Faith Joy & Coffee

“As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach
the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’ “
(Romans: 10:15).

Once again, Paul relies om what is written in the Old Testament, quoting Isaiah 52:7 to teach us the value of envoy:

“How beautiful upon the mountains / are the feet of him who brings good news,
who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things,
who proclaims salvation, who says Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ “

In the time of Isaiah, the message produced joy because it announced freedom from Babylonian captivity, which prefigured the coming of the Messiah. When writing to the Romans, Paul referred to redemption and definitive freedom from the bondage of sin. The message is not just any message: it is the message of the good news of the gospel.

The story of Pastor John N. Andrews is truly extraordinary. He was the first missionary officially sent abroad by his church. He was the third president of the General Conference, and one who could read the Bible in seven languages and repeat the entire New Testament from memory. When Ellen G. White wrote to the first believers in Europe, she told them, “We have sent you the ablest man we had in our ranks.”

His young daughter Mary was a great help in the mission field in the preparation of the first French publication. Unfortunately, she contracted tuberculosis. Paster Andrews found the best medical care for her and stayed with his dying daughter night and day even when he was advised to be careful not to get infected himself. Mary died on  November 27, 1878 at the age of seventeen.

You can read the following in his diary: “Yesterday, at 4:30 in the morning, my dear daughter Mary passed away. This little girl helped me a lot in Europe, even when we went through moments of hardship. She faced everything with courage, patience, faith, and hope. What she suffered caused her to get sick with tuberculosis, which advanced quickly. She got sick when her help had become very valuable. Who will be there? Who can take her place?”

Andrews had lost his wife and daughter, but he continued to think with a heart of the sent. He continued to travel by sea and land and a few years later, he contracted tuberculosis himself. As the disease advanced and his body deteriorated, he asked for a pen and a piece of paper. Gathering his last energy, he wrote: “I leave $500 for the Mission in Europe.” Then he said, “Is there anything else I could do for God’s cause?” And while the pastors were praying, he passed away to his rest.

In Crespo, Argentina, in the museum of the first church in South America,
there is an inmense plaque that says:
“By His Spirit they began; we will finish.”
We need the same spirit of sacrifice and commitment
that Andrews and all of our pioneers had.
Are we the ones who will finish the mission
so that Jesus can come? If not us, then who?
If not now, then when?

God bless you all…

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”
(Romans 10:14-15).

Romans 10:13, which comes just before our text for today, is no doubt a powerful and emphatic statement by Paul: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It is followed by four questions that many people have tried to answer. To look for the answers, we will consider the life of a great preacher.

William Franklin Graham, Jr. made a great contribution to the fulfillment of the mission. Better known as Billy, he gave his heart to Jesus at the age of sixteen in an evangelistic campaign. That commitment stayed with him his whole life. He grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930s, which is why he learned the value of hard work; he also devoted himself intensely to reading.

In 1943, he married Ruth Bell, born in China to missionaries in that country. Her father, L. Nelson Bell, was a great surgeon at a Presbyterian hospital 310 miles from Shanghai. Ruth suffered in deciding between Billy and the missionary field and, at the end of April 1941, after much prayer, she understood that her mission would be beside Billy and his passion for evangelism.

They got married shortly after graduation. She dedicated het life to supporting her husband’s ministry and educating their children. She always helped Billy research and prepare his sermons and books. They had five children, nineteen grandchildren, and twenty-eight great-grandchildren. Franklin and Anne are also evangelists, following in the footsteps of the father.

Billy was the preacher who reached the greatest number of people in modern times. In his evangelizing crusades, which began in 1948, he reached a direct audience of 210 million people in 185 countries in stadiums, parks, and other places. According to reports from his team, from 1993 on, more than 2.5 million people had responded to his calls.

The Los Angeles crusade in 1949 made him become known internationally. The meeting lasted eight weeks, with crowds of attendees. In 1992, he announced that he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, which forced him to give up on his work. In 2005, he began his last crusade in New York. He died in 2018 at almost one hundred years of age.

