Take the risk and live according to the truth

I encourage you to visit the website from time to time, see the sermons that go throughout the year, see the theme, my brothers, who are running there. Because I believe that there are things that God is speaking to us. There are things that God is wanting to let us know. And I know that each message has its focus, its specific tune, but when you begin to see the conglomeration of all those things and the totality of what God is communicating to us, one can make sense of different things. And I believe that this is one of the most beautiful things in the word of God.

When the Bible that the word of God is alive and effective, is that, that it has a life and perhaps for someone, a word that he hears today will have an impact that another person who hears it on the other side. And it may be that two weeks from now you will hear that message again and it seems that another part captures your attention and that makes you reflect on another aspect of your life.

The life of the word of God is like that, versatile, it is not static, it is very diverse and one has to learn to see God in all these aspects. What am I going with all this introduction? It is that this morning I had a dilemma, I am going to share a little bit of my dilemma with you. For what other dilemma, pastor, I don't need more now, with mine enough.

But the point is, my brothers, look at this, obviously one as a pastor receives a lot of news about situations that are happening in the lives of different brothers and sisters and there are times when one is overwhelmed, it's like wow! When is this all going to stop? When are these semi-negative scenarios going to stop and are we going to start hearing stories that are a little more positive? And suddenly, I remembered those first words that were shared at the New Year's service, when the pastor was saying that this year, obviously, he cannot promise you a year free of problems, but we can promise you a year full of victories.

And at the same time he was saying that in different ways all of us are going to be exposed to experiencing some type of loss, some type of frustration, some type of situation or problem that will be very difficult, something very unexpected and that one is going to have a moment where one is going to feel like and now what do I do? Where do I get this from? How do I resolve this situation?

But what came behind that word, is that with all those situations God will give you victory and God will glorify himself in the midst of it. I used to think, Lord, have we said a bad prophecy or something like that? But no, it's not like that. It is that life is life and whatever it is, one is going to have its risks, some are going to have their hard, difficult moments.

We were praying for the husband and the wife, and maybe today your wife was coo-coo with you, tomorrow she wakes up and it's like Wow! Or vice versa. Because the same thing happens to men, today the man is all smooth-talking. My sweetheart, tomorrow when he gets up it's like, ugh. Life treads on him.

It is so, and one has to learn how to live with all those things. Today a colleague at work greeted you and you were like wow! He greeted me. Wait for him tomorrow and he passes you by, and he's like a fly on the wall. And what happened to yesterday's greeting? People have their moments.

But look, in the midst of all these things, while I was thinking this morning, I said to myself, Lord, what can we do in the midst of all these things? In other words, when life gets like this, hard, difficult, what is there in your word that we can take from it? And I started listening to a podcast from one of my favorite preachers and the one I came across today he was talking about risk. The risks of life.

I dare to think that many times when we talk about risks, risks are like something... they have a dimension of fear because when you are talking about a risk, you are running a risk. There is something that can happen or go right or go wrong, and that is the definition of risk. In other words, you are daring to do or say or act in a way where you don't know if the result will end up being good or bad.

And many times we avoid living in that line of risk. But the thing is that sooner or later each one of us faces some risk. When you came here to church you could have run the risk of something happening to you on the way. God free him, let it not happen to him. But there are those risks.

When the snow falls and there is ice out there, you go out for a walk, you walk with the risk of not going to slip and hit yourself hard. If someone works in construction, imagine yourself. If someone works in construction, who works fixing roofs or something like that, whenever someone goes up a ladder you run the risk that at some point your foot will slip or something.

Today I started taking photos from the roof of the new building. And when they told me go up to the roof, that I am going up that little ladder, I say, here I am taking a risk. Because after the wind was blowing and I was so skinny, the wind caught me and could blow me off the edge of the roof. You take your risks.

And you know what? The Bible is full of stories of people who took risks. And I came across some that I want to bring up in these next few minutes.

Second Kings, Chapter 7, I want to tell you this story that seemed very funny to me, but which is very interesting about this risk dynamic. Second Kings, Chapter 7 beginning in verse 3. This is a story that the prophet Elisha is doing to bring a moral to a group of people. And in this story, look at what he says:

“…There were at the entrance of the gate four leper men, who said to each other, 'What are we there for until we die? If we try to enter the city, because of the hunger that exists in the city, we will die in it. And if we stay where we are, we will also die. So let's go now and go to the camp of the Syrians, if they give us life, well, we will live, and if they give us death, well, whatever it is, we will die..."

You saw the joys of this story, it's like the Three Stooges were talking to each other, well, okay let's see what we can solve this dilemma that we have? We are lepers, it is a disease that can cause death, if we stay here where we are sitting, we are going to have a slow and painful death. If we go into the city, if you know the laws at that time, it was that a leper had to leave the city, until he was cured, and then re-enter. If that leper entered the city when he was a leper, he could still risk being stoned, because he was breaking a law. So, they say, hey, if we enter the city or we die because they stone us, or we die because there is hunger in the city, one of the two. And if we sit here we die on our laurels.

