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Hello God: Hearing The Voice Of God And Trusting In His Promises In Difficult Times
Introduction
There are many difficult moments in life when we feel that our
faith is not strong enough. As Christians, we fight, but sometimes nothing
seems to work. The uneasy feeling could get intense, to the point that the pain
takes a hold of us as soon as we open our eyes in the morning. Perhaps our
situation seems impossible, and the thought of not knowing what's going to
happen tomorrow overwhelms us.
It’s in those difficult moments in life that we need to hear the voice of
God, but His voice won’t come until we learn to connect with the Holy Spirit,
so that’s precisely what we’re going to learn today. As a man who knows what it
means to suffer, I completely understand you. I have survived a cruel war, and I’ve
been in extremely difficult situations in my life.
I have also experienced hunger
and unimaginable pain. As a war survivor, I've seen the most horrendous things
that you can imagine, and those memories stayed with me for many years. I know
what it means to be homeless and to lose the person that you love the most. I
became a widower at 23, and there were times when I just wanted to end it all.
But I'm here to tell you that the
Lord is going to speak to you today and that you can overcome whatever it is
that you’re going through. I know that not everybody is going to like this book
because I talk about humbleness and not prosperity, but that’s okay.
The Lord has a message for you,
and that message is that all the pain that you’ve gone through is the main
pillar that sustains your faith today. Because when you are weak, you are
strong; because when you feel like crying, the Holy Spirit comes to comfort you
and the impossible becomes possible.
It's in those difficult moments
in life that the faith required to move mountains becomes alive in you. If you
feel that you’re currently going through difficult times and that you need to
hear the voice of God, there’s a secret that I’d like to share with you today.
This book is not about a quick
solution to all your problems, so if that's what you're expecting, perhaps my
message is not for you. What I want to share with you is far greater than that.
The real solution is not to fix your current problems, but to change your heart
and your mindset, and then all your needs will be met because your faith will
be empowered by the Spirit dwelling in you.
My main goal is to prepare your
heart so you can hear God’s voice and trust in His promises when you need His
divine direction. I pray that my message will cut deep into your heart and that
the Lord adds wisdom to your understanding today.
I live in El Salvador, one of the most violent nations in the
world. This place is so evil that even the most barbarian act seems normal. A few
days ago, as I got prepared to have supper, a woman came running toward the
house. It was our neighbor from two houses down. We let her in, but she was in
shock and trying to gasp for air. No words were needed to understand that there
was something bad going on out on the street. She run inside the house and
threw herself on the floor, behind the couch.
Not being able to speak, we had
no idea what was wrong with her, but soon we were going to find out. Mom, Dad,
and one of my brothers were at the house. Someone began shooting outside so my
brother came out of his room running and yelling in Spanish, “Abajo! Abajo!”
Which means, “Get down!”
Immediately, we got down on the
floor with our neighbor. We all sought shelter behind the couch as my heart
began to beat rapidly. I could feel it in my veins; I could feel it in my head;
I could feel it in every breath that I took: One-two; one-two; one-two. The
voice of fear in my heart.
I was concerned about my parents.
They’re in their 70s, and both of them are hypertensive. I looked at the woman,
and she was shaking uncontrollably. I didn’t even know her name, but it wasn’t
the right moment to ask. More shots were fired out on the street, and the woman
just covered her head as she cried. I told her that I was going to call the
police, but she managed to mumble a few words and said that she had already called
them.
That doesn’t mean anything in
this country, though. You call 911, but they don’t always make it in time. There’s
so much crime going on around here that they’re not able to handle it all. The
front door was wide open, so that was not a good thing. We had no idea who was
doing the shooting or how close they were. All we knew was that we were in
great danger.
Someone needed to close the door,
so my brother began to crawl on the floor, risking his own life, but he got there
in a matter of seconds. Not that it mattered anyway. In this country, if
someone wants to kill you, doors are not an obstacle. You get killed “horror
movie style.”
As for me, I needed to trust God
and know that everything was going to be okay. My faith was being tested again as
my human nature was eager to come out and get in the way. This country is full of
horrendous stories and unspeakable crimes. I should already be used to all the
killing that goes on around me, but I guess that there are things that you can
never get used to.
When you are a Christian, and
you’re faced with a difficult situation, there’s nothing that you can do but let
God take over and fight for you. We live in an unpredictable world. One day you
get ready to enjoy a nice homemade meal, and the next thing you know, you find
yourself down on the floor, praying and trying to make sense of a horrible
situation. You look around, trying to seek help, but the people that can help
you are down on the floor with you; crying with you.
Sometimes it may not be a life or
death situation, but to you, it certainly feels that way. A wise man told me
once that it’s not about the problem; it’s about you. No matter what you’re
going through, to you, it feels like a life or death situation because it’s
happening to you. You feel the pain inside, and a vague doubt invades your mind.
It is there, in the back of your mind, but you refuse to see it because you
feel guilty for not trusting God.
You get discouraged when you
think about tomorrow. Perhaps tomorrow is not looking good for you. Nobody
knows the pain you feel inside. The feeling of hopelessness is overwhelming,
and no matter how hard you try, your thoughts betray you as soon as you wake up
to face another day. One after the other, the questions pop into your head:
What will happen tomorrow? Will I be able to make it? What if something goes
wrong?
I should know that well. As I hid
behind the couch, many questions came to my mind: ‘What if something happens to
Mom or Dad?’ ‘What if something happens to me?’ ‘How will Mom cope with it?’
Questions that I shouldn’t be asking, but they were there. Anybody can preach
faith from a pulpit; anybody can write a book on trusting God, but let me tell
you something: When death stares at you in the face, your faith seems to go out
the window, and the struggle begins inside.
Even if your situation is not
life-threatening, the feeling of hopelessness is never easy to take. But the
question is, why is it that we fear? Obviously, we fear because we’re not
trusting God, but why? Why aren’t we trusting the Lord if we, as Christians,
are supposed to live by faith, and faith alone? As it is written:
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the
righteous shall live by his faith”
(Habakkuk 2:4)
So now the question is, are we
being righteous before the Lord our God? Because if we are, we should be able
to trust in Him and not let fear invade our hearts. Apparently, the problem is
not about trust, but about who we are; whether we are righteous or not, and that raises a question: Is it a matter
of trust, yes or no? The other night, I was faced with that question, and I
needed to know if I was righteous enough or if I just needed to trust God, but
time was running out.
