Faith Joy & Coffee

“That I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ
for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh”
(Romans 9:2-3).

During the 56th Berlin International Film Festival, held in February 2006, Chicken a la Carte was chosen as best short film. The screenplay, based on real events, shows the journey of a man who goes around the streets and markets every night looking for food leftovers that have been thrown away.

The waste of one is the survival of another. He digs inside trash cans and chooses “a la carte” those portions that can still be classified as edible food. When he is done with the search and selection, he returns home. However, on the way, he shares around the neighborhood part of the “trophies” he has obtained. He is conscious of his needs and those of others. The others are also hungry, and there is food for them as well.

It causes deep sadness and is painful to think of te thousands upon thousands, mostly children, who are languishing, living at the end of their rope, and dying because they don’t have proper nourishment; and we should feel an even greater pain and sadness over those who live without spiritual Bread.

Paul feels sorrow and continual grief for his people, for his brothers and sisters, for his countrymen, and for the salvation of the lost. How much sorrow and grief do we feel for those who suffer without hope?

We are hungry people who have been fed and restored by the Bread of Life. We are privileged and responsible for sharing Him with our family, our neighbors, and all those within our reach.

We are moved by knowing that thousands die for lack of food, but what are we doing for the thousands that die or live senselessly because they lack Christ? Are we not the ones who are urged to arrive with the Bread before its too late?

Speaking about the Lord, Ellen G. White said, “What spiritual food He daily imparted as He presented the Bread of Life to thousands of hungry souls. His life was a living ministry of the Word. He was the Light of the world, pointing to men the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He was the food, the Bread of Life” (This Day with God, p. 283).

We need to eat the Bread of Life every day to strengthen
our communion, and faithfully share it to fulfill our mission.
The Jesus who said, “Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4),
is the same One who with all the authority of heaven and earth says to us,
“You give them something to eat” (Luke 9:13).

God bless you today…

“For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love:
neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers,
neither the present nor the future, neither the world above
nor the world below – there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able
to seperate us from the love of God which is ours
through Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Romans 8:38-39).

Certainty means assurance, certitude, conviction, persuasion, and evidence. We all need and want to feel secure in our lives about our health, our belongings, our resources, and our comings and goings. There are dozens of different insurances – life, property, and liability – that attempt to bring security in face of unforseen circumstances.

Romans 8 presents the best and fullest insurance policy. It begins by saying that there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ and ends by saying that nothing can separate us from the love of God; absolutely nothing in this life, in the universe, in time, below or above, nothing that could happen. What more could Paul have said to make us feel secure?

God offers us His righteousness; that is why we cannot be condemned. He offers us His Spirit; that is why we can overcome the flesh and live according to God. He offers us His glory; that is why we can overcome tribulation.

It is the love of the Father, who sent His Son and revealed His love to us; it is the love of the Son, who offered His life and intercedes for us; and it is the love of the Holy Spirit, which convinces us of sin, guides us to justice, truth, obedience, and testimony.

With full trust in the saving love of God, Paul emphasizes the divine plan to restore in mankind the image that was lost. This restoration and salvation comes from the One whose purpose to save is so powerful that nothing can make us lose that salvation, unless we reject it. Hence, the apostle considered it imperative for all of us, himself included, to proclaim our trust, gratitude, and obedience.

Our certainty is not based on the fragile and inconstant love we may have toward Him, but on the invariable and limitless love God has for us. Paul had all the answers, al the requirements, and all the assurances to declare, completely convinced, that absolutely nothing could separate him from that love.

The same Paul who says in Romans 7 that there is nothing good in him is the one who affirms that nothing can separate him from that love, and the same one who tells the Philippians and us:

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13),
Only God can take care of everyone at the same time.
He can take care of me and you as if we were the only ones
in His entire universe. It would be good to remember that
“What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become
is our gift to God” (Eleanor Powell).
May nothing separate us from that love.

God bless you…

“And we know that all things work together
for good to those who love God”
(Romans 8:28).

After Ellen G. White had been widowed, she went to serve God and the curch in Autralia. This happened toward the end of the nineteenth century, when the country was not the prosperous nation it is today and when there was no way to travel there quickly.

In Australia, Ellen suffered eleven months of malarial fevers and rheumatiod arthritis. She experienced the worst suffering of her life. She could not lift her feet without suffering great pain. The only part of her body that was not in pain was her right arm, from the elbow down. Her hips and lower spine hurt constantly. She could not lay down for more than two hours. She would drag herself to a similar bed to change positions, and that is how she spent her nights. The doctors told her she would never walk again.

