The best gift that satisfies

I was thinking as I was preparing the message last night and I was saying, Lord, how fast this year has gone. I can't believe that a couple of days ago we were celebrating the farewell to the year 2009 and welcoming 2010. And where are we now? We are there to tell you, let's go to 2010 and receive 2011. This means that 2012 is coming, so if the Aztec calendar is correct.

But let's better think that it was that the Indians ran out of stone at that time. Let's think about it that way. But obviously my brothers, we are in Christmas time. How many of you have already put your Christmas tree in your house? We'll see. OK. They put the little deer that shake their heads with little lights and everything in front of the house. Okay. Those who have not done it... hey, update yourself, decorate your house. Get into the jingle, the jingle bells songs and stuff like that.

But, my brothers, the point is that it is the time, as if to say where we quickly began to think about gifts. Children in particular begin to think about their gift lists, things that they would like, that they wish they had. We ourselves start throwing hints at the husband or wife and saying, hey, how nice that looks in the store! Or I would like, we say, hey I dreamed that I had such and such in my hand. And so we began to communicate our wishes and we began to give the list to holy mom and holy dad, because obviously it's not that I believe in Santa Claus, but God's holy mom and God's holy dad, well we began to distribute the list , TRUE? And we do not send them to the North Pole, but we send them to the place where we live so that the list arrives well. I hope that the story is not hurting any child out there.

But the point is, my brothers, that this is the time where we begin to look for how to satisfy some needs that we have as human beings. We begin to think about how I can satisfy something, a longing, a whim that I have there in my heart of something that I would like to have. And obviously I am talking about the Christmas season, but you know that this occurs in many aspects of our lives.

We are always looking for how to satisfy some need within us. Some people say, if I had x, and e, amount of money, my life would be so much better than it is now. Some people may say, oh, if my wife or husband did this, well, my life would be so much better than it is now. Or there are parents who perhaps say, wow, if my son or my daughter did x or ye thing, life would be so, so good. Or maybe some of us think like, hey if my boss was such and such, my workplace would be a little heaven on earth.

And the thing is, we tend to think that our satisfaction most of the time depends on what another person and some other situation can do for us. And I dare to say that 99.9% of the people who are here in this place, without exception, have at some point thought this way. I am the first.

Or am I wrong? correct me. Tell me that none of you have ever said, if I had such a thing, if someone did this for me, even if God did this for me, my life would be much better, right? We will have said this at some point.

But look, I am going to tell you a truth that is very true, excuse me for the redundancy. and the point is that even if you had those things, even if someone did what you wanted them to do for you, even if you had the amount of money that you wanted to have, even if you had a boss who did what you you would like it to do, even if you had a wife, a husband who would do what you would like him to do, yet you would not be totally satisfied.

Something new would come out that would cause you dissatisfaction and you would be looking for something else. And this is transmitted in different ways. And one of my biggest wishes is that this happens in our spiritual life, that you are never satisfied in your spiritual life, that you are always yearning, looking for something more.

But, going back to Christmas time, the matter that at this time we are looking for some wish to be satisfied in our lives, in our hearts, in our being. And I would like to talk to you today about the best gift that satisfies. The best gift that satisfies. Ask the person next to you, do you have the best gift that satisfies? Tell the person, give me a smile if you have your best gift. It's for the husbands and wives out there. Look at your son, your daughter, in the face and tell him, you are my best gift, you satisfy me.

Look, go with me to the book of John, Chapter 4. In this Chapter there is a story that I know many of us have heard, and if you haven't heard it, then today you are going to find out the story. But it is the story where at one point Jesus left Judea and was going in the direction of Galilee, but he had to go through Samaria. And on the way from Judea to Galilee, he stopped at a well and in that well of water, he said to his disciple, boys, please go, get yourself something to eat, you know I was a little tired. Go, get something to eat, I'll take a break here and rest. But Jesus knew what he was doing, because he knew that he was going to meet someone there in that place and that someone was a woman. Do you remember the Samaritan woman when she arrived who was already coming with her pitcher to get water? When he arrives at that place, obviously Jesus asks him for water, and throughout this a conversation begins. But there was something about this story that captivated me for the purpose of this message. And it is the mere fact that the story of this woman was a woman who was not satisfied. It was a woman who, according to the biblical account, tells us that she had already had 4 husbands and now she was at number 5. So, tell me if the woman was dissatisfied or not. I want you to imagine this with me.

