Christ In Me

"In face of the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink. So he cried out, "Lord, save me!" - Matthew 14:30

In Galatians 2:19, Saint Paul writes, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ in me." I can't explain to you how I wish I could see myself beaten down and put against every type of adversity, like Paul, and still be able to stay in the peace of the Lord, saying that I have died to my fears, my worries, my insecurities, and my life is lived for and by Christ. Instead, at times I find myself more broken than before, lonelier that before. At times I feel so much like Peter. I want to walk on water towards Jesus, but what I end up doing is perceiving Him to be further away than He is. I only see the huge waves and the rough winds pushing me down, wearing me down. And it hurts that my faith is not as strong as I'd want it to be, or thought it was. Like a lost child, I find myself crying out to God, just like Peter did for the Lord to help my poor little faith. Yet, although I have such a long way to go, I have to remember that I'm on a journey with a beginning, an end, and sooo many bumps and rough patches on the way…it doesn't mean I'll never get there though. On the water, I'm feeling so lost, so helpless and I can't see God because I'm too focused on my fear and the waves around me. I long to be like Paul, beaten, persecuted, hated, and yet so full of joy, full of peace, not alone but in the company of Jesus Christ. No matter what came at him, Paul rejoiced and God made His presence known in Him. But my own faith is weak and I pray that Jesus hears my cry for help and brings me to walk on the water with Him to a place where the storm within me is quiet and I can also say that it is not I who live, but Christ in me.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, please don't take into account my lack of faith, but the pain it causes me to know that I am not as strong as I thought and that I have let You down. Jesus, just as You raised up Peter, raise me up. Transform me on my journey to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and have You live in me. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Blocking The Lord

"Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!'" - Luke 5:8

There are times when people get into situations in which they don't want or see a need for God's love and forgiveness. People become so wrapped up in a sin that they block anything coming from God. Part of it comes from not being prepared to give up the sin that is keeping us from God and another part of it is not feeling worthy of having God even pay attention to us.

In Luke chapter 5, Jesus was preaching by the water when he sees a few boats far out. The boats come back empty, no fish, no food to feed their families. Upon seeing this, Jesus tells the fishermen, led by Peter, to go out again. Peter listens and comes back with so many fish that his nets were about to break and his boat was about to sink. Upon seeing this miracle, this gesture of love Jesus showed him, Peter fell on his knees and basically told Jesus he was too sinful. He wasn't worthy and that maybe Jesus had the wrong person. Does this sound familiar? Do you ever hear the call of Jesus and maybe feel like it just isn't your time and that you've made too many mistakes to respond to that call? Jesus makes no mistakes and when you hear His voice or feel His presence in your heart, it is for you, no matter the sins you carry on your hands. Yes, you are sinful, just like Peter was when he was called… but do not block the Lord's help when it arrives at your door. Listen to the voice and allow good to enter your life… don't deny that for yourself.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, help me to forgive myself of my own sins so that I don't block You from entering my life. If You forgive and are my Lord, then help me to feel worthy of Your love and Your call. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Miracles Take Unity

"They were faithful to the teaching of the apostles, the common life of sharing, the breaking of the bread and the prayers. A holy fear came upon all the people, for many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." - Acts 2:42-43

Throughout the bible we read amazing stories and amazing miracles performed by the prophets. Today, many wonder why these things are not seen anymore. It says in Acts that when Paul and Peter walked by the sick, even their shadows falling upon people made them well. It's hard to believe because we seldom see these huge manifestations from God happen before our eyes. It wasn't that God cared about them more and abandoned us, it's that we don't live in the same way the apostles and the early believers did. We feel independent from everyone, even our own families. Nobody thinks they need anyone. Reread this verse and see that miracles and signs were abundant because the believers lived in community, they shared with one another, they prayed together constantly and they remained faithful and obedient to the Word of God. They encouraged one another letting the Holy Spirit thrive and work through them. That's hard to do on an individual level, how much more on a bigger level? If you want to see these miracles happen in your own life, you need to become one with God. If you want to see these miracles happen in your own community, you need to become one with God and your peers supporting unity, supporting the will of God.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, we moved away from the values of Your early church. Bring us together as a family so that we can be united in serving You and carrying out our faith. Let the Holy Spirit works through us so that all can see Your wonders. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Peter and Judas

Peter:
"And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, 'Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.' And he went away weeping bitterly." - Matthew 26:76

Judas:
'"When Judas, the traitor, realized that Jesus had been condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, 'I have sinned by betraying an innocent man to death.' So, throwing the money into the Temple, he went away and hanged himself." - Matthew 27:3-4, 5

Judas has gone down in history as the man who betrayed Jesus, when in reality, he went back to the temple and gave the money back while Peter went on to deny he even knew Jesus three times, so who is the bigger traitor? Looking at the passage and comparing these two people, I would say that the crime was not the betrayal, but the sin was not asking for forgiveness. Both of these figures denied the man they followed, both of them regretted it whole heartedly, but only one went off to repent while the other took the easy way out by taking their own life. Since we are all sinners, we need to ask ourselves if we are Peter or if we are Judas. When you sin, do you hold it inside of you until you start to feel dirty and even grow to hate yourself like Judas did, or do you practice repentance, do penance and emerge stronger as Peter did? Make no mistake about it, the ultimate sin was not the betrayal, so if Judas would have repented, turned back to Jesus and asked for forgiveness, he would have been one of the original leaders of the church, just as Saint Peter is today. Peter spent his life struggling to calm his anger, fight grudges and his own imperfections, but his redeeming quality was that he took his sin and purged it, always seeking God even when he fell time after time. He went away to strengthen himself, get himself on his feet and he came back to lead the church into Pentecost. Judas let the sin and the self-hate fester within him so that no forgiveness was possible and his life was lost forever.

