God wants us to develop

I would like to read some verses from the Book of Jeremiah chapter 29, and the key verse here is verse 7 which says: "Seek peace in the city to which I had you transported, and pray to God for it, because in its peace you will have peace." We have heard this verse in different ways.

Now, I would like to emphasize the context in which this verse is being said, is being shared. Because here the people of Israel are in captivity, they are in captivity in Babylon, that is, they are exiles, they are not in their homeland. And they are in another place where for some reason or another the system that they are living under is an oppressive system. And in the midst of that despair the people on different occasions despaired and did not know what to do and thank God, for His prophets because there were other prophets who wanted to speak messages that were not so directed from God but rather driven by lusts personal, but God in His mercy sent His prophets to speak to His people and on this occasion He was sending Jeremiah.

And look at the words that He shares to encourage His people and in some way or another give them a sense of direction so they know how to proceed with all the things that may lie ahead for them.

I'm going to read in verse 4, Jeremiah 29 verse 4 Dec: "Thus says the Lord of Hosts." First God is identifying himself as a God of war, in other words the God who protects, the God who is on behalf of His people. "The Lord of Hosts to all the captives whom I have carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon." Verse 5 says, “Build houses and inhabit them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. Marry and beget sons and daughters. "

Of course, having been, I make a parenthesis here, the people of Israel having been in a place where they were a minority, due to oppression, their people were, as they say, diminishing. So God wants in some way or another He wants to protect His people and that His people continue to multiply, so He gives them the go-ahead, the green light; look: make your life, develop your life, don't be self-conscious, don't hide out there in a corner, make your life.

That is what I see in those verses when He tells them: build houses, plant gardens and eat what they produce, get involved in relationships with other people but obviously relationships according to His plan, not crazy relationships, but interact. Interact, develop your lives. Seek that the people can grow even in the midst of that oppression that you may be experiencing.

But God's encouragement was to let them know: live. Do not be intimidated by this sense of oppression and slavery, but live, there is a purpose that I have with you in the midst of all things and I need you to be able to move forward. Unwrap, do business. Spread around the earth, do not become few, do not shrink if you do not live abundantly.

In light of this, that is where God tells the people: because I am telling you this, I want you to seek peace in the city. In the midst of all the things that you can do, in the midst of all the businesses that you do. From going to buy milk at the grocery store to buying a house. From getting you a new job in an office to buying a new car. To go and bless your daughter who wants to marry a Chinese. I don't know, to say an example. Ok, a Guatemalan daughter who wants to marry a Dominican let's put it like this, give the Dominican a blessing, come on. To the Chinese too, (laughs) yes of course.

But God wants us to be able to live, that we can develop. And as you do that, seek peace in the city in all your interventions. It is as if there is a chip there in your head that in some way or another in everything you do, in all that transaction you are asking for the peace of God to take place.

Now, of course, what is interesting about this is that when you live in a system where you are a minority, where you are in exile, where it is a system that oppresses you, seeking peace is going to be difficult. It will come with a time of resistance but even so, God wants peace to be sought in that city where one is. And that peace is sought in one being able to maintain healthy relationships, aware of who one is, it is not that one is going to forget who one is, one knows who one is but in light of that I can then proceed and determine how I I am going to engage with other people around me in a healthy way, where I can bear witness to who I am and that the light that is in me can be seen in others around me.

That others can see that our life is more than social issues but that our life is dependent on a God who is Almighty, a God who is sovereign. And He is the one who gives life to our life.

All this comes with a warning, God himself says it: "For thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel" verse 8, "do not be deceived by these prophets who are among you and your soothsayers, do not pay attention to dreams that they dream because they prophesy falsely in My Name, I have not sent them, says the Lord." God is raising as an alert.

There are many voices out there that believe they are speaking in the name of God but what they are doing is distorting the truth of God in different ways. And there are many people in this world who have decided to believe those voices, or rather, who have even formed their own voices and are living in the light of those voices. And one has to be very careful to be able to discern which are those God-inspired voices, that God is truly inspiring, and that others are being inspired perhaps by their own personal desires.

It is a warning that God is giving us that we have to keep there very clear. In the midst of those businesses that God wants us to do, many voices can come out. Many perspectives can come out that can try to confuse us in those interactions that we can do. But in light of all those things God is saying to us: watch out, stay alert, stay alert.

Because?. Verse 11: "For I know the thoughts that I have about you, says Jehovah. Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you the end you expect." How beautiful this is, what a beautiful Word of hope. The end we await. I believe that none of us who are in their right mind are not going to be looking forward to a future that is out there full of death and blood, complete doom if you will. No, none of us want to see that in their future.

On the contrary, we as children of God see a future where God is and where everything that God is reigns and abounds. And that is the end point to which God is leading us. And this is where the sovereignty of God is seen when God says: from that broader point of view than we can see He is saying: I know the thoughts I have about you. I can see beyond what you see.

You are seeing what you have in front of you and perhaps your reality may appear to be something oppressive, it may seem that it is something that does not have much hope, that you do not know how things are going to be but look, calm down, calm down, I know the thoughts I have concerning you. I know the thoughts I have concerning your life. Ah but God there are so many songs I've given myself in life, don't worry, I know the thoughts I have with all those songs you've given yourself. Some of them I didn't intend but since you made them however you want, I'm going to use them for your benefit as well.

To give you the end you expect. Verse 12: "Then they will call on Me and they will come and pray to Me and I will hear them, they will seek Me and find Me because they will seek Me with all their hearts."

