Are we ready to change?

     "And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?^]He said, “My child,^[b] don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,

    and don’t give up when he corrects you." (Heb 12:5)(NLT)

                   As I was watching TV not lone ago, I saw into an interesting program called "Bar rescue." At first, when you see this, you might not be interested in a place where alcohol is served, but I decided to watch it anyway. It is a reality show about a man called Jon Taffer, who goes around with some assistants rescuing bars and, also, restaurants. 
                   At first, when he approaches his clients, he is very nice and a gentleman. Then, when he points out their short-comings, the "kid gloves" are off and its game time. There was a scene in which he pointed out some open containers which was used to mix the drinks. He said that it was prone to germs and fruit flies. 
                    The owner was in denial and did not think it was a big deal. Soon, they got into a heated argument. The owner said he did not appreciate Jon screaming at his face. Jon responded that he will yell at him because the customer's health is at stake. Soon, the owner came to his senses. He fixed the bar and restaurant. As he did this, his business prospered and everybody was happy. 
             Our Lord Jesus is on a mission much like Jon, but more important than restoring a business. He wants to restore our souls. It is not enough to accept Jesus as Savior, he must be LORD! Sometimes, we take it personal when the Pastor steps on our "toes!" We want the church to be "user-friendly", but I got news for you! Jesus, along with the Holy Spirit, is on a mission. A mission to save our souls. He wants our souls to be blameless---
                  " Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again." (I Thess 5:23) (NLT)
                   As you can see from I Thess 5:23, our Spirit is different from our souls. The spirit is saved, but the soul must be worked on. Your soul is the mind, will and emotions. We must learn to be led by the word. The word is our final judge and authority. (Heb 4:12)  
                Maybe there are some things that God wants us to do. Perhaps leave our job and go into full-time ministry. Maybe move to another state or even join a church that we don't "feel" led to. Remember Our Lord Jesus struggled with this when he was gong to the cross. Thank God he said--Not my will, but thine will be done.
                You see, there are people, besides yourself, that will be affected by your disobedience. I realize that, not everybody is called for full-time ministry, but a simple act of obedience could go a long way. It can provide blessings for you and others. So, folks, "playtime" is over. Now, its time to get serious and make some changes. Lets get before his face before he gets into ours. God bless!


Scripture readings-- Acts 17:30
                            Heb 12

What makes you happy?

^" I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews:"
                                   (Acts 26:2)


                In this day, what makes you happy? A million bucks? A vacation to your favorite spot? Marrying a beautiful woman/man? The Apostle Paul counted himself a Happy Man! Think about his situation.
                    In jail for 2 years! Falsely accused! The Jews wanting to kill him, yet he counted himself happy! Why? Because he was standing across a high ranking dignitary. He was sharing the word to King Agrippa.
                    This was no ordinary king. He was from the line of Herod, who's descendants committed murder. This king, also, had problems. He was living in incest with his sister Bernice. A soul was in play. A life was in the balance.
                    Please don't misunderstand me. It's not wrong to be happy being prosperous or wanting to get away from the job and take a vacation, but we need to learn how to be renewed in our minds. King David said--I delight to do your will. (PS 40:8) Is doing God's will a burden? Then, its time to change your priorities. 
            Nothing could be greater than doing God's will. Picture yourself before your favorite actor or a famous personality. Can you delight in bringing the word before that person? The apostle Paul did! In this day, let's learn to renew our mind to the will of God. Let us be happy doing God's will! (Rom 12:2)

A God of new beginnings!

