To Rob or to Tithe: Commandment or Suggestion?

If you’re like me and the majority of the professed Christians, you struggled or still do, with a commandment called Tithe and Offering, Tithe is a commandment, not a suggestion. Unfortunately, people misunderstand it. Of course, we all have our reasons to not tithe, mine were: I saw God’s money being misused, I didn’t see it as a commandment (I thought was part of the Old Testament Law) and I thought God didn’t need my money anyways (of course His workers had to eat). God is very clear in Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, “In what way have we robbed You?” In tithes and offerings. We see that God don’t expect us to just return the Tithe, Tithe means the tenth part, but to offer above the Tithe. Whatever is above 10% is an offering. If we don’t give them back to God, we are stealing from Him. We can see references about tithe, both in the Old and New Testaments, like in Genesis 14:18-20 when Abraham gave tithe to Melchizedek. In the New Testament, we see Jesus speaking about it in Matthew 23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay TITHE of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Jesus is confirming that we ought to tithe, He didn’t revoke the Tithe Commandment, He fulfilled it. I have a story about tithing (you're probably thinking: "here we go again"), yeah, you're right, here we go again. After God saved me, I started tithing and never had a problem doing it, I started seeing tithe as a commandment. But, one day at my brother’s house, in Georgia, a Lady, her name is Margie, she was praying for me and my wife and told me something really strange: “God is telling you to never stop tithing”. Honestly, I thought: “What is she talking about? She doesn't know me. I’ll never do that”. Well, years latter, I came to a point (low one) that I decided to stop tithing, I had been faithful, I had been totally committed to obeying God, but I wasn’t “seeing” any result. My financial situation was mostly “not good”, but at this time, it was “really bad”. Then, the Holy Spirit reminded me about Margie’s prayer, how God told me that I shouldn’t stop tithing, then He opened my eyes to see that He always provided for us, we lived from trial to trial, but God was always faithful, He provided everything we needed (not everything we wanted). Today, there are many different teachings about tithe and offering, a lot o people say we don’t TITHE anymore, now is just OFFER. I disagree with that, TITHE is GOD’S MONEY and OFFER is OUR MONEY GIVEN TO GOD. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:7 that we have to be Cheerful Givers, we should give out of love, not necessity. I encourage you to do what God tells us to do in malachi 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse (local church), that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. How many times we read in the Bible God calling us to TRY HIM? I don't remember reading anywhere but in Malachi 3. Our problem is that we have wrong expectations about tithe, we see tithe as a "get rich fast" scheme, where we throw our money in God's hands and couple days latter we receive one hundred times more; we also misunderstand blessing, we relate blessing with money, God's blessing can include money, but is not money in itself. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Money can either bring good or evil. I'm not saying God won't give us everything we need and sometimes a lot more to help others, but we must learn to Give to God out of love and obedience. I know how hard it is to Tithe when we have little, but, Jesus is clear that if we are faithful in a very little, He will give us much (Luke 19:17).

Holy Sale or Wholesale: The Church and the Marketplace.