And then, suddenly they thought, now if we go to the camp of the enemies, who knows if there, if we surrender, we raise the white flag, hey, we come in peace and they let us enter there, well, we will live. They might give us a little corner of the camp where no one interacts with us, but we'll be there.

The point of this story, my brothers, is that these four people were deciding whether or not to take a risk. there is another story in the book of Esther, to speak to women as well. This is one of the most striking lines in all of Scripture. It is when the people, the Israelites who were living there in that time of captivity, had passed this edict that they were going to eliminate them all and Esther obviously, a Jewish woman but who was like one of the king's concubines, she was calm . Then his uncle Mordecai comes and tells him, hey, who knows if for a moment like this God allowed you to be in the place where you are. And look how the story says, Esther, Chapter 4 beginning in verse 13, tells her:

“…Said Mordecai 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, respite and deliverance will come from somewhere else for the Jews, plus you and the house you will perish from your father. And who knows if by this time you have reached the kingdom? Esther, said to answer Mordecai, go and gather all the Jews who are in Susa and fast for me, do not eat or drink for three days, night and day, I will do the same with my maidens. Then I will go in to see the king even if it is not according to the law and if I perish, let me perish..."

Therein lies the risk. This woman was risking her life, but she dared, she took the risk.

A third example, in the book of Daniel, three of my favorite characters, Sadrac, Mesac and Abednego, friends of Daniel. In Chapter 3 of Daniel it talks about the story where King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue for the whole world to worship that statue, that when all the instruments sounded, trumpets, horns, cymbals, everything, wherever the people were Everywhere in the city everyone had to bow down to this statue and worship it. What happened to Sadrac, Mesac and Abednego? they did not do so, because their only worship was directed to God, not to any idol, not to any statue. And look what an interesting story of these three men. Daniel Chapter 3 in verse 16, look how it says:

“…Sadrac, Meshach, and Abednego responded to King Nebuchadnezzar saying, 'King, we need not answer you on this matter, for behold, our God whom we serve can deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king, he will free us… ─and this is where the risk is seen─ …and if he did not free us… ─look at what they are saying, these three boys are handsome, they are tigers─ …and if you do not know, oh king, that we will not serve your gods nor will we worship the statue you have raised..."

That was where the risk of these three characters was seen. How does the story continue? The king lit 'more than the oven, he threw the three of them into the oven to burn, and after a few minutes, the king looked out again and what did he see? Three boys dancing in the fire with a fourth. Tell me why? Why am I telling you about this, my brothers?

I think that like the message I brought on the first Wednesday, where I was talking about failure as the matrix for success, do those who heard it remember that message? That idea, my brothers, of risk is well involved in all this subject. Many times we want to live away from that margin of risk because we like to be in a comfortable life, we like to know that we have everything under control, we like to know that I am in control of my finances, that I am in control of paying all the debts in my house, that my children are well fed, well dressed, well warm now in the winter. I like knowing that I have a life where I get up tomorrow and I know what is going to happen, because I have my agenda right there.

But when we approach that margin of risk, when I am already entering a dimension in which what happens is going to be something unknown, and then we often avoid living there. But the idea is, my brothers, that there in that line is where we can know God the most. It is not that God is not with you in the comfort zone, comfort and security. God is with you there and God wants you to live there, but God also provides for you and wants you to have those moments where you dare to take risks and live things that in some way or another will transform your life.

Let me give you different examples. Since we were praying for marriages, tell me if I'm right or not, that many times couples avoid conversations to avoid conflicts. Yes or no? that you know that you know, that you know that if you bring up this subject it will break the glass and something will happen, or at least that is how you are assuming it will happen. TRUE? there is someone who totally agrees with me.

If you are in your workplace and you see that you have a colleague who is doing some kind of deal or work that is not in accordance with the principles of the company where you are and you know what is happening, you have to take a risk, in which you go to your superiors and let them know what is happening or avoid a problem with your work colleague, and so that you do not get into trouble with him, and who knows if with other colleagues, well, You say, I didn't see anything, it's not with me.

There are times when problems arise between the family, parents with children, the mother-in-law wants to get involved and make decisions in the marriage as well, or the father-in-law, and when this type of dynamic arises like this, it is often like, oh, the mother-in-law. If you want to hear good messages about mothers-in-law, I recommend you listen to Dante Gebel, that man is a master when it comes to mothers-in-law. Google him who is Dante Gebel, he speaks highly of mothers-in-law. Dante Gebel wherever he is, we don't know each other but I gave him a good promotion.

