I wish to share with you a podcast series produced by Ligonier Ministries. The topic is sanctification. The teacher is Dr. Guy Waters, and he discusses the topic as it is expounded in the book of Romans. This series started yesterday, Monday March 5. Each podcast is about half an hour in length. I highly recommend this series, which is proving to be of great help and blessing to me personally, because Dr. Waters clearly explains a profound and transcendent doctrine that is somewhat difficult for me to grasp, and perhaps may be difficult for many believers.
Here is the link to the page of the Archives. Go to the top of the page and then tab to see the dates of the podcasts, which are archived from most recent and going backwards. To see the titles of the podcasts, down arrow once after you tab to a date.
http://renewingyourmind.org/archive
Press enter on the link of the date of the message you want to listen to. When the page opens, go to the top of the page, then press the letter H to go to the first heading, which displays the date of the podcast, then down arrow once or twice to the button you press to play the podcast.
The home page of Ligonier Ministries displays the podcast being broadcast that day. To listen to it, go to
http://renewingyourmind.org
Go to the top of the page, then press the letter H to go to the heading, “Today’s broadcast,” then down arrow to the button you need to press to play the podcast.
Hello everyone,
Recently, I made the decision to publish a series of E-mails I wrote to a group of brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as some friends who do not believe. These letters, twelve in all, are a series of updates, a journey, as it were, through the illness, diagnosis and cancer treatment of my beloved David. So far, I have published six of the twelve letters, and it is my intention to publish all of them. The name of the series under which I am publishing the letters is, “The Shadow of the Almighty.” You can find the series, as well as many other posts, here: http://superblyrebird.wordpress.com
Zoraida
Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
In Laos, a pastor and elders of a house church were arrested, imprisoned and tortured for celebrating a Christmas service. Persecution of believers in Christ in Laos, as well as in many other countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Russia and Iran is ruthless and implacable. In these countries, the church of Christ is, for the most part, an underground church. It is underground for the most part because, as oppressive as these countries are when it comes to belief in Christ, the true way of salvation, the faithful carry on with God’s commandment to be a public witness of Christ the Savior, and to preach the gospel to as many people as possible whenever the opportunity arises.
Last year in Laos, it is estimated that 900 people came to faith in Christ. These new believers were baptized as the public sign of their new birth in Christ and their confession, the baptisms being done in the presence of the congregation of the saints. Yet, before a confessing Christian can be baptized, he or she must fill the following conditions:
1. He or she must be aware of, and accept the fact that, they could loose their job for their confession of faith.
2. He or she must be aware of, and accept the fact that, their children will not receive an education because of their witness for Christ.
3. He or she must be aware of, and accept the fact that, very likely, they will be imprisoned for their allegiance to Christ.
If the believer is willing to risk his or her own job, housing, social standing, his or her own family, all the way to his or her own life, then they are welcome and baptized into the family of the faithful, into the household of God.
This is the power of God, residing in ordinary people who confess their sin and Christ as their Savior, who confess that they need a Savior in order to be reconciled to God, and that without forgiveness of sin and salvation from eternal damnation, there is no hope whatsoever. Here is the power of God, expressed and manifested in so many ordinary people, so many of them humble, so many of them not very educated, who receive the Spirit of God and so are enabled to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow the Christ no matter the cost. Here is the power of God, being understood by these ordinary people in Laos and so many other places that their lives are not their own, that the reason for their existence is not for them to do what they want, have what they want and live in material comfort and convenience. The power of God in them compels them to proclaim Him who redeemed them, who Himself gave His own life and blood for them, so that they may be called sons and daughters of God. The power of God in them rises above fear and defies the authorities that seek to silence the witness of Christ, these brothers and sisters knowing that, in God, they possess everything that is far, far better than anything this sinful world can ever offer. They glorify God as they publicly confess and reflect Christ, as they are rounded up at their house churches while in sacred worship and taken away, as they are thrown into filthy prison cells, tortured and executed, for they fully understand that, even as their blood is spilled and their life extinguished from this world, the witness of Christ shall never pass away, for it is written: “Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my Word shall never pass away.” Believers in Christ in Laos and so many other perilous places witness in their lives and in their deaths, for it is written: “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.”
Oh, here in America, we are so soft and flabby, comfortable in our air conditioned church buildings with state of the art video and audio systems, while in countries without freedom, the saints offer to the LORD their own homes as places of worship for the congregation, a true sacrifice to God, given the risk this entails. We neglect the reading of our precious Bible, let alone the study of it, while in other countries the mere possession of a Bible carries with it the death penalty. We do not bother to tell others of the good news of forgiveness and salvation because we do not really consider this to be that important, and we figure that somebody else can do that, while in countries were the government has tried to put a muzzle on the truth, believers open their mouths for the confession of the faith and the witness to Christ, fully understanding the great and eternal importance and implications of doing so. Because of the freedoms enjoyed in America, we have a demanding, even an angry, attitude, concerning what we consider our absolute right to worship and share the gospel with unbelievers, while in countries where followers of Christ are beaten and abused, the gospel of salvation is spread in humility and in submission to the absolute sovereignty of God the creator, whose invincible power is manifested as He touches the heart of a person and transforms him or her from a dead spirit to an eternally living spirit in Christ, where God dwells. See how the power of God provides for His saints in these opressive countries. In the midst of dictatorship, imprisonment, torture and death, the saints gather and worship, baptize and proclaim the gospel to all.
There is no doubt that the true faith of Christ is under attack in America. These are darkening times for the true believers, while the false churches remain unmolested, for they simply tow the politically correct line.
The future belongs to the LORD. Every true believer in America asks himself or herself the question, “If the time ever came in this country, would I be like those believers in China, Egypt, Laos and other places?” We can only pray our loving Father that we would be, that we would be willing to give up everything, even our lives, for Christ, who gave absolutely everything for us. In the meantime, to my brothers and sisters in Christ I say, Let us all keep on keeping on. Let us persevere in the service of the King, reflecting Him in the way we live and preaching the gospel, the good news of salvation, with all gentleness, wisdom and humility, as the power of God touches lives, transforms minds and grants eternal life to those He wills. Let us engage in much prayer, much praise and adoration, and petitions for those precious and beloved brothers and sisters who face all manner of terrors and death for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May our LORD Almighty continue to guide us and instruct us, to pour His power and His blessing on us for patience, courage, faithfulness and perseverance, in the name and for the sake of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Zoraida
Note: In the Spanish language, all nouns are either masculine or feminine. The nouns for most flowers, quite appropriately if you ask me, are of the feminine gender. Because of this, I think of all flowers as feminine, so in this entry I refer to the main subject as a, “she,” and not as an, “it,” which is the rule in the English language.
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The air conditioner is on in the bedroom. This morning, as it is always the case when the AC is on, I woke up totally lacking a sense of time. Was it three o’clock in the morning or one o’clock in the afternoon? I reached over and grabbed my Braille clock to get the intelectual knowledge of the time of day that would anchor me to my daily structure and routine. As usual, whenever the AC is on, I woke up feeling claustrophobic, depressed and too cold for my comfort. Additionally, of course, as it happens every day of my life, I woke up thoroughly exhausted.
The AC and I are not on friendly terms. Even so, this morning, as I began my prayers under my covers, I felt led to ask the LORD to forgive me for grumbling about the AC, without which sleep and health issues would be worse for me. I thought of and prayed for all the saints around the world who do not have the modern comforts that so many of us here in the States have, and that we tend to take for granted. I thought of and prayed for all those afflicted with illnesses and disabilities, both believers and unbelievers, all over the world. After I finished my morning prayers, I rushed out of the cold room to be greeted by a sweltering heat and humidity, which felt as relief for my coldness for only a few minutes before it too, turned into my enemy for the day.
As I was engaged in my daily, morning battle, David said to me, “When you are ready, go to the kitchen and say good bye to the rose. It is time for it to get a decent burial.” I was sad to hear this, yet at the same time I was so happy that we had the rose for the last three days for us to enjoy. Just at the beginning of this our first official heat wave of the season, David had rescued this lovely lady from a hot and cruel New York City sidewalk. She was large, red, fully opened, a true lady of her realm, displaying all the glory of her delicate, soft petals.
I went into the kitchen to enjoy her for the last time. I put my fingers on her petals and immediately felt their thinness and weakness, their edges sharply rolled back, all signs of the passing of her prime and the approaching of her death. I picked her up and once again ran my fingers around the soft curves of all those lovely petals that give a rose her unique shape. How does God do it? I have seen and touched so many poor imitations made by man. I must remember to make a note of asking Him to show me how He does it when I get to glory, before His presence.
Once again I brushed my lips along the rolled edges of her petals, and I brushed my tongue on her to both taste and feel her. I was taking as much time as I could, I wanted to prolong this last contact with the gorgeous lady as much as possible. Then the time came for the final stage of the contact, the final good bye. I started to ever so slightly squeeze my lovely rose. I put a little more pressure on my fingers as I kept touching her. Today, however, I felt something different, something strange, something I had never quite felt before as I performed this ritual with my flowers. I found myself feeling a hunger of some kind, a secret passion I could not define, a stronger than usual desire for satisfaction in the experience. I found myself really wanting to press upon my fingers and lips every last roll, fold and curve of my lovely lady, so I could preserve her memory for as long as I could. For a moment I wondered about these feelings, and they even scared me a little bit. Was I being perhaps too rough with my beautiful flower? No, she was pretty dead in any case, so therefore, there was nothing wrong in my executing my urgency on her. I really do not understand why I felt this way today. I do know that I must have pressed and squeezed today a little more forcefully than ever before, for, at some point, I could feel a wonderful oil on her petals and my fingers, and she gave up her sweet scent as she said farewell to me.
