The attitude of triumph (Part 8)

Deuteronomy, Chapter 8.... I want to continue, we are almost finishing, this subject of life by design, the life of success, how to sustain practices that lead us to a successful life, a life of purpose, a life where that we are not simply victims of circumstances, but that we are in the authority in which God has placed us, that we can achieve goals, that we can achieve our visions, that we can be people in perpetual process and in perpetual progress, that we can every day to be transformed more and more and to pick ourselves up and overcome the difficulties of life and live productive lives, victorious lives. That's what we're talking about, right? And it's been many weeks now.

You may remember that we were discussing that passage from Hebrews, Chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, which has given us a series of, shall we say, points to follow on how to live a life by design, a successful life

There he talks about keeping our eyes on the goal, getting rid of all the attitudes and thoughts that make us walk heavily, not following the patterns of the world, but the formulas for success given by the word of the Lord, that we not be intimidated by the cost and by the efforts that this entails, and the difficulties.

The Bible says that Christ despised the cross, despised the suffering and mockery of others for the joy that was set before him. And so we also have to make the idea, the image of the success that awaits us, when we propose something in the name of the Lord, keep us through the struggle, through the test until we reach the goal that we have set for ourselves. proposed.

We talk about being people of vision. The Bible talks about having our eyes fixed on Jesus, in the case of Hebrews. But we can say that we also have to keep our eyes on the goal that God has given us, in any area of our life, be it to have a marriage that works well, to produce children who love the Lord and who work well in the life, to have well-ordered finances, to have an adequate work or professional life, so that our emotional life is healthy for specific goals, like buying a house, or learning English, or reaching our legal documentation, whatever, there are goals that we have to propose and specific visions that we have to conceive in our mind and keep fixed there, pray for them and fill them with blessing through prayer and water them with the water of the spirit until we see them flourish.

And there are many additional habits that we have discussed in order to live a victorious life. Now I want to point out a couple more things, practices and attitudes that are very important. And I want to read you here in Deuteronomy Chapter 8, a profound passage that has encouraged me in times of trial and difficulty when it seems that I am not going to reach my goal that I have set for myself, and it seems that the The work gets harder and longer and more difficult than I thought and I wonder sometimes, 'well, is God in this or is it just my imagination and should I just give up the fight?'

And here we see, in Chapter 8 of Deuteronomy, verse 2 where the Lord tells the Hebrews, the Jews, before they enter their promised land, where he has told them that they are going to enjoy very good things and very special. And they have been 40 years, you remember, in the desert going around. The journey from Egypt took much longer than anyone imagined, they encountered situations that had never arisen before leaving Egypt, difficulties and struggles and delays and now the Lord, before finally bringing him into his land that he has promised, he tells them the following:

He says: “...and you will remember all the way that Jehovah, your God, has brought you, these 40 years in the desert to afflict you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. And he afflicted you, and made you hungry, and fed you with manna, food that you did not know, nor your parents had known, to let you know that man will not live on bread alone, more than everything that comes out of the mouth of Jehovah shall live man. Your dress has never grown old on you, nor has your foot swelled in these 40 years. Recognize also in your heart that as a man punishes his son, so Jehovah, your God, punishes you. You shall therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and fearing him because the Lord your God brings you into the good land; land of streams, of waters, of fountains and springs that gush forth in fertile plains and mountains.”

We skip to verse 10, let’s go to verse 10 “.....and you shall eat and be satisfied and bless the LORD your God for the good land which he has given you.”

Look, the Israelites have been in the desert for 40 years, as I told you, they had a goal. They left Egypt with a vision, a purpose to succeed, that God was going to bring them into a land of plenty. They were no longer going to suffer from the sufferings and want of Egypt. However, when they entered into the process of realizing that vision that God had given them, they discovered a number of things that were in their hearts. Complaints began to emerge, the bad gratitude that existed in that nation began to emerge, the lack of nobility spiritual.

When a little bit of trial came up, immediately, when Pharaoh began to persecute them, they immediately began to complain to God. When food was lacking for a little while, right away, 'ah, why don't we go back to Egypt? We would have stayed there better. God brought us to kill us and to make us suffer!'

It was discovered that there was a work in the collective heart of that nation that had to be done before they could truly enjoy what God gave them. had promised. And still, however, we know the destructive history of the people of Israel, which ultimately led them into exile and so much suffering.

