Faith Joy & Coffee

“And you He made alive, who were dead in the trespasses and sins”
– Ephesians 2:1 –

Ephesians 2 is a spectacular chapter; even more so remembering that it was written from prison. Without grumbling he wrote words of hope and encouragemennt. In this chapter, six profound truths highlight God’s love for us:

1. In the past, without God, we lived far from Him, and we were children of anger: hopeless and aimless in life. We were spiritually dead (vv. 2, 3, 5).
2. God has found us and given us life in Christ. He forgave our sins because of His immense love and not because of our merits (vv. 4, 5).
3. We are saved by grace, as a gift from God. Therefore, no one should believe that they have any merit in salvation (vv. 5-9).
4. Because we are saved, we must do the good deeds that God wants us to practice (v. 10).
5. We are no longer foreigners, but citizens of God’s kingdom, members of our heavenly Father’s family (vv. 11-19).
6. All this is only possible because Christ is our only sure Rock of Salvation (vv. 20-22).

Martin Luther is said to have walked through the dense German forests seeking peace, when a strong storm broke out, with lightning, winds, and torrential rain. Thinking he was going to die, he made a vow to God: “If You save me, I will become a priest.”

As he finished his prayer, the sky cleared. Fulfilling his promise, he entered the monastery and became a priest. He fasted, prayed, and whipped himself with whips. But he did not find peace.

One night he learned that the only path was Jesus. He read that God loves us and that He gave us His Son, and that if we confess our sins, He forgives us.

He had a terrible dream that night. Satan showed him a list of all his sins: lies, greed, deception, dishonesty, and anger. Then the devil said to him, “The Bible says that the wages of sin are death. That’s why you are condemned to death.”

Filled with guilt and anguish, Luther saw satan clutching a parchment with his hands. “In the name of Christ, move your hand,” cried Luther. As satan moved his hand, he read, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses Martin Luther of all sin.”

Like Paul, the Gentiles, and Luther, the enemy accuses us,
but no one needs to remain dead.
God is the only One who can organize a feast in a cementery
and resurrect us from death to an eternal life.

May you be cleansed today, by the precious blood of Christ, our Saviour. God bless you…

“And what is the exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe, according to the working
of His mighty power”
– Ephesians 1:19 –

Did you know that camels can kneel? It is said that travelers who use them in the desert make these animals kneel in order to load or unload their burdens. As travelers of life through this wilderness of sin, we would do very well to imitate the camels and kneel before our Divine Master so He can arrange our burdens and help us carry them, resting in His promises.

For this, we have prayer. Continuing with the list we made two days ago, we could state the following:

1. Prayer is essential in the conflict against the enemy. Paul knew that in our struggle against evil is against principalities, against powers, against dominions, and against evil spirits (see Eph. 6:12). He was convinced that believers need God’s supernatural armor to resist, as is described in Ephesians 6.
   Prayer is one of the fundamental pieces of that armor, and is essential for not giving up and moving forward. This is why he counsels the following in Ephesians 6:18: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perserverance and supplication for all saint.” Prayer is the most powerful spiritual weapon, and helps us overcome.
2. Prayer allows us to know God’s will. In Paul’s first recorded prayer, he already seeks to do what God asks: “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). This is an experience that we should all imitate. Prayer is not a fight with God so that His will can adapt to ours, but that ours is adapted to His. To pray is to discern, affirm, and participatein doing His will against the perverse influence of the devil’s power.
3. Prayer and the eternal. Being in contact with God elevates us to think about things in Heaven and not those of this world. The apostle places his focus on the eternal and not on the temporal, not fixing our eyes “on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Cor. 4:18).

Our personal spiritual life and mission can be as successful as Paul’s. To achieve that, it is necessary to renew our life of prayer and make it a priority.

You do not have to carry your burdens alone anymore.
Kneel now. Be a camel today.

