The Mirror Effect

The purpose of the mirror is to tell you exactly how you look; it will never ever lie to you. Try it. Pick up a mirror right now and look at your self. It will tell you how many wrinkles you have, whether you need make up or not (perhaps surgery), maybe a little less make-up (seriously. Guys don’t like clowns), it’ll suggest some shaving, or some pimple popping, and/or getting a haircut. I really do not know, what I do know is that a mirror will never lie to you; it will show you reality even though you may not like it.

On the other hand, some people, after hearing the ruthless-unforgiving truths of a mirror, will search for other opinions. “Honey, does this dress make me look fat?” “How do I look?” You see, these are questions that must be considered intelligently before answering them. If you say, “Honey, you are fat regardless of what you put on”, then most likely you will sleep on the couch for the following few days. On top of that, you will now have to wait at least another hour for her find and put something new on. You will have the same outcome if you look up and down and think about your answer for more than 2 seconds.

Now if, you want her happy, have been waiting for more than an hour, don’t want to sleep on the couch, and need to get out of the house ASAP because you are 45 minutes late, then your answer must be “Honey, you look great! Get in the car! Let’s go!” But perhaps you might have said a “little” lie or a “white” lie just to get what you want.

Among the seven abominations that Proverbs 6:17-19 mentions, we found a “lying tongue” (17) being one of them. He detests such thing so much that in verse 19 He mentions it again saying, “a false witness who pours out lies,” making “lying” 2 abominations out of the 7. Bottom line is that God condemns with passion he who speaks lies. Proverbs 12:22 declares again that the Lord “detests lying lips,” perhaps for the fact that “Satan is the father of lies” and we become his children when we do so (John 8:44).

But things get more real when we consider our daily lives in the light of the mirror effect, because God regularly uses this method to show you what you are really made of. God often will snatch your relationship by causing a break-up between you two. At the end of the day, when you consider how childish and obstinate you reacted in the process of the break-up, He will put up the mirror and show you how you have lied about loving Him more than anybody else. You will see, through this mirror, that your ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend sat deeper in your heart than God did.

In other occasions, you will find yourself trying to sell a car that is damaged. The cost of repairs will simply sacrifice your budget. But you can figure a way out to sell the vehicle without the buyer noticing the defects; otherwise you will get next to nothing. “Each man for himself” says society. “Get rich or die trying,” says 50 cent. “F life before life F’s you” said my high-school friends. But what hurts God’s heart the most is when you don’t believe in society, 50 cents, or your high-school friends, but believe and profess that God is your God, yet do not live by this same faith.

Whether you sold the car or not, ripped off your neighbor by selling him a piece of junk or not, sooner or later God will put up the mirror and say, “and you often announce that I am God and have never forsaken my children? Look how much you love me.”

So let me ask you, what situation are you going through right now in which you can see God putting up the mirror and asking you a few questions? Are you living but what you preach? Do you walk the talk? What do you see in this mirror? What are you really made of?

I praise Jesus for there is hope in Him. Because “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more!” We are all damaged and tend fall very often. But, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” For in Jesus there is victory, in Jesus we are made new, in Jesus we find second chances, and through Jesus we are justified and sanctified (Romans 5:20; 6:1-2).

You know, the mirror in your house and the mirror that God shows us may tell us things that we may not like. In fact, sometimes it hurts very much. But the great news about this fact is that its simply reality. But through Jesus we can make drastic changes to better our lives.  There are sooooooooooo many promises in the Bible the follower of God can claim; yet we do not. So, today, get on your knees, meditate on the image you see through the mirror God is holding up, say what you have to say to God, ask for forgiveness, and CLING onto those promises, because He who started this work on you will be faithful to finish it!

God bless you.

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man

 I’ve heard it all from people: “The sixth sense of a woman is to make our lives impossible.” “Men are just pigs; all they want is sex” “All men are the same” “All women are alike” “Men fall in love for what they see, and women fall in love for what they hear. That is why men lie and women wear make up” “Men are from Mars and women are from Venus…” And I could go on and on about our differences. It seems we are a different specie.

But the major lie society has sold to us is that the primary need of a man is to have sexual relations. In the film Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Steve Harvey suggests that if a woman is capable of holding the benefit package from her partner for at least 90 days, she will have conquer the man and his love for her. Why? Because it seems that men are just after the benefits, and women only want to be truly loved.

Society and Steve Harvey do have a common argument with Scripture: Men and women have needs. However, Scriptures lays it down differently.

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his BENEFITS (Psalm 103:2).

