As thousands of believers are praying, and millions are voting in USA, here is a great reminder of "how to vote for president..."
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Time has passed so fast. Praise God for His goodness and faithfulness during our steps in Damascus!
I’m writing from Paris airport in my way back home (… home is a strange word right now because it’s not related with a physical place but a spiritual one, and I don’t feel very far form it.)
As I write I realize I have many new things in my heart now; a renewed love for people and God’s purpose, a new love for the Middle East, a new perspective about peace and war, a new family in Christ, new matters of prayer, new faces in my heart, new challenges and decisions to make, new hope and expectation to see God’s hand moving and inviting us to join His work… I don’t know where to start… I guess I need to ponder these things in my heart waiting for God to show the way.
This last report it’s about the last service I participated yesterday. It was the youth service so many of my young new friends and ‘students’ were present. The Pastor gave me the honor to share the word in this occasion… an honor that usually has come to me last minute in Syria. God is faithful always, especially last minute : )
As Betsy opened and prepared the hearts with powerful praise and worship, I tried to keep faithful to the word given to me - reconciliation -, and Pastor R. nailed all down making a call to young men and women from Syria and Iraq to forgive and bless each other; God moved powerfully. I did not need much translation to understand the powerful prayers that started flooding the upper room where we were, where we experienced God’s presence. I saw tears and passion as young men crossed the room to embrace and pray for other young men like them… pain, fear and pride started falling down, generations of resentment between cultures, years of judgment between nations that today are tied together in the strangest of the relationships… the one that force natives to live with refugees. In most of cases none of them chose to be in this position – especially being the young generation, the kids of the war – but both of them live its brutal consequences.
Many pages could be written attempting to address the issues these kids and their families live and my guess is that most of those pages would be useful just to satisfy information needs; after all, who can enter reach the depths of the human heart but the Spirit of God Himself. As the prayers and tears continued, as the words of forgiveness and blessing reach the heavens; my heart could also say ‘It’s here Lord, it’s here and now where we can ask for peace… peace in the Middle East’ May the Prince of Peace grant His peace as He is welcomed in all those young hearts; as He transform them in a generation of light for the nations, a generation of ministers of reconciliation.
The recurring story of this trip has been the story of Jesus multiplying bread and fish for more than 5,000 people… out of almost nothing, not even enough for the small group of disciples and their Master. I vividly remember Pastor R. words challenging the team to exercise the faith of the Spirit, not the faith of Philip or the faith of Andrew (see John 6), but the faith of the Spirit, where we give away all the little we have, Jesus takes it, breaks it, gives thanks for it, and makes a miracle with it. The little was enough, not just to satisfy the needs of many, but also – as Pastor R. stated – to gather a full basket and take it home… my heart is that basket as I leave Syria... praise the Lord for His goodness!
Thanks for your prayers and the ways you have contributed to this trip. Please, keep praying for me and for the rest of the team. Pray that we may be found faithful in giving away again what we have been given in Syria, this time to the ones that are closer to us. We all desperately need of that multiplied bread, the Bread of Life.
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Cor 9:8)
Consider the life God has put in you and me. What is that life about?
Monday, October 6, 2008
I remember the time before that life, I remember my old life was about me, my desires, my pride, my fear, my time, my way, and my benefit over everybody else. Even in dear and intimate things as marriage and fatherhood, my own old life was only about me. One day, in the time determined by God I met the cross, and the blood of Jesus exchanged my old life for a new one… that is the life God put in me, not just the natural, but also the supernatural, the spiritual, the eternal life.
That life is about repentance, faith and reconciliation. It is about forgiveness and righteousness, it is about peace and clarity, it is about hope and love… it is as simple and sincere as it is powerful. In the new life I can understand purity, holiness and joy; statements like “Praise the Lord for His goodness”, or “My heart rejoices in God, just in Him I find delight” make profound sense in my new life. All of this is good, but is not all.
In the new life there is also purpose and meaning for existence. There is a call, a mission to fulfill, a quest to be obedient to this mission. Fulfilling this mission in the new life is not just a duty; it is pleasure and satisfaction… consider if the birds fly the skies out of duty, of if the sun shines out of duty… does the flowers blossom out of duty alone… or is if life itself that is revealed?
