definition year

I want to share with you a thought from God's word for this year that I feel God has entrusted to me. In the book of First Kings, in Chapter 18, in verse 20. This is the word of the Lord for all of us at this time, in this year, a call from God for us as a Congregation, for my life, for your life specifically. Says:

“…Then Ahab summoned all the children of Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. And Elijah approaching all the people said, ─ here begins what I believe is the word of the Lord for each one of us ─ “How long will you falter between two thoughts? If Jehovah is God, follow him, and if Baal, follow him." And the people did not answer a word…”

The call of the Lord to our lives tonight and in these months that are ahead of us, is formulated in terms of a question, which is a heavy question, until when will you waver between two thoughts? The implication, the conclusion that we must assume from this word is that we do not want to continue giving up. What does the word give up mean? It means how to debate between two things. It means how to hesitate, how long will you hesitate?

Giving up also has a tone of insincerity, lack of definition, lack of determination. It's like I want to do one thing but something holds me back and then I do something else. I oscillate, I debate, I move between two thoughts. There is an indecision in my life, there is a lack of clarity and definition.

I was washing dishes a couple of days ago, and the Lord spoke to me, I was thinking, Lord, give me a word for your people, for us, this year, also give me a word for my life and for what I should focus my things in this future year. And that word definition came to me.

And I believe that this year my request before God, my request before the Lord for my life and for my Congregation, I want you to take that call for your life. If you are involved in a ministry, if you are in a situation in your life where you have to make a decision, in your marriage, in something that God has placed in your life, I beg you to ask the Lord, Father, help me. to define me I want definition in my life.

Because Elias is speaking to a people who are undecided and who are torn between two, he says thoughts, but they are not just thoughts, they are two systems, they are two visions of the world, they are like two convictions, two religions, two life positions. and Elijah confronts the people of God and tells them, how long are you going to be between two waters? And are they going to be playing with God and with the devil? You have to define yourself and take a clear stand in your life.

Elijah tells them, if God is God then commit to God and embrace all that is of God in your life and assume God's call, God's responsibilities, God's demands for your life. Now, if Baal is your god, well look, go with Baal and get into that abyss, but don't want to be with God and with God, with God and with the world. God is my king, my sovereign, my Lord, my owner, I live for him, I confess through the hymns I sing, the choruses I sing when I go to church, but in my mind there is no definition, in my style of life there is no definition, in my priorities there is no definition, in my heart there is no definition. I am in the church but the church is not within me. I carry the word of God but the word of God does not carry me. I read the Bible but the Bible doesn't read me, doesn't it search me?

And then we are as Israel was, we are as so many people out there are, on Sunday they go to church, they cross themselves, they do this and that and on Monday they go to the healer, to the witch, the witch doctor, just in case God You are not as sure as they think, so cover yourself with a second possibility. And so we live, between giving up between two thoughts.

Over and over again I see in the word of the Lord a call to define ourselves. Israel had to define itself, because God did not bless it, that is why their enemies took over them and did what they wanted, that is why the plagues came, that is why the sufferings came, that is why the blessings that God had promised Israel when the brought to the land of Canaan who said that the diseases of the Egyptians would not manifest in them, that God would bless their coming out and coming in and that God would give them peace and protection from their enemies, that there would be no barren woman among them, that they they would enjoy this land that flowed with milk and honey, that he would give them that land forever and that no one could take it from them.

And many other blessings that the word of the Lord records, but those blessings could not be perfectly fulfilled in the life of the people of Israel. Because? Because they loved too much the spiritual fashions of the tribes that were around them. They were not able to serve and consecrate themselves to the true God, and so they followed the religious ritual but did not wholeheartedly serve God.

And there comes a time when you have to make a decision. And that's why Elias confronts the people and says, hey, define yourselves once and for all, whose are you? Who do they live for and who is their God and who is their Lord?

I believe that in the life of each one of us that moment has to come. And you know, one of the things that also strengthened my conviction that God was leading us in that defining direction, as a point of meditation for this year. These last sermons that I have shared before the Christmas sermons that we shared, we were talking about what kind of church are we? Why are we the way we are?

Why do we handle the spirit, although the spirit obviously handles us as well, but God gives his people certain truths in Scripture and each people handles those truths in slightly different ways, why do we conjugate the spirit in the way we that we do as a church?

