Faith Joy & Coffee

“And the God of peace will crush satan under your feet shortly”
(Romans 16:20).

Crushing is flattening, distorting, or bursting something because of a very large weight or pressure that is placed on it. It also means defeating someone in a fight, argument, or confrontation.

Paul said that this crushing will take place soon, and that it will be the last battle of this conflict against evil and its ultimate defeat. The one to be crushed will be satan himself, who is also called the evil one, the dragon, the ancient serpent, the tempter, the prince of this world, and the accuser of the brethren.

The enemy’s main goal is to thwart God’s sovereign plan and destroy His people. He knows that he has only a little time left, and like a starving lion, has come out to devour everyone – if possible, even the chosen ones (see Pet. 5:8; Matt. 24:24; Mar. 13:22).

The enemy blinds the minds of unbelievers and has the forces of evil under his control. He always seeks to seduce, tempt, destroy; he encourages indifference, unfaithfulness, and idolatry. However, in spite of his power, he is an enemy who has been defeated several times and definitively. Jesus overcame him in the wilderness, on the cross, and in the grave; and He can defeat him with you everytime you choose to be on His side.

The apostle went still further and said that satan will be under our feet. The One he hurts does not like war; He is the God of peace who will end this sad process of sin. How many times the archenemy trips the feet of unsuspecting and deceives the hearts of the innocent! Nevertheless, in the end, he will be crushed by those he afflicted. It will be God who crushes him under our feet, for the enemy was not able to defeat us, by God’s grace. If Jesus had yielded to even more temptation, then satan would have arisen in victory.

The struggle is still going on. Our adversary does not give us any rest. He harasses and besieges the children of God harshly. We cannot expect good treatment from him, but one piece of news strenghtens us: “There are angels who excel in strenght who will be with us in all our conflicts if we will only be faithful. Christ conquered satan in our behalf in the wilderness of temptation. He is mightier than satan, and He will shortly bruise him under our feet” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 526).

The Lord promises to be at our side today.
May we always choose to be at His side,
knowing that the enemy trembles and flees
before the weakest soul
who seeks refuge in the mighty name of Jesus.

God bless you, you are victorious…

“For your obedience has become known to all”
(Romans 16:19).

Almost at the end of the letter to the Romans, the apostle to the Gentiles, the one who taught that we are saved by the grace of Christ received by faith, praised the believers because everyone had heard of their obedience. Thus, Paul rejoiced because of their obedience, that is, their submissiveness to receive the faith; and he also rejoied because that obedience was well-known: it testified of their faith.

There are several types of obedience. We talk about the obedience of a child; of solidary, sociological, voluntary, and “dutiful” obedience; of obedience as self-discipline; or of bind, forced, and religious obedience, which arises as a result of accepting divine regulations for life. This religious obedience has often been taken to extremes – on the one hand, thinking that obedience is what allows us to win God’s favor and our salvation, and on the other, that it is unneccessary as it is impossible.

Obedience to God is a supreme duty and is a consequence of recognizing Him as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. It is always a positive response to God’s love and the gospel; it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that acts in life. It must be heartfelt and permanent.

We do not obtain salvation through obedience, but by grace.
“Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God,
trusts God; and he that trusts God, obeys God. He that is without faith
is without works; and he that is without works is without faith.
Do not oppose faith and good works to one another,
for there is a blessed relationship between them,
and if you abound in obedience your faith shall grow exceedingly”
(Charles Spurgeon).

Obedience is the true test of discipleship; it is a royal service offered out of love, and it is through that love that we keep the divine commandments. Faith does not exempt us from obedience; on the contrary, it is faith that makes us partakers of Christ’s grace and empowers us to obey.

Salvation is God’s free gift that we receive by faith: “Here is the tru test. If we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions, will be in harmony with the will of God as expressed in the precepts of His Holy Law” (Steps to Christ, p. 61).

It is by walking continually with the Lord that we become like Him.
The more we contemplate Him, the more we resemble Him.
“Lord, may You be well known, so that there will be less of me
and more of You that is seen. Amen.”

May the Lord bless you, abide in Him, so He will abide in you…

“That you may with one mind and one mounth glorify
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”
(Romans 15:6).

The objective of unity is to lead us to praise, worship, and mission. The result of living to please ourselves is division and confrontation. When we act in agreement out of lovefor God, united by His sacrifice and committed to His mission, we glorify Him. That is the same thing Jesus taught in John 17 and the early Christian church lived, as recorded in Acts 2.

We are not the purpose of unity; the Lord is the foundation, the way, and the goal. It is not about grouping together to feel comfortable, safe, and strong, but glorifying God as faithful witnesses, as Jesus said, so that the world may know and believe (see John 17:21).

