I wake up at 6:05 each morning to get ready for university and I leave my house at 7. At 6:15 I'm half asleep, with my eyes barely open, 6:20 I'm in the shower. By 6:40 I'm showered and dressed. At this moment, more or less I go to my room, kneel down facing the cross which is in the center of the back wall of my room, put my elbows againt my bed which is next to that wall and I pray, Its way more than a simple habit or something I need to check off my list. It is part of my daily routine, but not like shaving (which its something that I dont enjoy doing, yet I do), I do it because I love to do it. Unlike waking up at 6ish in the morning, starting my day with a prayer is a great thing and it always ends up in a smile in my face. I hear you saying "Alright, so, whats the point about telling me how you pray every single day? good for you bro, but I dont think its necessary". The point here is a simple thing, I live my life for Jesus, thanks to Jesus and with Jesus. He died for me, so I live for Him.
Everyone that knows me knows one fact about me, if I meet you, You will eventually hear this question "So, Do you believe in God?" during my day I try very hard to for all things to it in a way that praises the Lord, and to give thanks. I study in university because I feel a calling towards helping others through medicine. I refuse Drinking alcohol because I want to make myself a tool for God, and I cant be that If I'm wasted somewhere, plus, even if we can drink, doesn't mean we should (1 Corinthians 10:23). In the Old testament and in the New one as well its clear that the israelites , and later on, the disciples of Christ stood out, they behave differently. And so I do, helping everyone is what I try to do, I try to not hold grudges, not care about getting the money I lend back, blessing everyone, not cursing when stuff goes the way I intended to not go, etc. Basically trying to allow Jesus to shine through me.
Not long ago, actually last summer, I was working at McDonald's', yeah I know, super cliche, the High school grad working there, but hey, it was my first formal job. A Week in, a conversation happened with a co worker which stuck with me (what she said in italics) "I want to go home" "well, we got here not that long ago... I'm Fine, I just wanna work as I should" "Yeah, the thing is, I dont like being exploited like you". Maybe this is not a deep and impactful conversation, and I admit that I didnt thought of it much at the time, but now I realize, my whole life I have worked hard to do things as I should, even if sometimes laziness wins, I do. And I believe this goes far beyond my "well I was hired to work, so I should work" but it touches my christian roots, and so should do in all of us. Jesus tells us to work hard and do what we been hired to do, and accept our payment, as little as it might be, with joy, after all, we work voluntarily, we are not slaves, so why do we complain? this is part of the parable of the laborers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16. This concept for me is very important, whether I realized about it before or not (I didnt). Jesus called us to do everything in a fashion that doing that can in itself be a praise to the Lord, So, work hard and honestly, love like Jesus loved us, help those that need it the most like He helped us, and try to be as close to God as he was. Of course, Jesus is God (John 10:30 & John 14:8-11 also a future post will be about this), so it would be naive to say we can be as intimate and close to God as himself, we cant. But what we can do is to live in a way that we invite God to dwell with us.
What is to live a life that in itself worships the Lord? I cant tell you, not because I dont want to, but because I truly dont know, I know what Jesus says we should do, and what I feel I should do when talking to Him. This is, loving even those that hate me (Matthew 5:44 & 1 John 4:16), forgiving those who have transgressed against me (Matthew 6:12). Also, asking for forgiveness of my sins and trying not to sin anymore (which lately has been easier actually, the extra power that this Lent has given me is amazing, this 40ish days have given me a great excuse to fast, to have another argument against sin, etc. ... I havent fasted much except from tv and movies but I've been able to cut down my Sinful behavior a lot). Simply, trying to really ask myself "what would Jesus do?" not as a cool catchphrase, but as a real question. And frankly, it has been a good time, turning my life from sin, from being a Sunday christian, from almost turning Mormon, from being a slave to the desires of the flesh to being someone much happier, someone who preaches the gospel, who tries to be true disciple of Christ. I have had some ugly arguments with a mormon friend because of said change. But hey, I knew what I was getting into, didnt I? So, what do I feel about how we should live? this by no means means that I'm right though.
Alright, you are living in a similar way, helping, loving your enemy, and doing what Jesus commanded us to do, you say, what else? Well, first of off, dont ask me! Ask Him who commanded you to follow Him in the first place, ask God! And secondly, are you really? I dont know you, but I could bet my life that you gossip, that you have some conversations that are less than holy, that you surely cuss when you almost get to the bus stop on time and you see your bus leave without you. I can bet that at least some days you pass next to a homeless person and you dont open nor your wallet nor your hand. I could bet that many times you have swallowed the desire to help someone because you were running late. I know I have, and most of us have, most of us give out of our abundance, we give our spare time, we help when we are rested, with plenty of time to get wherever we going, when we have little money in our pockets so that we dont give too much... and I could continue, that my friend, is what we need to change. Maybe you do help when you're running late, and maybe you do give when you need as well, but surely you then brag, or at least say to your boss "sorry sir, I was helping this old lady carry some bags, wont happen again"... thats a problem too... if you give without your needs in mind, if you help when you're running late and take the heat and keep your helping secret, if you see a homeless guy and you give all the food money for today and then you go hungry untill tomorrow, and you do like that everywhere you go, all day, every day, then Amazing, you're doing as I think christians should, but unless you're the 1 in 100,000 christians like that, then, you, we, have room to improve upon.
