Live according to a vision

I want to talk to you about a visionary life, an entrepreneurial life, a life that envisions great things for the Lord and does what it has to do to realize that vision, a life of vision that is something that is talked about so much today, about To live according to a vision.

And our church is a visionary church and that is why we do the things we do, that is why we are always changing something here, there, undertaking new projects because the Lord wants us investing in his kingdom and undertaking new and bold things.

In chapter 54 of the book of Isaiah, the Lord says to Israel and also to us by extension:

“Rejoice, oh barren, the one who did not give birth, raise a song and shout for joy, the one who was never in labor. For the children of the forsaken are more than those of the married, says Jehovah. – and here the Lord also enters with us in the development of that call that he makes first, and says, – Enlarge the site of your tent – and he is saying it to you and he is saying it to me and he is saying it to him He is saying to the Lion of Judah congregation, – widen the site of your tent.

By the way, as you continue reading, tent in this case means a tent, the tent used by Bedouins, used by nomadic tribes or used by boy scouts, this idea of a tent where people dwell but which is a mobile thing, a tent. And he is speaking to a people who knew very well what it was like to live in the desert and what it was like to live like that in tents.

So he is using that illustration to strengthen his call to what he is saying, to raise a song, to expect great things from God, etc. then says:

“Enlarge the site of your tent and the curtains of your rooms are extended, do not be scarce, lengthen your ropes and reinforce your stakes, for you will spread out to the right hand and the left hand and your descendants will inherit nations and inhabit the devastated cities. ”

Amen. Glory to the Lord. How many believes that promise this morning? That's for you, my brother, it's for me, it's for the León de Judá congregation. God calls us to live an entrepreneurial life. God calls us to conceive great visions, not to live conformist lives, not to live mediocre lives. If someone on this earth has no excuse for living a mediocre and well-to-do, conventional life, it is the Christian, because we have a great and powerful God who expects from us a life of excellence that glorifies him, a life at the level of power that he has placed in our hands.

If we live a small, conventional, conservative life we are dishonoring the great God who has called us and who has placed such great power within us. And that is why God's call always for one, as an individual, for a church, for a ministry, is to expect great things from God and live as if God has great things for you.

And in the beginning of this chapter the Lord says rejoice and interestingly he is speaking figuratively to a barren woman, a woman who has never conceived, has never had children, has never given birth. And there's like a contradiction from the very beginning in this passage. There is an amazing call. Rejoice, one can understand that, oh yes, God is calling us to rejoice, but oh, barren. Wow, a barren woman in those times was a person who was considered to have failed in her femininity.

Thank God, I hope that if someone is here, if there is a sister who has not conceived for whatever reason, she never feels like she is a failure, because there are many ways to be fruitful. Amen. And also that we continue to hope, if you want to have children, continue to hope in the Lord as well and put your faith in the Lord, but no woman is a failure simply because she cannot have children. Rebuke that thought if it's in you.

But if in those times, in that culture, in that Jewish society of the Middle East, a woman who could not give birth was a troubled woman, she was a woman considered a failure, she was a woman who was considered sterile, not only in her womb but in her entire life, because the achievement of a woman at that time was to be a mother.

And then the Lord is speaking to Israel that it is a nation that when Isaiah extends this message to him, it is a nation that has been captive, the Lord had judged Israel for their great sin, their idolatry, had exiled them, had sent them to Babylon, they were captives, it was a nation that was just beginning to get on its feet. Israel had also been barren and that is why later the Lord tells her not to fear, you will not be confused, your husband is your maker.

It says in verse 6, "because as a woman abandoned and sad in spirit the Lord called you, for a brief moment I abandoned you but I will take you with great mercies."

You are speaking to a failed nation, a fallen nation, a defeated nation, a nation that your God has judged, punished, and now you feel like you are cut off from the goodness of God. There is no hope for her. Imagine being a captive, taken to another land, your land deserted, completely desolate.

