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 cruched, 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?

Service or Knowledge: What's your priority?

From the beginning and throughout the Bible we see that Service (sacrifice) without Knowledge is worthless. The first example is Cain and Abel. Abel knew God, he knew God's will, and therefore he offered a perfect lamb, foreshadowing Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Cain, on the other hand, because he didn't know God's will, he worked hard to have something to offer to God, but his effort was worthless. Another example is Saul and David, God even said to Saul: 1 Samuel 15:22. Because Saul didn't Know God, he thought offerings and sacrifices were more important than obedience. David, on the other hand, had an intimate relationship with God to the point that God called him "man after His own heart". This truth is also found in Hosea 6:6. Another example is Martha and Mary. Luke 10:38-42. We can see how KNOWING GOD is priority over SERVING GOD. I'm not saying that we shouldn't serve God and serve Others, but as Jesus said, KNOWING GOD comes first. If we really KNOW God we will SERVE Him and our neighbor, SERVICE will be the RESULT (consequence) of KNOWING GOD. Nobody has ever SERVED God and Others more than Jesus Christ, but He did it because He knew that was God's will for Him. Jesus said in Matthew 7:22-23. This is Jesus' assurance that is possible to SERVE Him without KNOWING Him. Worst of all, those are not only good deeds, like helping the poor, those are Gifts. Think about it: Have you ever Prophesied? Have you ever Healed someone? Have you done Many Wonders in Jesus' Name?
Conclusion: God is calling us to a deeper relationship, to a stronger commitment, to a life of love and service.

Personal Testimony: Rebellion or Disagreement?

Well, when this happened, I was really involved in the church, I was there at least five days a week, playing in the worship team, leading one day of prayer. We were seeing God's move in the prayer time, we're really seeking God. One prayer meeting, there was a newcomer, at least in the prayer meetings; he was coming in the church for a little while. The meeting was going ok, then he asked to speak, he started saying that I was in rebellion against the Pastor, among other things, it was awful. Then, he asked to speak to me privately, I agreed to do that. He said other things and he also said that God was telling me that He would make me a meek person, this last thing God told me before. So, I got so discouraged, confused, sad, that I started questioning everything, even if I was a born-again Christian, I even questioned God's love for me. The man's words almost killed me (spiritually speaking). I was sure I had disagreements with the Pastor, but everything the Pastor told me to do, I did. I didn't make much sense, worst of all; I didn't know the difference between Rebellion and Disagreement. Well, after a couple weeks, one morning I was praying and God spoke to me about that gentleman, then at night, in the prayer meeting, a lady came to speak to me, she was desperate, she was terrified. She said: "God told me to come and speak to you, because you know what's going on". That was it, she didn't say anything else. She was shocked. Then I said: "Did that gentleman laid hands on you to anoint you?" Her answer was: "How do you know that?" I replied: "God told me this morning what's going on". She felt on the chair, then I called the pastor and another leader. The lady told us: "This morning, when my husband was leaving to take our daughter to school, I hugged her and seemed that it was the last time I was seeing her and my husband alive, it was a terrible feeling. When they left, I started praying, crying before God, and asking why I was feeling like that, I stood like that for hours. In the afternoon, when my husband returned with our daughter, he said that morning they almost got involved in a car crash, he said if they crashed, they would die for sure. That's why God called me to pray so fervently that morning." Then I said to the Pastor that God spoke to me that morning about the gentleman. Well, the Pastor allowed this gentleman to lead one group of people, and he was teaching them about gifts and anointing. The Pastor called this gentleman, me and the other leader, and we had a private meeting. There, this man started talking about his life. Before, he was a Pastor in Mexico, but had to come to United States to work, he needed money because his daughter needed a surgery or something like that. Then, he told something really strange, he said that one day an angel appeared to him and told him to write something, the angel told him to write in spanish, portuguese and in an indian dialect that he had no clue what tribe it came from, he had no clue what he was writing. The angel told him to transcribe many times, and as he was doing that, he said he felt power coming into him (creeeeepy). Well, then my Pastor gave me the opportunity to speak, I started saying to the man that he was lying when he said that I was in rebellion against the Pastor, that we had some disagreements, but didn't mean that I was in rebellion. Well, that was a huge lesson. When the Bible says in 1 John 4:1, it literally means that we MUST test the spirits, otherwise they will deceive us. Well, Rebellion means Disobedience, Disagreement means Discordance. We clearly see that difference in Matthew 21:28-31. Of course Jesus prayed to the Father that we'd became ONE as He and the Father are ONE. As Jesus commanded us, we should pursue that UNITY.