Consider the life God has put in you, and be obedient to it, live it out, consecrate to it… separate yourself to this life alone. As Jesus says… God will take care of the rest “… seek first His Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”
Sunday, October 5, 2008
This morning, by the time I woke up, I had a clear idea in my heart; like if something in me was saying: “marcos, wherever you see obedient submission to God and sincere humbleness, you will also see the power of God.”
This is an amazingly simple and powerful spiritual principle. And it is a very real principle also.
These last couple days I had the privilege to enjoy lunch with Pastor S. and his family and to travel to another city about one hour away from Damascus to attend a prayer service on Sat night and the main service on Sun morning. Pastor S. has enough English to maintain a conversation, but has so far more wisdom to make it really interesting.
Sharing simple things as a meal or a cup of tea, led into sharing deeper about of God’s story in our lives, and I learn how much God has used – and is using – this obedient and humble man to shape the reflection of His Kingdom in this world and this nation.
It’s amazing to see authority when God has given it. This authority is not a matter of loud voice or charisma; it does not come from deep and complicated thoughts of human wisdom; it does not boast, fear rejection or serves human taste… it’s simple, sincere, powerful in God, who backs up; who shows up like saying… this is mine.
That is my perception not only of Pastor S. but also of the whole Church and school… this is the real deal.
As the day passed by, the Word of God spoke more clearly: ‘Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace’ Psalm 37:37
Friday, October 3, 2008
Part of our task in this trip, probably the hardest and at the same time most effective, has been the visits we made to Iraqi refugee families. Every visit represented a story, a story of suffering and tribulation.
This is the story of a family that we were not even supposed to visit, but for some estrange reason we met. They were not even related to the Church in Damascus we are serving with, so it was a first time not just for us but also for our guides and translators.
A son, the last son of the family had been kidnapped one month ago. He is only 7 years old.
As I listened the words and the heart of a desperate father, silently asked in my own heart ‘what can we say? How can we minister to this family? … There are no words…’
Suddenly the man said:
-The male child is the one who carries all the honor and dignity of the family… and this one who is lost, is a very special one since we cared a lot for him.
After a moment of silence the words came out of my heart…
-We are going to pray to God asking your son back… but first, let me tell you a story about another Son who was lost, a Son who carried all the honor and dignity of His Father, a Son who was given and died, but came back to the Father bringing glory and reconciliation to the world.
A seed was planted, not only the seed of salvation, which is the most important; but also the seed of a Father who gave His only begotten Son, and is able to understand the pain of any father who fears and worries for his children.
Love was released when Jackie and Stephanie prayed. We left with tears in our eyes and in our hearts. All of us; foreigners, natives, believers and non-believers. We became familiar in the midst of pain. In hope we are still familiar in the midst of prayer... so the grace of God will shine for His glory.
Sunday, September 30, 2008
Called to an overmastering relationship. Called to a relationship that will manage all decisions in my life; that will lead my life through uncertain paths, but to a certain destiny. God has strange ways to speak to us, always timely, always when we need Him it the most.
Yesterday night I struggled with God asking Him for direction, for a word to my life. He is Faithful and His promise real… call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know. The place and moment could not be better, since I am on a mission trip, half of the world away in Damascus, one of the oldest cities in the world where pages of the Bible were written and where one of the most amazing stories of transformation took place. It was at the ‘road to Damascus’ where Saul of Tarsus had an encounter an a vision that transformed his life and made of him a powerful instrument that transform the world.
What I received was not just a random message, but the confirmation and affirmation of God’s voice, spoken to me during the last 2 years: “Now get up and stand of your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a minister and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them form darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so they may receive forgiveness of sins and place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
I don’t consider that I deserve this, I don’t think I’m worth of it, I know I’m not capable to do this… but this is not about me, it’s about the Master’s will, it’s about the Master’s plan, the Master’s desire. I know there is only one think I have to pursue every day or my life… one focus, one purpose, one goal: obedience to my Master. I was not called to a cause, a doctrine, or a church. I was called to a person, called to follow and obey Him. If He has placed a vision… I must follow. Help me Lord to be obedient to the vision.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
How do I have to pray for this land and its people? During the first 2 days I have been blank, distracted and unable to see the spiritual realm of this city and this nation. I have been praying what is basic, somehow lost, aiming blindly to every direction. We had a time of prayer over the mountain where we were able to see the entire city… but I still could not see the Spiritual. I know for sure that the Spirit guides our prayers but I was longing for a better conscious understanding of how to pray.