Every Christmas, the first Christmas, she realized that she was not very satisfied and what did she say? I hope that by next Christmas I have something better. So next Christmas, the new candidate arrived and said, oh, if this husband did this and this and this for me, my life would be so much better. But what happened? It didn't work. Let's go next Christmas. There is hope, another gift. Oh, if this husband would do this, this, and this for me, my life would be so much better than it is now. But what happened? It didn't work. Ah, the fourth Christmas arrived. And what happened? It didn't work either. The fifth Christmas arrived and on the fifth Christmas supposedly, according to the biblical account, he was not yet her husband, so, tell me if she was satisfied or not? there was no satisfaction there. He had found no satisfaction. What's more, you know what? I dared to look a little further into this story and who knows if when he came across Jesus at the well, who knows if he thought, hmmm, candidate number 6. Good looking man, melting pot eyes, what a voice, handsome, he is Jews, Jews and Samaritans don't get along, so, maybe my parents are going to have a problem with that, but hey, who knows if this is where my hope comes from? So, the conversation started, but what did Jesus tell him? No way. That's not me. I can meet you, I can recommend a candidate who can really satisfy you. And that's where, my brothers, Jesus took this phrase and says to this woman: look woman, give me some water, just to start the conversation. How you ask me for water, you are a Jew, I am a Samaritan. Hello, you and I don't get along, what is this? And that was where Jesus told him:

“…if you only knew the gift of God and who is the one who asks you for water, you would say to him, give me a drink of your water so that I will not be thirsty again…”

If you knew the gift of God. That word gift can also be translated as the gift of God. And I would like to ask a question, my brothers. Why do we have to accept that gift? Why do we have to accept it? And a first answer that I can give you. It is the mere fact that the one who offers it is God. It is not anyone else. You know what? The gifts that we can give are limited. Our gifts will always be limited, because perhaps we do not have enough money, or we cannot buy what they ask of us, or it is too big, or it is too portentous. So, we will always have our limits, but God gives his gifts, as Philippians 4:19 says, God gives his gifts, God will supply all things according to his riches in poverty. No, his wealth in glory, that's how God gives. So, God's gifts come from an unlimited resource.

The gifts that we give within two or three days, or within two or three weeks, have their meaning and value, but nevertheless the gifts that God gives last for an eternity, last for an eternity. So why are we going to accept that gift? Who is offering it for? I'm not offering it to you. Pastor Mirando is not offering it to you. It is not being offered to you by the person next to you. God is offering it to you.

Look, the meaning of a gift, my brothers, is not only enclosed in the mere fact of the gesture that they gave it to you. I don't know how many of you this has happened to you who give you a little gift, very simple and when you open it, it's like, oh, and then you tell the person who gave it to you so they don't feel bad, you say Don't worry, if the gesture is worth it. the gesture is what counts.

But the true meaning of a gift is not necessarily in the gesture of what they give you, but also in the content of what they are giving you. If you are given a tie, what do you do with that tie? You take it, analyze it, wow, how beautiful, fine fabric, how is the brand? New York, Tommy Hilfigher, I buy them Tiger brand and Coast brand. So, I say wow, how cute, and then one classifies them according to one's taste. If your husband gives a woman a necklace, a bracelet, a ring or something, what do you do? You know that gift and the first thing you look at is gold, white gold, if it is titanium or how many carats is the gold, or how many carats is the stone that has that garment as well. We see all that and we want to know it.

If they give you a computer, obviously there is the meaning of the gesture, wow, they gave me a computer, but then what you are going to do is get to know that device. And you take it out of the box, you get to know it, you connect all its parts until you become familiar with that computer and manage to dominate it with your eyes closed. In the same way, my brothers, that gift that God gives us, that gesture has a meaning, it has a value, but the significant value is seen in the complexity of the content of that gift. That it is not enough to simply open a box and say, oh, yes, that's cool, and we put it next to it, but rather, it is the mere fact, my brothers, that there is a content that one has to know , that one has to explore, that one has to pay attention to it to see what one manages to get out of that gift.