Pride vs. Humbleness.

PRIDE: A higher ordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.
If we consider the First Sin ever, it wasn't the Adam's one, but lucifer's. In Isaiah 14:13-14 (read the whole chapter), we see how Pride grew in lucifer's heart. What was lucifer's sin? PRIDE! He thought he was more important or superior then he really was, and it grew to the point that he thought he could BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH. Of course he couldn't. Because of that he was cast down and from lucifer (angel of light) became satan (adversary). Now let's see the human's sin: Genesis 3:5 (read the whole chapter. Well, they thought they were more important or superior then they really were, and ate the fruit. Do you see how crafty satan was? First he put doubt in the woman's mind, then he contradicts God, then he touches the woman's heart: "you will be like God". So, IS PRIDE SIN? OF COURSE IT IS! Nowadays, the world we live in is driven by Pride. Did you ever say something like: "I'm proud of my child or I'm proud of myself". If you did, was it because you thought your child was more important than the others or yourself were superior then the others? It's very subtle, usually we don't even think about what we are saying. I don't mean that we can't be happy with our children's or with our own accomplishments, see what God the Father spoke about Jesus Christ in Matthew 3:17, but if they lead us to think that in some ways we are better than the others, that's a sinful thought. James 4:6.
HUMBLENESS: Not proud or arrogant, modest, meek, unpretentious, inferior, low.
Paul wrote: Philippians 2:5-8. We can see clearly the difference between Jesus Christ and satan: satan exalted himself, Jesus Christ humbled himself, satan thought he could be superior than he was, Jesus Christ being God made himself inferior (lower) than he really was. Did you understand what Paul said? Let this mind (attitude) be in you! How tough is that? Today it's not cool to be humble; we're bombarded with suggestion that we have to be the best, to conquer, to excel, to win. Unfortunately, there are a lot of false teachings that lead us to think that what was true for Jesus Christ is not true for us, by that I mean, Jesus had to be humble but we don't have to be, after all, we are gods. Does it sound strange? Does it really? Don't you think you are god? Well, if it sounds strange to you, check out what Joyce Meyer preaches, well, pray before watching, because she's is very subtle.



In her theory she says: If a cattle have another cattle they call it cattle kind, if a human have another human they call it human kind, If we are created in God's image then we are gods, think about this: Adam was created in God's image. Was Adam god? Wasn't "to be like God" Adam's Sin? Mrs. Meyer even says that she "feels good about this". She uses John 10:34-35. Pay attention to Jesus' emphasis on "to whom the word of God came", what all those who the word of God came had in common? All of them had the Holy Spirit! Look that Jesus is God, He could say that. So, when God, through Asaph in Psalms 82 say they are gods, He is not talking about human's Divinity at all. To me, that's just another human theory, like the evolution one. But even using the human logic it doesn't work, because Paul, in Romans 8 an Romans 9, Galatians 4:5 and Ephesians 1:5 (probably Mrs. Meyer never read that) shows how it works: WE ARE CHILDREN BY ADOPTION, OUR SONSHIP IS NOT LIKE JESUS'. Think for a second: Let's say you have a child, after a while you decide to ADOPT another child. After you finish the process, legally, your ADOPTED child will have the same rights (heritage) as your own child. Can you say that your ADOPTED child have your DNA? Of course not! We are children of God by ADOPTION, but we are NOT gods. God, The Holy Spirit lives in us. Colossians 1:27. We have to have Jesus Christ's CHARACTER, not His DIVINITY. If you're not convinced yet, read Exodus 20:3. Why God said that, if according to Mrs. Meyer, every time someone is saved, God is creating another god? Read 1 John 4:1. I'm not here advocating against Mrs. Meyer, she has a lot of good teachings, but, like I heard once: The problem is not the 95% correct, but the 5% heretic. It's like drinking a glass of milk with 95% milk and 5% poison. Test every spirit before God, including myself; I'm a spiritual being just like you.
Conclusion: Luke 14:11. 1 Peter 5:6.

