God in the midst of tribulation

Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 14, I begin reading there, the word of the Lord says: “….For this reason I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named so that grant them according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power in the inner man or woman by their spirit, so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith, so that, rooted and grounded in love, they may be fully capable of comprehending with all saints what is the breadth, the length, the depth and the height of the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge, so that they may be filled with all the fullness of God…”

Let me leave it there. You know, while I was meditating today during the different activities that I was doing today, obviously I couldn't stop thinking about all this, what happened there in Haiti. And obviously they are natural disasters that nobody can prevent. The life of nature has its course. A few months ago, the 5-year anniversary of this tsunami that hit all these islands there in the Thailand area was celebrated and I remember that I saw a special documentary that was made on the Discovery Channel, they made a documentary about this and They showed how some video scenes were taken by the same victims who were there but they were videos that could not be found and have not come to light until now and the images that I saw, I said to myself, wow, the truth is that this is incredible, when nature gets out of its course there is no one to stop it.

I remember seeing this scene of this man who saw when the sea backed down and he started to kind of walk out to sea to see what he was doing and suddenly you see this whole wall of water that completely washes him away. . They were scenes that one says to oneself like, wow, and there are times when one thinks that ignorantly, oh, but I know how to swim, I can get into the water and swim. And look forget it, even Michael Phelps is not saved from that, because that is a water that comes with a current and a power that nothing stops it.

Hurricane Katrina when it hit, no one expected Hurricane Katrina to wreak the havoc it did here in the New Orleans area. And likewise, my brothers, there are events of nature that happen in so many, and so many, and so many places. There are events of nature that happen within our own body, when there is something in us that does not start to work well because there is some element that contaminates us in some way or another, they are things of nature that one cannot prevent, even if you get the flu vaccine, even if you get the H1N1 vaccine, and even if you get any other vaccine that may exist, look, something is always going to get into your life and try to alter your system in some way or another.

And of course, one stands in faith and one says, Lord, let that not come against me, no plague will knock on my door. And one stands strong and with all faith and weighs himself on that conviction, but the point is that while we are in this body, while we are in this world, things are going to happen that we will never have control over. .

And faced with this reality, my brothers, I start to think, God, where are you in all this, what can we do, how can we proceed, Lord, where can we find inspiration? And for some reasons the Lord led me to this passage. And I began to meditate, and I said to myself, wow, okay, Paul bends his knees before the Father, that is, he is acknowledging, this is not about me, this is about you God, therefore that gesture of kneeling and to say, ok, I surrender to you, Lord, you are the one who has all the answers. And he was doing it in a form of intercession for the church of Ephesus and at the same time I identify with him and I say to myself, Lord, how can I intercede for each one of my brothers and sisters, not just you who are here, but for those people who suffer in some way or another, whatever their situation.

And this is where this word came to me. Because when Paul is saying, look, may God give you according to the riches of his glory, look how interesting that in moments of tribulation where it may seem that there is total scarcity, where it may seem that we are on the street, with nothing , Paul is saying that God give them his riches in glory. I already begin to see a contrast there, a contrast that can sound ironic at the same time. It's like here I am with nothing, but nevertheless God has a wealth in his glory that I could provide. But that this wealth has a specific purpose and is that each one of us can be, what? According to what the text says, that we can be strengthened in our inner being, with what? With vitamin C? That we can be strengthened with rice and beans? That we can be strengthened with a good arepas or pupusa? That we can be strengthened, where is my favorite Chicano? If you listen to me, may we be strengthened with real tacos. If you listen to me somewhere. No, that we may be strengthened with power.

My brothers, look at this, this word is very interesting. That power dynamic is like, there are times when I'm at a loss for words to explain this, but that idea of power is like, it's like what a bull feels when he's ready to proceed against someone. Excuse the image. But imagine a bull, one of those big ones, seeing it from a mile away already scares me. Imagine having it in front of you, when that bull is there focused on its target and it's like attacking, every little step it takes is like building up, building up, building up, like it's pressing, pressing, pressing. There is a force inside that when that animal starts to run, ugh, there is no stopping it. Exactly, to run has been said, whoever is in front.

