The largest measure

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. - Luke 6:37-38

I like it when I read these two verses in their correct context, much different from what prosperity teachers say, when they separate the last verse from the first one, as if we should invest our money in God and He would give us many more in return.

These verses do not speak about investing money; on the contrary, they talk about mercy and forgiveness. We are first told not to judge, not to condemn, and then given the order to forgive, to give to others with a generous heart.

What comes next is about the measure that is gonna be used to us when the Lord pours unto us his mercy, his blessing and his forgiveness, which is the same measure we used before when we have been merciful to others, blessed others and forgiven others.

The 'investment' here is clearly about lives, about doing good, and we are reminded to use the same kind of measure God has used for us, a ruler the size of a mile instead of a few inches, a measure that waits, that is patient, that is good, that forgives, that loves, that shows respect, that understand the limitations that other people have as we can connect to them in their misery, since we are also sinners.

The moment we judge we put ourselves in a position of superiority which we don't belong to, the moment we condemn we say that we are perfect, that we don't sin, which is a lie. The time, on the other hand, that we forgive, we acknowledge our own faults, the moment we give we say to them that whatever few we have must be enough for us to share.

My prayer today is that God shows us everyday his long, everlasting mercy, that He fills us with an immeasurable, overflowing grace that runs down from our lives into the lives of other people. That way, through love and obedience, others will recognize Him in our lives, people will have no way but to surrender themselves to such a loving God. God bless.

The Job Factor

In today’s society we tend to judge people harshly due to the circumstances we see them in. The rich judge the poor and call them lazy. The poor judge the rich and call them selfish. This is foolishness. Not only does the Bible tell us in several places to not regard people by their social stature, it tells us that circumstance can change in an instant. I call it the Job factor. Job was a good man. Job had everything a man of his time could even think to want. He had nothing to worry about. Let’s put this in today’s terms.

Job was the head of a global corporation. He had a diverse stock portfolio. He lived in an exclusive gated community. He drove a Mercedes and his wife drove a Lexus. His children attended Yale and Harvard. He was a deacon at his church and did charity work in the community. He had the life everyone wanted. He got up one morning feeling happy and secure in the blessing god had placed on his life. The phone rings. His accountant is calling saying that his investments have tanked. He goes to work and the SEC has locked down the building. He has no job. On his way home he gets a call telling him that the plane his kids were on has crashed and there are no survivors. A few months go by and we see a sickly old man lying with a tattered blanket clutched to his chest in front of the soup kitchen. This is Job.

The old beggar is mostly invisible to the people passing by and going to their jobs, their meetings, their nice homes. The ones that notice leer in disgust and say things like, “Get a job!” He doesn’t notice anymore. When he sleeps he dreams that he had another life, a good life. When he wakes he tells himself that it is just a dream. A young preacher with a heart for the poor stops to talk to the old beggar. He gives him a job cleaning up at the church. The pay isn’t much but it comes with a clean, dry room at the back of the church. He saves his money and buys a suit at the thrift store. He decides he is presentable enough to attend church service that Sunday. After the service is over, a familiar looking man in an expensive suit comes over to him. “Job?”, he asks. “I have been looking everywhere for you! The SEC found an error in their findings against The Company. They are paying all the executives a full six month’s worth of salary plus the value of all their benefits. They owe you MILLIONS! All you have to do is go sign the paperwork!” Job wept for joy.

This is not just a Bible story. This happens to people everyday. It doesn’t take much to change circumstances and often we have no control. So next time you judge someone for where they are in life, remember The Job Factor.

The Great Reward by Louis Gander

In Jesus' day (some time ago),

there were no toys or balls to throw.

There were no bikes or baby chairs,

erector sets or teddy bears.

No strollers rolled down dirt streets.

No snacks to munch on for their treats.

No marbles, checkers, kaleidoscope -

yet every child learned to cope.

They didn't have those spinning tops,

nor ice cream cones or lolly pops,

no toy soldiers, dolly names,

movie shows, computer games.

They never missed their favorite show.

