Loving & Waiting Go Hand In Hand

I know I am making myself vulnerable here by telling you that when it comes to eating waffles for breakfast, in my book, peanut butter and syrup go hand in hand. Some of you may reject this idea completely, and that is acceptable—even though I believe you are missing out on something so, so good!

Love and waiting go hand in hand, too. I learned about this relationship recently as I compared what the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul both say about the same topic. Consider the following two passages:

From of old no one has heard

    or perceived by the ear,

no eye has seen a God besides you,

    who acts for those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:4)

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

    nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him” (Paul quoting Isaiah in 1 Corinthians 2:9)

Both Isaiah and Paul are encouraging us to open our hearts to hope, big time hope! They assure us that God is not a reactionary God who is waiting for life to happen to us to then react with a plan for our lives. They encourage us with the hope that God has prepared and acts based on plans He has for our lives. Furthermore, those plans go beyond what our eyes have seen, or what ears have heard, or our minds have imagined! Pretty cool stuff, don’t you think? 

So where is the catch? Is there a catch or condition? Glad you asked! If we can speak of conditions, we would find two: those who love God and those who wait for Him get to experienced the benefits of God’s plans.

Love informs our waiting, and our waiting positions us to love God well!

What is life like for you these days? Whether you are experiencing blessing or hardship, know that your love for God will invite you to wait for Him. As you wait for Him and His ways, your love will be refined.

I hope you hear between the lines that there are solid reasons for you to hope in God. There is no God besides Him. You are in His mind and His plans! Our part is to respond in love and patience.

—Diego Cuartas

Essential Aspirations For The New Year 2023!

Aspirations may not be the word you use when you think about making changes or beginning new things in a New Year. Perhaps you use the word resolutions or more honestly yet “illusions” (humor added!).

Regardless of what word you choose, I appreciate the way the Word of God gives me access to the men and women of faith who so much have and continue to influence my life - and I suspect yours too. 

The book of Jude is probably not the place where most of us would go when it comes to considering good New Year’s aspirations or resolutions. However, I have found recently that it is. As we get close to Jude, we can hear his strong emphasis on several things that are essential for us to consider in this new year. 

I invite you to read the following verses found in the only chapter of his book:

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”

As you can see, there are quite a few action verbs in this few verses. Jude exhorts us to:

• Build up our most holy faith

• Pray in the Holy Spirit

• Keep ourselves in the love of God

• Await for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ

• Have mercy on those who doubt

• Save others out of the fire

• Show mercy with fear to others

According to Jude, these actions need to be our priorities. For him, our holy faith, our communion in prayer and dependency on the Holy Spirit, being rooted in the love of God, living with our expectations set on Jesus, and relating to other people in God-honoring ways are paramount.

Interestingly, as we read these verbs in our English language, they do sound as imperatives. To anyone’s surprise, the only imperatives in this list are: 

Keep yourself in the love of God, have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them our of the fire, and show mercy with fear to those who are defiled by their own flesh or way of living.

This is not to say that the other exhortations are not as important, it just means that a stronger emphasis is placed on them. The imperatives are not considered options but rather requirements.

My encouragement to us is to sit with these verses and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to each one of us. As we do this, we may find grace to align our hearts and lives with the priorities God has for His children in this short letter. 

Jude ends his letter offering us the basis for our confidence:

“24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

May God’s will become our resolutions or aspirations in the New Year 2023!

—Diego Cuartas

What Kind of Following?

Following is a very common aspect of life these days. We follow sports, authors, preachers, health experts, house flippers, stores, political figures, scholars, comedians, worship bands, pet fans, bloggers, friends, and the list goes on. Not only do we follow, but some of us may even have followers! The truth of the matter is that when it comes to following in our day there is hardly any effort or sacrifice involved in doing so. In some cases, following involves a few clicks, a few minutes of browsing through our mobile device or in some more extreme cases it involves dedicating a bit of extra time to read or listen to that podcast.

So, how are we doing in our day when it comes to following Jesus?

