God is certainly in control

I want to share with you a word of perspective in this very important time in the life of our nation and in which I know that many of you want to receive advice and a frame of reference for the things we are experiencing. Do not expect from me descriptive or rather prescriptive proclamations, but rather a framework of interpretation and encouragement for your hearts and for our hearts in this time of great need that this nation and even the world and many of us are experiencing when we come home of the Lord.

I want to speak from the book of Esther, which is a precious book, about 9 chapters, and it is a book that precisely mixes the personal drama of individuals like Esther, her uncle Mordecai, King Ahasuerus, Queen Vashti, Haman, this evil man who appears in this book and the major process of a nation such as Persia at that time, and the collective process that the Jews lived at that time and the anxiety they went through when threatened with total extermination. We see this interplay between the personal drama of these individuals that the book records and also the macro-cosmic collective drama at the geopolitical level of a nation like Persia and the Hebrew people, who could also be a type of the church in our own time.

And we are going to see how the Lord was working in that situation that seemed impossible and that did not seem to have a way out, that he did have a solution, but the Lord did have a solution and that is why I want to title this sermon 'God is working even though he is not see it.’ There is an English hymn that I used this morning and I have it half translated, written by a man named William Cowper.

He wrote this hymn, a well-known hymn of the Anglo-Saxon Evangelical Church in the year 1773, 250 years or so ago. William Cowper is a man with a very interesting story because when he was young, about 25 years old, he tried to commit suicide due to a very tragic story in his life, full of anxiety, pessimism, depression. He tried to kill himself several times and never succeeded, not because he didn't try his best. The story goes that the first time he tried to jump into the river and drown himself and the person who took him in a carriage to the river – because he was a man of economic position – realized what he was going to do and grabbed him and resisted and prevented him from jumping into the river.

After that, he tried to poison himself, taking poison, and it didn't work either. He healed and moved on. On another occasion he also tried to jump on a knife and the knife broke when he jumped on it. It seems that God did not want man to die. Four times, the story goes, William Cowper tried to commit suicide without any success until he finally said, well, it seems God wants me to live on.

He had a dramatic personal conversion, he converted to the Lord. His life was transformed and he ended up in the last years of his life writing some of the most sublime hymns in history, along with another man, John Newton, who also wrote some of the most beautiful hymns, this Amazing Grace hymn, Divine Grace, That Many of Us Sing was written by John Newton in cooperation with William Cowper.

And William Cowper wrote this hymn that says God moves in mysterious ways and I'm going to translate it, “God moves in mysterious ways to do His wonders. Leave your footprints in the sea and ride on the storm. In the depths of his unfathomable mines of unquestionable skill he treasures his admirable designs and carries out his sovereign will. You fearful saints – that refers to you and me – take heart, the clouds that inspire you so much fear are great in mercy and will open in blessings on your head. Do not judge the Lord with your weak judgment but trust in his grace. Behind his apparently hostile providence hides a smiling face. Your resolutions will ripen fast, unfolding by the hour. The bud may taste bitter, but the flower will be sweet. Blind unbelief will surely err and search its work – God's work – in vain. God is his own interpreter and the final result he will make evident."

William Cowper says it much more elegantly than this translation, but the idea is that many times we can discern God's work in history, in our lives, and sometimes His work may seem bleak, sometimes it may seem hostile, sometimes it may seem like God is mad at us, or mad at a nation, or just uninterested in the fate of an individual, or just not in control and there's an evil power that's mightier than God, or the world is doomed to chaos and that all he expects is destruction.

But many times behind that seemingly terrible and hopeless facade there is a powerful, sovereign, irresistible God who is simply concocting a complex plot that will end in a glorious and sunny ending. And that we cannot judge, sometimes with our mind we try to determine what is happening, but the human mind is weak and that is why it says here that you should not judge the Lord with your weak judgment but rather trust in his grace. Our judgment is weak.

We look at this time in our nation's history with everything that's going on, the chaos that's going on in this nation, it seems like there's a teenager running this nation right now. The parents went on a trip and the boys stayed here drinking liquor and going up and dancing on the sofa and inviting all the teenagers from the neighborhood and they are breaking the dishes. That's what it looks like, that this world is run by the devil or a madman, one of the two. And yet we believe as children of God that God is always in control, as a very beautiful song says, and that sometimes his purposes take time to unfold.

