Rejoice in the Lord always!

God has put it on my heart to share with you this call from God's Word to rejoice. Philippians chapter 4 in verse 4 the words of the Lord, is a call. There are people here who have lost loved ones, other people are going through different tribulations. And many of you have your issues like I have mine, my family too, of struggles and trials, difficulties and longings that we want to see God do in our lives. None of us can say that we are complete, like we don't need anything, and all situations are resolved. We all have loose ends, right? There are things in there that need to be ministered by the Lord, completed by the Lord.

But you know what? That in the midst of all those unresolved things, in the midst of all those needs and trials and tribulations and struggles, the Word of the Lord tells us in Philippians chapter 4, there is a call from God for you and me, and God tells us: rejoice. Listen to this. The Lord Himself originally through the writing of the Apostle Paul but that call reverberates through twenty centuries, 2,000 years of Church history since those words were issued and come to us this afternoon in this place. And the Lord tells us: rejoice brothers.

The Church of Christ, hear that call, says: rejoice. Rejoice says in the Lord. There are two things that qualify this call from God. He says: rejoice but then he says in the Lord first and then he says what?: always. Wow. One says in the flesh, perhaps I can rejoice in the Lord, but always? Perhaps it is too much to ask for, but let's see if that is possible.

It says: rejoice in the Lord always. And since there are people who are not convinced of that call, there are situations that sometimes one is going through and there are difficulties and one says, how is that possible? I am not sure and one tends to reject that. But Paul says, "Again I say to you, rejoice." To this is added: "Your kindness be known to all men." It is a call for the Church in general, "the Lord is near." "Do not be anxious for anything."

How many does that Word reach this afternoon? How many feel that the Lord is speaking to you? Because one's tendency is to worry, it is so. When we are going through tribulations, struggles, difficulties in times of trial, shortages of economic difficulties in a nation like this where one lives, the tendency is to worry, to be anxious. And the Lord tells us this afternoon: look, for nothing.

Say everyone: for nothing. Nothing, nothing is nothing. Okay?. That means don't allow anything in this world to put you in a state of anxiety, tribulation, and eating your knuckles there in hopelessness and uncertainty. It says: "Be anxious for nothing" and the antidote is: "if not, let your requests be known before God in all prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and thoughts in Jesus Christ."

Hey, what a beautiful recipe! You don't need to go to a psychiatrist to get your mind straight after reading this passage. Psychiatrists are good, social workers are necessary, psychologists have their place. But I would say that the first resource that we have is the Word of the Lord. I believe that if the people of God could put in that benevolent syringe of the Word of God we would not need psychiatrists.

Of course, others may need them, but the Son of God does know. What happens is that it is difficult for us to provide ourselves with that medicine and that is why we enter into situations that require other help and other resources that have their place, as I say, but the Word of the Lord calls us to a state of joy, of joy.

He knows that one of the belongings, one of the elements of the multiform inheritance that the children of God have is joy. One of the things that you can aspire to in your life is to have a life that has the mark of joy. God wants us to enjoy ourselves, you know? God wants you to be joyful. God wants you to have peace in your heart, God's purpose is that for your life and for mine.

Because sometimes we are not clear about this, we believe that the Lord is this task master, this foreman who has a large number of commandments and expectations and demands for us, and certainly in the Christian life there are responsibilities but there are also privileges. . There are times when God simply wants us to rejoice in Him, to celebrate.

And we have to understand that. When I understand, when you understand that when we come to the ways of the Lord we enter a different economy, we enter a different government. When one is not in Christ the devil is served with the big spoon of one's life. He does all kinds of evil in our lives and goes in and out as he pleases because there are no defenses in us. And it is what also happens in nations and in cities, when Christ is not reigning in a home, in a heart, in a city, in an entire nation, then the enemy has free entry and exit and can sow all the tragedy , all the suffering, all the anxiety, all the wars and oppressions that he wants because the Lord is not present, he cannot defend us. But the Lord wants.

