Tests come to life - The question is what are we going to do?

This morning I read today's reading and meditation that we have on our God Speaks Today page. The today's lesson was on precisely this passage from the widow and was a selection from a sermon preached by the great English preacher Charles Spurgeon one of the great , great proclaimers of the Word of God in London.

And he was talking about the blessings of the Lord evidently, His provision through this message from the widow. And I decided, I felt from the Lord because I was looking for something that would encourage you, hope for this coming year and give us a little vitamin, right? and above all on a day like today when it is cold and it is difficult for people to come to Church, but it is good that they are here and that we have a full house, glory to God for that.

The fact is that I decided to take that reading as a starting point. And I want to share with you some teachings from this meditation. The first thing we see here, this woman is in a very serious crisis, she is a servant of God, she has served the Lord all her life, her husband a servant of God, in our time we would have said that he was a Pastor, an evangelist or someone who I worked full time in the service of the Lord in the ministry.

This man has just passed away, he has just died and left debts and so now the creditors come, the companies and the people, the Master Card and the Visa come knocking on the door but not as kind as they are sometimes here but they come to take to his two children. They come to take their two children to take them to work in servitude, in slavery until they pay the debt. They are going to leave her also destitute and in more poverty than she already was.

In other words, it is a critical situation, it is a very, very serious situation. And the first thing I want you to see here, for me the first lesson I draw from this passage is precisely the situation in which this servant of God finds herself. Sometimes one thinks that: wow, if I serve the Lord, God is going to take care of me in every difficulty, in every difficult situation, He is not going to let anything bad happen to me. I will not have problems, I will not have debts, it will be all wealth. And unfortunately there are many people who are willing in their preaching in this Prosperity Gospel as it is called to encourage us in that idea.

I believe in prosperity, I absolutely believe in blessing the children of God and that is precisely why I am preaching this sermon. But it is also important that we understand that trials and difficulties can also come to the children of God. How many know that?, right? And we have to be ready when difficulties come too. I believe that there is no problem in telling the people of God: hey, we live in a fallen world, it is a dangerous world, there are difficulties. Every time you move you move against gravity, there is already difficulty and resistance imagine. The conditions of this world are that way.

And Christ himself said it in His memorable Words: in the world you will find affliction. Thank God that he did not stop there with that negative diagnosis, but also said: take heart, I have overcome the world. But sometimes we don't dwell long enough on you will find sorrow and we quickly move on to the other, we are the little children who lick the jam and don't eat the bread and we give the bread to mom so she can put more jam, mom says: you don't have yourself to eat the bread too, right? Sometimes we also have to meditate on that part of life, there are difficult situations in life.

And these servants of God were going through a crisis. This man had passed away. There are losses in life, there are difficulties in life. I live my Gospel, I believe in a realistic way, I know that there is a part of struggle in this life but that God has given me the strength to go through those struggles and come out more than victorious, amen? But it's good to be realistic in life. This same year I know that many of you have suffered different types of losses, there have been difficulties.

This past week alone, this past week we officiated, attended at least three or four funerals. This Congregation is already a Congregation of a certain size, people grow old, die and it is like that. This week a man we love very much, brother Pedro, was with us for many years relatively young, and this person grew up here in our Congregation, he served the Lord, we married him here with his beautiful wife Margarita and they grew a lot here.

And he at one point decided that he wanted to go to another Church and with great propriety he came to me and told me: Pastor, I feel that God is calling us, there was a small church in Deram and they felt that God was calling them to help that little church that was getting up to work with the youth in that Church. And he thought: well, my Church has many resources and we can help this Church and I blessed them with great joy and said goodbye, and they went to serve in this small Congregation, they served faithfully for many years. He always kept in touch with many people from our Congregation.

And about eight months or so ago we were notified that he had received a diagnosis of stomach cancer. And this young person who was recently married practically received a death sentence from the doctors and they told her: you have six to eight months to live, no more than a year and indeed the diagnosis was fulfilled and this past week, well, we attended, we were there at his funeral and we bid him farewell with the Lord, members of our Congregation, Pastors of our Church were there.

And the idea is that one would think: well, why does that happen to a person who is serving God, who is giving to the Lord, delivered to the Lord? That is the condition of life brothers. We live in a world full of mystery. God chooses to heal some and does not heal others. Even the great servants of God can suffer mishaps.

