Resilience: Calls for transformation

I want to continue our study of the word of the Lord and this topic that deals with that strange word, resilience. How to be resistant to adversity, how to use pain, loss, life struggles to be stronger, how to emerge victorious from all difficult and crisis situations in our lives. The Apostle Paul says that "Before, in all these things, we are more than victorious." In pandemics, in struggles, in life's deficits, we hit the devil with a home run, we take it off the field, off the field because we have that power from God. How can we prosper in the midst of crises? How can we harvest in the drought? How can we get water from the rock? And how can we use the negative experiences of this world to be more joyful, light, have a good mood, lightness of spirit, joy? One of my favorite images is that of the Apostle Paul thrown into a jail in Philippi, read the Epistle to the Philippians, in a Roman dungeon, probably having been flogged as he was so many times, unsure if he was going to get out alive or not. , saying, “Rejoice, again I say to you, rejoice.”

What allowed the Apostle Paul, in the midst of his struggles and afflictions, to be a man full of the joy of the Lord and call others to be joyful? That resilience, that ability to bounce back in the midst of trials, is what we want to adopt. And this series of sermons that I have been sharing with you has to do with, and invites us to, that position. We are free to be who we truly are. and the Epistle to the Corinthians, Second Corinthians:3, verses 16 to 18 calls us to that position of becoming what we really are, but that many times we are not aware of them. And another thing is this call from the word of God to be people in perpetual process, in a continuous process of liberation, growth, development, greater awareness of ourselves. That is what the word of God calls us to be. And here we have this passage from Second Corinthians, where Paul talks about the Jews. He says: “And even to this day, when Moses is read – he is speaking of those Hebrews, 2000 years ago – the veil is placed over their hearts…” And then, he adds, “…but when convert to the Lord, the veil will be removed, because the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Brothers, the Apostle Paul is telling us, when we experience the glory of God in our lives, like Moses. He is talking about that event in the Old Testament, he is talking about that experience of the Hebrews when Moses went up the mountain, he spent 40 days in the presence of the Lord and when he came down from the mountain, his penetration with the spirit of God had been so great that God infected him with his glory and the face of Moses reflected the glory of God. And when he came down the people were afraid of him. They were afraid to contemplate that glory of God. And that says something, in passing, about the condition of the Jews. Those Hebrews, those Israelites who were in the desert, were sinful people, resistant to the word of God, ungrateful, stiff-necked, and I believe that what is in us often leads us to resist. We do not want that glory of God, we are afraid of it. Now, when one is in Christ, one does not have to be afraid of the presence of God. You know that you are covered by the grace of the Lord. But these Jews, these Hebrews, were afraid and asked Moses to put a veil over his head and face, so as not to see that glory because they were afraid of it. And Paul says, today, still a thousand or so years later, - when he speaks here in the year 1 after Christ, - that veil that Moses had, which was like an impediment to fully perceiving the glory of God, still it's over them, it covers them and it covers the law, and it covers the word of God and they can't see it as it is. Now, when they turn to the Lord, that veil will be removed.

There is something here about when you step into the way of the Lord, when you receive Christ as your savior, when Christ becomes Lord of your life, you can have a much more direct experience of the glory of God than they ever did. those original Jews. You can perceive the glory of God directly in your life, you can experience and participate in the naked power of God that allows you to do extraordinary things. And that is what God wanted for the Jews as well. God did not want them to stay down. In the original, God's intention was to have perfect fellowship with his people, but they could not and would not. They did not want to see the glory of God reflected in Moses. But when we enter the path of the Lord, the veil is torn from top to bottom, which is what also happened. That veil that covered the most holy place, in the temple where the very presence of God was and that the high priest could only enter there once a year, fearing his death if he was not purified, today, we have access, He says, to the very throne of God by that wide path that God has opened through Jesus Christ. So, as we enter and be able to enter into the presence of God, we are made partakers of all the benefits, all the resources of heaven to live powerful and transformed lives. That is the key here. That now we have in Christ Jesus access to all spiritual blessings.