It's that kind of power, it's like in the midst of our circumstances the spirit of God begins to infuse something in us and it's like one goes, concentrating, concentrating. Let me see what other image I can give you? How many of you like movies? How many of you watch movies? Yes, do you like fiction movies, action? Some of you saw the fantastic 4 movie, The fantastic 4? Did you see the one with the Silver Surfer? Did you see that movie? No? Those who saw it, the silver surfer at the end, I liked this, that the silver surfer, he had to eliminate this thing that was going to destroy the earth, but the silver surfer obviously derived all his energy from the board where he moved like that, cool, and all that, the thing is that in that final age the only way he could destroy his opponent was when he kind of shrunk like a fetus, let me come here so look at me well, he kind of shrank like a fetus and I said, ok, he stopped here but no, he went on, on, on, and you saw how this light began to shine from inside him and until he grabbed all of his strength and suddenly he opened up like this in the shape of a cross, and all this power came out of him. Excuse me, I'm kind of a movie fan. That's going to be my fast next week, I'm not going to watch movies, it's clear. Part of my fast, I close the parenthesis.

But do you get the idea? I like to see a good visual because that kind of illustrates something. Being strengthened with power in the inner man and woman, that's like, this is hurting me but… I hold on, I hold on, I hold on…..aaaaaaaaah.

When one manages to have that kind of strength there is nothing that can stop us. But when you have that kind of strength, that strength has a purpose, because it's not just for the sake of screaming, for doing it, or aaaaah. No, that strength has a purpose because the self be strengthened with a power for what? In order to understand something. In the midst of the situation, in the midst of my circumstances, God is strengthening me so that I can understand what is beyond what is happening in front of my nose, and what is happening beyond is that there is something that has a width these walls cannot measure. There is something that has a length, a distance that I look at the horizon and do not reach. There is something that has a depth that no matter how far down I get, no, I will not be able to know it. There is something that has a height, so and so big that the last star, the last galaxy can't stand it either.

Being strengthened with power helps me in my tiny mind helps me understand something that goes beyond measure, and that is the love of God. Look, I don't want to say, I don't want this to sound like a cliché, because it's not that, but look, when you, when we, are going to say it like that, when we manage to understand the love of God, this is one of the mysteries bigger. No matter what happens around us, there is something that helps us stay. There is something that helps us, like, cool, everything is calm. The roof of the house fell in but, I suffer, I'm sorry but I'm ok, I'm alive. I'm in one piece.

Whatever, fill in the blank, whatever situation one may encounter, I am empowered with spirit power in my inner being. And as I am strengthened in this, look at the other part of the secret, verse 20 says "... and the one who is weak to do some things in a more or less way, according to the power that acts in the president, to him is not it gives you any kind of glory. That can be me. It is clear that I paraphrased the text quite incorrectly, ok? But he says, and he, with a capital letter A, who is powerful to do…. That? Say it again, to yourself, the one who is powerful to do all things, much more what? Much more abundantly than you can ask or understand.

In other words, look at the list you have there in your Bible of all the requests you have, look at that list and think about this: God can do more than what you have on that list. You who are seeing me out there, through the camera, take out your list and everything you have on that list, remember this, that God can do more than that.

Look how he says again, what we ask or understand according to what? According to him…. Remember that image... according to the power that works in us. In other words, what he is saying is not that everything works as it says, in God up there, but God makes things work through us as well. There is something that God does without a doubt but there are other things that God does through us, things that when God strengthens us, when God gives us, I don't know if this word is well said, but when God empowers us, I don't know If that word is well said, right? Okay. Add it to your vocabulary, when God empowers us, in English it sounds good, empowers, when God empowers us, well in Spanish, in Spanglish I'm saying, when God empowers us, that's it, my brothers, that God allows us to be able to endure In such a way and in the midst of this situation God helps us to understand the love that he has for us in an even greater way and when we know that love, look, we realize that our requests remain small next to everything what God can do. And when we manage to understand everything that God can do, and everything that God can do through us, that power begins to act in the midst of our lives in a way where something comes out of us, emanates something to be able to bless other people. around us.

So my brothers, in the midst of the circumstances of your life, in the midst of your traumas, in the midst of, this is very personal, in the midst of your frustrations, remember this, remember that word. God gives you power. God gives you strength. God gives you firmness, his spirit acts in you. That spirit intravenously or through the rays of the sun, whatever it is, that spirit is filling you, it is filling you with power so that you can face all the things that lie ahead, that you can do the things that maybe you can. do under your own abilities, under your own talents, under your own strength, but at the same time remembering that God does much more through you.