Elisha himself, this great man of God, this prophet says the Bible that this same man who helps this widow with an incredible miracle, says: "While Elisha was sick with the disease he died of" he still had his illness and died. But we know that this is the nature of life, there are difficult situations that come into our lives and you know what? It is precisely in those moments that we have to decide what am I going to do with that situation? Am I going to stay down, am I going to be discouraged, am I going to start denying God, am I going to doubt His Mercy, am I going to doubt His faithfulness, or am I going to believe that my God is powerful to get me through?

The important thing, as I say, is what we are going to do when those moments come. Some people get depressed, they drop their arms, they get angry with God, they stop praying, they stop going to Church, they stop growing in the Lord. And others get up, gird their loins, cry out to the Lord, launch themselves in search of the blessing and medicine that God has for their situation. The children of God do not stay down but we get up.

This very morning when you look out the window and see all that snow, you have two options: or say, you know what? too cold, too icy out there, I've worked too hard this week to venture out there, I think the servant of God can take a little vacation today. I'm going to watch the program from the internet and amen, if you're watching it, don't feel like I'm throwing hints at anyone just in case, right? There are some who did not come for very legitimate, very valid reasons: they do not have transportation, single mothers who have babies, who have to take a bus, a bus, or whatever, we understand, right?

But there are others who perhaps look could have been here. Glory to the Lord that you are here, that gives us encouragement, it gives us joy, amen? Well it is always that there is that remnant. They tell me: Pastor, close the Church because there is too much snow; I say no Sir, even if it's in a sleigh like Santa Claus I'm going to get there. The Church does not close unless it is with a flood or with a gigantic cataclysm, right?

Because one has to choose, amen? when trials come one has to say: in the name of the Lord I am going to overcome them, one has to go forward. The tests are going to come, it is inevitable, difficulties come to the lives of the children of God, but the question is: what am I going to do when these tests come? medicines and weapons that God gives me to keep going?

The apostle Paul says that we put on the whole armor of God, he says that we are firm and having finished everything we are still firm. There are times in life when trials come, difficulties, the only thing one can do is plant both legs very strong and hold on there in the name of the Lord until the storm passes, confessing blessing, waiting on the Lord, doing spiritual warfare, crying out to God, confessing the Word of God and you know what? at some point the devil does this, he puts his tail between his legs and leaves defeated. And you open the windows again and the blessing of the Lord comes again.

You have to trust and sometimes we really have to take the wave like David and throw it at the very forehead of the giant and knock him down without letting us be frightened by him. I like Job's words in chapter 19 of his Book, a tremendously beautiful Book. Job, you know, a man of God, perfect in his ways, nothing bad could be found in him, God had blessed him in a gigantic way and the devil says to the Lord: yes, he blesses you and serves you because you have given him everything : riches, children, prosperity, great reputation. Now take some of that off and see if it doesn't curse you.

And the Lord says: ah, is that the case? we'll see. And you know the story, the test began in the life of Job; he lost all his money, then a tragedy his children, then finally his health but Job remained firm at all times and even when his wife herself told him: you know what? That God that you serve so much is useless, curse him and die now. And these are the words of Job in the midst of his great loss and tribulation: "I know that my Redeemer lives."

I speak about those I know from the Word of the Lord. There are many times that the Bible says like this: I know and it is like throwing a stone at the very forehead of the giant. It's a I know it's challenging. It is an I know that says: you know what? Although I am going through trials and difficulties, although everything is not going well for me, although the fig tree does not bloom, but I know that my God is behind this tragedy, I know that the sun is behind those clouds, I know that the day is coming. of my redemption and meanwhile I'm not going to worry as Puerto Ricans say, I'm going to keep my confession, I'm going to believe that God is good, that He knows what He does.

Listen, many times you are going to have to fight against your emotions, against your very brain, against your very biology that rebels against that God that you think "doesn't listen to me", right? "he doesn't care about me, he's not as faithful as he says he is." You have to prevail over that and keep your confession and keep looking for Him. Who knows if in that penultimate sentence or that last sentence that you think is the last one that you are going to say to give up already comes the blessing in that moment. God you know wait until the thickest hour of the morning to then answer our prayers.

Then Job says: "I know that my Redeemer lives and in the end he will rise from the dust. And after my skin is undone in my flesh I have to see God whom I will see for myself and my eyes will see him and no other. " And look how interesting it says "though my heart fails within me." Wow, there are times when one is drinking tears from the corner of one's mouth and one has to say: I know that my Redeemer lives, Lord, I believe that You have good purposes for my life. I am going to continue serving you, I am going to be faithful and I know that this will not last forever.

