When they try to trick you

Chapter 9, Joshua chapter 9, and before getting into the word, I want to share a testimony or rather maybe a confession depending on how you look at it.

But a story from the first summer (thank you), thank you, my first summer as a pastor here at the church in the year, I don't know what, 98 there. And I was here in the church, on the second floor, at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon from what I understand, we didn't even have a secretary at that time, I was here alone and a lady came in, a lady came in sweaty, crying, tired, a serious lady. She had her doctor or nurse vest on, I don't know what, I knew she worked in the hospital, right? She was a health professional. She came in all excited, sweaty, crying and telling me that she had left work at the hospital and they had assaulted her, mind you, and they had taken her wallet and she was without anything, all anxious about what had happened, so I eat a good Young pastor, I took time to calm her down, to take time with her, to pray with her and all that.

Then I asked her, can I help you with something?, maybe you need for the train or the bus, she says look yes, I need it, she said, 65 dollars to take a bus back to Wooster. They took my cell phone, I don't have anything, so I, like a good Christian, gave them 65 dollars, right? Because she was a person in need, and all of her left and thank God, I imagine, she returned home.

Then the next day talking to the pastor I told him the testimony and it turns out that the same woman had arrived 2 weeks earlier with the same story, the same story and the pastor had given her 65 dollars precisely the same same as I had given him.

It gave me comfort to know that at least I'm not the only one, right? The pastor and I looked at each other thinking... but what a daring thief, right? Who comes to the same church in two weeks looking for pastors with the same story and manages to do it twice in a row, you have to respect her, she's bad but at least she's an expert in what she does, right? You have to respect that.

I learned something, I learned that things are not always what they seem to be, right? I learned that we cannot always be carried away by the appearances of things. I feel the Lord speaking to us through this text from the Bible that we are going to read, about how to have our spiritual antenna up, because we do not live in a peaceful world, we live as Pastor Sammy said, on a battlefield.

Book of Joshua, chapter 9 verse 1, there we are going to read, first let me give you a little background. The history of the people of Israel, that people had already come out of slavery, in what country? where were they as slaves? In Egypt, very well discipled 1 they already passed their exam, very well. They left Egypt and then they had to wander in the desert for 40 years for their disobedience and after that Moses died. Joshua rose as the leader of Israel and they were about to conquer the land of Israel.

So they under the anointing of the Holy Spirit literally like a pillar of fire passed through the Jordan River which opened before them, a great miracle. They entered the land and one day Joshua walking he met an angel, with an uncovered sword who said: “you are going to conquer the city of Jericho” and Joshua says: “but how? Jericho is all locked up” and God gave him a crazy strategy. Does anyone remember what they had to do to conquer? What did they have to do? Seven times playing what? Their… shofars, brothers of the shofars continue to play and the walls have already fallen and entered and conquered the land, thank God.

Then sin was discovered in the field, they had a man named Acá who had a hidden idol and God revealed that that sin was there and they removed the sin from among them. Later, with more anointing than ever, they conquered another group of enemies from Ai City.

They were already living in victory, they renewed their pact, they had a cult, a revival renewing the pact, blowing the shofars and singing to God, they were as they say in English – On top of the World – on top of the world in victory.

How much do we know that after coming out of bondage, after going through struggles and winning and winning and walking in victory can be a dangerous time? Look, I see that many times it is the people who are already living in victory, feel free, who have already conquered some enemies and even share testimonies and public things and this is it, this is the moment that we are tempted to let our guard down a bit. little, and the enemy comes with traps.

So let's read a case of that, in Joshua chapter 9, God bless your word I ask you.

“....So when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan heard these things, both on the mountains and on the plains and on all the coast of the Great Sea before Lebanon, the Hittites , Amorites, Canaanites, Perezites, Hivites and Jebusites....”

Some think, and who are all these “eos”? I don't understand; They are enemy tribes of Israel and so there are many with us, there are enemies in this world and we live in an environment of spiritual warfare.