That's not thunder, that's the kids up there. Children being children. So that you know when we are here there are a hundred or so children up there dancing and celebrating with the Lord and doing all the good things that they do in the Lord. They're not horses, they're not thunder, they're children so you guys just let that be music like I'm trying to make up here (laughs).

Good brothers. When nations do not have Christ in their midst then the enemy can walk around. But when Christ is in our hearts, we have to understand that He comes, as He says: I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full. John in one of his letters I believe that in third John says that: for this the Son of God appeared, to undo the works of the devil.

So I believe that one of the things, when we enter the path of the Lord, we have to ask him to change our program. Change the brain program we have. Because many of us come to the Kingdom after many tragedies, difficulties, failures in life and we think like what is ahead of us is just good to continue with the same things only now as Christians, and when we die we go to the darling.

Christ wants us to have life now and life in abundance now. He wants to do the miracle now of joy and blessing, and sufficiency now in our lives. And then we have to change expectations. I believe that one of the things that makes us live in that joy to which the Word calls us is cultivating that expectation. Visualize a God who wants us to enjoy life. May we have good things. Trials and difficulties may come, they do come, but God wants the net balance to always be in favor of joy, sufficiency, blessing, provision.

And those black dots of difficulty and tests will be just like the salt that one puts on biscuits or chocolate. Meche and I were visiting Caleb and Abigail and Miguel this week, and I started to make a chocolate at night when we arrived from outside. And Abi saw that I was adding a little salt to the chocolate. But salt the chocolate? Yes, I tell him, chocolate tastes much better when you add a little bit of salt, a little bit of salt. And then I told him: yes, also the cakes, the biscuits. Yes or no?. The sisters who make pastries and who know about these things.

One would think like no, it's the opposite, a sponge cake, a chocolate is supposed to be sweet, but adding salt, something like that corrosive as the opposite. But do you know what it does? That little point of salt that you may not even feel, gives life to those things, gives it a tiny edge that makes it more interesting. The palate, perhaps the brain does not register it, but the palate does register it, and the food is everything, brothers.

And you know what? Sometimes you want everything in life to be just sweet, but let me tell you: if everything were sweet it would be the most boring thing in the world. Do you know what allows you to appreciate joy and peace?, as there are also moments of difficulty that you can contrast one thing with the other. So God sometimes allows a little bit of salt to fall on our sweet desserts and then comes the tribulations, the tests. Everything in life requires shadow brothers. There has to be contrast in life otherwise there is no difference. The good is good because there is something called bad. Darkness is darkness because there is light. There is always contrast.

If a painting is all one color, white for example or yellow, it doesn't say anything, it needs black, it needs other contrasting colors. And that's life too. God often allows difficulties to come into our lives to make us deeper, it's like salt in a dessert. No one can be truly happy if there is not a little bit of sadness in their memories too. It is so, it is inevitable.

But when you come to the ways of the Lord the Lord then controls the ingredients and He makes sure that the balance is a positive balance. May the sweet prevail in the long run, but may there be depth in you too. Sometimes we need moments of trial and difficulty in life; but what we have to know is that when we come to the ways of the Lord we come with the expectation of a positive balance, of joy, of hope, of triumphs, of gain, of progress, of progress in the things of life. God wants us to be better, better and better every day.

That is why the apostle Paul says, right?: "To those who love God all things work together for good, even the difficulties of life, even the trials redound in blessing and profit in us." And the apostle Paul was one of those people who could speak about it with authority because he knew. He said in one part that he wanted to know Christ in His Power but also in His sufferings. In Second Corinthians he makes a huge list of all the things that he has gone through in his ministry. Shipwrecks, persecutions, he has been stoned many times, rejected by his Israelite brothers, still misunderstood by his own Christian brothers many times and imprisoned.

When he writes this letter to the Philippians, he does it from a jail, he is in prison. He doesn't know if he's going to get out of this prison alive and writes this letter to console those churches in Philippi that he had planted. There in Philippi he was flogged and he was persecuted as well. And so the apostle Paul while he's in prison, that's the amazing thing about this letter to the Philippians, which many of the analysts of this letter have called: the epistle of joy. Because the word joy comes up many times in this letter but it is being written by a man in chains, a man guarded by soldiers. A man considered an enemy of the state, a man who has lost everything for Christ Jesus. And that man can then say: rejoice.

