Day 28: The Place of Power: Go there every day!

Day 28: The Place of Power: Go there Every Day!

Have you ever thought about the things you do every single day? Ok, let’s start: Get up from bed, brush your teeth (I really hope so!), wash your face, take a shower, get dressed with clean clothes, put on your shoes, eat breakfast, get in your car (MTA anyone?), say hi to your neighbor, etc. The list could go on and on, and yet how many of these things are things that will help you to have a day filled with hope, peace, and courage? Well, I guess if you are trying to get a date and land a boyfriend or girlfriend, you better take a shower, brush your teeth, and wear clean clothing. Otherwise, forget it!

Today, I want to challenge you and encourage you to start doing just one thing that I believe will change your outlook and perspective in life every single day. In fact, do it in the morning before you do anything else. That’s right. With stinky breath and a messed up hair do, just walk across the room and drink a glass of room temperature water (with lemon if you have some available). Then find a desk or chair in your house, where you will not fall asleep. I repeat, “where you will not fall asleep!” No, your lying in bed will not work. Trust me! When you get there, grab your Bible and before you ready anything else, even Pr. Alejandro Bullon’s Devotional or a Book by Ellen G. White, go to Matthew 27, the Crucifixion Chapter. Read only thirty verses. Verses 24-54. These verses are known as the place of power because they talk about how Jesus was condemned to death and died on a cross as a criminal, when in fact he was innocent. It details how he willingly chose to die on a cross and suffer for our sins. Here is a great source of infinite power, The Cross of Jesus.

Personal Challenge for 21 days

So how about it? Do you think you can try it for the next 21 days? Every morning, go and read those verses, and ask meditate on Jesus death for you. As you read these verses, never forget that “all that He endured, the pain, the suffering, the terrible mental anguish, He did it all for you! Willingly, because He loves you!” As you read these verses, think about how special you are to God, and how much He really does love you! Thank Him, rededicate your life to Him every day, and live knowing that you are precious and valuable to God. So valuable in fact, that He gave the life of His One and Only Son to die in your place and to purchase a place for you in Heaven! Thank you Jesus!

Conclusion

The Place of Power. You can go there every day. Just think about it. Every day, you can visit Calvary and relive the story of Jesus decision to die for you because He loved you so much! Sometimes it's easy to forget God's love. Selfishness, arrogance, pride can lead us to think that we deserve God's mercy, God's grace, and God's salvation. However, when you go to the place of power, you'll be reminded that Jesus paid it all for you, by dying in your place and for your sins, because there was no other way. Your only response, can be one of love, surrender, and service. Don't miss your daily appointment every day for the next 21 days! It may literally, change your entire life!

Practical Steps

1. Read Matthew 27:24-54 every day for the next 21 days. Why 21 days? 21 days is the time it takes to make anything a regular habit in your life. Kiss your wife or mom every day for the next 21 days, and it will become a habit for the rest of your life.

2. Die to self every day. Like Paul, “die daily.” Live for God, since Jesus already died for you!

3. Pray for people in your life who don’t know Jesus yet. When you pray, bathe your prayers with the blood of Jesus as found in Matthew 27:24-54. Pray that God will “surround your lost friends with an environment of light and peace and help them to make good decisions.” Pray for their “salvation from sin”, and that the “blood of Jesus would be efficacious” and powerful to save them from their problems and sins, and draw them toward Jesus Christ!

4. Allow the blood of Jesus to save you and cleanse you from every sin in your life. Say good-bye to lust, lying, cheating, gossip, hate, envy, jealousy, porn, premarital sex, adultery, drugs, alcohol, etc. Say yes instead, to God’s amazing plan for you life. It’s the life you’ve always wanted!

