Be On Your Watch

"Be sober and alert because your enemy the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour." - 1st Peter 5:8

It's funny that Saint Peter describes the devil as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour when we usually fall into temptation left and right without noticing. If we actually saw the devil as a roaring lion, we would run away, wouldn't we? But so many of us run toward him and away from God without giving it a second thought. Peter was right in telling us we need to be sober and alert because the smallest slip on our part sets us on the road to keep on falling. The devil is a very real threat to our souls and he's anxious to make us turn away from God in very subtle ways. Being in the wrong company or even missing our night time prayer just once is enough to give him an edge on us. He takes any opportunity to start telling us that it's ok not to pray, ok to miss church, ok to treat someone with disrespect because they did it to us. He's a liar and in order to keep him far away, we need to be awake to reject all of his lies. Pray whenever you get the inspiration to so that he can't get in the way of your faith and what God is doing in your life. Don't ever let him deceive you, but be on your watch.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I know that my soul is strong but my flesh is weak. Help me to remain strong in You so that I never let my defenses down against the devil. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Compromising On What's Right

"Now the serpent was the most crafty of all the wild creatures that Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God really say: You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" - Genesis 3:1

That serpent really is the craftiest of all the creatures! Eve knew exactly what God had said. She heard perfectly clear what He said and what she should do. And what happened to Eve happens to all of us. We know what's good for us. We know the difference between right and wrong, and we are also smart enough to know what to do in the gray areas. We have enough experience to foresee the repercussions of our actions. But what happens when sin comes before our eyes? At least in my case, things start to get fuzzy. Knowing myself, in Eve's position, once the devil comes to tempt me, I would definitely question myself. For example, if the question would have been, "is this apple red?" and I was being tempted to answer that it wasn't, I would start thinking, "well, it's not technically red… it looks a little yellowish in some areas and a bit burgundy on this side." The point is that we know what the right answer is but if we're weak, and faced with temptation, we find ourselves compromising and rationalizing on what we want the answer to be compared to what we actually know it is. As smart as we think we are, the devil totally blind sides us into believing the opposite, although most times, in our hearts we feel we did wrong.

Think about the areas in your life where you do this. Do you have a problem with alcohol, or do you tell yourself you can control it? Do you need to ask forgiveness over a grudge you're holding, or do you tell yourself that person deserves it? Are you questioning your immoral sexual behavior, or do you tell yourself that everyone is doing it and it's not a big deal? Do you have a real excuse for not attending mass every Sunday, or do you tell yourself you don't need to go to church to worship God? These are the questions you need to ask yourself. I'm sure you already have the answers in your heart. The right answer should leave you at peace with no guilty feelings at all. If you consistently choose to sin, what you need to do is realize that you are compromising on the answer. You're sinning like Eve in the garden. Be strong about what you know God wants from you and act on it!

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, I hear Your voice, I know what is right, but it is so hard for me to actually go through with what is good. Cut through the temptation, make me stronger, and help me to consistently choose the path which leads to You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

What Happens After the Call

"Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil." - Matthew 4:1


My little brothers have this misconception that once you get touched by God it's this one time deal that changes the rest of your life. It can be, but they think that after that, it all gets better, our faith becomes solid and everything is great. There's nothing further from the truth.

The first time Jesus makes an appearance in the gospels as an adult was during His baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. John recognized Him to be the Christ and while baptizing Him, the sky opened up and the voice of God was heard saying that Jesus was His son, His beloved. You have to remember, Jesus was also fully human, so for a human to have experienced something so profound, it had to have really shaken Him up and touched Him. What do you do after such an extraordinary touch from God? I think most people would go off by themselves to pray and try to make sense of what just happened and how they're supposed to respond to God next.

As we can see from this verse above, the Spirit led Jesus into the desert right after His baptism to be tempted by the devil. The desert was where Jesus went to think about what happens next, what He was supposed to do, but it also symbolizes what we all go through as soon as we feel God's presence come into our lives. What happens is that it feels like God withdraws. Like He touched us, but then pulls away. Jesus was also in a symbolic desert. He was alone and it felt like He was stripped away from the protection of God and vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. At this point, we all become vulnerable. We forget the touch we received from God and when the devil comes around to rob us of the experience we had (and he will do this) we are tempted by sins of the flesh, we might want to test God or we become arrogant and think we don't need God and what we felt before wasn't true. And the worst part of it is that this happens and we don't realize it's happening. If these pitfalls were so obvious, none of us would sin. In the desert, when He felt alone and without God, the devil tempted Jesus with sins of the flesh, he tempted Him to show His power if He really was so beloved by God, and he tried to offer Jesus all the powers in the world. As tired and exhausted as Jesus was, He fought back the temptation. How did He do this? Was it because He was God? No, it was because Jesus knew God's promises and God's Word. To each and every attack of the devil, Jesus was able to resist with scripture and faith.