And I think that in this nation we could look. We live in times of great uncertainty and when we Christians see the direction in which this nation is going, its increasing moral and spiritual deterioration, its continuous distance from the things of God, it seems as if the unjust and sinners are in control, the people are rebellious against God. Those who do not want to know about the church, those who are against the values of the church are even trying to enter the very premises of the church and control it, and it would seem that the enemy is breaking down the door and at any moment to enter the place of the sanctuary itself.

These elections that we see here now have not ceased to amaze us. They have confused all the experts. Nobody dares to say anything nowadays about what will happen because all the polls and everything turn out to be wrong and when it seems that everything has been defined, a new thing emerges, now it is Hilary's emails that raise the eyebrows again. head like a snake that one thought had already killed it but is alive and well. When it's Donald who gets one more dirty laundry out of everyone he has in the sun, and one wonders who I choose, who I vote for. As the Americans say, we are between a rock and a hard place, we don't know which of the 2 to choose, between a rock and a hard place they say, we don't know how to vote. Whatever happens, whoever gets elected we think is disaster.

And I know that many of you are confused about who to vote for and I only hope, brothers, that you do not vote with your pocket or your stomach, vote with your spirit. And vote with a little bit of your brain too. It is a very difficult election and the world itself seems to be in total chaos. Sometimes we do not dare to go out on the street. There are dark clouds everywhere, financial disaster, terrorist disaster, war disaster, disease disaster, our children we dare not even send them to school because we don't know what they will receive. And it is a world in which many Christians are full of anxiety and some look to the future and the upcoming elections and the next person who is going to lead this nation for 4 or 8 years and is going to have the power to choose judges of the Court Supreme Court, several of them, assign the other half that has already been assigned in the last administration to the federal judges who have incredible power over this nation, the different government agencies that determine the main aspects of the life of our society, the laws that they are going to rule this nation, that they are going to affect the church, the teachings that our children are going to be receiving. Please hold your hands if you're reaching for the razor to cut your wrists. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.

This sermon is not meant to inspire tragedy, quite the contrary. I want us to leave here with a sense of hope and that God is indeed in control. And that is what I believe that this book of Esther teaches us.

And not only do I want to talk about the elections and everything that we're going through in this nation, but also that maybe some of you are here today, like a lady came at the end of last service to tell us about your terrible situation for which is happening in your marriage and so there are some of you here right now sitting with very heavy burdens on your spirit and you are going through a long streak of suffering, a long illness. There is possibly illness in our family, as is happening right now with our beloved mother of my wife and dear, beloved mother-in-law, Milagros. And they are situations that have been around for a long time like a pebble in our shoes, more than a pebble and they are wearing us down. And then one wonders, Lord, when are you going to respond? We have been praying, praying all night and rowing like the disciples all night and we have not been able to do anything.

And then one tends to throw in the towel and say, God is not in control. God is not as faithful as he thinks or says, or as powerful as the Bible makes me believe he is. What do we do in those difficult situations we find ourselves in? That's why I like this book by Esther.

The book of Esther is a very interesting book. You know that in that book the word God is never mentioned even once. Those who were assigned to determine the canon of the sacred books of Judaism came to think that the book of Esther should not be in the canon of inspired books because the word God did not appear anywhere, nor did the person of God appear explicitly. working nowhere in the book. It is a rare book in that sense. It does not include any thunderous miracle, the sea does not part as in the book of Genesis. No tongues of fire fall as in the book of Pentecost, the lame are not healed as in some of the Gospels, nor do the blind receive sight, no voices are heard from the firmament, there are no lepers healed as in the book of Second Kings in the Elisha's ministry and supernatural rain that includes the life of Elijah.

No, the book of Esther is a book where there is a great difficulty, a terrible situation, but God is behind the scenes. But what is interesting is that even though his figure does not appear in an obvious way in the book, his presence is everywhere, his intervention is everywhere. And that is why I believe that this book is so similar to us, because many of us have never seen a miracle of the sea open up in front of us, perhaps we have not received a sudden healing of those that there are before and after. Perhaps we have not had a physical vision in front of us, we have had a dream and many things, miracles that we know are from God but there has not been that obvious intervention on behalf of God.

Most of us will go through our lives and die having experienced God's intervention in powerful ways, but never having seen physical, incontrovertible intervention from God. We will be sure that God has intervened in our lives, we will be sure that God is faithful, we will be sure that we will have experienced miracles but they will not be the way we often see them on the pages of scripture.

And there are books that I think are like facts for those of us who may not have had those spectacular interventions, like the book of Ruth, another book also where God is not mentioned in an obvious way but it is a book of miracles. The lives of 2 women are radically changed by their faith in God and their integrity.