I heard David ask, “Do you want to keep it one more day?” “No,” I replied, “by tomorrow she will be too far gone.” The truth is that I debated wether to keep her one more day or not, but this time I simply did not want to see her in too bad a condition.
Gently, reluctantly, I put her down on the counter for David to do the honors. He always disposes of all flowers in the proper spirit; tenderly, feeling sad that they are dead, yet glad that they had graced our home and that I happily enjoyed them for a few days.
Zoraida Morrison
ON CHRISTIANITY AND ATHEISM
There is nothing like feeling wasted from illness to bring thoughts of God, as well as His presence, very close and very strongly into the life and reality of the believer in Christ. The way I experience my illness varies from day to day, but my LORD is inmutable, unchangeable from eternity past into eternity future. The frailty in my mortal body speaks of weakness, corruption and death, yet as I face these things, day by day it becomes clearer to me that, in Christ and with Christ, none of these things matter in the end. For when everything is said and done, when I am done decaying as I grow older and more ill, when I am done spending my remaining years in blindness, when I finally breathe my last, then comes eternity, first my immediate abode in the presence of the Christ who purchased me with His blood, then, at the appointed time, the resurrection of my body in glory and perfection, and not only of my body, but that of all the saints who ever lived. For we shall live in our resurrection bodies for all eternity, as promised by our great God, who can not lie. So what are a few decades of hardship as compared to such a blessed eternity? In Christ we the saints are given this certainty, we serve our LORD in this certainty, and we die in this certainty. We can not fail.
If atheists declare that there is absolutely no God and no afterlife, then why is it that they are so terrified of death? If they were certain of their claims they would be of all people the calmest, the most at peace with our mortality, since they claim that there is only oblivion after death. So what is there to be afraid of? Despite their claims of the non existence of God or of an afterlife, upon the death of one of their loved ones, atheists will talk about the departed loved one as going to a better place, or to some enlightened plain of existence, or embarking in some kind of journey at the spiritual level. What better place? What enlightened plain of existence? What spiritual journey? Is this not the most contradictory thinking? We believers in Christ base our truth claims on the word of God, the Bible, a clear text faithfully given to us by God Himself. Atheists have no text at all to base their contradictory claims on. And they claim to be scientific and rational while accusing us of the contrary.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, if you know someone to be an atheist, pray for their salvation in earnest, pray the LORD to open their eyes for spiritual understanding of the truths of God. My dear atheist, if you find yourself reading these lines, examine your views with all courage and honesty, and see if, in reality, as the Scriptures teach, you are forcefully suppressing the truths of God, which He has written in every human heart.
Zoraida Morrison
I was stabbed in the heart this morning by the date displayed on my computer’s task bar; February 10 2016. The anniversary of my father’s death. My God, and it has already been ten years. Ten years since the passing away of the one who was, and is, by far, the most significant man in my life. The most powerful and influential man in my universe, the man who still influences me today, and will do so until the day I die. My father, given to me by Almighty God, as I was given to my father, all this by the sovereign rule and decree of the King of kings and Lord of lords. My father, with whom and through whom I lived a most fearsome, rough, intense, passionate and fiery life, a life that is not over yet, still lived fiercely under the quiet surface of my weak appearance. Oh, how the sovereign LORD was with both my father and me as we went to war, as I defied him and he wielded his authority like a terrible sword to attempt to subdue me. Oh, how the LORD God decreed this painful path for both my father and me, to taste rage and hate, to reach the bottom of the pit of alcohol and loose what was loved the most, to live in agony from a thoroughly poisoned soul that more than once thought about extinguishing itself. Oh, how the hand of the most high God flung me far from my father, into exile, into a foreign land, tearing my soul to pieces, given to it a true country years later through Christ alone by my citizenship which is now eternally in heaven. Oh, how the merciful Father of heaven brought my father out of the pit and to the foot of the cross, cleansing, redeeming, forgiving and granting life eternal. Oh, how the merciful God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ brought me to the same place years later, adopting me into the celestial family as He adopted my father before me. Oh, how the Spirit of God worked so powerfully in me to vanquish those twin demons of rage and hate that had nested in my heart against my father for so many years. How the Spirit of God compelled me, with irresistible force, to seek that which I had longed for above everything else all my life, the love of my father, a love that, I understood later, was always there, yet tragically marred by illness and alcoholism. Oh, how the LORD of hosts laid the path for reencounter after years of separation. Out came the thoughts of the heart, what was hidden, unexpressed for years. Out came expression, confession, asking and granting of forgiveness, healing and restoring the father to his daughter and the daughter to her father in such a manner of power and transcendence as something that feeble words are unable to describe. Oh God, how You granted my father and me what we most desired, as my father’s last five years of life were lived in love, tenderness, communion, as he was my protector and advisor, andI, in my adult age, was, in truth, his little girl, seeking his strength and wisdom, sheltering under the shadow of his earthly wings, as we both came to the shadow of the wings of the Almighty in adoration and thanksgiving for His awesome gifts to us, the father-daughter relationship as intended by the LORD here on Earth, and life eternal which was given to both of us by means of the dark valleys we both had to pass through. For I understand that I had to be the earthly vehicle for my father’s redemption, he had to be taken to the bottom of the pit through me, and I had to taste rage and hatred through him, all for the glory and exaltation of the Almighty who took us through this terrible crucible, to make us come out as pure and fine gold that will never perish, for we are now His possession. Oh, God, how I bow in adoration and gratitude to You for the salvation of my father, as well as my own. How are Your paths altogether perfect, no matter how painful the journey is. I thank You so much for the perfect father You gave me, according to Your perfect will and purposes. Now it is ten years since he is gone, but not really gone, as he lives in my memories and waits for me in our celestial home. I do not know if he was ever able to understand all things concerning himself and me when he was on this Earth, but I know that he fully understands now. I thank You so much, my awesome God, for granting me the inestimable gift of some understanding of these things concerning our lives and Your purposes. You are altogether perfect, my LORD, and You are altogether good.
I love You, God, and I love you, daddy.
Zoraida Morrison
New York City, February 10, 2016
Good afternoon, dear brethren and readers,
I just took a shower and washed my hair, and I am thoroughly exhausted as I write these words.
Some of you may recall that I suffer from CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, that illness that robs people of their lives as they knew them, this being the illness that renders people alone and isolated, shut in their own homes and unable to do the simple daily tasks that healthy people take so much for granted.
Those of us who live with CFS bear the burden of social shame and dirty secrets that very few have the courage to disclose to the public at large. On this day, by the grace and mercy of the living God whom I worship and in whom I trust, I now join the small courageous group of CFS sufferers who have disclosed our dirty secrets.
Having extremely low levels of energy means that we can not shower every day like everyone else. The average frequency in which a CFS sufferer takes a shower is from one to one and a half weeks. There are things we do to keep a basic level of hygiene but, as you all know, nothing can really substitute for a proper shower. Because of this, we bear a sense of a very painful self-consciousness that makes us feel extremely awkward if we ever find ourselves in the company of others days after having cleansed ourselves in the shower. I here will venture to theorize that, even if someone with CFS were able to step out for a short while to get a little bit of fresh air, the person would not do so because of that awful feeling of awkwardness and self-consciousness. I theorize this because this is what happens to me.
For us women with CFS things are even worse because of the social impositions on our physical appearance. Women are supposed to shave their legs and underarms. It is known for a fact that going through these rituals is quite a chore for most women who do not have any health problems, so you can imagine how it is for women who live with CFS. Not being able to shave one’s legs and underarms frequently enough places an even greater burden and greater sense of social disapproval.
People with CFS live in dirty houses and apartments, unless they can afford to pay someone to come in and clean, provided, of course, that they are willing to make themselves vulnerable to opening their door to a stranger who might be put off by body odor or greasy hair. As a result, many people with CFS, especially those who were clean and tidy before getting sick, are ashamed to open their door to visitors.
Anyone who maintains a friendship with a person living with CFS is very, very exceptional indeed. Such a friend is not bothered by the CFS sufferer’s infrequency in showering. Such a friend is willing to always meet with the CFS sufferer in their home and stay only for as long or as short a time as the person with CFS can take. Such a friend is not bothered by a dirty house. Such friends are very, very few and far between.
There is a lot that can be written concerning a lover or spouse of someone with CFS, but I will not write about that here. Let the reader think about this aspect of life for the person with CFS based on what I wrote already.
As I pour my heart out writing these things, disclosing these things that burden me and shame me, you may be asking yourselves, “What does any of this have to do with God? Why is this being posted on a Christian blog?” Glad you asked. Let me first share with all of you a little of what the Scriptures have to say about this. As you read, I want to ask you to imagine that the Bible passage below was written about me because, in fact, it was:
1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God––and righteousness and sanctification and redemption––
31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”
The time has come for me to begin disclosing some things that I have not really been able to share. The time has begun for me to share of myself more with those who know me best. In writing to all of you today about the painful, shameful and dirty things of
CFS, I am not performing a mere social service on behalf of my fellow sufferers, important as this may be. In writing to you about all these things, I show you who and what I am, and who God is. As it is written in the passage above, God chose the weak, base and despised things of this world to show His power and His glory. I am one of those weak, base and despised things the Scriptures speak about. People think they can see God in someone who is prosperous, healthy and in good social standing. People think they can show God in good health, and money, and professional success. Of course it is very easy to see God in those circumstances. The shallow logic is that, if somebody is doing well, God is good. No, but the power of God is expressed precisely in the most illogical ways, in ways that human reasoning can not explain because human reasoning can not understand.