God bless you…

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that you may know what is the hope of His calling,
what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”
– Ephesians 1:17-18 –

Paul prays from prison and, from there, asks for nothing material or personal. He prays for the brethren and the mission:

1. That they get to know God. This is the greatest and most elevated knowledge. The rejection of God’s knowledge has led the world to the corruption we currently suffer. Man is not interested in knowing God as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, let alone wanting to know Him as Father and Friend. The knowledge we need is not theoretical, but one that maintains a bond of contact and trust. We need a vital experience with God.
2. Let them know God’s calling. Paul always said that he was called by God’s grace to proclaim that grace to others. The call is not for grades, attributes, resumes, or experience. It is His grace. Lost, we had no hope. Now we have a living hope that strengthens us day by day. The hope of our calling is an active force in us, which leads us to purity, obedience and fidelity.
3. Let them know the riches of God. Here it is not addressing the riches of Christ, but we being part of God’s riches. It is amazing that God sees us like this. Because he does not look at our past but our future, he looks not at what men are but what they can become transformed by His grace.
4. Let them know the power of God. By declaring ourselves His inheritance, He has shown us His love and by promising a future, He has strengthened our hope. Thus, He grants us the fullness of His power to be victorious. Having wealth without strength is insufficient.

May today God strengthen your weak, trembling hand that extends with hope toward His riches. Do you feel unworthy? Take hold of His dignity. Do you feel guilty? Take His forgiveness. Feeling impure? Take His purity. Are you fragile? Take some of His power.

“The soul is of infinite value.
Its worth can be estimated only by the price
paid to ransom it. Calvary! Calvary!
Calvary! will explain the true value of the soul”
(Gospel Workers, p. 92).

May the Lord be with you…

“Therefore I also , after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you,
making mention of you in my prayers”
– Ephesians 1:15-16 –

Behind Paul’s tireless energy as an apostle, missionary, pastor, and theologian, there was an extraordinary life of prayer. Paul began his ministry by praying and ended it by praying. His Christian experience was essentially an act of paryer. For him prayer and mission always go together. Gabriel Cesano tells in this way in the November 2019, South American Spanish edition of a magazine:

1. Prayer as recognition of the Sovereign God. For Paul, it was impossible to conceive of any human activity separated from God, for “all things are from Him, for Him, and for Him (see Rom. 11:36).
2. Prayer as a response from the creature. For Paul, it established a permanent channel of communication with God.
3. Prayer as an action of thanksgiving for salvation. Paul feels so unworthy of salvation, because he considers himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15), that his life is a continuous prayer. “Pray without ceasing” he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
4. Prayer as an indispensable ally for service. For Paul, prayer was essential for evangelization. It is not the preacher, but God who supernaturally intervenes through the call of the Spirit and justifies those who believe. Paul asked for prayer so that God would open the doors for the gospel (2 Cor. 2:12). In the intercessory prayers the apostle requests of his congregations and leaders, the dominant theme is his concern for the mission.
5. The role of the mind during prayer. The apostle unites prayer with the knowledge of God and faith. Prayer arises from an intelligent or rational faith that is based on the certainty that God is not a stranger, but has revealed Himself in Creation, in history, in Christ, and in the Scriptures. Therefore, he counsels to “pray with the spirit,” but also “with the understanding” (1 Cor. 14:15).

In a certain place, the owner of a boat had two words written on his oars. In one oar it said “Pray” and in the other “Work.” One day, a passenger mocked his oars. “Working is enough,” he said. Then the boat owner started using only one oar. After circling without getting anywhere, the passenger understood the lesson.

Paul lived and taught how to live by rowing with both oars.
If we want to reach the safe harbor soon,
we need to both pray and work.
Do not go around in circles without getting anywhere.

Be blessed…

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard
the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed,
you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption
of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory”
– Ephesians 1:13-14 –

Paul invites the Ephesians to a new experience: by believing in Christ they are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

But what does it mean to be sealed? The stamp and signature guarantee the document and establish membership and ownership. The seal means we belong to God. He buys us in order to free us and we say that we are His property. It seems contradictory, but it is not, since complete freedom is only found in Him.

This seal also means safety and protection. The Holy Spirit remains with the believer forever. We may sadden Him, but He does not abandon us, He will always remain and act toward our salvation.

The seal also implies that the document is genuine and authentic. And in the Christian life, only the presence of the Spirit can make us spiritually authentic.

Redemption has three stages:

1. We were redeemed from the condemnation of sin by Christ’s death.
2. We are redeemed to the extent that we allow the Spirit to act in us and free us from the guilt and power of sin.
3. We will be redeemed from the presence of sin at Christ’s return, when we will see Him and be like Him.

Paul confirms that being sealed by the Holy Spirit is equivalent to a deposit, or guarantee, on our inheritance (that is, untill we come into possession of the aquired inheritance). Now, what is the “deposit” Paul mentions? Only Paul uses this word for both the Corinthians and the Ephesians. Legally, a deposit means a first payment, or a down payment of what will be received later. It is the guarentee of what we will receive and the deposit which guarantees our inheritance.

