In God there is always a solution

We come to the book of Isaiah, from the prophet Isaiah, Chapter 43. We have taken a break from our theme that has occupied us for a good number of weeks about the Holy Spirit, the spirit-filled life, but we are going to pick it up now when start the new year. We have not forgotten that, we have not left it like that in the air either. But in these Christmas times, in these times of the beginning of the year and all these things, it is good to also take moments to meditate on God's faithfulness and on his promise to us. Isaiah 43, verse 1, says “...now, thus says the Lord, your creator, O Jacob, and your maker, O Israel, fear not....”

Repeat after me that word, 'Do not fear.' Tell someone next to you, 'Don't be afraid. That sounded very slow, very slow. Again, fear not. That's... tell him like that for sure. “.... because I redeemed you, says the Lord, I gave you a name, you are mine....” Say to yourself like this, put your hand here and say 'I am of the Lord'. And the Lord says 'you are mine'. “.... When you pass through the waters I will be with you, and if the rivers will not overwhelm you, when you pass through the fire you will not burn, nor will the flame burn in you, because I am the Lord, Your God, the Holy One of Israel, I am your savior. I have given Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Ceba for you because in my eyes you were of great e....... you were honorable and I loved you. I will therefore give men for you or for you and nations for your life. Do not fear because I am with you, from the east your generation will bring, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, daca, and to the south, do not stop, bring my sons and my daughters from the ends of the earth from afar. All the calls of my name for my glory I have created, formed and made them, says the Lord." Amen and amen. Father, we ask that you engrave these words of promise deep in our hearts this day. Thank you because when we enter into your word we find over and over again your paternal heart assuring us that you are with us and that you never leave us and that your faithfulness is forever, it is eternal. It cannot be diverted from its good purposes, Lord. This morning we affirm in our hearts your message of hope and we ask that your people be filled, Lord, with that certainty that no one can snatch us out of your hands. Thank you, guide us through the meditation of your word. We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. The beginning of the year is always a time, like standing before the abyss and looking at what lies ahead, or reaching a crossroads and there are two paths that open up and one feels a little awe , in terms of which direction one is going to go. A year is simply a measure of time that we men have invented to pack up life and divide it into segments. And it certainly is a very important division. We thought, wow, I have 12 months ahead of me, 12 have already passed and perhaps you are recounting your life at this very moment, looking from January until now, already at the end of December, the things that have happened in your life. life and the good things and also the not so good things, the anxieties, the searches, the times of difficulty, the great achievements, the answered prayers too and perhaps a few tragedies or difficulties that have happened in your life, times of lack, of financial struggle, perhaps health problems and many other things that can happen in the life of a man, a woman. And now we look ahead and the year 2008 begins and one wants to be sure that the Lord is with one, as the Jews said to Moses. We are going with you but make sure that God is with you, and they also told God, 'Lord, don't take us out of here if you don't go with us.' And we say so to the Lord too. ‘Father, do not take us out, do not take us out of this year without the assurance that your hand, your blessing, your promise is with us. And I want to share with you a word of encouragement this morning, words of hope, that the Lord certainly has a good purpose in our lives, a purpose in your life specifically. These words of the prophet Isaiah that the Lord puts in his spirit, God addresses specifically to the people of Israel, a people that has been unfaithful to the Lord, a people that has sinned against God, who has idolized He has adored other gods, he has gone after other religions, he has morally contaminated himself with impure rites, demonic rites. He has been unfaithful to the Lord who has given him so much, and therefore they are contemplating the threat of a very strong nation, Assyria, who has much more power than they and who has already wreaked havoc on previous occasions, and they are contemplating, God he is prophesying exile, he is prophesying a national catastrophe. And the book of Isaiah seems to oscillate, debates between words of condemnation from God against that people who have been unfaithful, but there are also words of hope and words of confidence and encouragement for that people because, brothers, the heart of God is a paternal heart, it is a generous heart, it is a heart of love, it is a heart that even while administering punishment is already thinking about how to heal the wound, how to make possible the path of reconciliation with their children. Now, we can say that although this word was written to Israel centuries ago, we