“...These enemies came together to fight against Joshua of Israel plus the inhabitants of Gibeon when they heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they used cunning because they went and pretended to be ambassadors and took sacks old on their donkeys and old torn and patched wineskins and old and overcooked shoes on their feet, with old clothes on them, and all the bread they brought for the journey was dry and moldy. And they came to Joshua's camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the Israelites, "We come from a faraway land, so now make an alliance with us." And the Israelites answered the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us, how then can we make an alliance with you? They answered Joshua: “we are your deer” and Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from? And they answered, "Your deer have come from a faraway land for the name of Jehovah your God, because we have heard of his fame and all that he did in Egypt and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan; to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, If you are not already registered, you can from Bashan, who was in Astaroth. For which reason our elders and all the inhabitants of our land told us, "Take provisions for the road in your hands and go to meet them and tell them we are your deer, now make an alliance with us." This is our bread, we take it hot from our houses for the road the day we leave to come to you. Here they are, now dry and moldy, these wine skins we also took new, here they are, our clothes also already torn, and our shoes were already old because of the very long journey. And the men of Israel took their provisions and did not consult the Lord, and Joshua made peace with them, and celebrated an alliance with them, granting them their lives, and the princes of the congregation also swore to it. Three days after they made an alliance with them, they heard that they were their neighbors who lived in the midst of them and the children of Israel left and on the third day they came to their cities, and their cities were Gibeon, Caphira, etc., and they did not They killed them, the children of Israel, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.

And all the congregation murmured against the princes, but all the princes answered the whole congregation, 'we have sworn to them by Jehovah, the God of Israel, therefore now we cannot touch them.'

So thank God, I'm not the only one who gets fooled from time to time. But brothers, this is an example for us because we as Christians do not live a quiet life. Look, we believe that there is a spiritual world and that there is an enemy who has come to steal, kill and destroy, but thank God we serve a good shepherd Jesus, who has come so that we may have life, and life in abundance.

But there is a battle going on in our lives, there is an enemy who is cunning, and who knows how to make traps for you. He knows what our flaws are and what our weak areas are and he devises traps to try to make us fall.

Note that it is one thing, if the devil comes dressed in red, right? who comes with a demon face, we say I rebuke you in the name of Jesus and we know who our enemy is. But it is something else, when the enemy comes through the back door, it is one thing to be defending the front door, but there is also spiritual warfare that comes through the back door and brothers, anyone can be deceived and trapped by that enemy and that is an example for us.

So what about Israel? As we spoke, they were fine, they were victorious, they had won great battles and their relationship with God was strong, better than ever. And these people came dressed in torn clothes, tired, burned by the sun, their animals emaciated with hunger. They came and offered a peace alliance with Israel.

Now it was a pagan country that actually lived next door and they had the Lord's mandate not to live with the pagans, but to displace them, this was their mandate at that time. But those people, they presented themselves as something else. Now, how many of us know that sometimes Satan comes dressed as an angel of light, right? ... misleading, it seems so innocuous, so innocent, there is nothing wrong here, they are good people, kind people. They say: "we have heard from your God, and we want to be your deer", an alliance with you how nice!! How cute, good stuff.

So how many of us know that there are lies that sometimes come in disguise and are traps that come for us? So but Israel, the Israelites were not fools, they believed in the Lord and look at what they say in verse 6, they say in verse 6 or not, no they say (sorry) a lie, in verse… well… they question it to the At first, they really say (i am totally lost), but it's somewhere here in the verse… I have it written down, they say:

“....perhaps you dwell among us, as then can we make an alliance with you?....”

Verse 7 is? Seven "...perhaps you live among us, how can we make an alliance with you?..."

So they had a feeling that something was wrong with that, there was a feeling that they did not know. , maybe you live near us, you had a healthy suspicion, ok? How much do we know that God does not want us to be cynical people? No? cynical works in Spanish the same as in English, I have always been wary of everyone, always thinking, what does this bring? Without trusting anyone. God doesn't want that, we can trust sometimes, but how much do we know that even Jesus had a healthy suspicion for people?