And God set Himself a task to work on them and to test them and to deal with them, to deal with them by putting them through different exercises and tests and difficulties to break their proud spirit.

Do you know, suffering is often one of the things that sometimes we need the most to ennoble ourselves? Do you know that the breaking of pride is sometimes one of the healthiest things that can happen to a man, to a woman?

Did you know that many times a person's success began on the day of their humiliation? I was recently watching a movie, actually it occurs to me now, it's called “The Fisher King” with Robin Williams. I recommend them, see it, "The fisher king" is called. The story, so briefly, of a disk jockey, what is this radio thing called, a disk jockey, I missed a radio announcer, one of these from a talk show and people call, and this arrogant, cruel man , full of himself, without any mercy for the people who call him, he mocks them.

And you know how often people like to be made fun of? And the more insulting, the more popular this man became, full of his own importance. And one day he calls his show a neurotic, psychotic man full of violence and wounds inside and he treats him in a derogatory way and rejects him and hurts him in a terrible way, and ends up adding more gasoline to the fire that this man has . And this man, full of all those wounds, that he did not find in this man that he admired on the radio, rests, goes to a restaurant and kills 7 people, shoots them with bullets and, after committing suicide, himself.

And this radio announcer listens on television to what has happened and recognizes that he was the direct cause of those deaths. And then the movie immediately jumps to 3 years later: this humiliated, good-for-nothing man, his pain and terrible failure has broken him. And there begins the story of his regeneration and his rise, and all the humiliations, the sufferings he goes through and how his ego is completely trampled, until he finds precisely the husband of one of the people who was murdered by that man and this man was also on the street. He's homeless, homeless, mindless, completely neurotic. And the story is how these two beings, both broken in different ways by the same tragedy, begin to regenerate and heal each other. But it all starts with brokenness. It all starts with terrible failure. It all starts with a tragedy that doesn't seem like anything good is going to come out of it.

And many times, God, brothers, to lead us to the success that we desire, to lead us to the solidity and stability that we desire so much, to lead us to the realization of the dreams that we have so much, even to give us the promises that he has given us, we have to go through deserts in life and sometimes the journey to success becomes more zigzagging, more complex than we thought when we started it.

Sometimes we say 'well, I want my marriage to change. I want to have a good marriage. I want there to be good communication between me and my wife and between me and my children. And we thought, well, like that's going to happen overnight. We went to the front, 'pastor, pray for me, rebuke the divisive demons that are in my house because I want a good marriage and I want a good family'.

And you know what, the Lord might hear you and say, 'I like that vision, son, and I'm going to honor it and I'm going to bless it.' And you know what? Perhaps on Monday morning you feel a bit of pain here, you go to the hospital and they perhaps tell you that you have a disease that needs to be operated on and that it will reduce your strength, your mobility, your manhood a bit. And that's the way God is perhaps answering your vision. Because by bleeding you dry and weakening and humiliating you, maybe then your process of humility will begin, the humility you need, the ability to listen.

Maybe that's where your need to be more tender, more attentive to others begins, your pride goes down and then incredibly, many times the time of our brokenness is the time in which God begins to fulfill our visions. Amen.

Do you understand what I'm saying? Be careful what you ask of the Lord, you know. Be careful with success because many times God will give you what you ask for, but God is a being who works deep down. He works at the roots, he works through complex processes to get to you. God is not a God that you tell him 'I want this', and like McDonald's, he immediately gives you what you need, and you continue being the same foolish and dumb and tough and rebellious little boy that you have always been.

No, God says 'I'm going to give it to you, but he's going to do it with a price. I am going to crucify you a little, I am going to bleed you a little, I am going to work you a little, I am going to make you suffer a little, and in the end when you receive it you will be able to enjoy it.

Because many times God gives us things that we want, but you know what? they destroy us because we are not prepared to receive it. Because the character was not adequate.

How many times have we heard of people who have won the lottery, hit millions of dollars? And after two years their marriage disappeared, all the money was wasted, they are neurotic and worse, ........ in debt, than when they started because their soul is not healed.

There is the story of a lady, wife of one of the victims of 9/11, in the twin towers. She received I think it was about 5 million dollars in rewards that were given to people and other insurance money as well, and all this, but since her heart was so deformed by the pain of the loss of her husband, and she was so neurotic and so terribly hurt by everything, she began to squander her money, to give it away, to get into debt, to buy properties that were not yielding, and in a short time she lost all that money, because her soul was destroyed. His mind was confused. He did not have the resources to enjoy success.