can also be sure of one thing, that these words of blessing and promise are also for us, for each one of us. you and for me also this morning. They are words that God has recorded there, eternal words, unchangeable words to which we can go again and again and say, 'there I am portrayed'. That is God's intention for my life. When we enter into the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we walk in the word of God, when we stick to the ways of the Lord, brothers, we can be sure that God will be with us wherever we go. The Lord is going to fulfill his promises in our lives. So, I beg you this morning that you believe and have no doubt that this word is for you in the year 2008 and in the coming years as well. The Lord will make this word valid for your life. Look at the word 'now', that word in English is even clearer the translation of the original Hebrew, in English it says 'but now', 'but now'. That now is more like saying, 'well, something happened before but now this is what you can expect from me'. And that but now, refers to what is in the previous Chapter which is a word of condemnation for Israel. And it is a word of punishment also for Israel because they have behaved badly, they have not done everything that God wanted Israel to do. Look, for example, in Chapter 42, in verse 18, it says “...deaf hear, and you blind look to see who is blind but my servant, who is deaf like my messenger who I sent,...." and it says "... who is blind like my chosen one and blind like the servant of Jehovah who sees many things and does not notice, who opens his ears and does not hear...", says 22 , “... but this is a looted and trampled town. All of them trapped in caves and hidden in jails, are put to be plundered and no one is free. Stripped and there is no one to say, restore, who among you will hear this, who will attend and listen regarding the future,..." And God says in verse 25, "... he poured out on that people unfaithful the ardor of his wrath and strength of war. He set fire everywhere but he did not understand and it consumed him even more he paid no attention..." The Lord is recounting there, recounting his struggle through the centuries with this infidel nation that has rejected him once and again, he has changed it for other gods although God has been faithful to him continuously, and he has had to send judgment, and he has had to send punishment on that nation. So, now when in Chapter 43 he says 'now', he is saying, 'but now, at this moment in my relationship with you, I have something else for you, I have a blessing for your life.. ..' And I make this account for the following reason: because many times we as Israel have offended the Lord, we have strayed from his ways, we have not done what God expects of us. And there are many people who perhaps have offended the Lord and cannot believe that God has something good for their life. Many times we neutralize the blessings that God wants to give us because we do not believe that, having done everything I have done in my life, God can bless me. Perhaps this year you have failed the Lord in some way, perhaps you have been unfaithful in some way to the Lord and you think, there is no hope for me anymore, the Lord has cut me off his mercy. Well, I want to tell you that if God could forgive Israel and if God could have a heart of blessing for Israel, a people so inveterately unfaithful, the Lord certainly can have it for you too, that blessing, that goodness, if you walk and you repent of your sin, right? Because it's not just like, well, I'm in the grace of the Lord and I can do whatever I want. But, brother, I want to tell you that through Christ Jesus you can find forgiveness for your life and God is more than willing to send his grace upon you and cover you with his protection and give you his provision. Amen. I want you to believe that. Don't let the devil fill you with a sense of guilt either. Now, I always say, brothers, the safest place for the child of God is in obedience, it is in walking uprightly in the ways of the Lord, because there the enemy cannot wreak havoc on our lives. But certainly do not allow the mistakes, the failures of the past, that the things that you have experienced this year take away your vision of one thing, and that is that the intention, the desire, the purpose of God now is to bring blessing to your life. life, straighten the crooked paths, provide you in every need. If he did it for Israel certainly in this new administration of the Kingdom of Christ Jesus of the grace of God, and you being covered under the blood of Jesus, even more reason. We who are in Christ Jesus have more reason to expect good things from the Lord in this coming year. The Lord tells Israel later, '...thus says the Lord..' Whenever the Lord says this, it is because he has something solemn, something strong to say. God, I believe that in that sense, God, by saying, 'thus says Jehovah', is committing himself. The purposes of the Lord are firm for you, his desire to do good in your life is sure. God is not going to change. I assure you that if the Lord said it, he will fulfill it, he is committed to his character to give you the blessings that he has declared on your life. 