GETTING OUT OF EGYPT
Personally, I have seen many good Christians live under condemnation. They see themselves as failures. They have been bound by habits and have tried to be free, only to fall again and again into the same situations.
Some have given up. Others wind up having nervous breakdowns and I know of some who have committed suicide. Condemnation adds to stress and stress will get you depressed and sick. Why is this?
True, God wants us to be free. God wants sin removed out of the camp, but guess what? You need to realize something very important, maybe the most important thing you will ever realize about yourself-YOU ARE NOT PERFECT!!! Again, yes, God wants us to live a life above sin and shun sin, but you need to realize you are not perfect.
Sounds like a contradiction? Not really. Lets take a look at the following-" I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5) Notice the words WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING!
In order to face a problem, you got to admit you have a problem and guess what? You cannot do nothing without Christ. The word of God says that my people (Notice), my people perish for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)
The word,also, says that you shall know the truth and the truth say make you free. Many have said that the truth shall set you free. Nothing can be further than that. Many a Christian have died young from sickness in a hospital bed, some with their bibles open. The truth,itself, did not help them. They need understanding of the truth. My brethren, we need to understand just what God's word says about sin, sickness and prosperity.
Now, this is not a faith teaching promising you wealth and riches. I, personally, believe that God wants his people prosperous and wealthy, but there are some misconceptions and wrong teachings. In a nutshell, if you want to have God's precious promises, decide this as an opportunity for change. Decide that you are going to hate sin. With blessings, comes accountability and the word does say that to whom much is given, much is required. It is a very dangerous thing to get things from God by his grace, because there comes a day where sooner or later, you have to give an account and that is where some faith teachers should be telling the other side of the story. Consider Samson, how God thru his grace helped him even though he was in sin, (Yes, He is full of Grace) but consider the other side of the coin. Sin was not dealth with and he paid a heavy price. (Judges 13-16)
Gods people lived in bondage to EGYPT for many years. Finally,look at the word that he gave them- "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house (Exodus 12:2-3) EGYPT represents sin, world and bondage. God was going to give his people a new beginning. Until then, the Jews had a civil calender which was the seventh month. God had changed their calender and gave them the sacred calender, which is the 1st month called Abib. To better understand this, I encourage you to paste this link on your computer-http://www.bcbsr.com/survey/jcal.html
As you use this link, it will break down the details of the Jewish calenders and apply them to our date and time. It will, also, give you a brief rundown of the Jewish feast and other interesting things that will aid you in your Old testament studies. We need to understand this as we read the Bible, the history and the culture background of the times. That is why we need to dig into it. Interesting enough, our calender is filled with Paganistic influences. The months and days of the week were named after, mostly, Pagan Gods. You can check this out, also in the following link-http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/year-history.html
Does that mean that we have to throw away our calender? No. God will work with us concerning the days and times. Notice that the month of Abib which is the first month of the sacred calender was changed by the Babylonians to Nisan. God's word even mentions it in the word (Neh 2:1) When God speaks to you, he will mention times and days in terms that you can understand, nevertheless, it is good to do a study on the Feast of the Lord because we need to understand our Jewish roots. Our holidays are filled with Pagan practices.

WHAT KIND OF BREAD ARE YOU EATING?
Notice that after they celebrated the PASSOVER in Exodus 12, the Jews ate unleavened bread for seven days. They made a decision. They took action. They walked out of EGYPT, but brethren, it is not enough to walk out of EGYPT, you got to get EGYPT out of you. So, that is why they ate unleavened bread. Many a times, we are not victorious because we are not taking time to meditate and study the word. We need to be like Jeremiah, that ate in a spirtiual sense , the word of God. (Jer 15:16)
Israel was eating, in a spiritual sense, leavened bread. It was eatiing the bread of affliction, but God in his mercy, gave them unleavened bread. How do we eat of God's word. By taking time to meditate and confess his promises. (Joshua 1:8). I, myself, have asked the Lord to give me a hatred for sin and I kept on getting frustrated at my shortcomings. Finally, God spoke to me and said- Have you confessed my word? Have you confessed that you hate iniquity and love righteousness? Have you received that promise? I had to say no, and repent of my unbelief.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THAT YOU HAD A PARTY?
It is an interesting fact that the word feast is translated in Spanish as Fiesta. Fiesta means a party. We need to get into party mode. Proverbs says that a merry heart has a continual feast. Are you going to church in a " Party mode"? Are you spending time getting drunk on the new wine and receiving strength from on high? Folks, its time to get drunk! Its time to go party and guess what? The Party does not start until The Holy Spirit comes in!! He is the life of the party. Well, thats it for now. God bless until next time. Feel free to share your thoughts.
P.S. I want to thank God for my wife Terry, who helped me with this article.

Other teaching link-
http://relijournal.com/christianity/have-you-looked-at-your-armor/



November 27, 2009 at 2:57pm · Delete Post

Why doesn't God answer my prayers?

The Eternal Question

As a CBN counselor for the 700 Club, I receive a wide range of prayer requests, from praying for pets to addressing more serious issues. Sometimes, I can’t help but smile at some of the requests, like praying to find a lost item. Other times, I feel a deep sense of sadness when people ask, “Why doesn’t God answer me?”

