I was listening to Chris Gardner's message about boldness this morning (It was the one he preached the last time he was at Vision. Acts 4). And it would just happen that I'm reading in the Book of Joshua, a man who was about as bold as you can be. Or ast least he was in my opinion.

And I was thinking about something, and I might be totally wrong on this, but it makes sense to me. When I pray that God would end the trial I'm going through, my goal is just to survive the storm, and clear the hurdle, and serving Him become secondary. But if I ask for boldness to do what He's called me to do, the trial becomes secondary, and serving Him becomes primary.

And I know it's easy to say that now, when my bills are paid, and I'm getting lots of hours at work. But when I don't have money to pay my bills, and I only work 20 hours a week at work, I'd do well to ask for boldness and courage to continue, than to ask for relief.

I'm re-reading a book Brother Pearson gave me, called Actidud de Vencedor, or, Attitude of the Victor. (Or at least I'd translate it that way) And one thing that really sticks out to me is when Maxwell, the author, talks about the right moment to make a decision. Basically, we need to make the right decision (putting the Lord first and asking for boldness) at the right time (before trials and problems put our teeth down our throat). And that's what's happening here. I'm sitting pretty right now. Bills paid. Food at home. Hours at work. I have no room to complain.

But at some point, adversity will show up, and I'd be better off asking for boldness and courage than to get out of the situation.

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.

Old fogey y pedir!

Jos 14:10 And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

Jos 14:11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

I don't know if I'll live to be eighty five years old, but if I do, I doubt that I'll feel like I did when I was forty. In fact, between running in high school and college, and just constant wear and tear, I'll be pretty happy to just be able to walk at 85.

But Joshua, who walked through the wilderness almost his whole life at that point felt as young at 85 as he did at 45. And in itself, that's amazing. But what's more amazing is that God uses this 85 year old man to conquer lots or land, and defeat many enemies!

It's just another example of God's provision for His people, and doing miraculous things to glorify Himself.

Jos 15:18 Y aconteció que cuando la llevaba, él la persuadió que pidiese á su padre tierras para labrar. Ella entonces se apeó del asno. Y Caleb le dijo: ¿Qué tienes?

Jos 15:19 Y ella respondió: Dame bendición: pues que me has dado tierra de secadal, dame también fuentes de aguas. El entonces le dió las fuentes de arriba, y las de abajo.

Vemos aqui que, a veces, tenemos que pedir si queremos algo. En este ejemplo Axa pidió a Caleb por más tierra que ya tuvo. Y El se la di a ella.

Cuando necesitamos algo, debemos pedir al Señor que el nos la diría.

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.

Let it snow.

Right now, it's snowing in Maryland. And from what I hear, it's between 12 and 20 inches. I love the heat, and I love GA, but I'd be pretty happy to have some snow tight about now. Nothing much, just two feet or so.

Anyway. I'm pretty excited about going down to Cabbagetown tomorrow. I've never been before, and I really want to go. I normally work on Saturdays and can't go, but I worked Monday-Friday this week, so I have Saturday off.

I'm pretty excited about going.

And something else I've been seeing as a re occurring theme in my devotional readings is the importance of letting the Lord do things for us. In I Corinthians I read about how our strength should be in the Lord, Joshua 1-3 was about the Lord giving Joshua what he would need to be a leader, and today was also about the Lord winning the battle.

All I really need to so is to show up. Trent often jokes that people in the Bible would hold out a sword, close their eyes, and 500 people would be defeated. I don't think he's stretching the truth all that much.

I'm really seeing the Lord work in my life like never before. I mean, I lived off of 12 dollars worth of food in November, this month, He's not only filled the house with food, but also paid all my bills.

I looked in the freezer today, and it was full of food. So were the cabinets, and I even had a box of Ritz in my car. And I really have no idea how it all got there. I mean, I bought some of it, but at least 75% of it came from the Lord.

And even though I've made some bad choices from time to time, it doesn't change the fact that the Lord wants to show me how much He loves me. He forgave Israel after Achan goofed up. He'll keep forgiving me when I goof up.

I dunno what else to day really. Well, I'd like some snow.

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.

The Lord does it all y los reyes

Jos 10:8 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.
Jos 10:9 Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.
Jos 10:10 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.

This is a perfect picture of how the Lord works. He told Joshua what he wanted him to do, and that He would do it for him. All Joshua had to do was go, and let the Lord work. We see in verse 10 that it was the Lord who discomfited them before Israel. Israel just had to go and let the Lord win the battle.

Jos 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.

It seems odd for the Lord to harden someone’s heart, but that’s what happened here. And the reason He hardened their hearts was so that He could destroy them, and thus fulfill His command to Moses, and then be glorified.

Jos 12
Este capítulo es, más o menos, una lista de los reyes que hirió Josué. Es un testamento del poder de Dios, y todo que El puede hacer.

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.