Finishing his letter, he makes a call to Christianity of all centuries and makes a call to us: rejoice. What was there in Paul that prevented him from saying: be depressed instead of rejoice? What was it about Paul and his partner Silas too, whipped, bleeding, imprisoned after preaching the Gospel that allowed him to sing hymns to the Lord as the Word says? "In such a way that the jail they were in shook and the chains fell from their arms and ankles, and the doors of the prison where they were were opened because they could sing to the Lord."

And it is because I believe that the apostle Paul had changed his perspective. He had the perspective of the Kingdom, he saw things through the lens of eternity. He knew who Jesus was. He knew that the Lord had changed his identity, his nature as a man, he knew that this world was already just something fleeting, he understood in his heart that God is in control, that Christ is in control and that he is in the process of changing history, and that when he finished his career here on Earth, an eternal crown awaited him, an eternal life with Christ Jesus.

He had been to heaven. He had the benefit that many of us do not have, because for us it is by faith alone but Paul had been there in heaven. He says that he was taken to heaven, he says if in the body I don't know, if out of the body I don't know, but Paul understood what he expected as you and I understand too, an eternal reward and glory.

So I believe that another thing that also allows us to rejoice in this world is to understand that this world is controlled by Jesus Christ. That our lives, as the apostle Paul says, are hidden in Christ Jesus. That whatever happens here on Earth, everything is purely relative because what is true is what awaits us on the other side too, we can also find comfort and rest because we know that there is a heavenly homeland where everything will have an explanation, everything will have its purpose and its meaning.

To the families that have lost their loved ones, to sister Flor who has just lost her three-year-old daughter, I can't imagine what a mother feels when she loses her three-year-old daughter, to this brother who I don't remember his name while we were here who just lost his sister too, and other people. I can tell you, brothers, that one day if we remain in Christ Jesus, Flor is waiting there for her mother, her sister is waiting for this brother too, and I hope that this sweetens our shortcomings here on earth a little, the difficulties what we spent Always add a little eternity to your trials here on Earth and treat yourself, remembering that this world is a prelude to an eternity that we can spend with Christ Jesus.

And we have to repeat that over and over and over again. We have to have an eternal perspective, as Paul had an eternal perspective. Whenever something happened to him, he took it and analyzed it through the economy of God and eternity. He says that there are brothers out there who are trying to preach the Gospel for reasons of dissension and division with personal agendas. Because that happens in the Kingdom of God, you know? There are people who take the Gospel, pervert it and use it for their own benefits and their own agendas, and unfortunately outsiders see that and say: look how evangelicals are. No, it is that they are people who are misusing. Unfortunately anyone can get a preacher's license over there, an evangelist, but many times the heart is damaged.

And Paul says in the letter to the Philippians: there are some out there who are preaching the Gospel for the wrong reasons, but do you know what Paul says? anyway and there are people who come to know the Lord.

Do you know that there are many people who preach the Gospel who should not preach it? But people convert, they find the real Christ and then they can go their way with the real Christ, and these people just served as a dark instrument that God used, because in the long run God always gets his way.

Then Pablo says: you know what? I'm not going to let that take away my peace. Because, whether for one reason or another, Christ is preached, I am going to continue preaching him too. When one tries to see things through the Word of the Lord, when you are in a difficult situation in your life, submit it to the machinery of the Gospel; take it and crush it. And that happens when anything comes to my life, any difficult situation, any test, any difficulty right away, the first thing I do is define the giant: what is its name, what is its nature and what is the process by which I am going?. So I roll up my sleeves and say: get to work now, we are going to demolish this, we are going to submit it to the perspective of the Kingdom of God.