The word says that Jesus knew what was in the heart of the other man, he did not need another to tell him what was in the man, he knew that man has malice sometimes, many times; Most of the time. Jesus knew, that's why he came to die, to pay the price for human sin.

So they had that "check" inside that told them "there is something wrong", like a stop, an indication that I should not take this street, how many know that inner stop that you feel at times? Something tells you, "oh no, don't do that", what do we do many times when we feel that check? We continue, right? We say no, no, no and continue, and how many have experienced the consequences of not listening to that little voice inside that tells you “look here there is a hidden cat, be careful, there is something” There is something hidden.

They felt that, so they asked the question, how? Who are you and where are you from? Who are you? They say: Look and they come with their story. look, we came from afar and they showed the test, their clothes were undone, the bread was already bad, everything was verified as for me, that woman who has the doctor's vest, they must be a good and honest person, right?

So they looked at the thing with their eyes and look what happens in verse now I will know, 14, verse 14 says:

“....the men of Israel they took their provisions and did not consult the Lord....”

They began to analyze the situation, to think and look, to find out if the story, if the tale, if the lie was true, and they look and investigate and think and analyze and everything looks good, but what did they stop doing? What did they stop doing?

Notice that at that time, they had a way, a direct line with God, as we have now, but even more so because they had prophets, they had ways of hearing directly from God. They asked for advice and God gave them advice on what to do and what not to do, but they just used their rational human mind and didn't take, didn't take time to pray.

Now I want to take the opportunity to say that there is nothing wrong with thinking, I wish we would think more about life, right? I wish we used our heads more than we do, but if we use the human mind and nothing else we are in danger of falling into traps the enemy has for us.

In Proverbs it says ".... look to the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths...."

My mind deceives me because I see things but maybe I don't see them correctly, I can be wrong, there is humility in saying: "God, I know that you know better than me, you know the heart, you know reality". I analyze and think but I also stop to pray, stop pray, God that you have in this, what do you want me to do, what is in your heart for me? Extend that spiritual antenna to receive transmission from on high, amen.

So when they didn't, then they entered into a sinful alliance, an alliance that never existed, let's say a friendship that God did not want for them. How many of us here know that not all friendship is from God for our lives? That some connections we should never have formed, that do not lead us to anything good. That's how it was for them, it was a pagan country.

Moreover, it carried long-term consequences for them. Because they were in this alliance, they had to defend that nation in the war, so there were entanglements, complications for many years because of what they had done.

How much do we know... and now, I repeat this many times because we all experience this at some point, that our decisions sometimes carry long-term consequences.

I want to take a winged moment to say that even though the enemy comes as an angel of light, it could be a job that they offer us where we can earn more money and everything would be more beautiful, notice that this happened, my Dad when I was young, they offered him a job with a lot of money but he would have to be in an environment, as they say in English, very cutthroat, something from New York, I don't know about the stock market, I don't know what. And he, nor Christian, took a moment back and thought "ok, there is money but there will also be consequences for my family and other things" and he decided, look, I'll settle for less money and a healthier life, right? He was neither a Christian nor is he, but he made a good decision and I benefited from that wisdom that he took.

We sometimes get fooled by offers that are too good, right? It could be that prince charming that comes, who says all the right things... I'm not going to go into that, right? But I do want to say, sometimes Israel screwed up and they got into something that they wouldn't have done. But then God's will was for them to deal with the consequences faithful to God.

Sometimes it is, sometimes you get into situations where you never would have been. There are consequences but God later blesses you for being faithful in the situation, right? Maybe you took a job, I don't know what happened but then you were faithful and God blesses and still uses our mistakes to bless us sometimes, right?

But I don't want to encourage anyone to sin so that grace may abound, please. But we know that God uses everyone if we are faithful, if we say what now? And I am faithful in the situation and God blesses, God blesses. So I wonder why they stopped consulting the Lord? Why do you think? What would have been the causes of their not doing it? I think... I don't know... but I can, (I can take some guesses...) I can think of some possibilities, right?