We are a Pentecostal people, we believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we believe in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, we believe in a life energized and empowered by the power of the Holy Spirit, but we are also a slightly more complex church than that, and we also believe in other things. Because we believe, for example, that medicine is a blessing from God. And we believe in gifts, but I also believe that sometimes God works through medicine as well.

There are times when God wants to heal you through a radical, supernatural, incontrovertibly supernatural miracle, and sometimes God will tell you, you know what? Go to the doctor and I'm going to work through the doctor and I'm going to give strength to that intervention and I'm going to put power to that medicine and it's going to do you more good than it normally would, and God also heals us through Of medicine. And I believe in that. There are many Pentecostal churches that completely deny it and I think we are ungrateful to doctors.

We go to the doctors, they bless us with their arts, which God has given them, and then we say, no, I don't give credit to the doctors, God was the one who healed me. Amen. God healed you but the doctor also had to see, give thanks to God for the doctor. I believe in that complexity of the Christian life.

So God took me this year and will continue to take me in the next sermons also about what are we as a church? Because we have to define ourselves and that people know who I have also told them about my faith because I hope that for the best, I am the main pastor of this church, and my faith and my way of seeing things of the spirit will determine largely what this church is and how it manifests itself. And I wanted to define myself before you and open my heart so that you can see many times the different forces with which I fight within the faith and the different truths and things, so that you understand my heart and why I do the things I do and why I don't do the things I don't do, and why I am this way in my pastoral dealings with you and why I am not this way.

I wanted to expose that aspect of my life in front of you. And then all of that led me to the fact that we are defining ourselves. I have struggled a lot with many of the things that I have shared with you because I always say, Lord, I do not want to dilute the faith of my people. When I talk about the complexity of Scripture and that we cannot be one hundred percent sure many times of all things that we have to be open to other interpretations, other visions within the people of God. Nor do I want to say that there is no truth, that everything is the same, that we cannot have conviction. Of course not, but we have to believe certain things and stand up and say, this is what I believe. Amen.

And many times you will hear certain things said and you will say, well, pastor, in your heart you will say, you know what? I'm going to take that and I'm going to ruminate on it, I'm going to let the Lord clarify to me if what you say is true or not. and you have the right to do that. Many times I will be able to say certain things and I believe that you are mature people and I hope that you know the word and you will be able to judge in the spirit if Pastor Miranda is right or not, and if you can embrace what he has declared. Amen.

Because we have to be defined people too. I don't know all the things. However, I believe in expressing what God puts in my heart but as he has been calling us in a way, to define ourselves before the world and God has been forcing me during this time to define what I believe. And sometimes I have agonized over God, I tell him, Lord, help me because I want to believe what you want me to believe. I want to see the word as you see it. I don't want to fall into a mediocre and lukewarm Christian life. I want a town that is fiery, a town of convictions, a town filled with the Holy Spirit, that we can adore the Lord as we have done tonight.

But I am also a complex person and God has been speaking to me, define yourself, and define your beliefs in front of your people. And I kind of believe that God is calling us because I feel that God has a great purpose for this community and that we have not yet entered our spiritual maturity. We haven't gone into everything you want to do through this town. But first, before God can use us as he wants, we have to define ourselves and know why we confess what we confess, know what we believe, know what we are and live what we are.

And I think that perhaps God has wanted us to enter into this time of reflection about what we believe as a way of preparing ourselves for what is to come. And that it is important that you know why we allow certain things, why we do not allow certain things, and that you know where we start from biblically and what God wants from us.

That is to say, I believe that God has put us in a process of defining ourselves, of definition in that sense. What we believe, what we are and this I believe, which must continue later. But definitely, that defining ourselves goes beyond simply a biblical theological definition and also speaks to us about defining ourselves in terms of our attitude, our position before the Lord.

We have to define ourselves as individuals, define ourselves as individuals, assume a clear position regarding, for example, how we are going to live, if we are going to consecrate our lives to the Lord or if we will continue to falter between two thoughts, living between two waters. We are a Congregation of very diverse people, we have simple people, with little education, who love the Lord, who have given their lives to the Lord and who are a very special blessing. We also have highly educated, professional people. We have intellectually highly developed people also among us. And we have people who are new to the faith, just beginning in the ways of the Lord.

This is a very evangelistic church. If you look, there are many new families here, people who come through our radio program, through the internet, they are invited by others. This is a church where there is a good portion of people who are always coming into the church. And God is doing works in their lives. Sometimes they withdraw for a while, God gives them a first shock, weakens them, makes them dizzy, but they come back and stop and continue again, and come back again, and you have to give them another slap until they finally enter. And it takes sometimes years and months.