And so it happens to many of us, sometimes God in his mercy is not going to give us the success that we want so much, the goal that we are looking for so much, because first he is going to do a work of sanitation In us. He is going to establish a new and different foundation so that we can then enter the goal that we so desire.

God is like one of those contractors, and I can tell you about contractors, and about construction, about all the years we've been working in construction, that you bring them home and say, 'look , I need you to fix this wall here, because there are a couple of holes there that I don't like, I want to.....', and he then begins to dig and discovers that behind, that the beams that are supporting the wall are rotten, it's been too many years, that's why the wall is breaking down, and the shiprock has to be knocked down, the beams have to be removed, new beams have to be put in, and then they have to be painted. And what you thought was going to cost you $100 turns out to be $2,000 and you complain, and you swear at the contractor because you think he's stealing your money, and he says 'Lord, what I'm doing, I I just want to do a good job. What good is it for you to stick a little bit of plaster to that hole if the wall is going to fall in two months? And then you're going to be complaining about me, that I didn't tell you what to do.

A conscientious and honest worker will go to the roots of things, and it may take longer, but the work will turn out well. And so it is that God does, brothers, many times in our lives.

And if you want to achieve a goal in your life, if you want to achieve something, a financial goal, a personal goal, a family goal, whatever, it's probably going to take longer than you think. You thought, as it took the Israelites, because God wants more for you.

Sometimes we want something there quick and small, just one little thing and God has much broader visions for us. God wants to bless us. How many people, for example,... I want to be a pastor, I want to be a servant, a great servant of God, but, brothers, many times there are root things that have to be worked on.

I can tell you from personal experience: God has broken me, he has humiliated me, he has crushed me many times because of the desire that I have to serve him, and many times the best way for him to answer me has been been going through the sugar mill, as they say around there. Because if you're going to serve the Lord, you have to be broken, you know? The person who has not been broken cannot serve God. Like a wild colt, full of strength and vigor and rebellion and pride, it is good for nothing, except to run around in the savannah and show off its beauty, but it cannot be ridden, it cannot be used for cargo, no can steer a cart, nothing. Because all he has is brute force. The rider has to come, ride on it, break his pride and get him to lower his head and then it can be used for something constructive.

And many times God, in order to use our lives, will first have to work in preliminary areas and then take us to the goal. And that's why it's important, brothers, what I'm saying is, to achieve goals in life it's always important to take a long-term view.

Say with me: long term, long term. That is very important, because I see many people who are like those records from before. It's not that I've seen them because that was way before my time, but those 68 records, those little ones...... no... Is there anyone honest here who knows those little, short-lived records? ? 45, that's it. You see, I don't even remember I never used that.

Chavo says that for him it was 78, imagine. They were little cookies, tiny short-lived cookies, they only made one disc on each side. There were other records that were called LP, long playing, young people for your..... Those had like 6 or 4 or 8 albums, huge things like that.

Most of the people that I see in life are of short duration, they are 45 records. They are good for only a little while, but you see that when things get difficult, they immediately stop there all. And we all know about that, brothers. We all understand that.

How many of us have right now......., you don't have to raise your hand, I'll save you that one....., but how many of us have those treadmills right now? in our homes that are serving as excellent clothes hangers? We'll see? Because? Because one day we watched a show, we saw Jane Fonda there with her... you said it, not me... and we said 'wow, I want one of those'; and we went to the store and bought a machine at once, and we came back full of.....

But, of course, after the first day, very well...., but when we started to feel the pain and the muscles and that... when he comes to see in a few weeks, we are already putting it in the Want Ads to sell it. Because? Because it takes time. To create a life, let's say, of healthy exercise, is not something overnight, the first thing you have to educate is your mind. It is the mind, it is not the body, it is the mind. It all starts here.

If you educate your mind and recalibrate your brain and put on a new way of thinking, then you can live a lifetime of exercise, and it's for the long haul. But many of us believe that overnight we are going to become Olympians or long-distance marathon athletes. No, it's going to take maybe a year or two before you can get into a way that your muscles get used to. You must start walking first, well at the pace. Go to a park, enjoy the view, go with your wife, talk. Then a little faster, walking faster. Then, you jog a little and walk the rest, and little by little you increase the level until then your brain calibrates and your attitude changes and then you get used to the pain. Your internal muscles are getting stronger, your tendons, joints are getting stronger.

