Returning to my First Love

I am increasingly astonished at my ability to be given to any kind of addiction and I don't say that with a single ounce of pride. When I decided to go on a Facebook Fast, I knew that I desperately needed to do it but what I failed to see was that it would not solve all my problems. Little did I know that one addiction would be cured while another was slowly brewing.

While on the Facebook Fast, I dove head first into my workout regimen with the encouragement and motivation from what I now consider the greatest workout buddies on the face of the earth, The D630 Squad. Three, four, and five days a week before work, I would put on my tights, tighten my laces and head straight for the box for a much anticipated WOD (workout of the day). Slowly and subtly, the time I had previously spent with God in prayer was replaced by the sounds of my coaches, Val, Larissa and Gio pushing me to keep going and stack on more weight. After my workout, I had released so much of those little endorphins that pretty much put me on an exercise induced high all day while my need for and dependance on God slowly dissipated. Although I would read my bible and seek God out regularly, He was no longer my first love. I had managed to replace my relationship with Him with CrossFitting and my new Paleo friendly lifestyle.

These things, in and of themselves can be rather lofty goals yet they cannot and should never replace our total surrender and dependance on Christ. Exercising and eating right gave me energy and helped stabilize my moods. These things were very necessary; yet the problem remained that in my heart, God was no longer my primary focus. In my pursuit of physical fitness and health, I completely lost sight of my spiritual dependance on Jesus. The Workout of the Day had replaced my bible reading and prayer time.

This admission is pretty difficult to make considering that I am a pastor's wife. However, in this life, God has not called any of us, whether we are the pastor's wife or not, to live as passive Christians. He has called us to live a life radically surrendered to Him and His call. Does that mean that we have to give up things that we love? Absolutely not. The key is to worship the creator and not the creation.

I am at this very moment sitting in our hotel room on this spiritual retreat that God has allowed me to go on. No CrossFit, no Paleo, just me and God this morning. My heart can't help but break as I am enveloped with God's unfailing love for me. He is so patient with me. He accepts me just as I am yet never stops challenging me to grow as His daughter. Today I am returning to my first love (Revelations 2:2-5).

All I Want for Christmas

How many of us can say that we have everything we want for Christmas? Probably a handful of people and I guarantee that they are in the minority. Unfortunately with Christmas come the long wish lists and endless opportunities to fill the void with anything we can get our hands on. The only problem is that those material things bring temporary joy that will surely dissipate before the credit card statement is paid off.

The truth of the matter is that we live and are part of one of the most consumer driven, materialistic societies with an unquenchable desire for more. Have you ever sat down and wondered what God thinks of us running around the time formerly known as Christmastime from store to store in search of the perfect gift? Is he pleased when the one day we should be commemorating the greatest gift we could have ever received, Jesus Christ, is marginalized into an unoffensive greeting at the checkout counter, "Happy Holidays."

I can pretty confidently say that he thinks we've missed the target. Rather than focusing on the precious gift of eternal life we have in Christ, we are running around in search of something to fill our insatiable hunger for the ugly four letter word: MORE. I want more clothes, I want more gadgets, I want more _____ (you fill in the blank).

I am embarrassed to admit that I am no different from everyone else. I too, get impatient waiting in long lines, am terribly irritated by the traffic Christmas brings to Miami and am appalled at how short our attention span has dwindled away and rather than enjoy God's greatest gift we are restlessly looking for more. With our actions, I too say, "It's not enough. I want more."

This Christmas I want to be able to truly reflect on the greatest gift I received almost 10 years ago, the gift of salvation. I want my heart to break for those who are literally perishing and share the good news with them. I want the Lord to invade every part of my life until I am burdened to live an unselfishly devoted life to Christ by serving others rather than looking for others to serve me. After all the greatest man to ever walk this earth did not make a majestic entrance, he was born in a manger and came to serve. May His life serve as an example to all of us today.

Dear God,

Forgive me for the many times that I have made Christmas about me when it's all about you. Show me how I can share your perfect gift with others. Maybe it's with a smile, a hug or maybe there is something that I can willingly give up for another family. Lord, it is truly my desire to honor you with my life but it is so easy to get distracted and consumed with the things of this world. May I feel a huge dissatisfaction with anything this world has to offer. May my heart, soul, and mind shout in expectant adoration, "Give me more of You. You are all I want."

In Jesus' name,

AMEN

You can read about the birth of Jesus here.

An Invitation for the Ladies

Yesterday in my Good News Monday post, I made mention to my life verse. Can you guess what it is? Well, it is found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. and it says Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. We have all had our fair share of loss, disappointment and failures in life. Some of us more than others. Yet God's plan with our pain is the same for us all. His number one goal is to drive us into a relationship with Him, if we don't already have one and to strengthen our faith if we do. Then, he desires to heal us so that we would be able to use that pain for someone else's gain. Sounds simple, doesn't it?