'Thus says the Lord, your creator, O Jacob, and your maker, O Israel....” Put your attention on those two words, your maker and maker. He is saying that, why? Because he wants that people to be sure that God was with them at the very beginning of their life as a nation and that therefore he was there at the beginning... When God forms someone, when God creates someone, he don't ignore that person. When God creates something, God commits it because he has a purpose. God is not a superficial creator, who creates things and simply forgets about them. We see that God has been attentive to his creation, God created the world and is still involved in the world. God created man and is still dealing with man. God created Israel tells them, 'I am your creator, I am your maker, Israel, and therefore I am not going to ignore you.' Something that always impacts me is the faithfulness of the Lord, God is not a superficial God like us, many times we start things, we protest to the Lord, eternal love, and when the days go by all that emotion dissipates and we forget and we go back to enter the world and in our sins and in our passions or whatever. Brother, God when he gives his heart, gives his faithfulness and his love, he stays there stuck. He is saying to Israel, 'I formed you, I created you, I called a man, whose name was Abraham, I have come with you through all the centuries and I am going to be with you until the end.' You know what? God created you too. The word of the Lord says that in our mother's womb God formed us. God formed our bones, God had a purpose in taking us out of our mother's womb, God pronounced life over what did not exist and created you. And he was involved in shaping your life. God has been with you since your mother's womb, he was with you at birth, he has been with you all these years of life, in your struggles, in your trials, in your tribulations, he formed you, he created you. And that means that he is going to be committed to you until the end. God is not going to leave you. He is your trainer. That word is important because many times men want to present God as a God simply who created the universe, wound it up and released it to continue working with laws that he put over the universe. But, it means that God is not intimately involved with his creation. What I see throughout all of Scripture is, brethren, that God is intimately involved in your life. God is with you in every situation. It's hard to believe that, because sometimes life has its twists and its struggles and its tribulations and you say, well where can God be in all of this? Well, he is working on all the processes in your life, sometimes he is using the difficulties, the struggles, the waiting, the silences, to form in you a man, a woman more like Christ, a patient, humble, forgiving person. , tender, merciful to others, not so proud or sure of herself that often gets us into so much trouble, not so sensual, not so dependent on the opinion and manipulation of others. And many times God has to allow struggles, difficulties that come into our lives. Sometimes he wants to bless another through our suffering. We don't know why so many difficulties come into our lives many times, but God says, 'look, I have formed you, I have created you, I am committed to you, I am going to walk with you. Don't worry, the one who started the good work will be faithful to finish it. And how nice, that he says here, '...Jehovah, your creator, oh Jacob and your maker, oh Israel...' He uses both personal names that God used many times as metaphors for Israel: Jacob and Israel, two of the sons of Abraham's descendants. Now, it's interesting in verse 24 of Chapter 42 above, the Lord says, “...who gave Jacob spoils and delivered Israel to plunderers? Was it not Jehovah against whom we sinned?...” In this verse 24, Chapter 42 there is a negative use of Jacob and Israel. Now in Chapter 43, in verse 1 there is a positive use, God is the creator of Jacob and the maker of Israel. It's like God's love is neutralizing his judgment. It's like God is saying, yes, I gave up Israel and Jacob as spoils and plunder, but now, I want to bless them. Brothers, again, God's wrath is for a moment, God's punishment is for a moment, God's discipline is for a moment. But in the end God's mercy always neutralizes, it's like God is saying, yes, the negative thing I did to Jacob, to Israel, I'm going to neutralize it with positive things, with that image that I am its creator, that I am your trainer. God is with us, brothers. So, he says to Israel, '...Don't be afraid because I redeemed you...' The word 'redeem' means to buy from slavery. The word redeem means, a person was a slave, he was in captivity and God came and paid the price for his freedom. And God redeemed Israel on several occasions, redeemed Israel from the Egyptians when they were slaves in Egypt and redeemed Israel many times from their oppressors and says: 'I redeemed you'. Redeem is a very strong thing because it means, there's a commitment there that God has and you know what? brothers God has redeemed us too. God could say 'do not fear because I redeemed you, I sent my son Jesus Christ to die for you on the cross of Calvary. I gave my greatest possession, I gave my only begotten son for you and therefore do not fear, if I did that, I can do all the other things.' It's like God is saying, ' look, if I bought you, if I took you out of captivity, certainly everything else is almost secondary. I redeemed you and therefore no one, if I redeemed you, no one can put