What do you think of the book of Nehemiah? Another book where there is no obvious miracle, however Nehemiah is a pious man who prays and God provides him one miracle after another, one intervention after another but with the effort of God's people and his own integrity.

The book of Ezra as well, and there are many books in the scripture that are not pentecostal books to the letter, they are not solid, but they are books where God is present in many ways. And the book of Esther is like that, it invites us to see Almighty God working in a wonderful way in the lives of these people and his people, intervening in an extraordinary way.

The book of Esther is a romantic novel inclusive, it is a beautiful drama of beautiful three-dimensional characters, a very involved plot and very high quality, of great literary power and it is a book that talks about God's providence, divine providence.

Do you know what the word providence means? The prefix pro in Latin means what is in front, what is foreseen, before, and clairvoyance is the word seer, see, vision, then providence means to see before, it is the vision that is exercised before things happen. That is why divine providence is that ability of God to see things before they happen and to provide results and solutions before we sometimes need them.

And this book is a book of divine providence. In this book we see that God knows what is going to happen in the vast Persian empire and is preparing so that by providing this beautiful, young, virtuous woman named Esther, she can be strategically positioned to save her people when tragedy strikes. .

Because you know the story, right? King Ahasuerus divorces his wife because she is a rebellious woman, she embarrasses him in public, refusing to attend a banquet where he wanted her to appear to show her beauty and for him to also show his beautiful wife and she sends him a message saying , "No, I'm not going," and then her counselors tell her, "No, you can't do that, imagine all these women... they don't need much and now they are going to rebel against all husbands and they have to be disciplined …” I'm getting a little excited.

So, they tell him, 'No, you have to teach him a lesson so that the women of the province don't get too excited.' wife, a beautiful woman. It is a beauty contest in a sense, although it was more than a beauty contest, it was to choose the new wife of the king. It had to be a physically beautiful woman but also of real character, and of great human quality.

And the maidens come from all parts of Persia to be chosen and among those women there is a Jewish maiden named Esther, who is told by her uncle Mordecai, a pious and God-loving Jew and a leader among the Jewish community of his time, 'Esther We are going to enter you into the contest, you are a beautiful young woman and you have many characteristics. Let's see if you win the lottery and marry this king and help me a little along the way.' There are complexities that are not worth going into, but Esther enters and God has endowed Esther with a special grace . Because? Because he had chosen her from the foundation of the world to be the liberator. God knew that at a given moment, an evil and terrible man named Haman was going to be born, he was going to conceive hatred because anti-Semitism has always been in the nations, he was going to want to exterminate his people and God had to provide the solution for that terrible moment that the town was going to live.

And I believe that he created Esther and infused her with physical beauty and spiritual and moral grace. And when Esther arrives in Susa, which is the capital of the empire, she dazzles everyone with her beauty and her beautiful character. And Ahasuerus falls madly in love with Esther, makes her his wife and Esther is placed like a chess piece in the very center of the board, like a projectile waiting to be fired at the right moment. And I don't know how much time passed between the time Esther is chosen as queen and the time she plays a key role.

Because God takes his time, brothers, God takes his time to intervene. God is an incredible strategist and that is one of the problems that I have with God and that you also have, and that is that many times we are going through a situation, the water is reaching our necks and we are looking for the cavalry and the trumpets that come to save me and it does not appear, and the water continues to rise and almost reaches our mouths now, and God calm down, waiting for his moment. And when the first droplets are already entering through the mouth, the Lord comes and takes us forward. What's more, sometimes we even drank a little water even.

Because God knows the timing, God is never in a hurry or late. He sometimes chooses the main moment and sometimes he leaves us there stewing in our own juice for a long time so that we learn humility, faith, persistence, we are broken, our character is conformed to that of Christ, we are bled a little and then when we are already well seasoned God says, “Now I'm going to save you and get you out of the fire.” There are times like that.

And so it is with history. God is also working at times in the macro cosmos and in the micro cosmos, he is working at the geopolitical level of nations, empires, cultures, and meanwhile he is working at the level of individuals that he is preparing for strategic interventions when the specific moment arrives. his plan to forge and reach its maximum point of realization.

