Sometimes I just want to quit

I believe in God not because religion was taught to me but because I have always felt His presence in my life from childhood. I have vivid memories of this. For example, crying out loud in pain because my legs would hurt at night, but feeling peace and falling asleep whenever my aunt would pray over me after handing me a crucifix. I have never heard my parents asking me to go to church, or forcing me to go, yet I remember many occasions, as I child and teenager, in which I would ride my bike to church singing with joy all by my self.

Church is not something I go to but something I have become, I am part of the body of Christ. And with that, throughout time and experiences, I’ve grown in my relationship with Him. I’ve had my ups but I’ve also had my downs. Nevertheless, time after time, He continues to lift me up with His righteous hand encouraging me to keep moving forward, that the best is yet to come, that there are many promises and dreams He wants to give me in life. However, there have been times that I simply want to quit.

I don’t know what kind of Christian you are and how strong your relationship is with God but I am going to assume that you are not a child in the faith. In fact, this blog goes to those who have known Christ for a good while now, but sometimes feel encouraged to throw the towel and walk away because life is not that simple, sometimes sad, and perhaps confusing. I am a child, servant, and minister of God. I preach the good news for a living, in spite of that, I too go through those rough patches where I see nothing but the negative and desire to kiss everything goodbye. However, I continue to find my strength in the Lord.

Transparency and honesty in our relationship with God goes beyond measure. It is perhaps the secret ingredient in my relationship with Jesus. I have expressed to him my dislikes, discontentment, frustrations, hatred, and all the negative things you can possibly think. And yet, regardless of how upset I may be, He always finds a way to talk to me, at my level, in my vocabulary, according to my faith and understanding. This morning he shared a Love Note with me, which I want to share with you.

“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. THEN you will receive all that he has promised” –Hebrews 10:36

I strongly believe, dear brother/sister, in Jeremiah 33:3 where He promises that when we seek Him He’ll answer. I believe in a God who speaks and guides. He gives hope, and this hope gives strength to continue walking, to lift up our feet and to do His will because His will is for our own benefit; for He wants the best of the best for us.

God has given you an identity, a personality. My desire is that you may be who you are with Him. Be transparent. Be honest. Open your heart and seek Him. Your current situation may not change but you will. Remember that the same boiling water that hardens the egg also softens the potato. The circumstance do not matter much. It is you who matter. It is you who God wants to change and not so much what you are going through.

Blessings!

-Pr. Sergio Ochaeta

Welcome Home

I was born in the city of San Benito, State of Petén, in the beautiful country of Guatemala. While growing up I would always hear these nice things of a great place called The United States. Someone could easily confuse it with the Promised Land (the place in which flows milk and honey) when listening to these folks. “Will I ever make it there?” I used to wonder. “Probably not”, I would conclude. Well, seventeen years ago my parents brought me here, and this week I swore to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America. I became a U.S. Citizen.

I had never had such a pleasant and peaceful experience in a courtroom before. The judge who officiated the ceremony even shared with us that his parents were born in a different country, that he knew what it was like to be in a family of immigrants. I was touched. All of those who took the oath had their families and friends there. Although I had no family present, I could feel the presence of Jesus through a peace that surpasses all understanding. God was present and smiling as well. At the end of the ceremony, followed by a “Congratulations”, there was a round of applause.

Friends and family also congratulated me. However, the word congratulations made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I’m used to hear that word whenever I do something good, something in which I work hard at or made an accomplishment (graduation for example). In this case I’ve done absolutely nothing. In fact, in that courtroom I felt so humbled for I was receiving a gift that maybe I don’t deserve. I consider my legal status in this country as a great gift from our Creator, Jesus. And for that I am FOREVER thankful with God and with my mother who have made many sacrifices in order for me to receive such blessing.

In the past 5 years I have traveled to Guatemala, Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and to the British Virgin Islands. Whenever I would return back to the States the immigration officer would look at my papers and say, “Have a good day, sir.” But I noticed that they would greet other people with a, “Welcome home.” This would bother me so much because THIS WAS MY HOME TOO. I later found out that it was only to U.S. citizens that immigration officers greet this way. The good Lord would comfort my self by remind me that I am soon to be a citizen of Heaven.

I press forward for this day. “Will I ever make it there?” many of us wonder. “Probably not” too many of us conclude. Perhaps we have this type of thought because we think that we must DO SOMETHING in order to make it there. However, allow me to remind you that it is a GREAT BLESSING, a gift, available to you and those who you love the most. Today. Right now. Simply believe it and receive it. Come one! Don’t give up! We are almost there!

Soon and very soon we shall feel that peace that surpasses all understanding. Jesus will be there smiling as well. Millions of angels will welcome you into the most amazing place in the universe. They will greet you saying, “Welcome home.”

In Christ,

Pastor Sergio Ochaeta.

A well-fed conscience discerns the voice of God

A friend of mine once shared with me that he was on his way to preach but he had not been to this church before and didn’t know how to get to it. In Puerto Rico, if you don’t know how to get to your destination, stopping and asking for directions is a must. The gentlemen who helped him at one point told him, “Turn when you see a big rock on the side of the road.” My friend encountered this intersection but there were TWO big rocks: One on his right and the other one to his left.  His prayer: “To the right or left?” And the spirit told him “Left.” I laughed so hard when my friend said, “Bro, I don’t know what kind of spirit that was but I know it wasn't the Holy Ghost because I ended up in the middle of the jungle!