Day 30: The Journey Doesn't End, But Begins

Day 30: The Journey Doesn't End, But Begins

“It is finished”. Three words in English, but only one word in the Greek: “Tetelestai!” It the cry of a victor and champion, of one who has run the race of life with confidence and has endured and finished the course of life. It’s like Saint Paul’s final farewell in his epistles: 

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

Have you ever thought what your final words will be when you come to the end of your life here on earth? After all, we have discovered in this thirty day journey together that we are “pilgrims” in this world, that our “true home” is in Heaven, and that we are just living temporarily in this world. As such, what will be your final words? What words would you like people to remember you with at your funeral? When Jesus returns a second time, what will your final battle cry? Will it be the cry of a victor, such as “It is finished”is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is (John 19:7), or “Behold, this the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”(Isaiah 25:9) Or will it be a cry of despair, such as “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” (Rev. 6:16-17). 

This side of eternity, all good things seem to come to an end. Great dreams end with an unexpected accident or a life altering event. Happiness and joy seem to end when bad news come to us from the “far country”. It seems all good things must come to end in this lifetime, or do they? Could it be that there is one thing than will not and doesn’t have to end this side of Heaven? Let’s see!

The Journey Continues

Just because we are ending our thirty day journey together today, doesn’t mean it stops for either you or I. The journey with Jesus continues. In fact, the Bible tells us that one day when Jesus returns, those who have followed His voice and prepared themselves to go to Heaven, will rise form this “tennis ball” called earth and keep on rising until they enter the New Heaven and the New Earth. Notice it in the following verses:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:

“¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

John 5:28-29:

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice ²⁹ and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-52

⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

Philippians 3:20-21

²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”

Revelation 21:1-5

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. ² Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” ⁵ Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”  

Revelation 20:4-6

“⁴ And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵ But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”

You see, the journey with Our Lord Jesus continues beyond this thirty days! For one day, we will see Him face to face. Do you have any idea what that day will be like? How will you behave? Will you be silent before God, or will you run and shout and say, “Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus! I made it! I made it! I made it! I know that I wasn’t good enough, but thank you God, that Jesus was good enough to save me and to bring me safely to Heaven! Amen!” One day, our faith will become a reality. Sometimes it seems like our faith is intangible and unreal, especially when you pray and ask God to heal a sick person or to help your friend who is suicidal, and your sick relative or friend dies, and your suicidal friend commits euthanasia.

Sometimes, it feels like God is not real, and that prayer doesn’t work. Sometimes, when you wander away from God and from Jesus, you end up in the far country of sin and you doubt whether Jesus and God exist. However, don’t ever give us so easily, for God has said that just because you can’t understand everything perfectly this side of Heaven, doesn’t mean that He isn’t real, that prayer doesn’t work, and that your faith is in vain. The longer you live, the more you will discover that without a real, living, and personal faith in God, you will despair and give up trying and believing that goodness, love, faith, and hope will win in the end over sin, evil, and wickedness. If there is one thing you take from these thirty days that we have journeyed together, take this. Write it in your Bible, memorize it, and never forget it. Are you ready? Here it is!

1 Corinthians 13:8

“Love never fails.”

You see, if you don’t have God in your life, and if you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, God’s Son, then what do you have? If you are honest, the answer is “nothing.” But the promise of God is that no matter what your present circumstances or situation may be, don’t forget, “Love never fails.” 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” Therefore, keep this truth in your heart and mind until the end of this earthly race we call life. “God is love”, “Love never fails”, therefore “God never fails.”

In the end, God will win! The Devil and all of followers will end up being big time losers! I don’t know about you, but I am tired of buying into the lies of the Devil and being a loser here on earth. I want to start being on God’s winning team instead! I want to be a winner with Jesus.

Conclusion

So our journey ends here. How has it been? Has it been helpful? Have you felt your relationship with Jesus has grown somewhere in these thirty days? Have you felt that you have wasted your time? Have your thoughts been pointed towards Heaven? Have you meditated on eternity if just for one second? I pray that somewhere in the last thirty days, you may have “reconnected with Jesus” and I pray that your friendship and relationship with Him will continue until the day He returns and you see Him face to face, and give Him a big Bear Hug! I hope that you continue to run the race of faith in God, and never give up, or let up, until your faith runs you straight into the arms of Jesus Christ and into Heaven with all of God’s saints! I know, God is waiting for you there! Be blessed!