Personal Testimony: The Glory of God

As I said before, I was a newspaper deliverer. That time, early morning, used to be my time with God, time when God taught me many times about many things, one of them, was about His Glory. One Sunday morning, I was praying, suddenly the Holy Spirit spoke to me, He said: "Today, at the worship time, you will see My Glory". I got very excited, expecting to see great things (the earth shaking, everyone falling down, etc.). The worship started, I was leading, looking all over, checking everyone out and expecting to see huge things happening. The music was terribly horrible, it sound like everyone was playing a different song, and playing it bad, I mean, awfully bad. The worship time ended, I was so disappointed with God, with me, with the worship team, because nothing happened, and the music was awful. After the Service, the sound guy came and gave me a tape with the worship, I told him: "Man, this was the worst music I ever heard, we never played worse than that. I don't want it. Then, after a while, he came and tried to give me the tape again, I said the same thing. Then, he came again, and said: "I don't know why but I have to give you this tape". I got it. I knew he would come back again, and again... Well, the other day, early morning, I was literally crying and asking God why I made a huge mistake like that (I thought so), asking why God said I would see His Glory and I didn't see anything. After a while, I heard God saying: "Listen to the tape". I heard that three times (I even said loudly: "Why listen to such a horrific music"), but then I gave up and started listening. It was worse then I thought. But at certain point, I heard someone crying, and then I put the volume higher, sure enough, someone was crying, like we cry when we loose a loved one. Then the Holy Spirit said: "I was showing My Glory to you, but you didn't see, because you had wrong expectations". Then God remembered me about Elijah, when he fled from jezebel, 1 Kings 19, God said I was expecting to see a great and strong wind, an earthquake, but He was in the still small voice (the person crying in the background). What a lesson. Next Sunday morning, God told me again: "Today, at the worship time, you will see My Glory". Well, at this time, I was ok, my expectations were very low, like, whatever happens, I'm ok with that. Then, I was leading worship again, then the Holy Spirit touched me, I felt so weak that I almost felt down, it was amazing, then I heard and saw a lady crying right in front of me, then she started shaking, then she felt in the aisle and was shaking really bad, then God said: "You are seeing My Glory". That was truly amazing; unfortunately, two men came and took her and put her back in the seat. In the follow week, Monday was wonderful, Tuesday morning even better, and then I got home from delivering newspapers, usually about 6am, but, about 9am, my sister called from Brazil, I answer the phone and she said: "run and turn the tv on". That was the exact time when the second plane hit the south tower. I was speechless, I felt to the sofa, and those were the only words that came out of my mouth: "Jesus Christ is coming back". At that time, I was crying, It was horrible, I couldn't understand what was going on, then, a Godly Joy, I never experienced that before, filled my heart, I had such peace and joy, indescribable. Then at night, in the church, at the prayer time (we had prayer seven days a week), we were there, praying, then at 8:00pm a lot of people entered the room, from our church and another church the pastor invited. Everybody was really sad, praying, trying to understand what was happening, then, at 10:00pm sharp, everybody left, in the room was just me, pastor's wife, her mother, another sister and Mrs. Mary, the lady I talked about in the beginning, the one God touched. We kept praying, and then the Holy Spirit said to me: "Go and pray for Mrs. Mary, I want to finish what I started last Sunday". I did, then God put the same joy I had on Mrs. Mary, she started laughing, then she felt to the floor, the pastor's wife, her mother and Ileana (other sister) also felt to the floor and couldn't stop laughing. I've never seeing something like that, we're all laughing, I was standing, the ladies were on the floor, such a joy that I can't explain. After a while we stopped, but it was amazing. I literally saw the Glory of God. God also taught me about what the Bible calls unity. We were at the church praying almost everyday, we're in the Same Spirit, with the same desire: To Know God Intimately. So, if you are skeptical, like I used to be, the only thing I can say to you is: Unless you give yourself entirely to God, trust Him with all your heart and get rid of your pride, you'll never experience what God has for you.