you into slavery again.' In Romans, Chapter 8, verse 31 he says, '....what then shall we say to this , if God is for us who against us. He who did not spare his own Son....” See the idea there? God did not spare his Son, that is, he did not think his Son to deliver him for us. He handed him over, gave him, “.....he who did not spare his own Son to redeem us but gave him up for all of us as he will not also give us all things with him.. .” If God redeemed you by delivering his Son Jesus Christ, he is telling you, don't worry, the rest is easy, it's simple. I'm in charge, I'm with you. And if I redeem, no one can enslave. If I redeem no one can put them in prison again... The writer of Romans, the Apostle Paul says, 'Who will accuse God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died. Even more so, the one who also rose, the one who is also at the right hand of God, the one who also intercedes for us. who will separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation or anguish, persecution or famine or nakedness, or danger, or sword. Before in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us....” Glory to the Lord. That is, God has redeemed us. If God redeemed you, if God bought you with the blood of his Son. If God made the greatest sacrifice imaginable, look, how will he not give you all other things with him? That is what I think it means. Do not fear, I redeemed you, because I redeemed you. Look, if Christ already bought you with his precious blood, the rest are little things. Remember that. You have a seal that no one can take away from you. Your eternal destiny is already assured. The other things here in this world are fleeting, they are secondary, because God redeemed us. And he says to Israel, '.....I named you.....' Again, in the translation that I recently read in English, it says , 'I called you by your name'. I like that idea better. God knows you by name. A lot of people have that general sense of God's mercy and love, like God loves his children, God loves his creation, God loves humanity, God loves the church, but they kind of find it hard to have that sense. personal mercy and love of God for them, for me and for you. It's kind of hard for him to put his name on there. I don't know how many of you feel, brothers, the way I feel, but I feel like God knows me by name and that I am intimately involved with him, that God is involved with me in every drama of my life. life, every aspect of my life, that all the situations I go through, like the Lord knows what I'm going through, that I can have a continuous dialogue with him. Do you feel like this this morning? When you are at work, when you are driving on the highway, when you are experiencing the dramas of your life, can you believe that God knows you by name, he calls you by name, that you are not a social security number, you are not an anonymous person, that God is involved in the dramas of your life and that he is interested in what is happening to you personally, that he is not too busy to worry about what you need in your life. If we cultivated, brothers, that sense of the personal relationship of God with us, our life could be very different, you know? We would pray to the Lord more, we would cry out to him more when we are in difficult situations, we would believe with more certainty that he is going to intervene in my situation, we would believe that he has a special destiny for my life and we would then be able to receive more of grace and life. of the Lord in us. I encourage you this Christmas and this coming year to believe, God knows you by name. God has written in his book all the things that are happening in your life and all that will happen. The psalmist David says: "... and in your book were written all those things that were later formed without missing one of them...." Look, the things that God has destined for you, those will arrive in the name of Jesus. If you cling to your God, if you believe in your God, if you walk with your God, if you cling to the fact that God has a call for your personal life, that he is involved in your life, no one can take you away the things that God wants to do in your life. “Don't be afraid, because I know you, I gave you a name.” When God gives you a name, listen to me, that means that...., because the names in the Old Testament had destiny involved too, there were God's purposes involved in the names. If God gave a person a name, it is because in that name was the destiny of that individual, was the relationship of that individual with God. So if God has given you a name, that means that you have a destiny in God, that God has a purpose for you, that God has given you an identity and that it is up to you to find that identity and walk in it. . Do not walk away, do not get away from the purpose of God's identity for your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom, Lord, what do you want from me? What is the name that you have given me? What is the destiny that you have given me? What are the purposes that you have in my life and help me to walk within them and that should be your career, that should be your journey every day, your pilgrimage, walking in the destination, in the name that God has given you. I gave you a name, you are mine, and then he says, "... when you pass through the waters I will be with you and if the rivers do not drown you..."