As the sun went down, more shots
were fired, so we tried to make ourselves as small as possible. I looked at
Mom; she looked back at me, and I could almost see her thoughts through her
eyes. It was as if I knew what she was thinking. At that very moment, the
calendar turned back in my head. The memory of that horrendous day on January 10, 1981, was present in the air. Without saying a
word, I found myself next to Mom, facing death once again.
I was just 11 years old. A few minutes before
10 PM, the guerrillas launched a nationwide attack in my country. We were a
nation at war, and the aim of the guerrillas was to overthrow the government,
but in the process, hundreds of innocent civilians lost their lives. We
survived the attack. We spent the entire night on the floor, hanging on for
dear life as the bullets hit the outer walls of the house, one after the other.
I don’t think about that terrible
night anymore, but a few days ago, when I found myself in that awful situation,
the memories came back to my mind. I’m no longer a child, but the fear in me
was just as intense. It’s easy to have faith when everything is going fine in
our lives, but eventually, the Lord is going to test us to see how real we are.
Many of us don’t make it because when the Lord tests us, He means business, but
don’t take my word for it, let’s take a look at the following Bible verses:
And it came to pass after these things, that God tested
Abraham, and said unto him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Behold, here I am.”
And He said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom
thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a
burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”
(Genesis 22:1-2)
As we can see, the Bible clearly
says that God tested Abraham, and apparently, when the Lord tests His
children, He makes sure that He cuts deep where it hurts the most. He even
reminded Abraham what was at stake: “Take
now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.” Not an
easy test, right? We all know how the story goes. Abraham took his beloved son
and brought him to the mountains, where he was to be sacrificed as a lamb, but
just as Abraham got ready to slay his son, the angel of the Lord stopped him:
And Abraham stretched
forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord
called unto him out of heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here
am I.”
And He said, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou
anything unto him; for now I know that thou feareth God, seeing thou hast not
withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.”
(Genesis 22:10-12)
Abraham was ready to kill his own
son. He didn’t need to ask questions. He did what he was told, period! He
proved that he was capable of trusting the Lord without a doubt in his heart,
and that’s exactly what we are called to do. We wake up in the morning and feel
the pressure inside; the fear takes over because we’re not trusting the Lord
our God, creator of the Universe.
Now, don’t feel so guilty,
though. It’s okay to feel fear when you’re faced with a tough situation. That’s
what happened to me the other night. The Lord understands that we are humans
and that our weaknesses are embedded in our human nature. The problem comes
when we dwell on that fear, and we let it take over our thoughts. This is what
happens to many Christians today, and as a result, they lose their spiritual
purpose and turn back to the things of this world.
The other night, instead of
enjoying my dinner, I found myself fighting against that human nature. The fear
of the unknown took over me. In this forsaken land, where I live, people get
killed in broad daylight. It happens every single day. Entire families get
killed in their own bedrooms. A few days ago, for example, a mother and her son
were getting ready to go to bed, but their dreams were snatched away from them.
In the darkness of the night, 5
gunmen entered their house, and they got shot in bed, according to some sources.
Nobody heard anything; nobody said anything. They were found dead the next
morning. Nobody here wants to be a witness. It’s too risky. If you open your
mouth, you die. On top of all that, the government is so corrupt that nobody
trusts them anymore. It is estimated that 90%
of the crimes committed are left with impunity.
One person gets killed every hour
and one person is reported missing every two hours or so. You get killed, and
if your body is found, you get a proper burial, if not, only God knows what
happens to you. Some people are found buried months later in clandestine
cemeteries. Authorities try to do their job, but they’re no match for all the
killing that goes on around here. Now it was my turn to face reality.
I had to trust the Lord and let
go of the fear inside. There was a gunman out there. Probably just a few feet
away. If he managed to break in the house, we were dead meat, and I knew it. More
shots were fired, and time slowed down for us. “I think that there’s more than
one gunman out there,” I said to my brother as he stared at the window. He
didn’t say a word. He just nodded his head as his Adam’s apple moved up and
down.
We asked the lady what was going
on, but she was in shock. “It’s my husband,” she said as her hand trembled. She
wasn’t saying much, and we didn’t want to push her to talk. All we knew was
that her husband was out there in the middle of that mess. But was he the one
shooting, or was he the one getting shot at? That was the question in my head.
Whatever it was, I needed to trust
God. I have gone through this madness a few times before in my life, but it’s
never easy. Being faced with death is probably the ultimate fear. It’s the end
of life, but as a Christian man, I wasn’t afraid of dying. I knew that I would
go Home, but I won’t deny that I was afraid of losing Mom or Dad. I knew in my
heart that they would go to Heaven if something happened, but the thought of
losing them was there, and I just couldn’t shake it off.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean
that you won’t feel pain when you lose a loved one. My parents have been there
all my life, and I understand that they’ll have to go one day, but I will
certainly miss them a lot. I know that the Lord won’t allow them to go in a
violent way, so that’s the confidence I have, but that confidence was being
tested that day. Perhaps your situation is different from mine, but the fear is
always the same. We were not called to be perfect, but we were called to fight.
We were not called to struggle; we were called to endure.
Those who don’t know the truth,
struggle. They let their fears take over and control their emotions. They
believe the lies of the devil, and when the temptation comes they are not able
to resist. As Christians, we all go through those evil attacks, but the
difference is that we don’t let any of those things deter us. We have a way
out, and our faith is the strength of our spirit.
There were four of us on the
floor, trying to stay away from certain death, but each one of us took a
different approach to the situation. Mom and I started to pray, but my brother
and my father didn’t say a word. As for the woman, she continued shaking nonstop.
Apparently, she wasn’t a Christian.
Everything got quiet for a moment,
but we still had no idea what was going on outside. By then, around fifteen
minutes had gone by. We thought that the shooting was over, but we couldn’t
move. It was too risky to go outside. The woman began to calm down. I crawled
to the kitchen and got her some water. We asked her again what was going on out
there, and she told us that her husband was trying to kill her and that he was
chasing her with a gun.