It did not happen on the mountaintop, it did not happen at the church gathering; it happen in the simplicity of a tiny hotel room at 5:30 am while my partner was still sleeping. I woke up ‘called’ to pray after the city prayers where over (we are here during Ramadan, a month of fasting where prayers start a around 2 or 3am around the city… and you hear them!)
Seated and kneeled by my bed I receive clarity to pray for this land as I was reminded of the story of Ishmael in the book of Genesis. Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Agar, young slave of Abraham’s wife, Sara. Ishmael was conceived in an attempt to help God fulfill His promise, but he was not the son of the promise and due to bitterness and resentment between his mother Agar and Sara, he was send away by his father Abraham in obedience to God. Blessed and cursed at the same time Ishmael would become the father of many nations, including the one I’m right now.
A son that was loved and also abandoned by his father is a very sad picture. Ishmael was the son that grew up strong but fatherless, in the middle of the resentment of a young mother whose life was also marked. Did he resent his father in a strange mix of love and hate? Did he perform trying to gain his father’s love? Did his heart become hard? Did this experience block his eyes of understanding for God?
As I see Ishmael children in this city and learn how much they are committed to deeds to gain favor with God, as I see their faithfulness in those deeds (faithfulness also reflected in his desire to honor and submit to their authorities)… I see the heart of a child longing for his father love. As I see in this land how big is the concept of “what is fair” and how small is the concept of forgiveness and grace, I see the heart of a child whose place was taken away without any explanation. Sins of our parents bring consequences to our lives… we live the blessings or the curse of our previous generations and somehow we repeat the very same sins we saw in our parents, sins we hate and try to avoid. All of this is the very nature and consequence of sin.
There is just one way out. This way is just found in the person of the One who came to reconcile the world with God, He did it by sacrifice, forgiveness and grace. As I call to the name of Christ who is eternal, loving and powerful to bring reconciliation in the heart of a child named Ishmael and his children… I see also how His very identity has been rejected as the Son of the promise of God and replaced with another son, another person, another prophet; human effort to reach what God promised and only God can deliver. It sounds a lot like the sin of Ishmael parents.
By Stephanie Walker
Sunday, September 28, 2008
One flower for one soul, the perfect end to the perfect evening. Praise the Lord the war has already been won! We arrived on the mountaintop at the exact time that the evening call to prayer began to sound across the city. We were there proclaiming the word of the Lord high and above the voices that rang out below. The wind blew our praises to God all over the night sky into the city. It was such a powerful moment. We gathered in a circle at the very edge of the mountainside and began to randomly lift up our prayers to the heavens. We prayed for Satan to be bound, fear to be removed, for God to move in the hearts of the people below, for the government, for the loved ones of those killed or injured in the car bomb that had exploded earlier that morning, for the Syrian churches, for the Iraqi refugees, for Pastor S, for our loved ones, for those who were on the mountain with us. As we prayed the wind blew and Satan continued to try and distract us with the sound of firecrackers in the background, but as our leader, Mark, said, our battle has already been won, Satan’s attempts are in vain. We were there to fight and we fought hard. The group stood strong, holding hands huddled as tight as possible standing as one in spirit. We prayed for an hour, we felt the Spirit telling us to stop.
After some singing and a few pictures, we all bought cocoa from the very man setting off the firecrackers the whole time we were praying. As we were waiting for our drinks a young man selling carnations approached us, but we all tried to ignore or avoid him. Though we had just prayed that God would stir in the hearts of those on the mountaintop and that He would open doors for His name to be made known and that we would show up and be obedient none of us noticed the open door right in front of us. The man was persistent and would not leave even though we all told him, “la, shokran”, or no thank you; he just stood there waiting for one of us to help him out. Silva finally gave in and bought one carnation just as we were making our way back to the bus. She asked for a white one, and the young man asked, “why?” She told him it was because white symbolized purity. “How?” the man replied.