Practical Steps

1. Commit your life to God every day. The journey continues until you die, or until Jesus comes back and “translates” you from this mortal body to a “glorified body” like His.

2. Don’t forget that you are pilgrim. Don’t ever get to comfortable with the things down here, that you trade the things of this world for eternity! God is waiting for you in Heaven. Don’t miss out on being there for anything!

3. Bless others along your journey and life. As God blesses you, give and bless others. If you do, you will truly be living the life of Jesus who once said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive!”

4. Die to sin, self, and Satan every day! Crucify your old carnal nature and heart by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Instead, “Walk according to the Spirit!” Ask God for the mind of Christ, and have the Holy Spirit give you a new heart! Never forget to Love God above all things, and to love your neighbor as yourself! Follow the Golden Rule!

~ Pastor Sal Garcia

Day 29: Why God Created You

Day 29: Why God Created You


Have you ever wondered why God created you in the first place? Was it because He was lonely? Was it because He was bored? Was it because He needed someone to give order to? Why did God create us? Why did God create you? Maybe you've asked yourself this question before. Why did God create you? Let's look at the reason why.


Going Back to Eden


In Genesis 2:7, the Bible records how God created the first man:

"Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."

When God created the first man, the Bible records that God stooped down and kissed the breath of life into the mouth of Adam. During the days of creation, God spoke and commanded, and things were created. However, when God created man, he decided to become intensely personal and become intimately involved in the creation of Adam and Eve. In Adam's creation, He stooped down and breathed the breath of life into the mouth of Adam. In Eve's case, God also was intimately involved and intensely personal.

"So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." Genesis 2:21-22

What an amazing and personal God we serve! One who was intimately involved in the Creation of mankind. While God is a community of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, His nature is love. 

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8. 

To love is the highest joy and pleasure for God. While God has never been lonely, in the all three members of the Godhead have always existed throughout eternity, at some point in creation of the world, The Holy Trinity, decided to create a race of beings "in the image of God." In so many words, God said, "I'm lonely. I'll make a race, because I enjoy loving and giving love." In Jeremiah 31:3, God says: 

"The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:

   “I have loved you with an everlasting love; 

   I have drawn you with unfailing kindness."

So there it is! God created you so that He could relate to you. He didn't create you because He was lonely or needed to. Instead, He created you because He wanted to share His love with you. The question is, Do you want to accept God's love and experience in your life today?


Conclusion


God loves you! He longs for you to experience His love in your heart today. Jesus Christ came from Heaven to Earth to demonstrate just how much God loves you. Sin, Selfishness, and all of the demons of Hell cannot keep you from God's love. Only you can keep yourself from God's love. If you open your heart and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to God, He will lead you straight into the arm's of the Loving God. Go there today! 

Day 27: The Elevator Sabbath

Day 27: The Elevator Sabbath

If you go to Israel today, especially Tel-Aviv and the big cities with skyscrapers and tall buildings, you will discover something different about their elevators. On Saturdays or Sabbath, they run automatically and stop on every floor. Why would anyone want to do such a silly thing you ask? Well, it's because they believe that "pushing a button" is work, and there is a commandment in the Torah about "not working on the Sabbath." That's why they prefer to have elevators stop on every floor, instead of pressing a button and breaking the Sabbath commandment! If you thing that is strange, wait til you discover in today's devotional study what we today in the western world have created out of the Seventh-day Sabbath, for we are not that very far from Orthodox Jews in Israel in keeping the Sabbath! Read on!

Four days and counting. The finish line is almost here. We are three days away from reaching day thirty on our thirty day spiritual journey. While you have had some ups and downs, the journey has been amazing and well worth it if you have stuck to it and “hanged” in there. God always has a reward in store for those who cross the finish line! Today, we are going to reflect on Jesus and the Sabbath, since for the rest of our lives until Jesus returns, we will have the weekly seventh-day Sabbath to prepare for, enjoy, and remind us of Jesus Our Creator, Redeemer, and soon coming King! Let’s enter our study of this glorious truth.