And I believe in a process church as well, a church that allows a little space. He told me, I like this church, a couple of well-prepared people, young adults with two girls, and he told me, pastor, one thing, we come from a Catholic background and one of the things that we like of this church is that they do not force people. I know that this is a problem for other people in the church who would like us to be a little tougher on people. But for better or for worse, and I think it is for the better, we are a church that allows people a little space so that God can do his work in them.

But, with that, also comes the danger that people think that we are not defined, in terms of values. No, I think we are clear about the values of holiness, commitment to God, a moral, ethical life, in accordance with the word of God that affects all dimensions of our lives. But, there are different people in different states of seeking the Lord and they are here, this is a swarm of different individuals, in different stages of their growth and definition, but within all of that, the Lord tells them, wherever you are In that walk with God, in your stage, God tells you, look, define yourself. Don't stretch the time too long either. Do not falter too long between two waters. You have to immerse yourself fully in the things of the Lord because otherwise you run the risk of spending your whole life not being, as the Guatemalans say, neither chicha nor lemonade, you are neither one thing nor the other. And that's not good either.

You have to define yourself. There has to come a time in our life that we say, you know what? Enough, I'm going to throw myself fully into the waters of the Lord and well, I'm evangelical and what? Amen. And already makes a definition. Stop playing undercover agent. Many of us are like that, like water, we put our foot in, the big toe first, and then the other, to see if it's cold. No, no, there comes a time when you have to dive in, throw yourself away and God also calls you to define yourself in your life.

I want you to know that we are clear on that. As a church, we have to define ourselves and the Lord calls you this year to define your life once and for all, because we allow ourselves many liberties with the Lord and I believe in a merciful God, a gracious God, a forgiving God, but I also believe in a God who is a consuming fire, a God who, in order to deal with us, needs us to purify ourselves, cleanse ourselves, and that each day we get closer to him and live more within his commandments.

And brothers, that affects all areas of our life. The way we dress, the way we have fun, our conversations, our work life, the sincerity with which we treat each other, the transparency, the truth with which we speak, saying no to lies, telling no to hypocrisy, saying no to gossip, being honest workers and workers and professionals, and also letting people know what we believe in. Don't be around hiding it. This is a corrupt society with values that are terribly corrosive to the health of the soul and they put a lot of pressure on us in our workplaces so that we don't take a position, a clear position.

And we have to say, no, Lord, when they ask me what I believe, I am going to be ready to say what I believe, duck or coot, as we say. And whatever happens, but I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to hide it. There are so many people that I see doing that, brothers. In order not to cause problems with others, they do not take a clear position.

So, brothers, what I want to say is that we live in a society where the easiest is the line of least resistance. It means not declaring ourselves, but we have to declare ourselves, and many of us say, I'm not going to declare myself because if I offend the Lord, then I don't want to discredit the Gospel. But I believe that when you declare yourself, then that forces you to behave better. I have two stickers on the windows of my car that say, Congregación León de Judá and since I have a mini van, the windows are large and they are very clear. And that always hurts me, when I'm driving, because I know that if I do something wrong, both sides see the León de Judá Congregation and I have to give good testimony and I have to honor what is there.

From time to time I forget that I have the stickers and you know. I mean, oh, I hope they didn't see it. And I even thought about removing it, but no, I'm going to leave it there because imagine, with them the way I am, what would it be like if I didn't have them there. Sometimes you have to define yourself in life, brothers. If you are in war many times you have to take radical positions because in war, if you are not very clear about why you are fighting and who you are fighting against, they will go over you and serve you.

One has to be defined and we are at war. I think of Esther and these are very similar times where the devil, as he was in the form of this man who hated the people of God, Haman, as we are hated by Satan and he wants to destroy us, and he wants to destroy the church. And Esther was a very special woman that God had put in a position of great influence and was in a position that had direct access to the king. She could intercede for her Jewish nation, against which there was a decree of death and extermination. And Esther, she was inside the palace, she potentially had access to the king to intercede for her people but she didn't dare, she didn't want to define herself because she was Jewish too, and the king didn't know, nobody knew that she was Jewish in the palace. And if she defined herself, it could also cost her her life and her privileged position. And she wasn't sure if the king was going to grant her request or not.