While I enjoy my role as a prayer counselor, it does have its limitations. Often, I advise people to seek guidance from a pastor or visit cbn.com for further support. For instance, I once received a call from a frustrated individual who was fervently praying for a wife. The WHYs and HOW COMEs can be overwhelming.

In one memorable call, I heard a loud voice exclaim, “GOD, HOW COME I DON’T HAVE A WIFE? GIMME A WIFE, GOD!” It felt as if they believed they were speaking directly to God on the other line. I was tempted to respond in a deep, God-like voice, “With an attitude like that, you’re not going anywhere!”

Faith and Patience

One dear lady shared with me that she had waited 40 years for a husband and was angry with God. I tried to encourage her, reminding her that prayers can still be answered, but she felt it was too late and that no man wanted her.

While I can’t provide all the answers, I can offer some thought-provoking insights. The Bible tells us that we inherit God’s promises through faith and patience (Hebrews 6:12). Personally, I was healed from asthma after suffering for 20 years. It was so severe that I was hospitalized twice and nearly died. Now, looking back, I’ve learned a few things.

First, the problem is not with God. If you have a promise from God in the Bible, it is for you because God’s promises are “yes” and “amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20). I believe that healing is God’s will, but there are conditions that must be met.

In fact, God desires your healing so much that He hastens to perform His word (Jeremiah 1:12). The issue is not with God; it’s with us. We are not making the proper connection. The Bible says that wisdom is the principal thing (Proverbs 4:7).

Reflecting on my healing journey, I realized the problem was not with God but with me. I needed to renew my mind and spend more time in prayer. We all get sidetracked occasionally, but we cannot blame God when answers don’t come. Today, let’s ask ourselves, “Are we making the right connection?”

Are you making the right connection?

If you are not having results in prayer, ask yourself-AM I MAKING THE RIGHT CONNECTION? I know that many reading this may be frustrated. Others may have given up! Accepting your circumstances and becoming mad at God! Don't get mad at God because he is not your problem! A lot of times when we get mad at God, it hinders our prayers. Why, because the word tells us to get angry but sin not, let not the sun go down on your wrath. (Eph 4:26)
How many Christians accept what they think is God's will and get defeated in life? How many are praising God for sickness,lack and poverty when it doesn't come from God? How many in their hearts are, secretly, mad at God for their troubles? Let's face it, we live in a "microwave" generation and forget that we need to develope patience to receive God's promises. (Heb 6:11-12)Why? It's not because God is taking his sweet time. Far from it!
The word of God says that he hastens to perform his word.(Jer 1:12) When you think about it, that was in the Old Testament. Think about this for a moment. The New Testament is called the GOOD NEWS! Why? Because we have a better covenant based on better promises. The Old Testament says that God hastens to perform his word. Are you ready to shout? Look at the following verse-
" According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (II Peter 1:3)
Shout because he has (Past tense) given you ALL things that pertains unto life! That means every challenge, every debt, every sickness,etc. has been covered thru the word. He has given us victory,prosperity,healing! It's already done in the Spiritual. What you need is a breakthrough. In order to get a breakthrough, you need to make the right connection!
Years ago, When I was in the Navy, our company commander promised us a radio if we worked hard to win a flag. In order to win a flag, we needed to pass inspection in our barracks. That meant that we needed to clean our floors. We spent all night and all day working for a radio. You need to understand, we were in a "Prison" at boot camp, away from the real world and the radio was our way to be in contact with the latest news and music.
We won the flag and there was rejoicing. We jumped up and down, acting like maniacs. Finally, we had the radio. To the victor's goes the spoils, right? We tried to turn on the radio. No sound. We scratched our heads, wondering why we had no sound. We looked to see if there it was battery powered and it was not. We looked all around the radio and nothing. The Company Commando comes inside the barracks with a cord in his hand saying that it will come extra, if we win another flag. In other words, the cord was the missing connection to our contact to the outside world.
How may Christians upon finding out that God will met their needs and heal them, jump up and down rejoicing in the Lord. We've had teachings on faith and healing and again, shouting and dancing, praising God but when it comes time to receive the manifestation to the promises, we scratch our heads and ask ourselves what happened? Healing was there! Prosperity was there! Peace was there! What happened? THE CORD WAS MISSING! YOU NEED TO MAKE THE RIGHT CONNECTION!!!

