When the "saints" get along.flv

9th Day – Love, love, love…

In ancient Greek, the word love had three meanings: éros – which was used to describe sensual desire, philía – used for friendship or affection, and agápe – used to describe the love of God.

But in Hebrew, the word love, ahava, has nothing to do with emotion. In the original texts of the Old Testament, the word love had to do with an attitude of faith. It was used to describe the permanent, unconditional surrender of a person’s life to the one they love, without the right to divorce. Difficult? It’s only difficult when love involves emotions of the heart.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…and…You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12.30-31

The love mentioned in the first two commandments of God’s Law has nothing to do with the kind of love mentioned in ancient Greek writings. The original texts of the New Testament were written in Greek, but the love they refer to preserves the same spirit of the original Hebrew texts of the Old Testament.

If we treat love as a feeling of the heart, as suggested by ancient Greek texts, it would be impossible to love an Invisible Being, since the heart needs to see in order to feel. Does that make sense?

The ahava that was required by the law of God has to do with absolute conviction. That is, faith. Like the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, practical faith leads a person to surrender to an Invisible and Unknown Being. This offering transcends the emotions of the heart, no matter how profound they may be, because it has to do with reason.

Abraham believed in God, and his belief in that Voice was enough to make him act on it. Because of this, he was considered righteous and sinless before God, to the degree that he was called the friend of God. James 2.23

This is the love that the Creator expects from those He created.

8th Day: Fruit of the Spirit

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Galatians 5.22

This may seem like a misprint. Paul lists nine virtues and calls them fruit. Fruit, in the singular, refers to the heart. Not the heart of Adam—rebellious and made of stone, but the new heart of flesh—transplanted by the Holy Spirit. This verse could be read like this: But the heart of the Spirit is love, joy...  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36.26

Essentially, those who are born of the Spirit have a new heart and a new spirit. A new Spirit signifies a new mind, the mind of God. I Corinthians 2.16

As a result, this new heart comes with nine virtues that identify the character of God.

As a virtue of this new heart, love has nothing to do with the possessive, selfish and fleshly emotion that is so loved, admired and practiced in this world. Quite the contrary!

This kind of love, as well as the other virtues of the new heart, is like the Eternal One. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3.16

This kind of love has nothing to do with the love of this world. Without the transformation that comes along with the new birth, it is impossible to understand this.

The love of God was, and has always been sacrificial. It has nothing to do with emotion. Those who love with the heart of the Spirit of God sacrifice for their loved ones and vice versa. Like faith, love requires sacrifice. Those who love another person do not get married to make themselves happy, they get married so that their loved one will be happy. Anyone who loves the Lord Jesus Christ wants to please Him by having this sacrificial nature.

7th Day: Judas’ kiss

“And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.’”Matthew 26.47-48

Let me explain the bigger picture of what happened in this passage. Judas represents those who say they are of God, when in fact they do not have anything to do with Him. Instead, they are used as instruments of the devil to get involved with a young man or woman (an assistant or member), who sincerely wants to hold on to their salvation.

They come with a mob of demons, armed to the teeth, to destroy these precious souls that belong to the Lord Jesus by making them anxious about their love life.

A large number of people in the church have recently been the target of Judas’ kiss—especially women, who are more sensitive to emotion, and even assistants. This happens for the simple reason that their spiritual eyes are heavy with sleep, like Peter, James and John,Matthew 26.43.

"Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand." Matthew 26.46

Jesus was "watching and praying”. In other words, He was not arming himself against a satanic attack from Zacchaeus, an unbeliever and a thief, nor from the woman caught in adultery and much less from the sinners He ate with, but from someone who lived with him, who appeared to have faith, but who, deep down, was of the devil. "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" John 6.70

And isn’t this what we’ve seen lately? False assistants, false church members, false Christians that dress up in Christian clothing and exploit the emotional needs of their victims. They approach them in a sneaky, deceitful way, with demons close by just waiting for a sign: "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."

They approach you with sweet, beautiful words, just like Judas did to Jesus: "Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.

The Lord Jesus was watchful and was in spirit. But what about you, Assistants? And you, single men and women that want to be happy in your love life, who want to get married and have a family? There is nothing wrong with wanting these things, however, let me warn you: be careful about getting anxious, "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26.41

Spirit: reason, intelligence
Flesh: heart, emotions
The devil continues to search for precious souls (assistants, etc...) to whom he can give “Judas’ kiss”.

