Walk by faith and not by sight

In this life that we have, what walking by faith implies means us trusting in the word and the promises that God has given us, it implies us putting a level of certainty in something that is not seen and letting it be that someone who guides each of our steps.

Now, it's very interesting because without you knowing it, a lot of other voices will come along and try to direct your steps. Did they realize what happened? I was the one directing his steps and other people with the best intentions wanted to help the person, but they weren't seeing what I was seeing from this side. And those voices start to tell you, no, look, do this, oh look at that, no, you're on the wrong side. But those voices aren't seeing what the main person is seeing in order to direct.

And these voices can be distracting many times, these voices can confuse many times, these voices can come to speak to you on God's behalf but they are really speaking on their behalf. Because I read this verse to you, go a little earlier, chapter 4, verse 7, chapter 4, verse 7 of Second Corinthians, sorry. Look how he says;

"... but we have this treasure in clay vessels so that the excellence of the power is from God and not us..."

What treasure is he talking about? He is talking about the treasure of the blessing of having the call of God in our lives, that there is a power, there is an anointing that lives and moves in us, that is not of this world but is something supernatural, is something out of this world because it comes from God. And God has put that anointing, that power, that dynamite, he has poured it into clay vessels, he has poured it on people who are breakable, he has poured it on people who can break at any moment, people who are fragile, although they can there will be many people here that you look at firsthand and it may seem that they have strength, that they can resist. But even the strongest in physical appearance has his weakness, he has his weakness, he falls. Even the woman who can have the most serious look has her fragility inside.

And in those people that God has decided to deposit his blessing, it is on each one of those people that God has said that, ah, this girl thinks she is nothing but with me she is. They have told this boy, you are not worth anything, but I tell that person, you are worth someone. And it is on that glass that I pour what I have.

Look how he says this, I am fascinated by this paraphrasing that is here in these texts, he says:

“… we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the excellence of the power is from God and not from us. What, we are…. Look how he says…. Troubled in everything but not distressed, in trouble but not desperate, persecuted but not helpless, struck down but not destroyed..."

Let me see how I can dramatize these words? Lord help me here. I am going to read these words in another version to see if it makes a better connection. Says:

“…. So we are full of problems, but we are not without a way out… this is God's version…. A troubled person, how can I identify a troubled person? The person is pulling his hair out all the time, like Caesar was before, who no longer has hair because he pulled it all out. He eats his nails to the meat, he eats his nail. But he sees that he is walking everywhere, thinking what am I going to do, what am I going to do, how am I going to do this, how am I going to do that. It's like this side to side, side to side. It is an attribute that is there. But it is not without output.

The second, look how he says, he is in trouble, what is the best illustration of a person who is in trouble? I imagine that you are laughing because the best example of a person in trouble is a person who has to go to the bathroom. That is the best way to identify someone who is in a hurry. Runs! When there is only one bathroom in the house. Sal, I have to use it.

Now, imagine a person in that kind of trouble but without despair. How is that? How do you eat that with? How do you say later? How is?

We are persecuted but not helpless. Imagine that, that you are fleeing from something or someone but that you are not helpless, helpless as one does not feel alone but even though there is that persecution, you have a sense of presence, something that is with you, or someone that is with you you.

And that idea of being knocked down is like that warrior who bam, they hit him with a song and he falls, but then he stops and continues there even though he is missing an arm, but he continues, and they hit him again and pam falls again but comes back and stand up and get your composure and go ahead confident, confident.

Those are the kind of people that those falls do not define the type of person they are because that person is defined by a God who lifts them up, who raises their head so that person can move on.

That mystery, that blessing is placed in a clay vessel. And what else does it say? I keep reading, a little later, verse 16, see how it says:

"... therefore we do not faint before even though our exterior man, our exterior woman is decanting, the interior, what happens?, is renewed from day to day..."

Listen to me because we were praying a few minutes ago... a God who intends to renew his sons and daughters day after day. And it is not a renewal as take this pill and you will see that the next day you are going to feel in the clouds, yes, you are going to be in the clouds because you are going to be like… in the ozone layer or something like that. But the renewal that God brings is a renewal that reaches levels that nothing else can reach. That is the renewal, the rest that God wants to give.

Verse 17, “…because this slight momentary tribulation produces in us an ever more excellent and eternal weight of glory…”

Think about the tribulation that you have now, would you say that this tribulation is light? No? Do you know what tribulation Paul was talking about? It is what we were reading here. He was saying, look at your tribulation, we are troubled, we are in trouble, we are persecuted, we are helpless, come here, those 4 adjectives he uses are something strong, they are serious. Something had to be happening that was causing him pressure, but nevertheless he can say the opposite, hey, I'm going through this but I have this ahead of me.

Seeing things from that perspective of faith allows one to say, all that, ah, that's light, that's temporary, that's like someone who says a straw on the shoulder and pac one takes it off.

Laugh for a moment please. Yes, because I know that the things I'm saying can sometimes sound like, that's how they say easier said than done, as they say, it's easier to say it but it's more difficult to do it. TRUE? Ah… look at verse 18, what does it say?

"... not looking at things that what?, that are seen but those that are not seen because the things that are seen are temporary but those that are not seen are eternal..."

