Mostrando las entradas con la etiqueta Favor. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando las entradas con la etiqueta Favor. Mostrar todas las entradas

miércoles, 22 de agosto de 2018

Atrévete a pedir lo que No te Mereces


¿Qué cosa les estás pidiendo a tu Padre Celestial? ¿Es algo que si te lo da, Él sería glorificado porque la gente no encontraría otra explicación más que pensar que "Dios se propuso bendecirte", o es algo que cuando lo recibes la mayoría pensaría que fuiste tú quien lo obtuvo por tu esfuerzo, disciplina, mérito y/o suerte?

Cuando leía Efesios 2:1-10, siempre se me venía a la mente mi proceso de salvación que mi Padre obró en mí, de pecador a redimido, de incrédulo a creyente; pero ahora, a través de los lentes de la gracia de Jesús, me doy cuenta que hay mucho más que eso, porque, si bien es cierto, los primeros tres versículos ilustran de qué condición Jesús me rescató, los siguientes versículos no se limitan a decir que ahora me espera el Cielo cuando muera (¡lo cual es SÚPER!), sino que, después de describir mi nueva condición de autoridad (Efesios 2:4-6), el versículo siete dice el propósito de ello:
"Para MOSTRAR en los tiempos venideros LAS ABUNDANTES RIQUEZAS DE SU GRACIA en Su bondad para con nosotros en Cristo Jesús" (Efesios 2:7)
¡Esto todavía lo estoy procesando! ¡Reconozco que todavía me cuesta creerlo! El pensamiento de que mi Padre Celestial quiere mostrar en mi vida las abundantes riquezas de Su gracia, es decir, que quiere mostrar a otros cuán bueno es Él bendiciéndome inmerecidamente, ¡es algo que descuadra mis pensamientos esquematizados en que Dios me quiere bendecir basado en mis méritos!

Luego sigue el conocido Efesios 2:8 que dice: "Porque por gracia son salvos por medio de la fe", cuyo significado siempre se había limitado a que uno es salvo del infierno por medio de la fe, lo cual es cierto, pero no se limita a eso, porque la palabra Griega que se traduce como "salvo" es la palabra "soso", que significa en síntesis "restauración en todas las áreas de mi vida", o como se lo dije a mis hijos: "completamente bendecido", y "gracia" quiere decir "favor inmerecido". Reemplazando los significados, Efesios 2:8 quedaría así:
"Porque inmerecidamente somos completamente bendecidos por medio del creer".
¡Ah, me olvidaba! Falta un pedazo en Efesios 2:8, "..., pues es un don de Dios". En otras palabras, esto es un regalo de nuestro Padre, ¡y los regalos son gratuitos!

Es decir, Efesios 2:8 completa el mensaje de Efesios 2:7 que dice que Dios quiere mostrar cuán bueno es Él bendiciéndome inmerecidamente, porque ¡inmerecidamente somos completamente bendecidos por medio del creer, y esto es un regalo de nuestro Padre!

¡Hay que aceptar Su regalo!

Pero, aunque parezca mentira, ¡ahí no acaba todo! ¡Hay más!

Efesios 2:9 dice: "no por obras, para nadie se gloría". ¡Así es! Nuestro amoroso Padre Celestial, queriendo que quede claro que quiere bendecirte inmerecidamente para mostrar a otros cuán bueno es Él, agrega el verso nueve el cual aclara que no quiere que sea por tus obras, tu disciplina, tu esfuerzo y/o tu suerte, para que NADIE SE GLORÍE, sino para que ÉL, y solo ÉL, sea quien se lleve la gloria.

Y para finalizar está Efesios 2:10 que dice: "Porque somos hechura suya, creados en Cristo Jesús para buenas obras". En otras palabras, todas estas bendiciones que tu Padre te quiere dar inmerecidamente es para que a su vez tú seas de bendición.

Tu Padre Celestial te quiere bendecir inmerecidamente. Él quiere darte tanta bendición que no quiere que otras personas cuando lo vean piensen que fuiste tú. Tu Padre quiere que piensen de ti: "Él/ella ha sido tan bendecido que TIENE que haber sido Dios, porque no creo que él/ella haya podido alcanzar tanta bendición por sí solo".

Lamentablemente, la mayoría de las veces no le pedimos a ese nivel, sino que bajamos el estándar a algo más alcanzable para nosotros, algo más creíble, algo en donde no necesitemos de confiar en Dios, sino solo en nosotros mismos.

Yo te animo a que le pidas cada vez más a tu buen Padre Celestial en todas las áreas de tu vida. Sé específico. Pídele por tus finanzas, por tu salud, por tu matrimonio, por tus hijos, por tu empresa, por tus sueños, por tu ministerio. Deja que sea Él que te llene de sueños, y luego tú pídele todo eso, y Él será poderoso para darte mucho más abundantemente de lo que pides o entiendes (Efesios 3:20). Eleva tu expectativa. ¡Atrévete a pedirle aquello que no te mereces! ¡Atrévete a pedirle aquello que Jesús ganó por ti!

¡Espero te haya ayudado!