To be or not to be. That is the question.

Paraphrasing William Shakespeare: To be a Christian or not to be a Christian. That should be the first question we, Christians, should be able to answer! Jesus talks about the cost of the Christian life in Luke 14:28-33. Before even considering what ministry or service we would have, we should consider if we're able or willing to forsake everything to follow Jesus. That's the starting point. The number one issue we have to resolve. That's the foundation of Jesus' Gospel.  Luke 9:23. Dying to self is not popular, not nice, not even good (humanly speaking), but, our life is not compatible with God's life. We either live ours or God's, we gain ours or God's, as Jesus said in Matthew 16:25. We can see this truth in John the Baptist's words: John 3:30. John decreased so much that he died; he literally lost his life for Jesus' sake. Not just John, but many others lost their lives because they refused to compromise, they refused to deny God's Truth (Jesus Christ), they endured to the end, just as Jesus said in Matthew 10:22. Being a True disciple of Jesus Christ requires to give up what we love the most, as Jesus said to the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-22.
Conclusion: Jesus’ growth in us is directly proportional to our decrease (emptying). We can only be filled with the Holy Spirit if we become emptied of ourselves. Ephesians 5:18.

Personal Testimony: Self-Righteousness

I had a serious issue before Christ saved me. I was self-righteous. I used to judge people without giving them a chance to defend themselves. It happened because I used to compare them to the best people I found in the Bible, like Jesus, the Apostles, Prophets, etc., of course that was the way I used to judge others, not myself, so I was always blameless in my own judgment. Even knowing what Jesus said in Matthew 7:5, I still refused to acknowledge my own sins and failures. But one day, God started working within me to resolve that issue. I remember God taught me a lesson through the Prophet Jonah's life. As I said before, in the beginning of my Christian life, I was desperately seeking God, giving everything up to know God and His will for my life. I was praying, fasting, reading the Bible every time I could. As I was part of the worship team, I wanted that for everyone, I thought everyone had to be at the same pace I was, as committed as I was, "on fire" like I was. So, because the others were not, to me, it was unacceptable, to me, they had to forsake everything, even their families to be at the church praying everyday, or at least, five days a week. The pastor (a man of God), put me in the leadership. Well, that was not a good choice. I tried to convince everyone they should be as committed to God as I was. To me, practicing before playing wasn't important. Anointing was all that matter. Things didn't go well, I was having a hard time, I couldn't bear anymore. Then I started praying a lot to know why it wasn't working the way I thought it should. After a couple days, it was clear to me that I didn't have authority over the team (thank God). Then I said to the pastor: "If you don't give me full authority I'm not the leader anymore, and I'll be out for a while". Thank God the pastor was wise enough to show me the bench. Well, my first sunday off, at the worship time, I was having a wonderful time, it look like I was in heaven, standing before Jesus Christ, worshiping Him. I honestly don't remember much about the music, if the quality was good or bad, if was loud or not (everybody said it was awful, there was an oppression, as if the enemy was there). Then, suddenly I started praying like this: "God, if there's anyone there that shouldn't be there, tie his (her) hands". Then I heard one instrument sounding really horrible (the player is really talented), then the guy spoke to the pastor (the pastor was leading the worship) and the pastor said: "Let's pray for our brother, because he fells like he has his hands tied". When I heard that, I felt down in my seat, my strength was gone, my body was shaking, I was terrified. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me, He said I was like Jonah, praying to see God's wrath being poured over the people, the same people God loved. After that day, God started working with that issue in my life. I, like most people, still have, once in a while, Jonah's attitude, but I’m far better right now. It's very hard to discern between judging the people or their motivations, works or teachings. In John 4:1 God tells us to "test the spirits", because there's a lot of people using the Bible as a means of personal gain, saying God said things He never said, using the Text as a pretext to annul the context, only to validate their own doctrine, point of view or fable. As Jesus said in Matthew 7:15.
Conclusion: We need wisdom to discern between true and false teachings. We need strength to test the spirits. We need mercy to show love instead judgment and we need humbleness to have a servant heart like Jesus had. Micah 6:8; James 2:13.