“The blood of Jesus has washed our sins away, making us as white as snow,” was Silva’s reply.
The conversation continued on back and forth in this manner in Arabic, while Marcos, Jackie, Mark, and I were standing behind Silva, praying for both of them; we didn’t need to understand Arabic to understand the conversation that was going on in front of us. He hesitated, saying, “but I am a Muslim” several times, and Silva told him that Jesus doesn’t want to change our religion; He wants to change our hearts. After a while he asked Silva how to become a Christian. Before we knew it, they prayed together and he accepted the Lord Jesus as his savior, right there on the mountainside. Later Silva gave me the flower because she said to me that it was my prayer that made it happened because she was just trying to get rid of him at first.
This day was the day that began with destruction and ended in salvation.
Who would have guessed that we could gain a soul for the price of a single white carnation?
We survived Ike : ) As much as this times have been challenging, they have been also an amazing opportunity for Houston to demonstrate love and service. I am encouraged to see how neighbors are helping neighbors… and in many cases talking with them for first time. There are blessings in the storm, and also opportunities.
We are leaving this next Thursday, Sep 25th to Damascus. I will be back on Oct 12th. The final group has 13 members and we have had good opportunities to know each other, I catch one of them in a video you can watch on-line.
As you may know, our work in Damascus is related with Iraqi kids, whose families have gone to Syria due the war. They are refugees and are exposed to very hard experiences, especially kids who are weaker and often used and abused. If you want to read more about it, check the last part of this e-mail where there is some research and some useful links.
I’ll try to post updates of the trip every week, but I'm not really sure of the availability of Internet access.
Please, pray for us. Pray for protection, pray for love and pray for purpose...
Eph 2:10 says "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We are indeed for Him and His purposes – not for our comfort and ourselves but for Him -, in Christ exactly shaped for the deeds God has intended for us. My prayers are for the release of this mindset in my soul, for the release of the gifts of God given to us by the Holy Spirit, and for the release of the deeds we are called to complete. There is no time but for these… finishing them should be our food as it was for Christ.
Pray for our spiritual readiness:
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:17-18)
Freedom is present only where the Spirit of the Lord is present.
There is no other freedom, no for individuals, no for families, no for nations.
Is the Spirit of the Lord present in this nation? In my nation? My family? Me?
What would be the proof? not only saying so because we sometimes ‘praise the Lord with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him’… our hearts and our actions. Hearts that treasure worldly, temporary things… the idols of this age. Faith with no action… that is dead.
Lord, help me, help us to see without veils your glory. So we will be transformed. No veils of organized religion, no veils of dividing denominations, no veils of nationalism, no veils of pride, no veils of discrimination, no veils vain judgment, of selfish mind sets, no veils of ‘we are already there’… Help us oh Lord.
There is no better place to be in 4th of July that in US. Any city big or small is infected with a spirit for celebration and festivity. In almost any activity there is also a reminder of this amazing gift, which this country proudly declares as one of its corner stones foundation… freedom.
I think this is true. Reading history and the lives of people like William Penn and thousands of anonymous pilgrims… men and women who dared to start all over again or die… everything with one condition: nobody should force anybody to submit to their core beliefs. Freedom; even if freedom is also a core belief.
Being an immigrant living in US I admire this freedom. I share its value and join the forces that seek and sacrifice for it. Being a Christian I believe this freedom is a gift of God that transcends the political to the physical, social, and emotional to the spiritual, as His ultimate gift is freedom from sin and death through the blood of Jesus Christ. But precisely, being a man that has been set free to submit to God and think; there is something that bothers me about the ‘overcompensation’ of the use of the concept of freedom in this holyday.
In one side it seems to me that the message is sometimes wrong, it seems to say that freedom does not exist outside of this beautiful country; that US owns freedom and real freedom only exists here. I think freedom is far bigger than any country or even the sum of all of it together… as mentioned, freedom is a gift of God and He gives it freely to anyone who ask for it. I believe He gives this same gift in different ways all over the world and we would do well in recognizing its various expressions… freedom of money, freedom of worries for success or for tomorrow, freedom of individualism, freedom of comfort, freedom of criticism…
I the other side, it seems that the concept of freedom is used to advance our own agenda; there is one message using freedom to justify dark desires, and other one using it to force others to think the same way we do.
