Faith Joy & Coffee

“I served the Lord with great humility and with tears”
(Acts 20:19).

• If we ask chemists what a tear is, they will tell us that it is an aquenous solution composed of sodium chlorate and other chemicals.
• If we ask Stoic, he will tell us it is a sign of weakness.
• For her part, a physiologist will answer that it is a lubricating liquid to keep the eyes moist.
• If we were to talk to Epicureans, they would tell us that it means nothing, and recommend for us to eat, drink, and enjoy life, because tomorrow we will die.

Weather we consult one or the other, the reality is that tears exist, and although not all express anguish or pain, many of them tell us about a wounded heart, a broken home, ill health, a resourse that is lacking, or the irreparable loss of a loved one.

Jesus wept as He saw humanity scattered like sheep without a shepherd. Paul also shed tears; in fact, he served the Lord with tears. Although he faced many personal difficulties, the apostle is not seen shedding tears over his own suffering. However, he does so because he is persecuted and faces strong opposition to the preaching of the gospel (Acts 20:19) and because he is worried about people who need to accept God’s message and be converted (v. 31).

Throughout his life, Paul gave himself up completely to serve the Lord and the church. And he wept, but not because of the wounds and contempt he had received as a servant and slave for Christ. He wept for his Jewish brethren who rejected salvation. He grieved for the stones they placed in the path of truth. He felt pain for all those who were lost. He was saddened by the harshness of human hearts. He himself would advise years later not to suffer as result of bad choises and actions, and he encouraged believers not to be ashamed of suffering for the cause of Christ but, rather, to give thanks, give glory to God, and move forward.

Let us follow Paul’s example: Preaching repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. He met with men at their homes and besought them with tears, declaring unto them the whole counsel of God.

Psalm 126:6 says:
“He who continually goes forth
weeping, bearing seed for sowing,
shall doubtless come again rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him.”

Are you shedding tears for the salvation
of those who suffer
and so that the gospel can reach everyone?

God bless you today!

“But Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms
around him. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘He’s alive..!’
The people took the young man home alive, and were greatly comforted’
(Acts 20:10-12).

His name means “fortunate” and he has gone down in history as the young man who fell asleep while Paul preached in Troas. He fell off a third-floor window and died. We are talking about Eutychus, who, “fortunately,” was resurrected.

Paul had spent a week in that city preaching the gospel. On the last night, along with the farewell dinner, he preached his last sermon before continuing his journey. On the top floor of the dwelling, which was full of people, the smoke from the candles that illuminated the room, the poor ventilation, and the prolongation of the meeting caused this boy (who would have been between ten and fourteen years old) to search out the cool breeze by sitting on the edge of the window.

At first glance, we could say that he was a distracted listener in an unbreathable armosphere, dealing with an intense and lenghty program. We might say that this series of factors led to Eutychus to fall from the window into the outer courtyard. We can imagine the confusion among those gathered in the hall: some trying to revive him and others trying to place blame.

Then Paul, interrupting his sermon, descends and falls upon him, just as Elijah had done with the widow’s son and Elisha with Shunammite’s child. The apostle to the Gentiles embraced him and said that he was alive, for he had resurrected. They brought the young man home and were all greatly comforted.

We could say that there are very many distracted Euthychuses, with “one foot inside and the other outside” the church, just as there are many adults who are indifferent, distant, and distracted toward the new generations and what they do. Perhaps our atmospheres are overloaded with candles and the smoke of protocols and ceremonies, without the good ventilation of participation and integration. And could it be that our speeches and programs are intense and lenghty, focused on processes and not people?

This is not the time to look for culprits. It is time to renew our commitment as adults, as parents, and as educators to the new generations. We cannot be distracted and let them hang between life and death on the edge of the window. We cannot offer an atmosphere that is toxic by the lack of coherence, as our disourses ar far removed from our facts.

“Young people need models, not critics” – John Wooden –

Paul is no longer here to resurrect our “Euthycuses,”
but we are “fortunate” because the Worker
of that miracle wants to repeat it.

He just needs to count on you as His instrument.

God bless you, and may He use you mightily as His vessel today….

“Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man
and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man
had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit,
he spoke and taught acurately the things of the Lord”
(Acts 18:24-25).

Apollos was a native of Alexandria. This city was a great cultural center and had one of the largest libraries in the ancient world. Apollos was a scholar; he was capable, strong, eloquent, and a brilliant speaker. He had been “educated,” a word from which derives “catechize,” meaning that in addition to having studied for himself, he had been taught by someone. He had accepted the teaching of John the Baptist about Jesus, and with the help of Aquila and Priscilla, his knowledge about God’s revelation, the ministry of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the role of the church was expanded. That led him to be even more efficient in teaching with diligence and thoroughness.

