A heart that will not change

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven! - Matthew 21:9

This verse speaks to me in a most unusual way; even though it is a public confirmation of Jesus' messianic ministry by the people of Jerusalem, shortly after we see this same people shouting "Crucify him", instead of "Hosanna" and "Blessed is he".

What could possibly have happened to those people to have them change their minds so fast? For one they were not expecting a spiritual redeemer, but a political one, since they did not understand what the old testament prophecies were really about.

For two, they were interested not on a new way of life proclaimed by the messiah, named by him as 'the kingdom of heaven', a way of forgiveness, love, sharing and respect; rather, they were self-centered, interested only in the miracles he could perform, the bread and fish he was able to multiply, the diseases he was able to heal, the demons he was able to cast out.

For three their faith was based on a very fragile, without substance, foundation: circumstances, what they could see, the miracles, their expectations, instead of on the person of Jesus, on what scripture really said about the Father and the Son.

But instead of being fast on judging them, let us examine ourselves to see if we are not traveling through exactly the same road: are we interested in Jesus as our Lord, or only as our Savior? What kind of expectations we have put on Jesus? Have we treated Him as some sort of genius in a lamp, or have we humbled ourselves in His presence in obedience, acknowledging that He, not we, is the master, and we, not He, are the servants? Have we lived our lives as He commanded us to, as He himself lived, a life of loving, and forgiving, and sharing, or have we pursued only our selfish desires, treating others as a means to achieving our goals? What has been the foundation of our faith, the person of Jesus, his sacrifice, his cross, his resurrection, the reassuring love of our Father, the ministry of reconciliation operated in our hearts by his Holy Spirit, or on what He can do to us, on what He can give to us? Have we truly understand what He came here to do, the whole purpose of his life and death?

In only a few days the Jews turned from accepting Jesus as their king, to accusing him of treason and crucifying him. But honestly, who can really say we don't do that, 'almost' (?) on a daily basis, over the smallest of reasons and disappointments? Our hearts keep changing with every wind that blows, our faith stumbles as we don't really trust the one we call Lord. Even if we don't publicly shout 'crucify him' as they did, that's exactly what we keep on doing in our hearts every time we fail to forgive others of their sins, every time we ask him in prayer for something we should know it's not his will, and how could it be if it is selfish, if it serves only to glorify ourselves instead of him?

My prayer today is that: 1) the Lord Jesus forgive me for not trusting Him, or for not trusting Him for the right reasons; 2) that He gives me a firm, constant heart, a heart that will not change overnight, a heart that each and every day confirms, by trusting, by obeying, by loving, by forgiving, what my mouth says I believe.

Not a thing to do

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life? - Matthew 19:16

What the scripture is telling us today, by the story of this rich man that approached Jesus, is that there is nobody as perfect as to gain, by his own merit, however good he might be, his entrance to heaven, his ticket to eternal life.

Salvation is by no means something we get by doing something; rather, it is achieved by something Jesus already did, and the only thing that's 'left for us to do' is to simply acknowledge our own faults, our incapacity of living life as God intended us to, and humble ourselves in his presence and asking him to forgive us of all sin, then receiving his son Jesus into our hearts as Lord and Savior.

The problem is, though, from the start we are too proud to humble ourselves, to admit that someone else's paid the price for our salvation, and we keep on trying to do something to repay Jesus for his sacrifice, which is not only ineffective, insufficient, but also impossible to do, because of his holy nature, which was the only acceptable sacrifice, and something we could never match.

My prayer today is that God bless us with the understanding that we don't have to pay for his grace (which would not be called grace if we had to pay for it), that He may lead us into genuine repentance, and that He empowers us, through the Holy Spirit, to accept Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, and in so doing we become his servants, his friends, his children.

Miracles

Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. - Matthew 11:20

This text is not a novelty to me, since it announces one truth about the life of Jesus that is still valid today as it was back then: people will not be convinced of their sins, people will not repent, people will not be transformed because of miracles, no supernatural or spectacular works of anyone will turn a stone heart into flesh.

We often claim that today we don't see as many miracles or supernatural as it is written in the Bible that happened when Jesus was 'around'; but to consider that assumption in order to live our lives in devotion to the Lord is to deceive ourselves, because we can see clearly in this text, as in many others throughout the scripture, that the people of Israel, and we are no different from them, back in the days of Moses, the prophets and even Jesus, even though they experienced healing, demons being cast out and even resurrection, they would just not repent and there's a reason why: repentance comes from within, from a true regenerated heart that is touched by the Father's mercy, love and forgiveness.

The key to understanding this text, and the key to living a life in dependance of God is not relying on any outside miraculous phenomena to believe and trust in God. We are called to live by faith not by sight because if we depend too much on what we see, on our human senses, we may be misleaded, misguided, because our senses aren't always trustworthy.