Unity is a mutual acceptance with the same feeling, purpose, and direction. José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti enjoyed singing together. “We are totally focused on giving our hearts to music, we cannot be rivals if we make music together,” they said.

We are not rivals if we do mission together.

Since Edmuund Hillary conquered the summit of Everest in 1953, some two hundred mountaineers have died in their attempts to reach the summit. “The practice of climbing mountains is not for the faint of heart” (John Maxwell).

Between 1920 and 1952, seven expeditions tried to conquer Everest. Tenzing Norgay was on six of those expeditions. All of them failed. However, in 1953, Tenzing embarked on his seventh expedition to the top of Everest with a British group. For each level the climbers reached, a higher degree of unity was needed. Some went ahead, making steps and securing the ropes.

On May 29, 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary achieved what no one had achieved: standing on the highest peak in the world! Could they have done it alone? NO! Without the help of a great team? NO! Tenzing explained: “You don’t climb Everest in solitude or competition, you climb without selfishness and in unity. As the challenge grows, the need for teamwork increases. That’s the law of Mount Everest.”

“In their efforts to advance the work all will manifest that oneness of sentiment and practice which reveals that they are God’s witnesses, that they love one another. To a world that is broken up by discord and strife, their love and unity will testify to their connection with heaven. It is the convincing evidence of the divine character of their mission.” (Testimony Treasures, vol. 3, p. 156).

Our conquest is heaven, certainly a much higher peak than Everest’s.
Let us live in unity to glorify God and establish His kingdom.
Let us all go together because, just as with the summit of Everest,
you will not get there alone – you will be accompanied.

God bless you, let’s make heaven crowded…

“For everything that was written in the past was written
to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures
and the encouragement they provide we might have hope”
(Romans 15:4).

The Author of the Word accompanies us through the writings so that we might have hope. Patience and perseverance are indispensable. Patience is not only a passive resignation; it is also an active virtue, a courageous perseverance and persistence that is not moved by fear of evil or danger.

The term “perseverance” means “constancy” and “tenacity, ” and refers to the ability to begin and continue resolutely despite difficulties and impediments. Someone is persevering when strives to reach a goal at all costs.

“The effective way to hit the nail once is to hit the horseshoe
a hundred times” (Miguel de Unamuno).
“Permanence, perseverance, and persistence despite all obstacles,
discouragement, and impossibility are what distinguish
the strong soul from the weak” (Thomas Carlyle).

Thomas Alva Edison was the inventor of the electric light bulb. We cannot deny that he had a brilliant mind, to the point that he patented more than 1,300 inventions, including the telegraph, the carbon microphone, the nickle-iron battery, the mimeograph machine, and the Dictaphone. However, nothing was easy for him. He needed a lot of patience and perseverance. At the age of eight, he began school, and only three months later, his mother had to take him out as he was considered unproductive and having a certain degree of mental delay. At the age of twelve, he began working as a newspaper salesman. Edison tested at least three hundred theories to develop an effecient incandescent lamp.

The scientist tried hundreds upon hundreds of other materials to create the filament, including the fibres of about six thousand different plants. Perseverance had its reward in 1880, when he obtained a sixteen-watt high-strenght incandescent lamp which lasted up to 1,500 hours. When he told the world the process he had used to achieve it, he said,

“It was not a thousand failed attempts; it was an invention of a thousand steps.”

Jesus Himself showed us the way with His own life, for only “he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13).

“The elements of character that make a man successful and honored among men
– the irrepressibe desire for some greater good, the indomitable will,
the strenuous exertion, the untiring perseverance – will not be
crushed out. By the grace of God they will be directed to objects
as much higher than mere selfish and temporal interests as the heavens
are higher than the earth” (Counsels to Parents, and Students, p. 21).

God bless you, be perserverant!

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good,
leading to edification”
(Romans 15:2).

In Romans 15, Paul continued to give practical advice. The apostle encouraged those who are experienced in the faith to support beginners and the weak because the Christian life is not a search for one’s own self-satisfaction. It is necessary to think of others, to advise, and to lead by precept and example, living in obedience to God.

Paul shows himself as someone who planned, but who submitted his plans to divine will. Planning is human, but execution comes from the Lord. God’s will is clearly manifested in Scripture. Therefore, the more we read, the more we understand and the better we know God’s will for us. Complete peace is only the result of God’s presence in our lives.

To please means to establish a positive relationship of peace that makes the other person feel good; it is not pleasing just for the sake of pleasing. To please the other means to stop insisting on your rights and desires and subordinate them to the welfare of your brothers and sister, including those who are weak or prejudiced. This attitude is intentional: it is to benefit them spiritually and nurture them to their Christian growth and maturity. Paul did not mean that principles or the truth were to be watered down in order to please others. The model of service and kindness is our own Lord: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).

