He Will Provide the Food

He Will Provide the Food

God has not promised us T-bone steaks for every meal, but He has promised us that He will provide the food for us.

food tbone

He will provide.

He provided the food for Elijah during the 42 months of famine. With Ahab and Jezebel seeking to destroy this prophet, God supplied him food the entire time. As long as the brook Cherith had water, the birds brought him two meals each day with bread and meat. When the drought became so severe that the brook dried up, God provided him and widow of Zarephath with food.

He provided food for the Jews on their forty-year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Before they arrived at Mt. Sinai, He gave them manna in the morning and quails in the evening (Ex. 16:13).  The psalmist described it this way, “He also rained meat on them like the dust, feather fowl like the sand of the seas” (Psa. 78:27). As soon as they entered the Promised Land, the manna ceased (Josh. 5:12).

David understood that God would provide food for His people. “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread” (Psa. 37:25). Think of David who spent years fleeing from King Saul. Yet in spite of all the adversity the evil king brought into David’s life, God took care of him. God provided the food he needed. David saw that God fed His people.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes a great contrast between how saints look toward food and the way that unbelievers look at it. “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all of these things the Gentiles seek” (Matt. 6:31-32). Those who are not God’s children must, of necessity, be fearful that they might not have food. Those empty shelves in Publix are a major concern to them. Our Lord says that we should not have a single concern and then He gives the reason. “For your heavenly Father knows you have need of all these things.”

Later in that sermon, Jesus discussed how an earthly father would not give a stone to his child who asks for bread. The Lord’s prayer says we should ask every day for daily bread and with firm assurance He will provide. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will you Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him” (Matt. 7:11)!

Our godly grandparents dealt with the Great Depression and not one of them starved. How did this happen? Because they took seriously the final thing Jesus said about this. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Think about this in these trying days as you pray that He will provide daily bread.

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¿Existe realmente Dios?

¿Existe realmente Dios?

Muchas personas plantean esta pregunta sin dudar mucho, pero para los cristianos es casi pecado siquiera pensar en hacer la pregunta.  Mientras que la gente se enoja cuando les haces una pregunta directa e intentan “matarte” con la mirada se hacen la misma pregunta dos veces, no creo que ese sea el caso con el Dios de la Biblia. Hay que ser claros que no hacemos referencia a la duda incrédula, predeterminada al rechazo, sino quizás a la duda honesta mostrada aún en uno de los apóstoles de Cristo: Tomás.  La intención en este breve artículo no es dudar de la existencia de Dios, sino tomar aquella pregunta sincera planteada en corazones de personas sinceras e incluso admitirlo en cristianos sinceros.

Dios Existe

¿Existe realmente Dios?

Supongo que la pregunta también podría haber sido hecha: ¿Existe Dios?, o quizás de forma afirmativa para los teístas: ¡Dios existe!. Pero la idea principal a discutir es la realidad de la existencia de Dios (¿Existe Dios realmente?) muy independientemente de la opinión de todos los grupos existentes alrededor de la interrogante (sean; ateos, naturalistas, teístas, o agnósticos), ¿Existe evidencia real, palpable y confiable sobre la existencia de un ser supremo, más allá de un sistema de argumentación y grupos imponiendo sus propias ideologías?. La respuesta se sostendrá por hechos. La acusación externa es traída a colación, de ser muy sensibles y emocionales es hecha en nuestra contra y la acusación interna de ser muy intelectuales y querer responder a todo con lógica y razón hace eco en las Iglesias de Cristo a que de la manera más modesta posible asumo la acusación en ambos casos. Somos seres tripartitas con emociones e intelecto y deberíamos de aceptar ambos hechos como membranas principales de nuestra existencia aquí en la tierra y nuestra esperanza futura. Consideremos con emoción y con la razón algunos hechos que demuestra que Dios realmente existe:

  1. Cada célula del cuerpo humano (con la excepción de los glóbulos rojos) contiene una secuencia de ADN de 3.200 millones de letras de longitud, es decir, 2 metros de ADN. Y es que un trozo de ADN de 1 mm de longitud contiene una secuencia de pares de bases de más de 3 millones de letras.
  2. Quedé boquiabierto al saber que la vida humana pende por completo en cuatro letras. Es como la receta de un guiso o el código de un programa informático. El ADN está formado por largas secuencias de moléculas llamadas bases nitrogenadas que aparecen en 4 “sabores”: adenina (A), citosina (C), guanina (G) y timina (T). Al descubrirse, se creyó imposible que solo 4 letras pudieran contener las instrucciones de la inmensa complejidad de un organismo completo: sería como escribir la Enciclopedia Británica con sólo 4 letras. ¿Increíble verdad?.
  3. Si desenrollamos todo el ADN de las células de un cuerpo humano, cubriremos la distancia de la Tierra a la Luna 7.000 veces. Veamos los cálculos: el total de células del cuerpo humano (2 billones = 2 x 1012 células) y la longitud equivale al recorrido de 7.000 viajes de ida y vuelta a la Luna (distancia Tierra – Luna = 300.000 Km).  (Información tomada de:xatakaciencia.com)
  4. Quizá ninguno de nosotros seamos científicos, la información que provee la ciencia es realmente impresionante para dar por sentado la existencia de un ser supremo, racional, inteligente y sobretodo complejo más allá de nuestro entendimiento finito.
  5. La  idea de la “no existencia de Dios” envuelve en sí misma una contradicción lógica. ¿Como es que algo puede provenir de la nada, sin contradecir el principio de la metafísica, de que la nada produce nada? Los ateos sostienen que ellos están seguros de que Dios no existe, llegan a esta conclusión a partir de que el mal (que es palpable ) existe y Dios no hace nada al respecto. Pero si algo superior a todo lo bueno (Dios) no existe, tampoco la maldad objetiva existe como tal. El ateísmo afirma una contradicción lógica.
  6. Sabemos que Dios realmente existe por el simple hecho de poder razonar. ¿Confiaría usted en un puñado de teclas que aparecieron de la nada con apariencia de computadora sin ninguna marca, que está aprendiendo cómo procesar información? No entendemos porqué los ateos pueden llamar a eso ciencia y poner su confianza en ello mientras que los teístas son acusados de irracionalidad por confiar en que un ser extremadamente complejo, externo a la raza humana está detrás de la elaboración de algo tan inmensamente complejo como lo es el ADN humano. ¿Quién es el irracional ahora?
  7. Con todo lo anterior, la implicación es que podemos saber que Dios realmente existe por el simple hecho de que nosotros existimos. Si Dios fuera solo ficción o una fábula inventada para aliviar el dolor de los desesperados, entonces automáticamente nosotros tampoco somos reales, puesto que ningún hombre podría inventar algo tan complejo como el ADN en la que ni siquiera el mismo hombre ha terminado de entender a su cabalidad.
  8. El hecho de no entender completamente la existencia de Dios no lo descalifica  automáticamente como “un ser no existente”. Regreso al mismo punto, aunque nosotros no entendamos (este autor incluido) como funciona el cuerpo humano a su cabalidad y la complejidad del mismo,  eso no significa que seamos seres inexistentes.

Las palabras de Juan en 1 Jn.4:1 cuando dijo: “probad los espíritus…” están conectadas no solo con los que no creen en Jesús pero también a cristianos fieles que aman al Señor tiempos de Juan. Estimado lector, no es pecaminoso preguntar si ¿realmente existe Dios?,  después de años de creer en él. El pecado está cuando dudamos de esa manera y no hacemos nada al respecto. Cada vez que el cristiano está en dificultades tiene el derecho de preguntar ¿realmente existe Dios? Una vez que se da a la tarea de investigar, su fe se ratificó 3 veces más por la cantidad de evidencia sobreabundante de la existencia de Dios. Curiosamente él nunca se cansará de escucharnos hacer esa pregunta, pero gozará al ver corazones honestos, que buscan evidencia firme, evidencia contundente, que no solamente renovarán sus votos sino que le amaran todavía  más.