Maybe I don't know, do we have some, let's say brothers or sisters, who don't like to stop the car to ask anyone for directions? Is there someone here who is like that? Is there someone pointing to the person next to you that you are content with driving the car and driving around for two hours, better than stopping at a gas station and asking for directions, right? Will there be some? No… why do you do it? Because... ok, slowly there are wives pointing out... it's a sin for both genders, right? Of pride, look I can, I can figure this out, I know, since I am… confident in my own knowledge, I don't need to ask anyone, right?

So this is a possibility. They thought "look, we are from Israel, we are the conquerors, we have wisdom, we do not always have to ask God for questions." Notice that I observe this sometimes so subtly, people after growing up in their lives, put themselves in order, begin to say ahh, why stay in worship and listen to the pastor?... I already read the Bible, why listen ? Why go to the cell? I already know the things of God, I feel pride that is beginning to enter, right? And that the enemy takes advantage of that.

Another possibility was that they took action based on emotionalism, on emotion, instead of taking time to inquire of God. How many of us do this from time to time? Acting with the heart at the moment due to a good impulse that exists, perhaps they already saw these people as sad, hungry people, who wanted an alliance, who used flattering words - you are so great, your God and we want to be your deer - and they got carried away with emotion and took a wrong action.

Brothers, the Bible says that the heart is deceitful above all things, who can know it? Your heart deceives you sometimes, and for that reason and sometimes we say that it is God speaking to us, right? But it is not like that, it is our emotion, we are self-deceived many times, and we have to know it. I can deceive myself, that is why it is even more important to ask the Lord for a consultation.

The third possibility that I can think of as to why they did not consult God is maybe, they forgot to do it, maybe there is no deep reason, maybe they forgot, they forgot to do it, they neglected , nothing so terrible, it's just that they were busy and did not think to pray. How many here know that many times we stop praying not because we are in sin, or we do not believe that it is not necessary, but because we are busy? Life here is a bit busy at times, isn't it?

It's different, I remember and I know I talk about it a lot, but I think it's something very strong in our experience, I've visited Latin American countries and people work hard and but I don't know, God stretches the weather in Santo Domingo and in Honduras and Argentina. There is time to eat, for people to visit without warning that… where does it come from? People work, work hard, hard, right? They do it but there is time and here we run, run, run two, three jobs - oh well we want an appointment, well let's look in the agenda -.

Look, me and my wife make appointments with the diary, ok, well, we're going to take such days… that's terrible, right? But in this world, if you don't plan, you don't do it. You have to plan the important things or they don't happen. You have to set aside time and be aggressive about it. I think they left... maybe they forgot to take time to seek God. And the enemy takes advantage and comes through the back door.

Brothers, I hope we are awake people, there is a reason that Jesus told his disciples "pray and watch so that you do not fall, so that you do not enter into temptation", Jesus you know, we were not speaking here of extreme sins right? of adultery, of I don't know what, of robberies, right? murderer, we are talking about carelessness that leads to more serious temptations. Sin does not start out of nowhere, sin enters when we have already begun to neglect the small disciplines. Being faithful to take time to stop and seek God in my life. And pray with him.

So I want to talk a little bit about that. I want to be and I want us to be an awakened church, that we have our spiritual antenna “up” and turned to the “on” position to listen to the transmissions of the Holy Spirit. But you know that this does not come automatically. Our spiritual radio does not turn on automatically. We have to do it. We have to keep pending to be connected with Christ.

In the book of John 15, if you want to look it up in John 15: Jesus said:

“.....I am the true vine...”

Why does Jesus say I am the true vine? Why not just say say I am the vine and you are the branches? You know that there are other vines, there are other sources of strength in life that we can look for if we let ourselves be fooled. Jesus says: “there are many options but I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman”. John 15:1 and verse 2:

“...every branch in me that does not bear fruit he will take away, and every branch that does bear fruit he will cleanse so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean by the word that I have spoken to you, abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself if it does not remain on the vine, so neither can you if you do not abide in me...."