Certain elements are basic to building the body:

Breathing. Air that lacks enough oxigen can lead to drowsiness, suffocation, or death. In the spiritual sense, prayer is as essential as oxigen because “prayer is the breath of the soul. It is the secret of spiritual power. No other means of grace can be substituted and the health of the soul be preserved” (Messages to Young People, p. 249).

Nourishment. We need to feed ourselves well every day. We obtain the nourishments that maintain a healthy life from a balanced diet; likewise, good daily spiritual food is indispensable. The prophet Jeremiah said, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jer. 15:16). Studying the Bible, reading the morning devotions, attending Bible studies, and reading books constitute essential daily nourishment.

Exercise. If we do not exercise, our bodies will atrophy. Similarly, if we do not do missionary exercise, we will lose our spiritual strenght.

We need to mature and grow, to leave behind
the childish selfishness that wants everything for itself,
so we can live in faithfulness,
in service to God and to others.
Pray always, study the Word daily, and do missionary exercise…
everyday! That saves others and also ourselves.

God bless you, be filled with the spirit of servitude…

“Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace
and the things by which one may edify another”
(Romans 14:19).

Paul placed believers who have more experience in the faith, and are therefore stronger, at a higher level of responsibility than those who are new or weak in faith. Believers should not despise or condemn one another; they should not judge others or lead them to error. They have to help them mature and grow, even though individual responsibility cannot be avoided or replaced. Everyone must have their own conviction in the light of God’s Word.

In this chapter, Paul also emphasized personal accountability before the divine Court, declaring that “everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23). This clearly differentiates what is right – which depends on God’s will – from what is wrong, independently of our personal opinion.

A little girl was once asked what the conscience was. She replied, “It is something I have inside me that tells me that what my little brother is doing is wrong.” Beyond childish innocence, quite a few people think that every voice that comes from our conscience is correct. In reality, the conscience must be trained; each of us cannot be our own model or parameter of what is right.

If each person defined the number of centimeters in a meter, hoe many meters would we have? It is necessary to submit the conscience to the perfect will of God so that He can be the infallible reference.

Warren Wiersbe, a writer and professor of theology, said that the consciense can be comared to a window that allows the light of knowledge and the truth of God to enter. If we persist in our personal ideas, the window gets dirty and the light no longer comes in (see Tim. 1:3). Paul told Titus that the conscience can be corrupted; he told Timothy that it can be cauterized; he told the Hebrews that we can have an “evil conscience” (Tit. 1:15; 1Tim. 4:2; Heb. 10:22).

The conscience depends on the knowledge and light that enters
through the “window.” As believers study the Word of God,
they understand God’s will better and their consciences
become more sensitive to good and evil.
Luther bound his conscience to the Word of God.
A “good conscience” brings peace, strenght, courage, and security.
Lord, guide my conscience daily
according to the GPS of Your Word
so that my life may sail steadily to the safe harbor.

May our Almighty God bless you today, my dear friends…

“So then each of us shall give account of himself to God”
(Romans 14:12).

Every person is called to give account before the great Auditor according to the opportunities received and taken advantage of. It is true that it is possible to influence or be influenced, but decisions and accountability are personal matters.

Desmond Doss (1919-2006) was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor and one of only three with such a distinction. Doss entered military service on April 1, 1942, in Lee, Virginia (USA). He refused to kill an enemy soldier or bear arms because of his faith, although he was willing to serve in other ways. This earned him the mockery of his peers and the punishment of his superiors.

Doss served with his platoon in 1944 in Guam and the Philippines. In May 1945, in the Allied amphibious assault, a battalion of marines was sent to take a position on the Maeda Escarpment, which was about 350 feet high. After climbing that rocky wall, they were greeted by intense enemy fire. Doss saw his comrades fall, and instead of taking refuge, he managed to pull seventy-five wounded marines from that deadly death trap by dragging or carrying them one by one, and then taking them to the edge of the cliff, from which he lowered them with ropes. He continued to care for the wounded for several days, brushing off the danger that surrounded him until he was hit in the leg by a grenade.

As he was about to be evacuated on a strecher, Doss saw another wounded soldier and gave him his place. Then he was shot in the arm. Unable to stand, and without anyone who could help him, he took a rifle to splint his arm and crawled to the field hospital. Doss became a symbol of courage and determination even for his mockers.

In 1946, he contracted tuberculosis and lost a lung and five ribs. He became deaf in 1976 because of an overdose of antibiotics and was considered to have a one hundred-pervent disability. He regained his hearing after receiving an implant in 1988. Doss began a family in 1942, but he was widowed sometime later. He then formed a new family and died at the age of eighty-seven in his home in Alabama.

