El Secreto para hacer crecer tu fe • The Secret to increase your faith

ESPAÑOL (for english just scroll down)

¿Has visto esos anuncios de TV en donde te dan fórmulas mágicas para bajar de peso sin hacer ejercicio o en donde te venden un cepillo de pelo con una lucecita para que ya no seás pelón?
¿Te ha quedado la sensación de que todo eso es tan fácil que no puede ser cierto? Pues a mí también.
Sin embargo, hoy quiero compartirte algo que encontré en la Biblia: El Secreto para aumentar tu fe, para perfeccionarla, para fortalecerla.
¿Te gustaría saberlo?
Pues aquí va:
En Santiago 2:22 dice lo siguiente: "¿No ves que la fe actuó juntamente con sus obras, y que la fe se perfeccionó por las obras?"
¿Lo notaste? La fe "se perfeccionó" por las obras.
Muchos esperamos a tener más fe para hacer cosas para Dios, cuando, la verdad, es que hacer cosas para Dios es lo que te hace tener más fe.
Es como si yo dijera: "Cuando esté musculoso, entonces iré al gimnasio." ¡No!
Hay que ir al gimnasio para estar musculoso! Y no importa si al principio no hacés "bien" las cosas (y en verdad no las harás bien), porque lo importante es hacer algo. La "perfección" se alcanzará con el tiempo y la continua práctica.
Así que, ya basta de pedirle a Dios: "Dame más fe", "Fortalece mi fe", "Aumenta mi fe".
En cambio, comencemos a hacer cosas para lograr perfeccionar la fe y al irse perfeccionando la fe, también mejoraremos en las cosas que estamos haciendo.
¿No tenés ganas de alabar? ¡Entonces alabá!
¿No tenés ganas de hablar con Dios? ¡Entonces hablá con Dios!
¿Estás frente a un mar abierto y te da miedo atravesarlo caminando? ¡Entonces comenzá a caminar para lograr atravesarlo!
La fe es un músculo espiritual. ¡Ya no esperés a que esté fuerte para ponerlo en acción sino ponelo en acción para que se fortalezca!
¿Querés más fe? ¡Entonces hacé!


PD. Los anuncios que te prometen lograr algo sin hacer nada... en verdad son mentira.






ENGLISH

Have you seen those TV Ads promising magic formulas for losing weight without working out or those that sells you a hair brush with a little light for you can have hair again?

Have those ads left you a 'is so easy that it must be a lie' sensation? I've felt the same way!

However, I want to share something that I've found in the Bible: The Secret to increase your faith, to make it perfect, to make it stronger.

Would you like to know the secret?

Then, here it goes:

In James 2:22 we read this: 'Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?'

Did you notice? Faith 'was made perfect' by doing works.

A lot of us are sited waiting for 'more faith' to start working for God but, the truth is that do something will make your faith stronger and bigger.

The thing is as if I would say: 'You know what? When I get stronger then I'll go to the gym'. No! I have to hit the gym so I can get stronger! And it doesn't matter if you make it 'wrong' at the start (and you will make it some kind of wrong); the important thing is to do something because the perfection will come with the continue practicing.

So, let's stop asking God: 'Give me more faith', 'Make my faith stronger', 'Increase my faith'.

Instead, let's begin to do, so we make our faith perfect and as faith becomes stronger, then our works will become better too.

Don't feel like worshiping? Then worship!

Don't want to talk to God? Then talk to God!

Are you in front of an open sea and are you afraid of foot crossing it? Then cross it!

Faith is a spiritual muscle! Don't wait until it become stronger to start using it!

Want more faith? Do some work!

PS. The ads that promise to accomplish something by doing nothing... really are a lie.

Hagámoslo al revés • Let's do it backwards

ESPAÑOL

Pasó el sábado en la tarde. Los músicos de la iglesia estaban ensayando a las 3:00pm y de pronto apareció un caballero en la puerta de la iglesia (que está ubicada en la planta baja de un edificio) y preguntó que "¿dentro de cuánto tiempo terminaríamos con nuestro ruido?".

