Category: Let Jesus in!

June 18, 2019June 17, 2019

Know God

June 14, 2019June 14, 2019

FAITH —HOPE —LOVE |Christian Basics

Faith—There is always a danger of getting complacent in our faith. Where people around you don’t know the incredible love of Christ and His atoning (sin cleansing) sacrifice on the cross, we will talk to them about sports, politics, events happening in the community and family, yet not let them know why we are so blessed in knowing Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.

Hope— other people are needing the hope we have in our future. Not the kind of hope for monetary wealth or health and well being. The kind that says, “I am only passing through this beautiful life, but my hope lies in an even better place at the end of my journey — a place flowing with the real meaning of life. You see, the secret we have here is fantastic. Even with some of the bad stuff which comes our way. Even with immoral people who take advantage of what this world gives. These evil people take and take but don’t give back to the goodness of this life.
Other people, journey through this life and give away more than they get—the incredible hope that I have, the promise of one day entering into a permanent and enriching experience which I get freely.
Nor have I had to earn anything to get to this incredible place. All I have had to do is put my trust in Jesus the Christ (The Messiah or Savior of this world). I did not have to go door to door explaining anything or ride my bike to some foreign land to tell people about the Gospel. Even though sharing the Gospel is the right thing to do, we don’t have to go a thousand miles to share it.

Love— It’s been said that love conquers all. I am here to tell you that love does conquer all. Just look at the Roman Empire. The empire was never conquered by hoarders of marauders warring against it from the fringes of the empire. No, what conquered the Roman empire was love that spread within its walls. Christians were slaughtered and denied access to food and water. They were expelled from selling their things at the local market places.
As long as they rejected the local and Roman deities, Christians were bullied and tortured. Yet, these same Christians would give whatever they had to others. They would pick up infants whose lives have had been found lying in the streets because their families did not want them. Christians would live lives that emanated the love of Christ.
Look at the Vikings. They killed and plundered. They went into all of Northern Europe and took what they wanted; gold, silver, women and anything valuable. When they settled into the lands, they had conquered, something happened. These ferocious invaders started seeing what Christian love for their neighbor, churches, and their community was.
This love wasn’t perfect, but it was far better than the way of the Viking way of life. Decades later, the conquerors were conquered by this love of Christ.

Today, we are seeing all the wrong things that are happening in this world. Terrorists killing Christians with the sword, making it a point for others to fear them and letting the world know that all countries will need to ‘convert’ to their religion.
Political agendas demeaning Christian life and going against their livelihood with frivolous lawsuits and in other countries, not having Christians be able to buy food, water and the necessities of everyday life.
Just like the Roman Empire, the world is also hating Christians for standing up for babies. Christians will continue to do the things we do because Jesus told us that people would know we were his disciples by our love. It is not a fake love. Nor is it a bought love. It is a God Spirit kind of love. Only by knowing Christ can you have this supernatural love,

We Start Off Where We Left Off |Friendships

I remember sitting with the neighborhood young men who would come to our house for bible study and hang out during the week to play video games. My wife and I would host them after work so that they would have a place where they could be safe and untempted from this world’s vices.

It was a usual day; the guys were loud and obnoxious as usual. They were having fun beating up the old guy (in my 30s at that time). I received a call from my younger brother’s wife. He had passed away. The young men knew my joyful face, but they also understood my look of concern. They automatically quieted down. No one had to tell them that I was experiencing a tragic moment. They turned off the TV and video game while gathering around me. I told them what had happened, and they all shed tears with me.

As I look back, the incident is still vivid in my mind. Because these young kids were all in their teens. We had gone through some thick and thin times with most of them. Divorced parents, drugs in the family, and so on.

Some of these young men and women were living with their grandparents because the dads were not around, and the moms were not able to handle their teen male rambunctiousness.

Yet, these young men taught me the meaning of true loyalty. They hung out and protected each other. They protected my daughters whenever I asked them to keep an eye on them. These young men were joyful with my family and me.

The ministry my family had, was not a ministry but a joyful fellowship
Where we taught these young men and women what family should be
How to always lean on God, and to continue on in life, no matter the circumstances
Most of those young men have moved on.
Some have kids now, with their own joys, problems, and experiences.

Then there was the men and women, our friends and brethren in Christ. They, too, have been a big part of our joys and sorrows. We have all been there for each other. Some, we see often, others, not so often. However, here is the incredible part, whenever we get together with these old friends, it’s like we had seen each other yesterday. We start where we left off, no matter the time passed.

Here is the secret to the joyful gatherings even in times of trials. We all have one thing in common. We all have committed our lives to Christ. You see, it is only in faith through our Lord and Savior Jesus the Savior, that we have the strength to be joyfully happy in the good times, and also shed tears with our loved ones and friends during life’s tragic times.