A famous writer once stated that “it requires many soldiers to form the rank and file of the army; yet its success depends upon the fidelity of every soldier”

Neighter the hostile and adverse environment,
nor his physical limitations were obstacles
for Doss to live his faith with courage and faithfulness
because each one has to – and will – give a personal account before the Lord.
There is no medal of honor for you or me,
but there is a crown of eternal life waiting for each one of us.

God bless you, let’s be couragious, let’s be the difference…

“For none of us lives for ourselves alone,
and none of us dies for ourselves alone”
(Romans 14:7).

We do not live for ourselves. We live for the Lord. And if that is not the case, we are not really living. It is simple to say, but complicated to apply.

There are two ways to look at life: through selfish lenses or through unselfish lenses.

Selfishness. The selfish approach is individualistic, materialistic, and transitory, and it generates tensions, fears, struggles, phobias, and hatred. Looking at life through dark glasses limits our views of the outside.

Selfishness is the germ of pride and ruin itself. It is an exaggerated love for ourselves. That was what ruined Lucifer. That feeling of being a superman leads neighter to serve nor help others.

Altruism. In contrast, Christ looked through other lenses, some that were very clear, that helped Him see others as a priority. That is why He said “whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:24).

Unselfishness means seeking the good of the others in a selfless way, even against one’s own interests. The unselfish attitude is spiritual, with an eternal perspective; therefore, it promotes trust, peace, faith, hope, and love.

Others propose an intermediate path, something like “selfish altruism.” They base it on the premise that the divine commandment, “You shall love your neighbor,” is impossible to fulfill. They change the idea of loving one’s neighbor to winning the love of one’s neighbor. This is self-interested altruism, camouflaged; in essence, it is pure selfishness. And this does not serve either the one who is offering or the one who receives. It does not change the heart, only the outward behavior; it works intermittently and, in the long run, does not remain.

Paul claimed the no one “lives for ourselves alone.” The commitment of gratitude is so great thet you live for others or you live for nothing. Living with others in mind is the evidence of Christ’s presence in our lives. He bought us for the infinite price of His blood, and He bought us to be His. “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8). It is not in isolated or intermittent occasions. The purpose of existence is not to live for ourselves, but to live through the Lord and for Him.

God has not created us to live in isolation, but to have fellowship with others. Building a relationship with God is also building bridges to others. Be sympathetic to others, look for ways to help invite people into your home to pray and study the Bible, and do acts of kindness without expecting anything in return.

Some look after themselves like a new coat kept in the closet,
unworn, saved who knows for what occasion.
They only live for themselves.
How sad it would be to get old with pockets that are full
and hands that never got tired from helping someone else.

May the Lord fill you with Love for one another, may the Lord bless you today…

“And do this knowing the time, that now it is high time
to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer
than when we first believed”
(Romans 13:11).

It is today, more than ever. Now is the time. Many do not pay enough attention to time. They believe they have it whenever they want. Some forget their commitments, while others always arrive late or do not arrive at all, since “tomorrow is another day.”

We often pile on “reasons” that are nothing but excuses, no matter how we disguise them. Cervantes said, “When we are thinking about when we should start, it is often too late to act.” The great inventor Albert Einstein said, “I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.” When Alexander the Great was asked what the secret of his conquests was, he replied, “Always be on time and never delay.”

Dwight Moody (1837-1899) was a famous evangelist and founder of the Moody Institude of Science, which highlighted God as creator and sustainer of the universe, showing how in every dispute between science and the Word, the Bible was finally right. At the beginning of his ministry, he used to end his sermons with the message: “Go home, think about the subject we studied, and figure out what to do with it.” He did that until that tragic and famous night of the Chicago Fire, one of the greatest tragedies of the nineteenth century in America.

In a clandestine gambling game, a group hidden in a stable lit by a lantern, a gambler named Lous M. Cohn knocked over the lamp and set the straw on fire. The flames spread very rapidly and within fourty-eight hours, destroyed eighteen thousand buildings; one hundred thousand people were left in poverty and three thousand died. Cohn confessed his responsibility and left the city of Chicago a generous donation and letter in his handwriting in which he confessed the truth shortly before his death at the age of eighty-nine.

Many who had  listened to Moody that night perished in the fire; from that day on, Moody never again offered even a day to think. It is here and now. If there is a decision to make, a habit to leave, a truth to live, or an action to take, it all needs to happen now.

The only heartbeat that belongs to us is beating right now.

“Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go;
but if you stop here, they will avail nothing.
Many will be lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians.
They do not come to the point of yielding the will of God.
They do not now choose to be Christians” (Steps to Christ, p. 47).
Lord, help me live like Your child right now.

May God bless you, be led by the Holy Spirit…