So you have to have a long-term mindset. That's the way it is with anything in life. That will include, for example, diet. It's not just, 'Okay, I'm going to run. Then you also need to put a gag on your mouth and a big padlock on the back, and start then, to change your way of......

It's a combination of elements, maybe you're going to to have to rest a little more, sleep more. What I want to teach you is that all goals in life are complex, and are made up of different parts, different pieces. And we have to learn to see the total complexity.

They are systems and it will take time. Many people in the Christian service start with great spirits but after a while you see the people on the side. They no longer have the same enthusiasm for the task. because? Because, brothers, look, much of the greatness in life is made up of everyday, unromantic, boring things that you don't want to do but you do just because.

Greatness is made of small details, of not very spectacular habits, that you form over time, of practices that you repeat over and over, and over and over again, and you keep on homework and you are persistent and when no one is watching you do it and when it is raining you show up and when it is snowy and cold and you are tired you show up. And when that person has bored you with the conversation, you are still there to see if that person comes to know of Jesus. You pay the price. You persist.

Most of the great things in life are like that, they are made..... You see the lawyers, everyone says 'oh, I wish I was one of those', with their briefcase in the subway and his $50 tie, his fancy suit. Look, brothers, being a lawyer is boring. I don't know if I'm offending any lawyer here, but... it's like being a doctor, opening people up and taking out the bad things they have and smelling the bad odors of human beings. Everything in life has its element of boredom, tedium, tiredness, repetition, everything, be it a lawyer, be it a politician, whatever it is, a businessman, is like that. And unless we get used or don't get used to that.....

I tell people, 'if you want to change your life get used to boredom and get over it'. The people who are successful in life are the disciplined person, they are the person who arrives on time and who arrives, they are the person who writes things down and reads them.

That's why I tell you, read the ads, discipline your mind to read. Reading is something that comes naturally to us, it is a habit that we develop little by little... Read three minutes the first day, then read five minutes, then read 7 minutes, and one day you will read a whole book in one sitting. Everything is long term.

And in that process God is going to be putting other things in you. By the time you reach the finish line, you will have accomplished a number of other things along the way that will greatly enrich you.

For example, you reach the goal, ok: I wanted to exercise. Well, you know what? In this process, he also learned to discipline himself, discipline his time, discipline his body, his mind, his health improved, perhaps even his relationship with his wife improved, because the two of them started walking and there they discovered that they could talk and they fell in love again. , etc.

There are many things that you can achieve, but don't just think, don't just focus on the small goal, but think about the long-term systemic goal, and then aim to be a long-term person, a a long-running person, a marathon runner who goes there at an easy, safe and disciplined pace until you get to what you wanted.

That's what God did with these people. They wanted, well, where is the promised land? Well, get us in there and give us the house and ..... And God told them, 'No, but if I give you those things you are going to make a fool of yourself, I am going to work you first, I am going to break you, I am going to humiliate, I am going to work with you so that you know who I am, so that you remember that I am your provider. When you have the big house and the food and all this, you who remember when you were starving in the desert, I was the one who provided for you, your shoes did not come undone; their feet did not swell; their clothes were not lacking at any time; neither did the food. So remember when you are there at home enjoying abundance, remember that I am the one who provides you with all those things.

It was more important to God that they retain that lesson than anything else. That is what I say, for example, the tithe really, what does God care that you give him a few pesos there, if he is the owner of the universe. He could rain down gold nuggets 24 hours a day until people choked. God does not need money, but through it he is creating in us other skills, other attitudes. He is teaching. Every time you put your tithe in the offering plate, you are learning: God is my provider. Every time you do this with pain in your soul, many of us put that money away and look over there so as not to see it when it slips away; you are doing a spiritual exercise: Jehovah is my shepherd, I will lack nothing. He provided me before and I will not lack now.

He says that he will multiply the fruit of my efforts and when you discover that your life continues the same, that the world did not fall apart, that the collectors did not come to take you to jail for debt, you He says, 'Wow, so this works, so I can trust God with my cancer. I can also think of God for my son who is addicted, I can also think of God for my biggest financial problem. And then your faith increases, it is not money, it is the spiritual exercise through which God is putting you, so that you see that God is your provider, because many times most of us, as that Cuban song says, 'we are knife pen nothing more'. Have you heard it? Knifepluma is nothing else you ..... knifepluma nothing else. That's all.