As we get older, there’s a reason why we hurt emotionally but are joyful when one of our friends passes into the next journey. We know that losing a brother or sister in Christ is only a temporary thing. We shall see them again because they have only gone ahead of us. They have finished the race and have completed their journey, reaching their destination. We rejoice in this but feel sorrow for not having them around.

One day we will rejoice and kick back with all of the people that have come through our home, our lives, and once again, we will start where we left off here on earth…

I would invite you to have this joyful assurance of knowing what your next life journey will take you. I invite you and ask that you invite your loved ones and friends on this jpurney too!

Get to know God like I do:

June 11, 2019June 8, 2019

Know God

The Journey With Jesus Is Worth It! |Christian Walk

For those struggling with anything. Addiction, depression, fear, or stress.

The only way we do this, give Jesus our sins, convictions, altercations, doubts, and worries.
Let Jesus take them all so that your burdens become light and the things dragging you through this life become like silk threads flowing in the wind as you joyfully hike from your Death Valley, into the top of the mountain.

You will also find yourself on your journey, knowing that the end, will just be your beginning. That the race you finish will lead to a graceful peace and joy, you could never imagine. The connection you and I have with God will be more in-depth,clearer, enormously intensified by His love that some will think overwhelming. But as you get your head and mind wrapped around this incredible peaceful love, you will realize that on your journey getting here, Jesus was doing all the work.
The work of cleansing and purifying us through this journey was Christ’s to do. The more we journeyed with God, the less impure we became. Not by our own strength or power, but by His Spirit sho sustained us.

By His death on the cross, our wretchedness was hung there. Our impurities, imperfections, worries, etc.,
were unloaded, and we were set free to run, to fly into His final destination.
The destination of being with God once for all.

The only way we do this, give Jesus our sins, convictions, altercations, doubts, and worries. Let Jesus take them all so that your burdens become light and the things dragging you through this life become like silk threads flowing in the wind as you joyfully hike from your Death Valley, into the top of the mountain.
You will find that as you continue to walk on your Journey with Christ, your thoughts become more precise and laser-like. This wisdom comes only from knowing and communicating with God. Things that had you dumbfounded or stressed become solvable.

The work of cleansing and purifying us through this journey was Christ’s to do. The more we journeyed with God, the less impure we became. Not by our own strength or power, but by His Spirit sho sustained us.

In the end, we were bought by Jesus. We were taken from the clutches of Death Valley’s darkness and misery. We were bought by Christ Himself. The God-Creator of this universe

By His death on the cross, our wretchedness was hung there. Our impurities, imperfections, worries, etc., were unloaded, and we were set free to run, to fly into His final destination.

How to start your journey of walking with God:

Know God

May 21, 2019May 21, 2019

April 29, 2019April 29, 2019

Blessed are the broken — They will be Transformed & Renewed! |Blessed Are The…. Series

PSALM 61.png

There are storms in life that grind us down to the point of wearing us down to find dust and floating away with the hurricane’s forces.

Sometimes as Christians, some of us are ready to throw in the towel. You’ve heard it said, “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken…” I love this saying . It is an excellent saying. But it’s not entirely accurate; God wants the broken vessels. God wants broken people.

How do I know? Because He had to break me for me to submit to His will fully. Don’t get me wrong; I have never doubted that God exists. Faith is not only knowing who God is and trusting Jesus on a personal and intimate level but also listening to Him and having Him rule your life.

It is in the act of submission, not like other faiths, but in the complete submission that brings a renewed faith, spirit and change in your life which transcend all your human understanding. One that lifts, penetrates and oozes out of your every being.

Faith that doesn’t fear what men will do to you. A faith which emboldens encourages and enthralls your whole spirit, mind, and body.

This kind of faith is what God wants from us. This kind of faith moves mountains, breaks empires, restores marriages, gives life to others, sees good in the storms of life, and when you break in its power, brings you closer to the Creator of the universe.

IMG_3756Offended Society.jpg — ***By Oscar Roca***

You see, when you think that you can’t handle life’s storms, when you feel you have been broken to the point of being powder starting to float into the atmospheric heavens, God snatches you and makes you whole again. It is the action of calling out to Him with all your spiritual might that He then can perform miracles for His glory. The state of being in His clutches. Not those of a tyrannical God whose claws are piercing through your body like a predator trying to keep its prey from escaping; but as a mother’s touch to her babies, making sure that she is covering them with her body and wings, to keep the storm from hurting them.

Right now, one of my daughters has felt this storm come like the apocalypse. I will not give details, but I know that she is now looking up to God and asking Him to see her through this of many challenges in her young life.

If you are going through something that has steamrolled you and you are not able to get up, call on The One who can lift you up and miraculously bring you into His strong tower. Whatever you are going through, know that people have gone through something similar, and they are battling a storm too. Some people try to survive on their own. Others call out to the One that can calm the storm and bring you peace through it. Sometimes, if not all, God will not take the storm away, but like Jesus’ disciples when they cried out to Him found out, God is always there for you.

