Sometimes we get so caught up with the rules from religion, the points of view that we forget the basic part, Jesus loves us! How great it is to know that if nobody else in the world was to love us, Jesus still does.
Enjoy!
WF: Worship Friday
Tag: postaweek2011
Kindness
I couldn’t find in the dictionary a satisfying definition of kindness. The synonyms I found were a little bit more relatable to an understanding of what this is. I found that generosity, charity sympathy, compassion and tenderness are some of those things that are compared to kindness.
The word of God calls us to be kind to one another and to love one another, including our enemies. I think this is where it gets tricky. Loving our families and friends is almost normal, even on our bad days. Loving someone who is not particularly nice to us or that has hurt us can be a very challenging thing. However I learned first hand the power of how a kind heart can change your relationship with someone who right now you wish you didn’t even have to see.
Years ago, I worked with this lady. To my recollection I had not done anything to her and she had not done anything to me; but it was obvious to me that my presence was a thorn in her life. She would try to avoid any kind of interaction with me. If she had to talk to me, her tone would show her frustration in our interaction. I’m the type of person who tries to be liked, so the situation didn’t sit well with me. For months I prayed that whatever was bothering her life would be lifted, that she would be blessed, that she would find the love of God; I didn’t know if she was a believer or not.
One day, I was having a personal trial. She came to my desk and said “ I know I’m not your friend, but if you need someone to talk to, know that I’m here for you”. It totally blew my mind. Before she left my desk she left a small box. Inside the box there was a little plaque that to this day stays with me wherever I go. The plaque read, “there’ nothing that God and I can’t resolve together”. It was double amazing for me and totally spirit lifting. The message in the plaque had given me hope and it came from the person I least expected. I will say that after that day our relationship changed. I’m not saying that she became my best friend, but we were able to talk amicably and if memory serves we went to dinner once within a group of friends.
What act of kindness can you do today for someone whose personality or actions rub you the wrong way? Are you willing to make an impact in someone’s life, just by providing a smile? Take the challenge, it’s always rewarding.
Blessings
Naty
Christian view on the death penalty
I’ve always had a clear position on the death penalty. I don’t believe in it. I think that if I didn’t grant someone’s life, I have no right to take it away regardless of their actions. Let me clarify that birthing or providing the seed for a child is participating in the process of life, in my definition only God grants life. The whole I brought you into this world and I’ll get you out of it may be a choice of a discipline scare tactic, but in the practice it’s still considered murder.
“Thou shall not kill” has a particular effect in my line of thinking. The other reason for my position against the death penalty is because after watching hundreds of hours of real life crime shows and seeing how many innocent people have been sent to death row, some have been saved, some have been executed, I don’t think I could bear the responsibility of being convinced by a prosecutor that someone needs to be put to death and then killing the wrong person. Well, the whole idea of me consenting to killing another person makes my stomach churn. I would be your worse juror in a death penalty case.
As I was doing research last week for my Jeffrey Dahmer article, (if you missed it you can read it here) I read something that caught my attention. During his conversion process, Jeffrey Dahmer spoke about how he should have died for his actions, but the jury spared his life and he didn’t believe he deserved it. He thought of suicide, but at the same time he wanted to please God and he had discovered that was not the route. The Pastor helping him through his new found journey told him the following:
At my next meeting with Jeff, I began with his question,
“Am I sinning against God by continuing to live?”
I told him, “Romans 13 does say God has placed a sword in the hand of the governing authority. That’s why I agreed with you last week when you said you thought the state should have put you to death.”
“Yes,” he replied.
“But has the state failed its duty by not putting me to death?”
“I can’t answer that question. I can say that God has put a sword in the state’s hand, and the state has that right from God. This state has apparently chosen to lay down its sword and take up a rod instead.
Read more of their conversation here
Then I looked into what Romans 13 said, and I read in verses 1-5:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
So as I understand the comment from the Pastor and the Scripture, God has given permission to the authorities to judge other people’s wrong doings and establish punishment,, including the sword which I would understand would be death. Therefore, would it be ok for a Christian participating as a juror in a death penalty case to agree to vote for the death penalty as they have been called to be part of the authority in those processes?
I don’t know the answer. I know this has been a heated topic of conversation recently. I know that it was highly discussed during the events that ended the life of Osama Bin Laden and more recently during the murder trial of Casey Anthony.