My wife and I had a chance recently to watch episodes 1 & 2 of The Chosen Season 3 series. It was fantastic, at least from our perspective. We appreciated the fact that the directors of the series made it a point to highlight the sacrifice involved in following Jesus, at least from what they are portraying of the Gospels’ accounts. The episodes really bring out the cost involved in following Jesus. For some, it was prioritizing their new master over their spouse. For others, following represented the forsaking of an existing vocation or career. For others, it meant facing the very same dangers they were seeking to flee from. For someone like Matthew, the tax collector, it meant relating to the people who hated or rejected him—and by the same token those he had in some cases extorted. For all of them, it meant becoming part of a community they would not choose for themselves! And let’s not forget John the Baptist. Preparing the way for Jesus cost him his own head!

So, my head is spinning just thinking about it. Would you agree that most of what we call following Jesus today is couched in a very safe, comfortable, and low-sacrifice manner? 

I need to wrestle with this as much as you probably do too. 

If anything, this short blog is intended to invite you to reflect on how you would describe your following of Jesus today. Is your following of Jesus guided by attitudes and choices that are safe? Is it guided by comfort? Does comfort tend to set the limits to your faith? Is your following resistant to or void of sacrifices? 

May I suggest that if we don’t pay attention to the kind of following we are doing or pursuing, we may end up living a Christianity where our following is nothing else than an attempt to re-design a Savior and Lord who is domesticated? A Savior and Lord according to our image. And perhaps a Savior and Lord we follow not according to a faith that responds to His revelation but more according to our interpretation, desires, and fears.

May God’s Spirit help us rethink our following of Jesus wherever needed! And may we celebrate the places in our lives where by God’s grace we are following Him with self-abandonment and in true faith! 

—Diego Cuartas

We Do Not Know What To Pray For As We Ought To

Paul himself admitted to this deficiency (Romans 8:26). This is a sobering truth we must grapple with if we are going to mature in our understanding of prayer. 

I was encouraged to meditate and study this passage after listening to Andrew Murray’s seventh chapter of his book The Spiritual Life. In this chapter Murray emphasizes the fact that it takes humility to recognize that while we pray for many things, we don’t know how to pray what we need most.

This deficiency in the area of prayer is more than human incompetence on our part. How so? The word we translate “weakness” carries also the idea of sickness or illness. Jesus used this word in John 11:4 when speaking of the sickness that had momentarily taken the life of his friend Lazarus. There is a deep condition that renders us sick and weak when it comes to knowing what to pray as we must. 

Do you approach prayer convinced that what you are praying is always what you should pray for? Or how you should pray for that? Furthermore, do you approach prayer convinced that you are praying the good you ought to pray for your life or the life of others?

Oh that Romans 8:26 will be the Word that infuses repentance and humility in our souls!

It is this kind of humility that will open our hearts to the real help the Holy Spirit wants to offer to us when we pray.

— Diego Cuartas

Hope, A Gift We Need to Fan

While hope is fundamentally given to us as a gift, it is for us to work at cultivating it. Thankfully, someone else has been entrusted to empower hope.

I don’t know about you, but there are times when I can muster up an imitation of true hope by fixing my attention or expectation on some experience or reality I think might bring me hope. This is not the kind of hope for which Jesus became human and died. True hope is given to us as a gift. It really is the unavoidable response of a heart that has been reclaimed by Jesus for God. Moreover, it is a permanent hope as the Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside of us. And because this hope is founded on the Trinity, it is a true hope that has a beginning and is able to propel every other kind of hope we can have. It is eternal in nature because it is anchored in our heavenly Father who is described as the “God of hope” (Romans 15:13).

But how do we cultivate or fan hope? In the same passage I just mentioned, there are a couple things that hint to our part. Here is the way the apostle Paul puts it:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. “

According to Paul, hope can abound in our lives. How can this be possible? Simply put: through our believing what God says and being receptive to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Paul emphasizes that a heart that is hospitable and receptive to God’s Word can experience joy and peace and this, combined with the power what works within us, will cause hope to abound. This plan of God is extraordinary and it involves His part and our part!

Paul’s argument brings up some questions: what drives my life? Whose counsel is most influential over my heart? Whose words shape my soul? Whose work do I come under? Whose power and enablement do I lean on? Am I surrendering to the Holy Spirit or have I opted out for a life of commitment? Commitment that substitutes true surrender?