Bishop Sergio Correa

Seeing ghosts?

Seeing ghosts?

"Lord, if it’s You," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," He said. (Matthew 14.28,29)

The disciples were terrified in the boat because they thought they were seeing a ghost. It was night time, and all they could hear was a voice and see shadows. 

This is what fear does to you. It makes you see what is not there. And even if you see something that is actually there, it makes you sure it's something bad. 

You may never be able to avoid fear, but you can look at it in the face and say “I’m coming to meet you on the water!” Someone once said, “Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s action in spite of it.”

Businesspeople, for example, are risk-takers. If you are afraid to take risks, you should never go into business for yourself. Instead, you should look for a job. Obviously taking risks does not mean you will just use your money carelessly. You will seek to minimize risk but you know that you might never be able to eliminate it. Every business involves risk. And that’s why you need faith (the opposite of fear) to do it!

Peter is normally thought of, and often criticized, as the disciple who denied Jesus three times for fear of being arrested. But truth be told, he was the only disciple who had the courage to go in where Jesus was being judged. Everybody else had gone hiding! They didn’t have the guts to be there! Similarly, Peter was the only one who had the courage to step out of the boat and walk on the water to meet the "ghost".

You too should face your fears and just step out of your boat. Sure, things might go wrong at first. But even if it does, what you will learn from failure will pay off. 

Stop waiting and get moving. Chances are that the ghost you fear will turn out to be your best friend — just like Peter found out.

What are you afraid of?

What are you afraid of?

Afraid of trying and failing.
Afraid of speaking your mind.
Afraid of making an important call.
Afraid of getting a "no" for an answer.
Afraid of starting and not being able to finish.
Afraid of presenting an idea to the boss.
Afraid of being criticized.
Afraid of what people might think.
Afraid of making mistakes.
Afraid of facing the truth.
Afraid of having that conversation with that person.
Afraid of .................. .

Do you want to be a bolder, more daring, more courageous person? Do you want better results from your actions, and more achievements? Do you want to lose that reputation for being shy, fearful, and insecure?

Then, learn this:

Fear is often a sign that you have to do exactly what you’re afraid of.

If you’re not going to sin, if you’re not going to break the law, then why fear?

Think about it: What would happen if you decided from now on that you will face all your fears, and do what you’re afraid of? What if you started using the butterflies in your stomach as a green light, a signal that you must move forward?

You’ll only know when you do it.

Try it.

6th Day: Yes sir, heart!

The Holy Scriptures were written by forty people, some of whom were kings, princes, poets, philosophers, prophets, statesmen, a doctor, a tax collector and a lawyer.

They were all from different social classes, and while some had received the best education of that time, others were uneducated fishermen.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, with a few passages in Aramaic. The New Testament was originally written in Greek, which was the common language of that age.

The Bible had various authors from different social classes with different levels of education who lived at different times in history—the entire Bible was written over a period of approximately 1600 years, between 1500 BC and 100 AD—and yet it does not contradict itself at any time. This is because it has only One Author, One Mind and One Spirit of God, who inspired His authors and servants.

The Bible is God speaking to the human mind, speaking through man, as a man and in favor of man. However it is always God speaking.

And because He has a great concern for the human race, He says:
"Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding." Jeremiah 3.15

It is extremely important to note, in our meditation of the Bible, that the Holy Spirit urges us to constantly keep pure faith in mind.

A faith that is exempt from emotion,exempt from illusion, exempt from fanaticism, that is, exempt from the five human senses. But it is not exempt from trials, because they are what make us grow, mature and develop in our faith.

Like a sixth sense, supernatural faith is given to those who are born of the Spirit, enabling them to overcome the world and hold on to the eternal salvation of their souls.

"...For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcomes the world: our faith." I John 5.4

In the same way that our physical ears are proof of words being spoken and our taste buds are proof of what we are eating, our spiritual ears are proof of the good Word of God that nourishes the supernatural faith that overcomes all doubt.

Spiritual ears are sensitive to the voice of God, and resistant to the voice of the heart.

Unfortunately, virtually all who call themselves Christian have been taken prisoner by the emotions of their hearts. But this is no surprise, they only want Jesus to be their Savior—their hearts are already their Lord.