Healing The Wounds

"I have loved you everlastingly, so I have kept for you my mercy. I will restore you again, and you shall be rebuilt." - Jeremiah 30:3-4

Around my junior year of college, I was on vacation in the Dominican Republic visiting my family. My parents were playing a video of my 5th birthday party and I seemed so happy. I actually remember some of it. The next day I was flying back to New York and my dad asked to speak to me privately before I left. He told me he was filled with sadness as he watched the video because he wasn't with me in any of the scenes. During that time my father wasn't a follower of Jesus and was more concerned with his own life and lifestyle than he was with his family. He told me he was sorry because he realized instantly that I grew up with an emptiness in my heart since he wasn't really there for me when I was little. I've had him always with me since he was called by Christ when I was about 11 years old, but until he said that to me that day, I never realized I had that pain and loneliness inside of me. As he spoke to me, so tenderly, asking for my forgiveness, I broke down in tears uncontrollably. It was like someone opened a faucet and my heart hurt so badly. I never knew I carried all of that so deeply inside since I was a little girl. We cried together and prayed together asking God to heal all those wounds, all the results of the sins people carry and pass on to someone else.

We all suffer from so many wounds. You have those you know about that are fresh, you have those older ones that have left scars, but you might even have those that you suffered so long ago that your mind has suppressed them. So many people even carry around the sorrows their mothers endured while they were in the womb and don't understand why they find themselves sad and lonely at times. This is why we need so much of Jesus, because He is the cure for all wounds, no matter the cause and no matter how deep. The Lord loves us and wants to see us healed. He has promised to not only heal, but to restore and rebuild us in His Word, and we need to seek that healing. And in His great mercy, He is even capable of taking us back to the beginning to undo those things that have scarred us so deeply. For King Hezekiah, God actually put back the hands of time to restore his life… so what can't your God, who loves you so much, do for you if you ask?

Today's Prayer:
My God, like a loving father, You pick us up when we're hurt and cure our wounds. I feel like a child in Your arms who is vulnerable and needs so much of You to make me better. Please see my pain and be my only joy and consolation. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

Return to God

"I, Yahweh, have not changed in anything; just as you, children of Jacob, are always the same. Since the day of your ancestors you stray from my ordinances and do not practice them. Return to me and I will return to you, says Yahweh of hosts. But you ask: 'Why do we have to return?' Can a man deceive God? Yet you cheat on me and moreover ask: 'How did we cheat you?'" - Malachi 3:6-8

The thing that always happens when we forget God in our lives, or don't give Him the place He deserves is that we start to think, "what do I need God for? I'm fine. I'm having fun. I don't need that right now." And you can think that all you want but the truth, whether you accept it or not, is that you were created for one purpose - to love and serve God. When you stray from Him and occupy yourself with other things, examine yourself, you are missing something. Something inside is empty, something inside feels hurt. Often times, that empty feeling inside us leads us to go further from God because we seek superficial things to fill us, thinking we'll be happy with certain things. What you don't know is that our God is a jealous God. He loves us and wants us for Himself so when He sees that we stray, He'll let us go, but His grace won't follow us as we step into sin because His goodness is not compatible with evil. Yet, He'll always put someone or something in our paths to remind us of Him and of His love.

Like the verse says, "why do we have to return?" we ask ourselves and we ask others who try to guide us? Well, if for no other reason, then return to stop the hurt, to stop the pain. To stop those insecurities that can depress us or those problems in life that seem like huge mountains ready to devour us. And what happens when we return? God is there with open arms. When we return, God will tell us like He said to the prophet Jeremiah, "When you call on me I will listen. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will let myself be found by you (Jer 29:12-14)." This is all the reason I need.