The redemptive work of Christ has obtained many wonderful things, including the reality that God’s children can be the most hopeful human beings the world has ever known. 

How’s your hope these days?

Are you cultivating hope? Does your strategy includes believing what God says and the very presence and work of His Spirit within you? If this is not the case, you may want to consider what kind of hope is really driving your life.

God of Hope, help us to believe you,

Aid us so that we surrender to your Spirit and welcome His work in us.

—Diego Cuartas

The Message of The Resurrected Christ

I am journaling these thoughts on Resurrection Sunday. What would Jesus have said to us if we were there for His resurrection? 

There are several things He said to His disciples. I find it interesting that we often talk about Matthew 28 as a Great Communion passage without leaning on what the gospel of John has to say about it.

Here is what I hear Jesus saying to His disciples, in John 20, back then, and perhaps we can hear Him speak those same things to us today:

“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” (17). I think Jesus wanted His disciples and us grounded in the fact that Jesus’ Father is our Father and Jesus’ God is our God. That in the same way He has access to Him we too can have access to Him.

“Peace be with you!” (19). I believe Jesus wants us to be people marked by peace. This is a peace that is grounded in who He is, not in our circumstances. What kind of peace can someone who laid down His life and raised it back again can possibly give us? Obviously He can give peace in a limitless way!!!

It is interesting to notice that Jesus speaks peace a second time over His disciples, but this time He follows it up with, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (21). The work of Christ at the cross makes possible our reconciliation with the Father. However, by that same work we are thrusted, commissioned, to partner with Jesus in this world to do the kind of ministry He already did on our behalf. 

“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (22-23). Jesus fulfilled the promised He had made before His death that He would give His disciples another counselor, one just like Him! But He also is taking the time to commission His disciples and us to be dispensers of forgiveness. Yes, that is right, we are dispensers of forgiveness. Our world needs agents of forgiveness modeling the mercies of our Savior as we ourselves have been forgiven and given grace. As we are commissioned, we are also given the life, power, and presence of the Holy Spirit to enable us to live out this commissioning. 

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (29). I think Jesus would also say to us today how valuable faith is in His sight. Believing before we see with our eyes is essential to our faith; it is our faith.

Let’s recap:

You have a Father.

I am your source of Peace.

I am sending you into the world.

The Holy Spirit is given to you.

Steward forgiveness to the world.

Believe even when your eyes don’t see.

As I see it in this passage, the impact resurrection has in our lives is pretty signifiant. From being orphans to being adopted; from anxiety to peace; from building our own kingdoms to serving with our King; from living self-dependent to relying on God; from entitlement to being merciful and gracious people; from a humanistic life to a faith-filled life.

Does your Christian faith align with these messages from Jesus? 

Which one of these messages are you finding most difficult to embrace or live out?

In what ways would you like to ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to live out these messages?

May we hear the messages of our Resurrected Jesus!

What Helps You Anchor Your Heart in Hope?

I would venture to say that the number one obstacle to anchor our hearts in hope is our lack of silence. And by this I don't simply mean the absence of noise. What I have in mind is the reduction of noise inside our soul that makes space for us to hear from God.

Before I suggest an exercise that may help you reduce the noise to hear from God so we can anchor our soul in hope, I want to ask you to take a moment to ask yourself: "What makes the most noise inside of you?". We all seem to be prone to some noise that trumps other noises. Here are some examples: fear, doubt, regrets, the pressure of perfection, rejection, hurts, persistent temptations, anger, frustration, a sense of abandonment, and the list goes on. Pick your most noisy noise, find a quiet place, eliminate some noises around you, turn off or silence that phone, and read Psalm 62: 5-12. After taking a few breaths, try this...

1. Lord, I want to give you my silence (pause).

2. I want to hear from you so that I can hope in you (pause).

3. Lord, I need you to save me from _______________ (list the things that are noisy in your soul and that tend to demand your attention or influence your actions).

4. Take time to "pour out your heart" before the Lord. (don't rush it)

5. Admit to God what you have been trusting in to make your life work (let the Holy Spirit reveal things to you).

6. Acknowledge and reflect on the two most wonderful realities we can experience in God as humans: He is all powerful and his "hesed" (loving kindness) is always toward us.