I do not have any eyesight. I do not have health. I do not shower every day so my body experiences the consequences of this. My house is dirty. I depend on my husband to take care of me. And God chose me for Himself. He took me, one of the weak, the despised, the forgotten, and separated me to Himself so that I may bear the testimony of Jesus and the power of salvation. In taking me for Himself, God in turn gave Himself to me, giving me His Holy Spirit to live in me, to enable me to understand the transcendent and supernatural things of His majesty and His glory. I am one who has been made a bond servant of the Christ who died for my sins and rose for my justification before a holy and righteous God. So what if I can not shower every day? So what if I am blind? So what if I can not do the simplest daily tasks as they should be done? True, my pain and self-consciousness of these things is very real and can not be denied. And here is the might of the power of God, which rises way above my own human experience of illness and disability, the power of God that is shown in the fact that He saved me and has set me on the road to eternal life. It is the power of God what enables me to see Him for who and what He is, so I may possess true joy in Him, worship and adore Him, despite my own circumstances. So what if my house is dirty? Frankly, this does not really bother me, the more time I have to give to those I care about, to my beloved brethren for whom I am zealous, whom I want to see staying on the straight and narrow path. I do not do a lot of things in any given day, but what little I do is for the service of my King and Lord. I want people to see Him, I want people to read and hear the gospel of salvation of Christ, I want to keep my brethren safe, I want to encourage and teach. I want people to see the LORD as I can see Him, in all His power and His majesty, in His justice and His mercy. And He is best seen where there is weakness, obscurity, poverty, disability and simplicity of mind. So I endeavor each and every day, behind my closed doors, by means of this technology that God is using mightily for His purposes, to show Him forth, in my own weakness, in my own brokenness, in my own illness, for my LORD lives and is merciful, for He is faithful and He transcends all corruption of the body, all human logic and limited understanding. His power is far greater than the weakness of those of us who believe, As He brings to salvation, through our imperfect bodies, our imperfect lives, those whom He chose from before the foundation of the world.
The power of God be manifested today for someone who has been chosen to be saved.
In His service, for His glory,
Zoraida
Hello everyone,
The marking of the birth of our Christ was done a couple of days ago. In a few more days, many will be celebrating the end of the old year and the coming of the new, and the holiday season will end. For those of us who are of Spanish heritage, however, the sacred celebrations are not over yet. In Spain, Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean, we continue to meditate on, and rejoice in, the birth of the Savior who delivers us from sin and reconciles us to God for all eternity. We are now waiting for January 6, when we celebrate the event recorded in the biblical passage below:
Matthew 2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 `But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
January 6 is the day when we will be celebrating the day when the wise men from the East, guided by the star of God, found the child Jesus and worshipped Him. January 6 is known as the day of Epiffany, or manifestation. Personally, I find this name for the day quite appropriate, since the biblical account indicates how the wise men, who were members of the nobility of the country they came from, were given God’s revelation of the birth of the Savior and were guided to Him.
Unfortunately, January 6 is more commonly, but inaccurately, known as Three Kings Day. As you can read from the account above, the Scriptures do not tell us how many men went to Jerusalem seeking the Lord Jesus, and the Scriptures certainly do not describe these people as kings, but as wise men. It is always important for the believer to read the Scriptures carefully and to discern its full meaning. The great importance of the arrival of these wise men from the East in Jerusalem seeking the Christ child is that it is through these nobles that the announcement of the birth of the Savior is given to the nations or Gentiles, just as it was through the lowly shepherds that the announcement of the birth of the Christ was given to Israel.
To anyone of Spanish heritage to whom it was given the tradition of celebrating the day of Epiffany, I extend my best wishes that the celebration is a joyful and meaningful one. If this is the first time you read about this observance, I invite you to make it your own. Make the above biblical passage your own to commemorate this great event. Meditate on how the wise men from the East were given the sign and guidance of the star, that, in obedience to God they diligently followed that star to seek Jesus the child, that when they found Him their joy was unbounded and they worshipped so reverently. Meditate on how all this was done so that people from all accross the world, regardless of nationality or culture, would be given grace and forgiveness by the Father through that Christ whom the wise men worshipped long ago.
May you all have a wonderful day of Epiffany.
Celebrating Christ for the Gentiles,
Zoraida
2Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Hello dear LORD,
Last weekend, at the Princeton Conference on Reformed Theology, You brought me to the reality of these words of Scripture, so that now I can truly say with the apostle Paul, “when I am weak, then I am strong.” For this is what I lived in my own flesh, for two days, As You, oh LORD Almighty, took me to the maximum point of endurance, showing me that I could achieve this only by Your grace, sustained in Christ.
I was always very proud of my health, strength and physique. In Your infinite wisdom, oh God, You decreed that this was not good for me, that this was not the way for me to become a vessel of honor, so You decreed blindness for me. This was not enough, for my pride in my body was not affected. Not only this, for this pride also took me down the awful path of lust and actions I am not proud of and for which, at a later time, You forgave me.
And so, because blindness was not enough to humble me and set me apart for Your honor and Your glory, You then sent CFS to my body. CFS, the destroyer of my pride, the robber of my energy, bringer of perpetual illness and physical pain. Oh yes, LORD, my life did change completely, as now I am housebound for the most part, able to be Your full-time servant, living on the Internet, loving my brethren, encouraging them along our pilgrimage because it is my greatest desire to see them all run the race, keep the faith, finish the course. In the weakness of CFS and the strength of Christ, I hold my brethren, I push them when needed, I take them by the hand, all through the power of Your word and the words I write to them, or say to them, as the Holy Spirit guides. No one knows what this demands of me except You, for very few know how CFS robs even the mind of its energy.
If it is a challenge for me to minister from home via phone and the Internet, What happened last weekend was nothing short of a true miracle. I have often wished that I could go to a Christian conference, but CFS would always say no. Then, this year, my beloved David told me that he wanted to go to Princeton. Without a moment’s hesitation, I said yes, for who am I to put a stumbling block in my brother’s path? The Lord Jesus grabbed hold of David recently, and I will do anything to further his journey to our celestial home.
So I accompanied David last weekend to Princeton, to receive teaching on the providence of God. I went with him in this body of CFS weakness, wondering if I would be able to make it. Everything that had to be done took so much out of me. Walking, going up and down stairs, along narrow train platforms, sitting in the train for a couple of hours each way, sitting at restaurants for our meals. At the church where the conference was held, sitting for hours on a hard pew, focusing on every word with all my might. Oh LORD, You alone know what happened to me. The great joy of finding myself in a house of worship after so many years of not going to one, drinking every word of Scripture, feeding on the conference messages, being enveloped in prayer, whispering the hymns while accompanied by the classic organ, for whispering was all I had the strength to do. On the other hand, the torture of my body, the pain, feeling exhaustion to the point of collapse, something I thought would happen at times. Feeling famished after only three hours upon consuming a large meal, for few also know that, with CFS, the brain consumes an outrageous amount of energy, like the sun, thus weakening the body to the extreme. LORD God, and in all of this is the miracle, that You kept me, the power of Your Spirit who lives in me burned in me, sustaining me, reflecting You in the miracle. It was with a start that I realized at some point during the weekend that I had not collapsed to the point of haveing to lie down, that I did not get an excruciating migraine, that the pain was kept at a level that did not require pills. Lord Jesus, the messages on Your providence were great, the worship times were wonderful, but the best thing You taught me that weekend was that, if You want me to do something that will stretch my body and my mind to the breaking point, I will be able to accomplish the task, because You will enable my body and mind to do so. You, oh LORD, will take me to the breaking point, but You will not allow me to go past it. What a certainty. Now I know what it is to be more powerful than any Olympic athlete, as what is written is now part of my reality and experience:
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Oh yes, my awesome Christ, how you strengthened me last weekend. You did in my body what would simplay have been impossible for me to do on my own. Now I truly understand what You did, and do, for John Calvin, Amy Carmichael, Charles Spurgeon, Joni Eareckson Tada, and I am sure, many more. Broken bodies made mighty for Your service. Broken vessels for Your Spirit to shine forth powerfully.
I did my service last weekend with all joy and in love, for my David and for You, oh Lord Jesus. I will do it again and again, a million times, if You command me to, Almighty LORD. You gave David much blessing through me, and I received even more in You. I can never thank You enough, my LORD and my God.
Zoraida
One of the most common maladies found in the communion of the saints is the lack of skill on how to pray effectively. Often enough, we hear or read the testimony of someone who says that, when they pray, it feels as if the prayers do not get past the ceiling. To address this problem, a plethora of books have been written on how to pray, some good, some bad.
Of course, we have our Grand Teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ, who taught His disciples how to pray at their request, (see Matthew 6 and Luke 11.) The Lord’s Prayer, as it is known, unfortunately is taken by some to mean that they are supposed to recite it by rote in three seconds flat and be done with it
Many seem to think that the model provided by our Lord Jesus when He taught His disciples to pray is the only way to go, in the sense of what to say. I think that many believers feel restricted at prayer time because they do not know what is supposed to happen during prayer.
Prayer is nothing less than the direct, two way communication between the LORD Almighty and the saint. Prayer is dynamic, rich, flexible and even surprising at times. Prayer is the means by which we grab hold of the blessed Holy Spirit in order to bring us right before the presence of the heavenly throne. We can see God through prayer. We can feel His comforting hand in times of trouble and affliction. Prayer is communication with our LORD, it is the highway we travel to come to Him.
