"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." - Matt. 5:3

This passage of Scripture is such an important and key to going anywhere in life.  These words were spoken by Jesus and He was referring to the fact that in order to have eternal life one must first admit that he is a sinner. The phrase "poor in spirit" means humble of heart, I.e. not being too proud to admit your mistakes and short-comings. This is so key.  Why? Because without this "poor in spirit" attitude, one cannot recieve eternal life. You see, one must see that he is a sinner before he can accept the Savior.

These words in Matthew 5:3 are also applicable in many ways. Any counsellor will tell you that in order for one to overcome any sort of struggle or stronghold in his or her life, they must first recognize that they have a problem. Then and only then will be able to go onto the road of recovery. Because this principle is so key in every area in life, we all need to make sure that we are humble enough to be willing to admit our weaknesses and try better. Without this attitude, one will just go in circles all his life until God has to teach different and as it says in Hebrews 10:31,"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

All Your Needs

Recently, the basketball team I am on (the CCA Chargers) had to raise some money for new jerseys that we needed. We had three car washes and one entire spirit-night at Chick-fil-A in order to get enough money for the jerseys and shorts. I remember when at one of the car washes we were having allot of trouble getting people in to get their cars washed. It can be pretty discouraging when you're yelling at cars that are passing you by at fifty-miles per hour and holding a sign all to no result. I was thinking,"How in the world are we going to get these uniforms?'' Still, what kept running through my mind was the verse from Philippians 4:19. It says,"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Well, a few months later, here are the uniforms:

My brother Jesse and I in the away side of the uniforms.

God will provide your needs too. You are His child; will not a loving, good father provide for his child's needs? Well, so will your loving and good Heavenly Father. God wants us to do what we can do, however. Just as we had to do car washes, many times we need to work for what we need and not just sit back and do nothing (although there are sometimes when that is all we can do). God will bless us when we do this. The Lord also wants us to do what we can to help others and not just be concerned about ourselves. Isaiah 58:8-11 talks about how when we reach out to others and try to provide for their needs, God will bless us and provide for us in times of need. God blesses those who bless others. So if you are in true need (not just want- there is a difference) then commit your need to God and try to help others. God will bless you for it.

A Great Blessing

"This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassion's fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.
 The LORD is my portion saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD." - Lamentations 3:21-26

Hope Is Not Lost

"In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and He did hear my voice out of His temple, and my cry did enter into His ears. He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters; He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay [support]." - 2 Samuel 22:7, 17-19

Have you ever been in a place in your life where where you felt like all hope was lost? Well, you are not alone because I have felt that way too. There have been things in my life overwhelmed me to the point where I felt like there was no hope left. I knew that those things in my life were too great for me to handle and that made it seem even more hopeless. But I knew of One, the only One who could help me and deliver me. His name was Jesus. So I went to Him and poured out everything before Him, asking for His help and deliverance. You know what, in His mercy the Lord heard me and rescued me in that circumstance. He gave me hope and the promise of His strength.
My friend, just as the Lord was there for me, He is there for you. God does not view one person as more important or worthy than another. Romans 2:11 says, ''For there is no respect of persons with God." This means than God is not partial to one person over another. We cannot say,''Well, God helped them in their sorrow, but He would never do that for me.'' No. If we turn to Him in a true and humble heart that is willing to admit that we need help, He will always be there for us - for you. LET Him work on your behalf. Be submitted to Him and His will. He is your Rescuer and Redeemer. Cry out to Him, and He will hear you give you hope.

For those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, hope is never lost.

Different Post Dates

Today, instead of having the usual Sunday Scriptures, I wanted to announce that the post dates will be changing to Monday's  and Thursday's due to my very busy schedule with school, basketball, and other responsibilities. If the Lord allows, I will be able to increase the number of post days once my schedule gets a little lighter. Thanks and God bless.

                                 Mike
                             Eph. 6:10

Others

      ⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
      Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
      And your righteousness shall go before you;
      The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
       ⁹ Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
      You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’


   “ If you take away the yoke from your midst,
      The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
       ¹⁰ If you extend your soul to the hungry
      And satisfy the afflicted soul,
      Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
      And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
       ¹¹ The LORD will guide you continually,
      And satisfy your soul in drought,
      And strengthen your bones;
      You shall be like a watered garden,
      And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.  - Isaiah 58:8-11

A Guest Author

I recently asked my dad, John Pereira if he would write a guest post for the blog. He accepted and here it is. My dad is the pastor of Central Florida Bible Church in Winter Park, Florida. You can listen to some of his sermons at Sermon Audio.com.

Dear Reader,

Are you going through difficult times today?  Is your faith in God being tested?  Are you ready to give up on serving the Lord? Does it appear that life’s trials don’t make sense.  Let’s read God’s promise in Philippians 1:6

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

In this passage of scripture the Apostle Paul encourages us to trust in the totality of His work in our lives.  Paul’s statement of confidence speaks volumes of his faith in what God was doing in His life. The word “being confident” is in the perfect tense which depicts action which began in the past with effects continuing into the present.  In other words, Paul is saying: “Lord everything that you have allowed in my life (trials, imprisonments, suffering, shipwreck, bad things, and good things) are all part of your process of making me more like you.  I can not only be confident, but I know that you will continue to work on me until your process of spiritual growth is completed.  Someday, at an event known as the “day of Christ Jesus” your process will be completed, and I will be conformed after the image of your own Son (Romans 8:29).”