Ok, so you went to your job today, found no one in need that you could identify, gave your seat to someone else, and started your day with prayer... what else? well.. work, work with joy and a smile. I know how hard this is, mind you I worked from 23 to 7 in the morning.... I know how hard is to smile when your tired, but we still have to do it, lets work with joy, lets bless the Lord that we can Work, that not only we can work, but that we have a job. Lets bless that annoying co worker who seems to hate us for no reason (I had one... we all have one), lets bless the annoying customer, and our crazy bosses, thats the mark of a christian, true, undying and all forgiving love... its not easy, but we should. But Federico, ARE YOU NUTS?!?!?!?! YOU WANT ME TO BLESS MY ANNOYING BOSS AND THE BRATTY CUSTOMERS?! Yes.. but its not me that asks you that... its the Guy up there.. you know, the guy running the show.. and no I dont mean Mr. President.
You see Jesus, before being the answer to everything in church, and before being a cool looking, wise character from a book of books, He was a simple man... a Man that was God as well, but a Man non the less. We tend to forget that, we usually think his life as: Is born from a virgin .... begins his ministry, does amazing sh*t, is crucified, rises from the dead and ascends to heaven. But there's a huge part of his life that we are forgetting... He was human... and what do humans do after being born and before start working at age 30? yeah... we grow, we play, we learn, we go to school, we listen to stories, we absorb our culture and we become parts of our society. JESUS HAD AN INFANCY! JESUS WAS A 1st CENTURY JEW! Culturally, and Racially! He was born and raised in the midst of Jewish culture of the time. So what? well, it means he learnt about jewish history, he studied the Tanakh (Old testament basically, Jewish Bible). What does this mean, to be cultural Jew in the 1st century? well it means that he learned how God took the isrealites out of egypt, how he gave them the promised land, and how even though God promised to set them free, at this point the Jews had been conquered by everyone at one point or another! they where exiled into Babylon, then Persia conquered them and now by the romans for the last couple of centuries... what does Jesus do? well.. does he rises an army and destroys the conquerors of Israel? No He doesnt! at every moment when His disciples get the chance to use violence against romans, He condemns such violence. When His disciple cut the ear of a servant of the High priest that was there to arrest Him at Gethsemane, he tells him to stop what he's doing and to put his sword away (John 18:11) So, the romans have oppressed jews, have conquered them, have killed them, and now, Jesus is facing his arrest by such enemies of Israel and ultimately, of God, and he puts up no fight, he actually asks for God's forgiveness of their sins at the cross! (Luke 24:34) If Jesus forgives and blesses those who have oppressed his nation and Him for such long time. Why does He do this? Because He's bringing the Kingdom of God, His Kingdom, here, and God's Kingdom is not one of war and violence, but of love and peace. We can surely forgive and bless annoying customers and annoying bosses.
Finally, your hard day of working with a Christian spirit, with a smile, and blessing those that had you not been a christian you would have cursed to the top of your lungs, comes to and end. You get to your house, what do you do now? is your day of worship done? No! by no means! family life, love, protection are all things that God calls us to do, in both the Old testament and New one (half of Deuteronomy's laws are ultimately about protecting the family) and we all know how Jesus called us to protect others and to love them, so clearly, God wants us to be loving outside and inside of our houses. Finally, the day comes to an end, as you sit in the table to eat a wonderful meal, you pray for the Lord to bless that food, and then you find yourself in the same situation that Jesus found himself the night before being crucified: enjoying a dinner with those who were with him all the time, and so are you dinning with your family. As you break bread with your family, remember Jesus breaking bread with the disciples, as you pour whatever drink you're having, remember Jesus giving the cup to his disciples. Eat with great joy, with love, blessing your day, and there, in the intimacy of your home, among laughs of your kids, or maybe of your parents, there, while telling stories about how you had to swallow your pride and bless Jim, that annoying guy at the office or school, there in the midst of all that joy and love, if you do so with God and Jesus in mind, you're taking the Lord's supper as originally was. The Last supper was a literal feast, not about the bread and wine itself, but about doing such in joy and remembrance of Him, you are worshiping the Lord there, in the table itself.
