HIS KINGDOM IN ME. By Pastor Fernando

SCRIPTURE
He also asked, "What else is the Kingdom of God like? It is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough."
Luke 13:18-19

OBSERVATION
When Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, He made a point about the influence of His kingdom as a whole. When His Kingdom comes into our lives, it will reach, affect, and transform all areas in our lives. We cannot be selective where we want the Kingdom to rule. We cannot make separate compartments and allow the kingdom influence those we choose. God's work in our lives is comprehensive, it's excellent, and it's guaranteed to be successful. Just like yeast reaches and transforms every molecule of the dough, God's Kingdom will transform every area of our lives. We cannot stop this if we truly have the Kingdom. And if we don't experience this kind of work, maybe the Kingdom has not been activated to work on our lives.

APPLICATION
One of the best evidences of the presence of the Kingdom of God in our own lives is the consistent conviction of the Holy Spirit to make us whole, to make us holy. When the reality of the Kingdom of God comes into our lives, it will transform every single area, no exceptions. Sooner or later, our King Jesus conquers all areas of our heart that have been under control of sin and death. He wants to bring life, hope, and transformation. During this season God wants to remind me about the way His kingdom grows in me. He wants to conquer all areas of my life. He wants to transform my sinful habits, my poor attitudes, my compulsions, my weaknesses. He wants to do a good work in me, not a mediocre one. His kingdom is working in us, so I need to let His rule touch every molecule of who I am.

PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for convicting me more and more about advancing your kingdom in every area of my heart. Please reach and transform every molecule, purifying who I am, making me whole, making me holy, making me more like You. Let the yeast of your Glory touch every thought, every habit, and every action. Let the image of Jesus be shaped in me as you conquer every area in my life. Show me where I have made compartments, separate areas that I keep for myself, areas where I need to surrender to your gentle rule. Reach until the last and make me whole. I love your work in me Jesus! Amen.

IMPOSSIBLE PROMISES. By Pastor Fernando

SCRIPTURE

"Then the Lord did exactly what He had promised. Sarah became pregnant, and she gave a son to Abraham in his old age. It all happened at the time God said it would." Genesis 21:1-2

OBSERVATION

The promise that God made to Abraham and Sarah violated all the natural laws of conception. Becoming a father at the age of 100 could be possible, but becoming a mother at the age of 90 is a big deal. God's promise to this couple challenged not only nature, but also their faith. Abraham believed God, and that was counted as righteousness. He made many mistakes and poor decisions. He sinned like everyone else. But his faith in God's promises, even in the things that seem impossible, made Abraham a righteous man. 

APPLICATION

What I found amazing about this passage is that God does his miracles they way He wants and in the time He wants. If it was up to Abraham and Sarah, they would have been wanted that son to come in a different time and in different circumstances. But the whole point is that our faith in God's promises must be comprehensive. A promise of God must be believed, but also tested over time, and sometimes over impossible circumstances. It's easy to believe in promises that are possible, easy to accomplish on our own. But very often God promises things that challenge nature and all possibilities. It can only be accomplished by Him. He wants us to believe Him and to trust Him.

When I look in to my life, there are many promises that God has for me. The majority are easy to believe and expect to happen. But there are few promises that are challenging, maybe easy to believe, but hard to accomplish. I need to trust that God will do His work in His time and according to His will. Those promises will be tested and I must be stubborn to stick to what God has promised. Sometimes He reveals the timing of things and sometimes He doesn't. To Abraham and Sarah He told them the timeline of His miracle. To me God has revealed a timeline for certain things, not for everything. The bottom line is that I must trust in His divine plan and expect that His promises will be fulfilled at the right time, even when things seem impossible. 

PRAYER

Dear heavenly Father, thank you so much for all your promises for my life, even the ones that are difficult to embrace because of their supernatural nature. Help me to embrace them, believe in them, and wait patiently for their fulfillment. I submit to your timing of things, knowing that everything is better in your time, not mine. I love you and rust you. Amen!

SPECKS AND LOGS. By Pastor Fernando

Scripture:

"And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log on your own? How can you think in saying, 'Friend, let me help you get rid of the speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First, get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye."

Luke 6:41-42

Observation:

Jesus wants His followers to help one another and to deal with the issues that hinder them from moving forward in their journey. But before we help each other, we must be willing to help ourselves. Jesus clearly points out that we cannot help others if we do not deal with our issues first. It doesn't mean that we must be perfect in order to help others. It means that we need to deal with our issues and confront them before anything else. If we want wholeness for others, we need to be willing to pursue wholeness for ourselves first.

