Stop limiting God

 BY Argie Simonis

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built?" 1Kings 8:27

How can the finite (limited) man adequately represent an infinite (unlimited) God? This is an issue that prevents most people from even trying.

We all have in the inside of us an image of ourselves, of who we are and what we can do. The devil and tribulations in life try to extinguish our hopes and dreams, and unfortunately many times they do a very good job. God has given each one of us things for our own blessing, but also things intended for others.

If we do not make full use of our potential, then these people will not receive the miracles intended for them.

So this image we have of ourselves works as a roof, as a limit to what we can do. If you see yourself as nothing special, then that's how you will you be in your life. But God did not create us like this:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

The Lord had a plan for our lives from the beginning. We are made for great and wonderful things!

Here, of course, a clarification must be made that the great and wonderful according to the world and according to God are two different things:

"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." 1Cor. 3:13

Here Paul tells us that everyone's works will be tested for its kind and not for its size. We are not all destined to do something that will catch the attention of the whole world, but we are all called to "shake" the waters in our own world, that is, in the environment of our influence. There are many more things in life than making a living, building a family, growing old, and living our lives with Jesus.

We must leave our own "stamp" on our world as we go through it and when the time comes for us to go and be with the Lord, people will miss us because in one way or 

another we influenced them with our lives.

One of the biggest obstacles that prevents God from doing things in our lives is comparing ourselves to the wrong people:

"...but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." 2Cor. 10:12

This does not mean that we can not be inspired by what God does to others. What Paul means here is that we should not judge things according to the flesh. Paul rebuked the Corinthians in the first part of this chapter because they judged him on the basis of outward appearance. Paul did not allow his human weaknesses to diminish what God could do through him and he literally changed the world. Two thousand years later we are still talking about him, and most importantly, we are still building ourselves on the revelations the Lord gave him, who wrote half the books of the New Testament.

You can not see anything in the outside, if you do not first "see" it internally, inside you. You may be praying for the restoration of a relationship, for healing, or for financial prosperity, but you must study and focus on the Word of God, renew your mind, and allow the Word to "paint" the right image within you, so that "see" yourself healed, healthy and prosperous. You may not like it, but your life today is exactly as you see it:

"For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." Prov. 23:7

We tend to place our responsibilities elsewhere, for example on our origins, on the various shortcomings or traumatic experiences we may have had in our lives, on the mistakes of our parents or spouse, etc. We can find many excuses like that, but none of these factors can control our lives. Decisions are made by us and the way we think in our hearts determines the course we will follow in our lives.

It is difficult to swim against the current and many times we are tempted to follow the easy solution. But we must have a purpose in life, something greater than ourselves.

Fire is nice and always attracts people near it because it offers light and warmth. So if you become a fire for the Lord, be sure that the world will be attracted and will come to see you. Do not be afraid to try something different. If you try to do something, you will eventualy succeed in something. But if you stay idle, then you will definitely not achieve anything. Get out of the boat, otherwise you will drown with the others.

"Why be you not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Eph. 5:17

The Lord wants to reveal His will to you more than you want Him to. Do not limit what you believe God can do through you. Do not judge yourself solely on the basis of your physical abilities. As His born-again child you are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) and you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Phil. 4:13).

One of the best ways God reveals His will to you as you seek Him and focus on Him is through the desires He puts in your heart:

"Delight yourself also in the LORD: and he shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

What do you really want to do? If money, age, origin, or location were not an obstacle, what would you really like to do? What do you really have in your heart? If you are close to the Lord and enjoy His presence and your relationship with Him, then this desire you have is from God. It does not mean that you just take a  a step and arrive. It is a marathon and not a sprint. But step by step and with God's help, before you know it you will have already moved from where you are now and you will be much closer to where God wants you to be.

I encourage you to stop limiting what God can do in your life. Give Him something to work with you. He can bless only what you put your hand on:

"The LORD shall command the blessing on you in your storehouses, and in all that you set your hand to; and he shall bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you."  Deut. 28:8

Amen?

JESUS The Miracle of Christmas

 BY Argie Simonis

Christmas is getting closer! Days of joy and celebration for many. Gifts under the tree, lights and decorations at home, Christmas cards, turkey and other traditional foods, family and friends gather at home, snow in the yard (sometimes), and wishes for a Merry Christmas are heard everywhere.

All this is nice and it is an opportunity for all of us to celebrate and enjoy these days. But is this the real meaning of Christmas?

