No condenacion y get in the battle.

Jer 45:5 ¿Y tú buscas para ti grandezas? No busques; porque he aquí que yo traigo mal sobre toda carne, ha dicho Jehová, y á ti te daré tu vida por despojo en todos los lugares adonde fueres.

Cuando leo versículos así y Libros como Jeremías, doy gracias a Dios que ninguna condenación hay para los que están en Cristo Jesús. Y cuando buscamos algo que no es de Dios, o que Dios do quiere que tengamos, El no nos matará. El no nos castigará, porque no hay condenación a los que están en Cristo.

Jer 46:3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

God does not command us to sit on the sidelines. He doesn’t tell us to try to avoid the conflicts we’re going to face as Christians. He tells us to man up, and take care of business. Now, it’s all Him that fights and wins the battle; we just need to be willing to step into the battle. He’ll take care of the rest.

Something I’m actively working on in my life is being more and more of a verbal witness to those around me. And what I mean by that is that I try to talk about “religion” more and more with my coworkers. Besides the people at Vision Baptist, I really don’t see anyone other than my coworkers.

And I’m working, step by step, at drawing nearer to the battle. I’ve invited two friends to Friday Bible study at Scott’s. One guy is a Catholic, and the other guy is a skeptic. And, for whatever reason, it’s difficult to get talking about the Bible and spiritual things with my coworkers, but the Lord tells us to draw near to the battle. And that’s what I’m praying He would do in my life, draw me nearer to the battle each day.

Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.

Something from class.

"Dad, why am I going through this?"

"I don't know, son. But I know you have a God who is going through this with you."

Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.

He is faithful! and nuestra guia

Jer 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

Even when we don’t follow God all the time, He’s still faithful. And I can attest to that in my own life. Reading this makes me reflect on how good God has really been to me. It was more than enough that He saved my soul, but in truth, salvation is really just the beginning of His blessings.
Not that any blessing will ever measure up to the gift Christ gave us on the cross, but He continues to bless, above and beyond what we deserve after saving us.

And something else I’ve noticed in the last few chapters is that God can take something that seems to be totally helpless and makes no sense to humans, and make it safe. Like not being destroyed in captivity, or staying under Babylon, or going with the Chaldeans. What makes sense to God might not always make sense to us.

Jer 44:4 Y envié á vosotros á todos mis siervos los profetas, madrugando y enviándolos, diciendo: No hagáis ahora esta cosa abominable que yo aborrezco.

Dios nos dirá lo que debemos hacer. Con Israel, El envió los profetas. Hoy en días, El nos ha dado la Biblia. Y por Su palabra, nos damos cuenta de lo que debemos hacer y lo que no debemos hacer.

Y debemos leer y estudiar la Biblia, porque es nuestra guía por la vida.


--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

Thursday's devotions

Jer 39:11 Y Nabucodonosor había ordenado á Nabuzaradán capitán de la guardia, acerca de Jeremías, diciendo: Jer 39:12 Tómale, y mira por él, y no le hagas mal ninguno; antes harás con él como él te dijere.

Aunque los Caldeos fueron violentes y mataron a casi todo, la vida de Jeramias fue especial, y por eso, no fue matado. Dios protege a sus hijos y los salvará de destrucción de la gente mala.

Jer 40:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD…

This is how almost every chapter in this book has started off so far. And it’s amazing to me that Jeremiah has been delivered from the Chaldeans, and saved from starving, and taken out of prison and through all kind of other things.

I don’t think it’s much of a coincidence that Jeremiah was speaking what the Lord told him to speak, and overcame many trials because of it. In fact, many of those trials may have been avoided had Jeremiah not even bothered to listen to God. But Jeremiah gave his heart to the Lord, and though preaching His word would make things difficult for him sometimes, Jeremiah was going to speak and reveal what the Lord had put in his heart.

Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.

Who needs who?

I'll be the first to say that I feel very out of place talking about money with other people. So, for this blog, I'll not mention anything concrete.

As of this morning, I hadn't paid tuition for November or December, and I hadn't paid rent for December either. I was planning to pay for some of November's tuition when the "bean counter" (Which I laugh at that nickname everytime.) got back from his world travels. I had no idea how I was going to pay rent this month and still eat, put gas in my car or do anything.

I got paid today, and after taxes, I made just enough for tithe, faith promise, and then rent. But that would be about all I could afford. There would be no food in my fridge, no gas in my car, nothing.