En uno de los debates el hermano Thomas B. Warren pregunta a su oponente Wallace Matson lo siguiente: Por favor provea un ejemplo de sufrimiento que no sea sin sentido.—Matson responde: —El dentista, algunas fracturas en el fútbol, algunas experiencias médicas, dar a luz a un niño etc. A lo que el hermano Warren responde: —Entonces de acuerdo con Matson, no existe el mal (Warren-Matson Debate: pág.356).

Tremendo punto. Ningún sufrimiento es maldad si tan solo aprendiéramos a observar cuál es el sentido detrás del sufrimiento. Los Ateos entonces dejarían de echarle la culpa a Dios, al Dios… que por cierto afirman ellos no existe (Sarcasmo).

Dios realmente existe, la historia lo confirma, la arqueología lo demuestra, el sacrificio de cientos de mártires lo enfatiza, y el cambio en la vida de cientos de personas lo ratifica. Dios se vuelve real y existente cada día más en la vida de aquellos corazones honestos que le permiten conocerle. El simple hecho de poder escoger conocerle o rechazarlo es muestra de que somos hechos a su imagen y semejanza como lo afirma Gen.1:26 y de su  respeto y amor eterno hacia nosotros.

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Wearing the Name “Christian”

Wearing the Name “Christian”

“Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter” (1 Peter 4:16). The word “Christian” was first used in Antioch (Acts 11:26). The word means one who follows Christ. First Peter 4:16 implies that some used it as an insult. Perhaps this is the way that Agrippa meant it in Acts 26:28 when he told the apostle Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” Peter says that the person who is called by such a name not be ashamed of it at all, but rather, glorify God.

christian anointed

Christians follow the anointed one.

The word “Christian” contains the word “christ.” “Christ” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word “messiah.” Both words mean “anointed one” and come from the tradition of anointing with oil leaders in the ancient world. The Hebrew word “messiah” is used in the Old Testament a total of 39 times. Thirty-seven times it is translated “anointed,” and it usually refers to one of the kings of Israel. The translators chose to translate with the English word “Messiah” twice in the New King James Version in Daniel 9:25-26.

Having studied the book of Daniel extensively, the Jews of the New Testament were expecting God’s Messiah, His Anointed One, to arrive. Jesus fulfilled all prophecies of the Anointed One in the Old Testament. Therefore, He was the Messiah. In the New Testament, the word “christ,” (Greek for “anointed one”) is used almost exclusively to refer to Jesus. Christians are followers of the Anointed One, Jesus, and the word “Christ” is a title, not Jesus’ last name. What an honor it is, then, to share the title “Christ” with Jesus as “Christians.” This was Peter’s point.

 

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Holy Kisses, Holy Hugs, and Holy Elbow Bumps

Holy Kisses, Holy Hugs, and Holy Elbow Bumps

“By this shall all men know that you are my disciples because you love one another” (John 13:35). Love is seen in the way we react to each other as we meet and then as we later leave. The love of the father for the prodigal son was visibly seen as he rushed toward him. What did the father do to the barefooted son in ragged clothes who had been among the swine? He embraced him and kissed him. Contrast this with how the older brother reacted.

holy kiss

What came after?

When Paul spoke of greeting one another with a holy kiss, he was not instituting a new form of greeting. Some focus only on the kiss, while Paul’s emphasis was on the nature of the kiss. The kiss of Judas in Gethsemane was far removed from being holy—it was hypocritical.

Kissing is only one way to greet. It varies in different cultures. Some reverently bow toward the other person with folded hands. In other places, there is kissing on the cheeks—either one or both. Then, there are those where greetings are shown by rubbing one’s nose against another’s. How each of these is done can show respect, honor or love. Paul’s emphasis was not on the kiss, but its genuine sincerity.