His greatest legacy after sixty years of ministry is biblical preaching. He spoke the language of people and used no resource other than the Word. His great advice was this:

“Study the Bible to be wise, believe in the Bible to be saved,
follow its precepts to be holy.”
How will they be saved unless there is someone to preach to them?
Billy already did his part. What about you? What about me?

May the Lord fill you with the spirit of boldness today, to go out and preach the gospel. God bless you…

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart
that God had raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”
(Romans 10:9-10).

Everything that comes from the heart goes out through the mouth. Then do the words that come out of your mouth demonstrate the quality of your heart? Exactly! Paul said that he believed with his heart unto righteousness and confessed with his mouth unto salvation. It all starts in the heart.

Verena was seven years old when she left the kitchen angrily, slamming the door. It struck her grandmother Nilda, but not very hard. It was a simple matter that did not cause any major consequence, but the family wanted to teach Verna that she had to ask for forgiveness. After a lot of adult insistence, the girl stood in front of the grandmother. She wanted to open het mouth to speak, but it was very difficult. Finally, she said: “This is very difficult.”

Let us think about it. What is “difficult”? Was it speaking? No! It was difficult to say something that did not come from the heart. In this case, it had to do with asking for forgiveness. The problem is always within us.

According to Solomon, the heart is the place from which “spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). In the Bible, the heart represents the totality of the inner life of the individual: the mind, the emotions, the intellect, and the will.

Man looks on the outside, but God can look and read the heart. Luke explained it in the same way; he said that “a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).

What is confessed with the mouth is what is believed and received in the heart.

Admitting guilt without believing it is both ineffective and difficult, as much for the one receiving it as for the one who is giving it, because “a profession of Christ witout this deep love is mere talk, dry formality, and heavy drudgery” (Steps for Christ, p. 44).

“There must be a power working from within, a new life from above,
before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ.
His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul,
and attract it to God, to holiness” (ibid, p. 18).
Mario, one very intelligent teacher, once said,
“Always start with the hardest thing because that is what is worth the effort.”
Therefor, even if it is very difficult…
we are going to start where we need to: our hearts!

God bless you, open your hearts to Him, He will work wonders….

“For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God,
but not according to knowledge”
(Romans 10:2).

Zeal (not to be confused with jealousy) is a refocused, devoted, and enthusiastic desire for something. “Zeal is a neutral quality and can be the greatest of vices. What determines its character is the object to which it is addressed” (J. Murray).

God is jealous in the sense that He expects exclusive worship, for He always desires the welfare of His children and for nothing to arise among them that interrupts that blessing. Thus, the Bible describes zeal as the emotion that arises from violating that right to exclusivity in the same way that a spouse expects reciprocal faithfulness from the other. Paul told the Cotinthians that he was jealous of them with godly jealousy (2 Cor. 11:2); but he told the Romans that their zeal was “not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2).

Nevertheless, inappropiate and misdirected zeal leads to fanaticism. “Zeal is like fire: it is one of the best servants in the chimney, but it is one of the worst tyrants outside the chimney. Zeal within knowledge and wisdom, placed in the right place, is a chosen servant for Christ, but zeal that is not muzzled by wisdom and knowledge is the direct path to undoing everything and turning into hell” (Thomas Brooks).

Fanaticism is an exaggerated obsessive, intolerant, and uncompromising attitude. “Fanaticism is the son of a false zeal and superstition, the father of intolerance and persecution; it is very different from piety, although some people enjoy confusing them” (John Fletcher).

Fanatics considers themselves enlightened, examples, and authorities. Their impressions and opinions are absolute. They have everything to teach and nothing to learn. They feel that they should correct everyone and not be corrected by anyone.