That clarified things a bit, but
I didn’t like what I heard. This meant that she was the main target. Not good
at all! My brother looked at me for a moment, and apparently, we were both
thinking the same thing. “Go check the back door,” he whispered immediately. Now
we understood what was going on. Perhaps the woman wasn’t saying anything at
first because she probably thought that we would throw her out, or something.
For a moment, everything got
quiet outside, but that only made things worse. We thought that the man was
probably looking for her, and that’s why the shooting had stopped. We were
faced with a big dilemma. We couldn’t ask her to leave because that would’ve meant
certain death for her. I asked her if her husband was capable of killing her, but
she didn’t say a word. I asked her that question because I just couldn’t
comprehend what was going on.
Most of the time, crimes are
committed by gang members, but this was different. This was a family man who lived
just two houses down. I’d never met him, but I’d heard that he was kind of
weird. I didn’t even know what he looked like, but I knew that he was no gang
member. He owned a business and had children, that much I knew, so I asked the
woman about the children.
She told me that she had no kids with
him. Those children were from his previous marriage, and they only came to
visit from time to time. I asked her
again if her husband was capable of killing her, and she nodded, saying that
her husband was extremely violent. That told me that he was ready to pull the
trigger on her. I was concerned about her, but I was also concerned about the safety
of my family.
If that man found out that she
was there with us, we were going to be in big trouble. I had to trust God,
though. I needed to hear His voice more than ever before. It’s in those moments
of hopelessness that we are faced with a profound realization: Do we trust God
because we have no other choice? I often hear that statement from people that
are going through difficult times: “I have no other choice but to trust God,”
they say.
Is God like our last resource? Is
He like an Ace we pull from under the table at the last minute? What if I told
you that most of us, even Christians, react that way? When we’re faced with a
tough situation, it seems as if we are forced to trust the Lord. It’s almost as
if we take God out of a box so He could do His job, but the question is, are we
really trusting Him?
Apparently, we are, but isn’t
that like loving your spouse only when you need love? Think about that for a
moment. Would you like to be loved only when someone needs you? A profound
question, isn’t it? But here is another one: Would you love back if that was
the case? Probably not, because your marriage wouldn’t be able to survive on
“part-time love.”
How about your relationship with
the Lord? So perhaps it’s not a matter of trust, and it’s a matter of
relationship. If that’s the case, we should be asking ourselves the following
question: What makes a strong relationship? In the world, there are many
reasons why people get married. And the shocking thing is that most of us get
married for the wrong reasons. No wonder more than 50% of all marriages end up
in divorce within the first few years, and that’s in the United States alone.
Some of us get married because we
are tired of feeling lonely; others get married for financial stability.
Whatever the case may be, we’re doing it for the wrong reasons. Of course, a
strong relationship is built out of many key factors, such as Loyalty, trust, respect,
etc., but what holds it all together is love. As it is written:
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have
not love, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove
mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
(1 Corinthians 13:1-2)
“And though I have all faith so
that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing”? Is that right?
So this means that even if I had all the faith in the world and trusted God
with all my heart, but I have no love, my faith and trust would be meaningless.
So instead of talking about trust, we should be talking about love; the love of
God, that is.
But what does love have to do
with trusting God and hearing His voice when we need Him the most? This is the
mystery we need to learn today. We’ll talk a lot about this as we move on
because it’s an entire concept that we cannot just jam in a couple of phrases.
As Christians, we should already understand that God is love, and that love is
everything, and without this love, nothing is possible because that love is the
power that moves everything in the physical universe and in the Kingdom of
Heaven.
The other night, as I hid behind
the couch, I began to feel God’s amazing love for me, and His still small voice
came to me so the fear in my heart diminished, although, at that moment I had
no idea that someone was going to end up dead. Immediately, I was reminded by
the Holy Spirit that God’s unconditional love brings trust and peace to our
hearts. No matter how difficult our situation may be, His love breaks all
curses, and the impossible becomes possible.
One day, Jesus was confronted
with one of those impossible situations that we sometimes
go through in life. Lazarus, His good friend, was dead, and not only that he
was dead; his body was already halfway putrefied. Talk about a tough situation!
Then when Jesus came, He found that he had lain in the grave
four days already.
(John 11:17)
His friend had died four days
before. Imagine if one day you’re confronted with such news? What would you do?
When we’re faced with a major problem, we feel as if there’s absolutely nothing
that we can do. Most of us give up before even trying. That’s exactly what
happened to Martha, Lazarus sister:
Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went
and met Him; but Mary sat still in the house.
Then Martha said unto Jesus, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here,
my brother would not have died.”
(John 11:20-21)
Martha was already accepting her
defeat. She was even kind of blaming the Lord, wasn’t she? Isn’t that what we
sometimes do when something goes wrong? We play the blame game and start
pointing fingers at people. Some of us take it as far as blaming God for our
problems, but isn’t that a loser’s mentality? Blaming others won’t solve the
problem, and do you want to know why we blame others when things go wrong?
Because we have no love in our hearts.
When you blame others, you’re
only thinking about yourself. You couldn’t care less for the person you’re
blaming. All you care about is feeling better, so by blaming others you ease
the pain that you feel inside, isn’t that the case? I see it all the time, and
this is because it’s in our human nature to blame others. This behavior has
been with us since the beginning of time.
The man blamed the woman and the woman
blamed the serpent, but guess what? They all got punished because they all were
guilty before the eyes of the Lord. Nobody forced anybody to do anything. They
all sinned against God willingly. The same thing happened when Lazarus died. Some
of the Jews who were there with Martha and Jesus also played the blame game:
And some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the
eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?”
(John 11:37)
As we can clearly see, this is
common because most of us don’t have the love necessary in order to trust God,
but one person there did: Jesus.
When Jesus, therefore,
saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, He groaned in the
spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have ye laid him?” They said unto
Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, “Behold, how He
loved him!”
(John 11:33-36)
Jesus cried, and He cried because
He felt a tremendous love inside, but He didn’t cry out of desperation like the
others did. He already knew what was going to happen because He had a clear
communication with the Spirit produced by the love He had inside.
He knew that Lazarus was going to
rise from the dead so there was no reason for Him to cry without hope, but some
of the Jews knew exactly why He was crying. This is why they said, “Behold, how
He loved him!”