Today's Prayer:
Loving and merciful God, I thank You that Your goodness is much greater than my sin. I thank You because You overlook my shortcomings as long as my heart is in the right place. Help me to never ever stray. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Led Into Exile

"And Yahweh says, 'When you call on me, I will listen. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.' For Yahweh says, 'I will gather you from among all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you and bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.'" - Jeremiah 29:12-14

Sometimes we get so lost when it comes to God. It feels as though we're abandoned by Him and its such a lonely and scary feeling. This is being in exile and sometimes the Lord sends us off into a place where we feel this abandonment so that we can become stronger in that place; we can learn to rise above our own problems and fears. But it is the Lord who sends us there, sometimes because He wants to strengthen our faith and other times because we need to be corrected and pass through trials to be cleansed and purified. Although we are in this foreign place in our lives, God always knows where we are. He makes sure we absorb what we need from there and then He gathers us back into His love. But here's the key to this - "when you search for me with all your heart." If you haven't taken the time to develop your faith to the point that you learn to stand on your own two feet, you will not be drawn back from exile because you are not searching with all your heart. If you have been cast off into exile because you have committed a grave sin before the eyes of the Lord and you do not recognize that sin and repent, you will not be drawn back from exile since you have yet to search with all of your heart. Searching with all of your heart is to put the Lord in first place. You're in exile - how much longer until you realize that you cannot make it on your own? Searching with all of your heart is to do away with the doubting, the selfishness, and the control of your will and surrendering it to God…only then are you really, truly searching. Don't lie to yourself and say that you do look for God, but in the back of your mind want an excuse to validate your own will and your own doubts. It doesn't work that way! If you are in exile, if you feel abandoned, you need to recognize that your one and only true source of life is the Lord. Look for that source and He will let Himself be found by you. He can only work the miracles and bring you the blessings when you let go of what's holding you back. He will listen to you. You will have God's ear and compassion when you just give up the control to Him. Just by seeking Him in this way, He brings you close again to where He is. Your fears, pains, worries, loneliness…this all disappears when He gathers you back from where He sent you. The reward is to be that close to your creator who seeks to bless you and guide you through all the scary parts of life and all the good as well.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I seek to surrender myself to You. Gather me back Lord, and bring me close to where I can be guided and led by You. Grant me the blessing of letting Yourself be found by me and having Your ear when I cry out to You. Let this always be the desire on my heart. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Trust in Humans

"This is what the Lord says, 'Cursed be the man who trusts in human beings and depends on a mortal for his life, while his heart turns away from the Lord.'" - Jeremiah 17:5

One of the most emotionally painful things anyone could go through is betrayal. It's called betrayal because it's a deception we receive from someone we love with all our hearts and someone we confided in. God knows this pain and knows how damaging it is. The effects of a betrayal stay for a life time causing pain, hate, and distrust in the person betrayed and guilt in the one who betrayed. You see, God created us and knows how weak our human nature is. Like the verse says, we're mortals, we're all flawed creations and intentionally or unintentionally we will get hurt and we will hurt others. That's why we need to learn to never, ever trust someone with all of our heart except for God because only He is eternal and only His love is unconditional. You cannot put all your faith and trust into your wife, husband, parents, siblings, best friends, no one. As long as we're mortal and human, we will hurt others. We need to accept this and not be surprised when we're dealt hurt from the people we love since at one point or another they will disappoint us. That's not to say we shouldn't love others and be close to others, but we should never trust anyone but the Lord.…that way, we are not devastated when the blows come. And honestly, the only way to do this is to put your trust in God and pray to Him all the time. God is a rock we should depend on. He will move our hearts to where they need to be so that when the pain comes, we won't be as affected by it as when we solely loved and trusted in a flawed human being.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, guard my heart from all betrayal and pain caused by others. Whether they mean it or not, the lies and deceptions they plotted have hurt me and caused a deep pain in my heart. Let me only trust in You my Lord so that I will never be let down again. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Be The Belt Around God's Waist

""For just as a belt is to be bound around a man's waist so was the people of Israel and Judah bound to me - it is the Lord who speaks - to be my people, my glory and my honor; but they would not listen.'" - Jeremiah 13:11

I have to admit that I feel so sad right now. As you know, I've been keeping all of these emails in a blog (http://tres-lumineux.blogspot.com/) and today I decided to do some research into videos and news about God, Christianity, or even some cool websites to blog about. My search results were pretty sad. Then I went into the social bookmarking site del.icio.us and searched for words like God, Jesus and Christianity and I found that some of the top sites bookmarked were articles talking about how God doesn't exist, or sites making fun of Christianity.