So, he did not want to define himself. And you remember the story, that her uncle, Mordecai, came to her and challenged her to define herself. It says, here in Chapter 4 of Esther, it says:

“…All the king's servants, ─ that's what she told Mordecai to tell him ─ and the people of the king's provinces, know that any man or woman who enters the inner court to see the king without being called , there is only one law regarding him, he must die, except for the one to whom the king extends the golden scepter who will live, and I have not been called to see the king these 30 days…”

Ester is telling him, look, what you are asking me to do is dangerous, to intercede for the people. You have to have special permission to enter the king's presence and I haven't had that permission and he hasn't called me in a long time. The king had many different concubines. She said, I don't have legal permission and the decree is that if you appear before the king without permission, you have to die. It was a valid excuse.

Sometimes in life we have many areas of our life that we have not defined. There are situations, there are relationships, there are practices, there are customs, there are priorities, we have not defined ourselves. That is why I say that a church like ours is characterized by that, by not putting pressure on it.

By the way, do you know why I don't put as much pressure on you? There is a pressure that is like putting people in a straitjacket. Look, you can create artificially holy people for yourself, but inside they are eating themselves alive, and they are burning inside. They may have a dress that reaches the soles of their feet, but inside, they are eating. And I believe that things have to be genuine, they have to be from within.

Now, the danger with that, as I said, brothers, is that there are many people who continue without defining themselves and in our church I think there are many people, in a church where the pastor is not always giving people head with holiness, holiness, holiness, and sometimes I will speak at some point about my definition and the complexity of holiness, but the danger is that many times I fear that there is not enough clarity in the call to that conviction and that definition.

Esther loved God, she was a good girl, she had a special character, but she had not defined herself as a Jew, as a member of God's people, she had not taken a stand, she had not decided to use the position and gifts that God had given her. to make a decisive intervention and many of us have an opportunity to do something decisive in our workplace, with a friend, a friend, things that we have to do to define ourselves.

So, Ester gave him an excuse, look, I can't, the circumstances are not propitious. Look at what Mordecai answers, he says that they told Mordecai the words of Esther ─

“…Then Mordecai told him to answer Esther, “Do not think that you will escape in the king's house more than any other Jew, because if you are absolutely silent at this time, I breathe and release from somewhere else for the Jews, plus you and the your father's house you will perish and who knows if you have reached the kingdom by this time..."

You have to define yourself, what Mordecai tells you. God has called you, God has called us as a people. Thank the Lord, Esther took the words of her uncle, Mordecai, to heart and stepped out in faith, and God honored her far more than she ever imagined. And God used her.

And I believe that for God to use us this year so that God's blessings flow through my life, so that God can do something. I see this couple here, God is defining their lives. How good is your prayer. You have paid a price and that is a blessing so that God can fulfill his purposes. You have to define yourself, you have to stop giving up between two waters. And the blessing is felt.

There is a price to pay. In marriage there is a price to pay. I have heard from people, even in the church, what commitment is, when you give someone a word. Today there are people who got tired of their partner, their partner, and they begin to give up and you see them months before, you already know where they are going. They are looking for ways to get out of the commitment they made, mostly men but also women today. From both sides. No, when you give your word, you give your word. Marriages today are not going to prosper and they are not going to stay unless it is not many times by word, because cheap physical passion, many times it is not going to be there all the time, or it is going to be there and it is not going to be , or there will be something else fresh out there that calls you more, if you do not make a commitment of fidelity in the long term and for a lifetime, you have to define yourself.

God is calling us to definition so that his power can flow in our lives, so that this can be a church as God wants it to be, a church of power. We still need to define ourselves more. I have to define myself more, we all have to define ourselves more. The weight of the Lord is upon us saying, church, Lion of Judah Congregation, people of God, put your name there, define yourself, define yourself. Let's define ourselves. The time is already approaching 12 at night and I know that I have to finish in a couple more minutes, but I want your life and mark mine.

This year I ardently hope that it will be a year of definition, also concerning our sanctuary, that this year we will finish that temple. Amen. I tell him, Lord, we have to define, because that is a very big load that I carry emotionally on my shoulders, on my head, and I ask you to pray for me, because it is a battle. I have to be constantly alert, and I have to be encouraging the engineers and the architects and everyone, and sometimes calling them to chapter and sometimes it takes me conflict with people I love, and speak clearly in ways that are painful many times . And that is a suffering that, I am not saying it so that they feel sorry for me, because that is the privilege that I have, to be a warrior before God, that is a privilege. I don't shy away from it, but it's a burden. And my wish is to end that too.