They never saw a night light glow.

They didn't feel the least depraved

when pizza wasn't micro waved.

They didn't ski, go out for sports,

have special shoes, designer shorts.

Suspenders held their trousers up.

They said, "yes sir" and never "yup".

Words weren't written on their shirts,

or on their shorts right where it hurts,

but in their heart's most inner core,

so non-existent anymore.

They didn't own a motorboat -

but had their cow, their hen, their goat.

Our pets today eat so much better.

They're not used for coat or sweater.

They didn't know they acted "cool".

No dirt bikes then ran out of fuel.

Before they learned what dirt could yield,

they pulled by hand the rocks from field.

They didn't have to mow the lawn

or pull the weeds 'til they were gone -

though at times they might be fickle,

cutting hay with father's sickle.

No birthday cakes with frosting glitter.

Those veggies really weren't so bitter.

Now don't forget the outdoor "john".

All summer long, no AC on.

And faucets just did not exist.

They carried buckets in their fist.

Kids learned to work just like an ox -

and often without shoes or socks.

They worked to learn and did their best

and had no cushy couch for rest.

No Frisbee's, yoyo's, or a sled -

but so content to go to bed.

On cold nights, they got a chill.

No doctors came when they got ill.

So now you know what kids had then -

yet thanked the Lord and said "Amen".

They learned their Bible inside out

and really didn't go without.

Rewards were great - not like today,

when kids had much more time to pray.

This poem was a finalist in the January 2009 poetry contest

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. - Luke 1:3-4

This is the beginning of the book of Luke, the account of the life of Jesus the Messiah. Luke starts his narrative by saying that many people before him have described the life of Jesus but he would not just take their words as enough, his thirst for the Lord was so big he had to dig up everything for himself, he had to interview the key witnesses to all the major happenings in the life of the Christ.

In this small fragment of the text we see that Luke himself did all the work and when we look back in the history of the church we learn that he did interview Jesus' mother, Mary, and the apostles who were still alive at the time (because some had already been killed in persecution because of Jesus), and many other people whom had been cured or whom had evil spirits expelled from.

But the main part of this text is the focus he had, the main goal when he wrote his account, that is so that Theophilus, and the church, had a comprehensive, in detail, account of the truth behind that person who came down to earth, born from the virgin Mary after being conceived by the Holy Spirit, the person that claimed to be (and indeed He was) God, who performed many miracles, saved many lives through cures or 'exorcisms', communed with the outcasts from society, taught how to live our lives in a way to please God, and finally gave his own life so that we could be saved, we could be forgiven and accepted by our Father; his death, his separation in our place.

Luke's job was thorough, he went far beyond what everyone else did, on the contrary he would have felt it was enough what the ones before him had done, which he didn't. This is something that is not random. Luke's job as a physician, describing the excruciating pain Jesus suffered, as a journalist conducting so many interviews, and as a historian, setting everything up in their correct context, meticulously, serves to emphasize that the history he was about to tell was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (so helped him God).

By looking at the gospel of Luke we can know for sure, without a doubt, that it is the truth, that Jesus, the son of God, offered himself in our places as a ransom, as a testimony of God's love for us, and is today sitting at the right hand of God just waiting for us, waiting for the day He will come back to take us, his children, to the place we belong by his merit, that is united with our Father in Heaven. God bless. 

The Old Paths

I like the “Old Paths”, when Moms were at home.

Dads were at work. Brothers went into the army.

And sisters got married BEFORE having children!

Crime did not pay; Hard work did;

And people knew the difference.

Moms could cook; Dads would work; Children would behave..

Husbands were loving; Wives were supportive; And children were polite.

Women wore the jewelry; And Men wore the pants.

Women looked like ladies; Men looked like gentlemen; And children looked decent.

People loved the truth, And hated a lie;

They came to church to get IN, Not to get OUT!

Hymns sounded Godly; Sermons sounded helpful;

Rejoicing sounded normal; And crying sounded sincere.

