Goodbye 2010 Hello 2011 is what many will be saying today. It’s funny how time flashes you by. This year has been one of the hardest for many. For me personally it has been a year of growth and learning. It has been the hardest times I have ever had to face, yet has been a time of strength and renewal. It has been year where everything I worked for was lost, but so much more has been gained. Last year the Lord really put in my heart that 2010 was going to be a year of change. It was a year where things we had been praying for would come to pass. Being the last year of a decade, it means we are entering into a new season and cannot leave this last season unchanged. I can testify that my prayer was answered. That which for some time I was asking God to help me with came to pass. Even though it wasn’t the way I expected, it was the perfect will of God.
2011 marks the beginning of a new decade which means we enter into a new season. The Lord has been putting into my heart that this is a significant year. It is a year where the things we do will set us up for the next set of years in this decade. It is a time to lay the groundwork for where we want the Lord to take us. It is our time to establish our faith. It is a time to take dominion over our territory. It is the time to plant the seeds in the ground to watch them grow. We must be very sensitive to the desires of God so we can discern what is His plan for this season we are entering. What we do in the next 12 months will determine our outcome in 2020 when this decade finishes. “Be still and know that I am God” says the Lord. In other words, let me align the pieces and put you in the path that is meant to be and know that it is God doing it. The only way to accomplish all this is by His word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. The only way to build a discernment and set your foundation is through the Word.
Before I finish this blog I just want to reflect on this past year. Twelve months ago I had no idea where life would have me. The last place I expected to be is where I am at. I have discovered so much in the last 8 months than in the last 10 years. I’ve learned what it’s like to be judged and have realized that even Jesus himself was judged. I have learned that nobody is perfect and because of that Jesus is made perfect. I have learned to simply care about the heart of God, rather than the heart of others. I have seen what conditional love is as opposed to unconditional love. I have found true people of purpose who have stuck with me in hard and bad times and have met new friends along the way. I have learned all over again what it means to Love God. I have truly seen Him move in my life and how he loves me.
As this year ends I can’t help but notice the people that are around me and those that aren’t. I thank those family and friends that are here with me and pray that the Lord blesses you abundantly. And for those that are not around anymore, I don’t know what the future holds but I thank you for the impact you may have had in my life in that period of time. I thank God for your lives and pray that the Lord bless you this coming year more than others. To the things I have lost in the last year. I pray that one day, it will all be back better than ever if its God’s will. To family thanks for never leaving me. And to the most important person, My God. Thank you for never leaving me nor forsaking me. Thank you for the miracle of your Son Jesus Christ who paid the price in advance. Thanks for your love and Grace.
I pray whoever is reading this will have a blest new year and an even blessed 2011. God Bless.
Prayer Request. Oquendo Family<3
Please keep the Oquendo family in your prayers.
Andy and Joe Oquendo who suffered a terrible car accident this Friday. Joe Oquendo passed away while his brother Andy is fighting for his life in a state of coma.. Their dad passed away earlier this year and their sister died in a car accident about 3 years ago.Pass it on!
Re-blog it!
Prayer works! God made him for a purpose, he will wake up from this.
Source: teseguire
God loves sinners. Who would have thought of that. I know many Christians have forgotten about that concept. I myself was one of them and saw it first hand. When i first started getting involved in church i started leaving my friends not because they were a bad influence on me but because they were not choosing to abandon their sin and pursue Jesus. Many times we see church leaders loose hope and simply not reach out to someone because of their sin. In other cases we hear sermons that tell sinners that God does not love you unless you repent from your sin. If you are living in sin and reading this I want you to know that God loves you more now than ever. His love is not conditional to your lifestyle. God loves you unconditional.
The bible shows us this in Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Before we even received Christ into our heart God loved us. While we were still messing up, and even as Christians we continue to mess up, God still loves us. He showed this love by giving up His only son Jesus to simply say ‘hey, I love you!’ One of the most noted bible verses shows us this. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life.” How awesome is it that Jesus Christ’s purpose was not to only due for Christians but for anyone. He died for the world and whosoever.
I’ve come to learn and experience this Love first hand. Being a sinner myself, i have seen that God still loves me just as He loves you. Oh but im so deep in sin i don’t think God can never love me! It doesn’t matter because God’s “grace is sufficient for you, for His power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9. It doesn’t matter how many times you become weak because that is when God is strengthened.
Gods love will always endure however he does require something in return from us. Love! Now that you have discovered that God loved you even before you knew it. He loves you even with how bad you are, look , and feel. God just wants you to believe. He wants you to love Him back. Don’t ever think that God hates you or has left your side. We need to realize that we love him because he first loved us. His purpose was to save us and to bring a better life to us. I want to leave you with some scriptures that depict God’s love. I pray that you discover this Love of god that has no conditions. People will put conditions and leave our side, believe me i have experience this. But God will never leave you. He will take you with all your problems and situations and love you. Just give him the chance to love you.
- Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
- 1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
- 1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”
- 1 John 2:2 “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world”
- Luke 9:54-56 “When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56and they went to another village.”
- John 12:46-47 “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.47“As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it”
This video is great. Learn the truth about satan in todays culture.
Jesus is Everything: We. Need. More.
Let me just put it at the beginning of this blog.
WE NEED MORE THAN WHAT’S BEING PRESENTED IN THE LOCAL CHURCH!
There is something about this culture that prevents the gospel of going forth. There is also something in this culture that says the church needs to conformed into the image of the world…
”God reduces man to his minimum before God can pour out His maximum into us.
