For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
(Jeremiah 29:11)

I know I quote this verse a lot in this blog, but it is because of the volumes of wisdom it speaks to me. Every time a plan fails, I have felt down, disappointed at myself for thinking that I knew better than He who is Sovereign over everything, but knowing that God has a plan for me gives me peace and confort and pushes to move on to the next chapter in my life.

Currently, I have entered an interesting stage, I am rediscovering things that I am passionate about and just trying to do whatever He has for me at the moment. A clear example is what I do at my church, I just do what is needed, if it is doing the announcements, working in the children's ministry, working on the church's website (which you can check out here, I have been working hard alongside with my Pastor in it) or just bringing coffee to my Pastor in the mornings and fellowshipping with other believers. I know God brought me to this church for me to grow and bloom spiritually, and I will do it until the day God calls me somewhere else (which is always a possibility, not one I would like but God has a plan).

Instead of holding into the things that could've happened, I need to hold out on to the "now" and the things to come, but my mind tends to ponder in that direction, mainly because it reminds me of the great lessons that came after those things never happened.

As I said in the previous blogpost (Part 1), I ended up expanding the point I was trying to make and it was getting long, so I decided to break it down. This is Part 2:


God provides to those who follow and trust in Him!


Learning to trust in God during hard times is one of those things that are easier said than done. I often hear Christians comforting each other saying "God will provide", "You just need to trust and God will see you through this"...I even say that to people when they in confidence tell me about a particular problem or struggle they have in their lives, but when I go through something...its a whole other story. It reminds me of the famous saying "practice what you preach".


Why do I have such a hard time doing that? It is easier said than done, and when hard times come, I find myself stressing out, worrying and feeling anxious and it is so pointless! This is what I have learned from Job and has stuck with me since I first read the book.

We find Job, after experiencing the horror of losing it all, he receives a visit from three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar that have come to "console him", but it actually looks more like they try to convince him to turn his back on God and blame Him for everything...even his "not very supportive wife" attempts to convince him to curse God (Job2:9-10), but as the end of verse 10 says "...in all this Job did not sin with his lips", meaning that he did not turn his back on God.


Job knew that what happened, was something out of his hands, it was just a trial he had to go in life, it was like the obstacle in an obstacle course. This reminds me of when I worked at Fort Lone Tree in 2006, one of the activities I ran was the "Obstacle Course". The Obstacles themselves weren't too hard (for an adult), but I would often see some of the campers struggle trying to get through them and it would always be an encouragement to see them trying their best to get through them to get to the finish line.


Just like the "O-course", life has obstacles we need to go through to get to the end, there are steps we need to take, sometimes the road is smooth and easy, and in others there is a tree you need to climb or something you need to jump through to get to the other side, and in every step, God is there.


Sometimes, I like to think about some of the trials I have been through, I remember my fear, doubt and frustrations and I remember how God has seen me through each one of them. So far, there hasn't been a trial that God hasn't seen me through. I have seen God work in might ways that for men, would seem impossible.


Job was a perfect example about what dependency on God should be like, even after losing it all, being tested by Satan, confronted by his "loved ones", he never gave up on God and in the end of the book (Job 42:10-17) we see how God provided and even multiplied all he had, gave him more children, grand kids...up to four generations, and blessed him with a long and fruitful life.


Whenever I think of the book of Job, I think of the song by Third Day "Tunnel". There is a "light at the end of this tunnel"...for those who put their full trust in the Lord. Even if things seem hard and it sounds like you will never get out of the situation, there is always an end to it, a solution for those who trust and follow God...which brings us to another point:


I find it sad when I hear of people who "give" their lives to the Lord, only because they want the benefits out of there, I think our "modern Christianity" has raised up a whole generation who just want the benefits and are not interesting in true Spiritual growth. People become members of churches because they offer free services or they can get something out of it and are not honest about their faith. 


GOD DOES NOT WANT FAKE FOLLOWERS! I can not stress this enough. Following Christ is not your ticket to a "worry-free" life, in fact it is the complete opposite, as one of my favorite verses says:

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
(Luke 9:23)

Walking with Christ is not a thing for the good days only, it is an every day thing, it means a life of sacrificing the pleasures of the flesh and living a life worthy of Him. The Apostle Paul explains this struggle of his that I think many of us can relate to:

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
(Romans 7:19-20)

At least I relate to Paul in these words, I find myself doing what I want to do rather than what God wants me to do. Taking up your cross means to do the opposite of what you want to do, give it up all and follow Him. Easier said that done...The Bible is very clear about this, it is found in many places in Scripture.