The word says that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places through Christ Jesus. And then, he says, “when they turn to the Lord, the veil is removed, because the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Brothers, let me tell you something, that in Christ Jesus we have freedom from our ties, we have freedom from our dominant sins, we have freedom from the wounds of the past, we have freedom from the chains that hold us back from living victorious, powerful, aggressive lives in the future. Lord, may you bless others, to achieve our dreams, to bless our families, to bring others to the knowledge of Christ, to live free and hopeful lives in the Lord. In the Lord we have freedom to experience great things. And that is what I want to point out this afternoon, brothers, that we occupy a privileged position and very different from that of those who saw the Lord only intermediary. By the way, I want to tell you that there are many people today, still in the Gospel, who are seeing the Lord through a veil and have not experienced the full glory of God, certain teachings have not dawned on them, certain rights that they have as Children of God. And they still live in religion or they live in passivity, or they live a very limited Gospel that does not teach them other deeper dimensions of the Christian life and the promises that God has for them.

Our brethren were talking today about these kinds of freedom in Christ, and these things are important because there are many people who come to church, punch out the card, sing two or three soggy hymns, listen to the sermon halfway, and go to their house exactly as they entered it and spend their lives in that position. And so, God wants more than that. God wants productive lives from us. God wants hopeful lives. God wants lives that can say in the middle of jail, “Rejoice, I tell you again, rejoice.” That they have freedom in Christ, that they are fighting but also winning victories, because the spirit of the Lord is in us, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. There can be no captivity if we are in Christ. If that captivity occurs, it is because something we have not learned, known, embraced, learned to use. There is a disconnect between what God has given us and made us and who we are today. And the idea of ​​the word is to unite with the power of God that is already within us. “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Therefore,” he says, “we all look with unveiled face – like Moses. Moses could see the glory of God because God gave him permission to do so and we can experience the glory of God because God gives us permission to experience it through Jesus Christ. So, he says, "We all beholding with unveiled face as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed from glory to glory into the same image as by the spirit of the Lord."

Wow! Look, dive into that word. Meditate on it this week. Let her get into the pores of your skin and the marrow of your bones. We are transformed from glory to glory. Do you know that you are in a process of gradual transformation? Or that's what you should experience. God is taking you through a process of gradual transformation. And if you are not experiencing that, something is wrong and you have to find the reason and join God's program. The Christian life is a life of perpetual transformation or it should be, of perpetual renewal, of winning battles, of ascending to new levels of human greatness, of personal development. I love it, I've said that before, one of my favorite verses, “For the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that increases until the day is perfect.” Do you see yourself as the light of dawn that you are every day that passes, going from glory to glory, from greatness to greatness, from step to step? That must be your experience. Don't settle for anything less than that. The Christian life is a life of perpetual transformation and renewal. Remember what the word Romans says, chapter 12, verse 2, "Do not be conformed to this century, but be transformed through the renewal of your understanding so that you may verify what is the good and perfect will of God." Romans 12, please. Renewal and transformation, the motto of the Christian life is renewal towards transformation. Every day God must be removing old components, old habits, old, destructive, negative thoughts, and replacing them with positive thoughts. There is the renewal, and the transformation is supposed to be that final result of our life, which by the way, I tell you that it will not be completely fulfilled here on earth, but it will be fulfilled when we are face to face before the Lord, when God gives us free from all tears, all sickness, all sadness and let us see his full glory. There the process that begins here on earth is completed.

But while we are on earth, we are verifying that good will of God, pleasant and perfect. If we are not being renewed, transformed, then we cannot experience that good purpose of God. The way to experience it is to get involved, get involved, throw ourselves into this process of continuous transformation and renewal. The first thing starts there, brothers. Say to yourself, “I am a construction site. I am a work of God that God is perfecting and polishing every day, and every day that I get up is a new day to move towards the call and the full purpose of God.” The Christian life is a gradual process of transformation. And that process of personal transformation and replacement of old perspectives and habits, I want to tell you, is tremendously arduous and difficult. Don't kid yourself about that. I believe that many times the Pentecostal world, to which I subscribe, is full of easy statements, such as that this is just claim it and it's yours. And we do an injustice to the children of God because this is a very arduous process, very difficult and also long-term, and by promising them easy things, what we are doing is deceiving them and then, when they stumble upon the reality of transformation, they get discouraged, or live an artificial life, putting on a lot of perfume without really washing well. And that is what happens in a lot of the Christian world today, people perfume but the bad smell is transmitted through their perfume also because they have not gone through the process of true personal liberation.