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Estoy seguro que estos links sobre más enseñanzas de fe y gracia te ayudarán:

sábado, 2 de diciembre de 2017

Rest from yourself

When you live in the Law, you are heavy laden, stressful and worried, and this happens because in the Law you depend on your own strength and merits for your success. But when you live in the Grace of Jesus, you live rested all the time because you don't depend on what you can get by your own, but you trust that what Jesus won is yours too. Grace is better!

Jacob was trusting on his own strength to fix his life, to escape from his past and from the consequences of his actions. In spite of being Abraham's grandson and Isaac's son, God's men in that time, he felt unworthy that God was with him because of the things he's done. But God was with him, the problem was that he didn't know that and he didn't feel worthy of it!, and we know this because we see that when Jacob decided to take a rest when he was running from his brother, he took a rock as pillow, lay down, and had a dream: open heaven above him with a ladder wherein angels were going up and down, and then God, besides of confirming to Jacob the same covenant made to his father and grandfather, He speaks to his heart saying: "I am with you" (Genesis 28:15).

I think that it was there when Jacob's heart healing started. I imagine him crying saying: "But God, how can you love me if I hurt people, I deceive them, I seek my own benefit, I'm known as an usurper, I lied to my own family. Lord, I'm not worthy that you are with me." And I believe that those words kept ministering Jacob: "In spite of your bad behavior, I love you, I am with you." Wow!

Now, in what moment did Jacob receive that revelation? When he decided to rest! That's the secret: you have to rest from yourself, from trying by your own to win God's and people's approval, from trying to be worthy to be called His son. REST!

If you labor and are heavy laden, come to Jesus and rest. In Him you'll find the rest that your soul needs (Matthew 11:28-29). Jesus didn't come to give a to-do list to win His favor, but He wants to teach you that He already won it for you. Your attitude won't be anymore: I have to win the blessings of God, but it will be: I will go to take what Jesus gave away.

Jacob thought he was running from his problems, but he wasn't running from his true problem: himself, the innate trying to win things. Besides, most assuredly he thought he was running from God too, but God never abandoned him, but Jacob didn't realize that. Jacob just closed his eyes, and behold, God was there.

lunes, 16 de octubre de 2017

Gadol's Nugget: His main problem




Gadol, the main character of my novel, went through many terrible hardships, but he didn't realize that his main problem was found in his mind. That, in the long run, would be the main cause of the suffering he would go through.

Gadol is like many of us. Everybody has to face many problem, but the main problem is not found in the problem itself, but in how we handle our problem. Our attitude when we face our problems determines if we prolong the problem or if we find an answer.

How are you facing your current situation? Remember that complaining, lamenting, blaming others, etc., DO NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM, on the contrary, IT MAKES IT BIGGER. But if you take responsibility (even though it hasn't been your fault), ask for advices, seek help, make plans, etc., sooner or latter that problem will be something of your past, and you will be coming through strengthened rather than destroyed.

Hope it helps!

Believe that you'll take it, and it'll come

Mark 11:24 says that all we ask in prayer, if we believe that we'll receive it, it will come to us. But the word that it's been translated "receive", in greek means "take". Then, Mark 11:24 should say: "Therefore, I tell you that everything you ask in prayer, believe that you will take it, and it will come."

What Jesus was teaching is when you pray, you must believe that you can take what you're asking for, and it will come to you, that's to say, you will have it.

1. "Everything you ask in prayer". In other words, you must pray! When you pray, when you are in the presence of your heavenly Father, your faith is lifted up. Your faith will not be lifted up if you just complain, worry, or think all the time about how impossible is to have that what you wish. Your faith will grow in the presence of your Father and feeding yourself with His Word!

2. "Believe." You decide to believe in God. Of course, it is easier if your faith just naturally grows because you are filling yourself with His Word and practicing His Presence all the time, but there will be times when you just have to BELIEVE NOW. In Mark 5, Jesus said to the principal of the synagogue when he received the bad news of his daughter's dead: "Fear not, just believe." His natural reaction was fearing, but Jesus told him, in other words: "Decide to believe".

3. "That you will take it." Does this imply a little of work from you? Yes, it does! But this work is not for you to be worthy of what you are asking for, but for taking what you already receive by faith when you prayed. Big difference!
The former is through the Law, the latter through faith.
The former would be thanks to your merits, the latter is thanks Jesus's merits.
With the former you'll be worried and stressed, with the latter you'll be in peace, because even though you will go to take what it's yours, you'll know that it is yours thanks to Jesus.
With the former you'll find yourself struggling for your victory, with the latter you'd fight from Jesus's victory.

Once I heard by the radio that a person won a car. The presenter called the winner, who lived outside Lima, to tell him to come the capital to receive his prize. The winner had to go to take what's his. He didn't come to fight for his prize, but just come to take it. His journey to Lima wasn't stressful and full of uncertainty, but full of expectation, excitement and peace. That's the way it should be when we take what we ask for believing we have already received it!

If you are asking for something in prayer to you heavenly Father who loves you, believe that He's already given it to you thanks to Jesus's sacrifice, and you'll see how that confidence of going and taking what's yours will increase inside of you, knowing, besides, that your Father is with you!