God which He paid with his blood. But if you believe, you will do what you are supposed to. That is a consequence of our belief in Christ, so that is what I meant with the question. Like Paul said about Christ in his letter: and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for their behalf. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  (II Corinthians 5. 15, 17)

Happy Easter!

ARE WE WORTH DYING FOR?

Imagine you were chosen to be shot from a group of kidnapped people, to make authorities comply with the kidnappers’ demands, and when they were ready to execute, someone came and said: “No, wait, take me instead. Kill me, not him/her.” And the thieves do make the exchange. How would you feel?  Perhaps you were so important to the company, or to the community, or even to the thieves who could use you as a bait to enlarge their demands, that they were OK with the swap. But, what if you were a “nobody” anywhere around and even doomed by a non cure sickness? Wouldn’t you be a good choice to start the shootings? Who knows if by the time around to the second victim, the authorities would comply or break in to save all of the abducted ones? What if they don’t and you are chosen once more? Would somebody else come and die in your place, again, so you keep gaining time until authorities decide it’s time to do something, since no one can convince the thieves you were worth more alive than dead?

That is the way our world works. The one God created was perfect, but we have transformed it when man chose to disobey Him. We all became hostages of our sinful nature which will eliminate us on its time. We are all doomed to die: For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6.23a) Yet, we have an alternative that we can hold on to: But the FREE gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6.23b) We do not have to be afraid to die because He already did it in our place and even if we leave this world where we have been kidnapped by sin, we are guaranteed a grand reception, a welcome party when we get to the kingdom of heaven, for Precious, in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His godly ones (Psalms 116.15) and He has confirmed our reward :Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.(Revelation 2.10 )  And the best of all is that, unlike it is done in our world, we do not have to be “worthy” to enter life eternal,  for  while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5.6) So it does not matter who we are, how much we have, how much we have worked for the cause, whether we are sick or not, whether we are good or bad, how much we have suffered in this life. For God so loved the world (everyone) that He gave his only begotten Son that WHOEVER believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3.16)

So, are we worth dying for? We were for Jesus. That was God’s plan for us and his gift of love that many reject now. I hope they do not get sorry for it later on for there’s NO return then. If you want to know about Him, all you have to do is read the Bible and if you have a doubt, you can ask a person who knows. You can ask me if you want. Just send me the question at my e-mail: esthernohemi51@gmail.com I will answer to the best of my ability.. God bless you.

Do you know how to love someone?

“Oh that’s easy” you might say if that someone gives you a reason to, but what if he /she does not? Would you still love him/her?

That’s not so easy. Imagine that a person says you are a liar, you are good for nothing, calls you the worst epithet, falsely accuses you, laughs at you, attacks you, does anything to show he hates you being in his sane mind, would you love him/her at all?  It is possible if your love for that person is real.

That is the real love that many people feel for their spouses even though they mistreat them or hit them. That is the love the Word of God talks about in First Corinthian 13, which: “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”

 (Verse 7). That is the kind of love Jesus showed in the cross when He pleaded God for the ones who tortured Him: “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23.34).

Jesus said in the Sermon of the Mount something that He demonstrated then: LOVE your enemies and PRAY for those who persecute you. (Mathew 5.44).  It is easy to love a spouse, a son or daughter, a friend . . . but, my enemy  . . . the one that’s “killing me”? . . .  The one, who thinks, behaves, believes and is completely different than I am and is against me to the point of even destroying me?  That is difficult, very difficult to do. But if Jesus asked us to do it is because we can. And if it is possible to do it I guess I can try and ask God to give me the strength and wisdom to know how and when to do it.

I am not perfect but since I accepted Jesus as my Christ and Savior, I know I can do all things through Him who strengthen me. (Philippians 4.13) He would not have asked us to do something that is impossible for us as humans to do because that is why He came to our world to experience what we as humans could do, to be as holy (chosen) as He wants us to be. And that does not mean to be slow or foolish or to give ourselves up to the enemy, because Paul, the apostle also said “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he’s thirsty, give him a drink, for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12.20) So, does that mean that by doing him good I am really damaging him? No. I am making my enemy think things over because if I am capable to love him, I already won him.

  All the advices the Bible gives are perfect. We are the ones who are not because of the Sin but we could change that by accepting Jesus, and really doing what Jesus said God commanded us:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,’ this is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” (Mathew 22. 37-40)