By the way, it is not the only time that Israel has gone through this situation. When Christ came to earth and was crucified shortly after his resurrection Israel was taken over by Rome, after rebelling against the might of Rome and Jerusalem was completely destroyed, Jews were banished from their land, Jews were forbidden to live in Jerusalem and for nearly 2,000 years Israel was scattered.

You have heard of the wandering Jew. In every nation there were Jews who had been banished from their land. Israel was not even a nation, it ceased to be a nation. Jerusalem ceased to be populated by Hebrews. There were always a few, a tiny remnant that remained, but it was not a nation and one would say, when on earth has a nation been seen to rise again after 2000 years? Something unthinkable and yet so it happened. He says that in one day, it was the promise of the Lord and in 1948 Israel became a nation again. And since then the Jews have been returning to their homeland.

And I say, the God who did that great miracle is the God who can revive his church in the 21st century too, here in North America, in Europe, in other parts of the world. That is why we cannot put anything beyond the power of God. If in your life there has been sterility for some reason, if in your life there has been failure, if in your life there have been times of great drought, never put above the Lord the possibility that God can make you flourish for the first time or that he can bring those times of prosperity and blessing back into your life.

Never let yourself be defeated by a condition of poverty, of failure. If something failed in your life, there is a little root of life that remained inside the earth. The kill on the outside may have fallen but inside is the life of God that is going to sprout again. In God there are always possibilities. We cannot lose hope. Maybe you have never given birth but you can give birth.

And you know one of the main things for one to give birth in the world and in life, especially after times of failure and sterility, one of the most important things is to do what it says here, sing, rejoice in the Lord like something active, adopt a policy as it were of spiritual joy, joy in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord.

I was speaking to the Wednesday congregation, the group that comes on Wednesdays, Paul's call in Philippians chapter 4, rejoice in the Lord. Again I tell you, rejoice, your kindness be known to all men. In the Bible there are continuous calls for joy as a powerful weapon for blessing, for prosperity, for success, for progress.

One of the things that most kills the power and move of God in our lives is a pessimistic attitude. It is an attitude of complaint, an attitude of silence regarding the good things. When we train ourselves and get used to speaking positively and feeling positively, a militant attitude in life, when we understand that rejoicing in the Lord is not a result, rejoicing in the Lord is not like something that arises as a result of having the bills paid, that you got a raise at work, that the person you loved is finally marrying you, or that things are fine. Rejoicing for the Christian is a position that we adopt, it is a spiritual ethic, it is something that we embrace as an attitude that breaks down walls and that destroys the works of the devil in our lives.

And many times we have to sing even though we don't feel the desire to sing. One can… if we have a pessimistic attitude on the inside, if we are negative on the inside as Christians we have to first decide to change that attitude and then start training ourselves. You may not be able to change your emotions first, but you can start to speak positively.

I always say, we laugh in our family, my mother, Toñita, when they said to her, "Doña Toña, how are you feeling today?" “Fine,” although he was at some terrible times in his life, suffering from excruciating trigeminal nerve pain. There are people here who know what that pain is and yet Toña never lost her joy in the Lord. She spoke positively, always had a smile. Sometimes it was hard for him to smile but he smiled. Talking was difficult for him but he would say a word of advice to someone.

For you to receive blessing you have to start by developing and cultivating a positive spirit in your life. Learn to speak positively. Learn to confess. I have learned in my life that even if something bad is happening, I am going to find that little vein of gold in the midst of difficulties and I am going to look for something to thank God for in my life.

Things like gratitude is important. Express thanks to the Lord for the things that happen in your life. Amen. Don't just look at the bad things, look at the good things in the midst of the bad things and thank God for that. Look for something good for which to always thank. Sings. I think worship is important too. Filling our homes with praise, adoration, taking time out of the day to worship the Lord, to confess good things, that is also important. Gratitude, adoration, positive confession, speaking good things in your life and having good advice to fill your life with good things.