And then one begins to pray, amen? One begins to cry out to the Lord. One looks for passages in the Bible that tell us about what one is going through. One goes to those statements from the Word that encourage us to take a positive stand. Because there are two options: you either get depressed and let the situation in your life wrap you up like a cold and wet sheet and get inside you or you resist in the name of Jesus, and use the weapons of faith. That is why you have to know the Scripture. Because one of the things that helps us adopt that Kingdom perspective that allows us to see the things that happen to us throughout eternity is knowing the Word of God.

Because when you are in trials and difficulties, that Word of God comes to your heart and your mind, and it begins to run through you. And it begins to give you a different perspective, and the Word of God becomes a medicine that washes your mind, washes your thoughts. When you are in trials or difficulties, do not throw yourself to death, that is what the devil wants. Never turn your back on the devil because if you turn your back he will whip you until you have no more scars. Always face him with the Word of the Lord.

The Word of the Lord tells us to resist. That we stand on the bad day, that we stand on the Word of the Lord, the promises of the Lord, the declarations of the Lord. Let us use all the armor of faith, says the Word of God, so that when the bad day comes, having passed everything, we will stand firm. Amen?. And that is what we have to do.

And that is why it is so important, brothers, that we always keep our minds on Christ Jesus and on His Word. That is why what it says here is so beautiful: rejoice in the Lord. There is a joy that is not possible except in the Lord. That joy does not come from you, that joy does not come from a therapy that you give yourself. That joy comes mysteriously because the Lord is within you, His Holy Spirit is within you. And when trials and difficulties come and you are attached to Christ, if His Word is running through you, and if you open yourself to the comfort and ministration of the Lord, you will feel something different, hope will be born in you , thoughts will come that you did not have, that it was not possible to have them except if God provided you. A peace will come in your heart that you will not understand.

You have to give the Lord time to do that work in you. That's why we have to stay close to the Lord, because there is the joy that we need. The joy that you are going to feel ultimately is going to be a joy that you are not going to create for yourself, it is the joy of the Lord manifesting within you in your nervous system, and then you are going to feel the joy of the Lord within of you. That is why Christ says: abide in Me and I in you.

We have to stay glued to Christ Jesus. The Word of the Lord has to be continually running through our minds, through our hearts. That is why I encourage you, brothers, be regular readers of the Word of God, be students of the Word of the Lord. Fill your homes with the Word of God, with sounds of blessing. Play good Kingdom music in your cars and in your homes. Confess the Word of God with your mouth. Engage in healthy Kingdom conversations with your siblings. Attend Church and fill yourselves up because all these positive energies are what are going to turn you into joyous and sufficient people in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because just as you eat, so you are, you know? If you consume thoughts of eagerness and struggle and affliction, and of difficulty, you will be the same. Now if you consume the promises of God, the Word of the Lord Christ then remains close to you and you remain close to Him, and your mind can perceive the waves of the Lord in your life. Many times we do not perceive the waves of the Lord because there are other waves that are competing in our mind for our sensitivity. But when we stay close to the Lord, then peace, the joy of the Lord can be in us, amen?

Because that is the nature of Christ. And the Word of God calls us many, many times to that perspective of sufficiency in the Lord and that we have a God who has called us to that joy, and that we have to become aware and we have to cooperate with Him so that they can be healed. intentions that He has for us come true in our lives. I am continually thinking about God's call for my life and God's purpose to bless me and make my life a life of joy and peace.

I have always told you, for me one of my favorite verses. Jeremiah 29:11: God sends this love letter through the prophet Jeremiah to the Hebrew people when they are in Babylon, in exile. Imagine what would happen if an enemy army came here to the United States and we were transported to another country having to leave all our belongings and all the things we love behind us. Perhaps loved ones who died from the attacks of that enemy army. Perhaps people were separated in transport to Babylon, an enemy country, a pagan country where the Word of the Lord did not spread at all.

And there these people are depressed and sad and anguished. And they are there because of their bad head. They are there because God warned them for a long time, he told them: change your ways, do not worship other idols. Do not serve idols. Look for me, I am your defense. This people was stubborn in their sins. The first to be perverted were the spiritual priests and townspeople.