How much did your salvation cost you? Do you really believe you received it for free, as a Gift from God? What is a Gift anyways? According to the Webster Dictionary, Gift is: “Something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation”. Did you ever hear a preacher on the radio or tv saying something like this: “If you send your gift of (10, 50, 100 bucks), we will send you a (cd, tape, book, etc.) as a “gift” from our ministry?” If you never heard that, you never listened to a radio preacher or a tv evangelist. Now think: You’re having a birthday party, you invite your friends and relatives, then, in the middle of the party, you call their attention and say: “Ok folks, give me some bucks to help me pay for the party’s cost”. Or, your friend gives you a beautiful gift, then, he (she) asks you: “Hey you, give me 50 bucks to help me pay for the cost of the gift I’m giving to you”. Of course your guests will be offended in the first example and you will be mad in the second. What friend will ever do such thing? Would you consider your friend’s “gift”, a gift? Would you? Of course not! Speaking about the preachers, I know they need money to pay for the costs of the ministry and If the person is being blessed by their preaching or teaching, that person should consider giving, offering, contributing to that ministry. I’m not saying here that I’m against the singer who is sells his music, a writer who sells his book, etc. But I’m trying to find a difference between the sale we have in the church today and the sale they had in the temple when Jesus Christ did the cleaning. Matthew 21:12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. Unfortunately, is extremely difficult to find any difference. I bet in Jesus' time, there were people with good intentions, “trying to help” the ones who came to the temple to offer their sacrifice, some of them probably thought they were doing a favor to the people. After all, wasn’t what God required from his people anyways? To offer those birds and animals as sacrifice for their sins? If so, why Jesus was so irrationally angry (that’s what they thought) to do something like that? (If you have the movie “The Gospel of John”, watch that part a couple times, it’s powerful) Because, just like today, the temple (church) lost its Identity, its Purpose. Matthew 21:13 And He said to them: It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. From a house of prayer and worship, the church became everything but that! Of course, there are a few exceptions, but, we are making the Rule an Exception. With all of this, I’m just trying to stir up your spirit, trying to make you uncomfortable with the way things are in the church right now, to lead you to review some “forgotten” truths, like the one Jesus commanded in Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Why are we selling things that God gave us for free (gifts)? Have you ever thought that Paul, the Apostle could hire a bunch of scribes and start a publishing business, writing the Revelations he was receiving from God and selling it? If he did that, he would probably have written the first “best seller” ever and would make a lot of money. Why he didn’t do it? Because he was faithful to his Teacher and Lord Jesus Christ, who told him to give it for free. So, IS THERE A HOLY SALE? Did Jesus ever sell something? Again, I’m conscious about what the Bible says concerning the worker, like Paul writes in 1 Timothy 5:18 The laborer is worthy of his wages. He also writes in 1 Timothy 5:17 Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. You see the difference between working for God and receiving recompense, and selling what we freely received from God to make profit. We have to go back to the basics, learn with Jesus Christ what pleases and displeases God and commit ourselves to do God’s will.

The Powerful Jesus vs. the Powerless Post-Modern Christianism.