Trusting in God means knowing He has a plan, even if you feel like you have reached a "dead end", He always has a way out of the pit, and once you put your trust in Him, you can see the blessings He has in store for you, you are able to understand why He allowed certain things to happen. I can never get tired of Jeremiah 29:11 and I am marveled by knowing that God, the One who created everything, has a plan for ME! I mean, that totally blows my mind away.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
(Jeremiah 29:11)

I invite you to read and throughly study the Book of Job, it will challenge your dependence in God.

The Book of Job has always been one of my favorites in the Bible, I remember reading it when I came to the Christ, it was actually one of the first books I read and studied. It tells the story of a wealthy man who lost it all and in spite of loosing everything, He never cursed the name of the Lord or turned away from Him.

There are several interesting points in this book, but there are 2 that draw my attention about the character of Job:

1. Spiritual Warfare
2. God provides to those who follow & trust Him.

This book has taught me those important lessons as I have gone through different trials in my life. Lets take a look more in depth in these two lessons.

The Spiritual Warfare going on:


In Job 1:6-12, Satan's weakness is revealed, He is shown having to ask permission to God in order to tempt His servant Job. Satan has been observing Job and has seen that he is a man of God, he fears God and serves Him. His purpose is to make him turn his back away from God and see how far he will go.

Job loses everything, his land, cattle, even his children ALL MINUTES APART FROM EACH OTHER!
Have you ever lost something or someone dear to you? It can be hard, specially when it is someone you are attached too, now imagine that pain multiplied by everyone else you love, not only that but also everything you own.

How would you feel? Would you blame this on God and turn your back on Him?

Sadly, this is what many Christians do, in the midst of trials and tribulations they give up and turn their back away from God. I have wanted to do this several times before, when things get hard, I want to take the easy exit and forget God, but I am always stopped when I am reminded of Christ's death on the cross and His sacrifice for my sins.

I think the best way to describe it is using Job's own words (this is after hearing the news of losing everything):

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
(Job 1:20-22)

How many times have you wanted to blame God for what is wrong? I think it is our human nature that tends to want to blame someone. We see Adam blaming God for sending him this woman to taste the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eve (as when you call customer service to tell them their product is defective).

I specially like verse 22 that says "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong".


If you lost everything would you react the same way? Think about it for a moment...

There is Spiritual Warfare going on. As I stated in this post, we are not tempted by God. I found the Scripture reference (I mentioned I couldn't remember where exactly it was):

Let no one say when he is tempted,"I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
(James 1:13)

To think that "you are tempted by God" is an oxymoron to me, God does not tempt you contrary to popular wordly belief, it is the enemy, Satan and his army who do. Of course, compared to God they are powerless (remember that!). Yes, there are hardships that God allows us to endure, just like Job, He allowed Satan to throw stuff at him to test his faith, but it wasn't God who took everything away from him, there was no reason for Job to blame God because he knew this.

I have always laughed at "God VS Satan" idea that the world seems to like in which God and Satan are fighting for people...as if God could lose against such an unworthy opponent! Come on, Satan is a created being and God is the CREATOR, He has power over Satan, he fears His name and His Word (read Matthew 4:1-11 for a great example of this).

This is where I conclude this blogpost, I titled it "Part 1" because I was briefly going to touch on each point, but as I continued writing I realized I could go longer, part 2 will expand on the other valuable lesson from the book of Job.

Have you ever watched the movie "Click" with Adam Sandler? I thought of that movie this morning at church.

Click is basically about this guy that has a good job, a good family and a good future, but things don't quite go as he wants them to. Frustrated for not finding the right remote for the TV, he goes to buy a "Universal Remote" so he can program all his electronics to work with one. Ironically, the only store he finds open late at night is "Bed, Bath and Beyond" where an employee gives him a new prototype of Universal Remote, he soon finds that it doesn't only control electronics, but his life itself. He also learns he can skip the tough and hard moments in life.
Later in the movie, his life automatically skips moments and flash forwards to the moment of his death, in which he realizes that he missed a lot and learns the lesson to enjoy those hardships and count them as blessing, this is where the point of this post begins.

The teaching this morning at church was on "The crossing of the Red Sea" found in Exodus 13-14, my Pastor focused on the value of allowing God to control your life and let Him direct you, even if it seems that it will be hard.