But God did something amazing. Without me spending a single dollar of my pay check, God paid all my bills for last month and this month in a little less than four hours. My pay check (which is nothing more than a means of God's provision) will go directly to helping fund my summit/travel expenses and the rest will go to savings.

I mean, I am in total awe of how God provided for me. He sent me food and money through Cornerstone Baptist Church. I love Vision Baptist, and this is where the Lord wants me to be, and I have seen God grow me in some mighty ways since I've been here, but there's always something special about the church you grew up in. And Cornerstone Baptist, though they may be 750 miles away, are still very near and dear to me in my heart.

Let's, for the sake of this illustration, assume that God has nothing to do with my pay check. Let's pretend like I earn it on my own. (Even though it's all God's provision) God paid my bills, and didn't even need my check to do it. I had no idea where the provision would come from, but God is faithful, and provided it for me. All on His own power, will and desire. I did nothing.

The more I realize who God is, and how much power He has, I find that I need a job less, and I need Him more....of course, I'm not gonna go quit my job....but still. It's amazing that God can do such amazing things, without any power of my own.

--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

God is so good.

God is so good.

And He's in control of everything. I don't always see His power all the time, but man, when I do look at how in control He is, it really is good.

I really, really hate talking about numbers in public, but sufficient it is to say that the Lord is the one who provides my needs.

I might have a job, and I might work my tail off every day from 9-5, but it's really the Lord who gives me that money. He might use a paycheck to meet my needs, but it's always Him meeting them. God is so good.

I was praying today, and I said,

"Lord, I don't know what you want me to do; my bills aren't paid and my money is all gone. I have no idea what to do."

Then came the conviction of the Holy Spirit...
"Good. Stop paying your bills with your money, and let the Lord pay them with His."

And that's exactly what's been going on.

Something I've really learned from Friday Bible study with Scott Newton is how faithful God really is. And a few weeks ago, Scott challenged us to ask God to show us how faithful He really is.

And I took it to heart. And I asked, and continue to ask the Lord to show Himself faithful.

And He has been so faithful to meet my needs. I eat every day. I have a job. He just paid all my bills. I want for nothing in my life. And even the things that aren't tangible, the Lord has provided. Things that really aren't things, and can't be seen, the Lord's provided for me in those areas as well.

And the Lord has really blessed me today. He blesses me every day with His love and acceptance, but today He decided to give me some blessings in a financial sense.

But I think sometimes people get in a mindset where we think that God isn't blessing us if we can't see it. But I think God's biggest blessings are the ones we can't see.

I mean, I can't see salvation, and I think that's a pretty big blessing. But even when God wasn't financially blessing me to the degree as He did today, He was still blessing.

--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

Some much needed sleep

I am really stinking tired. It's 1:19am. I got up this morning, worked 9-5, ran home for a shower, made some quick dinner, and headed straight to church for play practice. Since that ended, I've been cleaning out the utility closet.

It's a mess in there. I promise.

And I remember Brother Tony talking about living life vs. Surviving life in class not too long ago. I thank the Lord for putting people like brother Howeth in my life, because that advice on living vs./surviving is really helping me right now.

I'm pretty much working full time hours again, praise the Lord, finishing up school, and doing whatever I can to help with the move.

And I'm not complaining, because I'm having a total blast. It's so amazing how God's changed my view on things, like work, school, friendships, and all this other stuff in the last month or so. And I dunno if it shows or not, but I'm having a blast with life.

I always had confidence and self esteem issues growing up. But for the last...month, or so it seems, things have been awesome. And not just because everything's going my way, because it isn't, but because I'm slowly getting a grasp on how much God loves me, no matter what.

Regardless of long days at work for just above minimum wage, and regardless of eating Mac 'n Cheese every day, and regardless of not having enough money, God loves me. And he doesn't see it when I fail, come short or sin. All He sees is Christ's righteousness.

In football (soccer) a striker or forward's biggest asset is his confidence. With all the technical skill in the world, a striker is nothing without confidence. But a sub-average player can be a goal machine if his confidence is riding high.

And God's given me some confidence, in that He's made me pure, holy, righteous, forgiven me, and all kinds of other amazing things with His love. Not in who I am or what I've done, but in who He is, and what He's done for me, and who He's made me.

I'm tired. Really, really tired. I kinda want to sleep in a little bit. Maybe on...wait...class or work every day.

Never mind. No time for that.

Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.

Your glasses nmight be broken y el camino parece...

Jer 37:13 And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.
Jer 37:14 Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
Jer 37:15 Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
Jer 37:16 When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
Jer 37:17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

A man brought a false testimony against Jeremiah. And God let the man’s lies cause harm and punishment to Jeremiah. He was smote and then thrown into a prison. And if we look at this through our eyes, and a human view, this seems like a bad thing.