Drop it! Family time y su fama

Jos 7:13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you

Sometimes, we hold on to things too long, or hold on things that we shouldn’t hold on to. And sometimes, we’ve got to let go of those things in order to move forward. In this case Israel had to get rid of the accursed thing that Achan stole.

There are times in a Christian life where the same things is required. It would be very difficult for someone to serve the lord with his/her whole life with a drug addiction, or something similar. And it might not be a major thing, but there are times that we need to let things go.

Jos 8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them

I think it’s important for fathers to read the Bible with their wives and children. That might seem weird coming from a 19 year old kid, especially one who's single, but I do think it’s important.

Jos 9:9 Y ellos respondieron: Tus siervos han venido de muy lejanas tierras, por la fama de Jehová tu Dios; porque hemos oído su fama, y todas las cosas que hizo en Egipto,

Es importante que demos cuenta de lo que Dios hace en nuestras vidas. Aquí, vemos que algunas personas habían venido para servir a Dios por la fama de Jehová. Y cuando testificamos de las maravillas de Dios, podemos alimentar a alguien a servir a Dios.

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.

mi ropa

On a random note, I don't like wearing a suite and dress pants all the time. In fact, I really like wearing just jeans and a t-shirt most of the time. Like, seriously. Give me some Levis and a white tee and I'm set.

And another thing, I haven't worn a hat since moving to GA. And I REALLY like wearing hats. A lot.

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.

Judge

I've pretty much been working 9-5 everyday this week, so I haven't been at the church a lot. In fact, I really don't think that I've been there more than twice. All my friends down here are all members of Vision, because I don't know anyone outside of Vision.

Well, I guess my coworkers count, but most of them are married adults in their upper 30's or 40's. Anyway, point is that 99% of my friends down here are members of Vision Baptist church (Or Tinity Hill iglesia Bautista, but I only see them on Friday and Sunday)

So if I'm not at the church, I don't see my friends, except for Micah and Alex. And even then, I don't think I saw them at all yesterday. And not seeing your friends, even if for a few days, can change how you interact when you finally do see each other.

Besides that, I've managed to make a bad choice or two this week, and gave satan a bit of an edge to try to throw some guilt on me. And I know I've had problems with beating myself up in the past about my mistakes, and that I kinda did the same thing here, but honestly, it wasn't as bad as it used to be. It didn't totally change my mood, or anything major. I felt like, "Man, I messed up. And it wasn't even worth it. Dummy." Which is a lot, lot nicer than I used to be to myself.

Anyway.

Between bad choices, and not talking to anyone all week, I felt really, really awkward at Vision tonight. I intentionally arrived just as services were starting so I wouldn't have to talk to too many people. And there were a few people who came up to me, and jokingly greeted me as though I was a visitor, as someone they had never seen before, and like it was my first time to Vision. And I know they meant it in jest, but the truth is that I really felt alienated at that moment. By the end of the service, and play practice, I felt fine.

The people of Vision are really, really good people, and I'm grateful to be a member of such an awesome church. Even when I'm a goof for a week or so, they still love me, and treat me like an equal.

I'm really grateful for a church family who accepts me as is, and doesn't judge me.

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.

Our glory, strength and work

I was reading in I Corinthians today, and through the first three chapters or so, I noticed that Paul had a re occuring theme throughout: Not to trust or glory in man, but to trust and glory in the Lord.

Chapter I vs 25-31 shows us that our best isn't close to God's worst, and that we should glory in Him and not ourselves. Paul then goes into chapter II, and says that he didn't preach by his own ability or anything like that, but rather by the power of God.

And everyone knows I Corinthians 3:6-7
"1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. "

No matter how much we work and strive to grow, unless God allows it to happen, or grows things for us, our work is in vain, and nothing will happen.

And that fact that our work isn't anything without God should be even more of a reason to trust Him. He made us like we are; He grew us to where we are. On our own, we could never grow at all. And because the Lord does all the work, our faith (I Cor. 2:5) our faith should be in God, not man, and we should glory in Him, not ourselves.

Leí en I Cor, capitulo 1-3 hoy, y vi una tema de que Pablo escribe mucho: que no debemos confiar o glorificar en hombre, sino confiar y glorificar en el Señor

Capítulo I Ver 25-31 nos muestra que nuestro mejor es peor que el más peor de Dios y que debemos glorificar a Dios y no nosotros. Entonces, Pablo empieza capítulo II, y dice que él no predicó por sus habilidades o algo así, sino por el poder de Dios.

Y todos saben I Cor 3:6-7
1Co 3:6 Yo planté, Apolos regó: mas Dios ha dado el crecimiento.
1Co 3:7 Así que, ni el que planta es algo, ni el que riega; sino Dios, que da el crecimiento.

Sin importancia a cuanto trabajamos y queremos crecer, excepto que Dios lo permite, o lo crece, nuestro trabajo es en vano, y nada pasará.