“The Spirit whom God has given them is for Christians the guarantee of their full future possession of salvation,” wrote Johannes Behm. This deposit is a symbol of our acceptance of God’s will, of love, belonging, and faithfulness forever. Thus, the seal of the Holy Spirit is the initial payment of our heavenly heritage; is the guarantee that, in due course, we will receive the inheritance in its entirely.

Soon Jesus will say, “Behold the purchase of My Blood!
For these I suffered, for these I died, that they might dwell
in My presence throughout eternal ages” (The Great Controversy, P. 671).

In Heaven we will praise and glorify God forever.
God bless you…

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace”
– Ephesians 1:7 –

How many blessings we receive thanks to Jesus Christ!

1. We are redeemed. To “redeem” means to buy something for a price and set it free. Millions of salves were bought and sold as possesions in the Roman Empire. A few did something that seemed illogical: they bought a slave to redeem or release them. That is what Jesus did for us. And he bought us with His blood, not gold or silver. Thus, he paid the price of the ransom and delivered us from the bondage of sin, from condemnation of the law, and the power of the enemy.
2. We are forgiven. On the day of atonement, the priest confessed the sins of the people over the living goat and took him into the wilderness to be lost. “To forgive” means “to send away.” The enemy brings our sins inside, to destroy us with guilt. God takes them outside to rebuild us with forgiveness. When Isaac asked the question “where is the Lamb,” Abraham’s answer was, “God will provide” (Genesis 22:7-8). This was fulfilled in John 1:29: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
3. We are educated. God’s plan, in place since before the foundation of the world, has been revealed to us. Not all who have lived before, or who live now understand the amazing nature of the divine plan. It is a sacred mystery which has been revealed in order to know God’s will. Sin separated us from God and man, because it separates all things; but Christ reconciles us and will bring us all together at the end of time. We are part of God’s eternal plan.
4. We are heirs. We are heirs in Christ, and will have inheritance upon His return.

Located in India, the Taj Mahal is considered one of the seven modern wonders of the world. But the most fascinating part is not in the design, its beauty, or riches, but in a story. It is a monument of love, built between 1631 and 1654 by the Mughal emperor Sha Jahan for his favorite wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died at thirty-eight years of age while giving birth to their fourteenth child. The monarch had promised her a palace of incomparable magnificence, but she passed away unexpectedly. However, the grieving husband continued forward. Today this palace is the tomb of this beloved woman, and contains an inscription that says, “To the memory of an everlasting love.”

The blessings of the Son redeem us, forgive us, instructs us,
and make us heirs. This truly true, incomparable, and enduring love.
Sin made our palace a tomb, but God transforms our tomb
into an eternal palace. Let us live gracefully and committed.

May the Lord guide, and be with you…

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places in Christ”
– Ephesians 1:3 –

How many blessings the Father bestows upon us by taking us our of the clutches of death and leading us to life!

1. We are chosen. Some misunderstand this, and consider that if the choice is God’s, we have no say in the matter. What is clear is that salvation begins with God. The initiative is His. We are not the ones who seek God, it is God who seeks us. Salvation is by grace, and the sinner responds to God’s choice voluntarily.

On one hand, divine soverignty seeks to save; on the other is the human response and responsibility. Choice is a sovereign act from our eternal God. God initiated a cascade of spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Choice is the basis of all other spiritual blessings.

Our election was made with the purpose of setting the chosen apart from the rest of the world and equipping them with spritual qualities that distinguish them from the world, identify them as belonh=ging to God, and being sent as intruments of salvation to all people.

2. We are adopted. We are all predestined for salvation; that is, salvation is offered to all of us. God does not predetermine those who will be saved. Adoption has a present and future time. We join the family through conversion and the Lord receives us as adult children, with the rights to His inheritance. Our adoption will be completed when Christ returns and we are glorified.

3. We are accepted. We are not the ones who accept ourselves. It is God who accepts us. The choice, adoption, and acceptance are all based on God’s love. Our response to that love must also be love.

Ricardo Palma wrote a poem that addresses life and death:

Who Are the Death?
“The death are not the ones who, in sweet calmness,
enjoy peace in the cold grave.
The death are the ones whose souls are dead
and yet still live.
The dead are not the ones who receive rays of light
in their mortal remains.
Those who die with honor are the living,
those who live without honor are the dead.
Life is not the life we live.
Life is honor, it is remembrance.
That is why there are dead people who live in the world
and men who live in the world, dead.”