Listen to me, and that mystery is placed in clay vessels. Hey, my son, my daughter keeps giving me a headache, what are you seeing? Are you seeing the headache or are you seeing the eternal plans that God has for that person? Keep faltering with the same problem, what are you seeing, are you seeing the problem or are you seeing the eternal restoration that God has for your life? Hey, I'm still drinking, well, keep drinking then. I keep drinking... I get up and go to bed with the bottle. Well, what are you looking at, my brother, are you looking at the bottle? Double? Or are you seeing the eternal restoration that God has for you?

Look my brothers, let me say this, because I can continue mentioning examples that can be very close to the marrow of our lives. I can keep seeing the wife, the wife who keeps making you gray hair and you're like wow, what am I going to do with this person. And I can say, look, what are you seeing? Are you seeing what is seen or are you seeing what is not seen? Are you seeing the problem that person has right now or are you seeing what is not seen, which is what God is doing in the midst of that person's life?

What God is doing behind the scenes, what you are seeing as if to say, this person who suddenly appears as an ogre and Dr Jekill and Mr Hyde as if to say, this monster appears like that, that is what you see in front of you . Or you are seeing through the eyes of faith that it is a God who is working on that person's character to renew and restore it to the intentions that God has.

What's more, are you seeing a monster or a monster inside of you? No, not a fly, a monster, a monster inside of you that scares you when it comes out and you're like, oh, where did that come from? Are you seeing what is seen or are you seeing what is not seen? What is God doing in your life?

And when we are talking about what is not seen, I mean the actions that God is doing in you and you are paying attention to those actions and letting those actions truly dominate your life so that then that vessel that you are, those parts that are broken, broken God can restore them to the purpose and the image and the way in which he wants so that then we can say, look, I am walking in a dimension that is out of this world. Yes, I see all these errors, all these imperfections, but my spirit eyes are seeing something totally different.

Listen to me, if I let myself be carried away by what I see, I wouldn't be here preaching to you right now, God knows where I'd be a while ago. I would be over there, around Monterrey, doing you know what. Why Monterey? I don't know. I just meant a place.

My brothers and sisters, when we walk by faith we definitely walk on ground that God himself has set aside for us. And this is where I want, as it were, to give you something more tangible. Well, I know that I was talking about tangible things, but I want you to leave here with this: look at that same prayer that we made a few moments ago, a prayer for rest, see that you get home and that you believe it for faith, that you believe it by faith that when you get into bed and start to stretch your legs and start to curl up like that, I don't know how you do it with the pillow, if you give fists to the pillow or something, and you kind of hug that pillow, I don't know if you wear pajamas with Winnie the Pooh socks or something like that, I don't know what you wear, I don't know if you wear Sponge Bob pants or something like that to sleep, but whatever you wear, look, think that you are sleeping in the presence of someone who wants to give you rest. I can see that through faith alone. If I go to bed thinking about what I'm seeing with my own eyes, if I go to bed as they say, in my mind with all the things that I have there in front of me, look, I go to bed and after 5 minutes I'm going to open your eye again. I lie down again and after the other minutes I open the other eye. I am going to be like this all night because I am not trusting, I am not believing in the word of the Lord that he wants us to be able to rest, that we can….

Look, I am going to finish by telling you this testimony: before I arrived here in León de Judá, as some of you know, I was in a church in Springfield, a church that looked very similar to this one, very energetic, well... at that time when I arrived at this church, it was entering a spiritual revival and there was a lot of activity in the church. There were vigils about twice a month, from Friday to Saturday, but they were fiery vigils, there were children, there were young people, there were adults, everyone praying, singing.

There was a time when a woman was invited who had one of the most genuine prophetic gifts that I have seen and that I have experienced and this woman, one night of those vigils, the Lord took her to minister to the main pastor of the church and in that church the altar was like, obviously it was much bigger than this one and had ends towards the corners, and at that time the pastor was very troubled by different projects that the church was doing, things that the Lord was putting in his heart , and you could see the tribulation that he had in his face, in his face you could see it. It was about 10 at night, my brothers, beginning that vigil, it was about 10 at night and the Lord moved this woman to minister to the pastor and she begins to pray for him and tells him, pastor, the Lord is going to give a deep sleep right now. My brothers, this pastor fell like a soursop on the altar. We could literally hear his snoring but God put him to sleep in a corner of the altar.

You say, in a vigil, how will it be! You have to be praying, it's the pastor! Look, that man slept on that corner until 5 in the morning. When he got up at 5 in the morning, you could see it in his face, his face was shining. He got up like, uh, and he's like, how long has it been? He didn't even notice the time. Look my brothers, I believe that God can minister at that level too. Because sometimes we get so busy because of the things around us and there are times when we believe we are God, that we can do things by our own strength, and there are times when God is there as if waiting, hmm, I'm going to wait for your system do a complete shutdown. No, no, it's not that he's going to wait for him to shut you down, but there are times when he himself has to intention a…, let me give this person the reset button to slow down.

I believe it, my brothers, look, I don't know why God has put that burden on me today on this particular night, but yes, if it's worth anything that I know it does, receive that. When you leave here today walk by faith and not by sight. When you get home, kiss your wife, your husband, the puppy, the dog, the cat, and say I'm going to sleep in Dad's presence today. Look, snuggle up, don't take the sleeping pill, I say it by faith. If you take sleeping pills, don't take it today. I believe that God will allow you to rest. If it doesn't happen, well look, come and blame me. I throw the 20 to God later. But believe it. It's more I delete what I just said, delete that, I know that God is going to allow you to rest, it is by faith, it is by faith.