Suffering vs Healing

Suffering vs Healing
Oct 31, 2010
By: John Gonzalez

Read James 5:13-20

 ¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;¹⁵and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.....

In this passage James uses the word prayer 7 times in these 8 verses. Think he's trying to emphasize a point?He starts off by saying that in both the (emotional)high's and low's of our lives we need to be in fellowship with God,. and when were weak we aught to ask for prayer.

Why? Well James has seen sin affect the lives of the people around him. Living in sin usually resorts to a shorter life span.. "Yes" their is exceptions but the principal is true. Sin brings forth death (Death in relationship to Christ/ and possible physical death) This is what brings James to his point in vs16 "therefore, confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed (lit. made whole)

Confess comes from the Greek word "exomologeo" exo=out or outside mologeo=speak. He's telling his audience that get whats inside out. specificly SIN.

Why Confess? Well if bringing these sins out and praying about them heals us. what do you think would happen if we kept them hidden. they will Hurt Us! Sin not only hurts "us" but also those around us. I expounded on this point in my sermon.

If you can i suggest to take some time and listen to the sermon

Free Fifty-Free

Freed for Freedom
Sept 3, 2010
By: John Gonzalez

Read: Hebrews 2:14-15

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

Maybe at one point or another in your lives you've seen or heard of slavery. Usually never a pretty picture. Throughout history people have fought for freedom, died for freedom, or ran away to a place that offered freedom. In Hebrews it says that the children share in the flesh and blood, and He Himself partook the same. All of us were subject to spiritual death, no hope in sight but Jesus Christ was willing to die for our freedom.
 
What did Christ Sacrifice
#1. Willing to become flesh and blood (He became human so he could die)
#2. Willingly died on the cross (For you and me!)
#3. Died for those who were his enemies (when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us)
 
What are we freed from
Bondage to the Flesh
Fear of Death
The Devil (render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil)
 
As you reflect on what Christ has done remember that He completed the Ultimate Sacrifice. So no other price has to be paid for us to be set free, no classes need to be taken, or workshops need to be attended to have freedom in Christ. Just Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be free'd from the penalty of sin and you be freed from the power of sin. As believers we have freedom, the only thing we need to do is walk in it. Enjoy it and Walk in the Freedom of your new life. 
 
Our Savior allowed himself to be beaten, broken, and killed for our freedom. So are you living free or are you still trying to survive?

Rage against the Unseen

Rage against the Unseen
July 7, 2010
By: John Gonzalez

Read: Luke 11:1-36

The verses I want to focus on are in Luke 11:33-36. "No one after lighting a lamp, puts it away in  a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. "The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness."Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. "If therefore your whole boy is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays."

Light is used....
-To Expose the Darkness(Unseen)
-To provide Direction
-To bring Safety or Security

Light Vs Darkness
I know i've needed glasses for some times now but my vision isn't that bad to keep from passing the tests at the DMV. So due to money and resources i know glasses aren't a priority for me to purchase but i have worn them in the past and i remember the what its like wearing them. Things that used to be fuzzy become clear, and everything was much easier to see at night. These eyes that I'm talking about are clearly of my fleshly body but they have much more potential than just to view whats in front of me.

Are the things you see clear or fuzzy?
Is their darkness in you or light?


 

All you need is Love

All you  need is Love
June 23, 2010
By: John Gonzalez

Read:1 Corinthians 13:1-10

More songs have been written about love than any other topic. They even have an entire section of movies dedicated to love under Romance. The drama section is filled with "complicated love" and the comedy section is filled with some "light hearted" love. Many things can be said about love but for the Final word on the topic, we must turn to the the Bible. In 1 Cor. 13 the apostle Paul provides a beautiful ode to love.

1 Cor 13:1-7
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels  but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that i could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I give my body to be burned, but have not love it profits me nothing. (emphasis mine)

I like to call vs 1-3 the verses on empty or dead works. Everything a person does outside of love or faith is just "dead" or "empty" it profits the person nothing either in spiritual or relational growth. So are you serving out of obligation, bitterness, guilt, or self-righteousness?
 
Now vs. 4-7 paint the perfect picture of love, so how do we measure up to it?
Read out Loud
-Love suffers long
-Love is kind
-Love does not envy
-Love does not parade itself
-Love is not puffed up
-Love does not behave rudely
-Love does not seek its own
-Love is not provoked
-Love thinks no evil
etc. etc.


Now the next thing to do is replace the word Love with My Father
-My Father suffers long
-My Father is kind
-My Father thinks no evil
-My Father does not behave rudely
etc. etc.

Now replace Love with your name
-(Your name) suffers long
-(Your name) is kind
-(Your name) thinks no evil
etc. etc.

When we live our lives in the flesh as a believer and not by the spirit we are just going to see failure with your name in the list above. but to see what a relational dependence on Christ and walking in the spirit would look like for yourself replace the word Love with (Your name-In Christ) ex. John in Christ is Kind, John in Christ thinks no evil. John in Christ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. take some time to meditate on this list for yourself. Don't underestimate the things you can accomplish in Christ, by walking in faith in His spirit and His love.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

Wash, Rinse, Repeat
June 16, 2010
By: John Gonzalez

Read: John 11:1-48
Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased said to him, "Lord by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." John 11:39

Try to imagine the worse thing you've ever smelled. Not very pleasant i hope, now imagine the worst smell being covered on the person you love. Would it keep you from loving them or from being in fellowship with them?
Jesus Christ faced this same situation at one point, you see Jesus loved Lazarus, He even demonstrated it emotionally when He wept with Mary and a group of Jews over his death. That's where we have the shortest verse in the bible John 11:35 Jesus wept. We have the Creator of the universe weeping with his creation. Soon after weeping, He approaches the tomb and asked for the stone to be removed. Even Lazarus's sister warns Christ about the smell that he's about to encounter.
To get an idea of how bad the smell of a dead body can be here is a excerpt from a police officer who has been in the presence of a dead body that was left for 5-7 days

The smell is permeating , nauseating and tends to cling to your clothes and your hair.
We use Vics Vapor rub under our noses as a block of the smell.
Once you smell it , you will never forget it.
The summer of 1989 , I had a call of a strange odor in an apt. bldg. I went an opened the door of the stairway to the second floor ( where there were 3 apts) and as soon as I did so...I smelled the body.
It got worse as we went up , not sure how the neighbors tolerated it. It was 85-90 deg. The guy had been there 5-7 days , had turned completely black ( was a white male) , and was all bloated.
It was just plain BAD.

Do we distance ourselves from our fellowship with Christ because of the fear that he is not going to love us in the place were at or how we "smell'. Or perhaps we have brought on the mindset that before we enter into the presence of God we have to clean ourselves up.


Prayer: Father please help me realize that you Love me no matter what I do or how I act because, your love for me is without conditions and your love is based on the works of Your Son not my own. So please allow me to remember that i don't have to keep trying to clean myself up before you can love me, but that I may approach you unclean and allow you to clean me by seeking your forgiveness from my sins when I become unclean. Thank you for your grace and your mercy, in your Son's Name. Amen

who do you love to be hanging out with? any one you hate to be with?

I have grown to love spending time with my family, specifically with my mom and dad. I rarely get to see them because their either locked up or tied down, so time with them i really try to cherish.

Ask me anything

What's your take on regret?

Regret is like medicine (it can make you better but if taken improperly can make you worse).
Regret also has to potential to help in courtroom scenarios because some courtroom judges will accept regret as a legitimate way to reduce a prison sentence, but other judges will not.

Ask me anything