Sometimes, I may sound like a radical thinker, a protestant (he who protests about everything) or even like an unsatisfied, grumpy old man who hates life and is about to die. Well, not really! Let’s say that now I see things from a different perspective, Jesus’ one. I’m learning to think like Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), to act like Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1), to love like Christ (John 13:34), in other words, I’m learning the meaning of Christ Likeness. I know, nowadays, it’s not popular, and if we have that way of living, we won’t “fit the profile”, won’t be a post-modern Christian; we’ll be retrogrades. After all, why should we be different (1 John 4:5-6; John 8:23) if “blending” we will reach more people for Jesus? Why be like Jesus if “conforming” to the world would allow us to gain the world for Jesus? Why? Because (Isaiah 5:20) there’s no communion between light and darkness, life and death, truth and lie. Everyday we’re bombarded with messages from Christians and non-Christians that we have to be positive thinkers spreading a positive message (love like K). Of course, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is Good News for the ones who accept it, no doubt about it, but, on the other hand, is Bad News for the ones who reject it, as Jesus said in John 12:48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For God, there is no middle ground, no partiality, we are either hot or cold (the lukewarm Jesus will vomit from His mouth; Revelation 3:16), we accept or reject, we are dead or alive. Along the way, we lost Jesus’ mindset. It’s not enough to know the Bible (God’s Law), 2 Corinthians 3:6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. We must have the Power of God, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul speaks about it in 1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. Who told us that God is pleased with Words without Power? More and more we are speaking about God, but, less and less we are showing the Power of God. Be honest with yourself: Do you feel good when you pray for others for healing, deliverance, comfort, etc, and you see NO results? Do you feel good when people come to you desperate and the best you con say is: “Jesus loves you and I love you too. Go in peace”. Isn’t it time to wake up and give to the people what they need? The fullness of Jesus Christ! But, can we give much if we have little? How can we offer peace, love, comfort, healing, joy, if we are in desperate need of them? Spiritually speaking, we cannot offer something we don’t have! There’s a good example in Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Peter could not be clearer than that: He only gave what he had. That’s the very reason we are unsuccessful in our prayers. I’m not saying we shouldn’t pray, preach, share, give our testimony, but we got used to the Speak Only Mentality. Today, is all about “go and make disciples”, but we forget that the same Master and Teacher (Jesus Christ) said: John 14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. Why the greater works followed Jesus’ disciples and don’t follow us? Because they believed in Jesus! Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we’ll heal all who are sick, cast down every demon, preach to every person we meet, but, at least some should be healed or delivered. We should see God’s Glory more often. Did you ever hear the song “If we are the Body” from Casting Crowns? It says: “If we are the body, why aren’t His arms reaching? Why aren’t His hands healing? Why aren’t His words teaching”. That’s a hard truth. Unfortunately for us, it all comes down to one thing: FAITH. That’s what we need. It’s amazing how Jesus saw the last days (we’re living the last days). He asks in Luke 18:8 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth? Again, I’m not saying we’re dead in our trespasses, but, assuredly I say to you: We are comfortably sleeping in our assured salvation. We must go back to the beginning, to the book of Acts, that’s the Real Church, not the entertainment centers we have today, of course there are exceptions, but, we’re making the Rule an Exception. Please, understand, I’m not calling you to rebel against the leaders of your church, I’m calling you to wake up, to get on your knees in humility before God, then, stand up in Faith, to lose your life in order to gain the life God has for you. Our churches should be like a hospital, where the sick would come, be healed, and go back to bring other sick to be healed. Unfortunately, nowadays, our churches are more like a mental institution where people come sick and we give them sedatives to control their behavior, but they don’t experience healing. I may sound dramatic, but, unfortunately that’s the reality. Last August, my niece was visiting me, and I took her to a big mega-church, there was a psychologist (or something like that) teaching about something (I don’t remember the theme), after everything, beautiful songs, nice teaching, the senior pastor said something that troubled me a lot; he said that a girl from his church committed suicide. The pastor had a broken hart, he was really sad because of that. At that time I realized how bad things are in our churches, people are coming expecting to find answers and they leave with more questions, they expect to be healed (spiritually, physically and emotionally) and they go back home to commit suicide. You know why? Because Jesus is knocking at the doors of our churches trying to enter, and we don’t allow Him to enter, because he is way too radical to fit in our way of “doing church”, He will turn the tables, spread the money, expel the animals (demons) that are in our churches and say that the church is His Father’s house. I may sound melodramatic, but, that’s the sad reality. How can we change that? It starts with you and I. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Today, there are some preachers (apologetics) talking about a Christian worldview, and they say that, while Christianity is believed by faith, it is most definitely a reasonable and rational faith. If rationalize means to apply logic or reason to something, how rational was Abraham’s faith? Like it says in Hebrews 11:12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude - innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. How logical is that? There’s no logic, there’s no reasoning, we cannot understand, we can only accept or reject what God did to Abraham. True Faith creates Miracles, reasonable and rational faith creates Mediocrity! Why we keep trying to prove to the people that Jesus is real? Because we don’t have the power to reveal (show) Jesus Christ to them. Without the power we can only speak about Him. I hope and pray that you understand what I’m trying to say here, I’m not judging anybody, I’m only trying to show you the disparity between the real church (church of Acts) and today’s church. I remember when I was about 19 years old, in a retreat, it was a time for testimonies, and I felt compelled to speak, I was extremely shy and almost choked, but I said this: It’s time to stop “playing” church. Honestly, I had no clue why I was saying that and what was the meaning of it. Today, by God’s grace I know it.
Conclusion: We must stop playing (doing) church and start being the church! 1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

I Feel Therefore I Am.