The people that I know who are great in the Lord and powerful are people who have gone through their tribulations and losses, they have gone through many trials but they have remained firm, they have not given up and when the storm passed the blessing of God.

I love those words from Psalm 42 I think it says: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he leaned down to me and heard my cry, and he brought me up out of the pit of despair, out of the miry mire. He set my feet on the rock and straightened my feet." steps. Then he put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God. Many will see this and fear and trust in the Lord."

I like that final part of the psalmist says: "many will see this and fear and trust in the Lord." Why does the psalmist say that? because you know what? when you are often going through trials and difficulties and people say: "look at that evangelical who says that God is with him, and involved in the Church all the time and confessing blessing, look at him now how he is suffering" and they are waiting to see what you are going to do in the middle of the test; if you are going to curse God, if you are going to leave the things of the Lord, if you are going to lose heart, if you are going to become moody and bitter or if you are going to continue serving the Lord and giving to the Lord.

And people see that: many will see this. And you know what? when they see the Lord rise up and bless his life, get him out of the test, cast aside the giants that are threatening him and enter again into the blessing of God and recover his spirits then he says: they will fear and trust in Jehovah. Because we always have a cloud of witnesses around us watching what we are going to do and how we pass the test always remember that. But if you patiently wait for the Lord in the midst of the test, I assure you that the Lord will not fall short and will bless you. The tests will come but you go above the tests.

The apostle Paul also says: "Before all these things" what are all these things? tribulation or death, or famine or nakedness, or danger or sword, says: "Before neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities nor powers, neither height nor depth, nor what is to come nor what is past will be able to separate us from love of God who is in Christ Jesus." That is why he says: "Before in all these things we are more than conquerors."

How will God's mercy be fulfilled in your life if you don't have to go through a test that puts God's mercy on display? How are you going to be a person of faith if you don't go through some struggles? How can an athlete become a great athlete if he does not first go through great privations and difficulties and exercises? Life demands this, brothers, and I believe that we do as a disservice says, an evil to the people of God, telling them that everything is easy, that everything will be fine for you, that you will never suffer problems. What you have to tell him is: problems come but Christ is more powerful than problems. As that chorus said: if God is with us, who can be against me?

When you have a problem, brother, do like the widow, don't throw yourself to death, don't stay at home depressing yourself by playing gloomy music there to strengthen you more in your pain. Do not lock yourself in your house, do not stop answering the phone, do not stop looking for a sister, a brother with whom to pray, do not stop looking for the Church, do not stop crying out to the Lord and pray and seek His face because that is the only hope you have.

When you have a problem or suffer a loss, grieve, but only for a little while, okay? grieve a little while, that's good; cry a little bit, have your pity party for 5 minutes per clock ok? and then you know that now, go to the bathroom, put on your lipstick, wash your face, put on some nice little clothes and go out even if it is for a walk around the block and proclaim the coming blessing of the Lord in your life. Don't stay in regret, in mourning, in suffering.

I have never been able to mourn for too long, brothers, especially when our loved ones die in the Lord and are covered by the Lord, I already know that one day I will see them and what I have to do is move on. When a crisis comes to your life, a loss, shake it off and move forward in the name of the Lord, look to the future. I continue to the goal, to the target that the Lord has destined for me. That is what a son does, a servant of God no matter how many struggles and more tests you suffer.

When you have a problem, I say here, do not lament, do not be surprised or astonished as if what is happening to you is something strange. If you're alive you're going to suffer difficult situations, now if you're dead then you won't have any problems, you know? But if you're alive and you're in the world you're going to have to deal with things so don't be surprised. It is what the apostle Peter says to his readers in First Peter chapter 4 verse 12 and he says it to you and me, he says: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you."

Did you suffer a test this year? Did you suffer a difficulty this year? Peter says, "don't be surprised by that trial fire." It says: "As if some strange thing happened to you." Look what it says here: "But rejoice because you are partakers of the sufferings of Christ." That rejoice as I said on another occasion as Paul says in Philippians "rejoice in the Lord, again I tell you: rejoice" that rejoice is not an easy rejoice, rejoice there that I ate a piece of cake and how delicious it was joy is a rejoice in the spirit. It is a joy of a person who knows that behind the cloud and the test comes the blessing and there is the Presence of God.