7. Finish this exercise affirming your heart in hope: "If God is all powerful and His loving kindness is always toward me, I can rest/hope in Him regarding ________________" (fill in the blank!).

To finish, I want to encourage you with this thought. God is neither a teddy bear nor a tyrant. A God who is only loving but lacks power is a teddy bear. A God who is all powerful but lacks loving kindness is dangerous. Good news: our God is both "all powerful" and "loving" at the same time. He has the power to do what is loving toward us and, He is loving in all He does!

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

In Refreshing Others, We End Up Refreshed!

“The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed” Proverbs 11:25.

What a promise we find in the wisdom shared by King Solomon!

As we position ourselves to be generous and approach others with a desire and intention to refresh them, what ends up happening is that we ourselves end up refreshed.
Nonetheless, we are not always in a position to refresh others. Sometimes we are the ones in need of refreshment. Sometimes it is emotional, physical, or spiritual refreshment.

In our Christian faith we find a principle: we need to receive before we can give. So we need to be refreshed before we can offer refreshment to others.

So how do we receive refreshment? I can think of two specific ways we can receive refreshment:

First, we need to receive refreshment from God. When we make space in our lives to welcome God’s thoughts and His unconditional love we are refreshed. King David captured this reality when he said, "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." (Psalm 63:3).

Second, we receive refreshment as we refresh each other. When we consider the interests of each other we open the door to refresh one another. When we listen well to each other we welcome refreshment and offer refreshment. When we take time to be present with each other we bless others (Phil 2:3-8).

So today I encourage you to ask yourself two questions:
Am I being refreshed?
How can I offer refreshment to others?

Because by nature Jesus offers refreshment through His Spirit, this is how He would want us to live. Furthermore, He is eager to supply what we need so that we can share it with others.

Be sure to stay refreshed so that you can refresh others.

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

Suffering Sucks, But The Curse Will Be Broken!

So often we live under the illusion that things are fine. Then the presence of suffering reminds us that things are broken–that the whole creation is under a curse. So what or who do we turn to?

I like how John Piper speaks of two tyrants that exist in this world: suffering and pleasure. When the tyranny of suffering is present, we often subject ourselves to the tyranny of pleasures as a way to escape or numb our pains. But we end up in the same place, living under an illusion that is deceptive in nature.

Yes, suffering sucks. I think of a husband who awaits for the recovery of his wife who is under the tyranny of Covid-19. That husband and his wife are not just statistics–they have been my friends for more than 20 years. As I pray for them, I wrestle with my own longings for them. And as I do, I am faced with more places where suffering makes its constant appearances every day.

But pleasure does not hold the real promises I am looking for. Nor can pleasures deliver what they so colorfully promise. I know this because I have tried it before only to find myself living in the futility of such an illusion.

So today, I am turning to Romans 8:18-25 to seek clarity. I don’t want to live under illusions but under realistic, truthful hope.

Here is the perspective the Apostle Paul offers us: (I invite you to read the following paragraph and invite the Spirit of the Living God to deposit in your soul the truth and promises that can awake real hope).

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Here is what I glean as I read this passage:

• It’s hard to believe, but the best is yet to come.

• Suffering is part of the freedom package.

• The curse the world is under is deeper and more tragic than my personal discomforts or

  disappointments. We are in bondage!

• Complete freedom from bondage is under way.

• We the children of God are at the center of God’s redemptive work.

• Feeling fine or numb about the current decay of our world is both inconsistent with reality and it misses the hope to which we have been called.

• We are saved in hope.

• Hope motivates and generates faith-filled patience.

  May the God of Hope speak to you too!

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

Have You Considered Paul’s Account of Jesus’ Birth?

I have to admit the question caught my attention, and I figured I would share the answer with you. The answer is not mine. Allow me to introduce you to Scotty Smith, from the Gospel Coalition. I hope his short blog will inspire you to think about Philippians 2:5-11 in a new way, at Christmas and thereafter. To read please click here.