We do not need fanatics, but there is one thing we do need: “It is earnest Christian zeal that is wanted – a zeal that will be manifested by doing something. All must now work for themselves, and when they have Jesus in their hearts they will confess Him to others. No more could a soul who possesses Christ be hindered from confessing Him than could the waters of Niagara be stopped from flowing over the falls” (Testimony Treasures, vol. 1, p. 236).

Through Niagara Falls can flow, on avarage, about 110 thousand cubic meters of water per minute, which would allow us to fill 2.5 million  one-liter bottles. It is easier to prevent these waters from falling than to stop someone who has Jesus from confessing Him.

Let us show Jesus, without fanaticism by speaking and acting humbly
according to the true knowledge of the Word.
May our prayer be: “Lord, make us zealous
for Your cause and cleanse it of all fanaticism.”

May God bless you and your family today….

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God
for Israel is that they may be saved”
(Romans 10:1).

A person or situation that has reached a limit with no solution is often called a “lost cause.” In Romans, Paul is referring to those who sought their own righteousness instead of God’s righteousness, who trusted in their own merits rather than Christ’s merits, who did things their way and not God’s way, and who followed their plans instead of God’s. However, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, he did not consider them to be a lost cause.

Then what did Paul do with these mistaken Jews? He did three things:

1. He treated them like brethren.
2. He had a fervent desire in his heart.
3. He prayed for their salvation.

All this confirms that God does not impose or exclude salvation, but offers it to all repeatedly and insistently, always seeking to save.

The apostle used the term “brethren” many times to represent affection, friendship, and love. He did not stop loving them because they had rejected him. On the contrary, he continued loving them, and the most fervent desire of his heart was their salvation.

In ancient Roman sculptures, the sculptor’s inexperienced hand could use his tool incorrectly and produce a flaw in the sculpture, which dishonest people filled in with wax. This deception solved the problem only momentarily, because when the sun warmed the wax, it melted. On the other hand, the honest sculptor who had done an honest job placed a sign that said in Latin: sine cera. This implied tha absence of an element that “masked” and concealed the defect. Some claim that this is the origin of the word “sincere.” Others maintain that it comes from a face that is free from wax, that is, free of make-up. Whatever the case may be, the truth is that sincere persons are just the way they say they are. They are truthful, do not hide anything, and always have pure motives.

“Many of the children of believing parents, children who have been trained in the Sabbath school, and are familiar with the Scriptures, have yet no interest in religion. Under the most powerful appeals of the Holy Spirit, they seem as unmoved as if chiseled out of stone. What can be done to break the spell which satan has cast upon these souls? I can see no help, except as parents shall present their children at the throne of grace, in humble, earnest, believing prayer, entreating the Lord to work with their efforts and the efforts of their ministers, until conviction and conversion shall be the result” (Pastorial Ministry, p. 279).

Today you may have a relative, friend, or child
who is rejecting the Lord and His message.
I would like to tell you that there is never a lost cause for God.
Do not give up, and follow Paul’s advice: always treat them
with affection and love, act with sincerity, and pray a lot.

God bless you, may He fill you with the Fruits of the Spirit…

“Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:
‘Though the number of children of Israel
be as sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved’ “
(Romans 9:27).

What is a remnant? technically, it is “what is left over,” the “remainder.” God has always had, throughout history, a remnant who have remained faithful to His Word. Isaiah fulfilled his ministry when Assyria was at its height and wiped out all peoples. The servant of the Lord clearly prophesised: “For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return” (Isa. 10:22).

The entire nation would not escape the divine punishment; only a remnant would be saved. The message of the remnant was clear ini the teachings and mission of Isaiah; God even commanded him to name one of his sons Shear-Jashub (meaning “a remnant will return”) in order to remember the promise.

Those who were part of the remnant had been sustained by God’s mercy and survived wars, captivity, plagues, and famines. In addition, they had endured and rejected idolatry, and were preserved by the Lord as His chosen, faithful, and missionary people.