All of these things open up the possibility that God can do something in your life. That is why I believe that this passage that talks about building, about building, begins with a call to sing and celebrate the good things that God is going to do in your life. If God hasn't done good things in your life lately, start anticipating it and saying that God is going to do it. I live my life always waiting for new and beautiful things that God is going to do.

This time that we are living as a congregation I believe is one of the best times we have ever had and I cannot wait to see what will happen in one year, two years in this church, because I believe that God has good things and you have to talk about them, you have to declare them, you have to celebrate them.

This morning when we were up here after worship time, God has been speaking to me about resting in the Lord and being still in the Lord. This morning I don't know why, maybe it was because I lost my glasses this morning and I've been looking everywhere for them and that made me a little mad. When one is obsessive, compulsive, peus is always... and there was a voice inside that told me, "Rest, rest in the Lord, be calm." And then when I came up here at this moment I was invaded by this spirit that resting in God and adopting a positive attitude is one of the things that we have to do as a congregation. Eagerness kills us many times, always being in fencing with the devil. Sometimes the Lord simply wants to, put your hands down and wait on me and trust me, and refer your case to the Lord and let him do it, let him work in our lives. That's so important.

“In stillness will be, says the word, your strength, in stillness and rest your salvation. You will keep in perfect peace the one whose thought in you perseveres.” So many passages that tell us about it.

So, this idea of singing to the Lord, of rejoicing in the Lord, of raising voices of joy… you know that many women who cannot give birth when they relax can then give birth. That is a medical phenomenon. I have known women who could not give birth and who adopted a child, a couple who could not give birth, they adopted a child and since this woman already had a child, her desire to give birth dropped and then they can give birth. to light. Doctors know, obstetricians know that one of the things a woman has to do is relax in order to give birth. If it is in tension and at war it is counterproductive.

And I believe that as Christians we use rejoicing, joy in the Lord as a way to attract good things. God likes to be where the praise is, where the joy is, where the celebration of his goodness is.

So first things first, you want to live a powerful, positive life, rejoice in the Lord and embrace rejoicing as a spiritual weapon. The second thing the Lord tells you here in verse 2 is what I call a formula for victory and success in life. There are 4 things that I see here, I am going to say them as soon as possible.

It says widen the site of your tent, 2. Extend the curtains of your rooms, 3. Lengthen your ropes, 4. Strengthen your stakes. There are 4 elements all linked to this idea. God uses an illustration of a tent that has to be replaced with another. And what are the elements that make up a tent? There are 4, the site, the curtains, the ropes and the stakes.

And each of them is an element that we have to take into consideration when we want to build something, when we want to undertake something in our lives, when we want to change our situation, it can also be in a ministry when we want to go to another level. Whatever it is, I believe that these are principles for construction in all of life.

First, I already said it is this to have a positive expectation, adore the Lord, praise him, confess positively, cultivate an attitude of expectation of God's blessings. Enlarging the site, it's something like one sometimes doesn't think that in construction one of the most important things is the lot, so to speak, the land, the lot where it is going to be built. People only think about the building that is on top but if you have been under construction at some point in your life as I have been during all these years of construction here, or if you observe, one of the things that takes the longest is just planning.

Architects take months to design a building and to go through the whole process of getting permits and all these things and then when you have all the documentation then you have to take the place where you are going to build and you have to prepare it. . The first thing to do is to clean the place, if there is something on top, destroy it, flatten everything. This building, before we built it, we spent months filling it with large amounts of reinforced concrete to be the base of the columns and the beams and everything else. We took months doing only the part of the lot, the lot.

And for me the plot, the site, is the mind, sensitivity, imagination, creativity. It is the place where God is going to put the visions that you want to conceive in your life. And if you want to live a creative, powerful life, the first thing you have to do is train your mind to believe great things for the Lord. You have to expand your capacity to visualize, imagine, believe, wait.

Where does God plant the great projects? In the soul, in the mind. Many of us don't do big things because we don't dream big things. I encourage them to imagine, to fantasize in the positive form of the word, to get involved in daydreaming, to see themselves in big spaces, to see themselves doing great things, to see their children already graduated, studying, married, doing good things in society, seeing your life progressing, seeing yourself as a woman, if you are a housewife, conceiving a new project in your life.