It says: "Rejoice because you are partakers of the sufferings of Christ." Do you know my brother that the nature of Jesus the Lord suffered a lot here on Earth? He says that he was a man experienced in bankruptcies. The Lord is born under difficult conditions and dies under worse conditions; however, no one is more powerful than Him, no one has achieved more things than Him. He suffered many things here in the world. And then that is why one understands. The apostle Paul says that when you are going through trials, look in a spiritual sense and recognize that you are identifying yourself with a very essential part of the life and nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are getting to know him.

Paul says that he wants to know Christ in His resurrection but also in His sufferings. Then Peter says: you are participating in the very essence of the Lord. It says: "So that also in the revelation of His Glory you may rejoice with great joy." Hey, to enjoy the great things of the Lord, you also have to go through tribulations. And verse 14 says: "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you."

You know that when you are on trial and you are firm in the Lord, confessing His fidelity in some mysterious way, the wings of the Spirit of God rest on you. God is with you, God is accompanying you, He is strengthening you, He is guiding you through the trial. The Lord will be there to comfort you, do not throw yourself to death when difficult situations come, but confess that God is with you.

This woman servant of God, this man who died a faithful servant of God, this family is going through trials but glory to the Lord that she did not stay there. The second point that I want to emphasize to you is that this woman sought a solution. She affirmed herself in the Lord and a little time passed that she said perhaps, what do I do? and then he said: you know what? I am going to go to the source of power, I am going to go to the prophet of God.

Remember that in these times it is not like now that we say we can go directly to the Throne of Grace. In those times, the only thing that occurred to this woman was to go to the prophet, he has the Word, he has the, you have to go to the source of power. This woman went to where Elisha was and it says in the 4th chapter of Kings it says that: "She cried out to Elisha saying: your servant my husband has died and you know that your servant was fearful of Jehovah." She cried out, she went and presented her need, she presented her request to the Lord and that is what I suggest that we have to do.

When we are going through difficulties we are going to cry out to the Lord, we are going to take action, we are going to find a solution to the problem. That word clamored stays stuck in my mind because clamoring is not an indifferent request as well as casual, it is something determined, concentrated, clear, determined and I think we have to meditate on that. The Bible says over and over again that we have to cry out and He will answer us. God doesn't answer unless you don't call.

The Lord Jesus Christ says: "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." It is a motto verse of my life, there is a part that I have to do. Santiago says that we do not receive, why? Because we do not ask, the Lord Jesus Christ tells us: come confidently to the Throne of Grace. We must approach the Throne of Grace, the Lord is there waiting but there is a part that we have to do. We have to present our need to Him. We have to cry out to Him, we have to seek a solution that comes from Him.

There are so many verses, I want to encourage you that invite us to cry out and ask. Look for example John chapter 14 verses 13 and 14 says: "And whatever you ask the Father in My Name I will do." Everything they do what? whatever you ask for, forgive the inelegance of the bottle, whatever you ask for in My Name I will do it. I have learned that prayer is the secret of victory. And not a prayer there of those religious prayers but a prayer that is a cry to the Lord.

I have to season all the projects of my life in prayer and sometimes I have to do it preventively before they even start, and sometimes while they are in progress I have to go back and give the handle another turn to send strength. Do you know how many times I pray for our project? every morning and many times a day in great detail when there is a specific and delicate operation to do, I bring it to the Lord and my vitamins are being thrown on that place daily, and the Lord answers our prayers and takes us to the victory.

If your children are having problems, difficulties look: present them to the Lord continuously. Bathe your finances in prayer, do not wait for them to send you the letter that they are going to take you to the Marshall there to put you in jail because you are not paying the debt, no. When you have a better financial position, pray preventively so that the Lord blesses your finances. Your health in great detail, look at each bone, find an anatomy book and learn all the parts of your body and mark each of them as much as you remember, from the gallbladder to the vertebral or dorsal spine or whatever it is called okay? from the little bone that you have there that maintains the balance, to whatever it is, bathe it in prayer.

God likes specific requests, God likes people who continually cry out to Him. If a father knows how to give good things to his children, how much more will the Lord not give to those who cry out to Him day and night? But we have to fill ourselves with that idea that if I call out to the Lord, He will answer me.

And it's full like that. Look at John chapter 16 like this, these are the words of the Lord himself, I want to paste them there in your heart so that you can be filled with them. John 16:23 says: "On that day you will not ask me anything" speaking of when He once went to heaven and we were here simply with the Holy Spirit, which is what we have now, says: "On that day I did not you will ask nothing. Verily I tell you, verily, verily I tell you, whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you."