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

Raw Thoughts for the Holidays

I am realizing how much my family of origin lacked good, wholesome Christmas traditions, and one of the dysfunctions such dynamic has left me with is my struggle with “expectations” around the holidays. In the middle of my struggle I am welcoming the Spirit of God to speak to me so that I can honor Jesus through my thoughts, through my actions, and through my treasuring. 

Why do expectations tend to “ruin” the holidays for me? Because in a way expectations create certain realities I must conform to—at least that is a message I have often lived under for many years. Expectations often rob me from the opportunity to exercise both the freedom of the soul and the freedom that comes by living under the influence of the Spirit of God.

There are many things I enjoy about the holidays. The special foods, the emphasis on giving, the unifying spirit of a particular season, the decorations, the spiritual emphasis each holiday may afford, the thoughtfulness shared among human beings…..and yet, the expectation that all of this needs to happen in a few days or a day does not free me up to find unconventional ways to care, to give, to love, to rejoice.

Perhaps it is just me. How about you? What do you like about the holidays? What don’t you like about them? Feel free to use the comment box and share your own thoughts. What circumstances are currently overshadowing your holidays?

I am thankful that in the midst of my struggle God has already provided me with a verse from the book of Ecclesiastes that serves me as an orienting truth. Here is what King Solomon said in chapter 7 verse 14:

Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life. (New Living Translation)

You may be wondering what do holidays have to do with King Solomon’s words? I think a lot. It seems to me that the message is that God allows both prosperity (fulfilled expectations) and adversity (unfulfilled expectations) as a way of keeping us anchored in the right place—Him! I find it interesting that both prosperity and adversity can be a fertile environment for temptation. When things go well I may be tempted to treasure something other than God. When things are hard I may be tempted to treasure something other than God to bring about the realities I may be longing for. 

Prosperity and adversity are there to help us center our hearts on God rather than on a given circumstance.  

Are your expectations being met these holidays? Are holiday expectations getting in the way of other expectations you may have—like in my case? Let’s make sure we don’t put our hope in our circumstances but in God.

What perspective is God offering you around your personal struggles with the holidays? Please share!

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

Peace. Tribulation. Victory.

As kids we learned that heat, oxygen, and fuel generate fire—so it’s always a good idea not to mix the three. Peace, tribulation, and victory, together in the same sentence? Who our how can these three reconcile?

I am glad you asked.

Humanly speaking, tribulation is not a source of peace, and most often we don’t feel victorious in the midst of hard times. However, when we invite Jesus into our circumstances, He has something to say regarding the interaction of these three realities.

In the gospel of John, Jesus said: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (16:33).

Noticed that we can move from three nouns to three certainties:

• Jesus will provide peace.

• We will have tribulation.

• Jesus has already overcome.

One of the ways Jesus provides peace is by orienting His disciples ahead of time. At the beginning of verse 33 Jesus states the reason for which He has said certain things to His followers...that you may have peace. The revelation Jesus offers us in His Word is not only intended to be a provision for the present time but also peace for the future times. We may do well in paying attention to Jesus’ declarations of Himself and what h\He says He will do because those declarations become peaceful orientation in moments of tribulation.

Another thing Jesus provides ahead of time is orientation about suffering. He does let us know ahead of time that suffering is coming our way so that we are not surprised or crashed under it. We will feel the weight of suffering, but it should not surprise us.

Lastly, Jesus guarantees that He has already overcome every aspect of human existence in this world. Furthermore, He has overcome the cosmos. 

In light of tribulation, we can have peace by receiving Jesus’ orientation ahead of time, but He also provides real-time help because He is an overcomer and knows how to grant victories within the cosmos.

Are you in trouble or hardship? 

Lean on the Savior, go back to the orientation He offered through the gospels. And mostly, lean on His help. He is an overcomer.

Jesus may not remove tribulation from our lives, but He knows how to give peace and victory!

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

How Well Are We Doing At Seeing Others?

As our Lead Pastor has been encouraging us to “see other people” and grow in the art of doing so, I am motivated to share with you some interesting facts and positive practices we can consider in order to grow in this art. When Covid-19 broke out in NJ last year and we ended up in lockdown, I was introduced to Zach Mercurio, a motivational speaker whose aim is to help people and leaders regain their purposeful living. Today, I want to share with you his article, which I hope will help you grow in the art of “seeing others”. Click here to read more.