Real freedom is rooted in love. Real love. The love defined by God, the love that does not force us to do anything unwanted, the love that only seeks for good; that is revealed in goodness, in truth, and sacrifice. It’s love that does not boast and criticizes others but serves with patience hoping for real freedom in the heart to choose. It is love that does not keep account of the wrong suffered but forgives. It is the love that obeys, that submits… because of love.
As individuals, as families, as communities, as countries… we may experience truth, real love, and therefore … freedom.
A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)
Today I was deeply challenged in my heart as I heard the story of a man from Lebanon who made a spiritual journey - as they put it - from ‘Jihad to Jesus’.
Stories of men being reconciled with God are different, some are harder, some are softer… what moves me is not their strength, is that all of them reflect the same awesome God, able to transform the very nature of all things, able to bring love out of hatred, hope out of desperation, purpose out of emptiness, character out of brokenness… I know that God because He is the writer of my own story.
I have seen you in the sanctuary, and beheld your power and your glory.
(Psalm 63:2)
The challenge today for me was his voice… a voice calling me to Him. It’s not an easy call; it’s filled with tears. But is not a bad call either; it’s the most beautiful we can ever receive; filled with the certain promise of unfailing love and true joy by His side, the promise of His touch as He transforms us into instruments shaped for his purposes. The only way we can ever answer this call is through a conscious choice; the choice of dying to ourselves in order to live for Him completely. As Oswald Chambers states: nobody likes death, nobody dies joyfully.
But the voice of the God of the story I heard today has become irresistible. It breaks me as it reveals the great divide of my heart; the separation that is produced by one force pressing in one direction to live for myself; and other force that presses in opposite direction crying from inside out to live for Him alone. Tears flow over trying to fill the gap as they acknowledge the worthless efforts of my deeds, the weakness. It is truly impossible for men to reconcile the great divide in the heart; but what is impossible for men is possible for God. It is through Christ that all divides are reconciled.
Who can explain what is going on inside of me? Who can understand what His voice is saying? Who has experienced this before?
As His voice calls, my heart answers, my heart surrenders… ‘Yes, whatever it takes… help me die… help me live for you’... As the heaviness of these words renew my mind, the hard choice is not so hard anymore, it shifts, it's transformed into a soft fire inside... it's a warm desire, the desire of my hearth... not yet strong, not yet completely unveiled, but for sure it is a new kind in the middle of the changing desires of a spoiled heart; this new desire is a 'certain' desire.
Battle is over. God finally conquers. My soul whispers ‘…is this true love?’
The answer would come later through a soft and familiar truth, yet full of new meaning…
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends
(John 15:13)
God has done amazing things since 2005, when He called me in the first mission trip outside US, to India. In these 3 years He has re-shaped my desires, enforcing in my heart His call to serve Him in His mission around the world. I understand that Houston is my primary field for the next years, as He has opened amazing doors for me to come back and serve with Mission Houston (www.missionhouston.org). I’m also permanently reminded in my heart of His call to go to other nations, as He has also allowed me to travel to India for 2 times, China, and even Ecuador this last fall, in a very peculiar 3 months trip to serve in a Church located in the same city where I grew up. I don’t know yet how these two ‘fields’ (Houston and foreign) will be reconciled in the future, but I’m sure they are linked closely together in God’s purposes for my life… in both God has been amazingly faithful, many times through your very support, both spiritually, and financially. This time the direction for the foreign action, points towards Damascus, Syria. We will be there with a team of Second Baptist Church of Houston from Sept. 25th to Oct the 4th, 2008. We will share Christ and provide medical attention, food and clothing for Iraqi war refugees temporarily housed in Damascus. We will continue to work under the direction of the local church, as did the team that was there last year for first time. I need your help to go with the team. Please, consider in prayer supporting me: committed prayer, and funds are required. Syria is a ‘10/40 window’ country where the Gospel is not fully free yet. The cost of the trip will be around $2,700.00, including airfare, ground transportation, food, lodging, and insurance. If you want to help, please pray for: For financial support, you can make a check payable to Second Baptist Church of Houston, include a note with my name and the words “Syria mission trip 2008” and mail it to: Second Baptist Church Att. Stephanie Trevino / Missions Coordinator 6400 Woodway Houston TX, 77057 All your donations are 100% tax deductible. Send me also a note with your postal address so I can properly thank you. Thanks for your friendship and permanent service to the Kingdom. In Him, marcos
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:17)
Today, I was reminded how deep is the connection between prayer and reconciliation. That kind of reconciliation I need every day to reconcile everything I do with the purpose and glory of God. I was reminded of how reconciliation happens just with the help of the Holy Spirit in the deep secret of prayer. Prayer is nothing but the mystery of human beings allowed in the presence of God because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Prayer is what releases that power of redemption we have in Christ. Releases freedom. Prayer releases reconciliation between all that was created, to come back to the service of God. We were saved and sealed because of Christ, through faith… in the context of a prayer.