It was precisely this love that
worked a tremendous miracle. This love was the power that produced faith and
trust. It was this love that gave Jesus the authority to rule over the physical
laws, so the impossible became possible, and Lazarus, Jesus beloved friend,
rose from the dead:
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead
was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank Thee that
Thou hast heard Me.
And I knew that Thou hearest Me always, but because of the
people who stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”
And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with
graveclothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said unto them,
“Loose him, and let him go.”
(John 11:41-44)
The love that the Lord felt
inside was stronger than the situation. Lazarus was way far gone, and it was
humanly impossible to bring him back. You might think that it was Jesus’ faith
what worked the miracle, and although faith is important, it was the power
behind it that made things happen that day.
The other night, I felt that
power backing me up. His voice was telling me that everything was going to be
okay and that I and my loved ones were safe from danger. I trusted the Lord
because I knew that His love for me was greater than my fear. Unfortunately,
the woman that was hiding from her husband was shaking like Martha, Lazarus
sister. I got closer to her, and just as I was getting ready to tell her not to
fear and that everything was going to be okay because God was in control of the
situation, more shots were fired out on the street.
We lowered our heads and waited
for a few minutes to see what was going to happen, but everything got quiet
again. We had to wait because we couldn’t move. We called 911 a couple of
times, but they said that they couldn’t give us any information. They told us
to stay put and not to move. Supposedly, they were already taking care of the
situation, but we had no way to confirm that.
Suddenly, I had an idea. I went
to my room, risking my life, and logged into my computer. By then, a few hours
had gone by, so I was trying to see if any of the local news stations new
anything about the situation, but I found nothing. I contacted some of them
through my Facebook account and waited for a few minutes. After a little while,
one of them wrote back, but they didn’t have good news for us. Well, at least
not for the woman.
Her husband was dead. Supposedly,
all the shooting going on outside was a gunfight between him and the police,
but they finally got him. I’m still not clear exactly how it went, but
apparently, when the woman called the police the first time, they arrived
almost immediately, so her husband entrenched himself in the house next door to
us and the shooting began.
Here, it’s not like in other
places, where the police always try to bargain with a gunman. In this country, if
you have a gun in your hand, they’ll shoot you to death. No questions asked. We
later found out that the woman’s husband was shooting at the police from inside
the house, and apparently he got careless and stuck his head out the window at
the wrong time.
When we found out that he was
dead, we all hugged the woman as she cried with a deep sorrow. Apparently, she
loved her husband, even though he didn’t deserve her love, but that’s how it
is. I prayed for her, and then I asked
her if she was okay. She said that it was better off this way. She also said
that her husband abused her from time to time and that he was extremely violent
toward her. That was the end of many years of torment for her.
This didn’t mean that she was
fine. It was a bittersweet moment. Her pain was intense. I could see it in her
eyes. I talked to her about the Lord, so we’ll see what happens. The police
arrived and took her, for questioning, I suppose. I pray that she finds peace
in her heart, but above all, I pray that she finds salvation for her soul.
As for me, I trusted the One who
loves me, because that love was also in me, and that love produced a tremendous
faith in my heart, which allowed me to communicate and hear the voice of the
Spirit. This is a great mystery. There’s a strong connection between us and the
Lord, and the only way to form that spiritual bond is through His love.
So this means that it’s not a
matter of trust; it’s a matter of love! Could this be the mystery behind our
communication with the Lord? A profound question, but we’ll talk more about
that in a later chapter. Those who are part of that unconditional love are the righteous
ones of this world, and they are the ones who live by faith, but the question
is, what does it take to be a righteous man or woman? Because if we could
understand the mystery behind a righteous man, then we would understand the
mystery of love.
CHAPTER TWO
Before we continue, we must understand that our communication
with God is nonverbal. As humans, we use words to convey a message, but it
doesn’t work that way in the Spirit. The voice of God is found in the knowledge
and wisdom of those who believe. God says hello to us every single day but
unfortunately, we don’t seem to recognize His message for us.
Many of us wait for an audible
voice because that’s how we understand communication, but the fact of the
matter is that God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. As we all should know
by now, the Holy Spirit of the Lord lives in us. This means that His message is
heard with our hearts and not with our ears, but in order to hear His message,
we must receive it by faith.
Back in the early 1900s, an
American missionary moved to Africa to preach the Gospel. While living in
Africa, he traveled to Ethiopia, Chad, and Sudan. One day, he arrived in a
small village located about five hours away from Addis Ababa, Capital of Ethiopia.
He befriended the village Chief there and stayed with them for a few months.
After some time, the missionary
returned to the United States and stayed there for a few years, but the Lord
called him back to Africa one day. He was a man on fire for God, so he moved as
the Spirit led. One afternoon, he took a late flight back to Addis Ababa
and stayed in the city for a few months, but then decided to visit the old
village one day. It was the dry season, and he heard that it hadn't rained
for two years, so he knew that the people of the village were in trouble.
He brought some medicine, food,
and water for the people, so he was greeted well when he got there. The Chief
of the village, who had already converted to Christianity, told him that they
were on the brink of a great famine. If it didn't rain soon, they were
going to be in big trouble. The Chief told the missionary that they had prayed
for rain, but their prayers were not being heard.
They fasted many times, and some
of the village people had already lost their faith. Some were already
returning to their pagan traditions, so the Chief was concerned. The missionary
told the Chief to give him a couple of days so he could pray and seek the Lord
for guidance. The missionary returned to Addis Ababa, and about a week
later came back to the village. He told the Chief that he was going to pray for
rain and told him not to fear because the Lord was going to work a great
miracle.
The next day, they woke up early
in the morning, and the Chief gathered some of the elders of the
church. They got ready, and they all went to a mountaintop to pray. Once there,
the missionary took off his shoes and socks. The Chief and the elders
began to pray, but the missionary stood
on the mountaintop barefooted as he faced the sky in silence
with his eyes closed. They stayed there for a few hours until it began to
get dark, so they had to stop praying, but there was no sign of rain in the far
distance.
The missionary told
the Chief and the elders of the church to trust for a miracle, that God wasn't
going to let them down, so they trusted the Lord. The missionary stayed with
them, and a full day went by but nothing happened. The second day,
nothing happened again, but on the third day, the sky broke loose. It rained so
hard that even some of the farm animals drowned. People rejoiced in the
rain. They cried and hugged each other as they jumped up and down on the muddy
streets.