This is why we all need to remain strong in the faith and strong in the Word of God. When we experience a touch from God, there will be moments where we will not perceive the presence of God and we will be tempted and attacked by the devil. All this is necessary so that we grow and become truly powerful in the Lord... so that we are not easily knocked around. But if you are not prepared, on the day of temptation, you will fall. Now is the moment to prepare. Now is the moment to pray and ask for the Lord's protection so that when we are called out into the desert, we can be like Christ and face anything.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You equipped me with all I need to fight the enemy. Now that I have been filled with Your Spirit, prepare me for my dark night and prepare me for battle with the enemy. Lord, cover me with Your blessing so that I may never fall and lose sight of the work You want to do in me. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Is There Someone You Can't Stand?

"Our battle is not against human forces but against the rulers and authorities and their dark powers that govern this world. We are struggling against the spirits and supernatural forces of evil." - Ephesians 6:12

There's this girl at my job that I really can't stand. I could be in a great mood and she walks in, opens her mouth and just gets me in a bad mood. Seriously, I could go on and on about her, but I shouldn't be telling you bad things about her because when I pray to God about how much I can't stand her, I realize I'm the one with the problem. You see, the book of Genesis tells us we were all created in the image of God, so He exists in all of us. How then could I not stand someone who is made in God's image? I can't stand this girl because just as God wants us to love one another, the devil works to put hate in our hearts for others. I see her as annoying but in reality, she hasn't done anything to me. The devil is the one that makes me feel animosity towards her. I'm constantly praying for love and patience to deal with her and do God's will, although every day is a struggle.

This is also the reason we cannot forgive people sometimes. We know we are supposed to forgive because even on the cross Jesus asked God to forgive those that crucified Him, so we must do the same. You see, those that hurt and betray us were tempted by the enemy to take those actions. We already know that person was created in the image of God so without the devil's influence, that person would not have hurt us. And when they hurt us, we cannot forgive and receive healing because the devil makes us hold on to the grudge, blocking God's will to relieve us and free us from the offense. We must open our eyes and realize that our true enemy is one, Satan and his demons, and they're so slick and subtle that they'll make us hate when we shouldn't while justifying that hate in our hearts. Jesus wants us to love as He did, even though He too was betrayed and offended. Forgiving does NOT mean what the person did to us was right, it only means that for God's sake, you are letting go of the hate that won't let you be free and receive love in your heart. So please think about the people in your life that you can't forgive, people that you can't stand and therefore don't treat well, and all others you don't hold in high esteem and remember that it is the will of God for you to love them, and if you refuse, you must know that it is the devil at work in you. As hard as this is to accept, there is no gray area here - you are either being influenced by God or the devil. Choose whose will you want to follow. Trust me, I know this is super hard, but Jesus did say His path was narrow and few will be able to follow it.

I'm taking my journey down that path day by day with my eyes focused on Him, constantly asking for strength and guidance.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, I want to ask You to bless all those that I don't get along with and those that I have grudges against in my heart. I know it is Your will for me to forgive and I know that the devil wants to keep me away from being free of these negative feelings, so please, help me move past this and reject the temptations of the enemy so that I can be perfect and righteous as You are. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

The Honor of Suffering For Him

"For through Christ you have been granted not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for Him." - Phillipians 1:29

Ever since I was little, I used to hear about the martyrs, people that suffered or died for Jesus and I used to feel a little bit of… I guess the word is disappointment that I would never have the chance to suffer in His Name since Christians aren't persecuted anymore. I didn't want to go through any pain, of course, I just wanted to feel worthy of Him. It's now as I'm standing firmer in faith that I see that we all have an opportunity to suffer for Him. I've written to you before about facing trials when we follow God because the devil always wants to take away the joy we have. He wants to rob us of our faith when he sees us growing closer to God. Lately, the enemy has been trying to hurt me in the areas of my life that cause me the most pain. I'm not one to ask God "why" anymore, but when asking Him for strength, I understood that the reason for all the sadness in my life right now is because I am holding on to God and I'm speaking to you about Him everyday, so the devil wants to knock me down, get me depressed so that I have no happiness and no energy to serve the Lord. But then I remembered this verse, not only has Jesus granted that I believe in Him but I also have the honor of suffering for Him because I know that none of what I'm going through would be happening if I wasn't so close to God and if these emails weren't making some kind of impact in your life. Therefore, honestly, I'm honored to go through what I'm going through now because I know I'm doing something right if the enemy is trying to knock me down, and I won't give into the depression that wants to kick in because My God Almighty, My Savior, and My Protector is bigger than anything that can be thrown at me and He loves me and will deliver me from my distress at His perfect time.