—Diego Cuartas

How Do We Trash A Conversation?

I’ve had this blog parked for quite some time hoping to use it on a week when I would be short of time to write my own. I want to recommend it to you this week because I can see myself in this blog composed by Ed Welch at CCEF. In his blog, Ed helps us see what things we tend to do in conversations that often are not conducive to communication. He refers to them as the things we do to “trash” a conversation. I hope you find it helpful. To read the blog click here.

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

Tracing Back the Source of Peace

Nothing makes us more aware of our need of peace than intense turmoil. Your high school child dies in a party shooting. Your spouse dies suddenly. A family member attacks your opinions or your faith. You transition from one job or community to another location. You get married but don’t know how financial needs will be met after the honeymoon. You find out your spouse has cancer. Some destructive secrets come to the light. You have a miscarriage for 4th time. Believe it or not, these are situations I have come into contact recently and I could add a few more. Chaos is real, and I am sure you can fill in the blank here with a few of your own difficult experiences.

So I was looking for peace this past week and considering any truth God would offer to me in my search for some peace. God gently led me to Psalm 119:165:

“Great peace have those who love your law;

    nothing can make them stumble.”

As I reflected on this verse, I saw that tracing peace to its source begins with inclining our hearts toward the instructions God gives us. Furthermore, the kind of consideration we give to His instructions is essential to our experience of peace. The author of this Psalm clarifies that it is not just knowing what God says but loving what God says. What we see here is both a relationship to truth and a relationship to a Person, God. To disconnect our love for God and lean only on His truth would leave us vulnerable. God’s revelation is closely connected to His character, and as we know God and experience Him personally we then develop this deep love for His truth, His instructions.

Peace has another element. At least in this verse, we are promised that as we love God’s instructions we will be kept from stumbling. Notice that the verse does not guarantee that we won’t be shaken. The shaking will come, but we will not be allowed to stumble. Oh, this brings so much comfort to my soul. I hope you find comfort and hope in knowing that God loves us through His instructions and finds a way to keep us from stumbling.

What turmoil are you experiencing in these days?

What kind of shaking are you facing?

Where are you seeking your peace?

Great peace. Great peace! Great peace is what God offers to us as we allow our love to be anchored in His instructions.

Peace to you.

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

Our Present Endurance Has A Source!

One of my favorite parts in hero movies is when the hero seems just about to be defeated or destroyed by the bad guys and he or she somehow manages to endure and give the last push that will save the day. Sometimes it is a memory or a message that was spoken over them that stirs up the courage or the strength to do the final heroic act. Something similar happens in the life of Jesus. In Hebrews 12:2, we are exhorted to live "...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Here we see that Jesus endured the suffering of the Cross because He called to memory the anticipation of certain joys. Jesus is both our example of endurance and the provider of endurance.

How did Jesus endure? He endured in the present because a future joy was motivating His actions. God the Father had set future joys that were certain and secured for Jesus. As Jesus focused on those future joys, He then was able to endure, to put Himself under certain realities, even to the extent of despising the shame involved in His acts of endurance. We see in Jesus a person willing to exchange pleasures or relief from suffering for suffering itself. And the suffering He was willing to embrace was the kind an unrighteous person would have to suffer, yet He was found with no sin. Here are two examples of the joys set before Jesus:

1. They joy of being glorified by the Father Himself: "Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ (John 8:54).

2. The joy of presenting many sons to the glory of God: "For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering." (Hebrews 2:10).

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

We Are All Farmers

As I come out of our College of Prayer weekend, the question that stands out to me is simple: what do I need to empty myself of so that I can be filled with the life the Holy Spirit desires for me? Then God affirmed the question as I heard pastor Rick Warren speak about planting seeds and he poses the question: “What seeds do you want to plant this Spring?” 

Somewhere between emptying our lives of things that hinder our spiritual life and being filled with the things the Holy Spirit can only provide is our active farming. We are constantly planting some kind of seed—good seeds and bad seeds. Not only that, as Rick Warren reminded me through his message, other people plant seeds in my life whether or not I am aware of that.

