Tag: Faith

Él Iluminará la Ruta de Tu​ Vida

‘Tu palabra es una lámpara a mis pies; ¡es la luz que ilumina mi camino! ‘ Salmos 119:105

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Cuando uso el GPS en mi teléfono celular para llegar a un destino y éste me dice que haga un giro o tome una salida, inmediatamente quiero saber cuál va a ser el próximo paso. Deseo saber si debo continuar en la misma carretera, unirme a una carretera principal, girar a la derecha o a la izquierda. Solo para estar preparada.

La aplicación del mapa no muestra la ruta completa; solo revela el área donde el conductor necesita enfocarse en el momento. En ocasiones, me confundo, como cuando me encuentro con salidas consecutivas, intersecciones o bifurcaciones, o cuando conduzco bajo lluvia intensa, lo cual limita la visibilidad.

El uso del GPS me hace pensar en los momentos en que quiero saber qué es lo siguiente en la vida. No hay nada malo con estar preparado o tener un plan para la próxima movida. Sin embargo, aun preparándonos, hay situaciones que llegan a nuestras vidas sin invitación. Y, éstas podrían crear una mezcla de emociones en nosotros, como ansiedad, miedo, confusión e incluso dolor.

Si eres un discípulo de Jesucristo, puedes confiar en la ruta de Dios para tu vida – paso a paso – porque Él ha prometido que nunca te dejará ni te abandonará.

Es posible que no tenga todas las respuestas de inmediato, pero puedes confiar en que Dios te ayudará a llegar al destino que necesitas llegar y en el momento correcto.

La Palabra de Dios provee dirección clara para cada necesidad específica, y las promesas en ella también son para ti. Cree y confía en que Él iluminará tu camino o ruta en la vida

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He Will Light Up the Route of Your Life

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105, ESV

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When I’m using the GPS on my smartphone to get to a destination and I’m advised to make a turn or take an exit, I immediately want to know the next step after this one. I wish to know if I should continue, merge, take a right or a left. Just to be prepared.

The map App does not show the complete route at once; it only reveals the area where the driver needs to focus at the moment. On occasions, I get confused, as when encountering consecutive exits, forks, or driving during heavy rain, which makes the view limited.

The use of GPS makes me think of the times I want to know what’s next in life. There is nothing wrong to be prepared or have a plan for the next move. Yet with preparations, there are matters that come to us without invitation. Moreover, these are the situations that could create a mix of emotions in us, like anxiety, fear, confusion, even pain.

If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, you can trust God’s route for your life – step by step – because He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you.

You might not have all the answers right away, but you can trust God will help you arrive at the destination you need to be and at the right time.

God’s Word provides clear direction for every specific need, and its promises are for you too. Believe and trust that He will light up your path or route in life.

God is Good

Probably you have heard this expression or even said it – “God is good.”

When do we express it? Do we say “God is good” when He answers with a “yes” to our prayer requests? When circumstances favor us? When everything goes as planned?

How about when His answer is “no” or when we don’t hear anything at all? When plans don’t go our way? When we do what is right and don’t see the results we wish to see? Is He still good? The answer is “yes.” He hears your prayers, but there is always a purpose in the waiting.

If you believe the Father sent His Son to die on the cross so you can be saved, then you are His child. And as a father, He desires the best for you and wants to give you good gifts (see James 1:17).

We have expectations in life, but not all of them are met. And that frustrates us. We bring our requests before God, believing in His faithfulness. Yes, He is faithful – to His promises – not to our expectations.

No matter what is the answer you receive, trust God and His written word. He is a good Father.

My Darkness is not Dark to You

philipp-kammerer-336246-unsplashPhoto by Philipp Kämmerer on Unsplash

The apostle Paul together with other prisoners were sent from the west coast from the province of Asia to sail for Rome. On their way, they stopped on different harbors and passed across other places. The winds were against them, but they continued their journey hoping to reach Phoenix, a harbor in Crete, to winter there before heading to their destination. The winds were so strong that they were swept away from their course.  The men were afraid and began to throw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. Several days passed as the storm continued raging. They didn’t know where they were. The Bible states that they had given up all hope of being saved; neither the sun nor the stars appeared for many days. They were in complete darkness. (Acts 27:20)

At the fourteenth day,  being in constant suspense and without eating anything, Paul encouraged them to eat and told them God was going to save everyone.