So we see in the book of Genesis with Joseph. José God assigns him as liberator of his people and as king from birth. At the age of 14 he has a great vision that his brothers and his parents bow down before him and it was that God was preparing him. But many years of captivity, slavery, slander, imprisonment, oblivion pass, until the time comes when God has been working at the level of Egypt in Pharaoh, and Pharaoh comes a time of great anxiety and anguish about two dreams that has had and does not know how to interpret them and then the two aspects come together: the personal drama of this man whom God has chosen to play an important role, putting him in a very important government position to preserve the life of his family who is going to to be the foundation of the people of Israel, and to provide Egypt with a matrix in which for many decades the Jewish people will grow from a family of about 12, 14 people to a nation of a million or two million people. And José is the key link in all of this.

And so it happens, at this time I believe that God is also working and we want him to work tomorrow, we would like something to happen, for these elections to be canceled or for us to wake up from this nightmare and say, wow, it was a bad dream. But no, God is working and right now who knows where God is providing people who are being prepared and matured to intervene on behalf of God's people.

The fact is that Esther is made queen and Mordecai, her uncle, goes from time to time to the palace, observes what is happening, from time to time he sends her a message because he cannot enter the palace, and one day he he hears of 2 men who are plotting to kill the king and he denounces the plot and the king receives the news, it is discovered that yes, what Mordecai says is true, they investigate these 2 men, they know that there was certainly a plot against life of the king, they are hanged and this is written in the chronicles of the kingdom and everyone forgets what happened, that Mordecai saves the life of the king and is put back into the water. God puts that little piece in its place too, like a pump pulsing for its moment too.

And time passes, and no one realizes that Mordecai, Esther's uncle, did that. This is like the soap operas you see on television, something happens here, something happens there, God is putting his pieces together. Then, an evil man named Haman arises and wins the favor of the king, he gains great influence over the king and the king honors him with the position that everyone who sees him bows down before him. He is his favorite prince, whatever Mordecai goes to the whole world, oh Prince Haman, we adore you, we bless you, except Mordecai who is a pious Jew and who knows that one should bow down only before God. And how Daniel refuses to go with the flow of the wind and Mordecai passes by and his party is spoiled every time he sees Haman there. Haman walks by and Mordecai just looking at him, he doesn't bow and that eats Haman's heart and Haman is filled with hatred against Mordecai and discovers that he is a Jew then more hatred against all Jews.

And he decides to go before King Ahasuerus and tells him, 'king, here in this nation there is a people that does not follow the laws of this country and that is very prosperous, has a lot of money, a lot of property, we are going to exterminate them, we are going to kill them and you keep all the property and increase your treasure.” And Haman says, “Okay, go ahead and do whatever you need to do,” he doesn't even think that there are thousands and thousands of people who are going to be killed in that case.

And so Mordecai leaves, sets a date for God's people to be exterminated, because anti-Semitism, as I always say, has been at the heart of humanity, it's not something new. The devil is always against the church, the devil is always against God's people, the devil always wants to destroy the church and he has never prospered, he has always had to walk away with his tail tucked between his legs, defeated. And this time it will be the same.

That's why I tell Christians, don't be afraid of what we're seeing, don't lose your cool, God is still in control. This is not the first time, brothers, that the church of Jesus Christ in 2000 years has been persecuted and that people have predicted that it does not have much time left. How many times have they said, God is dead? And all those who have said it, those are the ones who are dead. God is still on his throne and the church and religion is still alive and the church is still thriving. This has happened.

Anyone who studies history knows that on many occasions it would seem as if the church was going to be defeated and that the spirit of antichrist was going to win, because Satan is always wagging his tail trying to destroy, kill, steal, undo the work of God, but what did Christ say? I establish my church on this rock which is the truth of Christ and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Amen.

You know that's what keeps me happy, keeps me calm. Brothers, I don't lose sleep over whether the devil is going to stay with the church. No, I lose sleep over other things, but that's not one of them, because I know that eventually the church is going to be here until Christ comes. The Bible says that Christ comes to look for a church without spot and wrinkle, a glorious church, a powerful church, a prosperous church, a blessed church, not a defeated church. The church is not going to leave this world defeated, it is going to leave in full power, full grace, full beauty, full prosperity.

I don't think that God is going to take this puny church that there is right now in the world, frankly brothers. I believe that God is going to take a purified church and that the best times of the church are still ahead, before Christ comes, so don't gabe to the ceiling to wait for the coming of Christ tomorrow because there is still time, sincerely . Don't fill up your credit card yet, don't buy a house that you know you can't afford because after all it doesn't matter, the Lord is coming tomorrow. No, wait, it's still missing. The Lord who is a strategist is assembling all the pieces.