I was talking to a sister this morning encouraging her, hey, she's coming to the 9 am service and she wants to improve her understanding of English. What a good opportunity now for you to learn the language well. Read books, watch television in English more, study, that is, this idea that we have to visualize ourselves, see ourselves doing great things in the Lord.

And we have to ask the Lord to broaden our capacity to expect great things from God. And we have to cultivate our imagination. He says, “enlarge your tent site,” before you start building first prepare the site, make it big enough. Many of us do not dream enough or our dreams are tiny because it is what we have become accustomed to.

Conceive visions that scare you. Conceive visions that terrify you when you contemplate them. And I believe that God can lead you to great things. I was talking to a young woman who told me how happy she was because she is doing a master's degree in social work, as a social worker. I told her, “That's good, I congratulate you,” I rejoiced with her, I celebrated that. and he said, “Look, one day think that God can give you a doctorate in social sciences, in social work. God can take you to be a professor in a university,” and I saw her smile and I saw her look that was filled with expectation. Of course you can, you can do that.

You can expect great things from God. Our problem many times is that we don't dream enough and we don't ask the Lord enough. And the first thing we have to do is that, Lord, give me a mind that does not put anything above you. When we came here to Boston, I thought it was simply to serve the Latino community. I promise you that was my only perception, it was a Hispanic church, we were going to serve Hispanics.

And since we arrived here the Lord began to widen things. What's more, my vision was so small that the first building we bought, that sanctuary, my capacity at that time, my faith, gave me nothing more than to believe that what we needed was a box. The box on the first floor, go in there, put some chairs and thank goodness to have a church and that was it. I confess, I'm ashamed to say it.

The Lord has been widening, glory to God, my vision for sometimes agony of you who have to follow me with the visions that God gives me. But God has been expanding my capacity to believe in great things, for great things. And since I got there the Lord began to speak to me right away. The architects forced us, “Look, Roberto, you can take this first floor, why don't we break half the roof and put two balconies above and make a bigger platform and do this and do that. They themselves began to advise me and that's how we began to expand that building and began to do other things.

The Lord began to call us to social work, to get into the city, to work on social issues, to speak to the city, to invite people from outside to come, to conceive of the possibility that we could minister not only to Hispanics but also to americans. We started the service in English because we saw that we could also speak to another sector of the city.

The Lord began to widen the room and teach me that one can believe great things. And if we are now doing this project to change the services, I know that this is uncomfortable for you, my brothers, I assure you that it is uncomfortable for me too and it inspires me a little fear many times but I will never let fear limit in undertaking great things for God.

So don't worry about that part, fear is something I live with and I just take 2 aspirin at the end of the day and move on. Don't let fear stop you from undertaking great things for God.

But we have to widen our expectations and God has given us much more than we think. Ask the Lord to enlighten you to believe great things that he can do in your life and do not let your widowhood from the past, your sterility from the past hold you back. Believe that God can do great things through you and do not limit yourself to the Lord. Widen the site, widen the base, the platform of your belief and your expectation.

So, the Lord tells him, "and the curtains of your rooms be extended," so this tent already has its largest space and now if there is a larger space the curtains have to be longer. A tent, think about that, the fabric, the leather that makes up the base of the tent, get yourself bigger curtains because your tent is going to be bigger.

Now, there's a contrast between the site, which is kind of abstract, a base, a starting point, something imaginative, now it says, get the drapes and get the bigger drapes. Here I see that one has to pass at some point from vision to action, to the concrete. Okay, you already dreamed, you envisioned, you prayed, you consulted, but now you have to get out of your seat and start working, start pursuing... many people dream, dream, but do nothing. They have been saying for years, I want to do this, I want to buy a house, I want to learn English, I want to prepare for a better job, but they do absolutely nothing.