It says “you are already clean”, that is, if you have accepted Jesus as Lord and savior you are clean, you are already connected, you are in Christ. But now it is the process of staying connected to Jesus and this requires some discipline on our part, it is the grace of God that flows from him. But if we are not connected, we lose the benefit of that life that comes from him.

Look at what he says in verse 5: “I am the vine, and you are the branches, branches, he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit because apart from me you can do nothing ”.

Brothers, there is nothing uglier than trying to be a Christian without Christ and I have tried it many times, I try to lead a Christian life without praying and seeking the strength of the Lord is misery. But wow… when we do it well, when we live for Christ, with Christ, what a joy!!! What forces!! Because we are not in the fight alone, I don't know if you have had this experience.

When you neglect prayer for a while, the old you starts to come out, right? Old man, do you understand what I'm saying? So everyone has an old you, a bad guy, a monster. Discipleship 12, the little monkey that is inside, that we are already trying to starve him, and we neglect to feed the spirit and that monkey grows, that monster grows and the old one comes out, the old one, I know, it is with everyone us, this happens. Look, the flesh never dies, it's there, we crucify it every day and feed the spirit, but if we don't, the old man begins to sprout.

“Apart from me you can do nothing.” What a beautiful prayer, the Lord apart from you I can do nothing. But I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me, thank God. How good to repeat that a hundred times a day, - apart from You I can do nothing but in Christ I can do everything -, thank God.

It is a constant struggle brothers, I want us to remind ourselves today of the spiritual disciplines, because this is the way to keep the antenna up and pray and watch so as not to enter into the traps that the enemy sets for us. spiritual disciplines.

Two weeks ago, the pastor was talking to me and told me: “I feel that we have to re-emphasize spiritual disciplines”, discipleship 1, we are not talking about anything fancy, how many of us know what daily discipline is? what should we do? Discipleship 1 I want to listen to it, and to pray an appointment with God, right? Set aside some time… as I said before, if you don't plan it, it's more likely that you won't.

How many here use an agenda? How many here use an agenda? ok., very good, some yes, some no, it's fine. I encourage everyone to use an agenda to plan the important things in life and to know that if this matter of prayer, family time, the important things in life, taking care of one's health, are so important that I do not want to leave them alone We'll see, if I can do it or not, (I don't want to leave it to chance) we take time to plan when I'm going to pray, where I'm going to pray, how I should... I already feel discipleship, forgive me, I'm coming back to that, but how should the place be... our place and time of prayer. Where it should be…

You know what? I learned that your time does not work, your appointment with God if you do it with a baby awake next to you, I am learning that in my life. I thought the brilliant idea came to me, and I already have a baby, I love being with him every second I can, right? so I have my little place in my kitchen, right? Everyone knows, I have talked about that, my little place where I sit with my coffee, the light comes in at a certain time in the morning and I already have my Bible and that's it... it's my meeting tabernacle with God and there I am. I thought well, I am going to invite Noah to be with me, to be with me in my prayer tabernacle, so I put him there in the bouncing seat and we are already happy and praying and… what do you think happens when I do this? No? Either he spits or he (you know), laughs or cries or relieves himself or does something to distract me and after an hour I ask myself, did I really pray? What did I read? I'm in the same verse, what's happening here?.

Now, I think it's nice to pray with the family, but what we're talking about is a separate time that you set aside where you can be concentrated with Christ, right? It may be... I recommend early in the morning, before the demons wake up, as they say, right? You are there alone with God, with your Bible, the children are in bed and you are with your Bible and you pray and you have your time with God ok? If this doesn't work for you, maybe it could be in the workplace but I don't recommend doing it next to the phone or next to the supervisor's office that gives you more work to do, during the break, if there is an empty room where you can go, that's your place or maybe you arrive before work, fifteen minutes before and you get in your car, in a parking lot where you close the door. If you are at school maybe there is an empty classroom during lunch hour and you are allowed to be there for a few minutes and have your time with God.