At the beginning of her suffering and disability she felt that she could not withstand it, but not long later she was able to understand that affliction was part of God’s plan. She remembered that the Lord had never failed her. Then she prayed fervently and noted the sweetness of the comfort found in God’s promises.

How could she overcome everything? “My Saviour seemed to be close beside me. I felt His sacred presence in my heart, and I was thankful. These months of suffering were the happiest months of my life, because of the companionship of my Saviour. He was my hope and crown of rejoicing. I am so thankful that I had this experience, because I am better acquainted with my precious Lord and Saviour” (The Australian Years 1891 – 1900, vol. 4, p. 32).

Ellen suffered a lot in her life. However, she was a very productive and active woman, and from her suffering came a philosophy on suffering that has been a steady and solid support for millions. Her book The Ministry of Healing, along with hundreds of letters, could never have been written with such an ability to have great impact if her own experience had not provided the human framework to the basic divine principles on a most significant topic.

Many took courage when they saw her happiness and firm resolutions under intense adversity. The years spent in Australia were the most productive: she helped to establish a solid educational and evangelistic program, wrote the Desire of Ages, and more than a thousand letters. Her eighty-seven years of life, her writings, and her ministry demonstrate that with the Lord we can overcome. Her last writings also resonated with joy and Christian hope.

For Paul, for Ellen, and for each one of us, the promise is still current:
“We know that in all things God works for good
with those who love Him, those whom He has called
according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

May God bless you all… May you live a life according to His purpose…

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with the birth pangs
together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption,
the redemption of our body”
(Romans 8:22-23).

Paul says that creation groans with labor pains, and we and the Spirit also groan. Pain during labor casused by the contractions of muscles and pressure on the cervix. It can also be felt in the abdomen and the back. The feeling of pain can vary from woman to woman, but labor pain is considered, among others, one of the most painful, just like migraines, sinusitis, herpes zoster, kidney stones, toothaches, trigeminal neuralgia, and burns. In the case of the pain caused by labor, the joy of a new life overcomes the suffering and by far compensates it.

We live in a time of generalized discomfort. The whole creation, us included, cries out and wait for an intervention. Ellen G. White describes this clearly in these three passages.

“Storms rage with destructive violence. Harm comes to man abd beast abd property. Becasue men continue to transgress God’s law, He removes their defense. Famine, calamity by sea, and the pestilence that walketh at noonday, follow because men have forgotten their Creator. Sin, the blight of sin, defaces and mars our world, and agonized creation groans under the iniwuity of the inhabitants thereof” (Manuscript Releases, vol 2, p. 308).
“Everything in the world is in agitation. The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, and calamity follows calamity by sea and by land. There are tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, murders of every grade” (Desire of Ages, p. 636).
“Satan sees that his time is short. He has set all his agencies at work that men may be deceived, deluded, occupied and entranced, until the day of probation shall be ended, and the door of mercy be forever shut” (ibid).

Meanwhile, the Spirit uses everything in its power to help us understand the times in which we live and act with faithfulness, so that the labor pains will end and we can see the birth of eternal life.

When “the whole creation groans” as one, the heart of the Father groans
because He identifies with us. In order to destroy sin and its consequences,
He gave His beloved Son and allows us, through cooperation with Him,
to end this miserable situation.

God bless you, remember that all things work for good for those who love Him…

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us”
(Romans 8:18).

Paul contrasts the present with the future: afflictions today with glory tomorrow, the temporal before the eternal. Truthfully, it is an incomparable and un-contrastable contrast. The apostle had already suffered much, and much more suffering awaited him for the cause of the gospel until he was martyred.

Likewise, by experience and by revelation, he knows for certain and assures us that afflictions are light and passing, while glory is infinite and eternal. It is as if Paul had an old scale with two plates: in one of them he places present suffering and in the other eternal glory.

Suffering is cause by sin. We suffer in a direct way when we reap what we sow, or indirectly bacause of the existence of evil in the world. We suffer because of illness, disappointment, lack of employment, lack of resources, injustice, frustrations, loneliness, guilt, hate, and all other sorrows of the present time.

We can also suffer because of the gospel, as we live out and share our faith, and as we give testimony to the truth and the Lord. Even amid so much pain, we need to remember that it is temporary and has a limit.

God’s glory is the consequence of faith. It is limitless and eternal. But, is it only available during eternity? Can we have a foretaste of that glory on this earth? It is possible to have some present glory to contrast with the many afflictions. If all our present days are filled with afflictions, compared to the never-ending days of glory, it is still worth it. The amount and severity of our present suffering does not matter – it is insignificant comapred to eternal glory. However, along with hope for tomorrow I need strenght for today.