And one of the most difficult things is going from conception to action. That woman or that man who wants to study at the university, has been a worker all his life and praise God for that, but he feels that God is calling him to another level, he wants to go to the university. Look, if God has put that in your heart you are going to have to start knocking on doors. One day you are going to have to take half a day of work and that is what is difficult, when you have to start doing specific things and get out of the abstract.

You're going to have to say, on Wednesday I'm going to ask my boss for half a day's work and I'm going to go to Bunker Hill Community College and I'm going to go there, I don't know where I'm going to go, because all those things hold us back . The idea of where I'm going, what I do, what I say, who I'm talking to, I'm going to make a fool of myself, I don't know where to go. No, you simply have to reserve that day, this is to extend the curtains, you have to take that morning, go to the place, ask and ask someone on the physical floor, where is the admissions office? Go there and with your broken English tell him, "I want to apply to the university, what do I have to do..." You may be surprised, you will find a nice person who will see that you are trying to do something positive and will tell you , "No, what you have to do is this, I'll help you." And when you come to see little by little your project is being put together.

But you have to start somewhere. The most difficult thing is that. It is going from the conceptual to the concrete and it has been like that with all these construction projects. Every time I have had to start something, it comes to me as a sense of fear and is this possible? This project of the two services, you know all the considerations that have had to be taken into account, everything that we have discussed so much with leaders, with the pastors of the church, different groups, so many things, obstacles in one's mind and still There are things that one does not understand about this project, how it will turn out, it will be worth it, I am destabilizing the congregation. These are questions that every leader should ask. It's not that I'm obsessive, compulsive or crazy, everyone wonders, Lord, is it possible?

But one has to start. We have started, little by little, gradually talking with people, consulting and little by little the project is putting together itself. Many times what you have to do is start small and when you start small, God is putting you in the biggest and you are learning. The project itself, to the extent that you are undertaking it, is teaching you new things and God is opening paths for you, but you have to start putting up the curtains. You have to make small efforts.

God always asks you, as I have told you before, what you have on hand. And what you have at hand will be the starting point for greater things. What Moses had in his hand was a rod and a hand and the Lord told him, with that you have two signs, a hand that became leprous and then it was healed again, a rod that he threw on the ground and became a a serpent and took it again and it became a rod again. Signs that God gave you to start the process.

What you have to do is open the way little by little and God will then teach you what you have to do and work in the Lord, let God do the work. I was talking to Minelia, my sister, and I was telling her about… she has been suffering from this trigeminal problem for a long time and for months Minelia's life was losing its life because of a pain that is one of the terrible pains of the human anatomy, the trigeminal nerve, eye, nose, ear. It's a nerve that pain is like a continuous current that you have, one of the most terrible pains.

But the doctors told her, the specialist doctor she had, "No, you shouldn't do it yet because that's dangerous, it's risky, this and that," they made her very afraid that she couldn't, it wasn't possible. And I know what that pain for my mother who went through it was, I told her, "Minelia, I am here, I want to help you." I called her, did some research, suggested a specialist in Boston, and she jumped in with all sorts of fears. "Look, you're not going to lose anything, go talk to him, the worst that can happen to you is that he tells you what you already know and simply tells you, no, you shouldn't, and confirms what the other doctor has told you." saying."

But she jumped in and went there and had a consultation and the doctor told her, “You can do it,” and to the glory of the Lord Minelia is a completely renewed woman. That operation was a total success to the glory of the Lord and he immediately went from terrible pain to no pain at all. But he had to dare, he had to launch himself.

The Bible says that he who looks at the clouds a lot never sows. It's like this, if you go to a field day and you start, oh, and what if it rains and then I lose all this food and this and that, you will never plant. One has to dare in the name of the Lord. Widen the site of your tent, lengthen your ropes, that is, wake up, get up, undertake the task.

Third, it says here lengthen the strings. Of course now you have a bigger store with a big space, some big curtains, what else do you have to do? The structural part. The strings are like the columns in a building and the beams. This building is supported, the beauty that you see below and everywhere has steel beams, steel foundations, steel columns. That balcony is all steel and on top of it are the folders, the rugs, everything else, the decoration. But there is a structure.