The Sabbath in Creation

Have you ever read the Creation story in Genesis chapter one and chapter two? They are two different narratives of the same event. Some infidels have challenged the biblical record in saying that the two are diametrically opposed when in fact they complement and enhance one another. Chapter one details the Creation of our universe (Genesis 1:2), and then immediately begins to detail the creation of our galaxy, solar system, and planet (v. 2-31). Chapter one covers the entire first six days of creation. Genesis 2:1-3 recounts the Creation of the seventh-day Sabbath as one of the crowning acts in the creation week. Man and Woman are the crowning act of God’s creation in Genesis chapter one, verses twenty six and twenty seven. 

“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 

“So God created mankind in his own image,
   in the image of God he created them;
   male and female he created them.” 

The Creation week appeared to be finished and complete, but it wasn’t. God still had a surprise in store to culminate His Creation. That surprise is the Sabbath or Shabbat, which God created by resting (or ceasing or stopping). You see, the Sabbath is a memorial of creation, and a day that God didn’t really need to create for His well-being. God, the infinite Creator, never gets tired or weary and He definitely did not need a day every week to rest because He was tired. Instead, the Sabbath is a surprise and gift that God created for the benefit of mankind. It is a day that commemorates the creation of our world in seven days, but is also a weekly date and appointment to meet with God for twenty-four hours.  See if you see this truth also in Genesis 2:1-3.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

God created the Sabbath on the Seventh-day and He did so by resting. He stopped creating more on the seventh-day and just paused to admire all that He had made. But more than admire, he created a weekly date and appointment where man, who is constantly busy and distracted, could meet with God every week to grow in His relationship with God and to never forget God. The reason today why man has forgotten God is because man has forgotten the Sabbath. 

Jesus is Our Creator

And who exactly is the Creator of the Sabbath. In Genesis 2, we discover that God is the Creator of the Sabbath. In John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1, we discover that Jesus Christ is the Creator. Jesus was the one who created the universe, galaxy, solar system, and planet in which we live. Of the three members of the Godhead, Jesus Christ was the Creator. So in fact, Genesis 1:1-3 could read, “

“In the beginning “Jesus” created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And “Jesus” said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  “Jesus” saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. “Jesus” called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day."

When it comes to the creation of the seventh-day Sabbath in Genesis 2:1-3, the passage then could also read:

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day ‘Jesus’ had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then ‘Jesus’ blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” 

If our reading of the text is correct in saying that Jesus Christ was the member of the Godhead that oversaw the creation of the world of the human race, and He is in fact was intimately involved in the creation of our world, then it makes sense that Jesus called Himself the “Lord of the Sabbath.”

In Mark 2:27-28, Jesus said:

“Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

In so many words Jesus is saying that He is the Lord of the Sabbath because He created it in Genesis. Wow! Amazing! And every week he is present during the Seventh-day Sabbath to help us grow in our relationship with Him. What a great opportunity it is to be able to relate to God during the hours of the Sabbath, for God is present not only ON the Sabbath, but God is present IN the Sabbath. What a great opportunity to let slip by. If God meets man on the seventh-day Sabbath every week, don’t you think you should take the time to be ready to meet God every week too?

Conclusion

Remember the "Elevator Sabbath"? How silly it seems, but how true of human nature. We have put every possible barrier to keep the Sabbath from being broken when in fact as we have seen, it is a day to be enjoyed with Jesus every week. Sabbath observance is good as far as obedience is concerned. Going to church, not working, not watching secular television or listening to secular music, reading the daily paper or watching the secular news. In some places of the world, even playing sports, or eating at a restaurant is considered breaking the ordinance of the Sabbath. While that is true when you stop and think about it, the truth of the Seventh-day Sabbath is more that just a day. It is a weekly date with the Creator of the Universe and of Our Life. Jesus wants us to keep the Sabbath as a day to grow in our relationship with Him, and a day to be enjoy with family and friends. In the end, if the Sabbath is no more that a day on which to avoid pressing buttons on an elevator, we have the lost the true meaning of the Sabbath. The truth is that the Sabbath is a day to love Jesus and to grow closer to Him each week. Instead of avoiding the buttons on an elevator on the seventh-day Sabbath, make sure you press the highest button so that you can meet Jesus on this special day at the very top. He's there just waiting for you! Go ahead and meet Him there!