The fact is that a date is assigned for the extermination of the town and Mordecai listens to what is happening, intervenes with Ester, sends her the message "they are going to kill us all on that date." Ester tells him, "look, man, sorry but I can't do anything, I can't intervene even though I'm the queen, but actually the king sends me for when he wants and the law provides that anyone who enters his bedroom without inviting him and without first granting permission , it's the death penalty, so I can't.' And Mordecai sends him another message, he says, 'Let me tell you something – and these are the most important words in the whole book and some of the most famous words in all of the scripture – look, if you don't intervene on behalf of God's people, God will manage to send someone else.'

Because it is true, the people of God can never be destroyed, they can never be exterminated. ‘God is going to look for someone else but who knows if for this hour you have been chosen?’ And certainly she had been chosen, God had chosen her, he had chosen Mordecai, he had assigned that evil plot for Mordecai to intervene favorably and then Esther dares and says, 'well, I'm going to do it and if I perish let me perish.'

And you know the story, she summons her maids who attend her and says, 'fast and pray for 3 days,' and at the end of those 3 days when the thing is ripe and hot before God I will appear before him. king and God knows what he does with me. And then Esther appears before the king, she dares in the name of the Lord and there is also a lesson that I want to touch on later. She just walks into the king's palace, walks into his chamber expecting that he is going to shoot her at that moment and the king sees her and melts, and then he says, 'Esther, welcome.' I will give you half of the kingdom that you ask of me,' because when the grace of the Lord is with a person, the blessing cannot wait.

He extends his scepter and glory to God, as I was saying this morning at the beginning of the service, many times we approach the throne of God and say, 'I am a sinner, I offended God, I have done so many bad things, I have no straight,' and God is there waiting for us with a smile saying, 'son, I bless you, daughter, come, come in, I want to receive from you, I want to hear from you, tell me what you need?' the father pities the children, the Lord pities those who fear him.

And then Esther explains the situation to him and tells him, 'look, the only thing I want is for you to come to a banquet that I am going to have and to bring Haman.' – who she knows wants to kill the people. – Haman comes all smiling thinking this queen loves me, look how… only the king and me at this great banquet. And then the king tells him, 'Well Esther, tell us what you want?' 'Wait, come tomorrow, I'm going to give another banquet and tomorrow I'm going to tell you exactly what I want and bring Haman back. .'

In the interim between those two moments, the king that night, before the next day, which is the day of the second banquet, is left with great insomnia, he cannot sleep and to read, to distract himself, he orders the chronicles, the records, to be brought to him. historical books of the kingdom and there they read him. Now, what are the chances that it was that particular reading that the historians of the kingdom picked up, where there was a plot against the king and a man named Mordecai gave away the plot and the king's life was spared.

And the king puts his hand on his head and says, 'what has been done to honor this man who saved my life?' 'King, nothing has been done, he is out there and he has not been honored in any way. way.' He says, 'No, we're going to correct this, let's go immediately.' He calls Haman, his favorite adviser and says, 'Haman, what should be done with a man like that?' and Haman thinking it's him , because he is tremendously egocentric, he tells him, 'You have to take this man, find a white horse and look for the most important prince in the entire nation so that he can ride him throughout the kingdom and put him with great fanfare and praise. ,' and then the king tells him, 'That's right, you're going to be the person who's going to take him around the city,' the man he detests and hates.

That is why I say, brothers, that this book is a wonderful expression of irony and God's provision. And I tell you, brothers, that my confidence is that many of these people who are right now believing that they are going to attend the funeral of the Church of Jesus Christ, are going to be very disappointed and what they are going to attend is the wedding of the lamb, I believe, at the celebration of the most glorious moment of the church, and they themselves will have to come to the church to ask for advice from the church, because the Lord will laugh at them as Psalm 2 says .

And what we have to do is simply be confident and wait on the Lord, calm. Instead of biting our nails and being afraid and losing sleep, let's do what the church does, worship the Lord, serve the Lord, do good, sanctify ourselves, purify ourselves, be the best we can be as a community, as individuals , serve others, love others, worship our God, stay true to his word and let him do his things in the greater realm. And in his moment he will intervene and put everything as it has to be put together, because the Lord is always in control even if we don't see it.

What many people think will be to the shame of the church, will be to the glory of God's people and the glory of the God we serve as well. And that is what I see here, that God used this experience and prepared all the pieces, we do not see it but he is in control and he is preparing everything for what the devil wants to turn for evil and destruction and death God turns it for life and for the blessing of his people.