In college I used a closet, a closet, sometimes if there was no other place and one day, there in the closet, I felt that I had to go out and I didn't know why and I open the door and a person there trying to open the door also who screamed and almost killed me right? Because I didn't expect to see a person in the closet. But at that time it was my tabernacle of meeting with God, a place apart.

Brothers, we have to look for places like this and it is not easy, it is not easy, you know that many times I think we neglect these things, not because we are bad people but because we are already overwhelmed by the desire for life. It is time to say "look God, I want to return to the source, you are the vine, I am the branch apart from You I can do nothing".

It's the same with fasting brothers, fasting works, fasting, what is fasting? What is fasting? You stop eating some or all of it for a day or maybe you only drink liquids or water or for half or all of the day or three days. How many of us know that the day, the moment you decide to fast, I am not going to eat until tomorrow at 9 in the morning, at that moment soon what will happen to you? hungry and someone is going to give you free food. I assure you, it's going to happen, it's sure to happen because there's an enemy that doesn't want you to do it, right? and it's not that the person who offers you food is the servant or anything like that, but it's that it's difficult for us, we have to plan it, we have to set aside time and not let ourselves be carried away by emotions.

Brothers, it may be during your prayer time, that you are praying, giving thanks to God, perhaps singing a church hymn, perhaps you are making requests for your family, for the world, for your brothers in the church, perhaps you are giving thanks, many things that one, many topics to talk with the Lord, right?

So you're there praying and what if you don't feel a thing? All the time you spend, say half an hour, an hour and pray and talk, talk, talk and feel nothing. Perhaps here, when you sing, you feel the presence of God and you cry, but there, at home, what happens? Sometimes what if you don't feel anything? Does this mean that you have not had a profitable time with God? Does it mean you didn't get into the spirit?

Brothers, we live by faith and not by sight, we live by faith and not by feelings. If you depend on your feelings you will be discouraged very soon and you will stop doing it. Because my emotions go up and down, sometimes I feel all happy and full and love and I feel the anointing, other times I feel dry, dry, dry. It doesn't matter, I live by faith and not by feeling.

So we set aside time and pray and read the word and sing, try to start the engine to feel happy in the thing, but if there's no feeling it doesn't matter, we don't give up.

Brothers, sometimes we hold vigil here. We spent the whole night singing and praying, do you think that every minute we are electric with the anointing? No, it's time… there is a reason that says that he waits on Jehovah, there is time to wait (that`s ok), okay, it is a long process but there is a blessing that comes, there is a blessing that comes later.

It is the same with fasting, sometimes you fast and at the moment the only anointing you feel is hunger and anointing to eat that is the only thing you feel and you think "oh forgive me Lord I failed", no, no, no and do you know what happens? Sometimes you fast all day, you pray, you set aside time at mealtimes and you try to pray and you read something in the bible, you don't feel a thing but maybe the next day or two pahhh the anointing is there right?

There is a saying and I have said that because I use this verse a lot, in English it says: “draw near to the Lord and he will draw near to you”, come close to Jehovah and he will come close to you. No? I have heard another version, a half-invented version that says “draw near to the Lord and he will sneak up on you when you least expect it”. Come closer to Jehovah and he will surprise you when you least expect it. Because he blesses those who seek him.

We have to believe that there is a reward if we invest in that and it is like that, maybe all day you pray, you pray you don't feel anything but then, next week on the pahh bus, a bomb from the Holy Spirit falls on you, this happens. Or new strength to say no to a temptation, or love for that coworker who annoys you, or discernment to recognize when there is a hidden trap offered to you, temptation in disguise.

You have to walk in the spirit and be connected to the vine to have the antenna up and resist the traps of the enemy. Brothers, it is a process, it is an everyday decision, to cultivate communion with the Holy Spirit.