The thing is, my brothers, that in these family dynamics situations often arise that you know that if you bring up an issue or that you have to confront a brother or a sister about something, you know that if you take that risk, it may backfire one way or another.

I don't know why we always start to think that things are going to go wrong instead of thinking that things can be solved. Why is it that for us as humans the tendency is almost always to think, if I say something, forget it, things are going to end up getting worse, and we don't think about the other side. No, I have to say something because if I say it, I know that this is going to be resolved. And it may be that you are one of those very positive people who are here, if you are, I applaud you, glory to God. Keep it up.

But the point is, my brothers, that we have to learn to live in that line of risk, to dare to say something that has to be said, be it because we are living under the principles of the word of God, that is, because an action is to bring a consequence that in some way or another will bring some kind of reconciliation to what is happening. But the point is that one has to dare to cross that line of risk, one has to dare to live in that line of risk because no matter how uncomfortable it is, my brothers, we have to dare to live there.

While I was thinking about this, I said to myself, wow, how many questions would I like to ask my dad, but I know that if I ask them we will end up arguing. But somewhere in my heart I know that I need to have those conversations with him because they are going to bring some kind of clarity to my heart that is going to help me to be able to deal with him in a totally different way, and he with me. But we don't dare because we don't want to take the risk.

Your wife, your husband, when you get home, if he is not here or if you have him there next to you, right now you are listening to me but here next to your head, you know that this situation is between the two of us, and like your hair weighs more on that side. And your eyes look at me, ah, Pastor Omar, if you only knew! I don't have to be there. I imagine how it is.

But you know you have to take the risk. You have to pick up the underpants one more time for the message to get across. You have to flatter her for the message to get across. You have to walk with her through the mall even if you don't like it, even if it's window shopping but you have to walk side by side with her. You have to take that risk of carrying bags of clothes for her, and shoes even if they're not yours, I'm already at a disadvantage here. I am taking a very big risk by saying this.

But, my loves, girls, you are not far behind. They have to take the risk of saying to him, hey, this was good, even if you don't feel like saying it. That maybe in the morning they had an argument leaving the house, but now you're about to return home again and you know that you know that right now you're saying, I don't want to see that... blessed man's face, but instead of thinking like that, your risk will be seen in the fact that you can go, sit next to him in bed, even if it is, and dare to tell him, look, we have our differences but I want to respect you. I want to be able to get closer to you even more. I want to try to restore things. Even if 90 percent of your heart is saying otherwise, but that 10 percent dares you to live in that line of risk and trust God that the result will be good.

You have to dare to live in the risk that if you have to betray someone, you are not worrying because they are going to say, I am a jerk now, nobody is going to trust me. I mean, I don't know if that word is correctly said, but that's a snitch, it's like ratting on someone, let me say it in fine Spanish, from the Royal Spanish Academy. If you have to rat someone out because they are hiding from something and you have to rat them out to a superior, don't worry because the others are going to say, oh, this one is ratting everyone out. No, don't worry about it, live according to the truth.

Live according to the truth. Take that risk. Walk in that unknown place and God will take care of exalting you above your enemies.

You had a mishap with someone a long time ago and you are one of those people who says, I forgive but I don't forget. And you know how I am with that theory, I think I have been quite clear here in the church with that theory. That theory is quite true. You can forgive and you don't forget what happened either, but that grudge that you hold in your heart is what makes the difference.

And you know that maybe you have to have a conversation where you have to ask for forgiveness or you have to reach out to someone to, hey, you hurt me but I forgive you. And you have to walk in the risk of that situation. And dare that what is going to emerge from there God is in charge of bringing victory.

Look, my brothers, I know it's easier said than done, it's easier said than done. I myself know the discomfort of walking in those waters, but for a reason we read Isaiah 43. I believe what the word says, that if we walk through those waters, we will not drown, and if we get into that fire, the flame will not it will burn in us. They are hard roads to walk on, they are difficult roads and if we measure them through the eyes of this world, it may even seem unfair, but the justice of this world does not equal the justice of God.

And many times the justice under which God wants us to live is much higher than the justice of this world. So, the risk is not necessarily to do justice here, but rather to do justice at the level of what God asks for. When we walk in that zone of the unknown, of the mysterious, because one never knows how God is going to turn the tortilla and what ingredients he is going to put in it, one has to trust that things are going to happen.

You have a decision to make, a very pressing decision, which you have there that is squeezing your heart until you can't. And you are afraid because you know that one way or the other the situation can turn out in a desirable or undesirable way. And this is where this idea comes from that maybe with those decisions one has to experience certain losses, but as you walk through those waters, and through the fire, again, you're not going to drown, you're not going to burn. , but you will come out on the other side victorious, victorious. Just because you dared to take that initial risk.

