Tag: christ

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Find joy in your worst circumstance

For many of us, finding joy in the midst of difficult situations may seem impossible. But did you know that it is possible to have the joy of the Lord, during the worst times of your life? In your moment of grief, pain, or sorrow, we hardly pay attention to joy. What can we do to endure through the worst moments of our life? We simply look at the joy that is set before us, just like Jesus did. If you recall, Jesus Christ was devastatingly beaten, punched, spit on,  mocked and crucified at Calvary. But, Jesus was able to endure this tragic death because He looked at the finish line with hope, knowing that the world would be saved through Him. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2 

It’s important to stay in the presence of God, in order to find that joy. God’s presence is everywhere, but not everyone is aware of it, because they don’t have a relationship with Him. Entering His presence is different, He abides in you and you abide in Him. This is the key to maintaining joy and calmness during your worst times. Because in those moments, your eyes are fixed on Jesus, and He will provide you the comfort and peace, that no one else can. I remember the time I heard the news that my Golden Retriever, Bentley, had lymphoma cancer. I was in the middle of a tutoring session with a client and I had to keep my composure after hearing the most devastating news. I’m not going to lie, I was devastated until the day he passed away, but little by little God gave me peace as I came to accept that this was his fate and God was taking him. All I could do was enjoy every single moment I had with Bentley and keep praying for joy and peace. There was absolutely nothing anyone could do to provide me comfort and joy during those moments. It was not their fault, they just were not experiencing my grief. But the incredible thing about God’s character is that He is experiencing this grief right along with you. God cares about your emotions and He can also empathize with you, because He himself bore our iniquities on that day that he died. This verse comes to life when you enter His presence and actively pray to experience this joy, even in your worst moments. Psalm 16:11 – “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  

The bottomline is to seek His face and do not neglect His presence. And if you don’t have the strength to pray, simply say, “Jesus, please be with me.” I promise you, He will show up.

If you’re going through something difficult, feel free to comment below or contact me personally, so that I can pray with you. May the Lord bless you, give you peace, and may His countenance always shine upon your face. God bless, beloved!

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Finding love in a Christian circle

     Waiting on God for your spouse is not easy, it requires great patience. This is why the word says that patience produces character and character hope. If our character is strengthen, we are sure to not lose hope in Christ and in His promises to us. Throughout my journey as a Christian, I remember being single for a few years, wondering if marriage was in God’s plans for me. I remember having countless conversations with single Christians and married ones, and they all shared a common theme – waiting is hard. Every time I would see a godly couple courting or someone successfully married, I would hunt them down to ask them all types of questions. No one truly had the formula on finding your spouse, except, they would always say that God ordained it. Now it may seem as though your pool of options are limited, after all, we are a minority.  It may seem impossible to man, but with God all things are possible and He can bring you your spouse. Our God is supernatural, He isn’t random with His decisions about your life and He definitely isn’t a God of chaos, but a God of order. You’re probably asking yourself, are my opportunities of getting married looking dimmer and dimmer? Has God forgotten me? Is there any hope? And my answer for you is… God is good, kind, and just. All you have to do is trust Him. Below are some practical tips on how to approach the wait and run the race with endurance.

#1 Fast & Pray: If you have not done it yet, it’s time to get on this. Fasting and prayer combined together will open the heavens and bring divine intervention in your life. It will also bring repentance, in case you’ve idolized marriage, and it will bring revelation. God is interested in your love life and believe me, He wants you to be fruitful and multiply, but before that happens, you must walk with the Lord, just like Adam did in the garden.

#2 Stay focused on your God given assignment: This may seem like a given, but not many singles do this. Instead, they focus their energy on finding their spouse or making sure they’re found (with manipulation). This never works, folks, manipulation won’t help the cause, but instead cause you heartache. Focus on your calling, or on asking God to reveal your calling, so that you can put the Kingdom of God first. God will process you during this time, He will show you the mysteries of the Kingdom and when you’re ready, He will open the door to the promise land.

#3 Understand the times: A lot of single Christians are impatient and believe that God is late to the party. This isn’t the case my friend, sometimes we’re late to the party. God gives us all seasons of opportunity, to seize the day, to bask in His presence, but when we’re distracted, we miss the mark. What do I mean by this? There will be times when the Lord will bring you your spouse, he or she may even be in your circle, but you are closed off. Sometimes it’s not that God has not brought them, but instead, you have the walls of Jericho surrounding your life and people are naturally intimidated by you. Maybe you’re shy and don’t attempt to form friendships. And in other cases, you have may have a hard time discerning if this person is the right fit for you. I’m not saying you have to advertise yourself as available to everyone, be discrete, but don’t be closed off either. Learn to make godly friendships, surround yourself with people of God constantly, work in ministry together, and you will see how God will weave in this person into your life. You won’t even know what hit you, when you see it happen! We also have the other side of the spectrum, perhaps your heart isn’t in the right condition to embark on a love journey or you have not grown spiritually mature in the Lord. God will teach you how to wait for the harvest, when it is ready. But for the moment, sow, sow, sow!