That's the second thing I want you to understand. First, God calls you to a life of transformation, second, that transformation process is arduous and difficult. Much of Christian teaching calls and invites us to be transformed but sometimes we are not sufficiently taught how to do it and what specifically is involved in that process. That is what I want in these next two sermons, I will preach the other one later, but… The question is, how can we change our way of thinking? How can we go through that process in a skillful way? The first thing, I think, that one has to do in the transformation process is to acknowledge our pain and our brokenness. Don't ignore the negative nature of our experiences. You have to be honest with yourself. One has to recognize their faults, recognize the bonds. Do not put another name to what you suffer from, your sins, your limitations. The giants must be named. You have to face the giants, you have to see them exactly how they are before beheading them. David, facing Goliath, knew that he was before a giant, and told him, "You come against me with a spear and with a sword." The devil is like that, he walks like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. It is bad. Satan is bad. How many know that the devil is bad? And our ties are hard. Our struggles are strong. We have to recognize them. We are not unaware of the negative nature of our situation and our experiences.

Being resilient and having a positive attitude is not about putting your head in the sand like an ostrich, or repressing our feelings, you have to recognize them. I find that resilient people are realistic and lucid people. More me the most mature Christians are those who see the world as it is and know themselves. They know which foot they're limping on. They do not try to pretend to be what they are not. Resilient Christians are people who admit their situation. They are lucid people. I meet many people on the road who delude themselves and walk like giants, but they are a long way from getting to that position. We have to start where we are and from there, then, God will take us where we need to go. Resilient Christians know that the world is a fallen place, that we inhabit a sinful world, a world that has hurt us, hurt us. We have had experiences from our past, we have committed serious sins, we have been subjected to injustice and abuse by our parents, society, our circumstances, we have perpetrated a number of injuries and abuses on ourselves. And that is a reality of the life of human experience. And many times when we come to the Gospel, we come like this, wounded, torn by Satan and by the world.

And in that acceptance of the negative, is the beginning of emotional health and a positive outlook. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your mercy, according to the multitude of your mercy, blot out my transgressions,” and he says, “for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you, against you alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” Look what a generous confession from David. We have to recognize which foot we are limping on. We have to recognize where we are and from there… Because many times in the charismatic world everything is, how are you? Oh, in victory. So and so. The devil is under my feet. Yes, it is, but sometimes the devil also bites your feet and we have to be careful with that. You have to know because many times that serves as an excuse not to deal with all the dirt that is inside of us. Don't get into that difficult and unpleasant process of starting to scrape caked-on food onto your plates. And we have to do that in order to achieve greatness. So, recognize where we are and who we are.

Secondly, recognizing that, we also have to recognize that there is another governing principle, in addition to that principle, there is another superior principle that governs the world. And what is that principle? That Christ has come to repair this broken world and that Christ has come to heal and save what had been lost, that Christ has come to undo the works of the devil, as the word says. He came to undo the works of the devil. And we could say, He came to dismantle the works of the devil, because that is the original of that term. That is the specialty of the Lord. That means that He came to replace that principle of the fall with a superior principle, the principle of redemption, salvation, the grace of God in the world. This world is right now in the process of rebuilding. Christ removed the poison from death and the devil and now we are in the process. This world is in a long-term process in which God is rebuilding it and bringing it to a state to which He wants to bring it and we are part of that rebuilding process. God has called us to be part of, to be collaborators in the Kingdom of God. But along with the recognition of our sins and our falls, and our attachments to depression, resentment, anger, low self-esteem, sexual addictions, thoughts that overwhelm us, along with that we have to acknowledge it to name it and then May the light of God shine on them, we have to recognize that Christ has also come to undo all these things.