To Obey or To Sacrifice

Many times we try to please God by deeds, by making promises we never fulfill or making useless sacrifices. The only thing that really pleases God is Faith followed by Obedience. That's probably the hardest thing in the whole Christian life. It's easy to say we believe, but if we don't do what we say, it's worthless, that's hypocrisy. And, if we consider Jesus' life, his toughest battle was against religious hypocrisy. He didn't have any problem with the ones called "sinners", actually, he was always reaching the "sinners", always ministering to the them. There are many examples of obedience and disobedience in the bible. Abraham, for example, he was called the "father of faith" because his faith was followed by obedience. Moses was another wonderful example; we see that he first tried to free God's people by his own strength. It didn't work, he ended up killing someone. God says in Zachariah 4:6. Then Moses fled to the desert where God made him the meekest person ever, according to Numbers 12:3. Then God calls him to deliver His people. Moses saw God's glory, he experienced God's power, he obtained God's favor. But, then came a time when he failed. In Exodus 17 says that the people had no water, God told Moses to "strike the rock", he did, and the water came out. After a while, we see in numbers 20, they had no water again, at this time God tell Moses to "speak to the rock", instead, Moses struck the rock, and the water came out. It's very interesting, because despite of Moses disobedience, the miracle happened, the water came out. That shows us that it's possible to see God's miracles even when we are in disobedience, but, as we see in Moses story, it will cost us something. To Moses, the cost was huge, he wasn't allowed to lead God's people into the promises land. That also show us the truth about what Jesus says in Mathew 7:22-23. Many people today think, because they can see "results" when they use their Gifts, they're right before God, and again, like Moses, we can see the results (water coming out) and yet be disobeying God. Another very good example we find in the Bible is King Saul, because his disobedience, he was rejected by God. See I Samuel 15:22-23. After that, Saul continued to be king for a long time, but, before God, he was no more. He lost the anointing of a king. This is very interesting, because David, even having the anointing of a king, he understood that was God who had to take Saul from the throne, as it is written in Romans 11: 29. It means that once we received a gift or a calling, we will die with them, and yet, if we didn't  know Jesus Christ, like Saul, we will be eternally separated from Him, in hell.
Conclusion: At the end, when we stand before Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter how much we worked, what we became, what we accomplished, if we didn't do what God planned for us to do, we will be among the ones who practiced lawlessness, like the ones who reject Jesus, like the ones never knew Him.

Personal Testimony: My Son.