With that said, I would like to let you know that I have been praying for you and would like to invite you to our first Women's Ministry Picnic at Doral Baptist Church. Ladies, this invitation is for you only. Come as you are and allow the Lord to begin the healing process in your life. Don't forget to bring your picnic blanket and bible (if you own one). Complimentary lunch will be served. Hope to see you there!

Atypical Sunday Mornings

One of my favorite parts of having a Sunday afternoon service is that on Saturday nights my hubby and I can still go on dates like we used to before he became a pastor. I know some of you reading would think, "You get to sleep in? Wow!" But quite frankly that's just an added bonus for my hubby. I'm a morning person and as soon as my eyes open up (usually never past 7 am) I am ready to begin my day.

Since our church service does not begin until 2:30 pm, I have tried different things over the course of this period to use my time wisely. One of the things I've tried recently is working out before church. I gotta tell you that it felt really awkward running on that treadmill and not sitting in a worship service rocking to "Amor Sin Condicion" on Sunday morning. But what made it even more peculiar was the fact that I wasn't alone. There were others who were there, too. Going on with their life without a hint of God. It was Sunday morning and it didn't seem that they had plans to go to church, which burdened my heart.

And why is it that my heart was troubled? They could've gone to church Saturday evening or maybe they don't do the whole church thing but still have a relationship with God. I hope it was the former and not the latter. You see, I don't believe that people are better because they attend church nor do I believe it is something we must do to get into heaven. However, what I do believe is that people that are not setting some time apart regularly to get involved with a community of believers are missing out BIG time.

You see my church IS my family. I wasn't created to do life alone. God created me to need people and to build friendships with those who would strengthen my walk with Him and those I could encourage along the way. Jesus says in Mark 3:35, "Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." Does that mean that if our family does not have a relationship with Jesus we need to excommunicate them? Absolutely not. What I interpret this to mean is that our church family, those who share the faith, are now also part of your family. We care for them as we would our own flesh and blood.

I don't pretend to have this church going concept down pat because quite frankly I don't. I struggle more than I may lead on to show with "going to church." On long weekends and teacher planning days, I would love to just pack up my bags and get away for a weekend with my husband but the truth of the matter is that it's just not something that we have the luxury of doing and probably something we will rarely ever get to do. You see my husband works 52 Sundays a year. Everything that he studies, prepares and prays for culminates on this very day, Sunday (rain or shine). And when I see my husband standing in front of the church and delivering God's word it makes it obvious why we do what we do. Any questions I may have had are instantly answered. Without a shadow of a doubt, he was made to do this and I was put in his life to stand by his side. I count this an honor and no weekend trip or get-away could or ever will take precedence over doing the will of God. Lucky for me, God has given me the entire summer off and I get to enjoy my hubby all to myself and travel then.

My friend, I don't know where you stand on your journey. I don't know what your status is. I don't even know if you believe in Christ or God for that matter. But I am here today to tell you not to waste your time. It is one of your most precious resources and as Benjamin Franklin once said, “Lost time is never found again.” Start today: Connect to a local church, discover your spiritual gifts and use them to serve Him. It's the very least you could do for Him. And trust me you won't be doing anyone a favor. Remember God doesn't need you, YOU need Him.

Will you devote the rest of your life living for Him? I promise you that there is no greater joy in life than this: Relentlessly pursuing your creator all the days of your life.

"Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. "
-Ecclesiastes 12:1 a

I am like Joseph

As part of my New Year's Resolutions this year I began reading through the bible in a year using the Discipleship Journal Plan. I am currently reading Joseph's story in the book of Genesis which I must say is an amazing book in the Old Testament and I could relate to him.

If you're not familiar with Joseph's story, here's what happened in a nutshell: Joseph was his father's favorite and so his brothers became very jealous of him. When Joseph told them their dream about his brothers bowing down to him that about did it and they decided to take him into the wild and kill him. However, they sold him into slavery instead so that they could make some money off of him (How's that for greed and envy?). But God had other plans and he eventually made his way to Potiphar's house. Potiphar's wife was attracted to Joseph and wanted to have sex with him but Joseph was loyal and knew that it was wrong and simply could not and would not sleep with her. She was enraged and humiliated so she falsely accused him of trying to have sex with her. Potiphar had him imprisoned immediately after he heard the allegations from his wife. During his imprisonment he met two of Pharaoh's hired men who needed their dreams to be interpreted and so Joseph did just that. Although one of the men promised he would tell Pharaoh, he forgot to do so and therefore Joseph remained in prison. It wasn't until two years later that Pharaoh needed his own dream interpreted and that was when the cup-bearer remembered that Joseph was able to interpret dreams. Joseph was summoned to interpret a very important dream for Pharaoh. When he did, Pharaoh himself gave him the highest position, second only to Pharaoh. During the 7 years of famine, Joseph's brothers were sent by his father to get grains which, was a source of nourishment, a basic necessity during that time for survival. Joseph recognized them immediately although they did not know it was their brother, the one they had sold into slavery. And it is at this point when Joseph comes face-to-face with his brothers that this verse appears in Genesis 41:24. "Now he turned away from them and began to weep. When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes."