Practical Steps

1. Decide to celebrate the Seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday). Don’t just keep Saturday morning, but instead observe the Sabbath with Jesus in your heart.

2. Do something different on the Sabbath than you do during the week. Go to the park, beach, mountains, or go and visit someone in a hospital or in a convalescent home. Get out of the ordinary.

3. Have a special meal on the Sabbath. Don’t fast. Make it a day of Joy!

4. Focus on Jesus during the Sabbath hours and ask Him to show you His face. Get to know God more as a friend during the Sabbath.

~ Pastor Sal Garcia

  

Day 26: Got Peace?

Day 26: How to Have Peace and Assurance in Your Life

Got peace? Got Assurance? Perhaps a better question is, "Do you have the Prince of Peace in your life? If you do, you will have peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace. No Jesus, No peace. 

Astounding! Outstanding! That is what we discovered yesterday regarding the prophecies and claims that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled in his life. No wonder they call Him “Savior”. In case you have forgotten some of the amazing prophecies He fulfilled in his life, here are a few.

Prophecy                       O.T. Scripture             N.T. Fulfillment

1. Born in Bethlehem           Micah 5:2                   Matthew 2:1 

2. Born of a virgin                Isaiah 7:14                 Matthew 1:18-23

3. Of David's lineage            Jeremiah 23:5            Revelation 22:16

4. Attempted murder 
    by Herod                          Jeremiah 31:15          Matthew 2:16-18

5. Betrayal by a friend         Psalms 41:9               John 13:18, 19, 26

6. Sold for 30 silver coins   Zechariah 11:12         Matthew 26:14-16

7. Crucified                         Zechariah 12:10         John 19:16-18, 37 

8. Lots cast for His 
    clothes                             Psalms 22:18                Matthew 27:35

9. No bones broken             Psalms 34:20                John 19:31-36
                                               Ex. 12:46

10. Buried in rich man's 
     tomb                                  Isaiah 53:9               Matthew 27:57-60

11. Year, day, hour of 
      His death                      Dan. 9:26, 27              Matthew 27:45-50 
                                                Ex. 12:6

 

12. Raised the third day        Hosea 6:2                     Acts 10:38-40

Remember that in the Bible there are over 125 Bible prophecies regarding the Messiah or Christ that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled in his lifetime. Just for your curiosity, a study was done to determine what the probability of someone fulfilling just 8 or the more than 125 prophecies that Jesus Christ fulfilled in his lifetime. The results were astounding! The odds of someone fulfilling just 8 prophecies are one in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Wow! No wonder they call Him Savior!

The Claims of Jesus of Nazareth

What about some of the claims of Jesus? What did you make out of them? Here are a few:

Bible Verse:              Claim or Action of Jesus:

Matthew 12:6,8  Jesus Claims to be greater than the temple,  and 
                           Lord of the Sabbath. Since God created the 
                          Sabbath, therefore Jesus claims divinity.

Matthew 23:37 Jesus claims to be intimately connected with the 
                         History of the Israel nation. He speaks as having 
                         observed the whole history of Israel. 

Mark 2:1-12     Jesus claims to be have power to forgive men’s 
                         sins. Jesus claims to be the ultimate judge who 
                         will who will have authority to deny entrance to 
                         the kingdom of Heaven.

Matt. 14:33
John 9:48        Jesus receives worship and does nothing to 
                       discourage it. Compare this with Acts 14:8-18 and 
                       Deut. 6:13.

John 8:58      Jesus Claims two aspects of deity for himself: 1) the 
                     eternal existence of God, and 2) the name of God. See 
                     Exodus 3:13-14. 

