Ask and you shall receive

After I met with my group this Wednesday on the way back home, Kim noticed a man pushing a woman on a wheel chair. She told me maybe you should offer to give them a ride somewhere. So I dropped Kim & Eli off at home and headed out to help.  In my mind I thought “I will make an offer, they will probably say no, they don’t need any help and I will go home”. After 3 attempts to offer a ride or if I could do something for them, I started heading back to my car. The man then approaches me asking if I had any dollars to spare for some food. I told him that I don’t carry money but I would be more than happy to grab some food for them. He accepted my offer and shared that  they had been looking for their 14 year old daughter that had run away 23 days ago. Daniel is in his late 50s works in construction whenever he can, Angela is disabled and around her late 30s.

So I headed down to Braums to grab some burgers and as I am doing this I pray and ask God for guidance “God, is this all you want me to do, should I offer more? Can I do more? This is already way out of my comfort zone.” Seconds after the Braums person gives me my food and I start driving back it starts to rain. I told myself “Great. Nice. Now you have to follow through.” Remember how people always say never pray for patience because you are not going to get it, what you get is situations that will test the very core of your patience. The same thing happened here, I have been praying for weeks about opportunities to show Jesus to others, forcing myself to get out of the comfort zone. When I arrived where they were at, I gave them the food and offer to give them a ride back home or anywhere they might be able to spend the night. After talking to his partner they decided to take me up on my offer “In my head I keep thinking what the crap are you doing?” So I help the lady get in the car since she is disabled and put the wheel chair in the trunk. He then tells me gives me directions to where they want to stay.

By the time I get there I notice that its a Motel 6, I offer him some cash to pay for the motel, he accepts. I go to the gas station and take some money out of the ATM and give it to him. While we are driving back to the motel Angela asks “Are you a Christian?” I thought for couple of seconds and then answered “I believe and follow Jesus Christ.” Angela responded, ” I knew you were”. When she said that it brought me back to the scripture in the new testament in the book of Acts if I recall where they said when people look at Christians saw how different they were not by what they said but how they treated each other and always helping those in need.  I decide to go with them to check in to make sure they don’t have any problems. When he asks for a room the rep tells him the price, the man looks at the cash and I automatically know he doesn’t have enough. “Unbelievable”. So I told Daniel to keep the money for food and I will get his motel room. I take them to their room and I do what I struggle the most when I am around a stranger, I offer to pray for them, they get all excited and said yes. I start praying, I’m no pro at this but I know what is going on and I got the basics, as I pray for God’s love, mercy, kindness to surround this family and to bring their daughter home, as I am going through the prayer I hear Daniel weeping and Angela saying “Yes please”. I finish and tell them that Jesus loves them very much, I got their number and gave them mine, told them to call me if they need help. As I drove back home, I still felt like I didn’t do anything even though they get to sleep on a bed tonight something they haven’t done for a while now, a warm meal and rest, I leave with the feeling they are still missing their daughter and there is nothing I could about it. I can only pray that God will give them the comfort they need and guidance they are seeking. I can’t imagine how it would feel to know that my daughter ran away from home and I couldn’t find her.

Why do I feel like I have failed? Its like I carry the pain with them.

Can we forgive?

A couple of weeks ago at my community we were talking about being honest, being truthful with someone especially when they are down and are in need of support. Being someone that will comfort people, listen to their ache. We as the “church” lack so much on this.

I feel as though the reason why many of us choose not to share our troubles is because we will be judged. We don’t want people to look at us differently. Think about it, in the worst case possible would you be able to forgive? Knowing what someone has done in the past, would it be possible not look at them differently and trust them fully?

Jesus meets a prostitute at the well. She is in the worst possible place in her life, a woman that has slept around with countless men. Jesus forgives her and loves her. He looks past her filth, and sees her beauty and value in the Kingdom of God. What about the Apostle Paul? “The murderer”, the one that tortured and killed thousands and thousands of Christians. Jesus appeared to him, and forgave him. Jesus did not look at what he had done, but at how beautiful and important he is to the Kingdom. Countless times, Jesus forgives the worst of the worst without passing judgment. He never asked them why they made the choices that they did, but he had pity for where they were at in their lives.

Now here is my point, we all know that our actions are judged by God and that there are consequences to those actions. God, the Alpha and Omega, the Creator has the right to judge. The judging I mentioned above is done by people, brothers and sisters in Christ. I have seen too often when someone is honest and shares their burden only to be judged by why they made that decision. There is no comfort, the love is missing. “Forgive us as we forgive others,” scripture says, but we miss the point. We remember the sin, and forget the part where it says “Love keeps no records of wrong” (1Corinthians 13:5). Love from people is imperfect, but if we pray for the love of God something extraordinary is going to happen. This is an issue that I have struggled with for a long time. We need to love with the Love of Christ.  People don’t share their struggles because they will be judged. We are all humans and we fail, we sin. It’s by the grace of God that we have the opportunity to be closer to Him. “We must be quick to hear and slow to speak” Jas 1:19. As we allow ourselves to be transformed by the grace of God and to fully engage in His word, in a more intimate relationship with Him, we will experience the love that we are all missing.