It says: "Until now you have not asked for anything in My Name" because they had Christ there with them and they spoke directly to Him, "ask and you shall receive so that your joy may be full." If you take a tour of the word ask, pray, search the Bible in a concordance you will see how many invitations from God himself to you to ask the Lord. Listen to me, if God tells you to ask, why not ask? Why not take advantage of that opportunity? Why not take advantage of that opportunity? Why not create a habit of prayer and clamor?

Not again pious and religious prayers there but prayers of war, prayers that reach the Throne of God and that move the heart of the Lord. There are many, many claims to this principle of crying out to the Lord in an effective way. All these texts emphasize the need to ask as a prerequisite for us to receive what we need, and James in chapter 1 when he says to ask with faith, encourages us to exercise faith, to believe that if we ask we will receive what we ask for.

I say here that faith is an attitude of trust. It is something that grows with exercise. Knows? faith is like a muscle, if you exercise it it grows, why does it grow? because when you exercise even a little bit of faith you are going to see a little bit of results. And when you see that small result, your faith will grow and then you will dare to ask the Lord for bigger and bigger things, and you will dare to undertake gigantic things.

But start, faith says it comes by hearing and hearing the Word of the Lord, it is an attitude that is being cultivated. It grows as we gradually replace depressed and timid attitudes with an attitude of hope and militancy in God.

A sister who usually sits here at the 9 o'clock service behind me was telling me this morning how she feels that God has been strengthening her these past few months, and how she has been growing in the Lord, and she was telling me that she has He has been changing his mentality. It seems that he had suffered several losses before and he says I allowed the crises of life to take away my faith and my joy in the Lord but I am recovering, he told me, I am growing and I am trusting more in the Lord.

And my advice to her was the same: sister, believe in the Lord, believe that God is with you, believe that God has good things for you. Look according to your belief, this is how your life will be, listen to me. According to your faith, this will be the result you obtain. And we have to become magnets of God's blessings. You are a magnet for good things or bad things and depending on what you believe there in your spirit. I believe that you should take an X-ray of all your thoughts, all your expectations and even take an X-ray of all the things that have happened in your life.

Because many times what happens is that many of us have had such a negative life at times and we have suffered so many losses at times because we are in the Lord but we did not know how to use the weapons of faith, because you have to be instructed in this that the devil has given us so many blows on the back that we have already stopped believing that God has good things for us. And so we go to Church as something defensive but not as something active and offensive.

So you have to ask the Lord to replace your thoughts, replace the very structures of your mind, your heart, your emotions. You have to take a diet of faith, read good books that encourage you, do readings that are positive readings, read texts from the Bible where people overcome, go through trials and come out ahead in victory, read the promises of Scripture and so on. he is reprogramming his brain, he is reprogramming his mind.

Because when your mind begins to think positive thoughts and you begin to have positive expectations, it is incredible, but you will realize that the condition around you will gradually change, and as the months go by, what used to be a series of negative news once after another it will turn into positive things, blessings from God, progress, provision, God is going to change your marriage, he is going to change your children, he is going to change your finances, he is going to change your health, he is going to give you strength, It will give you the ability to bounce in the midst of life's situations, it will give you solutions, wise thoughts to solve the problems in your life.

But it all starts with a reprogramming of your brain. Believing in the Lord, expecting good things from the Lord, studying believing that if you do your part, God will do His. That if you go to that English course you won't be embarrassed but you will get ahead. That if you propose to learn to drive that policeman who is hateful and difficult, he will give you the license even if it is so that you do not come back anymore.

We have to believe brothers and you have to make an effort, you have to do your part, you have to study, but the effort that you make is done in the expectation that God will bless you and that there is no possible failure for your life and that way you you will see that God proves himself faithful. It all starts with a reprogramming of the brain and mind. That is why it says: be transformed by renewing your understanding.

Faith grows as we gradually replace depressed and timid attitudes with an attitude of hope and militancy in God. You have to believe to ask, and you have to ask to receive, and you also have to believe to receive. As you begin to see God answering your prayers and expectations, your faith will grow and become more powerful.

So number one: trials come to life, difficulties come to the children of God. The question is what are we going to do? We are going to cry out, we are going to take action in the name of the Lord, we are going to rise up in strength and then the Lord is going to give what we need.

One last point that I want to point out with you is that when this woman cries out to Elisha, a process begins that I think is important for us to understand because that is how it generally happens in our lives as well. When you ask the Lord God, then He begins not only to give you what you need, but He also wants you to collaborate with Him, that you grow spiritually, that you also develop skills and abilities in your life that make you a more believer. strong.