And this is where I see, where the difference is, my brothers, how we often proceed with this perception that we have of being able to receive a gift. Many times I analyze myself, that is, I am doing an introspection test here. Many times I analyze myself, and I say to myself, wow, Omar, how much value do you place on the gifts you receive? The gift of life or material gifts that I may have around me. and I do get its value. But I realize how easily after a couple of weeks or something that gift is kind of already sitting there collecting dust. And I'm already thinking about the next thing. What else can I buy? Or what else can I receive? Or what else can I give?

But the gift that focuses on God, my brethren, is not designed to gather dust. God's gift is designed to last for an eternity in our midst. Because that's what he wants to do. What he wants is to give a gift that can and can satisfy everything in you. But for you to receive that, for you to accept it, there has to be a sensitivity in your heart.

What I was saying right now, they give you a gift and you open it and it's like, oh, blessed. If I could get it. You know what? There are many times that people treat God's gift like this. There are many times that when people talk about this gift from God, they see it as, oh, blessed, that's all? I need something else.

When we truly do not understand that even though it is in a small package, the gift of God when you open it is like... a whole world of opportunities opens up. But for us to be able to discover that world, we must know it well. And speaking of meeting him, my brothers, I want to talk to you about something, a very particular gift, a gift that I want as a pastor, is that you add it to your list for this season. It is a gift that without it life can be made a little more difficult. And I'm talking about the gift of discernment.

On Wednesday night I shared this with the brothers who came to the service. And God moved me to be able to share it today too. And I want to encourage you, my brothers, that at this time you can include in your prayer list asking the Lord to give you discernment.

What is discernment? If I were to define discernment, discernment can be defined as the ability to distinguish between one thing and another, to be able to perceive. If we are talking in terms of something that happens with a person, or something that a person says to you, discernment helps you to be able to distinguish, to be able to perceive if what the person is telling you comes from God. or if it comes from the origin of the devil, or if it comes from the origin of that person's own whim, that what he wants is to manipulate something.

That's where you see discernment. In Scripture there are many examples of people operating in discernment or asking for discernment. One of them that I think is King Solomon, the son of David, when it was his turn to go up to the kingdom. God revealed himself to his life in a dream and in that dream he tells him, ask me whatever you want and I will do it. Imagine that for a gift list. May God appear in front of you and tell you, ask me for everything you want that you got it. A blank check, I sign it and you put everything you want there.

But Solomon, what did he say to him? Lord, you have made me govern this town and it is very difficult, so the most I am going to ask of you is that you give me wisdom to know how to do it and that you give me the discernment to be able to distinguish between good and bad and to be able to govern your people. Solomon needed it and we already see Solomon's record. It's true that at one point in his life his discernment dulled and he screwed it over, but anyway, God had mercy on him.

Another example that can speak to this was Nehemiah, when Nehemiah was building the walls of Jerusalem. I really like this story. Sanballat and Tobias were coming as if to intimidate him, to put a block, a trap on his feet and deceive him and take him and eliminate him so that the construction of the walls of Jerusalem does not continue. And Nehemiah, the word says that Nehemiah knew, Nehemiah understood, in other words, he discerned that what they were plotting against him was a plan to eliminate him and he then, because of that discernment that God gave him, did not fall into that trap. and he was able to complete what God was calling him to do.

Jesus himself, the many fights that Jesus had with the Pharisees, who told him on many occasions, and who is this to heal the sick on the Sabbath? Or who does he think he can forgive sins? Only God forgives sins. And what does the text say that every time Jesus heard that, he knew, he discerned the thoughts of these people to know how to respond to them.

We need discernment today more than ever, my brothers. Because? We live in a society out there that day after day is using a very direct subliminality to find how to deceive people. And we need to know how to discern in order to know how to proceed in different situations or circumstances of life. To know how to respond to different threats that seek to stop or slow us down in our progress in our Christian life and to know how to truly listen and discern what God wants to do in our midst.

You need discernment in your personal life for decisions that you have to make. We cannot afford to make decisions solely based on our own human reasoning or logic or pure experience. Those are resources that you can use but you can't just rest on them. You need that discernment from God to know how to identify what is before you and know how to proceed.