And finally the Lord after warning him many times as he warns this nation too, how many prophetic words have come upon the United States to change its direction? And the Lord sends warnings.

We see how there are so many unthinkable things that could happen in this nation and the Lord is also warning this nation, and I make a little detour here but look how many things. For me one of the significant things about the United States is how its credit and financial status has been devalued even by international organizations, something that would have been unthinkable in other times. Situations of nature that happen everywhere. Horrible crimes and other things that happen, the deterioration of the young and other things, are warnings from the Lord.

What would happen if after decades of warnings a great catastrophe came? One would feel wow, because of our bad head, and that's how the Jews felt. However, God sends his prophet to give them peace in their hearts. And look at how Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 29:4: "Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: All those of the captivity that I caused to be transported from Jerusalem to Babylon" the Lord was the one who caused that tragedy, "build Houses and inhabit them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. Marry, beget sons and daughters. Give wives to your sons and give husbands to your daughters so that they may have sons and daughters and multiply there and not diminish." Hallelujah.

The devil wants when the tests come, the difficulties even when we ourselves have brought them on, we have caused them, that we get depressed, stop multiplying. The devil wants us Christians to be like this. We do not dare to testify to anyone, do not open our mouths, do not tell anyone that we are Christians, do not buy a house, do not have children because the world is lost, etc. God says no no no, populate this earth with God fearing people, get married, undertake things in My Name, dare to speak, dare to have good expectations about the future. God tells you not to diminish.

If you are going through a test, because of difficulties, the devil wants you not to come to Church, stop serving the Lord, stop giving to the Lord, stop singing when we are in adoration or when you are in your car, that you get depressed, that you move away from the things of God, that you decrease in your generosity towards your family. All of these things; that you adopt a perspective of persecution and victim. The Lord says no no no, just the opposite: live a happy life, enjoy yourself, undertake things.

Look: there are times when perhaps you will not be able to control the things that are in your heart and in your emotions. Maybe you won't be able to flip a switch from depression to joy. But what you have to do is take actions that speak of joy. positive actions. Maybe you can't control your heart and your emotions but you can control your actions. Instead of putting on a suit there, all gray and without colors, without anything, put on a nice suit, put on a colored scarf. Put on a suit and go out into the street even if it's to have a coffee there somewhere or whatever.

Instead of being there counting coins and cooking only for two or three of your family because you don't know what's going to happen, no, invite someone to your house. Prepare a good table and share your goods with other brothers. And even if you don't feel it in your heart, sing joy, declare joy. And if you wonder how you are resisting the temptation to say no, I'm depressed, people are bad, the world is getting worse, in Christ I'm fine in Christ Jesus. Declare positive things with your mouth.

Know?. There are people who will get annoyed with me because when they ask me I tend to put a positive tail on everything I say. Sometimes when I say something I speak so negative but I always like to add some hope when I state a difficult situation because God always has the last word. Things don't end I believe until they end well in the life of the child of God.

There's a movie out there that I'm not going to tell you the name of because it has other complex things in there that I don't want to confuse you, but it says: everything turns out well in the end and if it hasn't turned out well then it's not the end yet. I believe that this does apply to the lives of God's children, you know? I always believe that the Lord has the last word; The devil does not have it, men do not have it, my own humanity does not have it.

I think it is important that we use actions and words, because I can decide if I speak or not, I can decide if I act or not. I can't perhaps decide how I feel at the moment but if I can decide the part that I can control, my confessions and my songs and my acts, then the feeling will come behind it. So that is why I believe that the Lord tells Jeremiah: tell them to buy houses, to get married, to celebrate. May they enjoy life even though inside they still feel like they are drinking warm water. Because as you do these things prophetically the joy of the Lord begins to invade your life.

As you begin to share, to give, to bless, to serve, to attend Church, to seek the Lord, look, the tiredness goes away. The depression goes away. Many people feel lonely and complain that people don't visit them, don't call them, but you know the best way for people to look for you and request you is by giving to others, being generous. Many people don't want to hear from you, perhaps because they approach you and what comes out is a number of negative confessions from your mouth, no. Start serving others, start giving to others.