So dear reader, don’t be discouraged.  God will bring you through your difficult times.  Trust in God’s purposes and plan for your life.  He will never let you down.

He Makes No Mistakes

My Father's way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache,
But in my soul I'm glad to know,
He makes no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But I'll trust my Lord to lead
For He doth know the way.

Tho' night be dark, and it may seem
That day will never break,
I'll pin my faith, my all in Him,
He makes no mistake.

There's so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight's far too dim;
But come what may, I'll simply trust
And leave it all to Him.

For by and by the mist will lift
And plain it all He'll make,
Through all the way, tho' dark to me
He made not one mistake.

                                                          By A.M. Overton

Sunday Scriptures

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." - Romans 8:28-29

I truly think that this is one of the most claimed promises in all the Bible. It promises that no matter what happens to those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior, it will all work out for good. The second part of that passage of Scripture explains that God allows hard times to come into our life so that we can become more like Christ. It is all for our good as Hebrews 12:10 says. Another result of suffering in our lives is that after we have gone though it we have compassion on those who are going through the pain we went through and we can be an instrument of God to help those people. God neveer allows suffering in our life that will not be turned around for good for us and other people. Just be faithful to God and keep close to Him in the midst of the trial. The good ahead of you will be far greater than pain of the here and now.

Brought Near: Part 2

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:13

''For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,'Abba, Father.'" - Romans 8:15

Tuesday we saw how mankind is sinful and how that sin separates us from God. We also saw how Jesus Christ, God's Son, came to die for our sins and rise again so that all those who repent and put their faith in Him to save them from their sins can have fellowship with God and live with Him in heaven forever.
Today we are going to look some of the great blessings and opportunities that we have as God's children.
As those who have put their faith in Christ, we were totally separated from fellowship with God before we came to know Jesus as our personal Savior. We could not experience the many blessings that are now ours. Now, as Romans 8:15 says, we have been adopted into the family of God and God is now our heavenly Father. He is a good, loving, and kind Father who will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5). Just as any good father would, our heavenly Father does not take sin lightly and has to discipline us and get the things out of our lives that are not pleasing to Him, but He does it all for our good (Heb. 12: 9-10). Remember how in Romans 8:15 the word Abba is used. Well, that is the same Aramaic word that Jesus used when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to God the Father. The word Abba has basically the same meaning as the English word daddy. It speaks of a especially close and intimate relationship with a father. God is now our "Abba," Father. He is always here for us. When we have turned away from Him and gotten into sin, He is always there to pick us back up and dust us off if we are truly repentant. He is always there for us in the storms and trials of life to help us and carry us through. When we face temptation of any sort, He is the One who stands by our side to give us strength and help us not to give in.
So remember next time you are struggling or you feel like nobody cares that you have been brought near to God by the blood of Jesus Christ and you have a heavenly Father who is just waiting for you to come and find your help in Him.

Brought Near: Part 1

"But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:13

I have been reading lately in the book of Exodus where God and Israel made the covenant at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19-24). It was very interesting how that it is mentioned that when God was speaking to the Children of Israel the people were extremely afraid and they stood far away because of the great power and majesty of God that was showed in the lightening, the thunder, the mountain smoking, and the thick cloud surrounding the mountain. In fact the people could not even touch the mountain on which God's presence was resting. Why? Because of God's great holiness. We are sinful, but God is perfectly holy. As a result, we cannot have fellowship with God. It is because of our sinfulness that we need a Savior. Our sin condemns us to eternal punishment because God is a just and holy God who has to punish all sin even the sins that we have done that we consider insignificant. Romans 6:23 says,"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Our sin separates us from God and sentences us to an eternity in hell. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved..." -Ephesians 2:4-5. God loved us wanted to have fellowship restored between mankind and Himself and He did not want us to have to spend eternity in hell. So He made a way that we could be forgiven of our sins and be brought near to Him. God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come to earth to pay the punishment for our sins. Jesus' blood was shed as He died on the cross for us and three days later He rose from the dead. He was our substitute. On that cross He took our punishment for our sins. Because He is God, Jesus never sinned, yet He paid the price for your sins because He loved you, yes, even you. The Bible says in Romans chapter six and verse nine,"...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord [confess that He is the Son of God and as God's Son, He is equal with God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Just pray to Jesus and tell Him that you are sorry for your sins and that you believe that He is God and that He died and rose again to save you from your sins. Ask Him to be your Savior and if you do, you are guaranteed to live with Him in heaven forever (Rom. 10:11). For all of us who have done this, we are now God's children and we have been brought near to this great and wonderful God.
This Thursday, if the Lord permits, we will look at the part the great blessings of being made near to God and how to appropriate this grace that has been given to us. So come back then, and I know you will receive a blessing.