Luke chapter 4, verse 18 to 21. It says that at the very beginning of his ministry Jesus was invited to a synagogue and when he arrived as the rabbi that he was, they invited him to share the word and they gave him the roll of the Book of Isaiah, I I know God had something to do with it being that particular roll. It says that when the Lord took the scroll in His hand and He entered the synagogue according to His custom, record that there. He was given the Book of the prophet Isaiah and the Lord took the book and opened it significantly to a passage from Isaiah. And he read the following words, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim freedom to the captives, to give sight to the physically and spiritually blind, to set the oppressed free, - all those who are oppressed from different ties, different situations - to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” And when He finished reading that it says rolling up the book, He gave it to the minister and sat down. He didn't sit down, like saying I'm done. No, He then sat down to preach because at that time the preachers sat with a stool. Nowadays we stand up, at that time the preachers sat down and it seems to me a very good idea sometimes when I am tired. He sat down and the eyes of the people were fixed on him. What does he mean by this? Why did you choose that passage? What is this mysterious man who is starting his career and already working miracles going to say? And it says, "And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' That was a declaration of war against the devil, against evil, against all those diseases and ties. He says, today, what you are looking at here is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in my person.

And that says something about Christ's ministry to us. He has come to do all those things. You know that the word that is translated salvation in Spanish is the Greek word sozo. And do you know what the word sozo means? It is not bland as bland, no, bland, it means salvation but it has a double meaning, salvation and healing. The same word is used in the Greek for both situations, which is why you see that when Christ healed some sick people he said, “Your faith has saved you and it has healed you too,” because it is the same word. Christ's program is very comprehensive and involves many different conditions and situations. The word sozo refers to healing, salvation, preservation, restoring destroyed things and putting them back in their original condition. Salvation in Christ is an all-encompassing process and the Lord wants to minister to all dimensions of your life. He wants to minister to your spirit, He wants to minister to your emotions, He wants to minister to your body, He wants to bless your family, He wants to bless your relationship with your brothers in Christ, your work, your relationship with your children, your life internal, everything The Lord comes to heal everything. He comes with a very large broom and a bucket full of soap and water to clean all areas of your life and bless your life. That is the program of Christ, a very comprehensive program. In the life of the believer, that Christ who wants to come to heal and save and bless and restore, that is the dominant and guiding principle in your life. We live under the redemptive banner of Christ Jesus. Christ has come so that we may have life and life in abundance. Not just a life given with a spoon, no, a life that He throws the whole bucket on you, a whole life, brothers. And I believe that by becoming participants in that plan of Christ, we can then enter into it. God wants to totally renew us. And sometimes, since this is not part of our program, we do not experience it.

Second Corinthians, chapter 5, says the Apostle Paul, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new.” When you come into Christ, that is the judicial reality that you occupy. That is your legal position. You are a citizen of the Kingdom of God. You become a foster child of God. The plans for you are good. He wants to treat you like a son of the kingdom. How many love their children? How many want to give good things to their children? How many want to be a source of blessing for their children? He is also the Father. The Father wants you to live a good, full, abundant life, and that you prosper both physically and spiritually. When you are in Christ you occupy a new legal, judicial position, you acquire a new identity. Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 6 says, “And He raised us up together with Christ,” by the way, that's the theme of Holy Week for us as a church, raised us up with Him, raised us up with Him. “Together with Him He raised us up and likewise he made us sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus.” He made us sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Oops, got the word wrong because I'm here at 22 Reed Street, or 20 Reed Street, in Boston. I am not sitting with Christ. But no, judicially, spiritually, in terms of your rights, of your identity, you are seated together with Christ in the heavenly places. Here it may be snowing and 15 degrees below zero, but you are there toasty, sitting in the presence of God, enjoying your identity in Christ Jesus. And we have to let our life be governed and determined by that position. The devil does not want you to understand that this is your true position and that this is your right as a child of God. That is our new condition and position.