Apollos was very prepared and educated, but that did not mean that he had closed the doors to growing in knowledge. It is necessary to learn, unlearn, and relearn. No one knows so much that they cannot learn anything else, and no one is so ignorant that they cannot teach.

After expanding his knowledge and understanding of the truth, Apollos became the favorite preacher in Corinth – even above Paul in superlative comparison – but he never lost sight of the goal, focus, and mission.

Apollos was clear about his individual responsibility, but at the same time he knew that the team, the message, and the Originator of the message were above all else. It is not human power that ensures success; it is the union of the divine and the human, God’s blessings on our efforts.

A Paul may plant, and an Apollos may water, but it is God that giveth the increase. Man cannot do God’s part of the work. As a human agent he may cooperate with the divine intelligences, and in simplicity and meekness do his best, realizing that God is the great Master Workman.

Apollos did not lend himself to creating rivalry or instigating clashes. On the contrary, he sought to contribute, because “no one player is as good as the sum of a team.” Paul affirms that the one who plants and the one who waters are both necessary, but that growth comes only from God.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said so well,

“We must learn to live together as brothers
or persish together as fools.”

That is why I invite you today,
to set aside individualism
and to join forces for growth.

God bless you, let us grow together…

“Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. And he found
a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come
from Italy with his wife Priscilla”
(Acts 18:1-2).

Julian and Martha were married for sixty-eight years, always serving the Lord and the church together. Martha was the Community Services leader, and Julian was the head deacon and an evangelist preacher. When they had been married for fifty-six years, julian fell off a ladder while painting the church and suffered a ruptured spleen with abdominal bleeding. The situation was serious. His life was in danger. He was rushed to the hospital. The surgeon needed to do a CT scan, but the equipment had not been working for two weeks. However, such a scan was indispensable to confirm the diagnosis and remedy it.

During this time, Martha, the family, and the church were praying for Julian. God always manifests Himself when His children pray. Before the astonished hospital staff, the CT scanner worked for that one patient. Julian had surgery, his life was saved, and he continued serving the Lord alongside Martha until he rested on His promises. The complete surrender and total commitment of this faithful marriage dedicated to the Lord is exemplary.

In Acts 18 we find another marriage entirely surrendered to the cause of the gospel. Aquila and Priscilla met Paul on his second missionary journey. They had been expelled from Rome by a decree of Emperor Claudius against the Jews. In corinth, they started making tents for a living. They helped Paul in the work of making up tents, so that he would earn his livelihood; and he helped them in their spiritual and missionary lives. They offered their home in Corinth and, years later, in Rome, as a base for the church to grow. They were the two who led Apollos to conversion and a missionary commitment.

Aquila and Priscilla are never mentioned in the Bible separately. They are always together as a couple; whether at work or in the church, they complemented each other. In them we observe certain practical qualities: a strong communion with God and dedication to the mission, flexibility, the ability to establish lasting relationships, self-motivation, ability to work as a team, hospitality, wisdom, and responsibility.

Is there anything that should be strengthened, restored, or made new in your marriage? Remember that it is never too late.

The same God who created marriage,
the same One who performed His first miracle
as the wedding in Cana, can and wants to make a difference
in your marriage, whether current or future.

Remember the words Mary directed to the servants
at the wedding, in relation to Jesus:
“Do everything He tells you.”

God bless you, and may your spiritual ears be opened to hear the soft and gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit…

“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord
of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything,
since He gives to all life, breath, and all things”
 (Acts 17:24-25).

Athens was the capital of ancient Attica and modern Greece. Among the hills in the area were about three thousand statues, mostly dedicated to their idols and deities. It was this city that Paul, in front of philosophers and unbelievers, presented a defense of faith and the gospel. Acts 17:16-34 tells how he began by talking about the doctrine of God and Creation, and introduced the living God as Creator, Sovereign, and Father. He then continued with the doctrine of humankind, encouraging them to live a life not centered on themselves but on God. Finally, he concluded with the doctrine of the judgement and resurrection.

Paul met the people where they were, confronted Epicurean philosophy (which argued that the main goal in life was to avoid pain), and spoke to them in their own language. The Greeks did not deny the existence of God, but they thought He was too busy and too far away to take an interest in the daily actions of each created being. In turn, the Stoics taught self-control; the main objective was to train people to reach a place of indifference to both pleasure and pain. Moreover, the Athenians believed in some superior being, an unknown god, who acted on natural laws.