So many people ask what's wrong with the world when the problem is that mostly all have abandoned God. Nobody listens. Religion is now whatever people want it to be. They justify their own desires and then believe in whatever philosophy backs up their own selfishness. Then there are those that see the poverty, violence and hurt in the world and ask "Why would God allow this!". Well, in all honesty, a person who asks this kind of question does NOT know God or they'd know that our Creator is a God of love. Just like the belt Jeremiah had around his waist, God told him He wanted us to be, so close to Him. God is a nurturer, all goodness comes from Him and He wanted to hold us right there with Him. We're the ones that stray and abandon Him, and for what? To go out to parties? To go out and get drunk? To spend a whole day in front of a video game? Or spend hours gossiping about people? Or holding on to hate in our hearts that propagate even more sin? What do you have left after you've done these things? Emptiness. This is what's wrong with the world. So much pain exists because nobody invites God in anymore and the only thing He does not do is interfere with our free will. We do this to ourselves. Think about this - when was the last time you prayed? And when you prayed, what did you pray for? Did you only pray because you needed something? Did you pray in a way to test God to see IF He's really there? Or did you pray because you recognize He is your creator and you need Him in your life? We should always ask Him for things, but more importantly, instead of just asking and asking when we're in a bind, we need to find a way to get back around His waist.

Today's Prayer:
My Lord, forgive me and forgive others for our lack of love and attention for You. I am so sorry for having strayed but please have mercy on us and help us to win back Your favor and be Your people. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

You Were Set Apart

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart." - Jeremiah 1:5

You need to know that God loves you. You are no accident, you are a creation and child of the Most High. In His infinite goodness, He foresaw the need for you and, taking His time, He thought about you and designed you. You to Him are more precious than His sunsets, His mountains, His flowers. In His loving care He designed plans for you; look at how He clearly says He knew you even before He took His time, day by day, during 9 months, to form you in your mother's womb. This is no ordinary love because God does not make ordinary things, especially things He takes so much care in creating.

How then could you ever feel abandoned by Him? How then can you ever feel a deep sadness? It is normal to have a bad day but when sadness invades you, or worry, or anxiety, it is because you have lost sight of Him who loves you so much. Listen to how He just told you above that He has set you apart. Although your world seems to crumble around you and troubles never leave you, He set you apart so that you may have a richer life than the life this world offers. He knows this burden can be so heavy to carry and that's why He has given you these words today. Remember always, that your life is in His hands. Trust in Him.

Today's Prayer:
My Lord, I am not worthy of all the care and thought you have put into me and my life. I have been so ungrateful to you, forgetting all that you have done for me. Help me to always remember your love for me so that no sadness, worry, depression, sets into my heart. Let there only be room for You my God. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

My Plans For You

"For I know what my plans for you are, plans to save you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and to give you hope."
-Jeremiah 29:11


This has been my favorite verse in the bible since I was a senior in High School. I was living in DR at the time and wasn't sure what college to go to or what to study. I felt so lost and the idea of deciding what my future would be in a matter of months was overwhelming. Then one day, one of my teachers shared this verse with me and I felt alive again. As I read it, I felt God breathe new hope into my soul and He made me feel that everything will be ok for He has my entire life in His hands. He loves me so much that He's working it all out and all I need to do is trust in Him.


I must admit that it's not easy. Throughout my college experience and up until now, I've gone through many ups and many downs. There are times I'm not sure where I'm headed and wonder if I've veered off course, but I always go back to Jeremiah 29:11 and am able to see the hand of God in the last 7 years of my life. He has kept His promises and looking back I've seen the way He's guided me to where I am now. In Jesus' name I am hopeful and anxious to see what wonderful things He has prepared for me and I pray that you feel the same.


Today's Prayer:


Thank you Lord Jesus for loving me so much as to design the entire plan for my life with love and care. Help me to stay hopeful and trust in You even when I do not understand the path my life has taken. I ask this in Your name, Amen.