The Title may sound strange to you, but I use to live like that, being led by my emotions. If I was happy, everybody loved me, if I was depressed, everybody hated me. My feelings dictated the way I lived and behaved. Unfortunately, that’s the case for many people. Nowadays, a lot of people are dealing with depression; it is a terrible illness that leads many people to commit suicide. In the United States, approximately 3.4% of people with major depression commit suicide, and up to 60% of people who commit suicide have depression or another mood disorder. I thought about suicide myself, twice, as far as I remember, because I could find any reason to be alive, I thought my life was worthless, but, because God loved me so much, He never allowed me to do it. Until I was about 9 years old, I was not afraid of anything, like those crazy little boys that always get in trouble. I was a happy kid enjoying life. But, after we moved near my grandmother I slowly became shy, fearfull, discontent, etc. Then, in my teenage years, I became rebelious, melancholic, bitter, among other things. In my twenties, I became a careless person, living or dying, winning or loosing, loving or hating, it was all the same, even if I looked nice outside, inside was dead. I used to have a motorcycle (I love it), but, as they say: “In a motorcycle, you are the bumper”, I had some accidents (less then ten, as far as I remember), and some because I used to ride really fast. Only one of them I woke up in the hospital, the others I saw everything. I remember in two of them, when I was about to crash; I had the creepiest experience ever. In two or three seconds, I saw my whole life passing before my eyes (like a movie), since I was in the crib, in my mom’s bedroom, through my childhood, my teenage years, up to that hour, then I had a terrifying feeling that I was about to die, the only thing I could say was: “God, please, save me”. Once I manage to control the motorcycle and didn’t crash, but I had to stop the bike in the sidewalk, and stood laying in the grass for about thirty minutes because my strength was gone, I tried to stand up a couple times, but I felt again. The other time I controlled the motorcycle for a while but then I crash, it was bad, but I didn’t die (fisicaly, spiritualy I was already dead). So, even having those experiences, I didn’t give my life to Jesus. Then, one day, my sister got possessed by a demon, so my brother was expelling that demon. In the room, was my mom, my dad, my brother and sister, and I was there, looking, by the door, just in case I had to run (LOL), then my brother asked the demon why he was possessing my sister. The demon said he was in our family for generations, someone along the way made a pact with satan and he was with the family since then. The demon said that when my grandma died, my sister went to see her in the coffin, and then this demon passed from my grandma to my sister (after that my sister had serious problems, like, overdose for example), my sister was laying in the bed, then she sat down, and point to me, than the demon said to me: “I will kill you”. At that moment I got scared, but, after a couple days, I was back to being careless. That was the reason God freed me, broke my chains (I speak about it in the post PERSONAL TESTIMONY: NEW LIFE). I was satan’s property, he did with me whatever he wanted, I was like a puppet in his hands, my emotions were satan’s playground. I’m not saying here that EVERY problem or illness happens because satan is causing it to happen, but A LOT OF THEM ARE. I believe, again, I BELIEVE that DEPRESSION is an illness of the SPIRIT, the doctors and researchers can come up with whatever explanation they want to, create whatever medication they are able to, in order to treat it, but to me, ONLY JESUS CHRIST CAN HEAL OUR SPIRIT, a medication can make you “feel better” for a while, like a drug to a drug addicted person. Why I am so emphatic on this? Why I sound so radical when I say that only Jesus Christ can heal a DEPRESSED SPIRIT? Read what it says in Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones. Have you ever seen a person with major depression? It makes you sad, to say the least. Do you want to see how bad depression is? Remember Elijah, the prophet of “fire” (literally speaking)? Read his story, it’s amazing; he just had a tremendous victory against the prophets of baal, he killed them all. But then, 1 Kings 19 says that jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah that she would kill him the way he killed the prophets of baal. When Elijah saw that, he arose and ran for his life. Verse 4 says: But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!" How come after seen the Power and the Glory of God, Elijah got so discourage and afraid that it led him to a major depression? The bible says in Ephesians 4:27 nor give place to the devil. Elijah was dealing with a powerful demon, and, because he allowed fear to enter in his heart, he had to flee and then he asked God to take his life. Remember John the Baptist? The same thing happened to him, the same spirit (demon) was behind Herodias (they call spirit of Jezebel) and led John to doubt that Jesus was the messiah, even after giving testimony about it, read John 1:32-34 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” I personally dealt with that spirit (demon) and I can tell you that this demon will lead you to give up, to think that God has abandoned you, He no longer loves you. I almost gave up, I almost abandoned my faith. If wasn’t for God’s love and mercy I wasn’t a believer anymore.
Conclusion: I just want to say to you that no matter how obedient or committed to God we are, we still can give place to the devil, allow our emotions lead us, we’re not better than Elijah or John the Baptist, so we have to be careful an vigilant, otherwise we will fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Personal Testimony: Fasting.