Such was the fervor of the Athenians  to please all their deities that there were some altars dedicated “to the unknown god,” in order to not fall into the sin of carelessness or forgetfulness. Then Paul surprises them by saying, “You have an unknown god. That god you worship without knowing is the God I know, praise, and declare to you” (Acts 17:23). That was why Paul was called the proclaimer of new gods: “With a tact born of devine love, he carefully drew their minds away from heathen deities, by revealing to them the true God, who was to them unknown” (Acts of the Apostles, p. 241).

What and how much do you know about God? Is God a “just in case” God in your life? In the days of the Protestant Reformation, Luther was walking down the street one day when he came across a person with a gun under his coat. “Why are you walking alone?” the attacker asked incredulously. And Luther said, “I am in the hands of God; He is my refuge and my strenght.”

For Paul and Luther, God was not an unkown god;
He was a present, active, and close God.
He was a Father and a Friend.

May God be in your life a known and recognized God.
It will make all difference.
Let us acknowledge Him in all our ways,
and let us live today and always in the hands of God.

God bless you… Seek Him, and you will find Him!

“These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched
the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so”
(Acts 17:11).

That terrorist attack almost completely destroyed the building and ended the lives of nearly a hundred people. A person approached the site with a group of volunteers to offer help to those who were removing debris, hoping to find someone alive and rescue them. There was a young man who was pacing back and forth. His wife was trapped under the rubble. He was distraught because thirteen hours had passed since the attack, and hope of rescue was fading.

On the other hand, the specialist and the team of rescuers worked diligently, non-stop and quickly; with responsibility, effort, and commitment. Several lifes were rescued because of that.

Paul visited believers of Berea and, when comparing them to those of Thessalonica, he said that Bereans were nobler. That is, they were different: they were loyal and generous; they received the message without prejudice; and they examined, delved deeper, researched, and compared on their own the words they heard from Paul with the Written Word.

The Bereans were instructed by the Word and strengthened by the Word. They studied the Scriptures devotedly, diligently, and with an intense desire to obtain more knowledge. The dictionary defines “diligence” as care, swiftness, sedulousness, hastle, earnestness, keeness, efficiency, and a relentless search until the goal is reached. “If, you intend that your, hope of salvation should rise to any strenght and solidity, study the Word of God diligently. The Christian is bred by the Word and he must be fed by it” – William Gurnall -.

In this age of superficiality, one thinks, reflects, and meditates less and less. To that end, like the Bereans, we must be persevering in the study of the Bible, and we must do so every day.

The study of the Bible demands our most diligent effort and persevering thought. As the miner digs for the golden treasure in the earth, so earnestly, must we seek for the treasure of God’s word.

Like those volunteers seeking life
in the depths of the rubble,
we need greater commitment
to the study of the Word.
Let us be diligent and persevering
in our study and in its application.

God bless you, and may He fill you with the spirit of perseverance today…

” ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said,
‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,
you and your household’ ”
(Acts 16:30-31).

The enemy wanted to silence the preachers’ voices and sent Paul and Silas to prison. The Lord could have prevented it, but He allowed it in order to fulfill purposes that went beyond the visible. The missionaries trusted because they knew that “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28).

The jailer had orders to keep these two special prisoners under maximum surveillance, and took all necessary precautions. Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned in the inner dungeon, a dark place lacking ventilation, and with stocks pressing down on their feet. Suddenly the unexpected happened: the earth shook! The jailer assumed that this was the end, so he drew his sword and decided to kill himself. After all, the only reason for his role was to keep prisoners safe, which meant to keep them in custody. He was safe if the prisoners were still in prison. When Paul told him that no one had escaped and that everyone was still there, he sensed that Someone else was behind those events, and then asked what he needed to be saved.

The jailer was totally confused. He had never before seen or heard prisoners filled with peace, singing and praising God. It was not logical. More than prisoners, they looked like angels.

It was clear that the enemy wanted to discourage the preachers, but even as prisoners they were still in good spirits, praying, singing, and testifying.

“Though the body is shut in, though the flesh is confined, all things are open to the spirit… The leg does not feel the chains when the mind is in the heavens,” said Tertullian.

The enemy set prisons and guards to deter them from preaching, and yet, the prison cells were opened and their families converted and baptized. An earthquake ended in a party, in which a new life was celebrated. “The face of the jailer, no long earlier the reflection of dispair, radiated the joy of the Lord as he realized that salvation had come to his house,” wrote M. Henry.

To be saved, all that was necessary was to believe. What does that really mean? To believe is to recognize our total inadequacy and to accept and trust in God’s sufficiency. It is to acknowledge our absolute unworthiness, while we accept the Lord’s complete worthiness to save us. It is to recognize that it is our independence that leads us to death, and that it is the permanent dependence on Jesus that brings us to life.