Many claim that God does not speak sometimes. Others affirm that He makes it difficult for us to hear Him. However, Scripture is very clear that time after time God sent His prophets to speak to His people but His children did not listen (Jeremiah 26). Very often we unconsciously build obstacles and barriers, and the message doesn’t come through clearly. In other words, a well-fed conscience is able to discern the voice of God.

Take for example Joseph, Mary’s husband. “Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel (from Egypt). But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.”[i] The fear that Joseph feels comes from the Lord through his conscience as a warning! Joseph wants confirmation, kneels down, prays to his Father in Heaven, and the Lord confirms this warning via dream. “And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.”[ii]

The Lord speaks through our heart,[iii] our conscience. The exercise we do, amount of rest, and kind of food we eat have a huge impact on our mind. The kind of music & movies we hear and watch also feed the brain positively or negatively. Remember, out of the abundance of the heart speaks the mouth.[iv] Prayer, Bible-reading, and fasting cleanses the soul.

Therefore, consider your ways.

Blessings!

-Pr. Sergio Ochaeta

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[i] Matthew 2:22

[ii] Ibid

[iii] “Often including the intellect as well as the affections and will; as conversely the "mind" often includes the feeling and will as well as the intellect. Rom. 1:21, "their foolish heart was darkened." Eph. 1:18, "the eyes of your understanding (the Vaticanus manuscript; but the Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus manuscripts `heart') being enlightened." Thus, the Scripture implies that the heart and the head act and react on one another; and in men's unbelief it is the will that perverts the intellectual perceptions. John 7:17, "if any man be willinq to (Greek) do, he shall know." "Willingness to obey" is the key to spiritual knowledge. See Jer. 17:9; Hos. 7:11, "Ephraim is like a silly dove without heart," i.e. moral understanding” (Fausset’s Bible Dictionary).

[iv] Luke 6:45

Your association with the ungodly mirrors your own godliness

Do you treat the ungodly ones the same, or perhaps better, than you treat others? I’m talking about those people who are unholy, godless, irreligious, impious, blasphemous, immoral, corrupt, wicked and evil. I’m referring to those who don’t have the same religious beliefs as yours, who steal, cheat and kill. Let me bring it closer and personal: Those who are homosexuals, the teenager who likes to smoke Marijuana, watch porn and masturbate on a daily basis, the father and husband who was a church leader and ended up getting caught paying for prostitution services, and perhaps even the individuals who have hurt you deeply.

Please, think and identify them in your life. Again, the question is: Do you treat them the same, or perhaps better, than you treat people “your kind”? I ask this question because Jesus did, and this reflected his godliness and close relationship with God the Father

“Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and SINNERS also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for they were many, and they followed Him.”[i]

I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t like to be labeled as a sinner. Yet, Mark here calls sinners those who Jesus hung around with. Interestingly, Jesus liked to do this. He would not only talk but also walk and have lunch & dinner with them. He loved them regardless of their sinful behaviors, and that is why “they were many and followed Him.”[ii] While Jesus accepts sinners as they are, He doesn’t leave them the same. This kind of love is genuine, and is the type of love that accepts, transforms, and begets love.

We Christians are often called hypocrites. I believe is because we try to love with anything else than with the love of Jesus. Additionally, it is also the same reason why we fail in ministry and in evangelism. People can tell if you are being real or not, and that is why it's so difficult to witness to your own family.

I encourage you to evaluate your behavior in all of your relationships. If needed, go back to the basics, to the beginning of your relationship with God. Fall again in love with Him. Remember, the ONLY way we can love the sinner is through the genuine love of God. Such action will awake their souls. In this process your life will also be transformed, and no longer can anyone call you a hypocrite Christian.

In Christ,

Pr. Sergio Ochaeta

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[i] Mark 1:15

[ii] Ibid

A Giant who Looked like a Midget

Mark 1:40 says, “Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, ‘If You are willing, You can make me clean.’”

At first look this person appears like the most miserable, messed up, homeless, spiritually dried person in the world. He stinks, he hangs around other stinky people, no body touches him, and whenever he approaches others he has to cry out loud, “I’m nasty! I’m nasty! Here I come. Please, step aside.”

But notice his actions:

      1)   He recognizes who Jesus is: The Son of God

      2)   He approaches Jesus with great supplication

      3)   He humbles himself by kneeling down and surrendering completely to Jesus

      4)   He asks that God’s will may be done rather than his will

Now, I don’t know about you but I read about this man and I see some admirable actions. Additionally, he prays a prayer that most of us won’t pray: For God’s will to be done.

Think about his situation. Close your eyes and put your self in his shoes. Feel his emotional pain. Feel the embarrassment that he faces everyday as a leper. Your skin falls off, and everyone looks down at you. Yet, he approaches the One who can accomplish the impossible, and prays not only for what he wants but also for what he needs. However, in the prayer he acknowledges that what he is praying may not be the best thing, and leaves it up to God to decide for him. In other words, “Lord, here is what I want and what I need but I know you know better. Therefore, please make a decision that will benefit me the most.” At a glance this man appears as a midget in the faith but this kind of prayer are only prayed by giants of the faith.

Now apply this to your life. 

Follow this man’s steps:

      1)   Recognize God

      2)   Approach him with great supplication

      3)   Humble and submit your self to Him

      4)   Ask for what you want and need but let Him decide for you

Jesus admired this man’s prayer so much that His heart was moved. God was deeply touched by the leper’s prayer. I can see tears in Jesus’ eyes. Therefore, he answered, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

Remember, at the end of the day He knows what is best and he will give you that exactly.

May you start praying Giant's prayers today.

In Christ,

Pr. Sergio Ochaeta