It was a great miracle. People
collected water and praised the Lord for what He had done for them. It
continued raining all night long and into the next day. In the morning,
the Chief invited the missionary for breakfast and asked him how
come the Lord heard his prayers. The missionary gave the Chief a big
smile, and said, "Oh, I wasn't praying! I prayed before I came to the
village, so I already knew that it was going to rain. I was just enjoying the
rain and the mud under my feet."
This is a shocking statement. The
missionary didn't go to the mountaintop to pray but to experience the
miracle before it actually happened. Even though it wasn't raining, he felt the
moist underneath his feet. He lived the moment and there was no doubt in
his heart. He knew that it was going to rain because God had told him, and this
is precisely the type of faith needed in order to hear the voice of the
Lord and His message for us, so now the question is, do we have that type of
faith?
When you pray, do you experience
the miracle you need in your life? What do you feel when you pray? Do you
feel fear, or do you feel peace in your heart? Let me tell you something, and
this is very important so pay special attention. The outcome of your prayer
will depend, not on the words that you say, but in the feeling that you
experience at that moment, because it’s that feeling what will ultimately dictate
who you are; whether you're a person of faith and courage, or someone who
is fearful inside.
Did you know that most of us,
when praying, pray out of fear? Especially if we're going through a difficult
situation. Our prayers are more like a desperate plea for help. We pray out of
hopelessness when the fear invades our hearts, and that's not a good thing, is
it? I understand that it's not easy to concentrate when a major problem affects
your life. It's extremely difficult to feel peace in your heart when one
day you find yourself against the wall, but don't feel so alone. This also
happened to the disciples when they found themselves in a tough situation:
And behold, there arose a
great tempest on the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves;
but He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord,
save us! We perish!”
And He said unto them,
“Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds
and the sea, and there was a great calm.
(Matthew 8:24-26)
As we can see, the disciples
cried out of fear. They said, "We perish!" In their minds, they were
experiencing the worst. They saw themselves drowning and gasping for air.
Instead of feeling safe and secure, they saw death knocking at their door. And
these were the disciples! These were the men that walked with Jesus! They saw
Him perform many great signs and wonders, but yet, they did not trust the Lord.
This is why Jesus called them "ye of little faith."
But that fear is in us as well.
This is something that we don't realize because it seems so natural to us. It's
almost like a second nature. The fear is there, but we fail to recognize it, so
the first step is to catch that fear before it gets to us. We need to be able
to detect it as soon as the first signs show up. But some of that fear is
necessary to make us aware that something is wrong. This is what I call
"Healthy fear."
I often go through that
experience. The "healthy fear" inside of me warns me that
there's something wrong. Like I said before, I live in El Salvador, a violent
nation, so this fear reminds me that I need to pray and that it's time to fight
the devil. I have to cover myself and my family with the blood of Christ every
single day. Yesterday, for example, not far from where I live, an elderly
couple was killed in cold blood. They were both around my parent’s age. They
owned a convenience store, just like my parents do.
According to the news, they were
being extorted by the gangs, like most business people in this country are. It
is so common here that we no longer call it "extortion." We call it
"the rent." 75% of small business owners in this country have to give
the gangs a monthly payment to continue working. If they don't pay, they get
killed; simple as that! This is what happened to this elderly couple yesterday.
They couldn't continue paying the extortion, so someone came knocking on their
door.
According to one of the sources, the husband opened the door, and as
soon as he did, they forced him to walk outside. They shot him to death. Then,
they went inside the house and found the wife in bed, begging for her life, but
that didn't mean anything to them. These people have no mercy whatsoever. She
was shot to death as well. After the horrendous crime, they didn't even run.
They calmly walked out of the house, according to some neighbors who were
hiding.
They own the neighborhoods, and
they own the streets. This country bears the name of our Lord: El Salvador (The
Savior) but it's so far away from Him. According to some sources, El Salvador
has become the Murder Capital of the World. Everybody here knows
somebody who has been killed in a violent way. We are the smallest country in Latin
America, but yet, one of the most corrupt and violent places.
There's so much impunity in this
country. We basically have no government to look out for us. They're too
busy getting rich off of the people. Yesterday, a judge issued an arrest warrant for the ex-first lady, Ana
Ligia de Saca. Between her and her husband, Antonio Saca (President of El
Salvador 2004-2009) diverted 22 million dollars from the public funds
to their personal accounts.
The current government is also
corrupt, so we're basically on our own, but the God that I serve is a
powerful God. This doesn't mean that I don't feel fear in my heart every
time I read the news. I also feel sad to see these things happening
nearby. I get that feeling inside of me, and I pray. As I pray, I feel a
tremendous peace in my heart. I see the angels and the shield of the Lord all
around us. My parent's business is one of the few that don't pay
"rent" (Extortion).
The gangs have never
approached them, and they never will, because we are covered with the
blood of Christ. This doesn't mean that we're not exempt from danger. We
are always in danger, and that's why I need to keep myself in constant prayer,
knowing that there are angels all around us. I am surrounded by serial killers,
and this is no exaggeration; this is a fact, but that's okay. Greater is He
that is in me, than he that is in them. I won't back down... Not today, not
tomorrow, not ever!
There are times when we need to
stop praying so much and start believing in the power behind us. No matter how
well-constructed your prayers are, if there's fear in your heart, you're
basically just throwing words in the air. Throughout the ages, this fear
has been in the hearts of people. And it's precisely this fear that kills
your faith and your communication with the Holy Ghost. This is why you find it
hard to trust the Lord sometimes, and if you can't trust Him, guess what? Your
situation will not get solved, or it could even get worse.
So now the question is, how to
get rid of that fear? Because if we could get rid of it, then our faith will
flow freely, and we will be able to communicate with the Holy Spirit, right?
Well, to answer that question we must first ask: What is fear? A lot of
people think that it's a feeling, but that's just how our human mind
understands it. In reality, fear is a spirit. And it's not only a spirit; it's
one of the major demon commanders in Satan's army of destruction.
For God hath not
given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a
sound mind.