You, like all the sons of Adam and Eve, are a sinner, but are redeemable. You can be made clean, but you have two paths in front of you, two solutions for your sin. Do you take the path of Peter, or do you take the path of Judas?

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of Your body and blood. Through it, You grant forgiveness of all of our sins, no matter how evil. Please Lord, let me take full advantage of your redemption so that I may never let my sins eat away at me, but that I may find peace in You to be healed and restored. In Your Name we pray, amen.

And You, Who Do You Say I Am?

"Jesus asked them, 'But you, who do you say I am?' - Matthew 16:15

Every Friday at 2:30 pm I have a conference call with a big client. I report to him on a weekly basis so I have to spend that entire week implementing marketing strategies and preparing myself with the right answers and the right results for him. He's the VP of Marketing for the company so this is a big deal and therefore my work has to be on point. Now, the work that I do is a direct response to this man's title and weight, how much more so should my attention be in serving Jesus Christ? When Jesus asks "who do you say that I am?" we all need to be prepared with an answer. With my client, I know I have to be prepared by Friday, but with God, you never know when the time will come for you to answer that question. And when the time comes to answer it, what will you say? Peter answered Him saying He was the Lord, the Messiah, son of the living God and in order to proclaim that, he needed to back up that answer. If you stand before Jesus right now and you answer, "You are my God, my Lord," do your actions and way of life live up to that answer? By working hard during the week to show my client results, I show my acknowledgement of his position and do my part to deliver for his product. In the same way, if I tell Jesus "You are my Lord," I pray several times a day, I fast, I give alms, I give of myself to others, I work on increasing my love and patience for others, and most importantly, I do His will and try to stay away from sin. If you proclaim Jesus as your Lord and these actions are not part of your day to day life, you are a liar. Instead of proclaiming Him Lord, by their actions, most people see Jesus as someone they don't know too well and don't make time to know. Someone whose will they can ignore as long as everything is comfortable and fun in their own lives. This should never be so! Forget whatever priorities you have today, because the time will come when Jesus asks you directly "who do you say that I am?" and you better be prepared to answer, and back up your response.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to be able to proclaim You as my Lord and savior and rearrange my life to reflect Your love and holiness. Show me what stands in the way of me having You front and center in my life so that I can follow You perfectly. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

An Exercise of Your Faith - Jesus Walks On Water

"And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray." - Matthew 14:23

This message will be different than the rest and not intended to be read quickly, but to be read when you have time to think about it. We all want to be closer to God and have deeper faith and the only way to achieve this is through meditation. Meditation is not easy because our minds get noisy and it's easy to lose focus of what you're trying to reach. I picked a passage that will serve as a great backdrop for a meditation session. God gave us our imaginations and as we begin to create the following images in our minds, He will be there to guide us through and give us the blessings we need to see Him more clearly.

The passage I have chosen is of Jesus walking on water. He had been away at the mountain praying all night and then made His way over to the apostles who were on a boat. Just as Jesus was at the beginning of this passage, alone praying by Himself, so should you be when you do this exercise.

Matthew 14:23-31

"At nightfall, He was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves for the wind was against it.

At daybreak, Jesus came to them walking on the lake. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once Jesus said to them, 'Courage! Don't be afraid! It's me!' Peter answered, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you walking on the water.' Jesus said to him, 'Come.' And Peter got out of the boat, walking on the water to go to Jesus. But, in face of the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink. So he cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying 'Man of little faith, why did you doubt?'"


Now, instead of Peter, it is you sitting on a chilly night on a boat while you wait for Jesus to come to you. The winds have picked up and are pushing against you for what seems like hours, just like the trouble and sorrows in your life that seem endless. Finally, when you thought you couldn't hold on any longer, you see Jesus, radiant in white, coming to you, walking on the water but with His eyes fixed on going to help you in your time of need. Holding on to your faith, but yet still afraid, you call out to the Lord and ask Him to help you get to where He is, and instead of doubting, you want Him to fill you with strength and faith so that you too can walk with Him. Jesus smiles at you, motions with His hands and says, "come." But it's not easy, you try but your problems bring you down. You fall back into the same addictions. Your financial situation brings you down and you can't think about anything else but your own worries and your own fears…and then you take your eyes off of Jesus and start to sink. But when you realize you need His help and despite the storm, you cry out to the Lord to be saved. Lovingly, Jesus is right there to pull you up by your hands and save you. Now He's holding you in His arms and you feel His embrace, His love for you, His care, His mercy, and He looks at you in the eyes and asks you, "why did you doubt?"

You will have your own answer to give to Jesus at this point, but the idea is to close your eyes and envision this, envision Him saving you in this storm and continue the dialogue with Him.

Today's prayer is that you take 20 minutes to practice this exercise in meditation and meet with the Lord who is waiting to save you on the boat and carry you through the storm to where He is.