Thus saith the Lord

Eve struggled between her senses and a clear “Thus saith the Lord”. In the garden of Eden Satan successfully raised doubts in Eve’s mind about what God had said and why. He stated that God had lied for they would not surely die and that God was withholding something good from them. (Gen.3:4, 5) She, and eventually Adam, chose to eat of the fruit from the tree God had told them not to eat from and sin came into the world as a result.

In Deuteronomy we see God constantly reminding His people to keep His statues so they won’t forget them. In the past He had done miraculous wonders and given them instructions in how to live well. God had a great plan for the Israelites and many blessings of happiness to bestow on them. But occasionally they became influenced by wicked ways and were led astray from God.

Adam and Eve as well as the Israelites disbelieved God’s word. Just like them we many times let ourselves reason and doubt what God has said and fool ourselves into thinking that God is withholding something good from us.

How can God fulfill His plan if we insist in disobeying and doing what is not right?

God would never tell us to do something that would hurt us or keep us from being happy and satisfied. He only wants what’s best for us. That’s why He had forbidden Adam and Eve to eat from that fruit, so that they would not know sin and its horrible results. And that’s why He warned the Israelites to remember and keep His commandments, so they would have life to the fullest.

If God says to do something it’s because He knows what’s best.  If God says to remember His commandments and keep them, what He planned for us from the beginning will become real and we will be happy. Adam and Eve’s choice and the Israelites, among many others from the Bible, set examples for us of how sad it is when we do not follow what God has said. From these we learn the secret to happiness - to live as “thus saith the Lord”.

May we remember the loving and wonderful father God is and how He has something great planned for us and blessings waiting to be showered on us. And may we not disbelief His word, but remember and keep His commandments.

Picture from Etsy

Thankful Thursdays

New beginnings, college start, birthdays and wedding anniversary - this month my family had a lot to thank for and celebrate. Praise God for such opportunities!

“As the flower turns to the sun, that the bright beams may aid in perfecting its beauty and symmetry, so should we turn to the Sun of Righteousness, that heaven’s light may shine upon us, that our character may be developed into the likeness of Christ.” - EGW

picture from Flickr: Fe 108Aums

Be thankful and show it

That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous works. (Psalm 26:7)

Sometimes the circumstances of life are not so pleasant, but we have to always look for things to be thankful for. I personally tend to not show much of the happiness and gladness I feel often. But it will do so much good, not just for us but for those around us, if we ‘externalize’ our joy and thanks. Let people see it in our eyes and smile, hear it in our tone of voice and singing, feel it in our conducts and gestures.

Thanksgiving is something that grows old and consequently dies. As time goes by we tend to forget all the wonderful things that God blesses us with. We cannot allow this to happen.

What kind of people are we, those who receive and thank or those who receive and keep it to ourselves?

May we thank more, complain less, and show our gratitude, independently of what happens in life.

Is it the end?

One of the hot topics this year was the Mayan Calendar and its prophecy that the end of world will be in December 21, 2012 (that is, tomorrow!). Many fear that wars, epidemics, natural disasters will destroy at least half of the world population. Throughout history many have erroneously dated the end of the world. Among so many prophecies and alarms, how do we know what will happen and what to wait for? When exactly is the end of the world, or better yet, is the world going to end at all?

The Bible, the word of God, is a book that contains many prophecies. Archeology and history have proven that all of the Bible prophecies about the past have actually occurred. If you study it you’ll see that it’s not a hard book to comprehend, and regarding the prophecies the Bible explains itself.

If you take a look at Luke 21:25-28 and Matthew 24:14 you’ll see that Jesus’ return is also called the end of the world. They are the same thing. Christ’ return will be the end of this sinful and evil word, which will be turned new. But be careful. The Bible is very clear that no one knows the time or day of Jesus’ return (Matthew 24:36). Therefore, we must not be deceived by false teachings and prophecies that date the end of the world.

In Matthew 24 Jesus warns that wars, hunger, violence, and disasters are all signs that His return is very near.

Yet among all this chaos Jesus comforts us in saying “do not be troubled”. Because of His overflowing love and mercy Jesus warned about everything that would take place in the end of times so that these events might not surprise nor scare us. There’s no need to fear what the future will bring because we already know. He has told us all we need to know in order to be in peace during the last days.

But Jesus will return to take home those who accept Him and His salvation (John 14:1,3). He wants us to be prepared for when that day comes.

Today, as my mom and I were driving to do some grocery shopping downtown, she said: “He we are peacefully carrying out our day while so many fear tomorrow and how it’s supposedly the end of the world. It’s sad to think that the day before Jesus’ return many will be just like we are now: peacefully going about their days as if nothing is about to happen.”

You see, we need not to worry about the day or hour of the end of the world. Jesus has told us beforehand what will happen, giving us the opportunity to prepare ourselves. There’s no need to be scared or fearful if we have God by our side. So the only thing that matters is being prepared for that glorious day of Jesus’ return.

December, already?

“It’s December, already?!” I thought as I turned my calendar to the December page this morning. Seriously, it seems that Christmas 2011 was just yesterday. Lately time has been passing by too fast! There’s only 1 month left for 2012 to be over. There was so much I wanted to do, so many places I intended to go, and so many things I failed to get done. But the year is not over yet. I still have 4 weeks to end it well. So here’s to December, may it be a beautiful and successful month!

Thankful Thursdays

I’m so very thankful for family, friends and for the opportunities GOD puts in our way!! God is truly faithful.