(2 Timothy 1:7)
As we can clearly see, fear is a
spirit, so this means that we need to fight him in the spirit realm and take
back that faith he has stolen from us. This opens a whole new level of
understanding. Faith is not something that grows on trees or something that the
Lord can give you freely. One day, the disciples asked the Lord to
increase theirs, but instead of increasing their faith, He gave them a piece of
reality:
And the apostles said unto
the Lord, “Increase our faith.” And the Lord said, “If ye had faith as a grain
of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, ‘Be thou plucked up by
the root, and be thou planted in the sea,’ and it should obey you.”
(Luke 17:5-6)
The answer that the Lord gave
them was simple and straight, "If you had faith as a grain of
mustard seed." This meant that He wasn't going to increase their faith. He
said, "If you had," indicating that faith is something in us. It is
part of us, so we should have it rooted in our hearts. Even if it's a small
fraction, it would be enough to move a mountain. This is why I always say
that faith is something that you either have or don't have.
Basically, if you have less than
the size of a grain of mustard seed, which is a tiny amount, you might as
well have nothing at all. So if you don't have it, it's because the spirit
of fear has taken it away from you. Apparently, faith is something that we
have to fight for, so we must do spiritual warfare. This means that
it's in your best interest to learn more about our spiritual war. We're
going to learn about that today, but if you'd like to expand your knowledge
even further, I will recommend the following book:
There's great information in that
book, so read it when you get a chance, but today I'm going to share with you
the secret to spiritual warfare, which is what ultimately will bring abundant
faith to your life. Most people think that spiritual warfare is about praying
and fasting, but that's not the case at all. Praying and fasting are just
weapons we have, but spiritual warfare goes way beyond that.
The first thing that you'll need
to understand is that spiritual warfare begins in your heart. And it's there
where you find the secret to a victorious life in Christ. The power of the Holy
Ghost is not in the world; it's not in the spirit realm either. The power and
strength of God are found inside of you. It's deep in your heart that you will
find the answer and the solution to all your problems, so that's what we're
going to discuss today.
Faith is a force that's empowered
from within. It's not what you do, but who you are that will produce
abundant faith in your heart. No matter how much you pray; no matter how
much you fast; if your heart is not recognized by the Holy Spirit, your prayers
will be meaningless. You have to be known, not only by the Holy Spirit but also
by the demonic forces you're fighting against. Let's take a look at the
following Bible verses:
Then certain of the
vagabond Jews, exorcists, took it upon themselves to pronounce the name of the
Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We adjure you by Jesus
whom Paul preacheth.”
And there were seven sons
of one Sceva, a Jew and chief of the priests, who did so. And the
evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?”
And the man in whom the
evil spirit dwelt leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them
so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
(Acts 19:13-16)
As we can see, these men were not
recognized by the demon spirit, and this is because they
obviously didn't have the power of the Holy Ghost backing them up. They
were not saved to begin with, but how about us? We are saved, but does that
mean that the power of the Holy Spirit is there to back us up? I don't need to
quote the Scriptures to answer that question. If we had the power of the Spirit
in us, we (the church) would be so powerful that the sick would get healed,
even just by touching us.
And God wrought special
miracles by the hands of Paul so that handkerchiefs or aprons from his body
were brought unto the sick, and the diseases departed from them and the evil
spirits went out of them.
(Acts 19:11-12)
The reason why Paul performed
great miracles is that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. As we've just read
in the Bible verse above, the evil spirits went out of the people. This is the
power needed in order to cast out any demonic forces tormenting us today, and
guess what? That includes the spirit of fear.
So it seems to be that,
although we are saved, not all of us have that power backing us up. The
key to getting rid of our fear is to welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives,
but how do we do that? The secret is found in the following Bible verse. Let's
take a look:
There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath
torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
(1 John 4:18)
So now we're getting somewhere.
This means that it's the perfect love of God that casts away the spirit of
fear, so this also means that our faith will be empowered once we get rid of
that fear inside of us. This is the foundation of our spiritual battle
because without fear, and with great faith, we will be able to hear the
voice of God clearly and nothing will be impossible unto us, isn’t that
amazing? This is precisely why the seven men who tried to cast out the
evil spirit were not recognized, and as a result, the evil spirit overcame
them.
The perfect love of God was not
in them, and this is the thing that we need to understand, so pay close
attention to what I'm about to say: If that love is not in us, the Holy Spirit
will not feel welcome. This means that His power won't be there to back us up
either. This is why we fear, and this is also why our faith is smaller than a
grain of mustard seed. Are you beginning to get the picture?
No man hath seen
God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us,
and His love is perfected in us. Hereby we know that we dwell in Him, and He in
us: because He hath given us of His Spirit.
(1 John 4:12-13)
In the above verse, we can read
that IF we love one another, God will dwell in us, and His
love is perfect in us, and we know that He dwells in us because He has given us
His Spirit, but there's a big "IF" there, did you see it? Of course
you did! But did you know that those two letters are the solution to all your
problems? Because IF you love your neighbor as you love yourself, then the
power of the Holy Ghost will be there to back you up, but only "IF"!
I'm not talking about loving your
family. Of course, you love your loved ones, that's why we call them "loved
ones." I'm talking about the agape love, which is
expressed freely to everybody around you, not just to your loved
ones. This is the true love of God that goes beyond human understanding
because it can only be experienced through the Spirit. So now the big
question is, do we have that kind of love for our neighbors? If you ask any
Christian today, of course, they will tell you that they do, but do they
really?
What about you? What do you
think? Do you have that unconditional love in your heart? Are you living
the true Gospel of salvation? Don't worry; you don't have to answer yet. I have
prepared a test for you if you don’t mind. It's a short test, based on the
love presented to us in the Bible, but I'm going to be upfront with you:
It's not an easy test, so don't feel bad if you don't pass it. My purpose is to
show you what's in your heart. Remember that, as it is written: The heart
is deceitful above all things, so we have to keep it in check. Anyway, here is
the test:
Please answer the following questions according to
your own personal experience and to the best of your knowledge.