can I become a risk taker

This has been very close to my heart the last couple of months. Risk taker, crazy things happen when you become this. This always implicates to get out of your comfort zone, go to the unknown, pulling your sleeves up. Its like going sky diving, you have made all of the safety precautions and make sure that your parachute is working properly, but when you jump, you are taking the risk of hoping your parachute will function before you hit the ground. I have a hard time being a risk taker, I have a family, wife, 2 kids and another on the way. its hard for me because everything that I do will affect them. I have prayed about this, and find that in the scriptures, most of the people that followed God wholeheartedly were risk takers. David vs Goliath, that is just insane, a giant vs a midget, full metal armor vs a sling shot. David was a risk taker, he put his faith in God and trusted that God will deliver him from that fight. the apostles most being fishermen, dropped everything they had to follow Christ, that is risk taking, you go to the unknown, out of your comfort zone and trust, having faith that God will provide. I am getting close, but its a struggle I must face everyday. I want to be a risk taker, and believe and trust that God will not only take care of me but my wife and children as well.

Are you a risk taker? What has God asked you to risk?

New perspective

Its not new, at least to many of you, but it feels brand new. Some of you know the difficulties currently in my life, financially. Every time we have a glimpse of light, we are hit with darkness all around, from dealing with insurance companies whether is for the car ofrthe house. We feel as though we can’t catch a break, every time we are close to that break, something else hits us. As I was talking to my wife a couple of days ago, we were asking why this stuff keeps happening to us. That thought stayed in my mind until yesterday. I have been reading a book called Wild at heart by John Edlredge. A good friend of mine recommended it to me. I thought its just another book. But, as I got into the message it shares, God started to mold me in some new ways. Its funny to me how certain conversations that I have, come back to me with a new perspective. Its easy for me to think why this stuff happens? why me?, why, why, why? me, me, me? After that initial conversation with my wife, I read a part of the book, where it mentions that I am asking the wrong questions. Instead, to be open to what God has  to teach us through these situations and events. What is God trying to teach me here? What is it you want me to see? Every day that passes, I feel getting closer and closer to God, in a way that I have never experience, I feel that I am helpless, I can’t control anything but my worship to God and trust that He will provide a way.

What is God trying to teach you today? What does he want you to see?

God is Huge

This past Sunday the speaker at our community made this statement: “when you look at the problem, if you envision God, that problem is very, very small”. As the time went on, that statement sank in more and more. How true this is, although we have a hard time doing that. When we are faced with a problem our first reaction is try to resolve it, by ourselves. I am so to blame for this, no matter how many times this happens I always try to face them. When I do that, I look at the problem and its like the Great Wall of China. huge, unending. When I try to face theses by myself, I lose, they are so big and I feel as though I have no strength for them, but if I see God in the problem, it becomes so small, compared to the presence of God, “I can all things through him who strengthens me” – Phil 4:13. His Glory overcomes these minuscule problems. One thing a good friend of mine taught me, just picture yourself on your knees and as you extend your hands to God, the represent your troubles, as you “lay them down” at God’s feet, your hands then are free to be lifted to praise Him. What a beautiful vision that is. This will be a life’s journey as we learn to give ourselves away to Him and let Him take our problems, flaws away.

I have learned, when faced with a problem to envision God, in that way I will feel the presence, strength to overcome anything that is set before me.

why is it so hard?

I have been haunted by this thought for the last couple of weeks. Why is it so hard to sacrifice? Well, that’s a loaded question I think. There are many things that come to mind, personally, to me its hard to sacrifice, because it means to forfeit ourselves for the benefit of others, or ourselves. To give self to others, with not thought of ourselves. I have struggled with that all my life. Maybe because in certain aspects I missed out on certain things and I am trying to catch up.  There are certains things in my life that I like to do, its hard to give it up, whether its for God, for my wife, or my kids. Its plain hard. Its the pleasure in it, the fun, the meeting my own needs(or so I think). But, when its all over, I feel a sense of failure, of defeat, I accomplished nothing, by behaving that way.

I look at great examples of sacrifice, Jesus sacrificing himself for the world, to be set free from sin. Imagine Jesus, “well I know dying on the cross will save all of God’s people, but I really want to play play station, I heard there is a game out that is awesome.” He is the prime, perfect example of what sacrifice ought to be. As I work on this everyday, I feel at peace, comfortable, to see God happy, my wife, kids all happy enjoying, when I decide to sacrifice myself, the cool thing, is that within this sacrifice I have fun too, I find happiness in the sacrifice (this could sound like I’m a masochist, I’m not.)

What are things that are hard to sacrifice in your life?

God fed me!

I wanted to share this with all of you. Click on Dump Day.  Every year they raise money and provide a banquet for the people that live in the Dump in Honduras. Its heartbreaking to see the pictures and all the children that eat trash for lunch, when I have so much, not only that I am fat for eating too much. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink… I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” ~ Jesus. God works in mysterious ways, he dwells in the orphans, the hungry, the sick, the crippled, the poor.