That is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard in my life. When you pass through the waters I will be with you. What are the waters? Well, in a purely historical sense the waters for Israel were those waters that God had them through, literally, God led them through the Red Sea when Israel was coming out of Egypt, the great Egyptian army was coming to destroy them after them. and before them was the great Red Sea. They were truly between a rock and a hard place literally, a wall of water. And what did the Lord do? The sea parted and the people of God passed dry. The Lord was with them. And then when they were going to enter the promised land there was the great Jordan River swollen in the middle of spring with all the snow that had melted down from the mountains and couldn't pass either, and what did God do? He told them, 'Place the priests in front with the ark and the priests pass before the people and when the feet of the priests tread the water, the river will open, and indeed it did. The Lord parted the Jordan River and God's people ran dry a second time. So, when God tells them, when you pass through the rivers I will be with you, he is telling them, look, I was faithful to you centuries ago and I am going to be faithful again. The rivers are the obstacles that are placed in our lives, the difficulties that prevent us from entering into the blessings that God has for us, you know? And God says, don't worry, when you are fighting there for something and the enemy wants to bring an impediment in your life, when he wants to put obstacles in your life, I will be with you. Amen. And the word of the Lord says, if God is with us who is against us.... he says, he who is with us is more powerful than he who is in the world. So any obstacle that you may have ahead of you, any river, any sea that may stand between you and the blessing that God has for your life, the Lord says, 'I'm going to be with you. , Don't worry. I am going to give you victory.' Now, brothers, it is important that we believe that, if we do not have faith to believe, many times those blessings will not be given. We have to believe that. I have lived all my life, brothers, believing that and I have seen the rivers open before me. Listen to me so many times throughout these years, that I have been able to see my Lord opening roads where there were only deserts and mountains and God parted the sea so that I could pass. And I preach this word, brothers, with a great conviction that this is a reality for all the children of God. But we have to believe that, we have to fill ourselves with that faith, that the Lord says, 'when you pass through the waters, no one will be able to prevent you from receiving what you need'. And the waters can also be anguish because sometimes anxieties are like rivers, like seas, that want to drown us, they want to overwhelm us. In the Bible many times it talks about the waters, the many waters that want to drown us, want to destroy us, want to cover us. And the Lord also tells you, 'brother, if you are going through a time of anguish, of difficulty, listen to me, hold on to the promise of the Lord, cry out to your God. Believe that the Lord is going to get you through. The Lord will never allow the river to overwhelm you. The Lord will never allow trials to be greater than you can bear. Look at what First Corinthians says, Chapter 10 in verse 13, it says: "... No temptation has come upon you that is not human, but God is faithful who will not let you be tempted anymore than you can resist, but along with temptation, He will also provide the way out for you to be able to endure....” In other words, brothers, nothing has come to us, no trial, no temptation , no fight in our life that you can say, this is too big for me. God will always adjust the trials and difficulties and temptations that come into your life so that yes, there is a way out, there is hope. God will not allow the trials you are going through to destroy you if you cling to your Lord and you cry out to him and if you confess your faithfulness. The Lord will be with you. He will not allow you to have to go beyond what you have to go, but he along with your test will always bring a way out. I believe that, brothers, my motto in my life, 'there is always a solution.' I believe that even in small things and in big things. When I have a problem, a difficulty in my life, I always tell myself, there is always a solution. And sometimes I am stubborn about it, and people tell me, 'but what are you looking for, don't you see that this is not the way to do it? I say, no, in God there is always a solution. Brothers, and I see, when one persists and one is filled with that faith, God always opens a solution, a way out always comes. Financial difficulties, family, whatever, there is always a solution. Remember that. In Christ Jesus there is always a way out. The water will not overwhelm you, the river will not drown you, the difficulties of life will not destroy you. The Son of