From the beginning, God worked with me in an unconventional ways, I had two ways to go: Was everything or nothing! In fact, that was my very first prayer to God, after he saved me. I prayed: "Lord, if You're not willing to give everything you have for me, I don't want anything". It sounds a little radical, but after a while, I realized that it was just what God was expecting from me (He expects that from all of us). Like Jesus wrote to the church of church of the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:15-16. The problem with that "hot or cold" way of living, is that you have to be aware of the consequences, because God will start to speak to you, through other people, directly, through circumstances, etc., and that's really tough, because a lot of times it doesn't make any sense, and you'll find yourself thinking: "Am I crazy or what?". Of course, people will also tell you: "You're crazy". But, just think about all of the men and women of God in the Bible, were they crazy or they just chose to believe and obey God? Today it's not different. Everyday we have to make choices, like: what to say, drink, eat, dress, etc. It's not different with the faith issue, we have to choose to believe or not. And "hot or cold" means: You believe or you don't! Of course if you say you believe and don't practice, your faith is dead, meaning, you don't really believe. Another example I can give is my son. Four months after I got married, I got home from work, and was checking emails and downloading some songs, the program is called "Napster". Suddenly, a window opened up and a guy started talking to me. This is the actual conversation, originally in spanish:
Prophet: Dios te bendiga (God bless you)
Julio: hola (Hi)
Prophet: Dios me lo puso en mi corazon que te diga eso. Cuantos anos tienes? 32? (God put in my heart to tell you this. How old are you? 32?)
Julio: si. Qual es tu nombre? (Yes. What’s your name?)
Prophet: Cristian. Dios me lo revelo (Cristian. God revealed to me)
Julio: mucho gusto (Nice to meet you)
Prophet: pero tengo palabra de dios para ti, me esta hablando de ti, dice Dios que esta muy contento contigo (i have a word from God to you, He is talking about you, God says He is happy with you)
Julio: que bueno, donde vives? (Good, where do you live?)
Prophet: has pasado por muchos problemas y muchas tentaciones y por un tiempo estuviste perdido pero el senor dice Yo te amo (You had a lot of problems and temptations and for a time you were lost, but God says to you: I love you)
Prophet: hay mas (there’s more)
Prophet: dice el Senor que tu hijo sera una gran bendicion para tu y toda tu familia. Dios dice que lo va a usar mucho a el pero que lo cuides mucho y que lo levantes en los caminos del Senor. (God is saying that your Son will be a great blessing to you and your whole family. God says He will use him (son) a lot, but you have to take care of him and teach him in the Lord’s ways.
Prophet: eso es todo que me ha dicho el senor (That’s what God told me)
Julio: hijo? me casei hace 4 meses (A Son? I got married 4 months ago)
Prophet: vas a tener un hijo (You will have a son)
Julio: donde estas usted? (Where are you now?)
Prophet: yo vivo en washington state, en los estados unidos (I live in Washington State, USA)
Prophet: mira que yo no te conozco a usted y yo sabia que tenias 32 anos (Look, I don’t know you and I knew you were 32 years old)
Julio: yo vivo en el suburbio de chicago (I live in chicago suburbs)
Prophet: lo que has leido no son palabras mias, si no de dios (What you read are not my words, but God’s)
Julio: yo lo creo (I believe)
Prophet: si necesitas horacion, por favor mandame un email (If you need prayer, send me an email)
Prophet: dios te bendiga (God Bless you)
Prophet: eres bautisado en agua? (Are you baptized in waters?)
Julio: no
Prophet: lo necesitas hacer (You have to do it)
Julio: ok
Julio: voy a una iglesia mexicana aqui (I go to a mexican church here)
Prophet: dios me dijo que tu no eres bautisado en agua. el quiere que lo hagas (God told me you’re not baptized in waters, He wants you to do it)
Julio: yo soy brasileno (I’m brazilian)
Prophet: lea san marcos 16:16 (Read Marc 16:16)
Prophet: yo soy argentino (I’m argentinian)
Prophet: pero mandame un email si necesitas horacion (send me an email if you need prayer)
Prophet: dios te bendiga (God bless you)
Julio: ok
Julio: a ti tambien (you too)