The will of God! Part II

Let's continue with our study of God's will. Many reading this thinks that God's will is sovereign. In other words, that everything that happens is God's will. Let's look at it in content. Some examples are the following-I Thess 4:16 says that the Lord will come with a shout. Nothing will hinder the second coming of Jesus, that is the sovereign will of God. Yes, by this verse, we see God's will as sovereign and absolute.
I will, absolutely, agree that God's will is sovereign to a certain extent. In studying the word, we will see three categories of God's will-
1-Sovereign
2-Permissive
3- Perfect

The Permissive will of God

Let's look at the following verse- "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (I Peter 3:9) It is, stated, clearly that it is not God's will that any should perish. Why are people perishing? Simply, because God respects man's will. God's sovereign will has its limits regarding men's decisions. Why? Because he does not want ROBOTS! God's will in this verse is, clearly, permissive.
That is why it is, so important, that we walk by faith and not by sight. As we studied, previously, God used to communicate with man through visual and audio means in the Old Testament. Why? Because man was dead and not born again. Now we have a new covenant and man is alive unto GOD because of JESUS! Jesus, not only took our sins, but he took our sicknesses. We did not receive 1/2 of a Salvation, we received all of Salvation. The scriptures says, clearly, he took our sickness and borne our diseases (Matt 8:17)

The perfect will of God

What is the perfect will of GOD? It involves your calling and direction of God in your life. It, also, involves knowing what promises belong to you. It has a catch-YOU HAVE TO RENEW YOUR MIND! Why? So, you can know his perfect will. (II Cor 1:20/Rom 12:2/Eph 1:18) Few achieve this level and many die before their time because of being in God's permissive will.(Ecc 7:17) You don't want to remain in God's permissive will, you want to be in God's perfect will. So, take some time to renew your mind by meditating and confessing the word of God! In doing so, you will get to know your calling in life and his promises for you!

The will of God!

                                                                 
                                     

 


                                                             The will of God!

Many in the body want to know the will of God. Many are confused about the will of God. They think if something happens, it is the will of God. They read the story of Gideon's fleece and do the same test, and when things don't happen, they get mad at God. I had a fellow Pastor friend who went out to the ministry and put out a "fleece". He and his wife was convinced that God called him to have a church. When things didn't work out, he got mad at God. (Judges 6:36-40)
My friends, We got to be careful or we will be "fleeced!" What Gideon had with God was old covenant. Gideon was not, yet, born again because his spirit was dead. Jesus hadn't,yet, died for him. God could not communicate with him, so he had to talk to him through visual and audio means. Now, we can have communion with God through life in Christ Jesus, we can hear from him in the Spirit. The Bible says we walk by faith, not by sight. (II Cor 5:7) How do we hear from God? Through his word! His word speaks to us 24/7 every day.
The Bible says we have a new covenant based on new promises. The reason why we don't hear from God is that we don't take time to renew our minds. Many of us, and I'm included, have made bad choices because of not renewing our minds and finding out God's will. Romans 12:2 says to be transformed by the renewing of your minds. As we spend our time renewing our minds and seeking the presence of the Lord, he will reveal his perfect will for you.
                          You may ask, Pastor Santos, that is well and good, but I don't have time for God. I work many hours in the day and just have time to read the Bible for 15 minutes and pray as I work. Reading the Bible is good, but God puts it a step further, he says to study to show yourself approved.(II Tim 2:15) Brethren, life is full of tests. Years ago, when I went to College, I found out that I had to study in order to pass my tests. At High School, I was getting by, studying at the last minute and passing my tests. Soon afterwards, I graduated and started College.I was warned to take time to study because it was harder. The "High School" mentality was over, I was in College. I was in the "big leagues" and play time was over.
                     The reason why these tests are not going away is that many are having a "High School" mentality. PLAY TIME is over!  When you grow in the Lord, you go from glory to glory. You get by with a "high school" mentality. You use a few scriptures and get a couple of answered prayers. You think you've arrived!  Soon, you make it into "College" in the kingdom of heaven and this is the big leagues. After that, you face bigger and greater challenges. Mountains gets harder to move and stronger demons are making it tougher to move along. With greater growth comes greater responsibilities! Soon, you are wavering and doubting God's promises. Don't go that route because if you do, the enemy will destroy you and your family.As if that was not enough,he will take away everything you got.
                  Take more time to study. Abide in his presence more and renew your mind. God understands that you have to work and spend time with your family,but,make a habit to take a day or two to just spend it with God and bathing in his presence.Doing this will help you prepare for battle and turn your tests into testimonies.God bless.