Look how it says here in this passage when she asks for what she needs, Elisha tells her: "What will I do to you? Tell me what you have at home." There is a question. Do you remember every time someone sick approached the Lord, the Lord asked him: what do you want me to do for you, what do you need from me? The blind Bartimaeus approaches and the Lord says to him: what do you want? Good Lord that you see. No? the Lord wants to hear from us, He wants us to participate too.

What do you have at home? When the Lord commands the disciples to feed the crowd, the disciples say they say: no, we have nothing, he says: no, there is something look among the crowd. When they go, they search, they return with a small nucleus of possibilities: five loaves and two fish. Know? that what you can bring to the Lord is much less than what you need, but that is what God needs as a basis to perform the miracle that God wants to do in your life.

I have learned in my life that if I want a blessing there is something that I have to put. God is not going to give me everything because He does not want me to be a parasite but a warrior and therefore He is going to put me through exercises and is going to demand that I go through struggles and tribulations to get stronger in the process. but he always gives me what I ask for. So he says: "Tell me what you have at home."

Do you know that there is something in your life? there is always something you can use to carry out a solution. My motto in life is: there is always a solution to everything. God never leaves us without solutions. Then Eliseo says to him: Look, search your house, think, what's in your house? There is something that God wants you to do in your life, that you reflect, that you know the resources that you have, that you explore within yourself. There is a call that God has placed in your life, there is a gift, there is a possibility that exists in you, there is a potentiality that is within you even if you do not know it, and God can use that to carry out the great miracles that He wants to do in your life.

Then he says that she answers him: "Well, your servant doesn't have anything at home. Oh, a jar of oil" a jar of oil is what she has but that was not enough to pay nor was it what she needed. The creditors were not going to receive a pot of oil to pay off their debt, but it was all she had. And then Elisha tells him: "Go and borrow pots from all your neighbors, pots, pots, not a few." That is the solution to the miracle.

There is something in your life, you have to discover it, bring it to the Lord, present it to the Lord. I see here what I call a shared miracle, there is a part that we have to do and that should always govern our lives to make us enterprising people. God wants to create in us a strong, seasoned Church. God wants young people who study hard and spend hours studying, who don't expect God to do it all, their parents to do it all. There is a part that God is not going to do for you and only you can do it.

There are people who want to preach and be great preachers but they are not willing to go to a seminar or study the Bible, or read the Word, or read a boring book but they say no, you have to do your part. There are people, God has a good job for you somewhere but you have to get up in the morning and go out and knock on doors and search. God is not going to bring the boss there to knock on your door and say: look, I want to give you a job, there is a part that we have to do. You are going to go through ten rejections and number eleven is going to be the charm and here comes the blessing to your life.

But you have to make an effort. Again when I see that work that we are building there, God has taught me, He does not do everything for us. There have been many struggles and many efforts but God has given us victory. And I have learned so many things that are serving me for my growth as a Pastor, as a professional, it has been a tremendous blessing. I thank the Lord for being part of something as wonderful as this project, brothers. As I live intimately involved in it, I know that it is training for this Church, for my life, and it has to be that way because I believe that the blessing that is coming is great and a price must be paid for it.

By the way I encourage you to read an article that just came out in the Christian Science Monitor, unfortunately it is only in English but I encourage you to learn English so that you can read it by the way. Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper, there it is wow, did you know I was going to talk about that? Well, I talked about it this morning, maybe that's why, that's good. Is that photo from here of someone from the Church?

Well, it is an article that has appeared a lot on the internet, I have seen many many pages that have it and it is called in English "Who is filling America's church pews". And it's an article that talks about how many churches today are closing their doors, losing membership, and yet there are other types of churches all over the United States and here in New England which is a graveyard of churches, the writer , a secular writer is not necessarily a Christian or at least his interest was not to write an article, it is a very international secular newspaper.

So he points out that the churches that are growing are the churches that are holding onto the Word of the Bible as it is not the churches that are becoming liberal and watering down the message but they are solid, Biblical Churches and one would think that it should be the opposite because In this world, as people liberalize and reject the Gospel, what many churches are doing is adjusting so as not to lose people, but the writer says that paradoxically, the churches that are growing are churches that are maintaining their faith as it is. I am not going to say traditional because it is not the word, it is the true faith, the faith of the Word of God.