And you, brothers, God tells you, look, define yourselves because I made certain clarifications to you during these campaigns and those clarifications are valid, all of them. What I promised we were going to do, we have fulfilled. You have a commitment before the Lord. God has done his part, the bank is doing its part, we are doing our part in the construction. We've cut costs, we've done a lot of tremendous things. I think that now you have to define yourself.

But you know, brothers? Look, depending on how you define yourself in the larger realm will determine how you define yourself on specific things. In other words, who do you live for? Whose is your money? Whose is your time? Who owns you? Whose is your bank account? Whose job is it? Why do you live in this life? Because as you define that, then that will allow you to be generous towards God and towards his work and towards his plans and the visions of the people and the church of God.

When they call you to give and to be generous, because there is a legitimate need, you are not going to be there saying, when are they going to stop talking about money? I'm already tired. No. This is the family, they are talking to me, I am part of the family. I am not a client out there, I am part of this work. And I'm not going to be offended, but we are all involved in this, and we live for the Lord.

And the answer is within you. I ask the Lord, help us this year to finish this sanctuary, finish it and be able to have our certificate of occupancy. define us. Help us define ourselves from this process and this burden. The Lord brought me the words of Romans, it says:

“…And if we live for him we live, if we die for him we die, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord…”

That is definition. In other words, my life is simply what God wants. If I live, I live for the Lord, if I work, I work for the Lord, my talents are from the Lord, my profession is from the Lord. My money belongs to the Lord, my marriage belongs to the Lord, my children belong to the Lord, my time belongs to the Lord, my body belongs to the Lord. If I live, I live for him, if I die for him I die. Everything is from God. I am defined, I am clear.

The last word of the Lord is in Romans Chapter 12, where God says;

“…I beg you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is our rational worship…”

God says define yourself, put your body, live your life as a sacrifice before God, consuming daily, continuously. How are you living your life? Preserving your life or willing to give it up for God? Is your life a continuous consumption before God? are you like a meat that is on the coals and those fathoms over low heat are cooking it little by little? Because that is the life of a Christian, it is a living sacrifice.

I have not reached that level, I think. I would like to reach him, I invite you to live that way, wanting your life to be a living sacrifice. define yourself

It says as a holy sacrifice, pleasing to God that our worship be rational, it says, do not conform to this century but transform yourselves through the renewal of your understanding so that you can verify the good will of God, pleasing and perfect.

In other words, according to our definition it will be our profit. In order to confirm God's good will, to confirm God's promises to our life, we have to define ourselves, we have to live as a living sacrifice. We have to choose not to conform to this world. It is understood? That is God's call tonight for us.

People of God, define yourself. How long will we give up? I get tired of myself, frankly, brothers, sometimes I get impatient with myself and I get tired of telling the Lord the same things, asking the Lord for the same things, confessing the same things. God says, define yourself. Let's define ourselves.

Who are we going to serve? What kingdom are we going to be citizens of? Who are we going to give our allegiance to? People of God, I tell you that this year I hope it will be a year of definition and God tells you, define yourself. May God grant that this is a defining year for many of us. Amen.

Let's go to another level. I want to be more passionate with God. I want more of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I want to think less and believe more. I want to move more in the power of God's spirit. I want to live a life closer to the Lord and more reflect the character of Jesus and I ardently desire an exemplary church, a church that reflects the best values of the Kingdom of God, a radically committed church.

Why are we here tonight? You know how many people say that you are having a New Year's farewell service when tomorrow is Sunday; they remember that. How many know that tomorrow is Sunday? You know, was there a time when we have this service or canceled it? I said no, we're going to have it. And look, it's good to see that town full. There are churches that have canceled tonight's and tomorrow's. The Lord rebuke the devil. I rejoice in the Lord that there is a people who, you know what? Instead of watching television right now we are going to the house of God to give glory to the Lord. That's radical. Amen. You have to live radically before God. We must seek the glory of God in our lives. And God rejoices in such a people, brothers.

We are going to be radical for the Lord. Give the Lord the best of your life. Surrender your life to the Lord. Hallelujah! Give glory to the Lord. Tell him, Lord, I give myself to you again. I give myself to you again. I want to live radically before you, Lord. Glorify the name of the Lord. Reconsecrate yourself to the Lord right now, reconsecrate yourself to the Lord. I give myself to the Lord right now. I say, Lord, I consecrate myself to you. I give my life to you.