Cursing was wicked; Drinking was evil; and divorce was unthinkable.

The flag was honored; America was beautiful; And God was welcome!

We read the Bible in public; Prayed in school; And preached from house to house

To be called an American was worth dying for;

To be called a Christian was worth living for;

To be called a traitor was a shame!

Sex was a personal word. Homosexual was an unheard of word, And abortion was an illegal word.

Preachers preached because they had a message;

And Christians rejoiced because they had the VICTORY!

Preachers preached from the Bible; Singers sang from the heart;

And sinners turned to the Lord to be SAVED!

A new birth meant a new life; Salvation meant a changed life; Following Christ led to eternal life.

Being a preacher meant you proclaimed the word of God;

Being a deacon meant you would serve the Lord;

Being a Christian meant you would live for Jesus;

And being a sinner meant someone was praying for you!

Laws were based on the Bible; Homes read the Bible;

And churches taught the Bible.

Preachers were more interested in new converts, Than new clothes and new cars.

God was worshiped; Christ was exalted; and the Holy Spirit was respected.

Church was where you found Christians on the Lord’s day, rather than in the garden,

on the creek bank, on the golf course, or being entertained somewhere else.

I still like the Old Paths the best ! Jeremiah 6:16

– - – poem “Old Paths” was written by a retired minister who lives in Tennessee.

A den of robbers

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.

And as he taught them, he said, Is it not written: My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of robbers. - Mark 11:15-17

A den of robbers. That's what many churches today have been transformed into. Not a house of prayer, not a place of gathering and communion for the family of God to worship Him together. Every time I see someone selling stuff supposedly 'in the name of Jesus', I remember his words saying we should not do commerce in his house, we should not make a marketplace out of a holy place.

But that's not what prosperity teachers, theologians and preachers do today. On the contrary, they are reliving the medieval times when people used to 'buy' their own salvation, out of fear of hell or curse people would do anything, would give anything, even what they did not have. Today we see all sorts of 'enchanted' objects, like hammers, horns, salt and oil, almost anything can and eventually will be used to mislead those who are naive enough to fall for this scam.

What makes me so angry, besides all this, is that they are preaching that our God endorses this, that in order to get his favor we must buy the latest edition of their prosperity bibles that hold the seven keys to the riches of king Solomon. Blasphemy, that's what it is.

The Lord doesn't need our money. He wants our hearts. That's it. Every time we give our money, we give our hearts to such schemes, we say to the Lord "I'd rather buy your favor than receive it for free". It's impossible, and it dishonors his sacrifice in Jesus Christ.

My prayer today is that God gives us the understanding that He's already given us too much when He gave us his Son; we did not deserve Him. And that He comforts our hearts with the spirit that is unwilling to seek Him for the wrong reasons, those of false prosperity teachings. God bless.

The Truth that Sets You Free

Knowing that God loves unconditionally changes everything. If you believe this truth, fear will no longer have any hold on you. You may be suffering or in terrible pain and as a result feel unloved. But the fact is, you are loved--deeply and personally.

I don't know why the Lord has permitted your trial, but I do know this: Pain never shouts that God doesn't love you. That's the Deceiver's voice. Did Jesus' suffering indicate that the Father didn't love the Son? No. There are hardships in life we can't always explain, but they can never cancel out or in any way diminish His unconditional love.

Knowing this truth empowers our lives with joy. How wonderful to realize that, whether you're awake or asleep--no matter what you do or don't do--His love for you never changes.

This knowledge also brings freedom. You no longer have to keep trying to measure up to some standard in order to be accepted. Since God's love isn't based on your performance, you're free from the bondage of trying to work harder to earn it--which is impossible. You also have the security and assurance of the Father's unfailing care, even when you've failed. Rely on His love--He will never leave you. His Spirit within assures us of this when we keep our hearts open to listen.

If you've ever watched the ocean, you know that its waves keep rolling into the shore. Sometimes they crash with unbelievable force, and other times they're gentle. Either way, they can't be stopped! Likewise, there's nothing you can do to stop Almighty God from loving you.