But if we look at it through God’s eyes, or through His eyes as best we can, it seems to look a little different. Jeremiah gets to speak directly to the king about what God has told him, and eventually does end up back in prison, but he ends up being fed for as long as there is food in the city.


Humans tend to see a man doing what the Lord told him to do, only to suffer. Change your point of view, and it’s a man who had food provided every day for him, and got to preach to some very important people.

And I was guilty of this for a long time. I always saw the gloom and doom side of everything. But when we realize how much God has already given us, and how much He loves us, any situation seems a good situation to be in.

Jer 38:2 Así ha dicho Jehová: El que se quedare en esta ciudad morirá á cuchillo, ó de hambre, ó de pestilencia; mas el que saliere á los Caldeos vivirá, pues su vida le será por despojo, y vivirá.

No tiene mucho sentido que la persona que salga con los Caldeos viviría, pero es la verdad. A nosotros, parecería que los Caldeos mataran a todos. Pero Dios sabe mejor que nosotros. Y aunque pensamos que situaciones en nuestras vidas traerán cosas malas, Dios puede usarlas para ayudar y mejorarnos.

Y seguir a Dios cuando el futuro no parece bien es de verdad fe.


Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.

Estoy auqí and in the end.

Jer 33:1 Y FUÉ palabra de Jehová á Jeremías la segunda vez, estando él aún preso en el patio de la cárcel, diciendo:

Jeremías estaba encarcelado y Dios todavía le habló. No importa dónde estás en tu vida, físicamente o espiritualmente, Dios puede hablarte.

Y lo que El quiere decirte es un mensaje de amor y paz! En el resto del capítulo, Dios dice que perdonará a Israel y Judá y que serán libres de su cautividad.

Jer 34:2 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
Jer 34:3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
Jer 34:4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
Jer 34:5 But thou shalt die in peace:…

I imagine that if I were a king, and a prophet told me I was going to be taken captive by an evil nation, that I’d be pretty scared, even if I knew that I would live. I dare say that it (being captive) could be so bad that one would wish to be dead!

But what happens here is that Jeremiah basically says, “Hey, Zedekiah. Nebuchadnezzar’s going to capture you. But don’t worry. Everything works out in the end.”

And that’s what happens in life today. We get thrown into bad situations, but God pulls us out, and saves us again and again.



--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

12 dollars.

The month of November was an amazing month. I literally have no idea how God did so much. I don't even know where to begin in terms of explaining how amazing November really was.

I will say that I only spent 12 bucks on food last month, and I still ate at least twice a day. I don't know how God did it, but I don't care. He worked a miracle and provided for me in ways that I'll never understand. I just know that He gave me what I needed and more. And I really want to thank Him for doing that.

And when it was happening, I could see it happening, but I was totally caught up in it. I was too busy running the race to realize how fast I was going. But it's a new month, and I've kinda stepped out of the race. Not that I've stopped going to church or doing "religious" things, but I just stopped running.

And now I'm thinking, "Wow, God really, really did some miracles last month. I wonder if He can do it again."

And I realize that He can. His hand isn't slack. I'm just....I guess my faith needs to grow a bit more. I mean, if God can provide for me with 12 dollars for one month, why can't He do it again?

But it's not that big a deal. I mean, sure, I could have more faith. We all could. For now, I'm just going to look to Christ, the author and finisher of my faith. I've never been so happy, so content to serve the Lord as I am now, and I have less now than I've ever had. I couldn't be happier in life.

I mean, it's pretty exciting to eat all month off of 12 dollars.

--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

Lo que El ha hecho and from day one

Jer 30:2 Así habló Jehová Dios de Israel, diciendo: Escríbete en un libro todas las palabras que te he hablado Jer 30:3 Porque he aquí que vienen días, dice Jehová, en que tornaré la cautividad de mi pueblo Israel y Judá, ha dicho Jehová, y harélos volver á la tierra que dí á sus padres, y la poseerán.

En mi vida, Dios siempre está haciendo un milagro de alguna manera. Me ha provecho todo que necesito y más. Siempre está mostrándome su amor. Y escribo las cosas que El hace para mí en un cuaderno.