At the end of the day... a christian lives for others, loves others no matter what, and does good even to those that do him evil.
Like 1 John 4:15-16 says, "if you confess Jesus as Lord, and Love one another like God loves us, you abide in God, and God abides in you." What you do, how you do it, and when you do it, its a simple byproduct of such love. Once again, anyone can do all of the above, but only Christians do it out of true love and true faith.
May God bless y'all
Everyone that knows me knows one fact about me, if I meet you, You will eventually hear this question "So, Do you believe in God?" during my day I try very hard to for all things to it in a way that praises the Lord, and to give thanks. I study in university because I feel a calling towards helping others through medicine. I refuse Drinking alcohol because I want to make myself a tool for God, and I cant be that If I'm wasted somewhere, plus, even if we can drink, doesn't mean we should (1 Corinthians 10:23). In the Old testament and in the New one as well its clear that the israelites , and later on, the disciples of Christ stood out, they behave differently. And so I do, helping everyone is what I try to do, I try to not hold grudges, not care about getting the money I lend back, blessing everyone, not cursing when stuff goes the way I intended to not go, etc. Basically trying to allow Jesus to shine through me.
Not long ago, actually last summer, I was working at McDonald's', yeah I know, super cliche, the High school grad working there, but hey, it was my first formal job. A Week in, a conversation happened with a co worker which stuck with me (what she said in italics) "I want to go home" "well, we got here not that long ago... I'm Fine, I just wanna work as I should" "Yeah, the thing is, I dont like being exploited like you". Maybe this is not a deep and impactful conversation, and I admit that I didnt thought of it much at the time, but now I realize, my whole life I have worked hard to do things as I should, even if sometimes laziness wins, I do. And I believe this goes far beyond my "well I was hired to work, so I should work" but it touches my christian roots, and so should do in all of us. Jesus tells us to work hard and do what we been hired to do, and accept our payment, as little as it might be, with joy, after all, we work voluntarily, we are not slaves, so why do we complain? this is part of the parable of the laborers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16. This concept for me is very important, whether I realized about it before or not (I didnt). Jesus called us to do everything in a fashion that doing that can in itself be a praise to the Lord, So, work hard and honestly, love like Jesus loved us, help those that need it the most like He helped us, and try to be as close to God as he was. Of course, Jesus is God (John 10:30 & John 14:8-11 also a future post will be about this), so it would be naive to say we can be as intimate and close to God as himself, we cant. But what we can do is to live in a way that we invite God to dwell with us.
What is to live a life that in itself worships the Lord? I cant tell you, not because I dont want to, but because I truly dont know, I know what Jesus says we should do, and what I feel I should do when talking to Him. This is, loving even those that hate me (Matthew 5:44 & 1 John 4:16), forgiving those who have transgressed against me (Matthew 6:12). Also, asking for forgiveness of my sins and trying not to sin anymore (which lately has been easier actually, the extra power that this Lent has given me is amazing, this 40ish days have given me a great excuse to fast, to have another argument against sin, etc. ... I havent fasted much except from tv and movies but I've been able to cut down my Sinful behavior a lot). Simply, trying to really ask myself "what would Jesus do?" not as a cool catchphrase, but as a real question. And frankly, it has been a good time, turning my life from sin, from being a Sunday christian, from almost turning Mormon, from being a slave to the desires of the flesh to being someone much happier, someone who preaches the gospel, who tries to be true disciple of Christ. I have had some ugly arguments with a mormon friend because of said change. But hey, I knew what I was getting into, didnt I? So, what do I feel about how we should live? this by no means means that I'm right though.
Alright, you are living in a similar way, helping, loving your enemy, and doing what Jesus commanded us to do, you say, what else? Well, first of off, dont ask me! Ask Him who commanded you to follow Him in the first place, ask God! And secondly, are you really? I dont know you, but I could bet my life that you gossip, that you have some conversations that are less than holy, that you surely cuss when you almost get to the bus stop on time and you see your bus leave without you. I can bet that at least some days you pass next to a homeless person and you dont open nor your wallet nor your hand. I could bet that many times you have swallowed the desire to help someone because you were running late. I know I have, and most of us have, most of us give out of our abundance, we give our spare time, we help when we are rested, with plenty of time to get wherever we going, when we have little money in our pockets so that we dont give too much... and I could continue, that my friend, is what we need to change. Maybe you do help when you're running late, and maybe you do give when you need as well, but surely you then brag, or at least say to your boss "sorry sir, I was helping this old lady carry some bags, wont happen again"... thats a problem too... if you give without your needs in mind, if you help when you're running late and take the heat and keep your helping secret, if you see a homeless guy and you give all the food money for today and then you go hungry untill tomorrow, and you do like that everywhere you go, all day, every day, then Amazing, you're doing as I think christians should, but unless you're the 1 in 100,000 christians like that, then, you, we, have room to improve upon.