From the teaching I got 3 interesting points:

1. The shortest route is not always the best.


To better ilustrate, lets look at this passage:

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt." But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here."
And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.
(Exodus 13:17-20)

Basically, God lead the people of Israel through the long route rather than the short and "easier" route. Of course, the people of Israel complained once again, telling Moses that he is just leading them the hard way and blaming Him. Little did they know, that God would end up having them cross the Red Sea, which would consume Pharaoh's army and ridding the Egyptians from wanting to take them back to slavery.

A good point that my Pastor made and that spoke to me a lot is that: God won't always take you through the easiest and shortest route, He will sometimes make you go the longer and more challenging way, the one that has more difficulties in order to teach you something. 


Just like Adam Sandler's character in the movie, there have been many times in which I have just wanted to skip the hard times in my life and not go through them, I many times wish life was that easy, but after going through them, I come to realize that God had a purpose for those specific things to happen in my life, that He needed me to go through them.

2. God will protect you and guide you ALWAYS


The people of Israel had a pillar of fire that followed them day and night, protecting them at all time (as Exodus 13:21-22 further explains). This pillar symbolizes God's constant protection of His people. God is always there and has the back of His people, just as the Word says that God doesn't tempt you beyond what you can't handle (I am paraphrasing because I can't remember where that verse is).

Not only that, but He is always there, even when you think He has deserted you. The people of Israel doubted God's protection and even doubted Moses when their journey got hard, wanting to return to Egypt and be slaves where they knew they were comfortable.

3. God is ALWAYS IN CONTROL!


This was the main point I got from the teaching, that God is always in control.

I can look back at times where I have been through certain trials and thought that I could do better, that I could have handled situations different.

God has a plan, He always in control. He IS GOD!

"Be still, and know that I am God.
(Psalm 46:10a)

That is all that needs to be said to conclude this lesson, it is all I could think about. There have been times when I go through things and doubt that God knows what He is doing, even doubt that He is control and this verse always pops in my mind, to know that He is God. He is ultimately in control of everything that happens in my life, He guides me and comforts me and takes me through the right way, even if sometimes there seems to be an easier path.

Sometimes I do wish I could find a remote control that controls my life and even allows me to skip the hard times of my life and take me to the good times, but without those hard times I do not grow, I do not mature, I do not depend and get closer to God. I get stressed when hardships come, I worry A LOT, but I have learned and continue to learn to give it all to God, to let Him take the wheel and take me the way He wants me to go.

After all, who am I to know better than He who made it all? Than He who controls and holds the world in His hands?

I just bought a SHWEEEET new Bible, its an ESV (ESV: English Standard Version) reference Bible from Amazon.com, it is really cool. (take a look at it here).

So, why the ESV? I have been looking into checking out this version and making it my definite for Bible studies, I like it because of the easy read and true translation of the Word of God. It is still fairly "new" compared to other popular Bible versions, but sticks true to the Word and does not intend to adapt it to today's modern language (like THE MESSAGE, which I can not stand or the NLT that paraphrases everything).

For the past years I have mostly sticked to the NKJV and the NIV (although I have never been a big fan of this one). With the NKJV, I like the wording and how it stays close to the true translations of the Biblical manuscript, I was also indoctrinated with this one for a while, I have never been one of those hardcore King James people that believe that it is the only translation that is correct. I like it, don't get me wrong, but the more I have looked into the ESV, the more I like it.

So, here we go, I will now be using my ESV for studying and when I refer to parts in scriptures in blogposts for the most part.

Here is a screenshot of what the cover looks like, pretty nice:


I invite you to check out the ESV as well, you will be very pleased with it.

Do you think knowing God's will is important?

Do you think it is relevant or will make a difference in the way you walk and pursue a life for Christ?

The answer is Yes and at the same time No.

I recently finished reading "The Forgotten God" (of which I wrote a short review in this blogpost), and one of the chapter focuses on knowing God's will. I was awakened by something when I read it, I came to realize something that I had been struggling for some time and wondering in my mind for a while: Is knowing God's will the focus of my life?


This is an important question that everyone should make themselves. It is important, but at the same time, are you letting all your time and energy focus on that? One thing that struck me was that the author stressed that knowing God's will isn't that important. I was at first shocked by that, but after thinking about it for a minute, I thought that was true.

Here is my reason for agreeing with this statement: Knowing God's will is important and we should seek to know His will, but that can become the focus of everything we do, to the point that what God currently does in our lives is overshadowed by the focus on "something better" that we totally ignore the valuable lessons that God is trying to show us in this moment.

Personally, I struggle with this a lot, I always focus on a prize I see ahead in the road instead of focusing on the things that God is doing right now in my life. I see them as not as important because I know that God has something greater, I keep praying for God's will to be revealed in my life without realizing that what is going on right now is in God's will, but I am never content with what He does for me. I tend to want to travel in time to the future and start living it, without wanting to go through the path that I am currently walking in.