First of all, sometimes I talk about the pastor from the first church I was part of here in Illinois, he is a man of God, I deeply admire him, God used him to bless me in many ways, I learned a lot with him, and above all, when I need an example in Meekness, Perseverance and Patience, he is the best example (I'm not worshiping him, but, as the Bible says: "To whom honor, honor". I'm honoring him). That was just an intro. I always thought that FASTING was intrinsically tied to AFFLICTING OUR SOULS, PENANCE, etc. But, I was dead wrong! Well, one day God taught me about FASTING. I was praying one early morning, when the Holy Spirit spoke to me: “I will teach you about Fasting. Start Fasting until I tell you to stop”. Man, was it strange or what? What did I have to learn about Fasting? Wasn’t Fasting just abstaining from food and afflicting my soul in order to have my prayers answered? Apparently not! I got home, after having my devotional time with God and also delivering some papers and open my Bible to meditate a little (I used to do that almost everyday), then I opened it, the passage was Isaiah 58 where God speaks about FASTING. Listen, I’m not saying that you should always open the Bible randomly to read it! Did you ever hear that “Christian” joke? A man used to open his Bible and demand God to speak to him. One day he opens in Matthew 27:5 …and he (Judas) went and hanged himself. Not good, he thought, but he tried again and opens in Colossians 3:13 …so you also must do. Then in desperation he tries again and opens in John 13:27 … What you have to do, do quickly. That was just a joke, relax! Let’s go back to my testimony. Read Isaiah 58 entirely. Than God showed me what Fasting really means, Isaiah 58:6 Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? That day, God changed my understanding about Fasting. Well, I kept Fasting (water only), one day, two days… in the seventh day; it was Thursday night at church in the prayer meeting, I was still trying to figure it out what God was trying to accomplish. The pastor was leading the prayer, than he said: “Brothers and sisters, if you see a dove or a tongue of fire in your neighbor’s head, don’t be scared, it is the Holy Spirit. Well, is it possible to happen again? I believe it is, if God wants to. He can do it again. Well, everything was nice, so far, but then, the Holy Spirit said to me: “Start praying for the lady in front of you”. She was about 10 feet in front of me, she was kneeling down, I was seated, then I stood up and started praying, then the Holy Spirit said to me: “Tell the demon to leave”. That happened four or five times and everytime was like a demon was leaving her, then the lady asked for water, when she got the water, she threw in her head, I prayed again, at this time I realized that she had many demons (cast) in her, suddenly, a man (the same who said publicly that I was in rebellion against the pastor) took her to another room, I was completely clueless about why he did it. After the prayer meeting, I went home, still trying to understand what was going on, but I couldn’t. Next day, in my devotional time (also called job), I was crying before God, asking Him to tell me what happened, then I got home, open my Bible, this time was Matthew 17:21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. That was a marvelous teaching; I never heard it before. Well, few years later, we went to Florida on vacation, then we were going to my brother’s house in Georgia, they had a prayer meeting at his house, I planned to be there by 6:00pm the latest, but, we got a horrible traffic, I was driving slow because I was tired, at the end, we got there about 10:30pm or later, we enter and my sister-in-law grabbed my arm and took me straight to the pastor who preached and was praying for the people, when he saw me, he started saying (this is the actual prophecy): “God is giving you a double Ministry, Preaching and Evangelism, the two mixed, to be a Preacher and Evangelist at the same time. God wants to use you very much to heal people and also you are a very lovely man, God is giving you His own heart. You are also a thinker, a dreamer, a planner, I’m here to tell you that your plans that never worked for you before, because you started to dream something wonderful and started to work and it crunched, but at this time as you put your trust in God, those plans that you’re dreaming of, that are burning in your heart, they will come to pass, the dreams that seemed to be so impossible, they will come to pass, because they were given to you by God, they are come to pass this time, you know why, because now you have decided to concentrate on God, in the past you was fluctuating like a yo-yo, but now God will bless and use you, and another thing, you are a generous man, you are not a stringed man, God is giving you a generous heart, He’s going to give you plenty, so you can bless others. In the future God is going to release you to go to the nations, you’re also going to empower people to go, because you are a very practical man, a hands-on man and God will use you in that area, specially in Healing and the Gift of Faith. Believe what God has spoken will come to pass, because He is God, He is not a man, so He cannot lie. Your hand will bring healing to sick bodies and also to sick business, God will use you as a Consultant, people will come to you seeking for wisdom and asking for direction and knowledge, even business people will come to you, and whatever you say to them in the form of counseling, will be not just an ordinary counseling, but will be prophetic and things will come to pass. The power is coming into you to Heal. The ability to fast, to go for long periods of time so that your body will be clean and your dreams will come to pass”. As you can see, God confirmed that He will give me the ability to fast; it’s not something natural, but a God given ability. I will later speak about the things this pastor said, like, the Gift of Faith and the Gift of Healing.
Conclusion: It is ok to fast about something we expect since it is aligned with the will of God, otherwise it will only be penance or starvation. Fasting should be done to accomplish God's will and dreams for our lives. If you really seek God, He will reveal His will for you and will help you to accomplish what He dreamed for you. There’s nothing better than to be in the center of God’s will for your life. If you seek Him wholeheartedly, you will find Him. Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

How do Pray: Jesus or Jabez?