There are many people who could have avoided a headache or several headaches if they had asked God for discernment in the midst of the decisions they had to make. You have a situation with your son or daughter, you have already gone to the psychologist, sorry to the psychologist but it does not work with the psychologist. He has gone to the doctor, he has prescribed medicine, and the medicines do not work either. He has talked to the pastor and the pastor has not been able to do anything either. And you are already at home desperate, desperate and what else am I going to do? Look, go to that one, to the admirable one, as we said at the beginning of the service, go to the counselor of counselors. When that little box is opened, the admirable comes out of it, the counselor comes out of it, the Mighty God comes out of there, the Prince of Peace comes out of there, and a multitude of things can continue to come out of there to help us know how to deal with the things we have in our hands.

You have to ask God for discernment, my brothers. Know how to discern, look, I never tire of saying this. The mere fact that you are here today is the background for your coming, but when you get in here, you get into a dangerous place, so to speak, because this church, if it stands out for anything, is a church that wants yearns and desires to obey God's call no matter what the cost. That we want to be in line with what God wants for this church and that is something dangerous, my brothers, because many times we believe that because it sings beautifully here, we believe that because the spirit of God moves that then it is a very vibrant church, Very cool, because I want to be part of that church. But we don't realize that being part of a dynamic like that has very big implications and it is the mere fact that you are part of an army of people that God is preparing to make a very strong impact wherever we go.

So, the mere fact that you arrive here, if you arrive here only with the sense that, ah, I want to go to feel good, that church is like anesthesia. It's like he's on a note, he comes in here and looks, he comes through the parking lot grumbling and walks through the door, let me sit here and take it all in. It's like he's been in a sauna or something like that, a spa. And look, yes amen, how nice, but that's not all, my brothers. When you get in here, you get something, you get energy, you get a gift, let me put it like this to stay online, you get a gift when you get here and you have the option of taking that little box, someone has a little box , a Kleenex or something, look, they give you a gift, worth the illustration, you receive a gift and it's like the bundle of Mary Poppins, you put your hand in and take it out, wow, wait, I didn't know that was there? And you go back and put your hand in and you can take something else out again.

By the mere fact that you are part of this church, my brothers, you are being part of a direct connection to heaven. You are being part of a connection that goes directly to the unlimited resources of God, and it is not because any of us are deserving of something like this, but it is because God has his eyes on this place. And when you walk through that door, the pastor is not looking at you, the hujieres are not looking at you, it is God who is setting his eyes on you.

And when God is looking at him, oh mom, he says I have a gift for you, do you want it? Do you want my gift or don't you? Do you want pink paper or do you want green paper? Do you want garlands around the box? The point is, my brothers, that this gift is there ready for each and every one of us.

Look at this, what difference does this gift make in our lives? All the difference in the world. If I give you a gift today, tomorrow you forgot that I even gave you that gift. Because it is at that level that the gift that I can give you can come. My gift has limits. My gift has difficulties. My gift has imperfections. It can take you from here to the corner maybe, or from here in a couple of days, let me not get so cheap, sorry. It can take you a couple of weeks, a couple of months, but after that the gift went away.

But if we look at the gift of God, if we knew that gift of God and who is offering it, ah, we would throw ourselves out on the street and say, Lord, come on, bring it on, bring it, Lord, I want it I long for that gift. And it sounds really nice, we want that gift, we all want it. I want that gift, but just as Jesus did with that Samaritan woman, he told her, before giving you the gift, there are a couple of things we have to fix, a couple, not many, a couple. They are 5. 5 and who knows if one more.

Jesus dealt with that woman, Jesus spoke to her and look, this, this, and this, and Jesus did it because he had a sense of love, of compassion towards this woman, he wanted to build his life, and through her bless others. samaritans. Doesn't God want to do the same with each one of us? He tells you, look, hey, I've got this gift for you, I've got it, I've got it, it's there, but there's a couple of little things I want to do with you. It's right there. But we have to take care of business.

I like it a lot. I heard someone say the following once, concerning the Our Father prayer, you know the part that says, give us this day our daily bread, and then it says, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And it's interesting, I heard a preacher say once, that God, listen well, God does not negotiate his bread with his children, he gives you bread and after eating he tells you, ok, let's talk. Let's talk. We are going to eat, I am going to give you this gift, but as you are enjoying this gift, we have to take account, the business, the things that have to be done.

And so is God, because God wants to deal with the interior in you. God doesn't want you to settle for a little gift so you open it and, oh, no. God wants you to open that gift, wow! Keep pulling, wow, check this out. Perhaps Paul does not say that the love of God is so wide, so high, so deep, so long that it cannot be counted, cannot be measured, and there in all that dimension is the gift of God.