We can do exactly the same thing, with the same effort, the same passion, but very different spiritual impact. Impact happens just if prayer has been the context of what we do, from the beginning, through the effort, to the end in thanksgiving. We can do everything, we can fill our lives with busy-ness, we can use powerful resources to support our actions, we can have a multitude of followers, we can have legitimate motives… if we lack prayer, all those are nothing else but poor human efforts absent of real power.
A pastor reminded me once ‘praying without doing is nothing but hypocrisy; but doing without praying is nothing less than pride.’ Truthful words.
Praying is a call to humble and surrender our souls, our desires, and our plans before God; is a call to ask and listen; a call to renew our minds with the real perspective of life, and circumstances. Praying is allowing a space for God in our busy agendas, and our private lives. When surrendered, when repented, when thirsty of God, when allowed in His presence, prayer releases guidance from above… clarity, instructions; we are enabled to hear. Prayer also releases revelation, and we are enabled to understand… finally, prayer splashes us with God’s presence and glory releasing healing, strength, courage, faith… and we are enable to obey.
We stand up of our knees different… transformed for this day, reconciled for this day.
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins…”(Luke 5:37)
How hard is sometimes for me to understand basic and practical spiritual principles; and how simple they really are when we finally receive the grace to understand. The gap between my mind and my heart is revelation, and revelation only comes from Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes revelation is like new wine; and my mind is like an old wineskin that has been already stretched and molded for many years by the old wine of religion, and a distorted understanding of God. The new wine can’t get in my mind because it will cause it to explode; and “the wine will run out and the wineskin will be ruined…” I need a new mind in order to receive new revelation.
Revelation is very relevant. It’s not just superficial knowledge about God or His Scriptures, useful only for pastors and Bible teachers; it’s deep knowledge, experiential knowledge, healing knowledge, transforming knowledge of truth that sets us free. It’s knowledge of ourselves; of who we are, of what we want, and what can really satisfy us; it’s knowledge of our purpose in life; it’s knowledge of our real beauty, and success in life. It’s knowledge of what we are able to do, and what we can’t do; it’s knowledge of our limitations, and the unlimited power that has been given to us. Are we willing to keep measuring us according to the old wineskins? The ones that segregate us because of appearance, age, gender, ethnicity, degree, financial or social status? No, we need new wineskins.
How can we get them? We must acknowledge that we can’t. There is no human effort able to provide us with new minds; there are no works or ceremonies able to transform us; there is no teacher in this earth able to cause us to redeem our minds and make them new. Just Christ Himself can enable us to receive this undeserved gift of God through the work of the Spirit and the Word of our Lord; this is the gift of redemption of our souls; of renewal of our minds. This new minds are the new wineskins where revelation is given to stretch our lives conquering what seems unconquerable.
As we realize our deep need of new wineskins rejecting the old ones that have been conformed to the ways of this world; as we offer our bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God; as we worship God through our obedience; as we pray with no ceasing, and cry out to God from our hearts, longing with all our being for the transformation He want to cause in us… as we do all of that, the promise of God shines and grows stronger and stronger in our hearts… “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you…” (Ez 36:26)
01/16/08
They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.
