The Death That Creates Life

When we stop acting like children and act like adults in Christ, we see how we can bear fruit for God.

We know we have to change every day, because human nature is sinful, and only with the Holy Spirit inside us, every day we can die to this world so that the Lord can live in us. And he lives in us when we are persecuted, but not defeated, when we know we are right but remain silent, when we are wronged but wait for the justice of God. We stop thinking about the things of this earthly world to elevate ourselves to the spiritual world.

Actually, it's not easy living in this world and being spiritual, but it becomes possible when we seek to live in Spirit and we are not only hearers but doers of the word of God, and so gradually, we conquer all that God has promised in our lives, and if we want victory, we must die to our will, desire and thoughts every day so that the Lord Jesus can live in us. Thus, spreading true love to this world, leading people to eternal lives and creating life, through the daily death of our flesh.

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:11-13)

To be an instrument in God's hands

To be an instrument in God's hands

When we are guided by the Holy Spirit and accept God's purpose in our lives, we become a true instrument in his hands, making his children and bringing faith to this world. But when we show a bad behavior, when there is pride, rebellion and a lack of fear to accept the commandments of God, then we can even reign in this world and leave it, without making the slightest difference in the lives of people.
In the passage from the Bible, where Naaman was cured of leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-15) we can see how wisdom and obedience to God changes situations and transforms lives.
The girl who was a prisoner, was at the service of Naaman's wife, and simply gave a word. One day the girl told her mistress: “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
Despite being captive and going through a difficult situation, she served her masters and therefore she kept her loyalty to God and not men. This girl kept the faith, put it into practice in her God and decided to demonstrate the superiority of God over the people of Israel. She simply used her faith but caused big changes in the life of Naaman, who later left his pride aside, was cured and returned to believe in the God of Israel. How wonderful! She became an instrument in the hands of God. She glorified him and made a difference, even in a such a simple manner, but it changed the life of a man.
In this new year, the most I ask of God is this: To be an instrument in his hands, make people know him, become a true disciple and bring light to this world.
It doesn't matter if our contribution is large or small in the work of God, or what part of the body we are, whether we are the hand, the foot or the head, what really matters is making a difference in the lives of every person by our side, carrying the aroma of our Lord.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

learning from children

After many years of working with many children of different ages and countries, we understand why God teaches us that we must have the heart like a child because they automatically belong to the kingdom of heaven. I love learning from them, I have spent several years developing methods for learning the Bible and we can really see the wonderful results. We can learn a lot from them:
Perseverance = At a certain age, when children want a candy or a toy, they first ask, then insist, scream, even kick their mother and do not give her peace until they get what they want. Remember the story of the unjust judge? Did you see how the widow’s persistence helped her win her case? There are people who leave their faith and cannot achieve great things from God's hands because they do not have this wonderful quality that children often have.
Forgiveness = Innocence is the symbol of a child. It's amazing the power of innocence in children. If they fight with a friend today and say, "I do not love you", tomorrow when they see their friend, it’s as if nothing had happened, they give kisses, hugs, want to be together and even hold hands. Sometimes adults only want to be friends with those we like and accept everything we do. When the "friend" does something that displeases us, they are no longer useful and we walk away no longer wanting to talk to them or see them, much less hug them! Imagine those friends who actually have defects, also their many qualities and how much we can learn from mistakes and qualities. So we need to have many friends and every day a heart like a child.
Trust = the trust that all children have is very impressive, especially towards their parents. Children always see their father as a hero, their mother is always the most beautiful and the best, and they cannot live without them. If the parent puts him up high and tells him to jump, he jumps and smiling throws his arms because he knows and trusts that his father will never let him down. How many times God wants us to play in his arms, knowing that he will never disappoint us, but the disappointments in life make the adult heart severely injured, and wickedness prevents the action of God for lack of confidence in his word.
Good Eyes = the child has good eyes towards everyone. Show him a sweet and he will start to smile. Everyone is good in their eyes. The child never thinks someone will do them harm. Adults usually see the wrong in everything. If someone shows them love, they automatically think they must want something, want to borrow money. If someone gives them a gift, they think they are trying to please him because they want something from him. They even see the bad where it doesn’t exist, because when the eye is bad, the whole body is sick.
Sincerity = the sincerity of a child is wonderful. They say what they think, sometimes leaving their parents in an embarrassing situation. They cannot lie, even if they try, the parent perceives it and knows they are lying. Many times adults see the bad behavior of a friend and tell everyone, except the friend. They even gossip, but don’t act with sincerity. There are also those who are afraid to talk, they keep everything in their heart, end up sick and lose their salvation for not having a heart that pleases God and not being sincere.
See how many things we can learn from children. Turning our hearts to a child's heart, and we will undoubtedly have a much happier life; pleasing to God and thus achieve eternal salvation.

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.” (Matthew 18:3-5)

The Prayer associated with wisdom

After many experiences with God, and His fidelity through the answered prayers, we are able to say yes, prayer works! As each day goes by, we learn more but it isn’t always easy to learn how to stay in prayer while waiting for God to take control of the situation. I learned how to do this a long time ago, when I was facing a very difficult situation, and God spoke with me, allowing me to understand that my anxiety would only delay my blessings. When we are anxious, we are also creating room for doubts and doubts are the enemy of our faith, so I decided to let God act in my life and to take full control. Many times, when we speak to God about a problem and then say that we place it in His hands, time passes and our problems don’t seem to be resolved. What happens then, we end up trying to resolve it with our own hands. For example; when a husband begins to change his behavior in a negative way, which does not please God, or if a son or daughter begins to show signs of bad behavior, we trust in God through prayer, but after a certain time if we do not see results, we decide to take action in our own hands. We begin to complain, argue and even begin to speak things we should not say. When this occurs, God is not be able to do much more, since we decided to take action upon our hands. It is as if we are removing the problem from the hands of God and placing it in our own hands. At that moment, our prayer loses power. When we try to control our husbands or children with a huge list of things that we would like to see in them, we are acting wrongfully. We should never place our expectations on a person to change for themselves, or expect that he/she is going to change immediately, we should place our expectations in God, trusting that He is going to work in the life of that person and by His power, that person is going to be transformed. Sometimes, things that we may say or do can damage the plan that God has for us, therefore the best thing to do is to keep silent and pray. When we completely trust in the action of the Holy Spirit, everything changes. The form in which we see things can change and become clearer. A prayer associated with wisdom can do marvelous things and you can be sure, we have authority to stop evil from entering our lives and permit for the goodness of God to enter. Prayer is the supreme language of love, and through prayer when we use our authority, we are allowing God to transform our lives. God Bless!!!