You see, Joseph had come a long way. All that his brothers meant for evil was turned around for good. God had been able to take Joseph out of Canaan and put him in a leadership position where he saved a nation. Judging by his accomplishments, he was by all means a successful man, however, that could not erase all the pain that he had experienced. If anyone could say that life was unfair, it was certainly Joseph's right. Yet, he never did. What he did do in that verse however shows me that no matter where you are, no matter how much God has been able to bless you and use your pain for good, when you have been hurt, it will always hurt. You see Joseph was no superman. The verse tells me that he the pain of what his brothers had done and put him through was very real. I can assume that he had forgiven his brothers because he gave them the grain free of charge (he returned their money in their sacks). It was not his intention to seek vengeance, but he still "wept" and needed a few moments to "regain his composure".

I can relate to this verse so well. I have suffered injustices in my life (as all of us have) yet for so long, I thought I had to suck it up. I thought that because I was a new creation in Christ, those things that had happened to me in my childhood and youth were no longer relevant. They no longer had to hurt but this verse shows me otherwise. When you have been harmed especially when it is unjust, no matter how much time has transpired, it will hurt. There is a wound.

I have not yet finished reading through the life of Joseph in Genesis but what I have read thus far has given me so much peace. I've always thought that I had to be strong but now I am sure that it is not I that needs to be strong, it is Christ through me that heals my pain and gives me the strength like he did to Joseph to "regain my composure".

I can honestly say that everything that has happened in my life, God has used for a purpose. And those things which seem unfair now, I am confident he will use them someday.

Here is my heart's prayer,

Dear Lord,

Thank you for your word. It is living and active and it has spoken to my heart. It has shown me how you took an innocent man and allowed him to live through unfair circumstances, to be falsely accused and imprisoned, yet you did not leave him there. You made him victorious and used him for your purpose. I pray that this may be true of my life. Lord, use those things you have allowed in my life for the good.

I also pray for those who are hurting and asking "Why Me?" that you would give them a peace that surpasses all understanding, that they would be able to rest in knowing that you are in control.

I thank you that one day, Lord, one day you rescued me from the miry clay. Thank you for being my savior, for being my everything. I love you!

In Jesus' Name,
AMEN

The complete story of Joseph can be found here in Genesis 37-50.

"Righteous"

If you have attended church for any number of years then you have probably heard your pastor say that the word is "living and active and sharper than any double edged sword." (This comes from Hebrews 4:12. Click here to read the verse in its entirety.) I think today I finally got this.

For the past week as I have been reading through the book of Proverbs there has been one word that has stood out at me. That word is righteous. It jumped out at me in the following verses: "What the wicked dread will overtake them; what the righteous desire will be granted." (Proverbs 10:24 and "Trouble pursues the sinner, but the righteous are rewarded with good things." (Proverbs 13:21)

So what exactly is a righteous person? Am I a righteous person? Well according to what I have been reading a righteous person is one who believes in and follows God. We know from scripture that even the devil believes in God but that doesn't make him righteous. Someone who is righteous not only believes but also obeys Christ. "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." John 14:21

If you are anything like me then you may be saying to yourself, "I want to be a righteous person. Can I be a righteous person? " Isaiah 64:6 will put it this way "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." What this verse means is that no matter how good our good deeds are, they will never be good enough. Nothing that we can do on our own can get us to be right with God. "There is no one who does good, not even one." Psalm 14:3b

But don't despair because there is hope. And the hope that we have is found in Jesus Christ alone. You see God sent him to die for our sins. He was the propitiation (payment) for our sin-debt. It was the only payment that God could accept on our behalf because He was faultless, blameless, perfect. By accepting Him you too will have access to the Father.

My words are incapable of doing what the word of God alone can do. So it is with these two passages found in the book of Romans 10 that I will leave you,

"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them."But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Good Friday

If you are like me then you are probably wondering why call the day of Jesus' crucifixion "Good Friday". I believe it is because of what was done on the cross and it what it means for us today. The bible says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

That's a powerful truth...God sent his one and only son to die for us because it would be impossible for us to do anything on our own to gain salvation. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for God to say "Here's my son. Take his life. He will be the atonement." And I certainly cannot imagine the excruciating pain that Jesus went through as He was spit on, bruised, crushed, whipped, lacerated.