The glory that will soon be revealed includes the brilliant splendor of Christ’s return. The living believers will be transformed, and the believers that are resting will be resurrected, to receive God’s glory and life forever. The unjust that are living will not be able to withstand the splendor of Jesus’s return. The righteous are translated to heaven and then returned to earth, and will share in God’s glory for eternity.

Experiencing the peace, forgiveness, comfort, and hope
and seeing God’s miracles as lives are changed in the fulfillment
of the mission, we have a foretaste of the coming glory.
Romans 8:19 says that we must wait for this manifestation
with “earnest expectation,” in other words, with our heads held high,
certain, confident, faithful, and committed because from His serene eternity
God is in control of all things.

God bless you, just trust in Him and you will see His glory…

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,
but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,
‘Abba, Father’ ”
(Romans 8:15).

“Abba” is an Aramaic expression used to indicate a close relationship between an earthly father and his children, which implies affection and intimacy. It literally means “dad” or “daddy.”

Therefore, by extension, “Abba” began to be used by Christians to talk about our Father who is in heaven. The first to apply it to God was Jesus Himself, when He said: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:6). Paul used it in hs Letters to the Romans and to the Galatians (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), to demonstrate that we are made children of God thanks to Christ’s sacrifice. 

What made this intimacy possible is the work of the Spirit, which guides us, and adopts us as children, giving us the right to be heirs and co-heirs with Christ. In this way, Paul contrasts servitude or slavery with the freedom of the children of God. That is to say, the Spirit who guides us assures us that we are accepted as sons and daughters.

We are not slaves, but sons and daughters (Gal. 4:7). It is the acceptance of this adoption that produces affection, trust, gratitude, and commitment, to the point of saying “Abba, Father.”

To adopt is to welcome a stranger and treat them as your own child, and Paul applies the term Christians because Christ treats them in this manner, although by nature they were “alienated and enemies” (Col. 1:21).

In legal terms, adoption is understood as the act by which family connection is made between one or more people in a maternal or paternal relationship. In its origins, in Roman adoption there existed something called adoptio plena, which included the transfer of parental authority, and adoptio minus plena, which established a relationship between adopter and the adoptee in which rights could be established or not; in othe words, they were not obligatory.

A child was being harassed by his schoolmates for being adopted. However, he did not feel inferior or discriminated by this. So, he asked them, “Are you not adopted? How sad! Don’t worry, someone will adopt you!” He felt such privilege that this self-esteem was high; he felt valued and wanted; he felt belonged; and he had a last name, a family, an education, a present, a future, and an inheritance.

It was love that moved our Father which is in heaven
to adopt is fully, with all current and eternal rights.
And it is love that should lead us to say both with words
and with a consequential life: “Abba, Father… Thank You, Daddy!”

God bless you, You are a child of God!

“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).

What does it mean to walk according to the flesh? The word “flesh” refers to the human body and illustrates the exterior. It can also represent relatives and the community. In a moral sense, it means what is opposed to or against God, centered around what is material and impermanent.

Man considers himself self-sufficient and believes that they can save themselves. For Paul, “flesh” is a power that drives human beings, contrary to the Spirit of God. Walking in the flesh is totally opposed to walking in the Spirit.

That which is “of the flesh” will have no part in eternity with God, but the body,
which will be transformed incorruptible and immortal, will.

What does it imply to walk in the Spirit? It is walking with God, just like Enoch did (Gen. 5:22-24). It is being guided by the Spirit, who leads us to all truth, teaches us all things, glorifies and reveals Christ, and leads us to through process of salvation (John 16:13).

The Spirit convinces us of sin, allowing us to believe in Jesus; convinces us of righteousness, enabling us to live the Christian live; and convinces us of the judgment, giving us the certainty of salvation and an opportunity to have a new life with “love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control” (John 16:7-9; Gal. 5:22-23). Also, it etches the law of God in our heart and gives us the assurance of being called the children of God: dependent, obedient, faithful, and missionanry-minded (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; 10:16; John 1:11-13; 1 John 13:1).

The flesh and the Spirit are two natures that wrestle among themselves to dominate and direct our life, like a ship with two motors that propel in opposite directions. The motor to which we give the most fuel will determine our direction.

We are born with the hereditary disease of sin, with an inclination toward evil (ps. 51:5; Rom. 7:18). The battle is permanent, and the victory will be as well! We must provide the daily appropiate nutrition and fuel so the carnal nature will die, and we can keep the spiritual nature alive forever.

Feed your spirit instead of your flesh

How can we do this? Pastor Mark Finley highlights three practical things that can make your devotional life deeper and more relevant.