We must meditate on that condition until it becomes our perspective and therefore we must reprogram our brain, change the dominant narrative in our mind. This is our task as we seek to move from an expectation of defeat, failure, disaster, to an expectation of goodness and success in Christ. Why do I say that? Because many of us have been hurt by life. What's more, we've been so hurt that we don't even know how much life has hurt us. Many of us were hurt at such a young age that we don't realize how deep the wrong has been done to us. I believe that there are people who were wounded in their mother's womb. There are people who were conceived in a sin or were conceived through rape, or were conceived at a time when the mother was depressed, or illegitimately and the mother rejected them in the womb, and rejected the coming of that child to the womb . And that son who participated in the same blood substance as the mother felt the rejection and sadness of that mother, and drank from that premature milk of pain and rejection. And when they come to life, they are already marked. And sometimes they live prisoners of a sadness that they don't know where it comes from, but it often comes from the spiritual rejection of that mother who felt ashamed because the child was conceived in an illegitimate situation or whatever. And others, from childhood, lived in homes where parents were so hurt that they experienced hitting, rejection, swearing, negative prophecies, abuse, lack of personal affirmation. And before they could even identify what they were experiencing, they were already the object of it. And then, they entered adulthood, adolescence with that program stuck in there day after day, and they can't think of any other way to see the world. Nor have they been able to identify that this is not the way they should feel.

And we have to understand that no, when we entered into Christ Jesus before the eyes of God, the old things passed away and behold, all things are made new. And one of the things we have to do is start giving up on that program. We have to viscerally reject it, because that is not God's program for us. That is not our identity. You have to reprogram the brain and change that negative narrative. Many of us live in the expectation that everything is going well, but don't worry, everything will fall apart in a few days. How many people are like that, even if you want to fight with them and tell them, look, “I congratulate you,” “But you are going to see what will happen in two or three days.” We live in that expectation of defeat and negativity. We can not. Because that expectation of defeat comes precisely many times because that is what we have experienced. Many people who have lived under a negative program, even in faith, cannot conceive of a God who has forgiven them, has loved them, wants good things for them, and that they have the right to aspire to greater things. And then we have to undo that program. That is why I say that this is an effort to help us see granularly what is behind the reprogramming process and entering into the fullness of life that God wants for us.

Let me tell you something that what you expect in life, that is what will come to you. This is what is called a negative faith. Just as there is a faith that brings good things, there is a faith that creates negative things and if we are always waiting for disaster to come, that is how it will happen to us. We have to believe that there are good things around the corner. But if you lived in a program where everything was negative, then it's difficult. If you believe that you still live under the shadow of your past, then so be it. Brethren, let me also tell you here in parentheses, because I look around and I know that there are many of you who are struggling right now. There are many people, and I am going to include myself in them too, we are in battle. There are difficulties, perhaps you are going through a crisis right now at this moment, perhaps there are emotional situations, perhaps there are financial situations, perhaps there are work or housing situations that you are going through right now and I invite you to know that That is not the final moment, that you are in the process. I tell people, this is just a photograph or a moment in a movie. It's a little frame in a movie much longer than that. You remember those days when the films were in rolls, and there were little images that changed a little and then, quickly it seemed something fluid. Well, that's your life right now. It's a frame, a little square in a movie and don't freeze it, don't freeze your life and say, well, what I'm going through is the end. God doesn't love me. The word of God cannot be trusted. Remember, the Christian life is a process that ends in the last of our days.

And in that process there are struggles, there are battles, difficult moments come, trials come. But you can't freeze the movie at that moment. And you have to see that better times will come, times of refreshment will come, times will come when you will look back and see that moment that seemed final to you, and you will say, it was a moment. How many of us can say the same? How many of us go through situations where we said, the devil is coming and is going to eat me alive? And God came and saved you and pulled you through and you grew up and you were blessed. Do not be intimidated by the fact that perhaps right now you are in the fiery furnace, because there is one that is going to come and be with you and will get you through. And you have to wait for that moment. Don't give up prematurely. Believe that God is powerful to use that time of trial to move forward. And I say that because some hear me say these things and say, yes, but the pastor doesn't know what I'm going through right now. Yes, what's more, he is with you because he is also going through his own struggle and difficulties.