Application:

It intrigues me every time that certain people come to me with a sincere desire to help other people. Their desire to help is noble, but they are not aware that they need help themselves before anything else. And when they are aware of it, they think that they are going to get better as they help others. The reality is that we must undergo through a process of restoration with God before we want to be used to restore others. Otherwise, we will be blind leading the blind. For that reason, I must be willing to deal with the logs of my own eyes before I deal with people's specks. I cannot neglect God's work on me. The most important ministry is the ministry of my own heart. I need to be willing, diligent and resilient in pursuing healing and restoration for my own life before pretending helping others. My call to serve others is a call to serve myself. I must make sure that Jesus is removing the logs from my eyes so I can share through experience how God removes specks from people's eyes. The more vulnerable and humble I am about this, the more efficient and effective my ministry to others will be.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, I come to you with a humble heart, willing to work in the logs of my own eyes. Help me to avoid the hypocrisy that has become normal and that tells me that I can neglect my logs in order to take care of other people's specks. Please restore my life and make me whole in the many areas I'm not reflecting your image. Transform me according to your Son Jesus. Make me more like you. And as you remove the logs from my eyes, let me help those who have specks in theirs. Amen!

EYES ON THE HARVEST. By Pastor Fernando

Scripture:
My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.” Romans 15:20-21

Observation:
Paul’s ambition is to reach the outsiders and to proclaim the name of Christ where no one has been able to proclaim it. His ambition wasn’t fueled by his own inspiration or desire to be different. His ambition was fueled directly from the Scripture. He saw this plan laid out in Isaiah 52:15. Paul’s biblical strategy caused to have his eyes on the harvest, to reach for those who are lost, and to focus on people that haven’t been tapped by anyone else with the Good News.

Application:
As we continue in our journey serving God in the work of the ministry, it’s very easy to miss the plan laid out in the Scriptures. We may get comfortable with the people already reached and we forget to go to those who have not been touched with the Gospel. We may place too much attention to those who come from other churches. But we cannot forget about the harvest. We must be intentional about giving outsiders a clear and relevant presentation of the Gospel. We must strive to follow God’s plan to proclaim the Good News in a way that people understand it. We cannot give up! We cannot falter! We must keep our eyes on the harvest and set our focus on those who any church is reaching. There are thousands that are on the fence of their relationship with God and need us to bring them closer to God. That’s our plan. That’s our mission. That’s our assignment. We must never forget that!

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, this morning I want to refocus my life and set my eyes in the harvest once again. Sometimes is easier to forget our mission. Let me take our church into a new season where we will fix our eyes in reaching the lost. Let us not be distracted with what other churches have done or are doing. We have our assignment and we must be faithful to it. Give me wisdom and the right words to inspire and mobilize the church to bring more people closer to God. Let us follow the plan you have to present the Gospel in a relevant way to people so they have a fair chance to accept it. Please use our church to reap the harvest and give us the heart of compassion that we need to proclaim the Good News with effectiveness and power. Amen!

RUNNIG TO THE CROSS. By Pastor Fernando.

Scripture:
I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that i dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: in my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Romans 7:22-25

Observation:
These words from Paul are probably the most real and easy to relate as followers of Christ. The greatest disappointment we encounter in our walk with God is when we allow sin to master again over our lives. Everything in our hearts is disrupted when sin comes in. No wonder Paul feels so miserable when that happens. And the cry for hope comes natural. Who can set us free? He answers, “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is the magnificent truth that gets buried underneath our sinful behavior. We cannot see the cross and its power to set us free when we run towards self-pity and despair. We need to run to the cross, where God’s love and grace is waiting for us to embrace us, to cleanse us, and to set us free again.

Application:
Running to the cross is not the first reaction I have when sin temporarily masters over me. This past week I’ve been feeling miserable because my vulnerability to the enemy’s temptations. I’ve been very disappointed because some battles lost in the recent days. Instead of running to the cross, I’ve been running to condemnation. What a joy to hear these words from God in this particular season of my life. My friend Gregg reminded me over the weekend the strategy that the enemy uses to get the most advantage of us. Our sinful nature knows how to blow a lethal double punch. First, it jabs us with temptation. The enemy is relentless jabbing with the left, constantly alluring and seducing. Sinful natures says, “Don’t worry! One more time is not going to hurt.” Overtime, we become numb and our guard weakens. The jab connects. Then, like the best boxers, the enemy throws the second power punch, a right hook filled with accusations and condemnation. Sinful nature then says, “You are the worse Christian ever. God doesn’t love you anymore and He is going to be so mad at you.” At this point, we need to run to the cross for cover if we want to avoid a knockdown. In our corner we will hear God’s voice saying something completely different. At the cross we don’t hear accusations. We only hear God’s encouragement to keep fighting. And at the cross we also find grace and forgiveness.

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, this morning I’m running to the cross for cover. You are my place for refuge when I get pounded my a merciless enemy. Please forgive me for putting my guard down and for letting sin master over my life. Thank you for the cross, for your forgiveness, and for being faithful to me, even when I am not faithful to you. Please me prepare me for the unavoidable battles I will have in the future. Help me to become a skilled boxer. Give me the endurance to resist the jabs of temptation that the enemy keeps throwing at me. Help me to keep my guard up at all times and let me stay free from the power of sin over my life. Amen!