And then when the second banquet arrives the next day, Esther denounces what Haman has done to the king and tells him, 'Look king, this man, I haven't told you this but I am a Jew and this man wants to kill my people, he wants to exterminate him and that's going to get me, your wife, killed too.’ And King Ahasuerus is filled with anger because he thinks that Haman has deceived him and how these kings are so totally authoritarian, this man who at one time was the great The king's favorite, now he is a villain and the king is filled with anger, Haman leaves the place and Haman stays in the bedroom trying to intercede for his life and it seems that he faints on the queen's bed and when the king returns to the chamber, who is lying on the queen's bed but Haman. And the king interprets it as this man wants to rape the queen and sends him to hang on the same gallows where he originally wanted to hang Mordecai because a gallows had been built to kill Mordecai when the day of extermination came. God hangs him on his own gallows.

Tell me if you don't see the hand of God in all this plot, in all this moment? And notice the beauty of all this history, because I believe that history itself teaches us many lessons. When Esther tells him, 'king, you have to save my people in an edict that they are going to be exterminated on that date,' the king says, 'look Esther, I am very sorry but I gave an order and I already signed it with my In my own handwriting, I put the stamp of the kingdom and I can no longer retract it, I can't retract it, that order has to be executed.'

But then a judicial response occurs to him, he says, 'the only thing they can do is that I give permission to the Jews to defend themselves however they can, find sticks, weapons, whatever, and when they come to kill them, let them they defend themselves and may God help them.’ And certainly that is what happens, when they go to kill the Hebrews they organized themselves and destroyed their enemies and it was a day of great victory for the people of God.

And there is a lesson there too. In fact, thousands of years later the day of Purim is a religious day that the Jewish people still observe, thanking the Lord for that victory they achieved, still, thousands of years later, 3000 years later, the day of Purim is remembered as the day of liberation of the Jewish people against their enemies.

All this that seemed designed to destroy the people of God was turned by the Holy Spirit to the glory of God and the salvation and blessing and credit of his people. And we see there so many wonderful lessons. Number 1, God intervenes through individuals like you and me. God prepares us. That is why you have to prepare your heart, prepare your mind, prepare yourself, the events that happen in your life do not see them as simply dead ends. No, God is preparing things and he wants to use you in an extraordinary way to change the situation.

Never underestimate what God can do through your life. God works through individuals and we have a role to play, because Mordecai says to Esther, 'look, if you don't intervene God is going to find someone else, but you've been put there in the kingdom for now, so use your initiative.'

I believe that God has given us an initiative. In this nation right now the church has to make its voice heard, it has to use the democratic and governmental mechanisms in everything we can. There are people who tell me, no, that the León de Judá protesting in the streets and that the Christians... you know that we work with many things, protesting all the changes that are taking place. We have the right in our schools to protest, to go there, to talk to the teachers, to say, 'Look, I don't want my son to be taught these things.' You can protest. Right now we can vote on a number of things. Although you can't vote for either of these two characters or whatever, but you can vote for a number of very important things, and if God makes you vote for one of the two, look, I'll leave that in the… I personally tell him, I don't even want to get in there, because there is no time anymore. But there are things for which I simply cannot vote and in this case it is a very, very exceptional situation that we have here.

For example, right now in this election you can also vote for many important issues, for example, the legalization of marijuana. I believe that this is one of the most serious journeys in this nation right now. In this country that is going to open the door to vice in this nation, now in Massachusetts they want to do it, because they know that Massachusetts is strategic in that sense and in these elections you can vote 'no' against initiative number 4. And there is other things you can vote for.

You can let your voice be heard, you can intervene. There are many conversations in which we must give our testimony of what we believe, our faith, our moral and spiritual beliefs. God uses individuals. Esther uses her political position to influence her people.

A second thing is that God uses pure hearts and that they Love him and put him above all things. Mordecai and Esther, virtuous people, people who love God as we see it in the Bible. Mordecai refuses to bow down to Haman. Esther maintains her faith and her beliefs even when she is in the middle of the kingdom. Keep your heart clean in this time, don't fill yourself with grudges, don't fill yourself with resentment, don't allow your heart to fill with anxiety either. Serve others, love others. Keep your heart clean, pleasing to God because God uses people whose hearts please him. God bless.