We are human beings and, as humans, we bring a lot of baggage into our prayers sometimes. Here I want to use a Psalm of David as an illustration of how much can go into a single prayer session. Yes, some of you may be surprised to read that the book of Psalms is, among other things, a book of prayers.
I want you to pay close attention to the following Psalm. David starts with praise, and intersperses it throughout. He makes confession, or affirmation, of the promises of God to do justice, to uphold the righteous and punish the wicked. He speaks to our LORD about his enemies. He asks the LORD for mercy. We see in this Psalm the different things that are wrapped in David’s mind, both his troubles and his confidence in the Most High. The lesson to be learned is this: When we pray, we are by no means confined to a formula, subject matter or emotion. We can come to our LORD in prayer no matter what may be in our hearts and minds and, what is even better, we can express both the joyful and the painful during the same prayer time.
I leave you now with Psalm 9. May you be blessed by the reading of the word of the LORD, and may you lay a hold of the freedom that prayer brings.
Zoraida
Psalms 9:1 To the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David. I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back, They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
4 For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.
5 You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 O enemy, destructions are finished forever! And you have destroyed cities; Even their memory has perished.
7 But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment.
8 He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble.
10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.
12 When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble.
13 Have mercy on me, O LORD! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
16 The LORD is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O LORD, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah
The following is a true account. Only the names have been changed.
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Yesterday was my birthday. I did not leave the house, I did not go anywhere, nor did I do anything special, but I received most preciousgifts, some of these unexpected.
My friend Rachel called me in the morning and sang the Spanish equivalent of Happy Birthday into my answering machine. I was not able to pick up the phone at the moment. I was a little surprised that Rachel had called me so early in the morning, which was 8:00 AM California time, where she lives. I figured she had called me before heading out to work.
A couple of hours later, I called my brother for our daily chat, me sitting here in my living room, him driving his Big Mac tractor trailer while talking to me using the truck’s hands free wifi cellular hook up system. We had a conversation about birthdays, getting old, getting achy, laughing about it. We went back home, to Puerto Rico, to our parents now departed, the problems we went through because of our dad’s alcoholism, and here we entered into the providence of God. I reminded my brother how nothing ever happens by chance, that absolutely everything that happens to us, both the good and the bad, happens for a reason and a purpose decreed by the LORD. That it is difficult for us to understand this is another matter. So, as brother drove and we talked thanks to the marvels of technology, we laughed, we reminisced, we reflected, we thanked the LORD, and God was right there with us all the time. Then, brother asked me if he could call back, for he had arrived at his stop to make the delivery. I said sure, but we did not talk again this day.
Shortly after I hung up from talking with brother, the phone rang. Supposing it was him, I picked up and was happily surprised to hear my friend Karen’s voice. She had been going through some stuff for the last couple of weeks, and I was anxious to hear from her to see how she was doing. She sounded good and she told me that things were going pretty well. I was very happy and relieved, and mentioned to her that it was my birthday. She was really happy and gave me birthday wishes. We talked about getting old, but not really, since we ladies have a way of preventing this from happening, and out came much laughter. Then came the heart to heart talk, as we women can talk to one another, and here we shared the encouragement of our LORD, His faithful promises of taking us through the rough times and situations, all the way to the ultimate promise, life in eternity with Him. We wondered once more which will come first, our death or the return of the Christ, but we concluded that, in the end, it really does not matter because, either way, we win. We talked about our husbands, our families, then she had to say good bye. I was left pleased and happy.
About three hours later, the phone rang again. As I approached the phone, I heard this voice on the answering machine singing the Spanish equivalent of Happy Birthday and I asked myself, “Is that who I think it is? No, it can not be!” I picked up the phone but did not say anything, because I did not want to interrupt her singing. She finished singing, and we both started to laugh. “Girl!,” I started to say, but she anticipated me: “Yeah, it has been too long since we last spoke, I know.” Yes, I could not even remember when was the last time that I spoke with my childhood friend Camila. The only thing I remember is that I still had my XP computer and we used Skype to talk. So off we went over the phone, racing with our words, wanting to cram so much into what I was certain was limited time. We talked about getting old, the aches and pains, and not giving in to them. We talked about the ills of society, she from the humanist perspective, me from the Christian perspective. We talked about our families, she gave me some sad news, then she told me that she was sharing with someone something about me in our childhood, something she and I did. I said to her, “Girl, do you still talk about those things with people?” More laughter. In all truth, I had forgotten all about what she brought up from our childhood reminiscing. Then the time came to say good bye. I knew she had to go, I had to go too, but oh, I so much wanted to hold on to her. So we said good bye and I hung up the phone. I was so happy, elated, sad. But most of all, Camila’s phone call left me terribly, terribly nostalgic. Nostalgia covered me like a heavy garment. Outside, as if they were aware of this, and as if wanting to comfort me, the seagulls flew by, loudly sqwawking away so I could hear them. Oh yes, my dear reader, some day I will tell you about the seagulls.
Camila’s call brought so much to me. Her sudden and totally unexpected presence after a long absence. Our reaffirmation of our love for each other, despite the distance and lack of contact. Her so unexpected mention of that naughty thing we did as little girls, growing up together as sisters. The talk about her father, now so old and frail, whom I know so well. My childhood, the little girl I once was, my health, my strength, my sight, some of my childhood friends with whom I had such a rich life and with whom I barely am in contact now. I miss it all, so yes, I am nostalgic. And then there is the future, the tomorrow, the day only the LORD knows everything about. Now how does that go? Here it is:
Philippians 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
It is true that I miss the things I mentioned above. It is also true that I can see, really see, what is written in the Scriptures above.
I have always been a fiercely intense human spirit. My preception of the past is strong, sweet, sad and happy, and I am deeply thankful to the LORD for the life I have lived, both the good and the bad. My future in Christ is certain, clear, pure, brightt and inexpressible. My past and my future, both transcendent, both glorious, both sovereignly presided by God Almighty. And in the middle of past and future, there is today. Each today, I live for Him, to do battle, to serve, to minister, to encourage, to pray, to proclaim. Ah, what a life.
As I was having dinner, my cousin Miriam called and left a message. Later that evening, I called Rachel and Miriam. Rachel’s call was brief, for she had things to do, so we joked and laughed about old age, reminisced and got updated. I hung up and called Miriam. She gave me worrisome news about my cousin. We joked and laughed about getting old, I asked her questions about our family tree, we went way back into our childhood and shared many memories.
Sitting on the bed before going to sleep, I could not come up with much of a prayer to my awesome LORD. What could I say? How do you give thanks for perfection? Mere words could not express the intensity and force of the experiences of the day. The people who called after years of separation, the laughter, the optimism, the sadness, the nostalgia, remembering those who have died and things about our childhood and our country. What a treasure trove. And throughout all this, the presence of the LORD who promised me that He would never leave me nor forsake me, the LORD who laughs with me and cries with me, the LORD who created my past and leads me into my future.
My prayer was very brief last night because of lack of adequate words. Afterward, I took out my talking Bible to allow the eloquence and profoundness of the LORD‘s own words to speak to me, and to Himself on my behalf, in lieu of my own words of prayer.
Zoraida
Our holy God, His holy people
Yesterday, as I listened to R. C. Sproul’s study on the book of Judges, it occurred to me to
think that what we know as modern Christianity actually presents God as common or unclean.
In the Old Testament, we see how the LORD makes a heavy emphasis on making Israel, His
chosen nation, into a holy nation.
The word “holy,” as well as the word “saint,” means to separate, to be made different, to be
made a distinct group. When we say that God is holy, we mean that God is separate from His
creation by His attributes, by His perfection. In relation to us, the LORD is different, He
is other. When we speak of holy people or a holy nation, as Israel was in Old Testament
times, we mean that God Himself separates for Himself a particular group of people in order
that they may serve Him and live differently from everyone else, thus reflecting His own
holiness. This is what we see in the records of the Old Testament. We see the LORD
choosing the nation of Israel out of all the nations of the world, not because the people of
Israel were better or superior than anyone else, but because it pleased the LORD to do so.
We see the LORD giving His people Israel the dietary laws that illustrated the separation
between themselves and the other nations. We also see the LORD giving very detailed
ceremonial and sacrificial laws, the former to prescribe a very specific form of worship,
the latter to stress the sinful condition of the people and to point to the future perfect
atonement in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Once the Lord Jesus fulfilled His work of salvation and justification for His people the
saints, the old ceremonial and sacrificial laws were made of no effect, and are no longer
necessary. The New Testament saints, from the apostles to those of us who are believers
today, are called by the LORD to be holy by abiding in the presence of Christ daily and by
living lives that are pleasing to the LORD and reflecting of His glory. We are called to be
saints or holy to the LORD, because we are called to separate ourselves from the world. This
does not mean that we are to go off and live cloistered somewhere away from everybody in
some remote area of the planet. What this means is that, as we live in Christ, we are to
grow in the faith and in the knowledge of the Scriptures, so that we may come to understand
the world and think about the issues of the world from a godly perspective, which is
contrary to the world’s. Furthermore, as people who are to be separated in this way, we are
also called to approach and worship our God in a very distinctive way. Regretably, this is
where we see the biggest failure in so-called modern Christianity.