We thank you, Father for Your blessings,
which leads us from death to Your Life! Be blessed…

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints
who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus”
– Ephesians 1:1 –

Paul probably wrote this letter to the Ephesians when he was imprisoned in Rome. The theme of the epistile is unity in Christ. Paul writes to a church or churches composed of Jews and Gentiles. Asian and European, slaves and free: all representatives od a broken world that needed to be restored to unity in Christ. This implied the unity of individuals, families, churches and ethnicities.

The restoration of a spirit of unity with others, carried out
within in every believer, is a principle of the restoration of unity
in the universe until God achieves the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21).

Chapter 1 of the Epistile highlights the following:

1. God chose us and predestined us for salvation. No one needs to be lost unless they want to be lost (v. 5).
2. We can be saved because we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ (v. 7).
3. Our assurance of this salvation is the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives (v. 13).
4. Those who are saved live having faith in Jesus and relating to eacht other with kindness (vv. 1, 10, 14).
5. God wants us to grow in our knowledge of Him through the wisdom He gives us (vv. 8, 17).
6. Christ was resurrected and intercedes for us (vv. 4-7, 20).
7. He is the head of the church (v. 22).

On January 24, 1990, a nineteen-year-old named Adolfo took a bus from Guayaramerín (Bolivia) to a Brazil University with the dream of studying theology. He had to leave his brothers and mother, who insisted the he not go so far from home. Adolfo left with a small bag of clothes, an old guitar, and just $100. It was seventy hours of travel filled with many expectations summed up by his personal motto: “If I have a dream in my head and God in my heart, He will bless me.”

Years passed and Adolfo not only fulfilled his dream of becoming a pastor, by the grace of God he is also a professor and writer, and has a doctorate in theology. He also formed a wonderful family with his wife and two daughters. Today Adolfo Suárez id the director of the Theological Seminary of the South American Division. God does not answer prayers that are not prayed or fulfill dreams that are not dreamed.

“Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be His through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before Him. Because of His love, God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us His children – this was His pleasure and purpose” (Eph. 1:3-5).

What a privilege it is to be the son
or daughter of a God who wishes to save us,
at the cost of the blood of His only begotten Son.

Thank you Lord…

“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world
has been crucified to me, and I to the world”
– Galatians 6:14 –

A tourism company organized a three-month trip through seven countries for twenty thousand dollars, to visit the seven new wonders of the world. They were chosen in 2007, in an election by Internet with one hundred million votes at the behest of Swiss philantropist Bernard Weber. They are as follows:

1. The Taj Mahal (India): jewel of Muslim art and one of the masterpieces of world herritage. It took more than twenty thousand workers to build the white marble mausoleum that houses the tomb of the then emperor’s wife. It attracts eight million visitors a year.
2. The Great Wall of China: an ancient fortification built and rebuilt with the intention of protecting the northern border. It is the longest wall in the world, as it was 13,170 miles long, although only one third is perserved today. On avarage, it measures 20 to 23 feet in height and 12 to 16.5 feet in width.
3. Chichen Itza (Mexico): one of the best-perserved ruins in Mayan history.
4. Machu Picchu (Peru): its spectacular architectural and scenic features and the veil of mystery have made it one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet. The monument is located on the Sacred Valley of Peru.
5. Christ the Redeemer (Brazil): one of the most representative icons in South America. The statue of Jesus located at the top of Mount Corcovado has a height of 125 feet, and with open arms, can be seen from almost every corner of the city.
6. The city of Petra (Jordan): the most vistited tourist attraction in the country. It is a collection of caves, temples, and tombs excavated in the rock.
7. The Colliseum (Rome): the largest amphitheater ever built, an icon of Imperial Rome, the venue of gladiator contests, able to hold up to eighty thousand spactators.

However, a true wonder makes all these together pale in comparison. The sacrifice of Christ was for the apostle the center of his life and the gospel. Paul’s opponents gloried in circumcision. The world put Jesus in the most humiliating torture and death; however, the cross became the most wonderful symbol in history.

A unique wonder, and the greatest of all, is the fact that Christ
took my place and yours so that we can have access to His Throne
and a final, eternal life.

“Look in faith to the cross. Look and live.
This will be our study and song throughout eternity.”
(This Day with God, p. 176)

May the Lord be with you…