Our body is flesh and on the outside it has a certain beauty, more or less for many, but inside... have you ever seen some anatomical drawings, how ugly the human being is when the skin is removed, what is there is a skeleton , there is a nervous system, a number of cables, veins everywhere, intestines, stomach, everything. If you think about what makes up that woman you love so much and with whom you are so in love, you will never marry her. That is so, because everything is structure. We are structure. We are systems and then God takes those systems and covers them with a beautiful thing, but inside there is an anatomy and so it should be with the life of the human being as well. Everything in the universe requires a structure.

And that is why God speaks, not only about the curtains, but now he enters a structural part and thinks about the ropes that they are going to hold. The ropes in a tent are those cords that are going to tie that curtain to the ground and are going to prevent the wind or breeze from coming and starting to move it anywhere, imagine if there weren't those ropes. The strings are the structure.

And I also believe that in our life and in our projects that we undertake there must be structure. And that is one of the most difficult things for us to learn as Latinos that we are, I am going to speak now among Latinos, for example, the Latino culture is a culture, just like the African culture I believe too, it is a very spontaneous culture. We laugh at everything, we enjoy everything, everything is friendship, you go to our government offices and everyone is there talking on the phone and so-and-so arrives who is a friend of the one who works on the little machine, “Oh, no, you come first,” and they put him above the line, a disaster many times.

People leave earlier... Now that has changed a bit but before in our countries people left at 12 and returned at 2 in the afternoon, after taking a nap, taking a bath, eating a meal with rice, beans , meat and everything, who is going to work, who is going to produce anything? After a nap like that and such a strong meal, the rest of the day was lost. Our cultures are cultures that often lack structure, lack government, lack systems, lack protocols. We do not plan, brothers, it must be said, of course there are exceptions, I understand that very well.

But look at the countries of our continent, they are countries that don't work and... think of Mexico, a country with so many resources and excuse me if there are any Mexicans here, I'm not talking about... I love Mexico very much, but such a rich country, with so many resources, with such a large geography and yet so much poverty, so much misery, so much malfunction.

Venezuela right now how sad to say, a country with oil like few other countries in the world, with an incredible fortune, is a case of a terrible national neurosis. Think of Africa, those countries that have so many mineral resources, so many natural resources, yet they are nations that live in misery and corruption takes everything. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and as I say my own country Dominican Republic. Look at Puerto Rico, part of the United States and right now we have to get it out of bankruptcy.

What is the problem with our nations and our societies? It is that we have not learned to function according to structures, according to principles, according to protocols, systems. We work on impulse. We will never die of anxiety, it is like the Dominicans, although we are dying of hunger, but for a good beer and a merengue there is always time and there is always money. That's how it is. Yes or no?

The gringo dies of ulcers and anxiety, we don't, we will live to be 100 years old but poor and having a hard time in other ways. We enjoy ourselves but we are like wild animals, running freely through the field but we are not good for cargo, riding or anything else. It is so, because we lack structure, discipline, protocol, system, planning, government, habits that go above our impulses.

Many times if we feel that we want to do it, we do it, otherwise, no. I tell people one of the great principles for success is to master the boring. If you learn to master the boring and do it anyway you are a giant and you will go far. Our young people learn to sit and read, if you have to sit for 2 hours, 3 hours, read. There are many young people who tell you, if you want to study and go to university and get good grades, you will have to spend 3, 4 hours reading every day and studying, and that is like putting the cross on a vampire. That? 4 hours? They believe that 10 minutes of reading will already…

The target, so to speak, is not that they are smarter than us, it is that they are more disciplined. I have gone to the great universities of this land and I tell you the truth, most of the people who come to Harvard, to Princeton, to Yale to all those places, it is not that they are geniuses, nor are they brilliant, it is that they have a incredible ability to work, to read, to discipline himself, to spend a sleepless night doing the job. What those great universities teach you is discipline, persistence, mastering your impulses and your emotions and being fastidious, being systematic about things, being analytical.