Luego de pedirle a los músicos que se detuvieran un rato para poder escuchar al señor que estaba en la puerta, le dije con toda calma: "¿Perdón?"

Entonces replanetó su pregunta: "¿Dentro de cuánto tiempo van a terminar su ensayo?"

Luego de responderle, se despidió y se fue. Nosotros, en cambio, nos quedamos y luego del ensayo nos pusimos de acuerdo para comenzar a ensayar en nuestra casa, para no molestar a los vecinos que quieren descansar el sábado por la tarde. Además, la casa en la que estamos viviendo tiene espacio extra y permite mantener el "ruido" bajo cierto control.

En este punto, varias personas me dijeron que no moviéramos el ensayo porque 1) estábamos pagando un alquiler y eso nos daba derechos, 2) los dueños del edificio sabían que estaban alquilando el lugar para una iglesia y eso significaba música y ensayos, y 3) el caballero que llegó a pedirnos silencio quería descansar porque estaba crudo.

Los puntos son razonables, pero algo en nosotros (Virginia y yo) nos seguía diciendo que lo mejor era pensar al revés, hacer las cosas ilógicamente y estar dispuestos a que la banda de la iglesia ensayara en otro lugar para que un borracho pudiera tener su tan anhelado descanso.

Entonces, al siguiente día, domingo, el "borracho" llegó al servicio a pedirnos oración. Quería volver a los caminos de Dios, quería seguir a Jesús, quería volver a activarse en una iglesia, quería ser libre.

Oramos por él y esperamos con fe que su vida se haya encarrilado hacia Jesús.

¿Se entiende mi punto?

Cristo estuvo dispuesto a venir a morir para que un montón de borrachos, mentirosos, drogadictos, pornoadictos, trabajólicos, maltratadores, etc., tuviéramos nuestro tan anhelado descanso. Hizo las cosas al revés. Se fue en contra de toda lógica. ¿Podremos nosotros, la Iglesia, hacer lo mismo? ¿Nos atrevemos?

ENGLISH

It happened last saturday. The church's band was rehearsing at 3:00pm and suddenly a man showed up at the door (the church is placed in the 1st. floor of an apartment building) asking: 'How much time will you be doing this noise?'.

After asking the band to stop for a moment, I told him with calm: 'Excuse me?'

So he rephrased his question: 'How much time will you be rehearsing?'

After getting an answer, he said bye and left. But we stay and made plans, after the rehearsal, to to practice in other place (our house) in order to not bother the neighbors that want to get some rest on saturday afternoons. Besides, our house has some extra room and the noise handling is better there.

So, at this point, a few people told me that we shouldn't move because 1) we were paying rent for the church's local and that gives us some rights, 2) the building owner knew that we were going to plant a church there and it meant music and noise, and 3) the gentleman who asked us for silence wanted to rest the hangover.

Those were reasonable points but something kept telling us (Virginia and I) that it was better to do things backwards, go against logic and be willing to change the church's band rehearsing place so a drunk could have his rest.

Then, the next day, the man showed up at church and asked for prayer. He wanted to go back to God. He wanted to follow Jesus. He wanted to be active again in a church. He wanted to be free! So we prayed and we're hoping with faith that his life is now re-railed to Jesus.

Do you see my point?

Christ was willing to come and die so a lot of drunks, drug junkies, porn addicts, workholics, abusers, etc., could have our rest. He did everything backwards. He went against all logic. Could we, the Church, do the same? Could we dare?

THE STAFF OF THE LORD

Exodus 17:8-16

According to the passage that we just read, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. They attacked the weakest part of the people and that was the reason why God said that He’d destroy them completely. The first step for this was the counterattack that Moses planned: Joshua and the army should be in the valley while Moses, Aaron and Hur would be at the top of the mountain. And the staff of God would be in the hands of Moses. That’s our lesson.

I • THE STAFF OF GOD

The term “staff of God” appears only two times in the Bible (this one and the time when Moses, still living with his father in law, decides to go back to Egypt to free his people). The name “staff of God” gives, almost automatically, the idea of power to change the world, to save the weak, to heal the broken. Power. Simple as that. Power.