Modern churches work under the premise that, in order to attract people, especially the
young, they have to look and sound just like the world. This is a dismal failure, for
statistics show that, after spending years listening to rock music and eating pizza in
church, young people simply stop going once they start college or move away from their
parents’ home and, what is really tragic, they have no foundation in the Christian faith. A
few months ago, I listened to a series of clips from a survey done at a college where a
student, describing herself as an agnostic feminist, said that she had gone to churches that
looked and sounded just like night clubs, adding the question: “If that is what churches
are like, why should I bother to go to them? Shouldn’t churches be different?” Oh, what an
indictment those comments are! Churches like the one described by the college student not
only do away with the commandment to be separated from the world, thus avoiding being
unclean, but they actually present the LORD Himself, the Father as well as His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, as unclean. In churches where the emphasis is on entertainment, rock music
and motivational speeches, there is no awe of God, no reverence for God, no exaltation or
adoration of God. God becomes a casual thing, common or unclean.
In Old Testament times, the distinction between the clean and the unclean was the
distinction between the holy and the unholy, between what God accepted and what He refused.
These distinctions are commanded to this day, and are the means through which the LORD
manifests Himself and brings people to Himself. Anyone who walks into a church should leave
the world outside and enter into the very presence of God. After all, this is why churches
are called sanctuaries. The hymns of the faith, which were created for the exclusive
purpose of praising and glorifying God, should be the only music heard. Rock, jazz or rap
will never bring the minds and hearts of people to thoughts of God. Sermons should be
expositions of the word of God, not motivational speeches that anyone can hear at any
college or secular organization. There should be much prayer, much praise, during a church
service. These are all the things believers must have for their spiritual lives, and
unbelievers desperately need for finding hope, direction and all those answers that the
world can not give because it does not have. Unbelievers must see a holy God in His holy
people, distinct, separate but engaged, presenting an awesome God and proclaiming the gospel of Christ. The God of salvation is anything but common or unclean. How perfectly do the seraphim proclaim it when they worship at the throne of the LORD and say:
Isaiah 6:3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The
whole earth is full of His glory!”
May He be axalted forever and ever, Amen.
Zoraida
A couple of days ago, I read on my Facebook timeline a status from someone who was asking the perennial why concerning the evils of the world. My dear reader, if you are not a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to invite you at this moment to sit with me and consider what I am about to say. I ask you to do your pondering with an honest heart and an open mind.
The issues I mention here are by no means new to our modern world. These issues have been with us since people started multiplying shortly after the creation and started forming families and societies. The root of all the evils that have beset us from the beginning is the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the garden, when they took of the fruit that the LORD explicitly forbade them to eat of. In the Scriptures, we read about the first crime, fraticide, when Cain murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy, (read Genesis chapter 4.)
Since the beginning of human history, people have been asking why do bad things happne to good people, why is there poverty and injustice in the world, why are there wars, oppression, terrorism, etc. Humans have desperately been seeking answers to all these questions and, to this day, have been thoroughly unsuccessful in finding the answers. This is why humanity lives in such unhappiness, bitterness and dissatisfaction. This is why, decade by decade, century by century, millennium by millennium, things change yet stay the same, stuck in the cruel grind of all the issues that we read about in the papers and see on TV news.
My dear readers, the thing is that life for you does not have to be so. There are answers to the perennial questions, and there is a solution to the lack of spiritual life in the human soul. Having said this, I will also state up front that these answers, and this one and complete solution, are hard to believe and to accept for many. I will say this very bluntly: I can not open anyone’s spiritual eyes to the truth of God, for this is the work of God only. What I am is His messenger, and it is His message what I bring to you now.
God exists, and the Bible is His true and only word to us. All other religious books come from the inventions of man. Consider the following: the Bible, Old and New Testaments, were authored by God and penned by about 40 men over the course of about a little over two thousand years, yet as you read through the Bible, you can discern an undeniable continuity of its main theme or message, and human history. How can 40 men, most of whom lived centuries apart and never knew each other, come up with such a perfectly integrated work? How come that, a little over two thousand years after the Lord Jesus fulfilled His work on this Earth and the Bible was completed, it is still the best selling book in the U. S. and many other countries? Why do people buy the Bible, why do they want the Bible? What are they looking for? What are you looking for?
God exists, there is only one God, we are separated from Him because of our own rebellion and disobedience, and this is the answer to the whys of the evils of the world. There are many angry people in this world, enraged, who either say there is no God or who blame God for the wickedness we are all living in. Dear readers, we, the human race, are the ones responsible for the wickedness in the world, not God. We are the ones who disobeyed a direct command of the LORD in the garden, and we all suffer the consequences for it. War, disease, injustice, slavery, oppression, crime, you name it, we own it.
Here is the good news. The one God who exists and who created the universes provided the solution to the problem of our sin and wickedness. This solution is called Jesus, the Christ. Here is the deal: the Sovereign God decreed that some members of the human race be reconciled with Him, separated no more. But God, being pure, holy and sinless, requires that any human who is reconciled to Him also be pure, holy and sinless. Stop here, dear reader, and ask yourself this question: Do you know of anyone like that? Remember, be completely honest with yourself, and with God, for He knows everything. Now consider this next question: Is there anything you, as a human being, can do to become pure, holy and sinless, therefore, acceptable to God and fit for reconciliation with Him? The answer is no, there is absolutely nothing you can do to be acceptable to God. Here is where things get really sad in terms of the thinking of the world: There is no question that every human being desires to have a communion with God; even avowed atheists, in their heart of hearts, desire this. Every human being desires to obtain a spiritual life that is now absent because of sin. For this reason the human race has invented all these religions, philosophies, cults, and all of that. Ask yourself this question: Do all of these religions, philosophies and things fill your empty spirit? No, they do not.
Jesus the Christ does. He is God the Son, pure, holy, sinless, and was sent to this Earth to satisfy the requirements that we can not possibly obtain with our own efforts. Jesus made His chosen human beings acceptable before God, so we can be reconciled with Him. My dear readers, I am sure that many of you have read or heard the statement: “Jesus, the only way.” Consider that this statement does not come from a group of religious nuts who think that they are better than everyone else and that they are right and everyone else is wrong. Keep in mind that statements like this, and the entire gospel of truth which is found only in the person and work of Jesus, are not things that people like me say or come up with. This gospel of truth that is found in the Lord Jesus, this statement that He is the only way to salvation, hope, freedom from the worst kind of oppression, that is, spiritual, and eternal life, is a statement that comes from God Himself. What we Christians say was not invented by us, it is the word of God, which we are commanded to proclaim to everyone in the spirit of love and concern.
My dear reader, if you are seeking to fill your spiritual void, if you are tired of the running around sampling different religions and movements that have not made any difference in your life, consider the Savior Jesus, the Christ of God. Christianity is not about rituals and ceremonies, rules and regulations. Christianity is not a life philosophy of materialism designed to bring you temporary things like health, wealth and happiness that depends on circumstances, while completely ignoring what truly matters, the eternity of your spirit. Christianity is Jesus, it is as simple as that. When Jesus brings you to Himself, you are given the supernatural and divine means to handle this chaotic world with a strong spirit, a clear mind, purpose and hope. You go through this Earth serving the LORD, fighting the good fight, then comes eternal life in heaven. Does that sound good to you? Is that what you have been looking for? Inner peace and spiritual stability now and an eternity in the most gorgeous, wonderful and fantastic existence you could possibly conceive.
Do you hear the invitation of Christ? If so, find a quiet place and simply say, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner, enter into my heart and transform my life. Send me your Holy Spirit to guide me and lead me in Your ways.” This is how the journey starts. Start praying each day, and keep it simple, just tell God what is in your heart. Start reading your Bible, and do not worry if at first you do not understand much of it. The work of the LORD in your soul and in your life takes time, you can not hurry it, so be patient. Be constant and faithful, that is all. For spiritual growth, take a look at the following on line ministries which faithfully and correctly teach the word of God:
http://truthforlife.org
http://ligonier.org
http://whitehorseinn.org
http://gty.org
http://ptv.org
For those of you who have decided at this moment to start your true spiritual journey following the Lord Jesus Christ, may the Spirit of God guide you and keep you to the end. To those of you who found this post offensive or ridiculous, I leave you in the hands of the LORD Almighty who knows all things. Perhaps you are destined for salvation, but this may not be the appointed time. The work of salvation is the work of the LORD, and all of those who will be His will come to Him, for He has decreed it. Blessed be the name of the LORD Jesus Christ now and forevermore, for His is the power and the glory, Amen.
Zoraida
Hello everyone,
What follows is a letter I wrote in 2012, which I am reposting here. May this short letter help you to meditate on this most solemn day of both the life and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the day we now call in English Good Friday, in Spanish, Holy Friday. May God pour His blessings and salvation according to His sovereign will and purposes.
Zoraida
The work of Christ on the cross
April 4, 2012 -
What follows is part of a letter I wrote to a new Christian, born of the spirit a few months ago. I figured I would post it here for readers to share and meditate on this very important week for us true believers. May this excerpt be of blessing to whoever has not been reconciled to our LORD yet.
The light of our LORD God and the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ be with you, dear Margaret.
Your last letter to me made me so happy. I am honored to have been witness to your birth in Christ. I am so pleased to see that you understand that you are a sinner, deserving only of eternal death and hell, and that you and me are undeserving of the mercy and grace extended to us by the Father through His blessed Son. I say this because, as you will see in time, there are lots of people who claim to be Christian but do not believe in these things, people who refuese to see that they are sinners and must have the cleansing of the blood of Christ, but live in their own self-righteousness, just like the people of the world.