And I feel, I know that in a group this big, it is possible, it is very possible, it is true that there are many who have never tried to have a regular time with God, I encourage you today say: "Lord, you invite me and I want to try that", do you know when I started doing this? I had not converted, nor was I a Christian yet, but I asked my cousin, what do I do if I want to grow spiritually? And he said, perhaps he thought he was already converted, he said "look, set aside a little time every night before going to bed to read something from the Bible and pray and you will see what will happen." I didn't know I was being plugged into a divine electricity that led to a life transformation, I didn't know it at the time, but it was powerful. I encourage you to do it, say: look, "I'm going to try this, I'll go two or three times."

Pastor Sammy announced a vigil this Friday beginning at 7:30, half vigil. Perhaps you have never come to one of these, come and come with a heart willing to seek God, to pray, to say: “look, whatever happens, I am going to enter the presence of God, I am going to knock on that door ”, I encourage you to decide, to seek more of God.

Try a fast, uff a fast, maybe you've never done it. Set aside some time, maybe half a day, a whole day to fast.

Some of you are thinking “but what a soft sermon, Gregory” I already pray an hour and a half every day, two hours every day, and how lazy are you, okay? You know that if you are like that, if you pray every day, I encourage you in the Lord to enter another level, to decide if you pray for one hour a day and set aside times to pray two, and try to stretch your spiritual muscles because it is no longer time to play with God, it is time to be sure in whom we have trusted.

Brothers, this is not to be played with. I see people sometimes begin to think: "ahh I'm already strong, it's not so necessary to seek God in this way, come to groups, I don't know what", and I see the consequences, where it leads them and it's not daylight and night, it is the enemy that comes through the back door and they do not see it because discernment is low.

Brothers, God is calling us to be, to pray and watch so as not to fall into temptation, to be awake in the Lord. There is a verse that Jesus said:

“....behold, I send you out like sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and harmless as doves...”

When we are in prayer there is a life that is there, a spiritual life that is in us, there is a joy that is there, a peace, an ability to deal with things. I want to walk in that light and I want us as a church to never become so sophisticated that we forget that apart from him we can do nothing. Amen.

So I want to invite the musicians and we are going to take a moment of prayer, and I invite you to that, that for each one, whether you are a new person or a person who has been in the Lord for years to say "I want to get closer to you, I do not want to neglect what is necessary to connect to You because I know that the enemy sometimes comes disguised as an angel of light but you are with me in all things".

So let's stand up and pray, take a moment before God. Amen. Amen

Lord, we are in your presence Lord, and you say: "wake up you who sleep and rise from the dead and Christ will enlighten you, therefore be careful when you walk, not as fools but as wise, making good use of the time because the days are bad.

Lord, I ask you in the name of Jesus, that we be more awake. Wake me up, wake us up Lord, we confess that we often neglect to inquire of You thinking that we are so wise, many times we neglect simple disciplines, but Lord, today we come before You, you in your word say, "behold, I am in the knocking on the door, whoever hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

Lord, I recognize that you are at the door of my life and the door of this church of every adult, of every young person, even of children who can understand, knocking on the door, inviting us, Lord, to more intimacy with you Lord. Thank you Lord that it is not out of shame but out of love that we enter your presence.

I encourage you in your mind to visualize yourself seeking God, it can be in many ways, maybe you visualize yourself using your imagination, maybe you visualize yourself with your hands raised singing to the Lord in worship Maybe it will be at home alone reading the word or praying, maybe you are singing to the Lord I don't know what, maybe you are silent, meditating on a verse. Visualize yourself going deeper into the Lord. Visualize yourself in the embrace of your God, he is there with you, he invites you.

Now we are going to raise our hands before Lord, we want to Lord, we want to respond to you Lord, we want to enter your voice, you invite us Lord and you say that your sheep hear your voice, you are the good shepherd You know your sheep by name and you call us and many times Lord, we don't listen and that voice gets weaker and weaker until we don't hear it anymore. So Lord, we tell you, today we want to be close to You Lord, closer to You Lord, we want to open our hearts Lord and enter into your presence. Thank my Lord.