I think that live without parole (which is the usual option B on death penalty 
cases) gives the wrongly accused the opportunity to prove his or her innocence and the real guilty an opportunity of change. I am aware that some will never change, but it wasn’t I who took that option away from them, even when possibly they are in jail for taking that option away from someone else. Again this is my opinion, you can totally disagree. Didn’t I tell you I would make an awful juror?
I would love to hear your opinions on this subject, which I know are very diverse out there. All I know is that I’ve been learning a lot by researching in the Word of God on some unusual hard questions.
Waiting to hear from you,
Be blessed.
WF: Lifting the name of God
At the end of the week, we feel weary, but what better way to renew our strength than praising He who gave us that energy to get through the week, no matter how good or challenging it was. We have a new weekend ahead to enjoy our family, to regroup our lives and and praise our Lord
Enjoy!
(PS: WF- Worship Friday)
Could Jeffrey Dahmer be in heaven?
Every time someone thinks of Jeffrey Dahmer the first thought is that of a serial killer. He raped, killed and kept the parts of some of his victims. He buried some of them. It was known that he killed around 17 men and boys.
I was looking into my usual crime stories and amazingly enough I had heard the name but didn’t know the story. To my surprised I read not only about the despicable disgusting things he did, but as I kept reading I found out something that it’s not talked about much.
While in jail, after being apprehended while his last potential victim was able to escape and alert authorities, Dahmer did something amazing… He gave his life to Christ. Yes, my mouth dropped and I couldn’t believe it, he repented and got saved and accepted Jesus as his Lord and savior. He even got baptized.
The bible says that in Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” and it also says in Isaiah 1:18 “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool”
Dahmer was attacked twice in jail, once coming out of a church service and late
r on while cleaning floors and that’s when he was killed. I think this is an inspirational story. I believe that in the eyes of God there are no sins bigger than other. A lie and a murder carry both the same weight; maybe not in our eyes, but in God’s eyes. (1 John 3:4-5 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness)
If I follow the Word of God then yes, Jeffrey Dahmer could be in heaven. I can’t be certain as only God knew his heart. We believe in a God that can forgive it all. Isn’t that great? If you have not raped and murder anyone, guess what? if you repent, what you did can be forgiven. But there’s more, even if you have… if you repent you can be forgiven too. We all can.
I thought that was a deep concept to process and wanted to share. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Blessings!!!
Can routine affect our purpose?
Routine is an element that could prevent us from embracing the new things that God wants to do in our lives. No matter how free spirited our lives may be the most disorganized of us has a routine. We get up, go to work or school, we have a hygiene routine, eating routine, a schedule. After all the hours outside of our house, we then return and do mostly the same things, clean up, eat, and entertain ourselves (television, internet, games, Facebook). The day ends and we have not given God a minute of our time.
Some people have included God in their daily routine somewhat, but if something comes along that changes the things we usually do, we have the tendency to present resistance. I know that God has woken me up in the middle of the night with someone’s name. He usually wants me to go and pray for that person. I have to admit that I have not always been obedient to that call. How many times have you ignored that voice when you know in your heart that you needed to do something for someone or in obedience to God?
This reminded me of the parable of the Good Samaritan, when people bypassed helping someone in need in order to make it to the temple on time. Stopping there would have affected their routine. I have found out that when I get out of myself and actually allow God to alter my routine, I get more blessed than any blessing I can be to anyone else. Let’s decide today to give our daily schedules to God everyday and let his will be done.
The undesired mission
The first thing I read this morning was about Moses talking to God about why was he the chosen one to free the Israelites from Egypt. He was not thrilled with God choosing him for this mission. I love the book of Exodus and Moses is one of my favorite characters in the Bible, so I can’t deny feeling for Moses on this one…LOL!
In Exodus 3:10-4:13, you can read the conversation where God tells Moses to do. Moses gives God every reason why he’s not the right person for the job. God basically tells him, I created you therefore I’ll 
equip you and poor Moses comes back with a whine… Why me? Send someone else…
How many times have we been in that situation? God places in your heart to witness to someone and it happens to be someone you don’t like much. Or he calls you to be part of a ministry but that’s not what you like to do. Better yet, just like the parable of the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) where you are asked to leave it all behind and start from scratch. Can you hear that whiney noise in your head yet?