It is interesting to note how often the Bible talks about what happened after the kiss. Joseph revealed himself to his brethren. The text says he embraced Benjamin, kissed all his brothers and “…after that his brothers talked with him” (Gen. 45:14). The kiss was just the beginning. It was what followed that really showed his heart. Think again of the kiss of Judas and what followed.

In Acts 21, Paul arrived in Jerusalem and greeted the elders. What happened next? “He told in detail the things God had done among the Gentiles.” The emphasis is not on the greeting but what followed. Paul greeted in writings. He greeted 24 people in just 13 verses in Romans 16. Culture often determines the nature of the greeting. The heart determines how sincere it is.

We see genuine brotherly love so often. Think of what spontaneously happens after one is baptized and is welcomed into the kingdom. You see it again when one is restored. It is seen in the compassion at funerals.

In recent days, we have experienced new ways of greeting. In view of the contagious virus, there are still shaking hands or embracing others. Far more will bump fists—where did that come from? Some teens bump toes as they greet. Who would have ever thought Americans would ever greet by bumping elbows! Remember there are holy kisses, holy hugs, holy fists, and holy elbows. It is what follows the greetings that matters!

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Enlightened, Empowered, Lost

Enlightened, Empowered, Lost

Dear friend, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smile. Oh, I see you “smiling” in social media posts, but there is a distinct difference in your smile today, versus 2-3 years ago. You’ve lost that spark that used to light up your entire face. There is a bitterness and hardness in your posts that makes me sad. It seems that you have gone off to college and have been “enlightened” by professors who want you to have a more open mind, and in the process, you have turned your back on almost everything you were taught when you were younger. And that “enlightenment” has brought with it a dark cloud that hovers over you.

enlightened girl

Enlightened by the world, but not God?

You now champion the pro-choice movement. You protest at Black Lives Matter rallies. You demand gender equality in everything. Your posts center around things like being empowered, toxic masculinity, and white privilege. You have surrounded yourself with likeminded liberal friends and have stopped talking to the Christians you grew up with. And, sadly, your relationship with God has grown cold. It’s painfully obvious to anyone who has known you for a few years.

I realize that according to your college courses I am a big part of the “problem.” I am a conservative white male, which according to some of your professors ranks me just slightly above being a terrorist. And I also realize that you are likely not to pay much attention to what I say because I am a white male.

However, I would beg you for just a few minutes to focus on a single word: soul. Do your newfound political alliances enrich the soul God gave you? Do your friends honestly care about where your soul will spend eternity? Do your professors that are filling your head with all of this new liberal information even believe you have a soul? If you died tonight, where would your soul spend eternity? When is the last time you thought about your own soul?

Deep down in the recesses of your mind you know the evidence is there that Jesus walked the earth. You know the tomb was empty. You probably even miss some of the songs you grew up singing. Please reconsider the path you have started down.

You probably suspect I am going to make this plea about “us” versus “them.” That’s not my goal. I am a sinner, just like your new friends… and so my goal is not to have you pick sides—my goal is to rekindle your love with the only person who has walked this earth who was not a sinner—Jesus Christ. It’s not about whether I agree politically with your new ideology. It’s not about taking “sides.” It’s about whether we can be united in Christ, and redeemed by His blood.

Yes, I will freely admit to you that the church has not gotten everything right. I will admit there are hypocrites in the church (just like there are in all groups). Hypocrites (and everyone else) need the blood of Jesus! I will even admit that I grew up in an educational system that emphasized the accomplishments of white men. But none of that changes the very real fact that you and I need Jesus. He (and He alone) is the source of true peace, joy, and salvation.

I beg you to take some time over the next few days and think about your soul. Think about your inner peace and where your allegiance is. Consider how much true joy and happiness you have in your life. And then ask yourself, am I on His side—because at the end of the day that is the only side that matters. I hope you will think on these things.

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