(Luke 4:32)
What is that gives authority in a teaching?
It is clarity,
It is power,
It is Jesus Himself, His presence alone,
It is the power of His Word given by His Spirit, using flesh and sounds as mere instruments,
Able to penetrate in the soul and heart, as the understanding and the will of man are unveiled and unchained,
Able to command everything under His command
That is authority, given only by the One who holds all of it. Given only for a purpose: Kingdom business, the revelation of the True God and His will to be fulfilled in earth, by men, through obedience, and for His glory alone.
It is not given to glorify the recipient or to fulfill the recipient’s will; it is not given to create big shows or to amuse the curiosity of the ones who are looking for Jesus just for that, big miracles.
Often it is received in weakness and desperation… not for much prayer but for true prayer… fervent prayer, desperate prayer, even if it is expressed just with one word… ‘mercy’, ‘help’, ‘healing’, ‘freedom’...
Authority is not given to the big and powerful but to the meek and humble; it is not given by merits but by brokenness; it is not given to those who increase but those who decrease, those who give up their hearts to God but don’t give up on God… those who surrender all to One.
Authority is not given to the ones who speak much but those who listen much. Not to those who fill their days with words and crowds; with needs and service; but to those who fill their lives with quietness and compassion. There is a balance to learn; it is the balance of prayer that speaks and listens; the balance of obedience that goes, stops, and waits because is driven by God not by man; even when that man has good intentions and great ideas.
There is no efficient authority in unbalanced lives because true authority does not lean in anything but God’s commands, character and desires; and God exists in perfect balance. We must learn to overcome in Him our lack of balance; our own desires disguised as God’s desires. We can do that – as Dr. Ed Young says – practicing and dominating the disciplines of solitude as well as the disciplines of engagement. Solitude as quietness, prayer, fasting… engagement as study, fellowship, service. Solitude first, engagement second; solitude to stop, engagement to start; solitude to rest, engagement to act.
The Giver of authority does not look or care for riches, intelligence, position or fame; He cares for a heart that is righteous - sold out to Him - because it is of this kind, the heart that will be able to stand the riches, the power and the fame of this world. All others will stumble and fall, but the righteous will survive those riches and those other dangers in the Name of the Lord.
As furnace is prior to the pure gold, character is prior to authority. It prepares and purifies the heart; it develops perseverance. Whenever we find authority from God in the words of a man we are to acknowledge we have found God’s work. Only God deserves all the glory and honor, and the vessel deserves our respect and consideration. Listen carefully, consider the call, and discern the message.
1/10/08
Where authority is given…
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert…” The desert is a strange place to be led to, a strange first destiny for somebody full of the Holy Spirit.
Before the amazing preaching, before the miraculous healings, and before the crowds, was the desert; and that was the will of God since His Spirit was the one leading the way.
It was not either an easy way, it was not a formality in the plan… it was a long and hard test, a time of weakness and loneliness, a time of battle and temptation… the worst case scenario of a scary movie, the place to face your worst and most powerful enemy in your weakest moment; that was the desert for Jesus Christ.
This time came right after a unique baptism, and right before a unique ministry… it started full of the Spirit and it ended in the power of the Spirit.
Why would God command a desert after sending His own voice from Heaven to express His delight in the Son at His baptism? Why such a low after such a high? I believe it was a matter of authority. We sometimes believe authority is received in big ceremonies, by laying the hands of elders in those who are to receive this authority before many witnesses. I don’t mean elders laying hands in ministers is wrong - the Bible teaches it - What I mean the ceremonies are just a symbol, the reflection of an agreement between the Head of the Church and his Body… an expression of delight and approval in the recognition of God’s call in the life of a servant. We also believe sometimes authority is received just as a consequence of fervent prayer and quoting Scripture…
I believe authority is practically received in the desert. Given by God as the prize of victory over temptation and over the Enemy; given by God as a public mark of victory and demonstrated faithfulness in the middle of weakness, loneliness and struggle… The battle that took place in weakness at the middle of the desert; defeated Satan with His schemes over the flesh, the soul, and even over the human spirit, which the Enemy was trying to confuse to tempt God. The consequence of that victory was spiritual authority able to endorse a powerful ministry.