And many of us, yes, glory to God. Hallelujah! we jump, we jump, we dance, we speak in language, but touch his pocket so you can see how he neighs like a horse. Because truly God has not done that work in our hearts, do you understand? And then God has to start breaking us.

Many times that important money that we have withheld goes to us in an operation, it goes to a car that didn't work, it goes to us in a divorce, it goes to a child that we have to waste the money. And what was the use of your keeping it? Why not give it in a noble and biblical way and see God in the legitimate way blessing you, multiplying it, keeping the devourer who wants to destroy your life, sewing up your broken pocket, so that your money doesn't go to other things?

When we learn to regulate life.... God wants then, brothers, that we succeed but that we succeed legitimately. The Apostle Paul speaks of running the legitimate race, fighting legitimately. And that means that God is going to have to put us through situations, experiences, difficulties, processes that we don't want. But he says, 'No, I want to make a warrior out of you. I want to make an athlete out of you. I want to make you a spiritual long-distance runner and marathon runner in life, but it's going to take time. Don't give up, as the Mexicans say, but stay on top of the goal.

Take a perspective on what? Long-term. Christ has said that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which is one of the smallest grains, one of the smallest seeds.... Have you seen a mustard seed? He can hardly see it because of how small it is, but he says that when it is planted and grows it becomes an immense bush, which serves as a cover for many birds and even for people, to catch shade under them. And the kingdom of heaven is like that, it begins as something small, and it says that it is like the woman who took a little yeast and put it on the mallet and that yeast leavened, all that immense dough. So you make a cake, a biscuit as the Caribbean say, you don't take yeast and add a quantity there, to a pound of flour..... a teaspoon, less than a teaspoon and that penetrates and goes all over the dough and expands it.

And the Lord made these comparisons to indicate something to us, brothers, and that is that many times the great things in life will begin as something very small and it will take time, but if you are faithful to the process, and you do not underestimate the day of small beginnings as the Bible says, and you exercise faith and stay on the job, at the same time that will yield you great, great benefits, great profits. But you have to stick with it for the long haul.

How many would like to be people who achieve their goals in life, huh? Amen. Well, let's get to work from now on and let's say how long it takes, it doesn't matter, because the one who started the good work will be faithful to finish it, says the Lord.

The one who said you're going to get to the other shore, you're going to get there, but it's going to take time, you're going to have a few scares. You're going to suffer. You are going to sweat, but the Lord tells you: 'I am with you, you are going to reach the goal.' Perhaps you are not going to arrive as you thought, perhaps you are going to have to sweat a little and you are going to have to learn some humble and tiny skills, but I am going to be with you and in the end you are going to be a spiritual giant. You are going to have what I promised you and you are going to have even other skills and other things that you did not think you were going to acquire along the way, because I work and work from the depths, I work from the foundation.

So, my brother, my sister, when you set yourself a goal in your life; my brothers who are there struggling in terms of stabilizing their financial life and want to get their house. Don't worry, in time God will get it for you.

Everything is time, everything is process. And God wants to train him, God wants to teach him and God says 'I will be with you. You will not miss anything on the way. Believe in me, work with me, hold onto my hand and I will lead you to the goal, because I keep what I promise,' says the Lord. Amen.

Let's stand up, brothers. We are going to thank the Lord for his faithfulness and we are not going to get tired on the road, not throwing up our gloves when things get difficult. Let's be people of discipline, persistent people, long-term people. The Lord keeps his promises, but many times he takes time and takes us through processes that are not what we expected, but are certainly what we needed. Amen.

God wants to create in you a powerful man, woman, full of faith, strong in spirit, capable of advising others, capable of blessing others with your stories of war and the victory that God has given you. had given. So let's get down to business, let's take the Lord's hand and leave ourselves for him. He knows what he is doing and he will take us to a safe place and port. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Father, thank you. We believe. We believe that if we keep our hands on the plow we will reach the goal. Maybe it will take us longer than we thought. Perhaps there will be unexpected processes, Lord, but today we believe in your faithfulness and we will thank you when we have seen, Lord, that you did not forget our request, that you were there all the time, and even though we went through the valley of the shadow of death, your you were with us, still in the oven, you were there working for us and making spiritual giants of us. Thanks, Dad. Amen. Amen.