Israel y Judá iban a regresar a la tierra de sus padres, y estarían muy felices. Y Dios quería que escribieran lo que El hizo para que sería posible que recordaran el poder de Dios.
Y es por eso que escribo lo que hace Dios en mi vida. Porque, de vez en cuando, tengo un mal dia. Pero cuando miro a lo que Dios hizo ayer, y el dia antes, yo sé que El hará algo muy poderoso en mi vida en seguida. Y me muestra su amor.

Jer 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

The word drawn in this verse comes from the greek word for to plant, grow or create. When God made us, He created us with love. From the very beginning, God has done nothing but exhibit His love to us.

And it’s not that He just loved us then, He loves us with an everlasting love. Yesterday, today and tomorrow, God will love us.



--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

Thank you, David Gardner.

As most people in this area would say...
"I might should be in bed right now."
But I'm not.

Anyway.

I was listening to a CD that David Gardner gave me when he was back in the USA.

One of the songs on that CD has a line that goes,
"Solo Tu eres Dios"
or
"Only you are God."

And that's really made me think. There really only is one God that I serve. There's only one God on the throne in Heaven. And there's only one person I'm working for, and that's God.

I only have one standard I have to meet for God to accept me, and God, as Christ, met that standard for me on the Cross. Eph 1:6 says that we are made to be accepted, and that's the Bible, not Kyle.

I just think it's awesome that the only standard that really matters at the end of the day, which is God's standard, has already been met for me.

So, I guess...Thank you David Gardner for giving me that CD for free when I literally didn't have 10 dollars to my name to pay for it . God used it in my life in a big way. I really am grateful for your gift.

Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.

I don't understand y no estoy seguro

Since I’ve started reading in Jeremiah, I’ll admit that I’ve found it to be very dry since chapter 1. It hasn’t been as interesting as a lot of my recent readings were. Hebrews, I Peter, Acts…I loved those books. They were so sweet to me, and I honestly was reading them out of a love and joy. For a week or so, I’ve only been reading because I wants to have something to send to my accountability partners. God worked in my heart today in a big, big way, and I really, really learned something today. It was like God spoke directly to me about a situation at work.

And I would like to publically say that Mike Shane is a really good friend of mine, and I think we need more Christians like him in the world, no matter what anyone else may say. He's given me some extremely good guidance in the last few days. I don't even know if he meant to or not. But I think that's an awesome trait to have...that just by being yourself, you guide people after God.

Anyway.

Jer 27:5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
Jer 27:6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him
Jer 27:7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.

To be honest, Babylon was one of, if not the most wicked nations ever. And Nebuchadnezzar was one of the most wicked kings ever. And I don’t know too much Old testament history, but anyone who throws three children into a fiery furnace because they won’t bow to anything that isn’t the God of heaven seems kind of evil to me.


But in this passage, God tells us that he gave the lands to that king. He gave all the beasts of the fields to SERVE him, not just to be under him, but to serve him. And I can’t tell you why the Lord would do this. I honestly don’t know, and I’m not going to try to come up with an answer. He even says later not to listen to anyone who says not to listen to him.


I just know that if that’s what the Lord did, then it must be OK. And to be honest, I kinda feel like that’s what the Lord did to me. Now, I’m not being thrown into a fire, but one of my managers (having four different bosses is awesome) is a pretty evil fellow.


Honestly, nothing he says is appropriate to repeat, he berates me with everything he says, and constantly goads me to do something wrong. He even “puts words in my mouth” so I’ll look bad. And none of that is an exaggeration of the truth. I promise. I might be 19 years old, and “just a kid,” as I hear a lot, but I think I can formulate a pretty accurate opinion of my boss.


And to be honest, I don’t always like working for him. I often find myself dreading a shift with him, and I often complain about him a lot. But I think on II Sam 16:11, and that always makes me feel a bit better.



And verses like this will as well. If God’s going to let all nations serve a wicked king, I think I can deal with a lousy boss for a while. And furthermore, God says that Nebuchadnezzar was His servant! No matter what evil the king did, he was God’s servant. Truly amazing is the power of God, that He can work in such a way.


Jer 28:8 Los profetas que fueron antes de mí y antes de ti en tiempos pasados, profetizaron sobre muchas tierras y grandes reinos, de guerra, y de aflicción, y de pestilencia.
Jer 28:9 El profeta que profetizó de paz, cuando sobreviniere la palabra del profeta, será conocido el profeta que Jehová en verdad lo envió.


No estoy seguro de que tengo razón aquí, pero pienso que la Biblia dice aquí que si alguien viene con un mensaje de ira y guerra y cosas así, no viene de Dios. Dice que en verdad el que profetiza de paz es de Dios.
Pero no estoy seguro de que tengo razón.



--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--