Touching the untouchable

There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue.
At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. - Mark 7:32,33,35

Two of the things that amaze me the most about Jesus are, first, that He never settled down for what was considered to be the 'right' way of doing things, He never played according to the book of rules imposed by the religious people of his time, and second that He knew the importance of a touch in the process of healing.

Jesus was not afraid of what anyone would say about him, if they called him crazy or even demon possessed. Jesus didn't care if his doing was considered strange to the eyes of religion because of two things: He was constantly focused on his mission, thus having no time to spare to care about gossip or anything that could divert him from what was really important; He cared too much about people, about the ones in desperately need of Him, to listen to the selfish complaints of those who were self centered and that thought of themselves as superior.

Jesus also knew that the wounds we carry deep inside of ourselves are sometimes bigger than any physical disabilities we may have. We can see some times in scripture he saying first "your sins are forgiven" and later saying "stand up and walk", not because that person didn't need a cure or a restored limb, but because He knew deep inside what was truly wrong with that person, what disturbed them the most.

But these two things are intimately linked when we consider that to many religious people what is important is the outside, what people see when they look at us. Many of them don't really care what's going on inside of us, how do we feel, if we are sad or lonely, if we are feeling insecure or vulnerable. When they ask us how we're doing it's almost as if they expect us to say in return "I'm fine, thanks", and move on, no questions asked, no deeper emotional involvement.

But this is not the case for Jesus, Jesus is committed to our whole selves, not only if we look fine. He's interested in our spiritual health, as much as our physical or emotional one. He cares, really, deeply and sincerely about us, his children, so much so as to touch us, as to hug us if so needed.

It reminds me of so many testimonies I've heard or even experienced them myself about how people were touched and transformed by the gospel of Christ less because of what one said and more because of a single, inconspicuous touch, the warmth of the skin, of one's body against another who perhaps have never experienced that sort of kindness before, or maybe doesn't even remember how's it like to be loved, hugged, touched in a good way, for having lived so long in abandonment or hardness...

My prayer today is that God shows us the importance of loving one another even if we need to touch the untouchable, the outcasts of society, the ones no one dares to touch, even the ones religion says no to. God bless.

The Fruit of Perseverance

The apostle Paul often wrote about perseverance. He urged believers not to tire of following Christ and doing good, even when persecuted. The reason was that in time, their faithfulness to plant seeds would produce an amazing harvest.

If anyone had a right to say that, it was Paul. He'd been beaten, stoned, whipped, and driven out of town. He'd survived riots, shipwrecks, illness, and abandonment. He had a thousand reasons to be disheartened and want to give up, yet he knew his obedience to God wasn’t in vain. Some might surmise, Well, it doesn't look as if he reaped much: he was persecuted, moved from prison to prison, and eventually executed. But if we assume that rewards come only in material terms, we miss a powerful truth.

Consider the awesome harvest that actually resulted from the apostle's faithfulness. For one thing, the gospel spread across the Roman Empire, and the early church grew far beyond the Jewish world. And the seeds Paul planted by writing his epistles resulted in billions of lives being radically changed. Any strength we draw from these letters is fruit of the hardships he endured. Yet when he urged believers never to tire of obeying the Lord, he didn't know the full extent of the impact his life would have. He just believed in the power of faith.

Do you realize how impactful your life is? Don't be deceived by Satan's lie that your suffering or obedience will amount to nothing. Here's the truth: Your faithfulness to God never goes to waste--it's making an eternal difference in someone's life, whether you know it or not.

It IS IN you!

It’s not in me.
I cannot do this; it’s too hard.
I don’t have the strength.
I don’t have the patience.
I can’t conquer this.
It’s not in me to forgive.
It’s not in me to love.


How many times have you said those or similar things or heard someone else say them?


What do you need today? Strength? Power? Patience? Love? A forgiving attitude? Courage to conquer an addiction or thought pattern? Or maybe something else?