John 15:17   Jesus claims to be continuing the work of the Father.

John 15:19   Jesus claims to be the same level of authority as God 
                    the Father.

(Adapted from He Walked Among us … Evidence for the historical Jesus  by Josh Mcdowell and Bill Wilson)

Hopefully by now, you are beginning to see how Jesus is different from the other religious leaders of other world religions. Jesus claimed to be God in human flesh, something no other religious leader and founder has ever done. Jesus is different, and the evidence we have seen point to Him being the Messiah and Christ of the Bible. Let’s continue!

Blessed Assurance

So what does all of this mean? Does it make any difference in your life today? How about in your future? The answer is YES! For one, instead of searching for God, you need to surrender to Him. Instead of experimenting with world religions and other faiths to try and discover who God is, you are going to focus on growing in your relationship with Jesus, the God-man! We have been from the Bible that the most important thing in your life is your relationship with Jesus the Son of God. “He that hath the Son hath life. HE that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” No Jesus, No Life. Know Jesus, Know Life! Amazing! Notice these amazing texts that give us the assurance of God’s love, peace, forgiveness, and promise of eternal life.

“The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying:
      “ Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
      Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3

^“He will again have compassion on us,
      And will subdue our iniquities.
      You will cast all our sins
      Into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

‘There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:11-13

A second and important thing that believing in Jesus as the Messiah and Christ of the Old and New Testaments will do for you is such faith in Jesus will provide you with assurance of salvation. Now tell me, don’t you want to have assurance of salvation? Don’t you want to know that if you die today, you are going to go to Heaven instead of the other place? I know you do, and so do I. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our sinful life, then we “cross from death unto life.” God gives us an assurance that our sins have been forgiven, and gives us the perfect life of Jesus Christ to stand in place of our life. Furthermore, God continues to give us each day more of the life of Jesus so that we grow in our relationship and walk with Jesus every day! That is what being a Christian is all about. It is knowing and loving God more each day! It’s not really about how many good things verses how many bad things you did today. Being a Christian is about knowing God and loving Him more each day by spending time with Jesus Christ in Bible study and prayer just for the purpose of getting to know God better as your friend.

When this happens in your life, you will have a personal assurance that God loves you, that He has forgiven your sins, and that no matter what happens to you on this earth, because you have God’s friendship and know Him by personal experience, “everthing will be ok”, even the bad things that happen to you. So today, seek to know Jesus as your personal Savior, Lord, and Friend. Doing so will lift your burdens, cares, and stresses and give you peace and assurance of God’ favor and love.

Conclusion

I need assurance today, don’t you? I need to know that I have been forgiven of all of my past sins, present sins, and future sins. Even though God is “able to keep us from falling” into sin, we still commit sins sometimes without wanting to. God’s grace is sufficient to lift us up form the pit of sin we have fallen into, and to lift us up and place us on a forgiven, pure, and holy path. I want to know today that Jesus, My Savior and Lord, is also my Friend. I have no fear of a future judgment, because I know the Judge, and my Advocate or Lawyer is Jesus Christ. He has already taken my place on Calvary. The good news is that He has done that for all of us, including you. If you are able to, just bow your head in worship right now and tell God how thankful you are to have Jesus as your Savior, Lord, and Friend, and thank Him for the assurance of salvation you have in Christ.

Practical Steps 

1. Read the Bible and pray for the purpose of getting to know God and growing in your relationship with Jesus Christ, and not because you have to as a chore. 

2. Go for a walk in the park and meditate on God's Love. See his love written on every leaf, cloud, sunset and mountain. 

3. Live without fear. Instead, live in love and share your peace and assurance with someone else. Maybe your spouse, kids, brother, sister, or parent. People need assurance, so share yours with them.

4. Live with a positive attitude. Stop trying to be good. Instead focus  on Jesus who is good because He is God. Remember, "you don't have be good to be saved, but you do have to be saved to be good." Focus on your relationship with Jesus, and He will take care of the rest. 