Isaiah 53 is one of my husband's favorite passages in the bible which predicts and depicts what would happen to Jesus. This passage was actually written 750 years before Christ. And every single detail in that chapter was fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

If you have believed that Jesus Christ is God's son and the savior may I encourage you today to set aside some time to meditate on what He did for you. And if you don't yet know Him I would like to encourage you to trust in Him as your savior. Make him your savior. You have nothing to lose.

The Cross

Yesterday one of my students handed me this drawing. He is very special to me for many reasons (they all are) but this one has been my mission from God.



The first thing that stood out of the drawing was the cross in the center and the fact that it was surrounded by hearts. I asked him what it meant and his response in one word was, "God".

Every day I try to be that role model for my students and it's so awesome to hear every once in a while "Hey, you're doing a good job!" Eventhough he didn't say it in all those words, I could tell that God was using this student to tell me that the work I am doing in the classroom is having an eternal impact.

Lord, give me the wisdom, love and patience to continue to shine for Jesus.

The Real Me

My husband told me something this week that was kind of "escary" (that's the way he'd say it). He said, "Indy, you're 28 years old and probably 12 of those years have been bad days." At first, I just brushed it off in my head and said to myself, "That's not possible. 12 years? That's a long time. No way!". But I realized that he is probably right.

You see I am a perfectionist and a people pleaser (bad combination) and so if things are not going exactly as planned or as I think they should be then my day is ruined. And although I try to focus on the positive my initial reaction is not one of optimism but rather pessimism.

So little by little I've come to the realization (with my hubby's help, of course) that I have the real me (who I really am) and the ideal me (who I want to be). And sometimes the ideal me is far from the real me. However I think that it is God's goal for me to be the ideal me and the only way I can get there is by having a relationship with him...not just on Sundays but every day and every moment of the day. I need to be constantly connected to Him. I can do that by spending time with him in prayer and in His word. I think that is His goal that we are all transformed into the ideal me especially when that ideal is based on who he says we should be. And I think that's where I have the problem because good is never good enough...I can always be better. And those are expectations no one can reach except for Jesus of course because He is the only one that is perfect.

So now what? Should I just settle and say, "I'm good enough the way I am". Well, yes and no. Yes, because I need to accept that who I am is who God made me to be. His word says I am fearfully and wonderfully made. And no because I should constantly strive to be like Christ. It's called sanctification and that process doesn't end until we die. However, I have found that it is a lot easier to allow God to do the work in us rather than try to control or manipulate it by setting unrealistic expectations on ourselves and others. I mean, imagine trying to change habits you've had since childhood all at once. That can be quite overwhelming (trust me, I know) and honestly that is not part of God's plan. I think He wants us to enjoy ourselves along the way. He wants us to love and accept ourselves just the way we are. We don't have to accept our sinful attitudes such as anger, pride, and envy but we should accept us for who God made us to be and little by little allow him to do the transforming work in us.

I love the song "The Real Me" by Natalie Grant. Listen to it and allow her lyrics to penetrate into your heart.

In His love and service,
Indy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3kr9eqxwCo

Scars

Today I woke up bright and early to accompany my husband to "El Primer Congreso National de Iglesias HispanoAmericanas Bautista del Sur". I'm not even sure if I got it right but basically it's an event for Baptist Hispanic churches of the South. Seeing to it that I am a morning person I didn't think it'd be much of a struggle and I thought I'd have some good "quality time" with my hubby. Can never get enough of that can we?

Much to our surprise the so-called traffic our friends cautioned us about looked a lot like Miami on a good day. It didn't take us more than 45 minutes to get to the church in Linburg. Upon our arrival we had breakfast and then went into the temple where we had the opportunity to select a session to attend. I of course opted to stay in the women's group. There was a guest speaker coming after all. Her name was Sharon Jaynes and although I had never heard of her it wasn't long before I knew that I was in for a real treat.

Here's a little taste:

"Do you want people to think you are perfect or do you want them to know Jesus?"

I used to struggle so much with this because I felt as the wife of the music minister at church everyone's eyes were on me. I put so much pressure on myself to be that perfect woman. But the truth of the matter is that people don't want perfection, they want to know there is hope for them. By being authentic and sharing our failures and pains we can help point them to Christ. Haven't you ever seen someone you had not seen in years and thought to yourself, "Wow, they've changed so much. I don't even recognize them." That's because they are a new person; Christ HAS changed them. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I don't know what this means for you. I feel free! If by being me I can help lead someone to Christ then that is the only thing I want to be. Can you think of any better reason to be the "real you"? I know I can't.