"Dear Reader, I want to teach you how to pray a daring prayer that God always answers. It is brief-only one sentence with four parts-and tucked away in the Bible, but I believe it contains the key to a life of extraordinary favor with God". That's the preface of "The Prayer of Jabez" by Bruce Wilkinson. This is the actual prayer of Jabez, found in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. Well, the Bible says Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, that was it. So, why did God granted him what he requested? The Bible says in Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Probably that was the reason. But, if there's another reason, it is irrelevant. Why? Because that was between Jabez and God, God and Jabez, the prayer of Jabez is not a GUARANTEE that all our prayers will be answered, even if we have a faith like Abraham. I remember when I got this booklet, I was just starting my walk with God, so I did what Mr. Wilkinson suggests, I started my "thirty days of penance" (penance: A duty or religious devotion imposed by a priest during the sacrament of confession). I really started praying that prayer, convicted that God would grant my requests. After a couple days, God said to me: "Stop that. That's not what I want." Well, why would God say something like that? The answer we find in Jesus' Prayer (the one He thought His disciples), Matthew 6:7-13 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Do you see the difference between Jesus' and Jabez' prayer? JESUS: Your kingdom come; JABEZ: enlarge my territory. There's nothing wrong in asking God to bless us, but, we should pay attention to the words of Jesus Christ: "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done". Jesus sounds very "cheap" considering what the post-modern christianism teaches. Why ask for "our daily bread" if we can ask for "a mansion, a ferrari, a private plane, etc.?" Why enlarge God's kingdom if we can enlarge our territory? Why have God's will done on earth if we can have ours, don't we know what's best for us? Of course not! Again, I'm not saying that we all should make a vow of poverty or should be like Lazarus, the beggar (Luke 16:20), but, whatever God wants us to be, this is what we should dream of. John also wrote about it: 1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Do you really see the difference between John's and Wilkinson's teaching? John teaches if we ask anything according to God's will, He hears us and Wilkinson teaches if we ask anything praying Jabez's prayer, God always hears us. I encourage you to pray according to God's will, if you don't know His will, ask Him and He will reveal it to you.

Prophet or Profit: The Balaam Effect.

Balaam's story is very interesting, like a puzzle, we have to put the pieces together to get the picture (to understand it). Numbers 22 to 24 tells us one very important thing: Balaam was a Prophet of God, he had the Authority to Curse or to Bless and everybody new that. A king named Balak, sent princes, with gifts, to hire Balaam to Curse Israel. Probably Balaam didn't know that Israel was God's people, at least the story is not clear about it. So, Balaam asks God if he should go and God said to him: Numbers 22:12 “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” Well, God couldn't be clearer than that, God told Balaam he shouldn't go and the reason why. Have you ever act like Balaam at least once in your life? Like, you were totally sure you shouldn't do something, because it was wrong, but you did anyways? Of course you did, we all did. Let's go back to Balaam's story. Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more honorable than the previous ones, with better gifts and promises, and Balaam (he already knew God's will) tried again, he probably thought: "What if God changes His mind?" Well, strangely enough, God says to Balaam: Numbers 22:20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.” Did God change His mind or He was only revealing Balaam's heart? Read carefully Numbers 22:22-35 Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. Then the Angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. Then the Angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” And Balaam said to the Angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.” Then the Angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. After reading this, one question come to our mind: Who was the Prophet and who was the donkey? Well, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Probably, that was Balaam's case, he became greedy and that led him to behave worse than his donkey. The donkey had to speak to the prophet, so that the Angel wouldn't kill Balaam. After this, Balaam goes and blesses Israel, he even prophecy about Jesus Christ. Numbers 24:17 A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel. What's intriguing, is that Balaam's story doesn't end in Numbers chapter 24. If we stop here, it sounds like Balaam obeyed God and lived happily ever after. That's not the case, in fact, Jesus Christ explain what happened after Balaam's prophecies. Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Balaam knew how to provoke the wrath of God against His people, and he taught Balak how to do it, all because of money. Of course God's judgment came against Balaam later, we see in Numbers 31:8 Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword. Nowadays, we can see a lot of Modern Balaam's all over, smoothly associating money with blessing, disguising themselves as Prophets, in order to promote their "get rich quickly" scheme, which make themselves rich and their contributors miserable.
Conclusion: Whatever God's will for us, that's what we should seek. Paul speaks about it in Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Personal Testimony: To Be Born of the Spirit.