Not to long ago i took a road trip early in the morning up to Orlando. It was a quiet morning and I was slipping in and out of sleep since i hadn’t had many hours of sleep. I was not driving in case you were wondering. I couldn’t stop thinking however about life and how its like an interstate. An interstate is a road that crosses several states. Life is similar in the sense that this journey takes you through different seasons of life. Adolescents, young adult, adult, and elderly is just some of the seasons life takes us through.
Every interstate has on ramps and off ramps, rest stops, and surprises. This compares to life as a representations of the situations we face and what we do to deal with them. Many times we may be living life and we may hit an area where we need to slow down because of a “construction area,” or situation. Such situations may take us to get off track by taking an exit to soon rather than just waiting it out and pressing foward.
I started to think about the other cars on the interstate and how it is very much like the people around us. Some cars are heading in the opposite direction but i want to really focus on the ones that are going in the same direction as you. Many times as Christians we will have friends that will come and go. Just like cars travel along side of you until they arrive at their exit, friends will also come and leave with you. It is without a doubt that are life journey is ultimately our own. Although some people are there for now, we ultimately do not have the same destination at times. I also want to mention about the people that slow us down. Have you ever been in the fast lane and all of the sudden there is a car that shouldn’t be in the lane and is just slowing traffic down. Just like that car, there are people that shouldn’t be in our life. They simply distract us and slow us down in our walk with God.
Life, like an interstate, is a long journey but the great thing is that there is always a route to your true destination. Be cautious of the things that life brings and the people that come along with it. Be sure of where you are going and how you plan on getting there and trust God for the directions. Be careful of the people that slow you down and don’t be surprised if people come and go along the journey. At the end of the day its all part of this big interstate we are on called Life.
If there is one thing i have learned about Jesus and the Cross is that one of its purposes is a call to action. What do i mean by this? In Mark 8:34 Jesus clearly states that “ Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Many times I see Christians just sitting around playing church and not really doing much. In this statement we see how Jesus doesn’t tell us that if we want to truly follow Him to just sit around and preach to people. He is telling us to take action and make a difference.
By telling us to pick up our cross and follow Him, we are being called to resemble and mimic His actions. Many times we get caught up in church and serving n church thinking we are making a huge impact and difference on the lives of people. In essence we are, however, I have learned to realize that Jesus did not call us to only serve in our local churches. Jesus spent the majority of His ministry on the streets. He spent His time showing love to the poor, prostitutes, homeless, sick, and many others that were left to the side by society. By Jesus telling us to pick up our Cross and follow Him, He is asking us to simply do what He does.
In James 1:22 it says “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” Christianity without action is simply a misleading lifestyle. We think we are Christians simply because we go to church. There is a lot more to it than just being a nice person and going to church. Christianity requires getting your hands dirty. It requires doing the things we don’t like to do. Things like feeding the homeless or giving to the less fortunate. Maybe finding someone and giving them the brand new shoes you bought simply because they needed it more than you did. Carrying a cross is not comfortable. It requires energy and strength. Carrying a cross is will break you but in that process of brokenness God will build you up stronger.
I challenge you to pick up your Cross and follow Jesus. Get out of your desires and focus on God’s desire. Analyze your life as a Christian. Are you fulfilling the call to action that the Cross has made? Or are you just simply going from service to service. When was the last time you witnessed to the cashier at your local market. Or when was the last time you went to the mall just to tell someone about Jesus. Or when was the last time you called an old friend from High School you use to get high with to tell them how your serving God know and how Jesus is better than anything. Jesus has called us to pick up our cross and follow Him. Are you willing to do it?
Discouragement always come when you are at the right place with Jesus
Have you ever felt as if you were doing everything right yet things keep going the wrong way. Have you ever asked yourself when is all this going to be over? Have you ever felt that you don’t know what else you have to do right in order to stop the negative things from happening. This is what is called discouragement. It is the things that bring you down when everything is the way it should be. I have learned that it is when you are at the right place with God when discouragement hits hardest.
This passed weekend i was talking to a friend trying to bring some motivation to their life and didn’t realize that through my words God was also speaking to me. Many times in our walk with God we tend to encounter stumbling blocks that tend to hurt us and even question whether or not we are doing all the right things. Stumbling blocks such as financial problems, health, opportunities that are no longer there, friendships that have turned on you, and even people questioning your life and motives as a Christian. Whatever it may be the point is that in the time we are living today discouragement is always around.
I started thinking about Nehemiah and his initiative to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. Discouragement tried to take him away from what his purpose and mission was. He decided to rebuild the wall even though several times he was summoned by authorities to take him away from rebuilding it. Threats were sent to scare him out of building it, the economic times that were faced were reasons to discourage him, but throughout the entire time he continued believing in God and relying that the Lord had him the right place.
I started thinking about Noah, who after being ruled off for building an ark in anticipation of a flood during one of the greatest droughts, probably faced discouragement. Even after the flood coming spending so much time in the middle of water without a sign from God could have brought some discouragement, yet God answered and kept His promise.
I thought about David. After being elected by God to be King and defeating Goliath that he was still persecuted and sought after by Saul. After such a great victory I can imagine how discouraged David must have felt having to now run and hide in order to not be killed. Yet God still was faithful to His promise.
Part of our spiritual walk is learning to deal with discouragement. I myself have had moments of discouragement yet I have also learned that it is in the times that we are growing in our faith and fulfilling our God given purpose, that the devil will try to discourage us the most. We need to stand firm with the Lord and not allow discouragement to break us or hinder us. Remember that when we choose to accept the calling of God the devil also accepts that challenge to keep us from getting to where God is taking us. Stand strong and know that i am God says the Lord and we must face discouragement with that mentality to be strong in the Lord for He is with us.