No, they didn't visit me when I was in the hospital. Start giving to the Lord and you will see how mysteriously, magically people come around you. You start doing good, positive things and joy comes after that, the blessing comes. Because actions and confessions are like magnets that attract good or evil. We are magnets and according to what we have inside, that is what we attract.

So start confessing faith, start confessing joy, start confessing the good intentions of the Lord. Pray for someone, visit someone, minister to someone, share with someone and the joy of the Lord will come mysteriously to you. Don't wait for joy to come, attract joy into your life.

God wants us to be as he says: instead of thermometers we are thermostats. Do you know the difference? The thermometer only registers the temperature out there, it cannot do anything other than register. If the thermometer is cold the mercury lowers and registers a low temperature, if it is hot the mercury rises and sets the temperature. The thermostat controls the temperature. You set the thermostat and it goes up or down, controls the heat, and that's what we have to do. Do you know that God has made you a thermostat and not a thermometer? And that this comes as a consequence of your actions, your prophetic words, your sharing, the inner environment that you cultivate in your life. And when you understand that in some mysterious way your interior controls your exterior, you try your part as much as possible so that the environment is the right one that can bring God's blessing.

And many times it will be you doing things on the outside, confessing positivity, cultivating positive thoughts, consuming positive energy, circulating in your home blessing and peace and joy, and then comes the other part. That is why I believe that God says to them, look: buy houses, open their businesses, send their children to school, make gardens in their houses, in their patios, that there are flowers that bring joy to their lives, and that will change your situation and bring what you are needing, which is the peace and joy of the Lord in your life.

And that is so important that we understand it, brothers. And here I am thinking another thought: during this time we have been talking a lot here in León de Judá and in the Academic Resource Center about schools, right? There are so many schools here in this nation, in the Department of Education. The education departments don't know what to do with the schools, our children are in crisis right now. And in part I think it is because of the environment that we have allowed our generation of young people to believe, the confessions that we allow to come to their minds, the things that we do at home, the movies.

There is a whole negative consumption of this society that we have been supplying. And that is why the air is getting poisoned, because the energies that we are allowing are negative energies that glorify hell more than heaven. They glorify death, violence, promiscuity, and other things instead of purity, holiness, and joy in the Lord. There is such a big difference, we were right now in Tennessee where Aby and Miguel are. Look, I think the devil is everywhere, it's not that I'm idealizing that city or anything like that, but one of the things that surprises me about that area is the number of churches there are. You throw a stone and it hits a church in the south.

Again understand me well, there is as much sin there as there is often in other cities and so on, it is very possible. But, and that happens to me when I have traveled to other states in the United States. Sometimes people think that the United States is just New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles or a few, and we kind of think that's the United States. You know: when you travel there are so many places, in most of the states of this nation there are God fearing people. There are many people who have a healthy fear of God.

They are not perfect, okay? They are not saints there, and all are ready and prepared to go to heaven, but they are people who fear the Lord. And that even if it is in their general confessions they recognize that there is a God on Earth who watches over the Earth and that in some way we men have to bow before that God. And many go a step further and believe that Christ is the defender of creation. He knows that the only one who can defend cities, nations, and families from the attacks of the devil is Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus.

There is a direct opposition between the Name of Jesus and the hosts of hell that want to kill, steal and destroy in our cities. And every day I understand one thing more: it is that when a man, a woman, a family, a city, a government affiliates with Jesus Christ, they are not only saying yes to Jesus Christ, but they are also saying no to the devil. Christ is an element of war and opposition to the kingdom of darkness. When Christ enters the Kingdom of heaven enters with Him. Enter the values of the Kingdom of God, enter the positivity of God, enter the good desire of God for his creation.

So I always tell people: when you receive Christ, understand what you are doing, you are signing a war pact. You are not just neutrally saying: ok Lord, I make you my Jesus and my King etc, no, you are saying to the kingdom of darkness: I don't want you here; I don't want you in my life, I don't want you in my spirit, I don't want you in my finances, I don't want you in my job, I want Christ.