Have you experienced dark moments in your life? Those situations force us to get rid of things that cause weight on us. We battle with emotions such as anxiety, fear, anger, abandonment, etc. We wish to see the light, and we make all the efforts we can, and then come to a point where we need to surrender.

However, we are not left unattended. King David wrote in Psalm 139:11-12

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me 
and the light become night around me,” 
even the darkness will not be dark to you; 
the night will shine like the day, 
for darkness is as light to you.

 

God sees you in your dark moments. Serving the Lord doesn’t mean that we are exempt from difficult situations. The difference is that we can trust on His promises to us because He is faithful.

I invite you to listen to this song from Chris Tomlin and be encouraged today. The season of darkness will pass and you will able to see the light!

Whom Shall I Fear by Chris Tomlin

The Lord bless you

Fish or Snake?

jeremy-yap-199223-unsplashPhoto by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11

For many years I did not understand why Jesus gave these examples. What a stone or a snake have to do with food? In reality, Jesus wanted to explain something about the things we ask in prayer. Have you asked Him for something specifically that, according to your logic, is good? I know I had. Without knowing, sometimes we pray asking God to give us a “snake,” although we think we are asking for a “fish.” A snake will bite us, harm us. And God wants the best for you and me. Remember, He sees the big picture; we don’t. He listens to our prayers, but not all our requests are answered with a “yes.”

Next time you find yourself asking God why He has not answered you, think about these verses. It could be He is protecting you from a dangerous situation, or it could be it’s not the time yet. Trust in the One who sees the big picture and has your best in mind.

Pennie has been found

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Our family moved from Puerto Rico to Georgia in 2011. With our move, we also brought our golden retrievers, Watson and Pennie. Watson was seven years old, and Pennie was a 6-month old puppy.

On our second week in Georgia, they escaped during the night. In Puerto Rico, they were used to sleeping in the backyard, which had a large and open terrace, with roof and floor tiles. So when we moved, since it was still summer, they stayed in the backyard at night, as usual.

I heard Pennie barking and howling past midnight, but I did not hear Watson. I opened the backdoor and saw that she was all right, so I went back to bed. I did not hear her howling or barking anymore. When we woke up in the morning, I went outside to call the dogs, and to my surprise, they were not there! My husband was on a business trip, and my children were desperately looking for the dogs. Watson’s collar had a tag with our phone number, but he was not wearing it at the time; I found it thrown on the ground.

It was time to go to school, so I promised my son and daughter I would look for the dogs. I searched and searched in the nearby neighborhoods asking people if they had seen them, until I visited a veterinary clinic to check if someone had found our dogs. The receptionist grabbed a flyer and asked me “is this your dog?” A lady had found Watson and distributed flyers in different places! I was so relieved and then proceeded to ask for Pennie. The flyer only mentioned one dog. Then, I recalled her howling in the middle of the night. Watson had probably escaped first, and when she found herself alone, she went after him. I got nervous because she was just a puppy.

I called the number on the flyer and coordinated with her daughter to pick up Watson in the afternoon. I thanked them for rescuing him. On the other hand, we couldn’t find Pennie that day. My daughter was devasted. So my husband decided to put a pet amber alert. During the following days, I received different calls from people I met and from organizations, asking if I had found the puppy. I kept making phone calls and looking around.

We prayed every day for the dog to be found. One morning, before my children went to school, I recalled a similar event recorded in the Bible. Saul was looking for his father’s donkeys; this occurred before becoming the first king of Israel. At the third day, the Prophet Samuel invited him to have dinner and told him not to worry about the donkeys, which “had already been found.” You can read this story here, https://www.bible.com/bible/111/1SA.9.
So, I told my son and daughter, “We don’t know where Pennie is, but God knows.

At the sixth day, while I was doing some errands, I received a call from another veterinary clinic (I had gone to several). The lady on the phone said with an exciting voice, “your dog has been found.” Tears of excitement filled my eyes; I asked for the address and went to pick her up. Then, I immediately called my husband  to give him the good news. A mom with her three kids found Pennie on the street. They took her home and cared for her that night. At my arrival, the employees came to the front to watch the encounter. They even volunteered to take pictures, which I sent later to my husband and children.