Obviously the times in which we live require, demand of us that we are constantly seeking God. Today more than ever the Church has to be seeking direction from God. For your personal life you have to ask for God's direction. For your family you need to seek the Lord today more than ever. Parents need to seek God's guidance on how to deal with their children. Whether your son is already in college or whether your son is 5 years old, we need wisdom from God to know how to work with them and to be able to educate them to be good men, women with God's values, with the fear of God.

That is a task, it is a very big challenge that parents face today. And if you are single, your challenge is that you, as a man, a woman that you are, can remain faithful to the principles of the Word of God, adhere to them and not get carried away by the current of a world that lives madly but that you can prevail in those things that God wants for you.

If we seek God as verse 14 says, I will be found by you, says Jehovah, and I will bring you back from your captivity. God's desire is to lead us into that abundant life that He has for us. Brothers, maybe there are some people who are looking at the next 4 years like wow, the best is yet to come, and there are other people who are looking at the next 4 years with a fear like hell, and now who can defend us? They are waiting for the Chapulín Colorado to come out with his squeaky chipote.

But my brothers, we have a God who is sovereign. Right here in Isaiah, I was also reading a little while in Isaiah, God is talking about how He used King Cyrus, Cyrus who was a pagan man who worshiped other gods, but nevertheless God in His sovereignty talks about how He decided to use this man. This man didn't even know that God was using him but God in His wisdom, in His sovereignty was using this man. Maybe he was scheming over there doing his things and he didn't even think about God but God from here looking, yes, do that, do that, you'll see all this, the puzzle that you are putting together, I'm going to break it and go to assemble mine. That is what God does in His sovereignty.

That is the God that my brothers we adore, that is the God that has called us as a Church, that is the God that we have to look for, that is the God that we have to follow and trust, my brothers, as my sister Mirsa used to say. a while ago, walk after Him in faith. Not letting ourselves be carried away by what our eyes are seeing because if we let ourselves be carried away by what our eyes see fuf, we are going to lose hope between now and tomorrow.

Romans chapter 14 says: if we live, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord my brothers. And that may sound a little creepy but there is a sense of truth, we belong to the Lord. As his sons and daughters we belong to Him. In other words, whatever happens, God is sovereign and God will take care of fulfilling His purpose in you, in me and in the entire Church around the world. God is going to make sure that His purpose is carried out, that His plans are carried out, that His thoughts are carried out. And you calm down, calm down because in God's thoughts you are, I am.

So my brothers I encourage them. With these words I want to encourage you. Let's not look at the next few years ahead like wow, this is going to be hard. It is going to be difficult, but in the midst of all that difficulty, God is going to be present, and God is going to be speaking to His people, He is going to be directing His people to know how to continue functioning as sons and daughters of God. That is what we have to aspire to. Whoever is in power, no matter what happens in the whole world, the Church continues to be the Lord's Church, and we have to continue seeking to hear His voice, listening as if to say His command to know what the next steps we will take will be. to move on.

And this is something that goes for your personal life, for your individual life, for how God wants you to live your life today and for years to come, as well as for your entire family, as well as for all of us as a collective body that we are. part of this Church.

So brethren, encourage one another with these words. All that happens around us are glimpses that the Lord is near. So what's the worst that can happen? As a Pastor friend of mine says, what is the worst that can happen? Exactly, thanks, it would be the best thing that could happen, not the worst that could happen, but the best that could happen.

So my brothers let's pray. Let's keep our spirits up, the Lord is with us, the Lord is with His Church around the world, the Lord is with His Church and He sees all the good and all the bad. Says the Word, the eyes of the Lord search the whole Earth, and there is His sovereignty looking for all those with a pure heart, and God knows that there is a faithful remnant. Our responsibility is to make sure that we are in that faithful remnant.

So I invite you: let's stand up, let's pray, and I told you that we were going to finish early. Father, we thank you tonight for this time that we have had here, Lord, to seek Your face, to adore You, to bless You, Lord, to direct our requests to You, and we also thank You for Your Word, Lord, because in Your Word we find direction. , we find revelation, we find wisdom to know how to carry out each of our days. And we ask you Lord that in the days that are to come before our eyes there may be uncertainty but before Your eyes Lord, You know all things and that is why we totally support our trust in You oh God.

Keep guiding us Lord. I ask for protection over your sons and daughters wherever we go, wherever we are Jesus, that You free us from anything that might try to harm what You are doing in our lives. But even so, Lord, we are certain that all things work for the best for those who love you, those who seek you with all their hearts, Jesus. So we will keep our faith in You, our gaze on You, Lord, waiting for Your revelation, Your command, Your mandate over our lives.

Help us Lord, give us the courage, the strength, the courage Lord to live in an integral way in these times that we are living Jesus, and that in everything we do Lord, in everything we do that we can always reflect Your love, that we can reflect the fruit of Your Spirit Lord so that the world out there can see that what comes out of here from the life of the Church is not hate but rather love, it is patience, it is meekness, it is tolerance, Lord, that fruit that is in You oh God.

There is also zeal in them Lord because we love Your Word, we love Your principles and we ask you to please enlighten us to know how to stay faithful to those principles of Yours Lord.

Be with my brothers and sisters as they go back to their homes, take them well, protect them on the way Father and that tomorrow if you allow it so we can get up with new strength and energy to face everything that tomorrow brings. We bless your sons and daughters in the name of Jesus, amen and amen. God bless you my brothers, say hello to each other and you know on Friday those of you who are going to be at the healing meeting will be seeing each other then. God bless you.