Another thing that struck me is how we pray for God's will, as if it was something that through prayer God will change (I actually touched on this in a recent blog post). God has already set everything for us, we should be praying instead that we will be conformed to His will, not the other way around. I was talking with a friend about this today, and one thing we came to agree is how Christians pray, and pray, and pray some more sometimes for long extended periods of time for God to give them some sort of sign or speak to them about His will, without realizing that if God puts something in their heart they need to obey it. It might seem like something small at the time, but if it is what He wants you to do, then do it.

Let's say for instance, God wants you to go on a mission trip to another country, and you know He wants you to, but you keep hesitating, maybe out of fear or doubt, but you know it is God's will. There is nothing wrong with praying and wanting to be 100% sure that is what God wants from you, but don't you think that it being in your heart is sign enough? I struggle with that at times, not with going on mission trips (which for my own reasons I know is not my calling, I may expand on that later), but with things that I know He wants for my life, and I hesitate, wait, pray and sometimes that period of prayer becomes long, to the point where I set in my mind that it might not be God's will because "He won't tell me". I still pray for things that God puts in my heart, but I am learning to be more of a man of action, instead of waiting and waiting when I know I shouldn't wait and just do it.

God's will is important and knowing it is important as well, but the point I am trying to make is that we tend to lose focus on what it is, live today, not in the future. There is nothing wrong with working towards something that God has told you to do (if you are called to be a Pastor, then working and getting the right preparation is a perfect example).

Best way to know His will, is reading His Word, God's Holy Scriptures that He has left for us to study and learn from, that is what I have learned to rely on instead of letting my thoughts and imagination take over.

That title was a mouthful!

That is exactly how I felt this morning as I joined some of the men from my church for a nice early Saturday morning hike over at Aguirre Springs, right outside of Las Cruces. It is basically desert land, but that doesn't take away of the beauty and perfection of God's creation.

Other than the fact of the constant buzzing of bugs and the fear of running into an angry snake (which fortunately did not happen), it was a great time. It was a time of reflexion and separation from our busy lives as men for a couple of hours. It was a good time of retreat away from society, cars, computers, jobs, families, worries, etc, and just hang out in the wilderness, worshiping what God so beautifully made.

The theme for our hike was from different places in the Gospels in which Jesus retires himself from the crowds, from performing miracles and even from His disciples to commune and spend some "alone time" with His Heavenly Father. We did that same thing, we went out, talked, fellowshipped and looked at scripture, even sang a few worship songs, and basically communed and had fellowship with God.

I always find it funny how hard it is for me to have "alone time" with God, there is always something that is distracting me; it is either computers, TV, work, school or even friends, everything can take us away from devoting that time to God, it is such an important part in our walk with Him, and yet we get so easily distracted by so much.

This week (actually a couple days ago), the power cord for my laptop decided to give out, I could not charge my laptop's battery, therefore I couldn't use it. I was frustrated and even wondered "well, what I am going to do if I can't use my computer?"...God gave me an answer, He reminded me, first of all, how silly it was that I was so upset that something that I sit in front of to entertain myself wasn't working and second, that I could invest that time with Him. I read my Bible, prayed and caught up on reading a book. For my luck, I called the manufacturer and I was still in warranty and I had a new power cord delivered the next day (which surprises me how fast I got it).

I believe God used that case to remind me that I need more time with Him, that just like Jesus I need to retreat myself from the crowds and the noise in life to spend time with Him. Unfortunately I live right in the middle of the city and don't have the wilderness right around the corner, but I can make it a point to turn everything off (which is hard, but doable), and dedicate more time with Him.

One thing that has been in my heart A LOT lately has been my personal prayer life. It has just been pounding in my heart like something I need to look at more. Ever since I came to Christ, I have learned that prayer is important, that it is not just reciting your "wish list" to God, but actually our means of communing, talking, praising and worshiping God. Prayer is so much more than just praying before every meal and before going to bed.

I am reminded of the powerful words that the Apostle Paul adressed to the church in Thessalonica:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
(1 Thessalonians 5:12)

Sometimes it irritates me that people won't make an effort to attend prayer meetings at church, having other things that seem more important. I understand that life is different for everyone, I am not married, don't have kids so I have more freedom to do things like this, but still, it bugs me that people won't make the time to spend with God, to fellowship with other believers.