An average American will spend $341 per week on groceries alone, not counting eating out at restaurants. Imagine if for one week you gave your “eating out” money to the hungry. You are feeding Jesus.  That’s powerful. Last year my friend started the dump day fund, not knowing what the result might be, we were all overwhelm by the generosity of the people of the church coming together to help. I remember having tears in my eyes as I read the comments of people and kids giving to the hungry. God has fed us, and He calls us to feed His people.

Have a blessed day.

My toes!

My toes hurt; I have been stepped on so many times these past few weeks I think I have blisters.  Have you had that feeling? Well, I have. The cool thing about it is that I am grateful that someone did that, it’s like a wakeup call. I will share with you one of my dreams. Everyone has a calling, mine? Well, its criminals, inmates. I don’t know why, but I am drawn to them. I find it easy to love them, my heart aches for them, sometimes I feel like one of them.  God loves them, why shouldn’t I? I have for the last year envisioned a prison ministry, a friend of mine introduced me with a guy that runs a program in OKC, OK called Living Faith, they help these people that come out of prison and help them get connected in society, the also provide support, discipline and community together sharing God’s mercy and grace. The world is hard on them, don’t get me wrong there are consequences for anyone’s actions and if they have paid for it, than they deserve a chance, one that God already has given them. If you go back all the way to the Old Testament, God loved David, “a man after God’s own heart” well, he murdered Uriah just to get his wife, and God still used him for His Kingdom.  Look at the apostle Paul, considered the worst man in the world, imagine how many Christ followers he killed, still Jesus had a purpose for him. Jesus tells us if the repent forgive them just as He forgave us, they asked Jesus “how many times?” Jesus answered, “We should forgive not 7 times or 70 times, but 7×70 times (It’s 490 times by the way).  We all have something in common, we are all sinners, there is no way around it, we categorize sin, one is worse than the other, some of us get caught others get away with sin.  Jesus loves the sinner, he longs for them, and He cares for them and died for all of them. I have this vision of Jesus eating with the prostitutes, tax-collectors, Judas (the guy that betrayed Him) they shared meals together, prayed together, loved each other. I have been “nudged” to surround myself with these people, just like the apostle Paul was “nudged” to go to the Gentiles.

What has God “nudged” you to do?

Living simple

Lately, I have been trying to figure out my calling. There are so many things in my heart, I feel like its breaking into pieces. We all have been called to something, something that defines us, changes us, and draws us nearer to Jesus. I desire to leave the rat race that forces me to think materialistically instead of simply, how consuming this life can be. I ache for the poverty, for the injustices of this world, and it slowly takes a piece away from me when I sit and do nothing. I read today that if we were all to share the excess in our lives there would be no poverty in this world. Can you imagine that? Sometimes I think to myself “I don’t have excess, I have what I need.” But when I sit back and see all that I have, there are so many things that I could live without, the luxuries that we try to find ways to justify the means, we sugar coat it, we create excuses to why I must have/keep a certain thing, when millions and millions of people in the world have nothing. Dorothy May said it well “if you have two coats, one of them belongs to the poor” how true that is. Still, we try to justify it by saying there are different seasons in the world, and I have these jackets to use at different times, also is style, I have this many because they match with different clothes, when many out there don’t have one. I think Jesus was the worst in fashion, that’s because that wasn’t His focus, He focused on healing the sick, feeding the poor, love the prostitute, eat with the tax collector, sharing God’s love for everyone. I struggle with going to my house and try to pick things I know I don’t need that someone out there might find it useful. I have 4 jackets at my house, although I only use 2, it hurts just to think there is someone out there in the middle of the night cold, nothing to cover themselves, because I choose to keep my jacket. Let us share our jackets; I want to live simple. Giving is the only antidote to greed.

The little things

This past weekend, I went to Midland, TX with my family to visit my wife’s family for Easter. It was an 8 hour trip, very long but, I had the opportunity to talk with my wife about our dreams, things we like, what we would like to accomplish, and what is our calling. I have felt for the longest time, like a dormant volcano, just waiting, building up to “explode” and this magnificent act will happen. As I was listening to my wife speak I was hit by a scripture from the old testament, When it says “a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rock before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, after the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire came a gentle whisper… then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

I don’t know about any of you, but I always wanted to do something big, but I was blinded and did look at all the small things that must happen. The funny thing is that by doing all these small things, it snowballs to something huge. Just like the body of Christ, I am not the body, I might be a finger nail, or a pinky, or the jaw, just like you are not the Body, but part of the Body and everyone has a small function to perform, and as everybody focus on Christ, the Body will do great things. God is in the smallest things, we overlook every day, starting from the poor at the stop light, to the orphan, to the widow, to a brother or sister that has lost a job, etc. God dwells in the ordinary and mundane. Can you hear God whisper? What is he saying to you?