#4 Let God be God: If you recall the story of Lazarus being resurrected from the grave, you may know where I am going with this. Martha in her grief demanded from Jesus and told him he was late and if he would have been there on time, Lazarus would not have died. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life” – John 11:17. It’s quite clear that Jesus reminded Martha that He is in control. This is a reminder that God knows the desires of your heart and He knows what you need even before you ask. Keep in mind that your time is not His and His time is not yours. Ask God to give you revelation, patience, and discernment while you wait for your spouse to arrive. Because it is a fact, “Everything is beautiful in His time” – Ecclesiastes 3:11 

 

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Aspire to live a quiet life

One of the most intriguing Bible verses that I’ve encountered has been 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, “Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” This is one of those verses that always leaves me meditating and pondering on what it means to live a quiet life as a Christian. For a long time, I figured it was simply, minding your own business and staying out of gossip. But to my surprise, the Holy Spirit has revealed much more to this than meets the eye. Living a quiet life as a Christian doesn’t mean to live in secrecy or secluded, it means to live a transparent life. In other words, being a representative of Christ and living for Him, not for yourself. Ambition, boasting, self-seeking glory, social media, and anxiety are things that we bring upon ourselves that prevent us from living this quiet simple life. Below are a few keys that will help you reevaluate your life or help you achieve this quiet life in Christ.

#1 Social Media can inhibit a quiet life. In this world of constant and instant feed, it’s very hard to live a quiet life. We’re so busy following people’s lives, we forget about our own. Or we’re too caught up in the frantic pace of society changing, we post every detail about our lives, and eventually we lose the essence of what is important – living a life of hope, faith, and love.  Here are some tips to ask yourself, before you post on social media. Does this post bring me joy and will it bring others joy? Why am I posting this? Is it better to keep this private and exclusive to myself and my family? Is it necessary? Is it edifying? While there is nothing wrong with social media, it is important to keep a leverage on why we post things and the reasons behind it. “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.”- 1 Corinthians 6:12. Too much of anything is never a good thing. Even ministry on social media can cause you to lose focus on your own intimacy with Christ. This medium can become a hindrance of that quiet life so many of us aspire to achieve and this becomes even more evident when everyone, including your neighbor, knows every detail about your life. Intimacy and privacy is suddenly lost. If you’re okay with that, then keep on posting my friend. Overtime, the Lord has taught me to be wise about what I post on social media, to consider why I am posting it, and to pay attention to the internal dialogue I have when I see other people’s feeds. I think this one is the most challenging…even though no one hears , God hears you loud and clear. “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” – Psalm 19:14

#2 Rejoice and live simply. The Christian life is without a doubt, filled with ups and downs. Christ wants us to live a life of simplicity and peace, not turmoil and strife. For many of us, that could mean, living at peace with your family, spouse, job, or relationships with friends. A life without contending and constantly being on the defense. Other things like allowing fearful thoughts to creep in, doubt, and insecurities about your circumstances can become strongholds and make you lose your joy. Comparison is another way to lose that goal of living a quiet life. We can get caught up looking at other people’s accomplishments and we get frustrated by how slow we’re moving. This is where we must learn to listen to God’s wisdom first, be humble, and appreciate what God has given us now. Leading a simple life is not the worst thing in this world, it’s actually very rewarding. And when I mean simple life, I don’t mean sitting idly, I mean being diligent and working hard towards your dreams…but not to the point that ambition or competition overtakes you and you’re never satisfied with what you already have. In other words, be content with what you have now and let the Lord do a great work in you, in His perfect time. Your joy is not dependent upon what you achieve tomorrow, your joy and satisfaction is dependent on Christ.

#3 Declutter your mind. With so much clutter on our minds, we tend to lose our joy and peace. It’s important to learn that God wants us to prosper and succeed in all that we do. But we cannot achieve this, if we’re constantly living in anxiety about what the future will bring. Today, I encourage you to put your thoughts in order, remove the clutter in your mind, and set back your intimacy with Christ. “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” – Colossians 3:2 

Grace and peace to you!

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The mind of Christ means having a renewed mind.

When you first come to the Lord and you surrender your life to Him, in other words, you’re born again; there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit immediately begins to work in your life. The HS begins to help you move in the direction towards living a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

Not a lot of people understand the importance of having a renewed mind in order to have the mind of Christ. Truly the mind of Christ was always God’s will, “yes and amen.” Christ never walked this Earth during His ministry with limitations on His mind and neither did He ever walk a life that was double-minded. It’s important to note that God does not want us to be double-minded because being double-minded actually brings unstableness (James 1:8). When have you ever met a person that says one thing and does another, and actually earn the respect of people? You automatically know who you can count on and who is simply just unstable. The same is with God, if we say we believe, then why do we doubt at times God’s ability to do anything?

As we continue this incredible journey of being a follower of Christ. We must understand that being a follower of Christ requires us to die to our selves, our old nature, our old habits, and our old way of thinking. There are strongholds in our minds that prevent us from seeing miracles and moving forward into the promises of God, due to our lack of renewal of the mind. As the word of God says, as a man thinketh, so is he.

Today, I encourage you to look at areas of your life where you find yourself doubting God, in disbelief, or perhaps holding on to things from the past. Why must we renew our mind? Below are some reasons:

  • The promised land: If you’re continuously thinking about the past like the Israelites did. They ended up staying in the desert for 40 years. God was upset at their complaints and did not allow them to see the promise. If we stay in the past, we can’t move towards the future.
  • We will be people of integrity. A renewed mind means we are people that can be responsible, trustworthy, and disciplined.
  • Anything is possible. When we think that with God anything is possible, literally that will happen. We must be people of faith that walk not by sight, but by faith.
  • A renewed mind means hope, joy, peace, and trust in the Lord. When we renew our minds, we trust that God is in control. Therefore, it allows us to be still and surrender every part of our lives to our heavenly Father. Heaven on Earth will be established in our lives.

I hope this post finds you well. May the Lord bless you and give you a renewed mind this new year. If you’re interested in learning more on this topic, feel free to click on this audio. My pastor at New Season Christian Church goes into depth about this in his new series, “Renewed Mind.” The series is in Spanish.

https://soundcloud.com/newseasonchristian/la-mente-renovada

God bless!

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