Thus, in Romans 9:27, Paul applied the term “remnant” to he Jews of his days who were already Christians. In Romans 11:5; he spoke of those Christian Jews as “a remnant chosen by grace,” and the “remnant” of Revelation 12:17 is the body of God’s faithful, that is, “what is left” of this long line that survived the attacks of the enemy throughout the ages.

The couple, Jorge and Mirta always wanted to live in a dream place, a haven of peace, close to the city, where they could take young people and families to strenghten their faith and fidelity to God. They prayed a lot, got rid of many things, and by making a great sacrifice, acquired a property with very fertile and productive land, with cultivated fields of wheat, corn, and soybeans.

The name they gave the property was “The Remnant.” This would not only allow them to witness to the neighbors through the name, but also with their testimony and a great variety of spiritual activities, study of the Word, and praises to God.

God acquired the remnant as His property with His own blood in order to offer us His peace so that we may return to Him, turn our backs on sin, and live faithfully and loyally to Jesus, to His commandments, and to His mission.

“The Christian should be the happiest man in the world,
but he is the least happy with the world” (Spurgeon).
Always remember our precious identity: we are God’s remnant.
Today I renew my gratitude and commitment to strenghten daily
my communion with God and faithfully fulfill the mission.

God bless you…

“I will call them My people, who were not My people,
and her beloved, who were not beloved. And it shall come to pass
in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’
there they shall be called sons of the living God”
(Romans 9:25-26).

The name “Hosea” is an affectionate form of Joshua and means “God saved.” The prophet Hosea carried out his ministry for about twenty-five years during a time of intense national suffering. Israel, the northern kingdom, fell into the hands of the Assyrians. They were defeated and carried into captivity at two different times.

In that time of mourning and pain, Hosea wrote his book. It was not a time to feel sympathy and affection for foreigners, but the prophet spoke not from his own feelings of anguish, but through the revelation of the Lord. Paul quoted Hosea to show the believers of Rome that the gospel should reach everyone.

God had asked Hosea something strange:

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman
who is loved by a lover and is commiting adultery,
just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel,
who look to other gods’ ” (Hosea 3:1).

God asks him to love an unfaithful woman who did not deserve to be loved, just as He loves an unfaithful people who do not deserve to be loved. Gomer’s infidelity is a mirror of the nation’s infidelity and idolatry.

Hosea’s and Gomer’s first son was named Jezreel, which means “God scattered.” The second daughter was called “Lo-Ruhamah,” which means “no mercy,” to show suffering in exile. The third son was called Lo-Ammi, which means “not my people,” to show that the covenant between God and His people had been broken.

The metaphorical meaning of the three children is used to represent the restored marriage relationship. Before the restoration, Jezreel meant “God will scatter,” but then it meant “I will sow.” Before, Lo-Ruhamah meant “not pitied,” but then it meant “I will have mercy.” Before, Lo-Ammi meant “not my people,” but then it meant “you are my people.”

That is why Paul gave assurance that God would call those who were not His people “my people,” and those who were not love, “beloved,” in order to show all Christians that God was always interested in reaching everyone with the message of the gospel. Thus, those nations could also be part of God’s people and would be called “children of the living God” (Hos. 1:10; Rom. 9,26).

This was why the Son of God became the Son of man:
That all the children of humankind, without any discrimination,
might be called children of God.
“The Christian does not believe that God will love us because we are good,
but that God will make us good because He loves us” (C.S.Lewis).

You are a child of God, you are loved by the Almighty. God bless you…

“Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you
made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay,
from the same lump to make one vessel for honor
and another for dishonor?”
(Romans 9:20-21).

When the potter molds the clay and subjects it to an appropriate temperature, it is transformed into a valuable container. Paul used this illustrative and meaningful figure to establish the great difference between clay and human beings: we can resist change, preventing the Potter from achieving His final product.

Can we harmonize the issue of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility? How far does God’s power prevail in the face of human frailty and how far can a weak human being hinder divine action?