So, next day at church, in the prayer meeting, I asked the pastor if I could be baptized in waters (i was baptized when I was about 15 years old, in the Presbyterian church, so I didn't even believed that I have to be baptized again, worst of all, in the waters? No way. My tradition didn't allow me to do that), the pastor said: "Man, what a coincidence. I'm about to start a class of baptism. of course you can be baptized". I was baptized in waters. After a while, we started trying to have a child, of course we couldn't. Then, the Holy Spirit reminded me about His Promise. After that I was in peace. About 5 years later, my wife got pregnant, wonderful, God's promise being fulfilled. Interestingly enough, a lot of people start saying a girl was coming, even my sister dreamed about a baby girl. She said she was sure about it. Well, I kept saying it was a boy, because God said to me it was a boy. Then we had the first ultrasound. The technician said: "I'm 100% sure it's a girl" (she even wrote: It's a girl). Then came the doctor and said: "I'm not 100%, but at least 80% sure it's a girl". After that, everybody was saying I was either crazy or at least stubborn. I was still standing for what I believed, until one day, a friend of mine asked me: "Are you sure God was specific or generic when He spoke about the child?" That struck me like a lightening, my faith up to that point, was firm like a house built in a rock, after that, was more like a house built in the quicksand. Then I started praying like never before, asking God if I was right or wrong, if I had faith or was just because I wanted a baby boy. Then, after couple days, I heard (when I say I heard the Holy Spirit, I don't mean a voice like ours, but the assurance in my heart just like someone speaking to me) the Holy Spirit saying : " What I said, I said". That was all. God gave me so much peace, that I decided to believe like I did before. Then, my wife had the second ultrasound. With confidence, the doctor said: "It's a boy!" At the hospital, in the delivery room (my wife had a C-section), the doctor called me to explain what was going on (the reason why my wife took so long to get pregnant). My wife had 2 fibroids and Endometriosis. The second one, according to the doctor, was in a stage that makes the pregnancy impossible to happen. The doctor said: "This baby is a miracle". Of course we knew that. It was all a Test; God's plan from the beginning was to grow my faith. So, I can tell you one thing, if you're going through trials and difficulties: "Don't give up! Keep believing." As Jesus said to Martha in John 11:40. Besides David, God gave us a baby girl (just as in my sister's dream), her name is Camilla.

 

 

 

 

Personal Testimony: New Life.

Well, I’ll try to be as concise as possible. I grew up in a Christian home, first catholic, then, when I was about 8 years old, my parents became evangelicals. I always tried to be a "good person" by my own efforts, but, like Jesus said in Matthew 23:25. I was like that, a hypocrite, looking good outside, but inside I was rotten. Many sins and problems, like depression, unforgiveness, hate, among others. I had one foot in the church, another in hell. A couple times I thought about committing suicide, I couldn't find anything worth living for. In my mid twenties, I started seeking God with all my heart. Then the enemy (the devil), offered me stuff, friendships, pleasures, then I drifted away from God. For many years I was running from God. It's incredible how many times God spoke to me, even trough my unbelieving friends. I remember couple times when I was saying or doing foolish things, a friend used to say: You need Jesus in your heart! That was the most horrific thing someone could say to me, it was like a sword piercing my heart. But, nothing ever changed. Until one day I decided to come to America to spend a year, it was a crazy thing, my friends called me crazy, I was leaving everything behind, girlfriend, business, friends, etc., but I didn't care. One month latter I arrived in U.S., first month, nice, after that things started getting terribly bad, I had to get a job, so I started delivering newspapers in the morning (Illinois is really cold in the winter). As I didn't have anything better to do, I started going to a church, playing in the worship team, time went fast, was already time to go back like I had planned. One night at church, in a prayer meeting (that day I was so depressed, like never before), I was crying before God, asking Him why my life was so horrible, nothing was changing, even if I was seeking Him everyday, but then, a lady stood up and said: "Julio, God is saying if you stay here He will change your life". Man, I felt so much peace and joy at that moment, things that I never had before (I couldn't believe few minutes before I was disgusted with my life, so depressed), it should be God. It was God. So, I decided to believe and stayed here. Couple months after that I got married (part of the change). Then I started seeking God in my mornings, praying, worshiping. It was like I was getting closer and closer to God. One day, I took the newspapers and was going to deliver them. I was driving, then, suddenly I started seeing a vision: I saw myself in an big auditorium, there was a man leading worship (it was a strange thing for a rational, conservative guy), I was driving and at the same time I was seeing and hearing like I was there. Then the worship leader said: If you want to be free, have your life changed, come and I’ll pray for you. Then I went there, he started praying for me, then God said to me: "I will free you, break your bondages, give you a new life and I will anoint you, because I have a calling for you, I'll send you to the nations to preach the gospel". Then, as the vision came, it disappeared. For weeks, I kept thinking about it, it was the strangest thing ever. A few months later (6 at least), a worship leader was came to Chicago, his name is Marco Barrientos (check his website: http://www.aliento.com), some friends from church were going, I decided to go. We're there, Marco started leading worship, he was speaking and singing, I started thinking: I saw this before, I’m sure. Then the Holy Spirit remembered me: THE VISION! Then Marco asked: "If you want to be free, have your life changed, come and I’ll pray for you". I jumped from my chair, run to the platform, then he started praying, to prophecy, at the end, he said the same things God spoke to me in the vision: "God is setting you free, breaking your bondages, giving you a new life and anointing you, because He has a calling for you, He will send you to the nations to preach the gospel". After that day, God used me with different gifts and started a process in my life called Sanctification. It's amazing how accurate and truthful the Bible is, like when Jesus says in John 8:36. It's been over 9 years since God freed me, life is still hard, but God is still good, like it says in Hebrews 13:8. Despite our weakness and sins, He loves us like He always did, even when we don't feel like being loved. There are other things I didn't write, it would take a lot longer, but I can tell you one thing, if we sometimes doubt that God loves us , it's because we don't know Him enough. Read the life of Job, after going through all that pain and suffering, he says in Job 42:1-5.