And that element of war in Jesu s' confession is what makes it possible for the peace and joy of the Lord to come to any community. Be it a family, be it a city, be it a government department, be it a school, be it a neighborhood, be it a street, etc, etc. And why do I say again? When we were there, there was something beautiful in those cities, in those states where humanism, rationalism and that pride, that arrogance that the intellectual man has as he has here in the city of Boston and its surroundings has not yet reigned. I speak to you from experience, I know what it is to live in the bowels of the monster.

I know the arrogance of the rational man, the intellectual man and how modern man believes that he has the right to choose and decide his destiny, and what they do is then be like rabbits who go into the forest where there are beasts that want to kill him and wreck it. But when there is a community that humbles itself before Jesus, even if they are not perfect, something happens, the darkness has to recede a bit. And then when you walk you feel like there's one, oh it's like it's different, wow.

And people are different. In those areas people look at you and greet you. Hey, one still surprises you in restaurants how they serve you. The conversations that you can have with strangers, the air is different. Why? Because there is an acknowledgment, albeit implicit, that Christ is welcome. Those families make their mistakes, their sins, but many times what God wants is for someone to bow their heads before Him and humble themselves. He says now we can fight, don't worry; You have many issues, you have problems, there are inconsistencies but at least you bowed your head before Me.

I say: if the communities understood that. Our universities, the plagues that exist today of promiscuity. Dropping out of school, prematurely pregnant girls, men who are crumbling more and more each day in their masculinity, there is almost a disappearance of men in our societies. When our society bows its head before Jesus, the peace and joy of the Lord will come, I assure you of that. We won't have to throw away so many millions of dollars that we wasted.

We want to throw Ipads at the devil and believe that with that he will go away, you know? We give Ipads to all the young people, we give computers to all the young people. We fill our classrooms with all kinds of resources, we throw coupons to the poor to see if that appeases their hunger and thirst. We put brand new clinics with tables where we can perform the most exquisite abortions in the world and we believe that with this we will be able to solve the problem of our youth.

Brothers, when Christ comes, joy is possible in societies. When Christ comes, when the Lord, when there is a bowing down before Jesus, then we can say: no, I will rejoice, I will rejoice in the Lord, because Christ makes joy possible. When we cling to Christ, the joy of the Lord becomes possible in our societies. Men, human beings can rejoice in the Lord, rejoicing becomes possible. We are going to tell Christ: come into my life.

I will not be happy until God uses us as a Church to tell our community and perhaps other communities as well that God allows us, I speak of the Latino community because that is what we are but I want God to use us to speak to the Anglo-Saxons, Africans, Asians, Haitians whatever, but let us tell the communities: take refuge in Christ Jesus. There is refuge in the Lord. Let us open the doors of the hospitals to the Lord, let us open the doors of the mental hospitals to the Lord, let us open the doors of the addiction clinics to the Lord, let us open the doors of the psychiatric offices to the Lord and among the peace, the joy of the Lord to those places .

We have to tell our communities: take refuge in Christ Jesus because in Him there is joy and there is hope, and there is peace and there is salvation. We have a sacred duty, brothers, I feel like never before that the Lord is calling our Church and you, each one of you, me, in everything possible that we announce to this depressed, sad world that is slowly falling apart and cooking in their own soup that Christ is the solution to their need, and that in Him, in the Lord, the joy of our communities is once again possible. The joy of our families, the joy of our children, the peace of the Lord that surpasses all understanding. The answer is in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord always.

And even when there are tests and difficulties, when everything doesn't go well for you, that will always make sense. Even when there are tests, you will find a way to enjoy yourself because the Lord will be your joy. I leave you with the words of Abacuc chapter 3 verse 17 onwards, Abacuc 3:17, says: "Even though the fig tree does not bloom, nor is there no fruit on the vines. Although the product of the olive tree is lacking" nowadays one would say even if there is no cans in the pantry, even though there is no milk in the fridge, even though we have cooked the last bit of rice and beans and we no longer have anything to eat. Even though there are no tortillas to knead or anything like that or refried beans to put on top even if it is, and the sheep are removed from the fold and there are no cows in the corrals they say with everything, with everything: "I will rejoice in the Lord and I will rejoice in the God of my salvation."