I am writing to you in the middle of holy week, your first of many. This is the week for us to contemplate the awesomeness of what Jesus did for us on the cross, and what that most powerful work cost both Him and the Father. As you meditate during this week, my sister Margaret, remember that the Lord Jesus went willingly to the cross instead of you and me. His Father became His judge as He bore all of our sins, and pronounced the just and righteous sentence of punishment and death because of all of those sins. As the blessed Lord Jesus hung on that cross, having become a curse, the Father had to avert His eyes, for the Father can not behold sin. Jesus became, in fact, separated from the Father, He was actually left alone. This is why He said the words: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” This event of cosmic proportions had to be reflected by our natural world, and so the heavens were darkened for three hours.
And after the agony of our Lord Jesus Christ bearing all of our sins, being separated from and abandoned by the Father, dying and experiencing the punishment of hell, comes the wonderful triumph of His bodily resurrection, His victory over Satan, death and hell, so that we, the saved, His saints, may now be reconciled to the Father and have access to the heavenly throne room at any time, the guidance and comfort of that beautiful and blessed Holy Spirit, and, when our journey on this Earth is over, life in the eternal kingdom, which our Lord Jesus went to prepare for us. Aleluya!
Blessed be the One who comes in the name of the LORD!
HIS PERFECT GRACE
My most treasured LORD,
Yesterday, I woke up in much pain. Through this pain I elevated my prayers to You, my LORD,
thinking about and praying for, among other things, those who are sick or disabled and who
also have to live with pain. It was so very difficult to get out of bed, but You, as You do
every single day, helped me out of bed and to my feet. I went to the bathroom and there I
thought about how difficult it was going to be for me to make my own breakfast, and how long
it was going to take, only because my spouse was still at work and was not here to help me.
Oh, the pain was so strong, and I was feeling so lonesome that I started to cry. But what
about those beloved saints who do not have anyone in their lives to help them? What about
those who have to struggle every single day with illness, a disability or particularly
difficult sins and have no earthly help? Who was I crying for, them, me, or both? Oh my
LORD, forever loving and merciful toward Your children, give us all grace andstrength to
deal with these hard trials of life.
I went to the living room and, as I turned on the computer, I thought about how we humans
are in fact eternal beings, destined to live eternally either in heaven or in hell. I
thought about the fact that, no matter how difficult life may be, how rough may suffering
be, wether physical, mental or emotional, those of us who trust Christ have all the hope,
purpose and assurance. We know that You, oh LORD, are true, that Your promises are true.
We have the knowledge of You in the Scriptures, we know what Your purposes are, we know
where we are headed, and we know the reason for our sufferings. What blessings, what joy!
Illness, pain, disability, suffering, all are left behind by Your transcendent truths and
beautiful, unseen realities. On the other hand, humanists, atheists and all those who
reject and hate You only have the notion that this life is all there is, that we are born,
we live, we die and then we go into non-existence. It occurred to me to think that, very
likely, all those people who so angrily lash out against what they perceive as injustice and
who try to change the world by their own efforts, in their heart of hearts may think at some
point that everything they do is just an exercise in futility. After all, why spend so much
energy and effort on what happens in this life if, at the endit means nothing because we die
and go into oblivion? Why should those who oppose You, mighty LORD, care about what happens
to other people, nations and the world if we all just die and leave everything behind? It seems to me that, if this life was all there was, then the thing to do would be to seek only one’s own comfort and pleasures, not thinking about anyone else. LORD, Your
opponents may be better served by living as it is written, “Let us eat, drink and be mery,
for tomorrow we die.” Oh my lovely Father, the condition of those who reject You and Your
Son Jesus is so, so sad.
I took one of my computer keyboards and sat on my chair to bring up the Christian radio
station that I regularly listen to on weekday mornings. The station came up, and I caught
the tail end of Handel’s Messiah, that beautiful composition affirming the power and majesty
of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then, a man’s voice came on and read the following
passage:
Revelation 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and
be their God.
4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor
sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me,
“Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
I would love to think that You, wonderful LORD, moved the station’s program director to air
this very specific passage of Scripture only and exclusively for me, but then I would fall
into the sin of arrogance. Of course I know that the station ministers to the tens of
thousands who listen to it. But then again, the passage that came to my ears could not have
been any more perfect for the precise moment I heard it. There I was dealing with my
morning struggle, and there You were telling me that Jesus the Lamb will make sure that I
reach eternal life, that He is all I need, and that, at the appointed time, He will take
away not only my own, but all of my brothers’ and sisters’ tears and pain and illnesses and
disabilities and sorrows, and we will not know the decay of death. Talk about Your perfect
work, oh LORD! Talk about You giving me this specific morning the specific Bible passage
that I needed at this specific moment in my life!
Needless to say, after hearing these blessed words from the Bible, more tears came to my
eyes, only this time they were the tears of thanksgiving and grattitude. Oh LORD, how Your
words of truth can turn sorrow to joy in an instant! How Your sweet and tender hand can
lessen my pain, both physical and emotional! Almighty God, I was downcast and You lifted me
up. Oh awesome God, and You do this for me even as I am not as faithful as I ought to be.
How undeserved is Your love and faithfulness, gracious LORD. Awesome God, may my daily
confession of sins be acceptable to You through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who loved
me and gave Himself for me, Amen.
Once my spirit was revived by You, oh LORD, by Your perfect word, which came through that
marvellous tool that is the Internet, and after giving my thanks and confessions to You with my
prayer and my tears, I went to the kitchen to make my breakfast, assured in the fact that I
would be able to prepare it myself, that it would take whatever time it would take, and that
this was, and is, every morning when I am alone, all right. Your mercies, oh LORD, are
limitless, Your grace perfect and infinite. Grant that all my brothers and sisters in all
the Earth come to a full comprehension of this deep knowledge, so that all of them may also
possess all things in You, for the obtaining of comfort and strength minute by minute, day by
day, until the time when our celestial eternity starts.
Your forever dependent child,
Zoraida
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
Hello my beloved brethren and readers in general,
I am not dying, but I am scik as a dog. I have spent most of the last two days in bed, feeling miserable. Yesterday, at the request of my beloved spouse, I turned on the computer to stream for him some Christian podcasts he wanted to hear. One of these podcasts was on the subject of death, and how should it be understood by believers. This particular podcast, as well as my own rather severe pain and illness, provoked me to meditate on this very sensitive, very important but very little talked about issue in Christian circles.
The pastor in the podcast mentioned above stated that, at times, he is at a loss as to what to say to someone who is dying, and in much pain and agony. I have heard other pastors say the same thing. Truly, I mean, when a pastor goes to visit someone who is in great pain, in the process of dying, what can he say? I know that, at a time like this, every faithful pastor wants at all costs to avoid the trap of the muttering of cliches like, “It will be over soon,” or, “In the end, it is God’s will.” What I am going to do here is to spell out what I would want a pastor or fellow believer to say to me, or rather, to point out to me and remind me of, if I were in my deathbed, going through agonizing pain and utter discomfort.
First, I would want the person comforting me to acknowledge what I am going through. If I say that what I am going through is just too difficult, all my visitor has to do is to agree with me, because what I am saying is true for me. And I hope that, if I say or ask something for which my visiting pastor or fellow believer has no answer, that they are honest with me and say so. I think that this would be a good moment for my visitor to direct my attention to what our LORD Himself has to say to me at this final point of my life on Earth.
I want the person at my bedside to remind me that my Christ, being sinless, God incarnate, had to suffer the worst physical agony we can imagine. I want to be reminded that my physical, and perhaps also my mental agony as I die is NOT God’s fault. I want to be reminded that the reason why I am dying in such a horrible way is because of that rebellion and sin of Adam, this rebellion and sin of all of us, out of which God, in His infinite mercy, chose to save me.
I want to be reminded that the process of dying is my last great test of faith and endurance. Remember what Job said:
Job 23:10 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
Coming forth as gold means one is put through the fire. There is no fiercer fire than that of the process of dying.
My dear reader, before I go on, I want to point out the good news that, when it comes to comforting and encouraging a believer who is dying, the person doing the comforting does not really have to say much. Personally, I would want the pastor or fellow believer to open the Bible, for our LORD Himself has said a whole lot on this issue in His Word. As we slip from this life into the next, what we need, what I need, is to be reminded of all the wonderful truths of our loving God, His faithfulness, His goodness and His provision.
Please remind me that the process of dying may be horrible, but I am not alone:
Psalms 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
I think at this point I am going to let our LORD speak directly about life, death and where we, His saints, are going. These are all things which I would want to hear on my deathbed:
James 4:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 receiving the end of your faith––the salvation of your souls.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Hebrews 9:15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Romans 14:7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
My dear brethren and readers, to the above verses I must add the mention of that glorious passage on the hope of the resurrection of the body, 1 Corinthians 15.
There is so much to be pointed to as a saint dies. That our lives on this Earth are but for a moment, as compared to eternity. That the process of dying may be agonizing, but the end result is to be ushered into the very presence of Christ, to be with Him forever in glory. That the end of this life is the last great hurdle, test and affliction under imperfection, then comes eternal life which is incorruptible, without sin, without suffering.
Let us not loose sight of yet another awesome truth:
Psalms 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.
To those of you who are pastors, and to those of you who may find yourselves in a situation where you are called to sit by the bedside of a dying believer in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I say that all the things I have written here, all the things the LORD has said and I included here, are the things I would want to be reminded of if I were the dying person. What a blessing it would be for every dying saint to have at their side someone who would help them keep their eyes and minds on Jesus as they transition from temporary to eternal life.