How to discern between Faith and Positive Thinking.

First: We need wisdom from God to discern it. James 1:5.
Second: We have to check our motivation. Why do we want it. Is it what God has for us? Did God really promise us? Will it bring glory to God? Do we really need it?
Third: Is it the right purpose, the right time and the right way? Ecclesiastes 8:6.
Fourth: If all the above is correct, we need to persevere. Matthew 7:7-8; Luke 18:1-8. There are many people (the prosperity gospel preachers and alike) saying today, that everything that is written in the Bible (the good things of course), are for you, just “Name It and Claim It,” but in fact, that is far from the truth! Why? Because if you cannot apply that "health and wealth" and "name it and claim it" mentality to every God's servant in the Bible, how can you know if you're among the "privileged people", or the "blessed ones", who will always be "healthy and wealthy" and if there's any need, whatever it is, can just "name it, claim it and receive it"?
If God planned for every one of His children, to be wealthy, why do we find so many people in the Bible that were poor? Like in Revelation 2:8-9? What about 2 Corinthians 8:1-2? What about Luke 21:1-4? We must test the spirits: Angels, demons, people, to know if they're speaking the truth (of course a demon will never speak the truth), as is written in 1 John 4:1.
Conclusion: If you study hard, work hard, live in a prosperous country and being rich is your goal in life, you may end up being very rich, but, you may get a lot of money and yet be a beggar, or, you can be very poor and yet be wealthy in God's sight. The God's concept of riches is different from the men's concept. Of course, if God promised to make you wealthy, He will do it. Like Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:20. At the end we will all stand before Jesus Christ and only thing that will really matter is: Did we know Jesus Christ and did we do God's Will? As in Matthew 7:21-23. My advice to you is: Make knowing Jesus Christ and knowing God's will for your life as necessary as the food you eat and the water you drink!!!

What is Faith?

Here is the Biblical definition of faith: Hebrews 11:1. If we consider the entire biblical context, from Abel to John the Apostle, we cannot separate faith from the Will of God. In Hebrews 11 we see examples of faith, like Abel. Just by reading Genesis 4, we may think that Abel just did what was convenient, because he was a shepherd he offered a lamb, it doesn't look like Abel act by faith at all, but in Hebrews we see that the sacrifice he made, he did by faith, because from the beginning God was announcing that The Perfect Lamb, Jesus Christ, one day would be sacrificed for our sins, and because of that, Abel's sacrifice was accepted. What about Abraham? We see from the beginning of his walk with God, that his faith was conformed to the Will of God. Genesis 12:1. Because he obeyed, he saw God's faithfulness. Along the way, God tested his faith, and his faith increased to the point that he was called Father of Faith. How much faith John the Baptist needed to fulfill such a tough calling? What about Jesus' disciples? There are many wonderful examples of men and women of faith in the Bible that should be enough to lead us to believe in the Word of God.
Conclusion: Real Faith is always according to the Will of God, and if faith doesn't lead to works, it is dead, James 2:26.