So they were here about three weeks ago, I don't know if you remember someone who was taking photos and all that, it was these people from the Christian Science Monitor and one of the Churches that figures prominently in this article is ours. I say this without any spirit of pride, no I don't think, the truth is that frankly brothers, frankly that does not give me any kind of pride, I say it before God. The only thing that gives me is joy in a sense of knowing that God honors His Word and that when a Church and a believer lives the Word of the Lord God blesses them, God honors them in the long run.

You see all this that America is going more and more to the left and towards secularism and that the Churches are already going to disappear, they are lies from the devil because he knows that there is a blessing for the people of God and one has to keep stand firm, go ahead, bless the nations. I believe that God has wonderful things for us but we have to do our part. Blessings, prosperity does not come as a result of lazy people, it comes when people put on their pants and move on in the name of the Lord.

God does not want partners, he does not want objects that simply receive, receive and receive. God wants men and women full of faith who give to the Kingdom of God, who advance the Kingdom of God here on Earth. That is why I encourage you my brothers to keep your faith high, do not let your faith down, please, we are more than victorious. And I tell you that God has some wonderful things for us around the corner, it's going to be a great harvest of souls.

This year I am preparing to work hard to evangelize and bring souls to the knowledge of the Lord and take advantage of our sanctuary, I encourage you to continue giving to the Lord, to continue giving yourself, growing, preparing yourself because we are going to need many people to disciple these souls, and bring them and affirm them in the ways of God. God wants prepared people. Take your discipleship studies, read your Bible, pray, fill yourself with the power of God, give to the Lord, practice the tools of faith and that is the people that God wants to use to do his great works, that is the people that are served with the big spoon when the devil wants to afflict and destroy our lives.

This woman for me stands out as an example of that. Elisha tells him: ok, do you have a need? Ok what do you have in your house? look for what you have, go around the neighborhood, find more vessels and that they are empty and bring them back. He says not a few vessels. That word remains engraved in my mind, that expression: not a few. Do you know how many times in the Bible there are calls from God to seek not a few things, not to be scarce, not to be timid in life, not to keep only a little?

Do you know why God blesses many of us Christians more? because they do not dare to believe the Lord more, they do not dare to give more to the Lord, they do not invest more, they are not more generous with the Lord. The Bible says that he who sows sparingly reaps sparingly, he who sows bountifully reaps bountifully.

Brothers, I tell you without a doubt, the people that I see who are blessed and prosperous in the ways of the Lord are enterprising people, they are daring people, they are dedicated people, generous people towards the Lord, people who have no ambiguities towards the Lord, give the Lord of everything. Your life is God's, your property is God's, your time is God's, your body is God's, your family is God's.

I see that the people who do not prosper in the Gospel, the Pastors that God does not bless are those who from nine to five, pay me for forty hours, I give forty hours and when they have to give more: oh that is not in my description of work. Their children take care of them as if they were little jewels so they don't break and the boys end up more brittle than anything else. Children must be included in the ministry as well, so that they get involved with the people, so that they learn to live and coexist with the people of God, so that they become warriors who love the Lord.

And one has to give to the Lord, be generous with God, expect great things from the Lord. Give the Lord a tight measure, do not keep accounts with God and then the Lord will not get tired of blessing you, bless you, bless you. Forget what you have and what they owe you, distribute to seven and eight, says the Lord, and that is what will make you a magnet for God's blessing.

He tells her: don't be scarce, find all the vessels you can. Do you know that the blessing you receive will depend on your investment? If this woman had been able to see into the future what was going to happen, because it says that when she brought all the vessels and began to pour oil from one into another and it did not run out, and she poured from another into another the blessing was so great that she said: well guys bring more jars, but mom we ran out of jars and the oil ran out, it was closed.

Do you know that you have power to limit God's blessings in your life? According to your faith, according to your investment, according to your ability to believe the Lord in great things? Change your small vision for a big vision of the Lord. Ask the Lord to reprogram your brain.

Do you remember the story of King Joas? Elisha told him: "hit the earth with the arrows you have in your hand" and Joas, who was a mediocre man in faith, hit how many times does anyone remember? Three times. And what did Elisha tell him precisely this same Elisha? If you had hit the earth five or six times not three as you did, two more times you would have defeated the Syrians until there was not a single one left but now you are going to defeat them only three times.

One of the things that shakes me is that I have so much authority before God is that I can limit or release it in my life depending on how seriously I take Him and how daring I am in expecting great things from the Lord. In this coming year 2013 I want to encourage all of you to expand the site of your store, to believe God for great things in your lives, great blessings that God has for you.