Y el hecho que nuestro trabajo no vale nada sin Dios debe ser una razón que le confiamos. El nos hizo así, y no creció hasta aquí. Y porque el Señor hace todo el trabajo, nuestra fe (2:5) debe estar puesta en Dios, no el hombre y debemos honorar a Él, y no nosotros.



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.

Success y Dios nos ayuda

Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Often times, we strive to be successful by working hard, or careful planning and plotting. But really, all we are told to do for success is to meditate upon the book of the law.
Success comes from studying, and meditating upon God’s word. Often times, we look at a Bible, and we underestimate how valuable it really is. Our key to success, and living a Godly life is the Bible. Any question we have, and problem we have, the Bible holds the answer.

Jos 3:7 Entonces Jehová dijo á Josué: Desde aqueste día comenzaré á hacerte grande delante de los ojos de todo Israel, para que entiendan que como fuí con Moisés, así seré contigo

Dios nos dará todo que necesitamos. En este caso, Josué necesitaba mostrar que el estaba en cargado. Dios no iba a dejar a Josué sin ayuda, y por eso, comenzó a hacer grande delate de los ojos de Israel.

Hoy dia, Dios nos ayudará y nos dará lo que necesitamos en 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.--

school.

So the semester's over. I dunno what to do. I'm not used to free time. Granted, I'm working almost 70 hours between this week and next week, but still, that's only working 9-5 5 days a week. That leaves me from 5:00pm to 10:00pm, all unscheduled time.

(And I have to be careful about slipping into relaxed mode. Just because the semester's over doesn't mean that I stop working for the Lord any less.)

That's 25 hours of time I didn't used to have. I dunno what to do. Today, I ran some errands, picked up a few things wee needed at homem and cleaned the bathroom and kitchen.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try and finish the rest of the house as well. And I thinks it's funny to say house, and really mean Mark's basement, but his basement really is my home.

And something else I was thinking about today...sometimes, small actions have great outcomes.

For example, Mordecai didn't do anything that would be considered "epic" or "legendary" by any standard. In truth, he'll be best remembered as a guy who raised a girl up to be a woman who served the Lord. It happens all the time. And I don't think he realized how great an impact his actions would have on history.

I mean, if Esther doesn't ever gain favour with the king, the Jewish nation is wiped out. The seemingly small action of raising a young lady had the outcome of saving a nation.

My calves really hurt from climbing ladders all 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.

not forsaken y el dia de hambre

Jer 51:5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Even though God may do things that we don’t understand, and seem like they’re not good for us, they are. And it might seem like God is a million miles away, but He’s not. We may go through 70 years of captivity from one of the wickedest nations ever, but He’s never going to forsake us.
And when we don’t know why we’re going through everything in our lives, we can rest assured that we have a God who’s going through us with it.

Jer 52:6 En el mes cuarto, á los nueve del mes, prevaleció el hambre en la ciudad, hasta no haber pan para el pueblo de la tierra.
Jer 52:7 Y fué entrada la ciudad, y todos los hombres de guerra huyeron, y saliéronse de la ciudad de noche por el camino de postigo de entre los dos muros, que había cerca del jardín del rey, y fuéronse por el camino del desierto, estando aún los Caldeos junto á la ciudad alrededor.

De vez en cuando, pasaremos por un hambre en nuestras vidas. Y tenemos que prepararnos ahora para que estemos listos cuando llega el hambre. Estos hombres de guerra no estaban listos para luchar contra del enemigo, y por eso se huyeron cuando llegó en hambre.

Debemos prepararnos hoy. No debemos esperar hasta mañana.

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.

A bloody sword y Babilonia

Jer 48:10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

Similar to chapter 46:3, this verse tells us that sometimes, we’re going to have to get on the front lines, and start doing some damage to the enemy. This obviously isn’t talking about a literal sword tasting blood, of course, but has my spiritual sword tasted blood?

Brother Howeth asked us this question in class: “Are you a friend or enemy of hell? Does hell know your name?”

And what he meant by that was this: Do you cause damage to hell? Do you pull souls out of the fire, as in Jude 23? Or do you turn a blind eye to those who are already condemned, as in John 3:18. And as far as hell knowing my name, he was referring to Acts 19:15, “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”

Jer 50:9 Porque he aquí que yo suscito y hago subir contra Babilonia reunión de grandes pueblos de la tierra del aquilón; y desde allí se aparejarán contra ella, y será tomada: sus flechas como de valiente diestro, que no se tornará en vano.
Jer 50:10 Y la Caldea será para presa: todos los que la saquearen, saldrán hartos, dice Jehová.

Hace unos capítulos, leímos que Dios había puesto los hijos de Israel en las manos de Babilonia, aunque Babilonia fue muy malo. Y no tenía sentido que Dios haría algo así, pero ahora vemos que El es fiel a sus hijos.

El nunca dejaría o abandonaría los que El ama.


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.