God is more than a winner in all situations. Nothing can take you away from the love of God in Christ Jesus. When you have a problem in life, look, grow up then and say, 'I am more powerful than that problem in Christ Jesus. I have the solution to that problem, because he who is in me is greater than he who is in the world. That is trust, the river is not going to overwhelm you, the river is not going to destroy you, the problems of life are not going to defeat you in the name of Jesus. Second Corinthians, Chapter 4, verse 8 says, and in verse 7 inclusive: ".... we have this treasure in earthen vessels.....", why? because we are fragile... we have the love of God, the promise of God, the power of God but that is a fragile vessel, that is you. That's me. “.... but this is so that the excellence of the power may be from God and not from us....,” and then he adds, “.... we who are troubled in everything else not distressed, in trouble but not desperate, persecuted but not helpless, knocked down but not destroyed....” The child of God can be in trouble but there is always a little room to get ahead. You will never be in a dead end, you will never be so tight by the devil that there can be no solution to your problem brothers. We may be troubled, but we should not be anxious. That is, in the sense of the Greek word, the original is the idea that we cannot be without choice, without possibilities. There is always a possibility for the child of God and if we are in trouble, we must not despair. Never despair, brother. I will never leave the bows saying, there is no hope, there is no possibility. Never throw yourself on the floor there to despair and cry out like those who have no hope. The son of God always has a solution. Maybe he's persecuted but guess what? God will never forsake you, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you, I will always uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness, says the Lord. Even if you see what you see around you, say, the Lord is with me. Remember the image of Elisha's servant when they were surrounded by Assyrian forces, and Elisha's servant was desperate because they were going to kill them and Elisha was very calm because it was nothing with him, and Elisha prays to his servant's despair and says, 'Lord, open his eyes that he may see.' And the eyes of this servant were opened and he could see chariots with angels around them, even surrounding the Assyrian people who wanted to kill them. And there came the famous words of Elisha, 'Do not fear, do not worry because there are more who are with us than those who are with them'. And that day there was a great victory. The Assyrians were blinded and the prophet took them like they were weak little boys and took them and put them into the very heart of Israel, and when they woke up they were surrounded by the Israelite army. And the Lord even allowed Elisha to be merciful, because look, when God gives you, God gives you enough to be a blessing to others as well. When God takes you out of your situations you can be a blessing to others, you can be merciful, you can be generous, you can give, you can forgive because God is with you. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. The psalmist David says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because you will be with me and there is something else there, he says, when you pass. It is not, if you pass, because, brothers, in the world we will find affliction, difficulties will come, problems will come, this year there will be some scares that we will experience from time to time, but you know what? the Lord says, 'don't worry, spend it with me, hold my hand. Trust me, cry out to me, fill yourself with my word, strengthen yourself in the spirit, keep serving me, keep congregating, keep giving me, keep taking advantage of the teachings, keep transforming your mind by renewing your understanding so that when the tests come You know what you have to do and you know how you have to react, but I will be with you. When difficulties come, my right hand will be with you. He says, when you go through the fire you will not be burned, nor will the flame burn in you. Glory to the Lord. If dangers come into your life, if the fire of trial comes, believe that God will get you out of all your difficulties, but hold on to your Lord with teeth and nails. Now, which is what makes all this possible in the life of a child of God, he says, 'for I, Jehovah, your God, the Holy One of Israel, am your savior.' He Lord invites his people to look at him. Brothers, that is the thing, many times we do not see the glory of God in our life because we look badly at the tests, at the enemy, at the complexity of the circumstances, at the difficulty of our situation, rather than at the God so powerful that he is with us. You see, because it says, because I Jehovah, your God, the holy one of Israel, am your savior..... When the tests come, the difficulties, look, remove the gaze of the giant, remove look at how