Moving Forward

First of all I want to apologize for not writing in the last few days, between Camp Nano and other distractions I have not been able to sit down long enough to concentrate. I’ve been thinking a lot about how sometimes we are affected by issues regardless if they have direct or indirect impact in our lives.

Life is never without challenges, disappointments and painful events, most of them out of our control. The way we react to those events and the way we view those events will determine our behavior and ultimately potential future outcomes.

When something unexpected affects negatively our lives its very common to feel anger, sadness, shock, resentment, disappointment, grief and many other negative feelings. Ephesians 4:26 reads “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” but I know there are wounds that are longer lasting, however once the sun comes back up, it may be time to start our baby steps back on the road of life.

We believe that we have no control over those feelings and that’s not totally true. Yes, those feelings are normal. We should not stuff them or deny them. We should talk about them and process them, the problem arises when we sulk and get stuck on them.

At some point the grieving process of an event runs its course and yes, the timing is different for everyone, but when the grief hinders you from functioning, you’ve gone too long.

That’s why I say that you can ultimately impact your future outcomes, for example…the loss of a relationship may be devastating, but it could open the door to self examination, discovery and the potential of a new, sometimes even better relationship. The loss of a loved one is devastating, but if you have faith that they are in a place of no pain and no sorrow, that will give you hope. The loss of employment or some other financial loss will not be easy to recover until you get back on your feet.

Feel what you need to feel, process what you need to process, but then it’s time to get up and move on. Trust that God will make everything right and that he’s in control. That there’s no evil that will not be avenged and no good deed unrewarded.

Faith will get you through

Be blessed.

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.

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!

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:

Matthew 18:6 

“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

             

 Paulette Gebara              

 

 

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!

The hair clip from hell!

Have you ever heard that we are affected by things, people and places? The results can be both negative and positive and sometimes without our conscious acknowledgement. We live our life day by day and our life gets transformed for good or bad and it’s not until we make a pause that we realize how far we’ve gone; either towards our purpose or away from it.

There’s a particular thing that was a symbol in my life for a long time without my conscious knowledge, it was a hair clip. Apparently when I was very angry I would pulled my hair up, others will say that it was very high, and that I placed the hair clip on the top of my head. It was an unconscious thing.

I use to be a manager, and I heard some of my employees pass by my cubicle and announce, “oh oh hair clip is on”. I never paid attention, I thought it was a joke, until one day someone who I was in a relationship with and I were having a phone conversation. It was more an argument. He got quiet and said. “I bet your hair is up” and when I touched my hair, he was right. This same individual had a fist fight with his brother. I was called by a neighbor who couldn’t pulled them apart. I asked to be placed on the phone with my boyfriend and announced that I was on my way. When I made it to his place the guys were in separate rooms, I talked to “my guy” and started asking questions about the fight, he kept staring at me in silence. Finally he said,” I’m not talking to you until your hair comes down” I started laughing and pulled the clip off. This was over five years ago.

Why a hair clip story? During the last five to six years God has been working on me. I’m not sure if I had an anger issue, it was more a legalistic spirit. Everything needed to be in a way (usually my way) and I was miserable. If things were not inside the mold I would not only be upset but angry.  As things started changing in me I started enjoying my life. I laugh more, I have less concerns and I’m way less affected by sudden changes in life.

When I stopped managing my life and surrendering it to the one that could actually do something about it I had less reasons to worry and less need to control. That gave me more time to enjoy life and do more of what I like: writing! I’m not going to say that I never get upset or angry anymore, but the clip went away from my life as I am not nearly as uptight as I used to be.

I laugh when people say how funny or laid back I am. If they only knew me then. But what about the hair clip you may ask? I have not used it in years. I realized this week how long God has brought me when I found it buried in a box.

Would you like to share things that God has changed in your life? Have you identified things, people or places that affect you positively or negatively? I would love to hear them!

Be blessed!!

Inequality

View of the Statue of Liberty from Liberty Island
Image via Wikipedia

 

“Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse of your teeming shore,

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me”

(Portion from the poem by Emma Lazarus the New Colossus, which is graven on a tablet within the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty stands)
                      ~

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

   I was hungry and you fed me,
   I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
   I was homeless and you gave me a room,
   I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
   I was sick and you stopped to visit,
   I was in prison and you came to me.’

Matthew 25:34-36

Do you see any similarities in the passages before?

 My heart has been grieving for a while hearing “God fearing people” spew so much hatred towards others, just because they are different. I don’t understand why we can’t see each other as people. Instead we keep the barriers of races, socio-economical backgrounds, and gender. Do you really think that God sees us that way? I think that if God wanted us to look all the same and have the same he would have made us all the same.

If we are created in God’s image, there’s something beautiful in each human being that’s inherited from God himself, then why are we the ones separating when God is all about unity?

We complaint about how some people benefit from our labor and are not the best stewards of those benefits; and that may be true. Don’t you believe in a God of justice that will judge those who don’t steward what has been trusted in them? Don’t you believe in a God of provision that will take care of YOUR needs, therefore who cares what your neighbor has?

We are complaining about helping the tired, feeding the hungry, giving room for the homeless, clothing the naked, helping the sick and visiting the prisoner. I stand on the Word of God that says in Matthew 25:45 “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’

Don’t we want to hear ‘well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23) if we don’t do what is required, instead we will hear that  God placed those people in our lives and directly or indirectly we didn’t do what we were to do and we will be held accountable for it.

Did we forget when we were there? When it was us being the poor, the rejected, the ones in need? By us I don’t necessarily mean us, but maybe our ancestors, and if the hand of God and I’m sure someone else’s help, you and I would not be here. It’s time to embrace the Heaven culture, where our differences just enrich us instead of divide us.

Be blessed.