Let this text be a warning to our lives, and also a prayer: please, Lord, that I learn to live the 'natural' that You've already laid out for me, because there's so much that I've yet to learn and live in the 'natural' realm that I'm embarassed to ask to experience your 'supernatural', and please let me understand that true forgiveness and love and grace are what changes a person, not miracles, and they work from the inside out, not the other way around.

Lights of the world

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:14-16

There are a couple obvious assumptions to the fact that we are the light of the world:

1. since we are it's light, the world must reside in darkness, be it moral darkness, dark nature of sin, darkness of utter absence of good, of love, of God;
2. no light can be hidden the same way it's impossible not to see a city built on a hill, so if we are true lights, even if we didn't say anything, or didn't do anything on purpose, or to be seen, we would still be easily recognized as good-doers, because of the light that shines from our hearts bringing it's warmth into other people's lives.

My prayer today is that I put that little spark of light that Jesus has put inside of me to good use, guiding those that are dying, rather than living, in the darkest corners of this world, leading them away from a life of misery and despair into a new life full of happiness, love and peace known only to those who are in a true relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

This way God is gonna be known as the one and only God, this way every merit, honor and praise I receive are gonna be his.

Life Is Like A Mirror....We Get The Best Results When We Smile At It

Every journey is accomplished one step at a time.

Trials come in various categories. They may be physical, emotional, financial, relational, or spiritual. They may slip in unexpectedly and knock on the door of your business, your church, or your home. They can be directly related to our own sin, the sin of others, or not related to sin at all.

James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have it's perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

Most often, because of the discomfort, the pain, or the hardship, we try to cut our trial short - to put an end to them. Instead, James says, endure the trial; let it come to completion. When it does, you'll be a better person for it.

Remember, God is fully aware of the trials in your life and two things should comfort you: First, these squalls surge across everyone's horizon. Second, we all need them. God has no other method more effective. Even the little, constant irritations humble us and compel us to submit to Him and His chosen role for our lives.

God doesn't dispense strength and encouragement like a druggists fills a prescription. The Lord doesn't promise to give us something to take so we can handle our weary moments. He promises us Himself....and that is enough.

Jesus is the central piece of suffering's puzzle. If we fit Him into place, the rest of the puzzle - no matter how complex - begins to make sense. Our whole perspective changes when we catch a glimpse of the purpose of Christ in it all. Take that away, and it's nothing more than a bitter, terrible experience.

Psalm 23

[1] The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

The shepherd takes care of his flock, and I am his flock! I lack nothing because he sees to it that I’m not in need of anything I need in order to live!

[2] He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

It is not I that simply lie down for being tired or lazy, the shepherd recognizes my need of rest and chooses the best place for me to do that, a soothing place where my soul can let go of the problems of the day, and be refreshed by the living waters of his Spirit.

[3] he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

It is not tap water or any other beverage that can make my thirst go away, but He himself as Jesus told the woman by Jacob’s well. I don’t go astray, He’s right there in front of me leading the way, this way I can trust Him.

[4] Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Even when I can’t see what’s ahead of me I need not fear what lies ahead, around or below me because He’s there for me and with me. And even then, if fear strikes me, He’s reassuring me by his promises to comfort me in my distress.

[5] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

It is the Lord who lifts me up to a place of honor and gives me so much of his own blessings that I’m almost overwhelmed. He does so that my enemies may see his own glory in my life and respect me and magnify him.

[6] Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

This is a certain promise, not something vague or unlikely to happen. The goodness and love of God will follow me like a parent follow his toddler who’s just taking his first steps. This is not come and go, this is a stay. We will live with him and He in us for eternity!

God empowers his called ones

See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills — to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you... - Exodus 31:2-6

I find it awesome in this passage of the scripture, the Lord himself speaking to Moses about how He had chosen men to do His work, and that He had given them the skills both technical and spiritual to do it, and that this is something that was true at that particular time of history and it remains being true even today.

Does God call out the already qualified people? Absolutely. But the greater miracle is exactly how God works his way using pieces of raw materials, like rocks, and is able to polish them into precious, valuable "objects", in a way that shows us pretty clear that it is His doing and not our own, so that people can look and see that it is He, above all and anyone else, who's in charge of "operations".

When God calls us into a ministry, it is He through the works of his Holy spirit that gives us assorted gifts by his grace (according to Ephesians 4), and everyone of them for a main purpose which is to build up, to empower the very body which we are all members of, the body of Christ that is his Church. God doesn't give us some useless gift that will go unused, or that is unneeded of, or that will go to waste.

As a matter of fact, going back to the subject of this post, God is delighted in empowering the ones He has called out. More often than not we see a lot of really good and qualified people just sitting in benches of churches while others that aren't that great nor qualified actually doing something, and by my own experience, and according to this text of Exodus, I know that God qualifies every person that willingly and open heartedly volunteers to do his part, to do a little something in return for all the blessings he/she has received, and do so with joy, giving his/her best while doing it. God then takes this not-so-great and turns into something excellent.