I know the Spirit dwells in me, but I also realize it’s me who lacks authority over certain areas of ministry... I still don’t like deserts, but now I certainly see them differently, and I’m coming to value – as a mustard seed – the outcome that is found out of those deserts the Holy Spirit leads me in.
1/08/08
Build houses and settle down…
"…plant gardens and eat what they produce…” a simple instruction that is sometimes hard to obey; especially when comes in the middle of unexpected transitions or shifts of direction in our lives. A simple mandate to live, to lay down roots, could be hard to obey when our own expectations are not considering it; when we determine that is not the right time, that is not what we want or what we need now… it may be that we believe we are just not ready, even if deep inside all of us are longing for a place to belong, for a land to call home.
Have you ever been an immigrant?
The whole meaning of the word home gets much more complex, transcending convenience, reason, and geographical places… it gets into the very heart and soul of people; it affects behaviors and emotions taking them our of the logic; it influences all people around us, especially our own families and friends.
The context of these instructions given by God through His prophet Jeremiah; is not far from my meditations since these were instructions for people in exile, who were taken by force far from Jerusalem, their homeland. I imagine they were confused and afraid, struggling with the language, forced to work and labor in positions they did not choose. I assume they were worried about tomorrow, about finances, about family far away, and about practical needs… I assume they were expecting a word from God, a word of deliverance, closer to their own desires; but instead of that they received instructions to settle down; to build, to plant… to live; again, a simple thing that sometimes is hard to accomplish.
God knows better than us. His ways are higher than ours. The more I meditate in what is required to obey instructions like these, the more I’m convinced it comes back to the main concept of maturity and growing with God… just real and practical thrust in God; just active faith in Him; and just sincere surrendering of our own desires and expectations to God; can put us in the right position to move forward… and nothing of this is possible without God’s grace, because without Him we can do nothing. It’s one of the first times I see immigration as a potential instrument of spiritual growth.
I have been personally instructed and challenged by God through these words at the beginning of this year. I feel this is His mandate for me for 2008. I don’t mean I did not choose to come and life in US, that was my choice and the gift of God’s will; but I guess I’m realizing that you can be and live in a place without really settling down there, without roots… what a sad though.
Years ago God helped me understand that I was an immigrant in this earth; that my real home was in Heaven… I think now He is helping me understand that even as an immigrant, even having my real roots in heaven; I’m called to live a full life in this earth, to be fully present here, building and planting, since that is the only way I can be a real witness, a real testimony of His redemption in life and death; a real testimony of His redemptive mission for all creation. His wisdom humbles me… I don’t really know anything.
This time I would like to ask you to do something – and I really wonder is somebody actually read what I write – but if there is somebody who reads, I want to ask you to do two things for me:
The first one is Kingdom oriented, comes from the realization of immigration being a potential tool of God, not just for evangelism but for growing of believers… would you make a commitment to pray this year for the millions of immigrants that God allows to come to US from many nations? Would you ask God to use the reality of immigration for His purposes in the lives of those millions of souls? We hear enough bad news and controversy about immigration; apart of any personal opinion you may have, would you ask God to use it for His glory?
The second thing I want to ask you to do is personal and comes from the realization that building a home and planting a garden should not be a goal to work for alone, without companion. A house to live and a fruit to enjoy are better when you share them… a life to live is better with a partner. If you want, and if you can, please pray for a bride for me. May God allow me to build a home for a family and a garden to share. A life to live in full should be complete; that is my realization; that is my desire. Thanks in advance if you do this.
Finally, the amazing thing is that God’s instructions go even deeper and His word – as usual – has the capacity to plant the seed of hope. He says also: “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."
May we, as immigrants, learn to seek and pray for the peace and prosperity of the city where we are to be settled down. May we become real missionaries, real agents of peace and prosperity… may our fully presence in this city be strengthened by eternal roots in Heaven and be demonstrated by practical roots in this land… may those practical roots carry a blessing in them, a blessing given by God in places far away, a blessing that helps to heal this land.
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