Today's Prayer:
Thank You God because although I'm being attacked from all sides, You are there for me to protect me, give me hope, and see me through all my sorrows. I trust in You Lord. In Your hands I put my life. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Expect Trials and Tribulations

"Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded to sift you like grain, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have recovered you shall strengthen your brothers." - Luke 22: 31-32

I have told you before that the devil surrounds us like a hungry lion, attacking us for our downfall. Attacking us so that we lose the grace of God. Many people think that when they are good and follow God, the devil stays away and things are great for us. But by following God, Satan's anger is set on fire and that's when he will really starts to try to bring trouble to us in every area of our life possible. When you follow God, expect the devil to come and destory your hope. The good news is that even the devil respects the power of God because when the devil tries to hurt us, he asks God for permission first. This is seen in this passage when Jesus tells Peter (Simon) that the devil has demanded to tempt him strongly, same as when the devil asked God permission to bring trouble to Job. God allows these things so that we can become stronger. We do not grow when all things are good and we're happy but we grow when we endure pain and suffering and come out of it renewed in the Lord. Jesus tells Peter that He has prayed for him so that his faith will not fail and God always does the same for you and I. We live on this earth and we must go through trials and tribulations so that we may be strengthened and from that new strength we go out and help others who have yet to weather the storm caused by the enemy.

But nothing will come out of our temptations if we do not pray. If we become lazy and don't hold on to prayer, we let Satan convince us to not pray as much or even that God does not exist and doesn't listen to us. Even that prayer doesn't do anything. We must hold on to prayer through all things or we'll never see the blessings down the road.

Today's Prayer:
My God and Savior, please help me weather the storm and keep me safe from the traps of the devil. Help me to remain strong and be able to withstand all attacks with my eyes fixed on You. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

The Devil

"Woe to you, earth and sea, for the devil has come to you in anger knowing that he has but a little time." - Revelation 12:12

In the beginning when God created everything, He showed to His angels His plans to exalt the human race to share in His kingdom. The angel Lucifer, also known as Satan or the devil, became enraged and rebelled against this because his pride would not allow a human to be higher than him in God's eyes. This caused the rebellion in Heaven in which the angel Michael fought against the devil and threw him out into the earth along with all the others that rebelled against God. All this Jesus showed to His apostle John in a vision and that's why John says woe to you, earth and sea, for the devil has come to you in anger knowing that he has but a little time. God did not cast the devil into Hell but here on earth, where like a furious lion he chases after us trying to lead us into temptation and sin so that he can rob us of the peace, joy, and eternal life the Lord wants to give us.

In a movie, I once heard someone say that the devil's biggest advantage is that no one thinks he exists and this is true. He does not come to you in a way you can identify, but he starts to rob you of happiness and peace subtly. When you don't pray or look to God, he lures you into things that bring pleasure to your flesh while the spirit of God dies within you and you don't even realize you are not living according to God's way. And when you do look for God he starts to bring you trouble. Those close to you hurt you and trials start coming into your life so that you abandon the path of the Lord. You will try to keep your eyes on God but when you do, that's when he will attack you the most and try to lead you to believe that God is the reason you suffer and that God doesn't listen to you.

The devil does this because he hates you and all blessings in your life he WILL try to destroy. The good news is that Jesus' death on the cross has crushed him and all those that follow the Lord will be strengthened by Him when they call upon His Name. This is why you have to keep praying and praying when you're going through trials so that the devil can't get a foothold into your life and convince you that God is not there! I am telling you in all truth today that God does exist and He does love you. Don't let the devil rob you of the good things God has in store for you! Be cautious and aware of all your actions, constantly asking if you are doing the Lord's will or if you're letting yourselves be convinced by the evil one.

Today's Prayer:
My Lord, You have given me life and the devil is trying to bring me sorrow and death. Give me the strength and determination to keep my eyes on You despite all of the lies the evil one throws at me and all the pain he is trying to inflict upon me so that I turn against You. Please help me to see his actions so that I may not be deceived and continue to praise Your Name always! In Your Name we pray, Amen!