One of the most neglected activities by the modern church is prayer, and as Jesus' return gets closer, it is said in Scripture that this will happen. I believe that as a church, now is the time when we need to be more in prayer.

I don't want to sound judgemental, but this is something that has been fervently in my heart lately. I want to be a man of prayer, I want to wake up in the morning with the Lord, be in constant fellowship with Him through out the day and end my day with Him. Yet I get distracted by a lot of things, work, school, media and just daily things get in the way.

I think Satan has made it very easy in these days for us to turn away from fellowshipping with the Lord. We spend more time in front of the TV or computer than almost anything else. Even I have fallen to that, I love entertainment, yet sometimes I put God in the back of my mind and go to Him when I need Him.

My prayer is that I will turn away from that, that He will be my No. 1 in everything, that I will long to commune with Him, in the good and the bad times. The Bible has so many examples of Godly men and women who relied and depended fully on God, and God worked so much through them.

Prayer is not to get your wishlist out of the way, it is seeking to be more like Christ, to be transformed inward and outwardly, so that our will, will be in line with God's will for our life, not the other way around. It is not to "change God's mind", He already has the plan for your life set out, prayer should conform you more to following His will.

Summer for most people is a time of relaxing, catching up with life and preparing to go back to school in the fall. Unfortunately for me, that has never really been the case, I have always had to either work, or take summer classes and such. I sometimes envy friends and people I know that get to go back home for the summer, rest and spend time with their families, I often wish I had that option, but I am also glad that is not the case because it has forced me to grow up. It has showed me that "home" is just where I grew up, where my parents live and that I am in the real world, not just that, but I am glad that I get to live life on my own and not rely on having to move or put my stuff in storage for the summer.

This summer has been an interesting roller coaster for me, I have felt God moving me in a direction that has been unresolved, I felt like He has been showing me several things, but has also told me to wait. To best describe what I have learned, here is a good verse:

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)

Being still is a hard thing for me to do, I always want to move forward, I want things to take place when they don't even seem close. I am good in procrastinating and letting things slip, but I want things to happen without me doing the work. It is an interesting part of my character. I am impatient, yet that is what God has been working over time in my life.

A couple weeks ago, I had meeting with the Assistant Pastor and one of the Elders at church, it was to determine what would happen with the Young Adults study that was put on hold for the summer. They gave me some good pointers on how I should go about allowing God to work in my life, there was a lot of constructive criticism and we came to the ultimate conclusion to continue the break for some time for two reasons: they think I am the right person to do it but still need to continue growing (AKA, I am not ready) and second, there really isn't much of a young adult group at church, the ones that do attend don't show much interested in attending, not because of me, but because they feel there are other more important things in life than God (which saddens me a lot).

So I am fine with that decission, the more I have been praying this summer about it, the more I have heard God telling me to "Be still" and wait for His direction. Hard things for me to do!

Another big event that summed up and confirmed things was a meeting I had with my Pastor last week. I was in one of those discomfort moods with things and I told him about it, I showed some colors of me that I wanted to hide, I thought I had handled the situation of the previous meeting well, but there were some things that were not OK with me. It was a good talk, I did feel upset in the moment, but I took the things that were said home with me and prayed, coming to the conclusion that I am in the right place and that I must continue serving, assisting and all the things I do and that God will show me the time when I must step up again and continue with the class.

I held on to a thought most of the summer and made it my goal, thinking it was time, and forgot about God's timing being different from my own timing.

God has placed me where He wants me to be, He has given me responsibilites and has allowed me to walk next to great men of God to shadow and learn from, but my problem is I always seem to want more, I can never seem to be content with the place I am and always want to move onto the next episode of my life before the perfect time comes. I am now aware of that, I had been before but it hit me very hard last week, to the point that once again I felt like quiting and forgetting about everything, but God kept reminding me to "be still and know He is God", therefore He wants me to continue pressing on and serving Him in whatever capability He wants me to.

I did have a complaining session with God, where I, in tears, told Him that I am tired of being the way I am and that I am willing to go and do whatever He wants me to do. He gave me peace and comfort that I can't even describe, I now know that I am headed in the right path and even though I can not yet see what lies ahead (think of a foggy road or a dark night), I continue walking through it, knowing that God is guiding every move I make.

I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me this summer, I have felt those prayers. I thought at the end of the line I would go somewhere else, but have found that the line is not over, there is still a long long line ahead of me, and that I can't do it on my own, I have the Creator and Maker of everything to personally guide me through life and who has my back, even if I rebel. I will no longer try to draw my future, thinking it is God's will to do something, but let Him take care of it and faithfully, and in prayer figure out what it is.