And, actually, the staff of God had indeed all that power and more. Nevertheless, just like a guitar by itself is worthless, the staff of God needed to be in the hand of somebody in order to unleash the power.

II • THE STAFF OF GOD IN THE HAND OF MOSES

Who wouldn’t love to lay a hand in that powerful staff, even for just a moment? Having the power of God at our service. Be able to hold that relic should be cool. But, if the “staff of God” only appears two times in the Bible but the staff itself appears a lot of times more, what was it called? Answer: The staff of Moses. Yep. The staff of God is the same staff that cut the sea in two, the same that turn the Nile into blood, the same that filled the city with frogs, the same that draw water from the rock, the same one that darkened the sun, the same staff of Moses. So, the staff of God isn’t a piece of wooden specially blessed, but a rod in the hand of a God’s servant who believed and obeyed God.

Now, since the rod was used to, among other things, protect the lambs when were attacked by wolfs, it wasn’t a weak staff, but a hard, strong and heavy one. And Moses was supposed to hold it high so Israel could win the fight. The problem was obvious: tiredness. So Aaron and Hur came up with a great and working idea.

III • THE ARMS OF MOSES IN THE HANDS OF OTHERS

They sat Moses down in a stone, so they could hold his arms “high” until the Israelites get the victory. Good strategy!

Aaron and Hur could have propose to Moses to hold the staff by turns. First Moses, then Aaron and then Hur, and the cycle would start again. But it wasn’t the right thing. Why? Because Moses was the one called to hold the staff, so Aaron and Hur asked themselves: “If Moses part is to hold that up, what should we do?” And they crashed right unto the answer: “We should hold Moses!” That’s team work! Up in the hill, Moses was holding the staff while Aaron and Hur were holding Moses, and in the valley Joshua was fighting with the army.

CONCLUSION

From this passage, the great lesson for this day can illustrate with a game of words in the English language: the STAFF of God isn’t a piece of wooden, but a group of people, like a church staff, concert staff, newspaper staff, etc. The staff of God is not a relic lost in some foreign monastic refuge, but a group of people that follows the Lord, serving and loving people in Jesus name. The ones who hold the rod high (in leadership and Word teaching). The ones who hold these ones up (helping and serving in every aspect of the church). The ones who lead the armies that helps in the society and the people that form these armies. You are the staff of God!

And all that we should be doing is to hold high the name of Jesus. Make Him famous. Protecting His truth. Proclaiming Him out loud with our lives! And then, God’s people will always win the battle!

THE EMOTION'S ILLUSION

A few days ago, the deposed president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, gave us (Guatemala) a visit that coincided with a protest of the people of the town of San Juan Sacatepequez whom demand that the Government stop the construction of a concrete plant in its lands.

In the middle of all that, Zelaya arrived to see our president (Alvaro Colom) and the people started to shout sentences like "Zelaya for president!"

That shows us the problem of taking decisions driven by emotions. This type of choice could never stand the test of time because it is based on what's happening at certain time and circumstances will change by the hour. Even if I'm being deceived by people who just tell me what I want to hear, then again, the emotion will take over and the decision will be a bad one.

The question now is: Don't we do that to God also? That's why the most important decisions shouldn't be completely taken on sunday, but wait until wednesday or thursday (when the "holiest" of our week has been left behind at church, where we often left God too).

A decision that begins on the sunday's sermon but, after meditation and a daily-reality dosis, ends a few days later, is a much more trusty decision and is more likely to impact our lives greatly.

Jesus said it: "There are the ones who receive the message with joy, but after that, the problems suffocate it." 

The emotion's illusion is powerful but is nothing more than that: An illusion that fades like vapor at the first wind!

That's why so many people at churches all around the world take decisions and then, at the first problem or when they see the real "cost" of that choice... they retreat without even notice.

So, we should receive the message with joy, indeed, but we also have to meditate on our heart about it during the rest of the week. That's what God tells us once and again, for example, across all the book of Proverbs.