           1)   Forgives all your sins (verse 3)

           2)   Heals all your diseases (verse 3)

           3)   Redeems your life from the pit (verse 4)

           4)   Crowns you with love and compassion (verse 4)

           5)   Satisfies your desires with good things (verse 5) 

           6)   Renews you like he renews the eagles (verse 5)

Since the Lord is your Creator and engineered every single intimate detail of your being, He knows what your major needs in life are. He, through His constant love and sacrifice, has given you the gift of salvation along with a benefit package. He understands the number one need you have in life: Forgiveness of sins. But he doesn’t just want to cleanse you, He wants to heal you, deliver you, love you with the love you have ALWAYS been looking for in a relationship, satisfy the desires of your heart, and give you a fresh new start.

So… Today, go on and claim the gift of salvation along with the benefit package the heavens have in store for you. Because it is TODAY that God wants to start to transform your life. Today He wants to give you the benefits with no strings attached. It is today that He wants to give you life, and give it to you abundantly (John 10:10).

Blessings!

Love Breaks All Barriers

Love Breaks All Barriers

Steve likes Samantha. But Samantha is in love with Jeremy. However Jeremy is infatuated with Sophie, on the other hand Sophie only has eyes for Steve.  It’s a complicated world we live in right? I am sure that this same thing has happened to you. You are attracted to someone but that someone simply doesn’t like you back because he/she likes someone else, yet you have someone around you that is willing to give the world for you.

The conversation between a young man and his friend who has been married for 15+ years went something like this, “I like her very much, you know? But I don’t think she likes me back. She is very beautiful, smart, sweet, happy, she knows what she wants, confident, and a godly woman. Every time she smiles I can feel my heart race a bit. I’m attracted to her very much, but I haven’t told her anything because I don’t think I have a chance.” The gentleman looked straight at the young man’s eyes, and with a smile, he said, “Son, love breaks all barriers.”

In our spiritual journey very often we find ourselves in similar situations. For God deeply desired to have a close relationship with you and me, he loved us so much, that He declared His love and made it public by sending His one and only Son. Yet many of us like, are in love, infatuated, and only have eyes for every one else but for God. And we simply ignore the awesome, great, indescribable, pure, true, and amazing love that He has for you and I.

“Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them.

Instead, they mingled among the pagans
and adopted their evil customs. They worshiped their idols, 
which led to their downfall. They even sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan they polluted the land with murder. They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,
and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight” (Psalm 106:35-39).

But you know what? “Even so, He pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries… because of His UNFAILING LOVE.”

I don’t know what customs you have adopted, what idols you are worshipping, what your downfalls are, and who you are begging for crumbs of love… But I do know this: He loves you with an unfailing love, and through this love He is willing to forgive your past, give you a fresh new life and the gift of salvation, and start the love relationship you have always been looking for.

Do you know why? Because Love Breaks All Barriers!

Blessings!

¡Toma Dos!

Después de escribir sobre un Dios de acción el pasado Lunes 4 de Febrero de madrugada, el telón del cielo se abrió, el director de la vida comandó, “luces!”, la luz del alba resplandeció los verdes campos de Mayagüez, y, aunque lo ignoraba, la escena uno de mi vida en esta película de acción empezó desde muy temprano esa mañana.

“¡Cámara, acción!”

Yendo al centro del pueblo en mi carro, observo que la aguja de la temperatura se encuentra sobrepasando la línea roja. Me estaciono en el estacionamiento de Burger King, me doy cuenta que el ventilador del radiador no está funcionando, y algo frustrado expreso una queja ante el Señor. Un joven de repente se me acerca, reconozco que es un deambulante, y antes que me pida dinero simplemente con un disgusto le digo que no tengo. El joven humildemente se da la vuelta, y prosigue su camino.

El director tras las cámaras del universo pega un grito en el tercer cielo y proclama con el alta voz, “¡¡¡Corte!!!”

“No, no, no, no, no! Así no, Sergio.” Él, se me acerca y me susurra al oído: “Vamos a tratar esto de nuevo.”

“¡Toma dos!”

El mecánico me dice por teléfono que no puede venir a donde estoy, me aconseja que espere unos 30 minutos, y que después lleve el carro a donde esta el. Así que decido entrar al restaurante, pero noto que ya no es el joven que esta a la puerta de este, sino Jesús con cara de angustia y hambre. Lo invité a comer, su rostro se iluminó, y después de pedir su orden le pregunto, “¿Dime que pasó contigo?”

Su respuesta fue, “Muchas cosas.” Las palabras que pronunciaron sus labios en los próximos segundos sacudieron mi ser; “Pero siéntate conmigo para que te cuente…”

Con 25 años de edad, sin casa, pidiendo dinero para comer, y adicto a la mariguana y al “perico”, el joven trata de pretender que vive una vida feliz al expresar, “me siento bien con lo que hago. Estoy cómodo con mi vida.”

