Where Do I Stand....

On the video, I messed up here and there, but I hope you received the message. When we want to get closer to God, we can look into the book of James, to find lessons that will shape our attitude.

In the first chapter, the main lesson is that we have to stand with God, all the time. Not just when we feel in danger or when you know something bad will happen. Don't think though, that standing with God is an easy objective to accomplish, what I mean is that you might go 75% but as you keep going up you see that the trials you are facing are getting more hard.

In 1 Peter 1:6-4 (NTL) So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold-though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, ir will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus is revealed to the whole world.

Once you decide that you want to be the light in shadows of the valley of death that we walk, we will face adversity. But don't falter, these problems if overcomed will purify your soul the same way fire can be used to purify gold. When gold is heated, the impurities float on top of the gold and can be easily removed, sort of like the same process for making skim milk. If we face a problem, don't ask God "why me?" when you perfectly know that it is not God who wants to hurt you but the enemy instead is trying to keep you at that 75%, so that you will not get that glory once you have achieved 100%.

So what do facing these problems yield. Once overcomed, you will gain confidence, perseverance, and courage. In more detailed, c0nfidence is what will allow us to walk with God, because we will understand that God is there protecting us and guiding us to a better future. Perseverance, we feel horrible deep inside, you want to go berserk because the problems you are facing right now are to big for you, but showing perseverance in a situation like this means that you will show your grief but will not fall into bitterness or depression. Courage, will be naturally formed in you because you will see that Jesus will walk with you as a Brother, so we don't need to be afraid. Being afraid will cloud our vision of who we really are.

So friends, I leave you with that. If you wan't to email me go ahead, only.praise.be.to.him@gmail.com I will respond as soon as I can.

Perspective v. Reality

So everything we do for the Lord must be done with joy. When we praise him, we do it because we want to not just to make our neighbor happy. In the movie Facing the Giants I learned that everything we do must be for God, even writing this blog. By all means I don't want to receive a prize for this, I'm only doing it to share His love with you. Sometimes we forget that we can do all things in Him, we break down and say "My life can't get any worser......etc." but only because our faith fluctuates.

When you first become a Christian, in sense you have been reborn. You are a fresh new baby. The longer we pass with God the bigger our faith will become, starting out is quite easy but once we get to our spiritual teen years, when just like our mood change from day one to day two so can our faith.

So we have analyzed our problem, and of course to gain faith is something not found easy. Of course the word of the Lord is there to help you, but you have to put your own part to it. We can not be doing what our Flesh wants to do (Next blog: Our Flesh), instead we should be doing what the Holy Spirit in our body is telling us to do. It's not easy hearing that Voice but it is not impossible.

Imagine this diorama, there are three layers to the human body. The outermost one is our flesh, what our natural instincts tell us to do. The middle layer is a semi-flesh layer, more like what our flesh wants but invigorated with lies, emotions, insecurities. And the last layer, is where the Holy Spirit resides. So now you know that you will be digging through your mind just to find his guidance, its not easy but with a devoted heard you can find it. Just remember Philippians 4:13.

One last thing, I'm applying this as I write this blog, is that we have to set the ground ready for God to water it. What do I mean? Simple, I have faith that this blog will reach those who need to read it, I don't care if it only gets one view, a thousand would be nice to hehhe, but back to the point I'm writing this in faith (setting the field) so that when its God's turn, he will use this message to change someone.

If you feel that you have noticed that the way you act is not the way you think you should be acting. Do you think that there is more to you than what your current status offers to you? Do you feel endlessly wandering this Earth knowing you have a purpose but no matter how much you try to find it, you always find a wall blocking your path? Do you want forgiveness for your sins?

If you haven't accepting Jesus into your heart, then read out loud this few words.

Lord Jesus Christ, I believe you took all the pain on the cross to give me a new life. I ask of You to come to my life, to change me, to make me a better person so that I can do your will. I confess that I have sinned, that I have gone my own way, without your guidance. I accept you now as my Lord and Savior. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, and help me follow your path, so that I may live a new life under your presence. Thank you, Amen.