It is good to remember that for some people it is a time of sorrow. Maybe because they do not have the extra money to buy gifts for their children, family or friends. Many people get sad at Christmas when they think that their loved ones, for various reasons, can not be with them. Rich tables and turkeys may seem like an elusive dream to some.

Nevertheless, Christmas is a time of great joy, because God shows us His infinite love. It is a time of healing and renewed strength.

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of our Jesus. God sent His Son into the world to be born humbly in a manger. It is this fact that has brought so much joy to the world. The shepherds, the wise men and the whole army of angels who took part in this celebration knew that this was no ordinary baby. There have been prophecies about the birth of Jesus hundreds of years before.

More than 300 prophecies were fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Many of them at His birth. Professor Peter W. Stoner was Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College and Chairman of the science division at Westmont College. In his book, Science Speaks, Professor Stoner outlines the mathematical probability of one person in the first century fulfilling just eight of the most clear and straightforward Messianic prophecies. In his book he quotes:

"We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power (1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000)!!!."

How amazing is that! And of course, if we consider all 300+ prophecies the number gets more astronomical.

Here are some of them:

"But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14

Reading the story of Jesus' birth in Luke 2:4-19, we may wonder:

So why did Jesus come?

The peace that the heavenly host sang for was not peace between men, but peace between God and men.

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34

The angels rejoiced that the war between God and man was over. We celebrate the Savior, because we needed salvation:

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Rom. 3:23

No matter what happens around us, we can really have joy. Let's look at Christmas in a different way this year. It is time to invite the Lord into your heart, and the peace He will give you will last for the whole new year, as you trust Him to provide for your every need!

Amen?

Do miracles happen today?

 BY Argie Simonis 

"And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him." Luke 23:8

Herod wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle, and this can be seen from the questions he asked. However, Jesus did not use His faith to perform miracles for Herod.

Miracles are God's way of meeting the needs of those who seek Him in faith. Miracles will sometimes be used to demonstrate God's ability for people to believe , but they will not happen to skeptics who tempt God . 

Here are two examples:

"But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (he said to the sick of the palsy,)

I say to you, Arise, and take up your bed, and go your way into your house." Mark 2:10-11

"And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down from hence:

For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you:

And in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.

And Jesus answering said to him, It is said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God." Luke 4:9-12

So what is the definition of a miracle?

The miracle is a supernatural intervention of God's power over the natural law.

There is an essential distinction between a miracle and a healing. Healing takes place within the bounds of natural laws, while miracles are not limited to natural laws. A person with a high fever who are prayed over and then begins to recover, experiences a healing. The Lord intervened here, but in natural ways, such as the example of Peter's mother-in-law:

"And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered to them." Luke 4:39

The virus, the infection or anything that caused this fever and was rebuked, left her body and then her immune system took over the natural healing process (as it happens to all of us).

When something completely supernatural happens, it's a miracle:

"And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

And Jesus answered and said, Suffer you thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him." Luke 22:51

It was a miracle when Jesus reattached the servant's ear after Peter had previously cut it off. It was also a healing, but it was a miraculous healing.

The feeding of the five thousand (Matt. 14:19-20), the walking on the water (Matt. 14:25), the transportation of the ship and all its passengers from one end of the sea to the other (John 6:21), all these are miracles. Miracles are usually instantaneous, while healings are sometimes gradual.

Are miracles happening today?

"And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." Mark 16:20

The Lord miraculously confirmed the preaching of His Word. If Jesus and the Christians of the first century needed the Word that was miraculously confirmed, how much more do we need it:

"God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" Hebrews 2:4

The Lord never had anyone who met the necessary "qualifications" to serve Him. He uses available vessels,  not "perfect" vessels, because none of us is perfect.

It is by His Grace that He uses any of us for His Kingdom. Anyone who claims to be used by God because of his great holiness is highly deceived. It is our faith in the Grace of God that allows miracles to flow through us.

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me..." Gal. 2:20 

Amen?

The Gospel of peace

 BY Argie Simonis 

"And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;" Eph 6:15

The Gospel of peace mentioned here is not about peace between mankind. Peace between men is the fruit of the peace that Jesus Christ restored between God and men:

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" Romans 5:1

Peace can only come when our relationship with God is based on our faith in what He has done for us and not in what we do for Him. Anyone who believes that he must meet certain standards in order to be accepted by God will never have peace. This kind of attitude puts the weight of salvation on our shoulders and is a burden we can not carry.

