Tied-up Faith

One of the biggest challenges to Christian faith is indecisiveness.
An indecisive person never knows what they want. They have no goals, no vision, no understanding of God's will for their life. And that's because they have a faltering personality. They are uncertain about everything they do. They are unable to firmly say, “Yes” or “No”.

How can God use someone that is indecisive?
Someone who is like the waves of the sea, indefinitely moving forward and backwards.

Jesus’ followers must to live from faith to faith.
However, the undecided or wavering live from one indecision to the next, even when it comes to making small decision like what clothes or shoes to wear.

Having Jesus as your Savior does not cancel out this kind of behavior. Many times, it may even get in the way because you feel like things will eventually change on their own. You end up waiting for Divine magic.

This type of Christian, consciously or unconsciously, becomes Satan’s ally by helping him harvest those who have a sincere faith. Because they pass along their indecisiveness, fear, insecurity and weakness to others.
This is why few conquer by faith, and many fall away from the Christian faith.

James considers this kind of person to be “a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1.8
“…and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4.8

A double-minded person is someone who pretends and has mixed feelings, but ends up doing whatever suits them better.

What good is it to believe in the Word of God, in the Lord Jesus and not be decisive about defining your faith?

What good is it to believe in God, and not make that belief clear, objective and incisive to the world and to hell?

Try looking for someone in the Bible that was used by the Holy Spirit and had an indecisive personality and faith?

Through Paul, God Himself said:
“One person esteems on day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” Romans 14.5

And you, my dear friend, what is your faith?
Until when are you going to falter between two opinions?

They weren’t spared, what about you?

The evil spirits that steal, kill and destroy nowadays used to be pure angels, saints, who faithfully served the Creator thousands, millions, or maybe even billions of years ago.

They were brought into existence to serve as messengers of the Almighty. They lived in His presence, shared His Light and they were also light in the kingdom of heaven.

Today, doomed to be demons for all of eternity, they fight fervently to divert those who seek to gain what they lost.

What did they do to lose their angelic nature?

They sinned. They disobeyed the discipline of the Kingdom of God. Because of that, Divine justice did not spare them. They were cast to hell and chained to the pits of darkness, where they will wait for Judgment Day.

Conclusion: If God did not spare the rebellious angels back then, will He spare those who rebel against His Word today?

The same happened with mankind during the time of Noah. The Lord saw that people were corrupt and decided to put an end to all of the life on earth by sending a great flood. Among thousands of people, only Noah and his family were saved.
That corrupt society was not spared, will He spare today’s corrupt society?

Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous.” Genesis 18.20

Having proven that those inhabitants lived a life of debauchery, indulging in filthy lusts of the flesh, to the point of turning sex into cult worship, along with performing many other wicked acts, the Lord brought down fire and brimstone upon them. He turned them into ash and made an example out of them, warning others who wish to live a similar lifestyle.
Weren’t there innocent children? Newborns? Animals? No one escaped Divine judgment that day, except for Lot and his two daughters.
So will He spare those who live in a similar or even worse situation nowadays?

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. 2 Peter 2:4-6

If the Almighty did not spare sinners in the past, how can we be spared unless we repent before the salvation He has proposed?

Separate the spirit from the soul

"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the DIVISION OF SOUL AND SPIRIT, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4.12

Nothing is able to separate the soul from the spirit, only the Word of God has the power to do that.

As long as the spirit is attached to the soul, it will remain hostage to the pleasures that satisfy its desires, because the soul feeds off of emotions and feelings.

It is always looking to fulfill the will of the body it’s using. It is responsible for guiding its eyes in the direction of what it thinks is good and satisfactory.

Because of emotions and feelings, many peoples’ lives are destroyed.

When the Word of God reaches someone and he surrenders himself completely, it is because that Word had the power to separate the spirit from the soul.

They can’t remain together, because if that were a good thing, the Holy Spirit would not show the power of discernment, which separates one from the other.

This is when the new birth takes place. And although the new born is still subject to the same pleasures, emotions and feelings, they are able to overcome them. The Word of God strengthens those who are spirit, and it gives discernment to separate good from evil and right from wrong.

As a result, those who are spirit are capable of seeing which thoughts are good and which ones are intents of the heart.

Bishop Romualdo Panceiro

The green VW Beetle and the power of reaction

The green VW Beetle and the power of reaction

I woke up in hospital with my right leg in plaster. I had no idea how I got there. I was only 4 years old. Let me tell you how it happened, as told to me later. This experience is one of my earliest memories.

Every day at dusk, my older brother and I would stand by the front gates of our house waiting for grandpa to come home from work. The moment we saw his white VW Beetle turning the corner, we would jump for joy. He would stop his car across the street and we would go over to meet him. He would open the door and we would hop in the back, just so we could ride with him as he drove the car into our garage. Although we would spend less than 30 seconds inside the car, that would be the ultimate fun for us (don’t ask me why! There’s no way parents could get away with doing this as some kind of fun for their kids today…)

On that particular day, I let go of my brother’s hand to cross the street ahead of him. I remember it as if it were yesterday. As grandpa was pulling up to the curb across the street, I looked and saw a green VW Beetle turning the corner (yes, Beetles were very popular back then. You could have a car in any color you liked, as long as it was a Beetle…) I ran across. I guess my 4-year-old brain didn’t fully grasp the idea of time and speed yet. I didn’t expect the car to come so fast. One second it was turning the corner, the next second… you can imagine.

Tires screeched and the car hit me. My small body flew forward a few meters, landed and rolled on the asphalt, and somehow the Beetle ended up on top of me, my right ankle under the left front wheel.

The driver got out of the car and just acted frantically, not knowing what to do. But my hero had a different reaction.

When my granddad saw what happened, he didn’t think twice. He ran out of his car like a flash towards me. Grabbing the front bumper of the Beetle, he lifted the car enough so that someone could pull my leg from under the wheel. He saved my leg, and possibly my life.

I will never forget that day—not only because of the trauma and immense gratitude and admiration for my grandfather, but also because of two lessons it taught me.

1. Reaction is everything. When you are under pressure, faced with a huge problem bearing down on you, your immediate reaction will determine the final outcome. Whether the problem defeats you or turns into a successful experience will depend on how you react. So, react! And do it quickly!
2. Immediate reaction benefits from extraordinary strength. When we are attacked, our body’s defense system increases its strength. You need to take advantage of it and unleash that strength. That’s where my grandpa’s super-power came from. But the trick is, if you take too long and let that moment pass, your strength will diminish. React. And do it quickly.

These principles apply to any situation or problem you face. Use these weapons God has given you.

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Proverbs 24:10

Disclaimer: Of course I’m not speaking about emotion, emotional reactions, or fighting with people. I’m speaking about having an intelligent reaction and using it for good, to overcome a problem.

Why?

The apostle Paul said, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1.21

Do you think that living in Christ is only for apostles or church officials?

Is living in Christ going to be a bed of roses, where there will be no persecutions? No trials? No injustices? No defamations? No problems?

Does living in Christ mean leading a Christian lifestyle according to the standards of this world?

Is living in Christ a life without sacrifice?

Or does living in Christ mean denying yourself of sinful pleasures, sacrificing your own will and life in obedience to the Word of God?

An ex-servant's reward

Your problems, one question

Your problems, one question

Your problems:

What you feel about them, what you did or didn't do that caused them, any injustice behind them, how unfair they are, why that person who should help you with them won't, why-you-why-now questions — none of that matters.

The only thing that matters when it comes to your problems is this:

What are you going TO DO about them, beginning right now?

Don't waste your time and energy with anything else.