~ Pastor Sal Garcia

Day 25: Walking Like Jesus Walked 24/7

Day 25: Walking Like Jesus Walked 24/7

Congratulations! You've made it to day number twenty-five. It has taken some effort and sacrifice, but the benefits are paying off for you as you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. In the end that is what it's all about. You and Jesus, and your relationship and friendship with Him. Nothing more, and nothing less. It is my prayer that in these final six days, your relationship with Jesus will continue to grow and that you will continue growing throughout the rest of 2011. Here is today's Devotional Help to assist you in reaching your Goal!


A preview of Heaven


We have been learning in this 30 day spiritual journey that the most important thing in your life, as far as eternity is concerned, is your relationship with God. God, who is Holy and immortal, without beginning or ending, has initiated a way by which sinful human beings can be forgive of their sins and transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, God's Unique and Only Son. That is a title, by the way, since Jesus Christ is just as much God as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. God is a community, and Jesus Christ is one of the three persons of the Godhead. If you feel like you are lost, don't worry, you are in good company. That is why this side of heaven, we will never understand perfectly and clearly all things. However, one thing that is clear and perfect is God's revelation of His love to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God loves us! And that even while we were His enemies (Romans 5:8). 


With that in mind, have you ever wondered what meeting Jesus in Heaven will be like? You know that Jesus is preparing a place for you and that He can't wait to meet you in person and give you a "bear hug" (ok, that's what i want to do when I first see Him!). Do you think Jesus will ask you anything in particular that glorious day? If so, what might He ask you? Do you think He will ask you about why you didn't eat more veggie dogs instead of In N' Out Burgers? Do you think He will ask you why you didn't dress with less revealing and provocative clothing for the opposite sex? Do you think He will ask you why you didn't listen to more Heritage Singers instead of Christian Rock and upbeat Gospel music? What if anything, will Jesus ask you on that glorious day? While God's word does not speculate on what Jesus may or may not ask the righteous on resurrection morning or the first day in Heaven, we do find in the Bible a great lesson that Jesus hopes every true follower of His will live and exemplify in this life. Are you ready to discover it? If so, here it is!


Eternity starts this side of Heaven


1 John 2: 4-6 says,

"We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did."

Did you catch that? God's desire for you and me is that we live and walk as Jesus did. How do we do that? By following Jesus and His Commandments for our life. You see, to know someone is to obey someone. I really can't say I know God if I am living in disobedience to His Will and to His Commandments. In fact, I can't say that I love God, unless I obey Him and His Commandments. Here is where the rubber meets the road. It's possible to try and keep the commandments of God out of fear of being lost or going to Hell. I once had a friend who told me, "Man I'm scared. I don't want to go to hell."  However, trying to obey out of fear is doing something good for the wrong reason. While the "fear of the Lord" is the beginning of wisdom, God wants us to learn to obey Him because we have come to love Him and desire to do His Will. 

When you know Jesus, you will love Jesus, and you will walk and live like Jesus. That is our goal in the next six days of this thirty day journey. We want to live and walk like Jesus would if he were on earth today. We need to get to know Jesus more, by studying the Bible, praying, and telling others what we got out of Bible study and prayer. That is called witnessing. We want to spend time with Jesus each day, not for the purpose of checking it off of our "Need to do in order to be saved list". But instead, we want to spend quality time with Jesus, just because we want to get to know Him as Our Personal Savior and Friend. Can you agree to doing that in the next six days? If so, then let's get started.

Who is Jesus? 

Jesus Christ. A name and title. Jesus is the Greek form of the name Joshua which means, "the Lord saves", and Christ is the Greek Title for "Anointed One" (Messiah in Hebrew). Jesus Christ is more than just a religious, moral, or ethical teacher. He's much more that just a religious teacher and founder of a world religion. He claimed to be God in human flesh, and you can't just dismiss that fact of history. It's like me walking into your house later today and saying that I am the New President of the United States of America. Well, either I am or I am not. It can't be both ways. In fact, the claims that Jesus made are outstanding. 