When you take that risk you are going to be able to see that additional presence walking with you into that fiery furnace. Look, listen well, how am I telling you. I am not telling you that your conversation with your husband or your wife is going to go rosy. It may be that things get like that oven in Daniel's story. Things may turn out that way, but I believe that inside that oven, you and your wife, God will be there with you walking in that fire to get you out to the other side, and that your clothes will come out ironed, with steam from the oven. .

My brothers, I know that we are in times where God is doing a series of things and adjustments with us, his children, throughout the entire church. The church at the body level is universal what the church is. I know that God is dealing with us. And in a way, God is challenging us to take that risk that I can take responsibility with someone, that if I am struggling with something, with some weakness, with some habit in me that is not healthy, that I take the risk of daring to open my mouth and find someone trustworthy and be able to say, look, I have to tell you this. I don't know how the situation is going to turn out, but I am going to dare to talk about it with you, I trust in God, I trust in you that you are going to help me pray and every week I want to talk to you, report to you on how I am doing. And I give you permission to correct me too. Dare to take a risk like that, and I assure you that you will see the hand of God in your life. For both men and women, both.

I leave you with this, my brothers, we are like clay in the hands of the potter. And that requires a risk in itself as such, letting someone else put their hands on me to mold me, that hurts, it squeezes, but if we are doing it in the name of the Lord, believing and trusting that on the other side of the river the Things are going to get super better, let's dare to take that risk, my brothers.

Let's dare to live in that risky line. How good it is to think that we are a church that lives in that line of risk. Take a look out there, and tell me if we've taken a big risk or not. but it is one thing to take such a risk, trusting in God, than trusting in man. Dare to get involved in evangelizing a society that is totally anti-God, anti-Christ, that is a risk in itself as such. More however, we dare. We dare to make cells, we dare to share in our work areas, we dare to wear a Christian shirt in a place where you might feel like a fly on the wall, okay, I have a Christian shirt, so what?

You've got friends around you, there's a streak of divorces around you, and your own marriage is kind of being tempted to wade into those waters. You are going to take the risk of saying, no, I am going to cover my marriage, I am going to do everything possible to strengthen my marriage, I am going to look for God. I'm going to seek God to inject a dose of insulin love into us so we can survive this. Wow! Today is not Sunday, Omar, today is Wednesday.

Insulin love, wow, I liked that. I have to write it down. But you get the idea, my brothers, right? What's more, look, think of it this way, who knows that the risk that you have to take, that I have to take, is to dare to just believe in God even more. I think they are one of the biggest risks we have right now. Dare to believe in God.

Lord, I don't know how things are going to turn out, but I am going to take the risk of believing in you, of believing in your word, of believing in your promises. I'm going to bite my tongue and I'm going to let you be doing what has to be done. If I perish, let me perish. But I am sure that you are not going to let me perish.

Dare to trust God. Take that risk. Dear God, saying these words fills me with great fear because I know I am speaking to myself. Just as I also speak to each one of my brothers who are here, those who listen on the internet, and I believe it in my heart that you are calling us to take that risk of believing you even more than we do now, to believe you in the midst of the situations of our families, marriages, relationships with sons or daughters, to believe you in the situation of our work environment. Believing you still in the ministerial field here in the church, Lord, and the different conflicts that may arise between one person or another.

Dare to speak, Lord, dare to speak with respect, Lord, but seeking that things can be resolved or that things can be seen from a different perspective to learn something new from you. Dare to forgive, as well as ask for forgiveness. Dare to live according to the principles of your word, Lord, and not necessarily by the principles of this world.

Yes, Lord, it is a risk to believe this word but we take it. We take the risk of believing in you, Lord, of believing that when we move in your name, Lord, that you will give us victory. We take the risk, Lord, of believing that by speaking the way you teach us to speak, or acting the way you teach us to act, even if the situation gets a little more turbulent for a moment, but we take the risk believing that on the other side, Lord, you will give us victory. And that we will be able to see your hand, we will be able to see your glory in a whole new way and that those risks will help us to know you even more, to know something new from you.

Lord, I do not know how this word can reach the hearts of my brothers, but I do ask you for something, that you send this message to their hearts, you are the only one who can make this word relevant to the life situation they are living each of them at this very moment. So, Jesus, I ask you to help us receive this word, to discern it well according to the purposes that you have with our lives at this time, that you give us the strength, give us the courage to be able to assimilate it and be able to live according to this word, Lord, believing you and not anyone.

So, Lord, as I always say, I ask that this word continue to echo in the hearts of my brothers and sisters, that even during the night's sleep this word makes truths reverberate in the midst of our lives and that tomorrow if so, you You allow it, when we rise up, Lord, we can rise up with a whole new perspective and dare to believe you. Take my brothers and sisters safely to their homes, protect them on their way, Lord, and may they go with your peace, with your love and with your joy to their respective homes.

Thank you, Lord, once again and give us all your blessing. Through your Son Jesus we pray, amen, amen. God bless you, my brothers.