Ok, so you went to your job today, found no one in need that you could identify, gave your seat to someone else, and started your day with prayer... what else? well.. work, work with joy and a smile. I know how hard this is, mind you I worked from 23 to 7 in the morning.... I know how hard is to smile when your tired, but we still have to do it, lets work with joy, lets bless the Lord that we can Work, that not only we can work, but that we have a job. Lets bless that annoying co worker who seems to hate us for no reason (I had one... we all have one), lets bless the annoying customer, and our crazy bosses, thats the mark of a christian, true, undying and all forgiving love... its not easy, but we should. But Federico, ARE YOU NUTS?!?!?!?! YOU WANT ME TO BLESS MY ANNOYING BOSS AND THE BRATTY CUSTOMERS?! Yes.. but its not me that asks you that... its the Guy up there.. you know, the guy running the show.. and no I dont mean Mr. President.
You see Jesus, before being the answer to everything in church, and before being a cool looking, wise character from a book of books, He was a simple man... a Man that was God as well, but a Man non the less. We tend to forget that, we usually think his life as: Is born from a virgin .... begins his ministry, does amazing sh*t, is crucified, rises from the dead and ascends to heaven. But there's a huge part of his life that we are forgetting... He was human... and what do humans do after being born and before start working at age 30? yeah... we grow, we play, we learn, we go to school, we listen to stories, we absorb our culture and we become parts of our society. JESUS HAD AN INFANCY! JESUS WAS A 1st CENTURY JEW! Culturally, and Racially! He was born and raised in the midst of Jewish culture of the time. So what? well, it means he learnt about jewish history, he studied the Tanakh (Old testament basically, Jewish Bible). What does this mean, to be cultural Jew in the 1st century? well it means that he learned how God took the isrealites out of egypt, how he gave them the promised land, and how even though God promised to set them free, at this point the Jews had been conquered by everyone at one point or another! they where exiled into Babylon, then Persia conquered them and now by the romans for the last couple of centuries... what does Jesus do? well.. does he rises an army and destroys the conquerors of Israel? No He doesnt! at every moment when His disciples get the chance to use violence against romans, He condemns such violence. When His disciple cut the ear of a servant of the High priest that was there to arrest Him at Gethsemane, he tells him to stop what he's doing and to put his sword away (John 18:11) So, the romans have oppressed jews, have conquered them, have killed them, and now, Jesus is facing his arrest by such enemies of Israel and ultimately, of God, and he puts up no fight, he actually asks for God's forgiveness of their sins at the cross! (Luke 24:34) If Jesus forgives and blesses those who have oppressed his nation and Him for such long time. Why does He do this? Because He's bringing the Kingdom of God, His Kingdom, here, and God's Kingdom is not one of war and violence, but of love and peace. We can surely forgive and bless annoying customers and annoying bosses.
Finally, your hard day of working with a Christian spirit, with a smile, and blessing those that had you not been a christian you would have cursed to the top of your lungs, comes to and end. You get to your house, what do you do now? is your day of worship done? No! by no means! family life, love, protection are all things that God calls us to do, in both the Old testament and New one (half of Deuteronomy's laws are ultimately about protecting the family) and we all know how Jesus called us to protect others and to love them, so clearly, God wants us to be loving outside and inside of our houses. Finally, the day comes to an end, as you sit in the table to eat a wonderful meal, you pray for the Lord to bless that food, and then you find yourself in the same situation that Jesus found himself the night before being crucified: enjoying a dinner with those who were with him all the time, and so are you dinning with your family. As you break bread with your family, remember Jesus breaking bread with the disciples, as you pour whatever drink you're having, remember Jesus giving the cup to his disciples. Eat with great joy, with love, blessing your day, and there, in the intimacy of your home, among laughs of your kids, or maybe of your parents, there, while telling stories about how you had to swallow your pride and bless Jim, that annoying guy at the office or school, there in the midst of all that joy and love, if you do so with God and Jesus in mind, you're taking the Lord's supper as originally was. The Last supper was a literal feast, not about the bread and wine itself, but about doing such in joy and remembrance of Him, you are worshiping the Lord there, in the table itself.
At the end of the day... a christian lives for others, loves others no matter what, and does good even to those that do him evil.
Like 1 John 4:15-16 says, "if you confess Jesus as Lord, and Love one another like God loves us, you abide in God, and God abides in you." What you do, how you do it, and when you do it, its a simple byproduct of such love. Once again, anyone can do all of the above, but only Christians do it out of true love and true faith.
May God bless y'all
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