Whatever battles you face each day, I’m here to encourage you: you can withstand them. You can be an overcomer! You can win! You can conquer! You can be the victor! If you have welcomed Christ to live in your heart, then all you need is IN you.


* The Truth is IN you.
* Eternal Life is IN you.
* The love of God is IN you.
* The mind of Christ is IN you.
* When all is dark, His light is IN you.
* Through His Word, His joy is IN you.
* If you believe, the word of God works effectively IN you.
* When you abide in Him, His Living Word abides IN you.
* “God is working IN you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.” (Phil. 2:13 NLT)
* You can conquer because “The Spirit who lives IN you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” (1 John 4:4 NLT)
* God began the good work IN you and will continue until it is “finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Phil. 1:6 NLT)


When Christ is IN you, you can do all things through Him.


Paul said that the overwhelming victory of Christ is yours (1 Cor. 15:57) and you are more than a conqueror through Him. (Rom. 8:37) To be more than a conqueror is to gain a surpassing victory.


How do you gain this surpassing victory? All you need is already IN you, “for the kingdom of God is inside you,” (Luke 17:21b Phillips), because Christ lives IN you (Col. 1:27). All you need to do is make withdrawals.



Christ’s strength has not diminished. He is our Victor! We can have victory, because God “always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.” (2 Cor. 2:14a NIV)


Be encouraged: Go forward into this day with all the Lord has placed IN you.


It IS IN you! You CAN do it!


“Christ IN you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27 NKJV)

Baptism of repentance

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. - Mark 1:4

One thing was common ground in the speech of both John the Baptist and Jesus, that everyone must repent of their sins in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. 

This was called the gospel, the 'good news', that God's love reaches out for everyone, but it had something in that message that though it was 'good', it was not actually 'new' since it was a recurring message since the prophets of the old testament, that one can not please God with an unrepentant heart, a heart that will not bow down in recognition that God is Lord and we are his servants.

The thing about repentance that really touches the heart of God is our acknowledgement, by humbling ourselves, that we are not sufficient by ourselves, that our own efforts or merits are far from perfect, that we desperately need Him, his power, his presence, his love, his forgiveness, his grace, his comfort, that his way is better, his will is perfect...

Only by confession and repentance of sins we are forgiven, that is exactly the first step into accepting the lordship of Jesus in our hearts, for the Savior only came for those need saving (Mark 2:17).

My prayer today is that God touches our hearts so deeply that we turn again from our sins and into his love, that He makes us see that our sins separates us from Him, and that He gives us the strength to let go of them, confess and repent, as we are welcomed back into his fellowship. God bless.

Similarities between Judas and Jesus

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. - Matthew 27:5

In this verse we see the fate of Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, taken by remorse he goes and commits suicide.

But I'm not here to talk about suicide; rather, I'd like to mention two similarities between Judas' death and Jesus' one: they both fulfilled the prophecy of Deuteronomy 21:23 that whoever dies hanging on a pole is under God's curse, since they both died that way, hanging on a pole (in Judas' case, strangled, in Jesus' case, crucified) even though their deaths were completely different in almost every other reason; and they both died voluntarily, but I'll come back to this.

When I say that they both fulfilled the prophecy of the old testament, I'm pretty shocked to see that even when we are most alike our Lord and Savior, even to the point of walking on His shoes down to the letter of fulfilling biblical prophecies, we have to be sure of what, in the end, is our purpose, our goal. You see, only a few days earlier all his disciples told Jesus they would die for Him if it would be necessary. But when we analyse the events that occurred during the arrest, trial and execution of Jesus, we are confronted with the fact that all of his disciples, specially his closest friends, disowned Him and that teaches us the lesson that we cannot walk alongside with Jesus if we don't intend on going all the way with Him, even if that means dying the way He did. The 'coincidence' is that though every disciple said they would die if they had to, the first one to actually do it was Judas, even if it was not for the sake of following Jesus, instead, by the remorse he felt.