For something he was saying that we cannot be satisfied with what we have known of God in our life, in our relationship, in our connection with him, because my brothers, there is always something new to know. If you say you know everything, I rebuke that thought right now, because I don't know everything myself. There is always something new to know, there is always something new to experience of God's love. And that is the gift that he offers to all of us today.

I want to ask the question, is there someone here who wants to receive that gift? There will be someone who wants to say, Lord, look, who knows that I am like that Samaritan woman. I am not saying that you have had 5 wives, or 5 husbands, but that you have been running through life with total dissatisfaction. You have tried so many things and nothing satisfies you. What's more, who knows if you've tried a Gospel that was preached to you half cooked, and that Gospel hasn't fully satisfied you. More, however, today God is here to give you an opportunity and experience the whole fullness, the abundance of God's love, the abundance of that gift that is contained in the person of Christ Jesus. Your counselor, your shepherd, your helper, your banner, the one who heals you, the one who sets you free, the one who forgives you, the one who restores you, the one who picks you up when you fall, your path, your light, your water of life, That is the gift we are talking about, which perhaps is not measured by tangible things that we can hold in our hands, but it is measured by things that happen inside, that take us to all eternity. Material things are enjoyed along the way but that is nothing, compared to what he does on the inside, and how through you he operates on others.

So, my brothers, I want to take a moment to pray. If there is someone here this afternoon who wants to receive that gift for the first time, there is someone this afternoon who wants to receive that gift for the first time, and you say, look Pastor Omar, this word reached my heart today, I want to receive that gift of Christ Jesus. I want to receive that reason for this season, Jesus living in my life. If that's you today, I encourage you, stand right where you are and I'm going to pray for you real quick. Stand up, stand up and we will pray for you.

Hallelujah! Look, and this gift extends to the whole house. This gift extends to the whole house. This gift also extends to the children who have known that Dad for years and years, and if you also want this gift, if you want to know more about what can come out of that little box, I want to pray for you too today. So that's you, I invite you, stand up, join me up here, let's pray, let's ask the Lord to know that gift, to know that gift in a bigger, more abundant way, a way that transforms everything what we are, all our interior.

Father, we give you glory and honor, Lord, for what you do, for the way you speak to each of us in our lives, Lord Jesus. Father, thank you for your sons and daughters who have heard this word this afternoon. All of us who are being exposed to this word of life, Lord, which has the capacity to penetrate the depths of our being.

Jesus, I beg you that those people who are receiving this gift today for the first time, I ask that you surprise them, my God, and that you fill each of those lives and hearts abundantly. father, about any woman, any man who has made this decision today, I ask you Lord Jesus that you fill them to capacity, that your love overwhelms those people in such a way, my God, that they can know and understand that your you are real, Lord, and that you have the power to work in their midst. Give them the peace they need, my God, give them encouragement, give them the comfort they need at this time. And above all of us, the rest, members of this church, Lord, who have known you for many years, oh Father, I ask that this season that you surprise us with capacity.

Lord Jesus, surprise us. Give us encounters with you, Lord, where we have no choice but to say, wow, Lord, you've truly been through this. Give us that gift of discernment, Lord, that gift of a heart that is sensitive to your voice, that knows how to distinguish between one thing and the other, Father, to know when you are the one who is moving us to know you even more. Father, be it in the early hours of the morning, be it at night, be it during work hours, be it in traffic, be it anywhere, Lord, may you give us an opportunity where we can get to know you even more.

Father, and that in this Christmas season, where we celebrate, my God, your arrival in this world, Father, that this season acquires a meaning like never before, Lord Jesus. I ask that above all the church, that we understand that Christmas is you living in the midst of our hearts. It is the gift of your life, Lord, making a difference in us to impact the lives of other people around us. Fill our hearts, fill our being, abound in us, Lord, and allow us, as this text for today says, that rivers of living water come out of us, Lord, that they overflow for eternity in the midst of our hearts.

Renew us with your living water, Lord Jesus, renew us with your living water that can satisfy any need in the midst of our hearts, in the midst of our lives, my God. Father, and we as a church, we give you all the glory, we give you all the honor because only you deserve it, in the name of Jesus we pray like this, Lord, and we give you all the glory and all the honor, oh God. Amen and amen. Thank you Jesus. Thank my Lord.