difficult the situation seems and put it on your God so that your faith can be maintained. Why what happened? Many times the devil wants to hypnotize us so that... snakes can do that. People get so scared of them and they kind of get fascinated and petrified. They do that with the birds, they do it with the little animals when they are going to attack them. The little animals are filled with so much fear because they see this being so terrible, so sinister and they freeze with fear and then the snake can calmly come and grab it and do what it has to do and destroy it. Let's not allow the tests, the difficulties to take our eyes off. God says, look, you can trust, because I am your savior. Look at me, if you can't believe in yourself, believe in me, believe in my promise. I am your savior. I am Jehovah your God. Peter took his eyes off Jesus Christ when he was walking on the water. As long as he looked at Jesus, he was able to walk on the water, but the Bible says that when he heard the wind and saw the waves and saw the storm raging around him, he began to sink because his mind betrayed him. His mind told him, 'impossible, you can't be doing what you're doing'. Then he had to cry out to Jesus again, 'Lord, save me for I am perishing,' and the Lord stretched out his hand. Let us fix our eyes on Christ Jesus, brothers, let us always keep our eyes on the word of God. Fill yourself with the word of the Lord. That is why it is so important, as the Apostle Paul says, once again, to transform our minds through the renewal of our understanding. It is important that you program your mind to live a powerful life and that requires that you continually be in contact with the word of God, always filling yourself with the word of the Lord. One cannot be a powerful and effective warrior unless one knows the word of God, brothers. I encourage you this year to study the Bible, to take discipleship, to take time to study the word, read good books, congregate continuously, attend a cell, have healthy conversations with brothers, watch good programs on television, listen good programs on the radio, because those things will program your mind so that your faith remains high and when the tests come you know what you have to do and how to react. The soldiers are continually programmed, they are continually put to do exercises and do all kinds of war trials and they are filled, indoctrinated with words of courage, manliness, security, success because the trainers know that that soldier needs that programming in your mind to be able to enter a pressure situation and act instantly. So we also need to fill ourselves with God's promises, we need to meditate on them, we need to fill our hearts with firmness, with security so that when the test comes we know who to look at, that we can take our eyes off the giant who is mocking us and saying that he is going to destroy us and looking at the God who says, 'do not fear, I am with you, I called you by name. I am your trainer, I am your creator, I have redeemed you, I forgive you when you fail, when you repent, when you stick with me, no one will snatch you from my hand. When you go through the difficulties of life, when obstacles come to my blessing, and you stand firm seeking, crying out to me, I promise you my blessing. Let's start this year safely. Amen. We are going to start this year firmly, with the confidence that our God is more than faithful. He is with us therefore we have nothing to fear. Let's stand up, let's declare God's faithfulness in our lives. Confess there that God is with you this morning and reject all doubt, reject all negativity in your heart, remove all of that. Pull it down, pull it out, say, 'I renounce timidity, I renounce anxiety, I renounce fear, I reject the devil's words of fear, I reject Satan's condemnation and accusation, and God is with you. My God is faithful. God is going to bless me in my studies, God is going to give me success in my work, God is going to get my house, God is not going to lack me financially, God is going to strengthen my family. Think positive, brother, in this year. Do not fight against the negative, but fill yourself with the positive of God because if the positive of God is within you there will be no place for the negative of the devil. If your mind is full of the promises of God, the enemy will not be able to put fear or doubt there so that the devil's attacks can enter that space. In the name of Jesus we pronounce a word of blessing on the people of God. We bless the Lord's people in this new year and we believe that God's blessing is with us. Thank you, Jesus, we adore you, we bless you. Oh, Lord my soul adores you, my soul blesses you, my soul glorifies you, Lord. Thank you for your fidelity. Thank you for your great love. We believe in your promises, Lord. We receive each one of them, we grasp them in the spirit, Father, and we are filled with your blessing. We adore you, Lord. Thank you, thank you in the mighty name of Jesus. Glory to the name of Jesus.