1) Do you take at least a few hours a week to spread the word
of the Lord, whether it is on a personal level, or through any kind of media,
such as Internet? YES / NO
2) Do you often ask if someone is in need of prayer at your
church or among your group of Christian friends? YES / NO
3) Do you feel the pain when someone you know is hurting
inside, for whatever reason? YES / NO
4) Do you lend or give money to someone in need when it's
requested of you (If you are financially capable of doing so)? YES / NO
5) When you go to church, do you feel the need to be a
blessing to the congregation? YES / NO
6) Are you currently involved in any kind of ministry in your
church (If you're in good health to do so)? YES / NO
7) Are you willing to give up your own plate of food to feed a
hungry neighbor? YES / NO
8) Do you feel a strong urge to spread the word of the Lord so
others can find peace in their hearts and salvation for their souls? YES / NO
9) Are you willing to give up your own comfort in order to
help someone who needs your help? YES / NO
10) Do you pray for someone when you find out that they are in
trouble or in some kind of need? YES / NO
11) Have you already forgiven everybody who did you wrong in
the distant or recent past? YES / NO
12) Do you try not to say anything when someone does something
to hurt your feelings? YES / NO
13) Do you try to understand people when you don't agree with
them, for whatever reason (As long as it doesn't go against the will of God)?
YES / NO
14) Do you try not to get upset every time someone does
something wrong to you? YES / NO
15) Are you willing to ask for forgiveness when you know that
you have hurt someone's feelings? YES / NO
End of the test
If
you answered "YES" to at least 75% of the questions, you're in good
shape. Notice that I didn't include any questions about giving your money to
the church because, like I mentioned in another book, a lot of people think
that by tithing and giving their money to the church their job is done, but it
doesn't work that way. It's our love that will make the difference. It's who we
are that will set the world on fire for the Lord, not our money!
We
don't have to be perfect, but we need to improve ourselves and try to be as
perfect as we can. I wrote this test thinking in our modern Christianity, but
in reality, we don't even come close to the ancient church. If you thought
that this test was hard, I'd like to remind you that they gave it all
for love. They were thrown to the lions and died horrendous deaths so you
and I could find salvation today. If you thought that the above test was
difficult, go ask Paul and see what he thinks:
From the Jews five times I
received forty stripes less one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I
stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day adrift in the deep; in
journeying often, in perils from waters, in perils from robbers, in
perils from mine own countrymen, in perils from the
heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the
sea, in perils among false brethren.
In weariness and
painfulness, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in
cold and nakedness. Besides those things which are external, there is that
which cometh upon me daily: the care for all the churches!
Who is weak, and I am not
weak? Who is offended, and I burn not? If I must glory, I will glory in the
things which concern mine infirmities.
(2 Corinthians 11:24-30)
Those
are beautiful words! I feel like I am nothing when I read what a real man of
God goes through. I don't think I can do it. I feel so small! Don't you feel
it? Those words are like music to our ears. Like the Prophet wrote one
day: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good
news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes
salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”
Paul
went through all that pain because he knew that there was a need. People were
desperate for hope in this world. He even underestimated his own pain when
he said, "Besides those things which are external, there is that which
cometh upon me daily: the care for all the churches!" His pain
and suffering, to him, were external. The care for all the churches
was his main priority.
We
owe Paul a lot. It is because of his pain that you have hope today. The Lord
used him more than anybody else to spread the Gospel. Like I always say,
"We don't need more TV stations to spread the word; we need more men like
Paul to give it all for love!" We need to love again, and then we will see
great miracles unleashed, not only in our lives but in the lives of those who
are called; in the lives of those who come to the Lord because of what they do
for love!
How
beautiful are the feet of those who understand the truth, for there is
absolutely nothing that can stop them. Because they do it for love;
because they know that a mother is crying tonight, a son is
yearning to come home, and a father is crying desperately for the
loss of a child. They understand that they must bring hope to a
dying world and this is why they do it, no matter how
much they struggle.
This
is the love that brings, not only salvation but abundant faith in our hearts.
This is the kind of love that will move mountains, and nothing will be
impossible for those who have understood this mystery. The Gospel of truth
is not about ourselves; it's about what we are going to do for others in need.
This is what makes miracles happen and what moves mountains because this is
what makes us die to this world.
It's
when we're dead to this world that the Spirit of the Lord will manifest Itself
in us. It is the perfect love of God that will bring us to deny ourselves in
this earthly life because we will no longer think about ourselves, but we will
give our lives so others can live. It's our pain, our greatest glory,
and this is why Paul said, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2
Corinthians 12:10).
Today
you feel weak, but that weakness should be to glorify the Lord, not to feel
sorry for yourself. This is your greatest strength because it's that pain that
makes you humble; it's your suffering that prepares your heart to
receive the perfect love of God in your life. Once your pride is broken,
you are able to see clearly in the Spirit. And when you see in the Spirit, you
stop thinking about yourself to be a blessing to others, and this is more
important than any pain invading your heart today.
Once
you experience that perfect love in your life, the Holy Spirit will feel
welcome in your heart, and guess what? He will fight for you and nothing will
be impossible. But now I have a profound question that perhaps will open up
your understanding even further: Why does the Holy Ghost dwell in the hearts of
those who experience that perfect love? Well, to begin with, we know that
God is love, and that's obviously why the Holy Spirit feels welcome in your
heart when that love is present, but what's the mystery behind that love?
I talked about this in my
book: 16 Spiritual
Strategies That Will set You free, but it's extremely important, so
I'll expand on it a bit more in this book. One afternoon, when I was in my
mid-20s, I was feeling down and depressed. My wife had recently passed away, so
I wasn't feeling good at all. I needed some answers in my life, so I began to
seek the Lord with intensity, and He gave me one of the greatest gifts ever. It
was a scripture that opened my eyes to the truth, and from that day on I
understood the meaning of love. This is the scripture that He gave me:
Then one of them, who was
a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him and saying, “Master, which is the
great commandment in the law?” Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This
is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the
Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:35-40)
I had read those words before,
but this time it was different. I knew that this was something big, and it
took me a little while to get it, but then I understood. The perfect love of
God is a cycle. It's not like the love of man. We love so we can please
ourselves because it makes us feel good, but the perfect love of God is not
like that. In that love, you take away the self to be able to experience what
others feel.