On one occasion He said, "If anyone keeps my word, He will never see death." On another occasion He said, "He who believes in me will never die!" However, his claims go beyond to the point of saying that He was the One true God of Heaven that came to reveal his love and save a lost and sinful world. These claims either must be accepted on the grounds of Jesus being crazy, a fraud, or else you have to believe that he was telling the truth. 

For myself, I don't believe Jesus was a Lunatic or crazy because He didn't say and act in a crazy way! Crazy people and lunatics don't do and say the type of things Jesus did. Instead, they are locked up in mental hospitals. Well, could he be a liar, a fraud, or a conman? After all, if He was just a normal human being who believed or taught He was God, then he purposefully deceived people into worshiping Him and following Him as God. 

The teachings of Jesus go contrary to that of lying, cheating, deceiving, or manipulating. Jesus taught to love your enemies, bless others, to serve, to treat others as you would want them to treat you. His teachings are the most ethical teaching in the entire corpus of literature and history. No way could Jesus have been a fraud, or a conman. So what does that leave us with? 

Well, if Jesus was neither a lunatic or a Liar, if he was neither a conman or a madman, then He must be the the God-man and Lord of all. I like how C.S. Lewis puts it. 

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."


Lewis, C.S. (Clive Staples), Mere Christianity, revised edition, New York, Macmillan/Collier, 1952, p. 55 ff.

Conclusion

So today, take a break from your busy schedule. Grab a cold drink (Not a beer, ok?) and sit in a comfortable and relaxing chair. Grab your Bible concordance and Bible and look in the Gospels at some of the claims Jesus did. You need to answer this question in your life today? Who is Jesus Christ? And second, "What am I going to do with Jesus who called Christ?" When you answer these two questions, you will have answered the two greatest questions that exist this side of Heaven. You will be able to move forward and to live with a new and fresh perspective. Are you ready to do so?

Practical Steps

1. Worship Jesus as God. The Bible teaches that Jesus is God, and one of the members of the Godhead. He is worthy of worship, praise, and adoration. It is ok to worship Jesus. 

2. Look at some of the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in his life. There are over 60 major prophecies and Jesus fulfilled them all during this life. Could this have been just an accident?

3. Recognize the Jesus Christ is the Creator of Universe and everything in it. See Genesis 1, John 1, Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1.

4. Read the book, More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell.

5. Worship the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) with all of your mind as well as your heart. Start to learn and memorize reasons why you can believe in the Bible and in Jesus as the Only Savior of the world. These field is called apologetics. Some of the best authors are Josh McDowell, William Lane Craig, Ravi Zacharias, C.S. Lewis, and Norman Geisler. Apologetics is a greek word "apologia" which means defense. Thus apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith with evidence and reasons from Scripture, Science, History, etc. 

~ Pastor Sal Garcia

Your Value in God's Eyes ... In Case you have forgotten

Goal for Today: To see the value of your life from God's perspective, not man's.

Bible Promise for today:

Peter 1:18-19
Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.


Thought for the Day:  

Today you don't need Oprah, Dr. Oz, Justin Beiber, or Lady Gaga to make you feel important and of Great Self-worth. In fact, you don't need Cristina, Don Francisco, or Primer Impacto either. You don't need the government, education, or your boss to give you a special promotion for you to discover how valuable and special you are to God. You don't need Martin Luther King, Jr. to remind you that "all men are created equal" and special. Jesus Christ died on the Cross for you over 1980 years ago to remind you that you are special to God. Live to day in a way that brings glory to Him!

Poem:  

I asked Jesus how much He loved me
He answered "this much"
Then He stretched out His arms and died for me.

Suggested Prayer: 

"Dear God. Thank you that I am special to you today. Thank you that you already have demonstrated that you love me by dying for me at the Cross. I believe I have been purchased and redeemed. Help me to live in such a way today, and that reflect to other, but most importantly to myself, that I belong to you. I love you, because You first loved me. In Jesus' name, Amen."

~ by Pastor Sal Garcia