El joven, después de notar que yo le hablaba de El redentor, me recitó varios textos de la Biblia de memoria. Una vez más me di cuenta que no importa cuanto conocimiento tengamos de las escrituras, si no las ponemos en práctica, seguiremos siendo esclavos del enemigo.

“Señor, tú has sido nuestro refugio… Por la mañana sácianos con tu amor… Manifiesta a tus siervos tu obra y tu gloria a tus hijos” (Salmo 90:1,14,16).

En esta escena de mi vida Jesús me enseño tres lecciones.

1. Todo mundo hace de algo o de alguien un refugio. –Para el joven su refugio ha sido los vicios. ¿Y para ti?                                                                                                                                                
2.  Lo que más anhelamos en este mundo es amor incondicional. –El mar de lágrimas que el joven derramó fueron evidencia de esto cuando le hablé del amor absoluto de Dios. ¿Y tu? ¿Haz experimentado el amor transformador de Jesús?                                                                                  
3. El Señor anhela ser el director de cada escena de nuestra vida manifestando su poder y gloria en nosotros. –Jesús tocó ese corazón y se manifestó en el corazón de este joven. ¿Y en el tuyo?

Para con mi amigo y hermano, John Doe, todas las huestes celestiales, junto al director,  en coro exclamaron, “¡¡¡¡¡¡TOMA DOS!!!!!!!”

Así mismo el director te susurra en esta mañana, “vamos a tratar esto de nuevo… ¡TOMA DOS!”

¡Toma Uno!

¡Luces, Cámara, Acción!

“¡Dios, no guardes silencio! ¡No calles, Dios, ni te quedes quieto!” es el clamor de Asaf según el salmo 83:1. ¿Por qué? Porque el ser humano no cree en un Dios de teoría sino en un Dios de acción.

El día de ayer tuve mi primer experiencia colportando. No vendí nada de libros, pero tuve la oportunidad de conocer a la viuda de Sarepta. Bueno, mas bien era la viuda de Hormigueros (Puerto Rico) –1 Reyes 17:8–. Yo, como siervo de Dios, le llevé la palabra en diferente clase de literatura. Sus ojos brillaban de luz al contemplar los materiales, y pude observar su ansiedad por obtener ciertos libros. Pero al final me contesto con un, “No… Tengo que pensar en mi nena… No tengo dinero para esto…”

Por más que le afirmé que no he visto justo desamparado ni su simiente que mendigue pan, ella decidió aferrarse a lo poco que tenía y no seguir el ejemplo de su compañera la viuda de Sarepta.

Hoy en día todavía existen Anas en llanto, Jacobs en angustia, viudas de Sarepta sin comida, Davids en persecuciones, mujeres enfermas buscando tocar el manto de Jesús, ciegos bartimeos queriendo ver…¡Pero la diferencia entre estos angustiados modernos y los angustiados bíblicos no descansa en la teoría sino en la acción!

Ana derramó su corazón ante el Señor por un milagro, Jacob luchó con Dios y se aferró de El hasta que lo bendijo, la viuda de Sarepta tomó un paso de fe y dependió de Dios, David se armó de valor, y con tres piedrecitas y el Espíritu Santo derribó aquel gigante, la mujer de flujo peleó contra toda una masa de gente para llegar hacia Jesús, el ciego bartimeo no dejó que la multitud lo callase y exclamó con todos sus pulmones hacia el Mesías…

¿Y tu? ¿Quién eres? ¿Serás un David? ¿Una viuda de Sarepta? ¿Un ciego bartimeo? ¿Un paralitico de Betesda? ¿Un Moisés? ¿Un Noé? ¿Un Elías? ¿Un Jeremías? ¿hmmm?

Pero la pregunta mayor es… ¿Te quedaras estancando en la teoría? ¿O tomarás pasos de fe, valor, y seguridad ante el Señor como lo hicieron estos héroes Bíblicos?

Nuestro Dios es un Dios de acción. Las luces ya están prendidas. Las cámaras son todos los hombres del mundo y todas las huestes celestiales que nos observan desde el cielo. El director –Jesús. ¿Fecha de filmación? ¡Todos los días! Cada escena de tu vida El la desea dirigir. Y lo mas lindo es que cuando te equivoques el te anunciará, “Toma dos! Toma tres! Toma cuatro!” y así sucesivamente hasta que lo hagas a la perfección.

Así como tu deseas que El actúe en TU vida, así mismo El desea que TU actúes DEPENDIENDO de El. Por la única razón que “el reino de Dios no consiste en palabras, sino en poder” -1 Corintios 4:20-.

Que Dios te bendiga.