One of the things that I’ve discovered in my life journey is that everything in our lives has a purpose and it becomes useful at different stages. If we believe in a life with purpose then we would need to admit that our missions are 
handpicked for us.
As I meditate of why Moses would had been the person for the job; not only he was an Israelite which connected him with God’s people, but he had been raised in the palace with Pharaoh. He knew the ins and outs, how things worked. It’s kind of like being bilingual, you’re the perfect person for the job if it involves being in the middle of things that involved both languages or cultures.
But just like Moses we don’t tend to see how we are perfect for the job and its mostly because we don’t want to do the jobs for whatever reason: fear, feelings of inadequacy, out of our comfort zone, disobedience, etc.
I remember a trying time in my life where God placed people who had gone through some of my trials and worse. I remember saying, “it’s not that I’m happy with your suffering, but I’m glad you understand”. Every test in our life is a testimony in the making and it’s a tool in our belt for the next mission. So with that in mind, how will you respond the next time you are called into action?
Could you imagine what would happen if our armed forces or our law enforcement officers declined their missions? Food for thought soldier of God!
Blessings!
You choose!
As we mature in life we have an idea of who we want to become or better yet what is God’s purpose in our lives. How to we achieve those goals has a lot to do with our decisions.
It has been said that if you encourage a child to do great things and equip him, he or she will have a better chance to achieve his or her potential. The good news is that even if our childhood was less than perfect as adults we have the control in our hands to determine what are those things that we are going to allow in our lives to encourage or discourage our purpose and future.
We decide the people we include in our lives. You may think that’s not accurate as you didn’t choose your relatives. Although that is correct, you do have total control on how much time you spend with them and the level of interaction you have with them.
You may think that as a parent or child caregiver you have no control over your environment; it’s the total opposite. It is the responsibility of parents and caregivers to watch over their children. Children can present limitations to the things that can be done, but if you’re really honest with yourself the way you handle parenting can also affect that relationship on how enjoyable or not it becomes. The parenting experience could include the child in achieving God’s goals in your life and in creating a learning experience for the child of how to achieve their own goals throughout their lives.
We decide the type of entertainment we participate in. This believe it or not is important as it can form opinions, emotions and thought patterns that supports or discredit our believes with the information we expose ourselves to.
We decide our involvement in certain activities. In doing so we need to weigh how productive those activities are to our goals. In other words, is is worth to spend extensive time and resources to things that will not further our purposes? Sometimes we do.
What’s the point of all this you may ask? In our walk of life sometimes we feel
like there’s not enough time, not enough energy, not enough resources, but the reality is that sometimes our decision making process drags us through a path of many steps with little resources.
God had goals for you, you have goals for yourself. Sit and discern your decision process and how your environment is affecting those things. Take the control back. You choose!!!
Blessings
Thinking of Lost Angels
Today I just to make a stop to talk about some angels that we’re missing on this earth. In the last few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about how many children are dying in the hands of their caretakers. It’s is sad when a society gets to that point where their kids are not safe with their own parents or those entrusted to care for them.
The bible says:
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea”
The only consolation that we can have is that they are not suffering anymore, that they are enjoying eternity with our Heavenly Father and that if any justice is not achieved on earth, divine justice will prevail. Join me in praying for the families of these angels and for the true repentance of those who hurt them. Let’s remember some of these lost angels.
JonBenét Ramsey Caylee Anthony
Lorenzo Gonzalez Cacho Conner Peterson
Michael and Alex Smith Noah, John, Paul, Luke and Mary Yates
Kyron Horman (hope we still find him alive)
sadly many more…
Worship Friday 5/20/11
In the last few days, I’ve continued to think about how we forget easily how to translate the love for one another. We tend to think of loving those who we like and be charitable with institutions at the most. I think is lack of sight of who is our “neighbor” the one that Mark 12:31 talks about.
This week I talked about inequality and how we judge people by race, ethnicity, social or economical status. But we forget something very important. We all are equal in the eyes of God. “Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.” Proverbs 22:2
That’s why I pray that God gives us a glimpse of his eyes and the way he sees us. That’s why I chose this song from Brandon Heath, “Give me your eyes” to worship the Lord today.
Enjoy!
Naty Matos 