This is something I've talked a lot already in other posts, over and over again from time to time I bring this up, remorse is never something that should motivate our actions. Remorse is not repentance, and we must have this clear in our hearts that remorse is only the guilt we feel when we are exposed when someone finds out the bad we did, it's the humiliation and shame that comes from the outside, not from the inside, and as such, it's shallow, it's not persistent, it does not lead us to change. Repentance, on the other hand, comes from a heart that recognizes that whatever we did was wrong because it offended someone, or even if it has no one else involved other than ourselves, it offended God who created us and gave us a purposeful life, and Who is Holy. Looking at Judas' life we can see clearly (and we did not even need the explicit use of the word 'remorse' on the scripture to see that) that it was remorse what he felt, not true repentance. On remorse he walked half way of what he could and should have walked on repentance: he tried to give back the money taken by his betrayal of Jesus, he actually had the courage no other disciple had to confront the religious leaders on what they were doing, but that was it. He stopped short when he decided his own fate by killing himself.

Both Judas and Jesus fulfilled that prophecy, the former when he betrayed Jesus, and so his death hanging on a pole was not only circumstantial fulfillment of the word that speaks about being under God's curse on that he died the way he did (I have no idea what went through his mind, if he, for instance, actually came to realize that the death he chose was actually fulfilling that word), but also on the fact that he, being the one who was immediately responsible for the death of the Son of God, and God Himself, was deserving of such curse; and the latter when He, the perfect one, the one and only person on this world without a sin, died a sinful's man death, a death to represent us all, to carry all of our sins, all of our burdens, all of our faults and failures to the presence of God who, remember, is Holy and cannot tolerate sin. Thus, Jesus' death fulfills that same prophecy by receiving the curse we all deserved. Imagine for a minute if you can, someone paying the penalty, the price, for something someone else did. Now try to picture it some million times. That was what happened to Jesus when He was separated from his own Father by the faults of every person on this earth. The enormous curse of being separated from his Father, something that He never felt before, and was not deserving, was unbearable, and even so He sustained that in love for us.

The second similarity is that they both died voluntarily. In the case of Judas there isn't much to talk about since he committed suicide. He took his time to think of a way to end his life. It was not at random, it was not by chance, it was not something that happened to him that he could not escape from. He chose. How many of us can actually think this: I'm going to die march 13th, 2067? Unless we go and die the way Judas died, there's no way we can foresee that. So it took Judas his will to decide when - the day - that he died (and looking at scripture, we could say with a certain degree of certainty that it was the same day Jesus died, another 'coincidence' perhaps?) and the way, out of so many possible, to do it. But Jesus also voluntarily gave himself for us. He did not deserve his death, and certainly not dying the way He did. He could have avoided going to Jerusalem, He could have called angels from heaven to defend him, or even by use of his mighty voice He could have stopped everything. But He knew that was His mission, dying for us all, dying as a ransom for many. Jesus surrendered himself on our behalf, He willingly chose to go all the way, stating by his death that it was finished, it was all.

By looking at these similarities between Judas' death and Jesus' one, I cannot stop to think of the verse of 2 Timothy 2:20 that speaks about articles that we have in our houses, some separated to special purposes, and others relegated to common use, or even to 'infamous' uses... Jesus separated himself to God to fulfill his word in a purposeful, special way (the most special, in any case). Judas also separated himself to fulfill that same word by voluntarily choosing to betray Jesus, and by voluntarily choosing to end his life the way he did, only that he separated himself in a dishonorable way. The question that bothers me, the question that won't go away is this: am I that similar to Jesus and yet that different, as Judas was? Do I set myself aside from common use so that God can use me in a purposeful, special way to glorify Him, to bless other people, or do I put myself in a position of someone that has no special value, or worse, someone who brings nothing but shame and disgrace to God and his people?

My prayer today is that 1) I recognize that the death of Jesus was because of me, and this be enough for me to repent, and separate myself for good use by the Lord; 2) that whatever similarities there are between my life and the life of Jesus do not stop short, but go all the way, even if I too have to die, that my life would not and will not be a betrayal of Jesus, a denial of what He did. God bless.