And now, brothers and sisters in Christ, may our gracious LORD help us always keep all these great truths in our minds and in our hearts. For those of you who are reading these words but are not believers, may the Lord Jesus Christ touch your spirits to make you alive, and to make you see His truths and His glory, so you may follow and worship Him now and forevermore, Amen.
In His service,
Zoraida
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
My dear brethren,
When you read the epistles of the apostle Paul, our inheritance today kept in the books of the New Testament, do you read and feel his zeal, passion and earnestness? The apostle Paul was consumed by Christ, and he was also consumed by a desire that his fellow believers became as he was. Note the expressions of his desire in the verses above. Note the use of phrases and words like, “attain,” “press on,” lay hold of,” “apprehend.” The blessed Holy Spirit, through paul, gives a fierce, passionate exhortation to each child of God to attain Him, to wrap himself or herself in Him, to eat, drink and breathe Him morning, noon and night.
The passion to be consumed by our LORD is an inheritance we find today. I have it, it belongs to me and it is impossible for this inheritance to be taken away from me. However, I do not want this divine inheritance, the pursuit of the full attaining of Christ Himself, to be all mine and mine alone. For me to keep this most sublime passion and desire to myself would be most offensive to our gracious LORD and most harmful for you. This is the reason why I am writing to you today.
Go back to the verses that open this letter and search them, read between and behind the lines. Feel the apostle’s consuming desire to convey to his brethren what it is to pursue, to seek, to chase Christ down and lay a hold of Him. See the apostle as he runs and stretches his body forward, see how he outstretches his arms, opens his hands and spreads his fingers in order to grab a hold of the sweetest, the most divine, the most perfect and satisfying thing for which, ultimately, there can be no mere human expression in any language.
My dear brethren, the Bible is absolutely true, what the apostle writes is absolutely true, and I can testify to it, for I am a possessor of this same hunger, passion and desire the apostle writes so much about. Know this, my dear readers, that the pursuit of Christ Jesus makes you transcend, makes you live in His light, makes you feel His power and His presence, makes your entire existence fall right into place, gives you all the answers, gives you the true hope, assurance and purpose.
Oh, that each and every one of my brothers and sisters in the entire world would have the life with the Father, His Christ and the beautiful Holy Spirit that I have. This, I now reveal, is my spirit’s greatest and strongest desire. I tell this to my LORD every single day, morning and evening. I do not care if it is the same petition day in and day out, I can not help but bring this greatest desire before the throne of glory all the time. It is my great burden, and I know my LORD is not wearied, for this burden comes from the Holy Spirit Himself.
My dear brethren, this is an urgent communication to all of you, wherever you are. You must all follow paul’s example in running and stretching to attain Christ, to lay a firm hold of Him. As someone to whom this awesome privilege has been given, I guarantee you that this is a most sublime existence. Pray every day. Pray, pray, pray. Do it morning, noon and night. Start by thanking our glorious LORD for His Son Jesus Christ, who is our mediator and intercessor before the throne of grace. Praise our LORD with a true heart. Praise will take you to places and levels you never imagined. Tell everything to the LORD, the good, the bad and the ugly, just leave it all at His feet and ask Him for guidance and the grace to follow His will. Trust Him, let yourself fall into His arms for His provision and protection.
Do not just read your Bible. Dive into it, go behind the lines, eat it and chew on it until you get to the fullness of the words, the glory of God itself. The Bible has so much, so much to say and convey, you will never exhaust its riches.
Wrestle your God as Jacob did. Grab a hold of Him and ask Him for your blessings, and never let Him go. Ever. Dare to be like the importune widow who kept coming back to that unjust judge for redress. Do not be shy, do not just knock on the LORD‘s door, bang on it, and if the Spirit leads you as He leads me at times, kick the door as well. Insist on being in His presence to worship, to praise, to petition, to intercede. Oh, insist, my beloved brethren, and you will get to see His throne and see His smile upon you.
The Lord Jesus said:
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Luke 11:9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Mind you, this walk you can have with our LORD today, on this Earth, is but a glimpse, a shadow, of the life that awaits us in eternity.
Oh, my dear brethren, please, please understand that the awesome LORD of the universe, Creator of heaven and Earth, is not some ho-hum God, or some little Jesus who is a nice man who taught people how to be nice to one another. So many Christians today have so little of the infinite God. So few lay hold of Him as Jacob did, insist on being in His presence as the importune widow did, or pursue Him as Paul did. Life with Jesus is anything but bland and sedate. it is fierce, it is fiery, it is passionate, it is intimate and very intense. The pursuit of Christ and the things of God is urgent. My beloved brethren, seek the fire of the Holy Spirit today.
Earnestly and urgently,
Zoraida
Hello my loving Father,
What a day. Much pain, just like yesterday. Feeling extremely exhausted, cold and ill for
a few days last week. Oh, how it is to wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against
principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual
hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies as we live out our lives in your will and according to
your purpose in a broken body. There are many brothers and sisters out there with broken
bodies, spiritual warriors who go to war every day in bodies afflicted by disease, pain and
disability. I am one of them, oh my LORD and Father, I do not deserve this honor and
priviledge. I do not deserve to have been chosen by You for salvation and to become a
servant and a warrior in a broken body, for Your power to be seen by people who seek
answers, by those who mock and hate You and by those evil angels who would like nothing
better than to see Your saints reject You and blaspheme You on account of physical,
emotional or mental maladies.
My body betrays me and refuses to function in a healthy way. A beloved brother tells me
about his body, about how it embarrasses and humiliates him, and I understand him completely.
My body embarrasses me, too, oh my God, but my mouth will not speak any evil of You. How
could I possibly do such a thing, as within my heart lives the blessed Holy Spirit, a most
powerful and beautiful light? How could I possibly be angry at You, sweet Father, when You
give me the indescribable priviledge of seeing You smile at me sometimes while I am in
prayer? Oh my LORD Almighty, how the false prosperity gospel offends me. Prosperity gospel
says that those who believe in it will be cured of their illnesses, will not be afflicted,
will always be strong and in good shape, economic and otherwise. Oh yeah? Well, my good and
gentle LORD, anyone can praise You if what they have is everything they want and none of what they do not. Let me see those
followers and preachers of this health and wealth heresy fall in the mud of true spiritual
warfare. Let me see them get battered and bruised on the battlefield. Let me see how will
they wield the weapons of the spirit, if they will wield them. Let me see the Holy Spirit
glorifying Himself in them. Let men see, let the angels see, let the demons see.
Hypocrites.
I propose the establishment of the Society of Broken Vessels, a brotherhood in Christ that You, gracious LORD and Father, has seen fit to crush and crack in special ways. In this Society of Broken Vessels, we can get together as we go on our pilgrimage to our celestial home. We can take each other by the hand, we can push our brothers’ or sisters’ wheelchairs for them. I can take a brother or sister by the arm so that I may be lead safely. We can listen to one another, understand one another, love one another, dry one another’s tears. May I start by inducting some of Your most faithful servants, oh God. Job, who showed that You are absolutely sovereign and owe no one any explanations. Jacob, who ended up lame for life after fighting for his blessing from You, and never regretted it. Elijah and Jeremiah, the one facing fear and depression, the other the anguish of seeing the destruction of his nation, both of whom nevertheless clung to You and trusted You, oh God of Israel. Paul, that fiercely passionate, jealous servant of Christ who so faithfully served while suffering physical pain and limitations. In all these men, my LORD, You were glorified as the world saw You through their physical and emotional weaknesses. As it is written, “For when I am weak, then am I strong.”
Oh LORD Almighty, may those of us who serve and love You today glorify You as our ancestor saints did. As we deal with physical pain, may we open our mouths to sing Your praises and bless Your name. As our bodies embarrass and humiliate us, may we tenaciously cling to You and say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust in my LORD.” As our minds betray us and we get angry or depressed, may we run to our fortress, our stronghold and salvation as we immerse ourselves in Your precious word of truth. May the supernatural power that is Yours be reflected in us and through us, as a witness to all men and angels and demons. Let everyone on Earth, in heaven and under the Earth know that the LORD our God is one, indestructible, immutable, transcendent and eternal. Oh LORD of hosts, Creator of heaven and Earth, how you give those of us with broken bodies the most priviledged task of showing Your glory and proclaiming Your message, smashing all human logic and reasoning. Blessed be the name of the LORD, for His mercy endures forever, Amen.
Triumphant in Christ,
Zoraida
Hello dear LORD,
It has been a long time since I last wrote. I still feel bad about it, but, on the other hand, I understand that You keep leading me down other paths, doing other things, ministering in different ways. I shall do, oh LORD, according to Your will, not according to my own selfish preferences.
Thank you so much, loving God, for giving me access to Your word the Bible. Thank You for this supernatural book of transcendent truths and knowledge, which only those of us who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit can see and discern.
As much of You that is revealed in Scripture, there is so much more that is visible only to the eyes of Your chosen ones, the children in whom You dwell, the ones You have turned from dead spirits into eternally living creations. There is so much the world does not see in us because their are blind. To the eyes of the world, we are actually comtemptible because we submit to a God that can not be seen, heard, smelled or touched. The world mocks us because we proclaim a relationship with You by means of someone the world thinks of as a good teacher, an ethical man, a champion of social justice, but certainly not as God incarnate, the Ancient of days, the Holy one of Israel, King of kings and Lord of lords. The world laughs at us because we believe that You are with us and in us here and now, and all the world sees in us are humans who look just like them, sound like them, get sick and have disabilities like them, so they ask with sarcasm: “If you say that God lives in you, how come you are disabled? How come you are ill?