What we do falls short but God has the power to do even more. Maybe God is calling me to give someone a glass of water, but through someone's glass God is doing something beyond. That maybe God calls me out of here from Boston to sit with a guy back in Walltown and have lunch and listen to his life, listen to his story, pray with him, laugh with him, cry with him and through what may seem like something insignificant, but no, okay. In the eyes of God that is worth it. How about you leave the comfort of your home and go to the school where your son or daughter is, and you go and take time to talk with their teachers, with their teachers and catch up with them. You may think like there is, oh, having to do this, but look, through that there is something that God is doing through you to bless your children, and who knows if even to bless the school where your children are also.

That here through the church where we are, any way that we can serve each other, any way that we can encourage each other, as I always say, be it with a handshake, with a smile, with a tap on the shoulder, be that as it may, look, you are doing your part but through that God is doing even much more. That is the idea of this message, that the one who is powerful to do all things, much more abundantly than I can ask or understand, that is the one we give the glory to, because he is the one in control. of all things.

My brothers and sisters, again my intention with this message is not that this sounds like a cliché, never, never, never may God free me from doing that, there is a very great truth that is cemented here and God calls us to be able to learn that. That I don't go out those doors and that when I get home I sit down and say like wow, my life is boring, that crap, that I don't say that, but that I can stop, concentrate, concentrate, Lord, full, fill, fill my spaces, do something, throw lightning on me, whatever, but fill me with power, fill me with power so that I can get out of whatever pond I'm in and that I can launch myself into those new horizons. Look, Lord, I want to know the width, I want to know the length, I want to know the depth, I want to know the height of your love so that I can be a much more efficient person, a much more complete person, a fuller person, a more alive person. , a more dynamic person, a person who is so ñeñeñe, but who is a more proactive person. That is the kind of person God wants us to be, my brothers and sisters.

May I not give my wife so much headache nor she me, may I not give my children so much headache nor they me, but that we can live to the fullness of what Christ is. That's another message, let's stand up and pray.

Were you there all the time? Did you hear what I said about the taco? Whoops, thank God that was good what I said. How interesting, they are a good illustration, I will use that with another message. Sometimes we are talking about things about God and we don't realize that God is around, but... quietly, looking, but that's another message.

Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, we come before you tonight once again and Father, how much I love your word, Lord, I enjoy your word, the truth is that your word is alive and effective and there is no doubt that that, sir. Every time I read those Scriptures there is something that comes out, that jumps out of those prayers, from those papers, Lord, and brings something to us, to our hearts. And Lord, I know that these words that I have shared, in one way or another my hope and my prayer Lord, is that this jumps over the hearts of my brothers and sisters and Lord, that Father, that you strengthen with power in man , in the interior woman to each one of my brothers and sisters through your spirit, Lord, I pray for that, that my brothers and sisters can leave here with that sense of strength, of firmness, as if nothing and no one can take out of the place where you put them, Lord. Nail their feet to your truths, nail their feet to your principles, Lord, that regardless of the storms that may come, Lord, that we can remain firm, firm, Lord Jesus, in the width, in the length, in the depth, in the height of the knowledge of your full love, Lord, that although perhaps we will never fully know it in this life, but the moment will come when we can see things face to face and that we will be able to know you as you know us now, Mister.

But in the instant, Lord, in the interim of time, we declare these words of your Scripture that he who is mighty to do all things, yes, Lord, you, you, you who are mighty to do all things, Lord, much more abundantly than we can ask for, than we can imagine, than we can conceive in our minds, in the best way that you create through the means that you create, through the people that you You create, through the circumstances that you create, through the disasters or the victories of life, you are in charge of doing much more abundantly than we can ask or understand.

Teach us, Lord, to give you glory, no matter what. We give glory to you, Lord. And in the same way, Lord, I declare once again over each one of my brothers and sisters the words with which I began this service, Lord, may the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face shine upon you and be have mercy on you, may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace. We leave with this word, and to you we give all the glory. Amen Jesus. Thanks God. Thank you Lord Jesus.