And we have to learn that part of our life, we have to learn to dominate what is small, to dominate what is boring, to dominate what we do not like and live by principles, not by feelings or fears or appetites. No. The man, the woman, that reaching great things is that they have learned to discipline themselves and live by principles. He gets up at a certain time, if he knows that in the morning he has to get up at 5, well, go to bed at 10 at night, put down the novel, put down the movie, stop making noise on the phone, go to bed and get up early and take advantage of those minutes in the morning. You have to discipline yourself, brothers.

In your work be persistent, make yourself essential, those 8 hours of work give your boss 9, teach excellence in what you do, structure, the ropes that will sustain your life have to be powerful too. There is a part that you have to do that God is not going to do. The problem is that many times, Lord, give me this, give me the job, give me the raise, but they don't do anything on your part. And God says, bambalán, as Miguel says. You scoundrel, get to work and in your work I am going to bless you and I am going to take you forward. There is a part that you have to do. Discipline, structure, organization, principles, systems, the structural part, the structure that will support your project, your vision.

And finally, he says, "and strengthen your stakes." Think of a person who gets a much larger fabric, a very large curtain, in a very large space to put up a new tent, goes and buys the strongest, thickest ropes possible at Home Depot, and then leaves the pegs. little ones that the store originally had when it was very small and with that it ties everything else together. You think that no matter how big those ropes and stakes are, they are not strongly inserted and there are not much bigger stakes in that tent when all the wind comes… because imagine now that tent is much bigger. There is more fabric to push and when the wind comes and gets inside that tent or pushes it out, there is more space, more fabric, more things that it can move either from inside or from inside. So, you need some really strong stakes to hold the ropes.

That is why I believe that this passage is not simply an illustration. I have found there principles for life that are very powerful. Now, what do the stakes equal to in terms of life? I would say that the stakes speak to me about defense, protection, about things that will guarantee the duration of the project, the defensive part, the protective part, the protection of a project.

You know that when God blesses you and God prospers you and puts you, for example, in a place of more responsibility, or more influence, then the wind of life begins to blow more strongly against you. For how many people, for example, getting a job raise has meant the collapse of their marriage? Because he started working more, because they demanded more hours, now he is the supervisor, now he has to work a lot more, he comes home in a bad mood, tense, his weekend has to be spent sending emails, answering… and he forgets his house, he forgets his wife, he forgets his children, and when he comes to see that blessing of that new job, those bigger ropes and those bigger curtains become a curse for his life. He loses his marriage, he loses his health, he gets neurotic because he didn't reinforce the stakes.

What are the stakes? The stakes in our life are prayer, integrity, character, human relationships, self-control, self-control. When God blesses you, the enemy will want to do harm in your life and challenges will come as a consequence of the blessing. Every blessing has its negative and dangerous, sinister side, every blessing. God makes the ministries grow many times, God gives us growing churches, bigger, with more prominence in the city but there are also more tensions.

You believe, for example, the service in English, yes, that service I believe is going to grow, many secular people are going to come, professional people are going to come who are used to giving orders and wanting everything to be by vote and that everything is done in a way as it is done in the world, people with bad secular and social customs are going to come, and there is going to be much more pressure for me as senior pastor, and for all the leadership of the church to start trading with the kingdom and begin to preach a more comfortable Gospel, one that is more convenient for those people, more cultured and more educated and more secularized.

And the temptation comes to lower the level of preaching, not to talk about things that offend people. There is more prominence, yes, than the news, anything that is said from the pulpit spreads, it becomes known, and then one begins to be more conservative and to be more careful with what one says. It is very dangerous, that is why many times you have to be careful not to wish for greater things. There are more dangers.

So one has to reinforce the stakes. One has to decide, Lord, I am going to honor you first against all odds, no matter who comes, President Obama can come and sit there and if you gave me a sermon that I have to preach and it offends him, so be it, so be it, I am going to preach the word of the Lord. It doesn't matter who comes. We are not going to change our customs, our message, and our faith in God or in the word of the Gospel.