Indeed, gracious LORD, Your ways are so subtle and so powerful. There is much power in the Bible, evidenced by the fact that the wicked react so violently when we declare what You, oh God, have said is sin and an abomination to You. There is power in the proclamation of the message of the cross that we take with us and share, because You use our message to touch the hearts of the hearers or readers You choose for Yourself. And yes, there is power in Your promises, in all the things that are unseen, because they are as real as this solid planet we live in. You are real, the Holy Spirit is real, eternal life in heaven is very real. Oh LORD, grant to each and every one of my brothers and sisters in all the Earth the same intensity and clarity that You have given me in seeing You, in perceiving You, in touching You. LORD Almighty, grant each and every one of my brothers and sisters the same fierce possession of You that You have given me.
At this moment, my awesome God, I want to share with my brethren the words that You gave us concerning the things not seen, the things invisible except to spiritual eyes. Grant that my brethren, in the following passages, may see You and our eternal home, the eternal things, as clearly as I do, as solidly as I do. Grant that these Your beautiful words be of encouragement to my brethren, so that they may gain strength in our journey to our celestial home, lest their vision becomes cloudy and they loose sight of the things eternal, the things not seen, the things so precious and so real to us and to You, hidden from the dead eyes of the world, revealed to those whom You have chosen from the foundation of the world.
The following passages are taken from the Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible. In this translation, the phrase, “age during,” means eternal:
2Corinthians 4:16 wherefore, we faint not, but if also our outward man doth decay, yet the inward is renewed day by day;
17 for the momentary light matter of our tribulation, more and more exceedingly an age-during weight of glory doth work out for us—
18 we not looking to the things seen, but to the things not seen; for the things seen are temporary, but the things not seen are age-during.
2Corinthians 5:1 For we have known that if our earthly house of the tabernacle may be thrown down, a building from God we have, an house not made with hands—age-during—in the heavens,
2 for also in this we groan, with our dwelling that is from heaven earnestly desiring to clothe ourselves,
3 if so be that, having clothed ourselves, we shall not be found naked,
4 for we also who are in the tabernacle do groan, being burdened, seeing we wish not to unclothe ourselves, but to clothe ourselves, that the mortal may be swallowed up of the life.
5 And He who did work us to this self-same thing is God, who also did give to us the earnest of the Spirit;
6 having courage, then, at all times, and knowing that being at home in the body, we are away from home from the Lord,—
7 for through faith we walk, not through sight—
8 we have courage, and are well pleased rather to be away from the home of the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
9 Wherefore also we are ambitious, whether at home or away from home, to be well pleasing to him,
Do you see in these passages, brothers and sisters, how our tribulations are brief? Do you see how, as compared to our lifespan here on this Earth, eternity is a very long, long time? Do you see how, once being given the Holy Spirit of God, as time goes by and we continue to walk in Christ, we become more and more like Him? Oh, sweet LORD, I can see a divine light inside us believers growing brighter and brighter as our sanctification continues, as we grow, as You shape us into what You will ultimately transform us into on the last day. What glorious knowledge. What awesome truths. Grant that my brothers and sisters continue to remember the cross, the death and resurrection of the Christ our Savior and Lord, the first fruits of the eternal sons and daughters of God.
In adoration,
Zoraida
Every time I hear or read a professing Christian say that doctrine is not important, or worse, that doctrine is bad because it causes division and controversy, I cringe and feel sad at the same time. Lately I am wondering wether such a professing Christian even knows what he or she is saying.
Let me start by posting here the definition of doctrine, found in a couple of sources:
From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Definition of DOCTRINE
1
archaic : teaching, instruction
2
a : something that is taught
b : a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief : dogma
c : a principle of law established through past decisions
d : a statement of fundamental government policy especially in international relations
e : a military principle or set of strategies
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Doctrine from wikipedia
Doctrine (from Latin: doctrina) is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. The Greek analogue is the etymology of catechism.1
Often doctrine specifically connotes a corpus of religious dogma as it is promulgated by a church, but not necessarily: doctrine is also used to refer to a principle of law, in the common law traditions, established through a history of past decisions, such as the doctrine of self-defense, or the principle of fair use, or the more narrowly applicable first-sale doctrine. In some organizations, doctrine is simply defined as “that which is taught”, in other words the basis for institutional teaching of its personnel internal ways of doing business.
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As we can see, the word doctrine means teaching, as in a principle or fact, or principle, as in a belief or fact which instructs us in some sphere of living.
We know that the Bible is the word of God. This means that our LORD Himself is the author of each word written, using believing and faithful men, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to write the words down. As it is written:
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (NKJV)
Young’s Literal Translation, (YLT), renders the verse this way:
2 Timothy 3:16 every Writing is God-breathed, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for setting aright, for instruction that is in righteousness,
This verse tells us why reading and studying the Bible is important. Notice how the first reason listed is doctrine, rendered as teaching in the YLT. The Scriptures themselves tell us that doctrine is indeed important and necessary for growing in the faith.
What else does the Bible have to say to us about doctrine? Here are some verses:
Proverbs 4:1 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding;
2 For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law.
From the book of Jeremiah, speaking of idols as, “a worthless doctrine”:
Jeremiah 10:6 Inasmuch as there is none like You, O LORD (You are great, and Your name is great in might),
7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For this is Your rightful due. For among all the wise men of the nations, And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.
8 But they are altogether dull–hearted and foolish; A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.
9 Silver is beaten into plates; It is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of the craftsman And of the hands of the metalsmith; Blue and purple are their clothing; They are all the work of skillful men.
10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.
From the book of Matthew, speaking about false doctrines:
Matthew 16:12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
From the book of Mark, the people are astonished at the Lord Jesus’ teaching or doctrine, as well as His command over the unclean spirit, both of which demonstrated His authority:
Mark 1:21 Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.
22 And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Mark 1:27 Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”
The Lord Jesus is questioned concerning His teaching:
John 18:19 The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.
Doctrine as a component of the Christian life:
Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
The proclamation of the crucifiction, death and resurrection of Jesus as, “new doctrine”:
Acts 17:19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?
Understanding the correct doctrines of Scripture is vital for our spiritual life and growth. The doctrines of the Bible also teach us how to live and behave under the perfect will of God, so that, in doing so, we may give testimony of His truth.
How can anyone say that doctrines are unimportant or unnecessary? Please, dear reader, beware of this lie of the devil, for Satan likes nothing better than to have lots of professing Christian churches where the people are utterly ignorant of what the Bible says and what it means. The devil wants people to listen to messages from false teachers and preachers who stand at the pulpit to talk about how to have more money, be more atractive, be more successful at work, and who illustrate their humanistic philosophies with personal anecdotes.
Other churches are so entangled with social works and social or political justice that Christ is not even in the picture. In these churches, you do not hear the message of repentance from sin, the only way of salvation which is through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the condemnation that will follow if this message is not heeded.
So how can you tell if a pastor or preacher is a true servant of God or not? A preacher who, “rightly divides the word of truth”, always puts God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ at the very center of every message. The focus will be on how the perfect will and sovereign purposes of God, taught in the Scriptures, lead the human being down the path of life. A deceiver, in contrast, will talk about how can the human being get things out of God; the human being is at the center of the message, and God is at the periphery.
A true teacher will base his message on what the Bible says and will give a correct interpretation. This message will be peppered with Scripture; everything the teacher says will be backed by what is written in the Bible. On the other hand, a false preacher will hardly if at all read from the Bible, and will in fact be giving his own opinions or pop psychology. Nothing this person says will be backed by Scripture. From time to time, though, the false teacher will take a verse or two in order to twist it and pervert it.
And how can Christians, especially new babes in the faith, guard against these, “ravening wolves?” How else but by the careful study of biblical doctrines. This is not an option. Every Christian is commanded to know the Scriptures in order to proclaim the gospel correctly, be a testimony to the Lord Jesus and avoid falling victim of Satan’s deceptions. It is the responsibility of every Christian to know as much as possible about what the Bible says and does not say, and to have a correct understanding of the written word.
Our Lord Jesus taught an important principle concerning doctrine:
John 7:14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.
15 And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”
16 Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.
17 “If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
18 “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.
In these verses, the Lord Jesus taught the difference between someone who teaches in a desire to follow the will of God and someone who wants to glorify himself. The apostle Paul warns us about the latter:
Romans 16:17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.
18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.
The doctrines of Scripture are not to be compromised or watered down. This is another unfortunate tendency of many churches today, in order to gainmembers and be liked by everybody. This is what the apostle Paul wrote to the young pastor Timothy about this issue:
1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia––remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
Notice that the reason given for making sure that no other doctrine is taught is not to make life miserable to the Christians, but out of love and concern for them. After all, Christianity is all about the eternal destiny of the soul, another vital point which has been grossly neglected in favor of earthly and material worries. We can say with certainty that, without the doctrines written in the Bible, there simply would not be any Christianity.
Here is more exhortation from Paul to Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.
15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.
16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.
1 Timothy 6:1 Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.
2 And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.
3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness,
4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions,
5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.
The apostle John gives us an explicit warning:
2 John 1:9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.
As you can see, the Bible has plenty to say about doctrine. The entire Bible is the revelation of God, and all of it is doctrine. The Bible contains many kinds of teachings, and all of these teachings are the doctrines of Scripture, which we are all commanded to know and learn. As Christians, we can not shy from the hard doctrines such as judgement, hell, sin and the wrath of God. We can not be selective on what we believe or proclaim to others, for to do this is to transgress the will of our God.
Zoraida
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