How to reprogram the mind after years or decades of living under a negative perspective? The first thing in this reprogramming of the mind is to accept that it can be done, that this is possible, that you can change your mental habits, that perhaps you have been taking pills for depression for many years and you think that there is no change for you. you because you are so used to pills that there is no alternative. But you can break that habit. And by the way, I tell you that if you've been taking pills for some kind of insomnia, or whatever, don't quit immediately. There are consequences. Wait on the Lord. Now, if your faith gives you to do it. Amen, but I want to say that there is also room for you to gradually wean yourself from them while you receive more and more faith from the Lord. That depends, according to your faith it will be done to you. If you are addicted to nicotine or liquor, or whatever, God is going to free you and he is going to do the work. You can do it immediately, sometimes you do it all at once, but many times it's a long-term process.

And what we have to accept is that it is possible to change the patterns of the brain and mind. It is possible to change habits: anger, resentment, criticism, abuse of others, it is possible to change those habits and become that divine creature that God wants you to be. Accept that change is possible. The Bible says that with God all things are possible. Christ said, for men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible. Psychologists themselves tell us that the brain is eminently plastic and flexible. We can change our way of thinking. The brain is the most flexible and adaptable thing in the universe. Your brain is not that mass of neurons, that mass of meat that is in your head. No, the brain is more like an electrochemical connection of billions of electrochemical connections. And that can be changed, that can be adjusted and it is possible to change habits, thought patterns. That is, the word of God tells you that it should be what is truly important to you, but psychologists also tell you that one can change habits of thought.

Number 1, accept that it is possible and second, I believe that we also have to accept that it is a difficult undertaking. It is an arduous process, it will require a lot of commitment and a lot of effort on your part. If you are struggling, struggling with a habit, it is a difficult process. It will take time on many occasions. You have to tear down old neurological structures, old mental habits, and you have to replace them with new ones. And to many of us that sounds like oh, the pastor is denying the power of God. No, what I am acknowledging is that in my personal experience of decades of fighting against my own ties and my own difficulties, I have learned that this is hard work. It is an effort that, no matter how much you confess, claim, rebuke, there is a real fight in us that we have to give it. And that is a long-term process and I am not going to promise you something that in my own life has not been true. And I have seen it in thousands of people with whom I have interacted through the years of ministry. I tell them that the one who thinks he is very clean and polished, is often the one who smells the most. It's hard. The most spiritual people dig deep and you will see the holes there too. It takes time. You have to replace bad habits with good habits little by little. Therefore, we have to take a long-term perspective, even when we have God's full backing, it takes time.

And one reason, brothers, why this is so, is that God does not violate our freedom. God works through our freedom. He works in cooperation with us. He respects us. Many of us believe that what God should do is lift the lid of our brains and touch us with a little needle and remove all the little devils that are in our minds. That would be easy, but God says, no, I respect you. God never violates your freedom. God never violates your inherent dignity. He created you free and I believe that part of the difficulty of redemption of the world and of the children of God is that God limits himself. It's not that he can't do it, he can do whatever he wants. But God respects us as free beings and He only touches us with extreme respect. To the extent that we are releasing parts of our being to Him and we are working with Him, He is entering and entering. But God does not come in and force himself on us. And if it did, it would impoverish the divine process of restoration and transformation. As I say that, the image of a butterfly in its cocoon comes to my mind, in its chrysalis, cocoon, in English. Think of a worm that gets inside that chrysalis, that casing, its impure flesh practically melts and from that biological mass that has just melted, something different is being formed inside that chrysalis that instead of crawling along the ground and being rejected, is turning into something beautiful, colorful, winged, ethereal, but it is in there being formed. And then, when the moment arrives in which this renewal process has been consummated, which is called metamorphosis, change of shape, that worm has already become a butterfly, now it has to come to the surface, because butterflies have to fly and decorate the world. And what happens then is that this butterfly in its chrysalis has to fight with the cover that encloses it. And in that process it develops its wings to be able to fly. And if you prematurely want to help the butterfly and break the chrysalis instead of it, you will not be able to fly. It is damaging her and it is damaging her destiny. She has to fight the crust that covers her in order to fly and you have to let her fight that and break the chrysalis and come out on her own.