Mordecai and Esther were immortalized because they had a heart that pleased God and was in favor of God's people. Do you know that when you defend the interests of the Lord, God blesses your life? When you remain faithful to the Lord, when you do not bow down before Baal, when you do not bow down before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar has created, the Lord will bless you as he blessed Daniel, as he blessed Elijah, as he blessed all those whose heart was kept clean.

It is a lesson one learns through all of writing. When the whole world seems to be going in the direction of the devil and his schemes, those who remain faithful to the Lord will always be blessed. Brothers, I tell you, I hope that our church will always be a biblical church. I was saying that to the brothers in the ministry in English this morning, that my wish is that León de Judá will always be a church that swims against the current, a church that speaks the truth of God no matter what, a church that even if it seems that we are doing something that goes against our benefits, we believe so much in the consistency and faithfulness of God that even if it seems that we are cutting our own throats, we believe that in the long run God will bless us, he will to honor.

That's why I say, let's not vote with our pocket or with our stomach, or with any of our documentary condition, whatever, God is more powerful than Trump and he is more powerful than Hillary, brothers. You set your eyes on the Lord and vote according to the values of the Kingdom of God. Remember that, don't vote for a man, don't vote for one who has a color similar to yours, don't vote for someone who speaks like you, vote rather looking at the person's heart, look at the values that person is sponsoring and then vote with your spirit, vote with the understanding that the word of the Lord gives you.

And that is something that our hearts… I always say, Father, do not let me go because of the wind that is blowing, let me hear your voice and even if it seems that I am going to cut my own throat, do your will. That's what Daniel and his companion did when they put him in the fiery furnace. They said, 'king, forget it, we will never worship the image and we believe that God is powerful to save us from the fiery furnace and even if he didn't, we still won't worship you.' And God honored them.

Do you know the story? I wonder why we read the Bible if not to learn these paradigms and apply them to our daily lives. Why do we read the Bible then, brothers? I invite you, keep your heart pure, ask yourself with whom you are alienated, if it is with God's favor and God's law or with men and culture and if you are doing things simply to go where the wind goes . Make sure that you are aligned with the word of God and the values of the Holy Spirit.

So, God uses individuals, God uses dedicated and pure hearts. There is another thing that I also think is that we sometimes have to force the door a little. It is something very important. If you want God to bless you, God has purposes for your life, God wants to bless you and prosper but there is a part that you have to do. God wanted to free the Jewish people but Esther had to knock on Ahasuerus' door. Esther had to risk her life. Esther had to pray and fast and prepare to come. Mordecai had to send a letter warning the king of the plot against him. The Jews had to defend themselves with sticks and weapons to defend their property and their lives.

Why didn't God send angels to free them? Why didn't God sovereignly intervene and just undo? Because there is a part that we always have to do in our lives. There is a part that God's people have to do. We have to evangelize, share the Gospel, give to the Lord, serve him generously, be proactively faithful to God in all the things we do. If you want God to bless you with a job, knock on the door, ask, pray, cry out to the Lord, but also send your resume and study and prepare yourself.

You have to do both. The Bible teaches us that God does not do everything for us and in this time we have to do our part, make sure that we are salt on earth, that we are light in the world, that we are holy leaven and wherever we are, do feeling our influence, living disciplined lives, diligent lives, proactive lives, studying, preparing ourselves in different ways in our life, being proactive in everything and believing that through my efforts the Lord is going to bless me.

Look, I command you to make an effort and be brave. Do not fear or dismay because I will be with you wherever you go. God is going to do his miracle in your life cooperating and working in partnership with you. If God has put you to study, make sure you give your best. If God has put you in a job, as I was saying to a young woman recently, look, make sure you make yourself essential in your job. If God has blessed you with a good job, work and be the best worker. If you're a shoe shiner, clean those shoes so that they shine and dazzle whoever looks at them. Wherever God has placed you, do your best, do your diligence, do your part because in that process God is going to bless you and honor you, as he did with Esther, as he did with Mordecai.

And sometimes, brothers, we will have to force the door a little, sometimes we will have to take risks like Esther. She literally went into the king's chamber. Sometimes we have to take risks. I remembered from so many processes that I have lived through in the construction of these buildings that God's blessing has been obvious at all times, in so many ways. Brothers, let me tell you that if it were only for all the miracles that I witnessed and of which I participated in the construction of these buildings, I would thank God for having been involved in them because so many times in each of the 3 buildings I I practically saw the hand of God. And I also saw the opposition of the devil many times.