It is humanly impossible to live holy enough to please God either before we are saved or after we are saved. We were saved by grace through faith. Failure to understand this truth has led many God-loving Christians not to enjoy the peace that comes to them through faith in Jesus.

This is the Gospel of peace that Paul "paints" so beautifully in his letters and that we are called to spread to the ends of the earth!

A Savior was born for us

 BY Argie Simonis 

"For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

Jesus was Lord at His birth although His physical body was small and totally dependent on others. His physical body grew and had to learn to talk, walk, eat, etc. 

"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Luke 2:52

But in spirit, he was God from His birth and possessed all knowledge. His physical mind had to learn not only how to speak and walk, but also that He was the Messiah.

Two of Satan's three temptations in the wilderness began with "If thou be the Son of God." Satan was trying to make Jesus doubt who He was (Matthew 4:3,6 and Luke 4:3). It took a great deal of faith on the part of Jesus to accept that he was the Son of God.

If our Lord Himself went through this process, imagine how much more we must stay focused to the One who said:

"The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do" John 5:19

Amen?

Christmas begins with Christ!

 BY Argie Simonis 

Christmas is coming. It is a holiday celebrated by all Christians around the world. We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, which marked the whole History, even the year itself, since the calendar is divided into an era BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini= In the year of the Lord).

Why do we celebrate Christmas? What makes Christmas one of the most important holidays in Christianity?

"And the angel said to them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

And this shall be a sign to you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:10-14

The peace that the heavenly host sang for was not peace between men, but peace between God and men.

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34

The angels rejoiced that the war between God and man was over.

More than 300 prophecies were fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Many of them at His birth:

"But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Emmanuel = God with us

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14

- We celebrate the Savior, because we needed salvation.

- We celebrate Christmas with gift-giving because of the “indescribable gift” that God gave to us

"Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift." 2Cor. 9:15

- We celebrate Christmas with festive lights because the Light of the world has come to us

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men." John 1:4

"Then spoke Jesus again to them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

- We celebrate Christmas with carols and choirs because they are expressive of joy and follow the examples of Mary and Zacharias and Simeon and the angels, all of whom extoled the Lord.

- We celebrate Christmas by decorating evergreen trees with stars and angels and tinsel because of the eternal life Jesus brings (John 4:14)—and stars and angels and beauty were all associated with Jesus’ birth.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve fell, dragging all mankind with them into the darkness and death of sin. And what did God do? He did not tell us to find our own way out of the chaos we were in. He went down to where we were and picked us up. This is the meaning of Christmas — God comes down to save us, to do whatever it takes to save us from certain death.

We celebrate Christmas because it was at Christmastime that the Savior of all mankind came to save us from the hopeless situation we were in. God did not stay in heaven; He came down to where we are so we can be with Him in eternity!

God on the stand of the accused

 BY Argie Simonis 

"God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him." 1John 4:16

John here describes God beautifully and simply. But religion unfortunately comes and presents us with an angry and vengeful God. He only accepts you when you are a "good" child and waits in the corner to strike you with a lightning bolt on the first mistake you will make.

Religion presents a child-killing God, who takes babies and toddlers to Heaven because he "needs" them there more than their natural parents here on earth.

Religion presents a God who sends sickness and tribulations to His children to "teach" them humility and obedience.

Religion presents a God who is responsible for every war, famine, earthquake, disaster and every evil that happens in the world, because nothing happens if He does not "allow" it.

How is it possible to love and trust someone who treats you like that? In a court of law, if such a God ascends to the stand of the accused, I am sure he would be sentenced to life imprisonment as a common criminal, or even to death!

So let us not be surprised that many people reject the Lord and do not want to have anything to do with Him. All this distorted image of God presented to us by religion is far away from reality, and as a result it turns people away from Him instead of attracting them to Him.

Let's read the following passage from 1 Corinthians, and where the word "love" is(according to 1 John 4:16) we put "God":

"God suffers long, and is kind; charity envies not; God braggs not Himself, is not puffed up,

Does not behave Himself unseemly, seeks not His own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil;

Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1Cor. 13:4-7

One of the greatest truths of the Gospel that will change your life is to understand that God loves you just as you are.

He loves you so much that if you understand it, you will not want to stay as you are. You will begin to change, not to gain His love, but this change will be the fruit of His love that works within you.

The nature of God has always been love.

Amen;