Because that is the temptation of the devil. The devil wants to seduce you, he gives you the world, as he told Jesus Christ, "I can give you everything, if you just adore me." When God blesses you make sure that you see the dark side and that you prepare yourself for the blessing. If God gives you a marriage, take care of it, bless it, if God gives you your children, take care of them, if God gives you a ministry, begin to strengthen your character, your integrity, your walk with the Lord. Look to see what are the weak areas in your life, anger, extreme sensitivity to criticism, past wounds. Now you're going to need to be more cautious. Your stakes have to be bigger and go deeper into the ground. If you are going to study make sure you take time for the Lord, make sure you put all your studies and your efforts in the Lord.

If you are going to open a business, do not stop giving your tithe to the Lord. Do not stop praying for your work, study good books, take care of your body, rest, take care of your marriage. stakes. Things that protect the blessing you are receiving from the Lord.

I hope this is a blessing for your life. Celebrate what God is going to do, gratitude, expectation, positive confession, broaden your vision and expect great things from the Lord. Launch yourself to make your dreams come true and on the way God will find you and will open new paths for you. Your rope, live a life of discipline, principles, protocols, preparation, self-control, persistence, attention to detail.

And finally, don't forget the protection of the stakes. Prayer, the perfection of self, improving yourself in many different areas of your life, protecting what God has given you, with spiritual warfare, prayer, integrity, character.

If you do these things I guarantee you a powerful life, a life of great blessing, of great success and of good and new things that will manifest in your life. Receive this word right now.

Lower your head and say Lord, I am going to live that powerful life. I am going to live that entrepreneurial life, I am going to pay attention to the principles of good planting, of good cultivation, of believing in you. You have made me an instrument in this world, you have made me a channel of energy, a blessing, an example, you have made me a city that others will watch to see my progress and my behavior and I want to be the best I can be. for inspiration to others and for the glory of the Lord.

And I want to give a last chance as well, if someone this afternoon has come and God has spoken to them in some way through worship, through preaching, through the time of intercession that we've had here ahead, or something that God has done in your life, and you feel that you want to give your life to the Lord because after all that is the beginning of all success, having Christ in our hearts, having that electricity that will give life and energy to everything the rest.

And if you have not yet given your life to Jesus and want this afternoon to start a walk with Christ as your support and your number 1 resource, I invite you to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and to do so in the manner prescribed by the word of the Lord, which is confessing it with your mouth, confessing it before men, inviting him to be your Lord and your savior. And what better way than here among your brothers, in the family of God in this sacred and safe place where you can make your pact with the Lord this afternoon and invite him to be your savior and your Lord.

Is there anyone who wants to take that step this afternoon? And if you have not done it before, I invite you now to raise your hand wherever you are and we want to pray for you and place you in the hands of Jesus so that you leave here well, well prepared to embark on that powerful life, that creative life.

If there is someone who wants to do it this afternoon, we open this moment for that. We make this space. Raise your hand or just come forward and I'd love to pray for you right now. Thank you Lord, we hope in you we thank you Jesus for what you are doing and for what you are going to do. Amen.

If there is no one… we are going to put our life in the hands of the Lord now. I wish you a good weekend in the Lord, enjoy your time, rest, have good times and we are going to live those fruitful lives, those creative and enterprising lives in a Christ who wants us to succeed in all the things we undertake .

Father, we adore you, we bless you. Thank you because you are the God of triumphs, you are the God of mountains that we climb, you are the God of endless horizons, you are the God who surprises us with much greater harvests than we expected. You are the God who has put all the power of the universe within us, we have the excellent spirit of Christ Jesus.

We ask that you help us to see the possibilities that we hold within us with Christ of power. I bless your people this weekend, Lord, I bless our nation. Give us a special time in these next few days and we will do everything for the glory and honor of your name, in the name of Jesus we pray and the people of God say Amen.