May this be our prayer today:
“Lord, I set aside my inadequacy, my unworthyness,
and my impossibility. Help me to rely permanently on You
and, no matter what circumstances I may face, to live 
a life of prayer and study of Your Word everyday.”

God bless you, just believe!

“At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defence.
‘You are out of your mind, Paul!’ he shouted. ‘Your great learning
is driving you insane.’ ‘I am not insane, most excellent Festus,’
Paul replied. ‘What I am saying is true and reasonable.’ ”
(Acts 26:24-25).

Many eminent figures, whether religious, political, or scientific, have been labeled as “madmen.” The great preacher and reformer John Wesley was branded as such. William Carey, the founder of modern missions, was treated as a crazy man in the English Parliament. Bacon, who has been called the greatest genius in exact sciences, was also called “mad,” and the “wise men” of Salamanca considered Christopher Columbus insane because of his claims about the spherical shape of planet Earth.

However, thousands of years earlier, a passionate appostle of Jesus Christ who stood before Festus giving his testimony of faith and conversion, and telling how the encounter with God had changed him forever and how the Risen One had given meaning to his life, was also typecast as “mad.”

That is the way it is. Those who accept Christ, experience a life change that cannot be explained in words. Thoughts, inclinations, tastes, their course in life…. everything changes. And they are labeled as crazy.

Festus thought that all of Paul’s learning, or knowledge, has caused him to go out of his mind. The dictionary defines madness as “deprivation of judgement or use of reason.” Was Paul deprived of his judgement or the use of his reason, or misguided in the testimony about his life? No. Rather, his encounter with Jesus caused an impact strong enough to allow him to reflect his arguments with conviction and assurance.

All had heard the wonders Paul had experienced; that was his favourite subject. Thus, stating that he was delivering words of truth, he went further, and urged King Agrippa himself to believe and accept the message of the prophets. Deeply affected, Agrippa for the moment lost sight of his surroundings and the dignity of his position. Counscious only of the truths which he had heard, seeing only the humble prisoner standing before him as God’s ambassador, he answered involuntarily, ‘Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.’

It turns out that this “madman” was not only an earthly prisoner who presented his defense, but also a heavenly ambassador fulfilling his mission.

There is a reason why Paul himself would say to the Corinthians that the message of the cross is ‘nonsense to those who are being lost,’ but ‘for those who are saved, it is God’s power’ (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Lord, give us more of these “madmen” like Paul!

God bless you, and may you experience God’s power in your life today…

“If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord,
come to my house and stay”
(Acts 16:15).

In Philippi there were not enough believers to organize a synagogue. Ten heads of household were needed for that to happen. That is why a few believers gathered in an open-air prayer group, near the river.

Lydia, originally from Thyatira, was a seller of purple. Purple fabrics were rare and expensive; hence, they were used by the aristocracy and the wealthy. It was an extremely lucrative business. Lydia’s house was very spacious, with enough room to house believers and shelter a nascent church. Before opening her house to the spread of the gospel, she opened her heart to the message and got baptized. Lydia asked that both God and the message would remain in her home, in her family… and in her life.

The Lord is not interseted in merely passing by our homes or our lives, and it is of no use to us either; we need Him to stay, we need Him to lodge with us forever.

Meanwhile, a young slave girl, who had a spirit of divination and had become a great source of profit for her owners, came out to meet Paul with scandalous shrieks, which people regarded as divine oracles. The owners of this slave, taking advantage of this, were exploiting her for their own benefit. The girl posed an obstacle to the missionary path of the apostles. Despite being possessed by the devil, she shouted encouraging the people to follow the apostolic teaching presented by the servants of the Almighty, a God infinitely superior to Zeus, their supreme god. (see Acts 16:17)

The servants of God, in the name of the Almighty, set that woman free from the power of the devil, opening a new life for her. This generated a blessing for the woman, but also strong opposition to the missionaries; because it affected not only the business of her owners, but also those of God’s enemy himself.

For God there are no firsts or lasts. Both for the wealthy businesswoman as for the young slave, there were the same offers and opportunities for salvation – and the same sting for the hosts of evil as well.

“By the efforts of satan to destroy it, the ‘incorruptible’ seed of the word of God, ‘which liveth and abideth forever’ (1 Pet. 1:23), is sown in the hearts of men; through the reproach and persecution of His children the name of Christ is magnified and souls are saved”. 
– Ellen G. White –

“Only a living thing can go against the stream” 
– Gilbert Chesterson –

There is no persecution or persecutor that can overcome
the incorruptible seed or the saints of the Lord.

Renew your commitment to faith in Jesus and His Word today.
Don’t just pass by; Stay with Him!

God bless you, and may you experience God’s wonderful grace and mercy today…