Hope and trust in the Lord is all we need in times like these.

 

Is Sifting Necessary?

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I was preparing a type of bread, and one of the steps was to sift the flour. I did not know what the purpose was, but I followed the instructions on the recipe. There were two types of flour; one was lighter than the other. While I was doing this important step, I noticed that one of them had many small particles that didn’t pass through the mesh strainer.

I recalled the words of Jesus to Simon Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32

The sifting process in our lives has a similar purpose as in baking, and that is to draw out or get rid of any lumps or particles that, if left, would make the process harder and may cause the final product not to meet the original expectation.

So, is sifting necessary? Yes! Do I enjoy it? Only when I’m baking because I know I will enjoy the texture and flavor of the combined ingredients. On the other hand, after we have passed the test, we can strength others and be ready for what God has equipped us to do.

Hablas mi Idioma

Nuestra familia hizo un viaje a Europa en diciembre de 2012. Primero fuimos a Londres y luego cruzamos en tren a París a través del Chunnel (túnel bajo el mar más largo del mundo). En Londres no tuvimos inconvenientes con el idioma, pues aunque nuestra lengua materna es español, todos hablamos inglés, solo con un acento distinto.

Al llegar a Francia, tuvimos que tomar otro tren o el metro para llegar al hotel. Con el equipaje bajando escaleras, un poco desorientados hacia dónde dirigirnos dentro de la estación y sin poder comunicarnos en francés, el proceso se hacía un poco complicado. Nuestros hijos y la joven que invitamos al viaje conocían un poco el idioma, pero no podían sostener una conversación. Un empleado del metro al vernos, se acercó hablándonos español. Todos suspiramos de alegría. No puedo explicar lo bien que me sentí al escuchar que nos ofrecían ayuda en nuestra propia lengua. No solo nos orientó, sino que también nos ayudó con nuestro equipaje.

Puedo imaginar cómo se sintieron aquellas personas que visitaban Jerusalén para celebrar la Fiesta de Pentecostés de acuerdo al relato de Hechos 2. Judíos y personas de las naciones alrededor de Jerusalén se habían dado cita allí. Una ráfaga de viento llenó el lugar donde se encontraban, y los galileos que estaban allí comenzaron a hablar las maravillas del Señor en distintos idiomas. Cada nación allí representada tuvo la oportunidad de escuchar el mensaje de salvación en su lengua materna, y alrededor de 3,000 personas fueron salvas y bautizadas.

Lo que Dios desea que tú y yo hagamos, nos los comunica en el lenguaje que mejor podemos entender (a través de las Escrituras, una canción, el consejo de un amigo, la misma naturaleza, etc.). Dios no solo quiere comunicarnos algo, sino también brindarnos la ayuda que necesitamos.

Hechos 2:5-7

Take Off Your Grave Clothes

Lazarus was very sick so his sisters Martha and Mary sent word to Jesus. When he received the news, he did not leave the place he was right away. Instead, Jesus waited two more days. He knew what was going on; Jesus was aware of how bad Lazarus’ health was. But, why didn’t he go? Why did he choose to delay? He had a bigger plan, one that would touch the lives of many.

At his arrival Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Martha, who worried about many things, who perfectly planned everything (see Luke 10:38-42), said to Jesus “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Jesus asked to take the stone away from the cave where Lazarus’ body laid. Martha said, “but, Lord.” Next Jesus prayed thanking the Father because He always hears. Then, he called in a loud voice: “Lazarus, come out!” And the man who was dead came out alive all wrapped around. Then Jesus commanded to take off his grave clothes and let him go.

When you have a need and cry out to Jesus to help you, do you expect him to answer right away? I know that I do. I want him to come to my rescue immediately, and when He delays, I get anxious, frustrated. Does He enjoy seeing us suffer? Absolutely not! God hears us when we call Him; He may answer immediately or may take some time, or He may simply say “no.” But he always answers. He may wants us to learn something we don’t know.

The answer that delays is the one that brings us to our knees. We depend on Him because there’s nothing else we can do. Our primary plan and our backup plan have not worked. So, what do we do? We seek Him through prayer and by reading His Word, and then follow His instructions.

The time has come, His time has come to glorify His name. It is time to take off your grave clothes!