Even if you think He’s sleeping while you’re drowning, He is there, and He is aware. Jesus will calm the storm and see you through it if you let Him…

He is Not Here…! |Passion Week-Resurrection Sunday

This is a very special Blog Post for a very special Holy Week. Culminating today when our LORD and Savior Jesus the Christ, played a joke on Death’s sting (1 Corinthians 15:55 )! I usually don;t do a post on Sunday’s but for this, I will make an exception…

Please click on links to get the full text:

The Death of Jesus
“45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”…..50 When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit. 51 At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth quaked and the rocks were split.52 The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.…”- Matthew 27:51

…5 As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. 8 Then they remembered His words. 9 And when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and to all the others. .. 11 But their words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women.’”… Luke 24:5-11

Jesus had completed the once for all sacrifice. His body had been tortured and killed.
As Jesus gave up His spirit, His body dying., the Curtains of the Temple ripped from the top to the bottom. It is said in Jewish writings, that the veil or huge curtain was as thick as a man’s hand. So roughly 4-6 inches thick.
In order for the veil or curtain to rip, it would take a supernatural event to make it happen.
This incredible statement found in Matthew’s Gospel gives us the finished work of Jesus the Messiah or Christ or Savior of the world.
Once He obediently became the blood sacrifice for the world, there was no need to have a Temple here on earth since His death on the cross was sufficient enough for taking (Hebrews 9:26) our sins away forever.
After they had buried Jesus, they sealed the tomb with a Roman Seal. No one was to break the seal, If they did, whoever was responsible would have the full might of the Roman forces against him.
Yet, with the most powerful army known to man, Jesus showed them who was more powerful. The tomb was rolled away by The LORD Himself!
The Roman soldiers saw everything but knew what their punishment would be for letting a dead person escape from the tomb they were guarding (Matthew 28:12)….yes, my attempt at humor….so the Chief Council in Jerusalem helped them out.
Why because the death and resurrection of Jesus put them in a fantastic bind. This non-graduate from their Rabbinic prestigious schools had, for three years or so, made fools of the wisest of learned men in Judea.
Jesus knew the scriptures, and spoke them with authority ( Mark 1:22). The authority of being the Messiah of Israel.
John called him The Word who became flesh ( John 1:-5 ).
Jesus had to die in order for humanity to once again come into a holy communion or relationship with God.
This is why Jesus came to be born of a virgin ( Isaiah 7:14 ).
Preach His Good News of salvation through Him and just Him (Isaiah 61:1 , Luke 4:18 , John 14:6 )
Be arrested, tortured and die ( Matthew 16:21 ) at the hands of the Council of Judea.
He also told His followers that he would die and come back to life ( see above link Matthew 16:21).
So today, Resurrection Sunday (Easter Sunday), we celebrate our freedom. Just as Jesus beat Death’ sting and rose to life, we one day when our bodies give up, will also rise up from Death’s door and live again ( Romans 6:5 , 2 Corinthians 4:14 )!
May you have a blessed Sunday and may you get to know Jesus in a personal and saving way.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

If you want to get to know God:

Know God

April 21, 2019

The Passover LAMB of God |Passion Week- Last Passover

Matt 26_26.jpg

“26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.” 27Then He took the cup, gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.…” Jesus in Gospel Matthew 26:26-29 Berean Bible Study

We take time today to commemorate Jesus’ Last earthly Passover before He became the Pesach Lamb of God
He is the reason why the Israelites celebrated and practiced this yearly Feast
On Passover:
The Israelites would take the 1-year-old male lamb which they had chosen 4 day earlier
Fed this little lamb for 4 days
Kept this little lamb with them
And on the 14th day
They would sacrifice its life
Use hyssop to mark the door posts as sign
For the LORD to pass over and cover their sins
Thus saving them from
The “Angel of Death”
What would this look like?

The PassOver Sacrificial Lamb.jpg

Like the above drawing…
Eerily familiar to this:

After Jesus was taken down.jpg

On that Passover day, Nisan 14… The blood of the Lamb of God was placed on the wooden beams
The cross would be outside of the city
All the 1-3 million Jews coming into Jerusalem for the Passover would have witnessed Jesus’ Via Dolorosa through the streets of Jerusalem.
Most would have heard of this Miracle Worker
Most would wonder why He did not save Himself
He would not save Himself for our sake
He would die for our transgression and sins
By His stripes we are saved and healed
By His death & resurrection we are saved from spiritual death

Thank You Jesus for being the Lamb of God who took my sins away. You were telling your disciples and us to celebrate today and as many times as we can, Your willing sacrifice. By taken the bread and drinking the wine, we are commemorating the Passover Feast, and remembering what You did for us.

Happy Passover weekend everyone!

If you don’t know God personally and want to know the One who died for you and me. For our sins. Get to know Him:

Know God

April 18, 2019April 18, 2019