1. Read together with prayer, talking interactively with God.
2. Read and meditate on the last scenes of Christ’s life, both in the Bible and in the writing of the Spirit of Prophecy.
3. Take a moment to share your personal devotion with someone else, along with an application for daily life.

The gospel offers us the certainty that Christ did not come
to condemn sinners but to condemn sin.

May our Awesome God bless you today…

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body
that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me
through Jesus Christ our Lord!
(Romans 7:24-25).

What is a wretched person? It is someone miserable, someone without values, a perverse person, a waste, someone considered trash. These are strong definitions, but this is the reality we must face.

Trash, for example, is part of our history. The Greeks and the Romans developed the habit of burying their leftovers. In the Middle Ages, trash that had accumulated caused epidemics. The Industrial Revolution multiplied production of both materials and consumption. The deterioration of the ozone layer, global warming, air and waste pollution, the uncontrolled increase in consumption of all kinds of resources, and all the use of non-biodegradable products along with electronic and nuclear materials are all causing chaos on the planet, to the point that this topic has become one of the greatest world-wide concerns of our time.

Every year, we generate between seven and ten billion tons of trash on our planet. In the more developed countries, the average daily production of trash exceeds six pounds per person. Countries take three actions to diminish the problem of trash: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The 3R’s put into practice have a lot of benifits, among them the reductionof pollution, safeguarding of health and the prolonging of life.

To think that what had just come from the hands of the Creator was perfect: everything was “very good” (Gen. 1:31) and amazing. Unfortunately, sin infiltrated itself into the original product. Human beings choose to degrade themselves and decompose, which causes frustration, pain, and death.

During the days of the apostle Paul, a sinner was punished by being chained to the evidence of their sin, in other words, to a cadaver. Applying this to spiritual life, Paul says that he is wretched, because no one could save him from that body of death. Joyfully, the same Spirit that allowed him to recognize his situation led him to the remedy: Jesus Christ, and His hope.

God’s plan also includes the 3R’s.
He wants to reduce to nothing the works of the devil.
He wants to reuse this reidue that is our life as a channel to redistribute tha water of life.
He wants to recycle the earth, to end the planetary chaos and the trash of sin, transforming the mortal into the immortal and the corrupt into the incorruptible (1 Cor. 15:51-53). It will be a complete and definitive recycling.

We are wretched, but reached by God, transformed
and used by Him, to put an end to the waste of sin and enjoy eternity.
Thank you, Lord, for redeeming us and reusing us
as messengers of hope, so that soon
we can be recycled for Your kingdom!

God bless you, allow Him to work through you…

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Romans 6:23).

Sin is voluntary separation from the Lord; and grace is a gift which is selfless and undeserved. Below we compare what sin has taken from us, and what grace can resotore.

Sin deprived us of the tree of life. Obedience to the divine mandate was not only a test of love and loyalty, but of the formation of a character dependant on God.

Grace restores our right to the tree of life; today as a promise, but soon as a reality. This tree is the symbol of eternal life which comes from the Fountain of life.

Sin placed us under a death sentance. The final destiny of a sinner is the grave, after travelling a path of pain and suffering.

Grace gives us the victory over death. God’s gift is offering us life, and life abundantly (John 10:10), because “he who beleives in [Him], though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25).

Sin cast us out to earn our sustenance by our sweat and pain.

Grace provides us with the hidden manna. Christ is our Manna; He is our “bread of life” (John 6:48, 58; Rev. 2:17).

Sin stole our dominion from us. We went from being administrators of the world to satan’s slaves.

Grace gives us “power over the nations” (Rev. 2:26), because God restores our dignity. Today we are part of the Kingdom of Grace, and soon, when He returns, we will be part of the Kingdom of Glory, which “break in peaces and cosumes all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Dan. 2:44).

Sin left us naked, physically and spiritually. It took away our innocense and decency; it brought us guilt and shame.

Grace provides us with white robes that represent Christ’s righteousness, which is “accounted for [our] righteousness” (Rom. 4:3-6).

Sin drove us away from God’s presence. Adam and Eve hid, and we do the same thing. But, where could we possibly go?

Grace promises us that we will always be in His presence. The Lord looks for us, not to condemn us, but to give us another opportunity and assure us that one day we will live forever in His presence (2 Thess. 1:7-10).

Sin returns us to dust. Man was created from the dust of the earth and will return to it (Gen. 3:19; Job 10:9; 34:15; Eccl. 3:20).

Grace places us on the throne of God to be royalty together with Him (Rev. 5:10).

Thank you, Lord, for Your grace, which gives us
all these blessings for the present and eternity!

God bless you…