And I believe that something like this is what God does with us. God puts us in his treatment laboratory and we want God to come and break the carnal shell that prevents us from being what God wants us to be, and we rebel and say, "Why don't you free me from this?" and God says, "Because you are a worm in butterfly formation and I want you to learn to fly and glorify me with your own struggle." And so God allows us to wrestle and wrestle with our humanity so that we can learn a number of much-needed things. What things do we learn when we are struggling with our own ties? We learn self-knowledge, we learn mercy, we learn humility, faith, patience, long-term vision, waiting on the Lord, accepting ourselves, self-awareness. A number of things and virtues that are what constitute a man, a truly mature and powerful woman. If God were to shorten the process, He would be preventing you from accessing all of those things. And because He loves you so much and respects you so much, He allows you to struggle many times with those things. Don't deny it. Embrace the process. Sometimes the struggles of life, the losses are the greatest demonstration of God's mercy and love, that God who wants us to be like Him, like Christ, who defeated everything the devil threw at him. And God wants you to also be a winner, a hero, a man, a woman experienced in brokenness, but who gives glory to God and grows and makes yourself beautiful. Many times in our superficial lives we are useless, we are ugly, we are disgusting, and God has to bleed us dry and crucify us so that we can enter into our own resurrection and our own transformation. Do not shy away from the process, that is why this process is so difficult, that is why I am not here to tell you that everything is going to work out for you, that you are not going to have problems in the fight, that you are not going to have financial reverses. You will have them because it is that God glorifies himself in our difficulties and our struggles. His will in you is perfected through the zigzagging nature of the transformation process. In the process you learn all these virtues that glorify God. And when God looks at you, God says, "That's my son, that's my daughter, an overcomer, an overcomer." And I want to invite you to that process.

There is much more that I want to share with you and we will do it along the way, but today I want you to understand that God calls you to live in a sinful world but also to live in his adoption of you, his promise of victory, his call to the life of fighting and of a soldier. You are a soldier, you are an athlete, you are a hero that God has called you to. He has not called you to simply grow fat with his blessing, he has called you to live the life of a warrior and adorn the world with your greatness and bless others, and draw them into the Kingdom of God, and be an example of the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. . That is what God calls you. Accept it, receive it right now. Bow your head, stand up, whatever you want, and say, “Lord, I accept your call. You have made me great. You have made me powerful. You have invited me to be powerful and powerful like Christ. You call me to transformation, to lift wings like eagles. You did not call me to an easy life. You called me to a heroic life, to glorify Christ and even if it takes time, even if the struggle is long, even if the road is difficult, even if it is populated by giants, even if you do not take away the giants from the land that you have promised me , I know that you have called me to decapitate the giants and to occupy the land.” I will never leave you, I will never forsake you. I am with you, as I was with the great men and women of Scripture, I am with you too. I only ask you one thing, don't let the word get away from you. Strive and be brave. Do not worry. Do not faint, I will be with you wherever you go. Do not give up. Do not recognize a single drop of supremacy to the devil and the principle of evil. My thoughts for you are good. I invite you to undertake this long-term walk with me. In the long run, I will be with you wherever you go.

Father, we embrace your call, we embrace your promise, it is good that you have not made life easy for us. How good that you have called us to be powerful in Christ Jesus and promises us victory. Bless this town. Accompany him in his struggles, Lord, in his sufferings, sufferings, I bless them with your blessing in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen, may the Lord bless you, my brothers. Amen.