Well, as I said before, God sometimes tested my faith in unusual ways. One day, God told me that we were leaving the church we were attending. After a couple months, one early morning, God said to me: "Go and tell your pastor that you are leaving, you are going to another church, I will tell you where to go. This will be your last week at this church." I was terrified, because it didn't make any sense, but, I told the pastor what God said to me. Well, he didn't understand, actually, nobody understood. I was acting like a crazy person (again). I had to speak to the worship team to tell them the "good news", it was tough. My last sunday there, I spoke to the church, and it was even harder. The worst part, I had no clue where we were going, our pastor gave me a "list" of the churches around, I prayed a lot during the week and chose one (I thought I did). Next sunday, we went there, a small church in Long Lake, the previous one is in Mundelein. When I entered the sanctuary, God said to me: "This is the place". It was awesome. Next week, we came back, then I told the pastor that we were there to stay, and he said: "When I saw you entering last sunday, God told me that you came here to stay for a little while". I asked him: "Why a little while?". He said He didn't know why, but He was sure about it. Well, we stood there for less than a year. One day, the pastor asked me to find a church where we could have baptism; it was winter, a very cold one. I spoke to my former pastor, he introduced me to another pastor friend of his, and they had a place for baptism. Then this pastor asked me if I could play Bass, I said yes, and then He asked: "Why don't you join our worship team?". Next sunday I was praying and God said to me: "You are leaving this church and you're going to another one." At this time, I was ok, I already knew where we were going (I thought so). Our last sunday at the church was not nice, to say the least. Again, it was like leaving our family behind, but we decided to obey God. On sunday, the day we suppose to go to this new church, I was praying and God said to me: "You're not going there, you are going to this one". At this time I was not just terrified, I was sad, mad, confused, etc. Why? I knew the senior pastor's reputation: A tough man with a strong vision. I begged God to go anywhere else, but, GOD'S NO MEANS NO. Then God's presence in my car (I was delivering newspaper) was tremendous, then I started PREACHING, like I was in front of thousands of people (it happened before just like that), I could even hear my very loud voice. Well, the preaching was about PRAYER. At the end, God said to me: "Go and tell the pastor that I'm sending you there to lead one day of prayer, because I'm calling the church to pray". Well, we went to the church God told me, first sunday, everything new, the worship was beautiful, everything was going well. After that, the pastor started the preaching saying: "I spent a week alone with God, praying, fasting, reading the Bible, and God made very clear that we need to pray, God is calling us to pray". Then he started preaching, it was the very same preaching I was preaching in the morning, amazing, but I still had to tell him why I was there. At the end of his preaching, he said: "If you believe God is calling you to lead one day of prayer, come and talk to me". I waited to see if anyone would go, nobody did, so I went to talk to him, I said what happened in the morning, he was shocked, amazed, so much so, that he asked me to pray for him. Well, it never happened, I never led one day of prayer. NO REASON IS A GOOD REASON FOR DISOBEYING GOD. I had a meeting with the pastor, I told him everything God did WITH and THROUGH me up to that time, but, nothing changed. One day, I was at the service, after the worship time, the pastor was praying, I had my eyes closed, then I felt a presence, a demonic one, a very powerful demon, I opened my eyes and saw a lady and a gentleman sitting down, that lady was "carrying" that demon. After a couple weeks, God told me to go and speak to the pastor about things that were coming to happen at the church. I tried to. One day, after the service, I told the pastor that I needed to talk to him, just a few minutes, He was very cold and said to me: "you have 30 seconds!". Well, the only thing I said was: "God is saying that the enemy is coming, you have to close the door". He coldly answered: "Ok". That was it. After a couple months we left the church (again). One day, I was talking to a friend of mine that used to go there, and she told me what was happening at that church: The senior pastor, the assistant pastor, the elders, had disagreements that led them go different ways. On top of that, the senior pastor was having a hard time, a lot of problems in his family (sickness), and personal problems, besides the church ones. One thing I can say for sure: He is a Man of God! Maybe because I was a strange stranger, speaking nonsense words (humanly speaking), and never fitting the profile (nice person saying nice words). Unfortunately, he didn't believed what I said.
Conclusion: Isaiah 55:8-9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts higher than your thoughts. 1 Corinthians 2:16 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. John 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit”. In these passages we can see that the Holy Spirit will lead us TO DO GOD'S WILL and TO GO WHERE HE WANTS US TO BE. The question we have to answer is: ARE WE BORN OF THE SPIRIT?