But when we were already reaching the end of this last building it was Friday afternoon and there was something that had to be done that same Friday, otherwise we were going to lose one of the most important licenses, which would have created a terrible headache for us in the construction of this building. And I remember that it was about… ISD closes at about 4:30 I think it is, that Thursday, and it couldn't be less than 4:10, there were 20 minutes to go and I was in Sommerville and the Lord put despair in me and I said, 'Although I am neither an architect nor do I have the right, I am going to appear before the head of the inspection service and I don't know if I am going to arrive on time.'

I headed down 93 like a madman, got there after ISD work day was over, got on anyway. The office was practically deserted and I thought if this man is here and he sees me, he's going to be furious with me because what am I doing there trying to knock on his door, intervening in favor of this project. And certainly I entered the place, there was only his secretary, who is a Hispanic woman, in fact, who already knew me from all the times I had been there for 20 years, we already talked about you practically, and she saw me and he greeted me and I said, 'Look, by chance there's so-and-so' and he told me, 'yes, he's there in his office. Happens.'

And I went in and knocked on the door and opened the door like this half and expected to get a hostile look from this man and he just looked at me and asked what I needed. I told him that I was Pastor Miranda, pastor of the León de Judá Congregation, I had a pressing situation and I had come to ask him for a favor. I know that these are no longer office hours and I have no right to be here, but I want to present my case to you. And he said, 'Come in, sit down.' He treated me with incredible preference and I walked out of there that afternoon with the solution I needed. And I tremble to think that I could have stayed in Sommerville saying, 'no, it's already too late, I have no right, this man is too important, I don't have the status to intervene,' but I simply dared, believing in that God provider, that God who wants to bless his children when they make an effort, that God who gives us grace before authorities, that God who opens doors that no one can close, that God in whose hands is the king's heart and the king's heart is like water in the hands of God. God turns it where he wants.

And so I also believe that this nation is the same. The Bible says that nations are like dust in the hands of the Lord. I believe that God is plotting a plot right now in this nation and that is why I feel confident and I feel that instead of us being exhausted with anxiety and trying to make ourselves invisible so that they do not see us and do not attack us , the church of Jesus Christ has to be more active than ever. The church of Jesus Christ has to be building structures for the glory that is to come. The church of Jesus Christ has to be preparing for the blessing that is coming, the harvest of souls, the visitation that is coming on the earth and on this nation.

Whoever wins this election, even if a person you don't like has power, knows that God can use Ahasuerus to bless and protect God's children and God can take away. God removes and puts princes, and kings and presidents and the Lord is still in control, just as he is in control of your life no matter how many demons are against you if God is with you, who against you? If God has declared life over your life, who can kill? If God has declared a blessing on your family, what man, what human being, what system can take away the blessing that God has declared on your life? Move in that confidence and even if you are going through a difficult time, a bitter pill in your life right now and it seems that the sea is going to crash over your boat, remember that the Lord is inside your boat and therefore that boat it cannot sink because the Lord is in the midst of it.

So God's people gain confidence. I encourage you not to look at the clouds around you, do not focus your ear on the roar of the wind, do not look at the stormy waves that are around you, do not look at the greatness of the storm, look at the Christ who walks on the waters, look at the Christ who is inside your boat, look at the Christ who says, I am with you wherever you go, every day until the end of the world.

God is concocting a beautiful ending for your drama. God is assembling the pieces in your marriage, in your finances, in your physical life, God is in control even if you don't see it. Lower your head for a moment and banish anxiety right now. Right now I say to Satan, devil out in the name of Jesus, I place all anxiety at the feet of Christ. Every bad intention that the devil has against my well-being, the well-being of the church, we throw it in his face, returned in full. And we claim the blessing of God from above.

We claim our inheritance, like Esther we use our chosen position of priests and kings. And Father, I believe that our life is good, our future will be good, the future of this nation the devil will not get away with. No way, one way or the other, Lord, because you are our God and there are many knees that have not bowed before Baal yet. There are many prophets of God crying out for this nation and you will honor our prayers, Father. Help us to be your church while we wait for the glorious outcome that you have for us.

We bless our nation, we bless these elections, we bless our government. We declare God's grace and peace, God's shalom upon Boston, New England, Washington, this nation, the world, your will be done Lord, on earth as it is in heaven and help us to dwell in peace in our hearts. We adore you and we bless you and we proclaim you King of kings and Lord of Lords, Father. You will make a path, you will open a way, you will provide a solution although we do not see it now, Lord, but you are on your throne and we thank you for it in the name of Jesus and the people of God say, amen. Brethren, I bless you in the name of the Lord.