Paul said that we cannot argue with God; can the clay argue with the potter? Are there prefabricated clay vessels, ready to disagree, and vessels of mercy, ready to allow themselves to be shaped?

The same sun that melts the snow hardens the clay. The sun is the same, but the composition of the soil is different.

Both the sower and the seed are the same, but it is the receptivity and makeup of the soil that is important. Sometimes the seed does not penetrate the soil; other times, it penetrates and then is choked. Only in one is the purpose fulfilled and the best fruits produced (see Matt. 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20; Luke 8:11-15).

A parable says that a couple visited a store and found a valuable cup that really caught their attention. They had never seen such a fine product. To their surprise, the cup began to speak to them:

“I wasn’t always like this. I was only a lump of clay until my potter beat me, tossed me around, and shaped me. Then I shouted out in desperation, ‘Leave me alone!’ He smiled and said, ‘Hold on a little longer.’ Then he put me in an oven. Never have I felt such heat!”

“Then he let me cool down, but only enough to be brushed and painted. The paint was suffocating. I yelled at him, but he only said, ‘Hold on a litte longer.’ Once again, I was put in the oven, which was much hotter that time, and again, I yelled and wept, only to hear him say again, ‘Hold on a little longer.’ After some time on the shelf, my creator said to me, ‘Now you are a finished product. You are ehat I had in mind when I began to form you.’ ”

Perhaps there are things in your life that still need to be shaped.
The Potter has the best things in mind for you. He can and wants to do them,
but of course, He needs your consent. Do not hesitate
to surrender completely to Him; if you are going through difficulties,
listen to His voice: “Hold on a little longer.”

May the Lord bless you, just ‘Hold on a little longer…’

“As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved,
but Esau I have hated’ “
(Romans 9:13).

Is this really so? Can God love someone and hate another? Where are His love and justice? The dictionary defines “to hate” as “to dislike strongly.” Does that mean that God loves one person and strongly dislikes another? How can that be possible?

We need to keep in mind that the biblical expression does not in any way mean hatred (as malice or animosity), but choice (as distate or disapproval). For example, Jesus said that we have to hate our father and mother and even our own lives in order to follow Him. This does not really mean hating our parents or ourselves, but rather, following Him before anything else (see Luke 14:26; Matt. 10:37).

Now then, we still have a problem, because God chooses one and not another, right? Hence, it must be said that the text is not reffering to people, but to leaders and heads of the two groups. Paul explained the reason why God chose Jacob and rejected Esau, as well as the people who descended from them: Israel and Edom.

When God choose Israel as His people, He did not do so by virtue or hating other nations, but in order to use Israel as a channel of blessing for other people. Choice does not make God unjust, but rather, has the intention of extending the blessing to everyone.

No one is left out of the opportunities of salvation, but God chooses the instruments for doing so. Before, it was Israel, as long as it fulfilled His purpose. Today, it is the church which has to fulfill the objective.

Nevertheless, Exodus 9:12 says that it was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and it repeats it several times in the two chapters that follow. Why was it Pharaoh’s fault, then?

We have to remember here that what is recorded in the Bible is about what God does, as well as what He allows is attributed to Him. That is, He “produces” what He does not prevent or impede.

A person’s heart is hardened because he or she chooses to reject the opportunities received through the work of the Holy Spirit. Every opportunity of salvation that is rejected hardens the heart even more, and this make the individual responsible for his or her choice.

The rise of nations, their development, and their fall
very often seem to depend on their own will, effort, ambition, or whims,
but “in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold,
behind, above, and through all that play and counterplay of human interests
and power and passion, the agencies of all-merciful One,
silently, patiently, working out the counsels of His own will” (Education, p. 173).
Be assured today that you can feel loved, chosen by God,
confident, and strong to face the day, because the One
who holds the universe in His hands can also hold your life.

God bless you, you are loved!