I want to encourage you brothers to become people of faith, warrior people. Put religion aside please, religion never saved anyone. Leave false piety, leave the question of coming to Church on Sundays and become a warrior of God, a woman, a man delivered to the Lord, amen? Yeah.

We are going to live the Christian life seriously, okay? We are going to grow in the Lord. If you don't have your Bible, buy one before you leave today. Put it in a chosen place, get up half an hour before. Look, a little less sleep never hurt anyone, you know? and many of you could benefit from a little less sleep I think. Get up a little earlier and give your family to the Lord. Pray for his family, pray for his day. Read six verses from the Bible, a small passage. Come to Church in the middle of the week and boost your spirits.

Cry out to the Lord, serve the Lord, give to the Lord, work for the Lord, give your whole life to the Lord and live the legitimate Christian life authentically, and I promise you in the name of the Lord that you are going to see a radical change in your life. life. This year is going to be a year of blessing for you, say it like that, confess it like that. Much more powerful is the one who is with us and in us than the one who is out there in the world. No weapon formed against you will prosper says the Lord. They will come out for you one way and they will flee seven ways.

The Lord will not let your basket lack bread and food, says the Lord, He has called you to blessing, he has called you to life, he has not called you to defeat. You will wonder where your enemies are and you will not find them says the Lord. You will forget the days of drought and affliction because God will replace them with days of blessing and joy.

You will grow in the things of the Lord, His Word will be strong as a foundation under you. Believe him He has good things. "Because I know the thoughts that I have for you, thoughts of good and not of evil to give you the end that you expect" says the Lord. Stand up, receive the purposes of the Lord. If tests come I have a very big bat there to hit a home run off the field. If difficulties come, the Lord is more than powerful. "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will teach you great and hidden things that you do not know." Cry out to the Lord, let Him take you through the struggles, He will take you out into a safe valley and put you on firm and safe ground.

Father: I bless this town this morning, I bless my brothers and sisters. Each family represented here Lord, each individual that is here representing a neighborhood, a last name, a town, a country and I declare grace upon grace over this sea of people above and below Lord, each one of them with their individual needs that You know well , your struggles, your afflictions your trials and your shortcomings too Father.

And I declare over them a network of blessing Father, I declare Your powerful breath resting on each one of them Lord, I declare Your Spirit over this Congregation Father. Not only will we not perish, but we will prosper and grow and become strong, and we will conquer the Earth because You are with us. Not only will we not live from the plate to the mouth, but we will sit down because You prepare a table before us even in the presence of our distressing Lord.

And not only will we receive enough wisdom to solve a little problem, but You will give us abundant knowledge, the spirit of revelation, knowledge and science to know how to make good decisions. Our young people Lord You will bless, they will prosper, they will become strong, they will be successful students, they will earn the respect of their teachers, they will be spiritual leaders, they will walk with angels around them, no harm will come to them because Your blessing will be with them Lord.

Our children will not be touched by an evil hand. Their minds will not be polluted with improper thoughts, Lord. The influences that come to their hearts will be good influences and they will grow like plants next to running waters, strong and safe. You will bless our marriages Lord, you will bless our homes. Our families in whatever country they are Your blessing will reach them. Our children that perhaps we have not seen in a long time You will raise them up, you will bless them, you will prosper them, you will provide for them.

And this people will rise up like a strong and brave army. This people will conquer nations, this people will do feats in the name of the Lord. This people will walk among the rubble and restore the fallen walls and raise the cities in ruins, they will be a blessing to many and they will receive the Spirit of Jehovah that will make them strong and attractive and a song will rise from this place, a song of triumph and of joy. A song in the middle of the night that will banish the darkness. A song of victory in the midst of struggles and trials. A song of the poor who have been enriched, of the weak who have been strengthened because their God has taken them by the hand and led them forward.

And all the years of waiting will find their consummation because You will give us according to what you put in our hearts years ago, walking the Earth and traversing it and marking it You will bring us to it so that we can eat fresh bread, that land that flows with milk and honey where we will live in houses that we did not build, we will drink from wells that we do not dig and we will cultivate land that we do not work and we will eat from it, because Your blessing will have been with us.

Lord, I bless this town, I bless this coming year, Father, and we will be looking towards the heights. We will lift our eyes to the mountains. Where will our help come from? our help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth, he who keeps us will not give our foot to the slippery, nor will he fall asleep. Behold, the one who guards His people, the Lion of Judah Congregation, who guards Israel, will not slumber or sleep. Thank you Lord, thank you Lord we bless you Lord, we declare victory Father in Jesus name.