Glory to the Name of the Lord. You have to make a decision to live a happy life. You have to decide to enjoy yourself. Life is not going to give you that opportunity, you have to wrest it from life. You have to decide: I am going to be a happy person. I am going to believe that God has good things for me, I am going to move in expectation of God's happiness, I am going to undertake good things, I am not going to think every time I go to make a decision that something is going to go wrong , no, I'm going to think that it will work out for me.

And when I come home at the end of the day I'm going to lay my head on my pillow and thank God for a good day. It may not have been perfect but it has been a good day because it has been the day that I have lived in the Lord. With everything I will rejoice, that is the bottom line for the child of God. No matter what happens in my life: I am going to rejoice, I do not care. I am going to look at the devil right in the face and my joy is gonna spoil his day because I decided to be happy. I am going to rejoice, I am going to be a happy human being and I am going to be happy in the Lord.

My sufficiency is in the Lord. My definition, my worth is in the Lord, His love for me, His good intentions for me. When you rejoice in the Lord and you think: I am worth it, I am, I have, I can because Christ is within me and in Christ Jesus I am more than a winner in all trials, all afflictions I hit home run, hallelujah, I can rejoice in the Lord.

God calls us this morning, rejoice. What's more, I'm going to put it in good Spanish: rejoice, rejoice, celebrate in the Lord. That rejoice sounds too distant. Rejoice man, woman of God, rejoice in the Lord, dance, enjoy, smell the lilies around you, have a coffee with good sugar and say thank you Lord, thank you. I bless you Father. Invite your friends to the house with good music, put on a little perfume from time to time, amen?, rejoice in the Lord. Buy yourself a brightly colored shirt and put it on and celebrate, so that when the world sees you it says wow: what does that person have? There is something, there is a flavor there that this individual has, why, what is it that he has?

That is why the apostle Paul says: let your grace be known to all men, your gentleness. That means that the child of God must have such a beautiful joy within him or her that when the people who see him or her in the neighborhood know that this person is different from the others. She is loving, gentle, forgiving, generous, patient, positive, there is always a song coming out of her mouth, there is a look of hope in her heart. There are tests but I see how he always succeeds. Your kindness be known to all men, rejoice in the Lord. We are going to be the happiest people on all the Earth.

Let's stand up, give glory to the Lord. Confess joy right now, receive the joy of the Lord. Say: Lord I receive Your joy, I rejoice in You. You are my strength, You are my hope, You are my sufficiency, You are my healing, You are the guarantor of my life, hallelujah. And in You I have my fullness, in You I have everything I need. Hallelujah, confess there that positive character of the Lord in your life.

Father, we rejoice in You, we bless You Lord. Father, I ask that if someone has come this morning with trials in their life, that the breath of Your mouth right now settles and takes with it all negativity, all darkness, all sadness. I confess, you confess that anything in my life right now that takes away my joy will be replaced by the peace and joy of the Lord. You will give us victory in all our struggles. All the giants will fall before us.

Our children will be like plants that drink from secret water. Our neighborhood will be blessed because we dwell in it. We will be enough in You Lord and we will have everything we need, hallelujah because we have Christ Jesus in our hearts. Glory to the Name of the Lord. Thank you Lord Jesus, we love you, we bless you, thank you Lord Jesus.

Hallelujah, we exalt you Lord, this people rejoices in You Father. The Lord is my joy, my strength. My life depends on Him, on His Presence in my life. Oh Father fill the city, fill the city with the Presence of Jesus. The only one who can undo the works of the enemy. And fill Your people with such abundant joy that it overflows, overflows, it spreads Lord through the streets of this city. Create Christian communities that reflect the joy of the Lord. We praise you and we bless you. Thank you Christ because through Your blood and Your cross You have made this joy possible in our lives in Your name thank you, amen and amen.