Seeds are powerful! They always generate a harvest of some kind. So the question for us today is what kind of seeds am I planting? I confess I never thought of springtime as an opportunity to consider this question, but it makes sense from an agricultural point of view. You can think of it in terms of plating seeds in your life or planting seeds in other people’s lives. And the question applies to every aspect of life:

• Health

• Relationships

• Finances

• Integrity

• Career

• Spirituality

• Parenting

• Singleness

• Service

• Etc.

I appreciate Rick Warren’s thought as he emphasizes the importance of the seeds we plant: “Sow a thought you reap an action; sow an action you reap a habit; sow a habit you reap character; sow character you reap a destiny.”

So before you jump to follow every desire that drives your soul this Spring, give time to consider this significant question.

Now it is important to consider the extent of our planting. The way the apostle Paul puts it: “Now I say this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows generously will also reap generously.” (2 Co 9:6). So the second question we need to ask is this: Am I sowing sparingly or generously? How I plant determines the level of harvest I will reap.

There is no harvest unless a seed is planted. And the extent of the harvest I reap is determined by whether or not my planting is generous or sparing.

Wouldn’t it be great to take some time and ask God during these days to lead us as we consider these two questions:

What kind of seeds am I planting?

Am I planting generously or sparingly?

May God help us become better and more generous farmers so that our lives and the lives of others can be filled with the things our Father (the vinedresser, John 15) longs to fill us with!

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

Do Not Neglect Such Great Salvation!

We all have heard at some point or another phrases like these: “Do not take it lightly”, “Make the most of it”, “Do not take it for granted” when referring to a vacation, a marriage, the job, a career, a relationship, a new opportunity or an experience.

But what do we hear in these verses? “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” Or “ How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1, 3). 

During my recent birthday I was meditating on these statements and the context where they are found. As I did that I was filled with gratitude and worship toward God. Something about recognizing that God created me not only to experience the universe He has made, but within that He wants me to experience salvation! He made me so that I could know Him and be enthralled with every aspect of who He is.

But I did paused for a moment and asked myself, “Why the exhortation to not neglect this great salvation?” Here is what I found. This great salvation has been presented by the Trinity—God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are involved in this great salvation.

The Son proclaimed the message to human beings and that message, we are told, has been attested by those who heard it (2:3b)

The Father bore witness through signs, wonders, and miracles (2:4a).

The Holy Spirit made distributions of gifts and supernatural manifestations according to His will (2:4b).

We can’t ignore the fact that this salvation we have experienced by grace is a big deal. It is glorious in nature. Everyone in the Trinity has participated to make a point: salvation is the work of God!

To seal this reality, we are given a sobering reference point to consider. Read if for yourself and take a moment to think about it:

“For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:2-3).

The punch line: if the message given by angels was “reliable,” how much more will the message given by Jesus in the flesh and substantiated and confirmed by the Father and the Holy Spirit demand our whole hearted attention and devotion? The stakes will be higher for us who have received this great salvation by the administration of the Holy Spirit. 

Because God’s salvation is magnificent and glorious, we should consider any ounce of neglect on our part the most absurd choice we could ever make. 

Lent is a season to marvel at this reality. If you need more pointers, I encourage you to read the rest of the book.

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

What is Repentance?

In a week when we are focusing on the theme of repentance, as part of our 40-Days of Prayer emphasis, it is important that we expand our understanding of what it means to repent. Is repentance a feeling? Is it an attitude? Is repentance saying no to something that has enslaved us? I want to share with you this week three quotes Josh Etter, from desiringGod ministries, shares in a short post he released a few years back. I encourage you to take your time to read each quote and ask the Holy Spirit to show you how He may want to adjust your understanding of repentance. Click here to access the three quotes.

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

Weary of 2020? What to do?

This week I want to invite you to consider Clarissa Moll’s blog on this relevant question. She posted a blog yesterday in the Gospel Coalition website. In answering the question of what to do if you are weary and exhausted coming to the end of the year 2020, Clarissa invites us to do more than get good rest, though that might be necessary. Her insight was refreshing to me, and I hope it is to you as well. To read her blog click here.

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.