It's
no longer about you. You give because you feel the need, joy, or pain that
others experience. God's perfect love is like a strong urge to bless others,
even if it means that you have to suffer. But that love has become a great
mystery to us. And I call it a "mystery" because if we understood it,
we would experience it, but we don't, do we? And this is the mystery behind it:
Whatever you do for your neighbor, will come back to you because love is a
cycle and that cycle is the nature of the Creator.
Take
a look around you. Everything you see today was one day in the mind of God. He
created everything according to His own nature. From things as small as atoms
to things as big as Galaxies. Everything turns; everything is a cycle. The
Earth, the Moon, the Galaxies, each generation, each tree, each atom, each star
in the sky: Everything departures to come back again, and this is the mystery
behind love because everything you do onto others will come back to you
eventually.
On
this amazing truth hangs all the Law and the Prophets; on this inevitable fact
hangs the Word of God. We are part of this cycle, and just like the Moon cannot
escape from the Earth, neither can we escape from the nature of the creator.
And it's in His two main commandments that we will find His nature. The second
commandment was "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." And He
compared this commandment to the first one: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."
If
we pay close attention, we will clearly see that the Lord didn't differentiate
one commandment from the other. To Him, they were both equal, and that's
precisely why He said, "And the second is like unto it." This
means that even if you say that you love God with all your understanding, it
wouldn't mean a thing if you don't show your love for others. This is big! We
cannot neglect this amazing truth. This clearly means that whatever
you do for others, you do it for God.
Then shall He say also
unto them on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. For I hungered, and ye gave Me no meat;
I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not
in; naked, and ye clothed Me not; sick and in prison, and ye visited Me not.’
Then shall they also
answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when saw we Thee hungering or athirst or a
stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister
unto Thee?’ Then shall He answer them, saying, ‘Verily I say unto you, inasmuch
as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.’
(Matthew 25:41-45)
I
know you've already read these Bible verses before, and perhaps many times, but
sadly, most Christians seem to not understand. Many of us go to church
expecting to be blessed, but our intentions are not to be a blessing for
others. We go because we need healing or a financial miracle. In the worst
cases, people seek God because they've been told that He can give them
prosperity and all the good things in life.
But
when you understand the perfect love of God, you give that love, and the cycle
begins. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you, which means that you can have clear
communication with Him, and He will fight against the evil spirits that torment
you. That includes the spirit of fear, and this is why your faith is restored.
It’s
not until then that things begin to happen, and the mountains move out of your
way. This is big! And this is the reason why the Apostle Paul was powerful. His
love was greater than his earthly desires, and he understood that love requires
sacrifice.
The faith needed in order to hear
the voice of the Spirit doesn't come easy. That type of faith can only be
acquired through the empowering of the perfect love of God in your heart; when
you take your life and put it aside for a moment so you can experience
someone else's pain. It doesn't matter how good of a Christian you think
you are. You could do everything right, fast, and pray every single day, but if
the love is not there, neither will the faith be there.
This
is why many Christians are not able to hear the voice of the Spirit and
experience the power of God in their lives. They are good Christians, don't get
me wrong. Many of them even serve in church ministries. They tithe, fast, pray,
and some even preach the Gospel, but when they see a brother or sister in need,
they turn the other way. When it's time to sacrifice themselves for others,
they're nowhere to be found, and then they wonder why their faith is not strong
enough to be guided by the Holy Ghost and move their mountains out of the way.
I've been a Christian for over
twenty-five years now, and I've seen it all. I've seen people locking
themselves for seven days to fast and pray, thinking that this is what's
needed to be heard. By this, I don't mean that we shouldn't fast and pray, but
I said it before, and I'll say it again. Fasting and prayers are weapons that
the Lord gave us, but not the power that moves mountains out of the way.
I mentioned the following phrase
in one of my previous books, and this is how it goes, but in a
different manner: "Show me a man who prays consistently, but
doesn’t know how to love; and show me a man who doesn’t pray as much, but
gives it all for love; and I'll tell you whose prayers are getting
answered." Now, let me ask you a question: Whose prayers do you
think are getting answered? I think you already know the answer to
that one.
That goes to show you that
prayers alone mean nothing. They need the power to back them up, and that power
can only come from God, but let me ask you another quick question: What
is that power? If you don’t know the answer let me give you a hint: God is
made out of it. So this means that the power behind your prayers is LOVE, for
it is written: “God is love!” But not just any kind of love. Let me show you
the type that I'm talking about:
Greater love hath no man
than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.
(John 15:13)
Difficult words to hear, but you
know what? They are powerful! How can someone give his life for his
friends? It’s insane! But that's what the Lord said, didn’t He? And
the main thing that we need to understand is that this is the greatest
love there is. There's nothing above it, but does this mean that we have to
literally die for the sake of others? After all, that's what Jesus did,
right? He gave His life so you could live, isn't that amazing?
Well, perhaps it's not so amazing
when it's your turn to die for others, but don't worry, the Lord doesn't expect
you to literally lay your life for love, unless you have a special calling, of
course. What He expects of you is for you to die to this world, and
this is what will open up a channel of communication between you and the Holy
Spirit.
Once you’re dead to this world,
the love of God, which created all things,
will come and dwell in you. You become part of that love and that’s the reason
why you are able to hear His voice clearly. This voice is not an audible voice;
it’s more like a knowledge in your heart, and this knowledge is the answer to
all your prayers because this is the real voice of God living in you.
Through this channel of
communication between you and God, you will receive wisdom, guidance,
knowledge, strength, and inner peace. All these things will allow you to
overcome your difficult situations and make the right decisions in those
critical moments in life. This is the same wisdom and knowledge that the Lord
gave Salomon, son of David, and we all know how Salomon was a blessed man. He
had an open communication with the Spirit, and that’s why he always made the
right decisions.
Salomon received this power
because he didn’t think about himself (See 1 Kings 3:1-15). His priority was
his people, and because of that, the Lord opened a direct door so Salomon could
hear His voice of wisdom. It is clear to see: Love is the power behind our
communication with God, and that communication is the solution to all our
problems.
It’s like having an open line
with the doctor. Our bodies would be in good health because we would have
direct contact with the expert. The same thing happens between us and the Lord,
so think about that. Your life will be in good shape because the Holy Spirit
will be there to guide you, so perhaps the solution that you’re so desperately
looking for is found in just four letters: “love!”
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