When your Soul plays a trick on you!

Have you ever had moments where one time you feel like you are at the top of the world and the next day you are in the dumps. Well, we've all been there.
If you are a woman or man who has asked Jesus to be his or her Lord you have been transferred from darkness to light. You feel peace you feel clean!  Yeah! I am a born again believer!
But then years go by and you realize that there are those days....Days when not everything is sweet, and you begin to discover your mind, your will and your emotions sometimes feel not so Christian. thoughts come to your mind of how a dream will not ever happen, or your emotions feel hurt when a woman or man of God promise you something but don't follow through.  Or you get up in the morning and you don't feel like you want to get up. You are in traffic and someone cuts in front of you. What do you do?
Yes, we have been blood bought by Jesus but we have to deal with thoughts in our minds, feelings that change like the wind, and the willingness to stay disciplined in areas on a daily basis.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica:" And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Paul is referring to your soul be preserved blameless


What is the Soul? 

The soul is the three-part that combines  your mind (intellect) your will (your decision making) and your emotions  (what your feelings are).  Paul is saying to the church that he prays that these areas are being preserved. Let's start from The very God of Peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, He is our Peace. He can give us Peace in our hearts but we must let Him in. The New Living Translation says it like this:"Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
How do we let Him sanctify us and make us Holy. Completely! ?

The God of Peace must rule in our souls

 We must allow Peace to rule in our minds. How?  Remind yourself that when Christ came to live in your heart. Peace came. Your mind has to focus on His Peace. You have the mind of Christ. That thought of torment and that is contrary to who you are in Christ. He took that to the cross, He wore a crown of thorns that bled so much, so those thoughts that are not pure, holy or of good report would not dwell in your mind.  You are precious to Him that He took all that, so you can have a peaceful sound mind focusing on good things. Once you have accepted Christ in your heart, what you think then becomes a matter of choice. We must control our thoughts and what we reason., our reasonings must line up to what God thinks. "As He is.. so are WE in this world"
Our mindset must mirror God's. How do we do that? by reading The Bible and meditate on Him. Joshua 1:8 speaks that "This book of the Law shall meditate day and night. Meditate. Hmm....it means Think about it, ponder, Think Deeply about something.
Another scripture is on Philippians 2:5 "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus!" That means that my will is then involved in how I think and what I meditate on but I have to allow it. The scripture says Let. Allow your mind be Christlike.

Doing my own Thing

  God has given the human race a powerful tool. The power of choice. From the beginning Adam and Eve had the power to choose.  You and I have the tool and it is by choosing!!!! What do I want to think about to day? You have a choice to what to meditate on and requires a willingness and a decision to think!  Think what? Observe to do, that means in Joshua 1:8 it says so that you may observe to do!  that means choose how to act. The NIV version says .."so we may be careful to do everything in it"

Emotions

My feelings have a lot to do within the soul realm on how we act. Never trust your emotions they could fail you.  We must always line up our emotions with the Word of God. Galatians 5:22 tells us a lot about our emotions....
How?  The fruit of the Spirit are...Love, Joy, Peace, kindness, gentleness, meekness, self-control!!! Wow I feel convicted already!  How many times have we allowed our emotions to take over instead of our Spirit to bring Peace to our souls.

True Story

 There was a time that I had a disagreement with my husband over whether to go to Dallas while I was pregnant. My emotions were screaming at me that I wanted to go. My husband felt in his heart that it was not time to go to Dallas at the time. Boy,I am glad I chose to submit to him on this situation because I ended up in the hospital bedridden because I ended up in early labor. Imagine if I would have followed my feelings, gotten angry and resentful and not  do what my husband sensed in his heart.? We would have been stuck in Dallas with an astronomical medical bill and away from home. We must follow wisdom and not just emotion and not allow the soul to play tricks on me.

So next time you allow an emotion, a thought or a choice that is not lining up with God's wisdom and His Word, and your soul tries to play a trick, refuse it and make the choice to follow Peace so you can be sanctified completely Spirit, soul and body, and be preserved blameless...!

Then and Now: Seeing God's faithfulness through your children

Hi,
This is my youngest daughter Jessie and I wanted to share her story:

      It was Labor day weekend and I was very emotional wanting to go to Dallas to see some Pastors friends of ours to visit.  I was sleeping and all of the sudden I felt I needed to go to the bathroom. I went and felt like I went a lot. I went back to bed I felt like going again, except this time was a flush.  I then realized that my water broke. It was too soon. My child had 2 months to go before birth. It was 3 am in the morning and it was too early. My baby wasn’t due until November!!! I put a BIG towel between my legs to hold the water and off to the hospital my husband with our two kids. 12 years and 18 months old and I went.

Here the adventure starts...

They rushed me in and they managed to stop the labor. The doctor said my sugar levels were high and I needed to be on bed rest until the baby is due.  (so much for Dallas) was my thought.   I was distraught. I was not going to lose this child.  I started to pull scriptures that I was quoting all along.  I was 39 and afraid! I needed peace and I leaned on God’s Word like never before. 

I relied on the words in Malachi….."And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts." I was daily confessing this scripture daily. 

2 weeks passed and baby came. 34 weeks. She weighed 4lbs and 11oz.  I couldn’t see her. She was put in an incubator in the NICU and I had to stay behind. 

The Power of God's Provision

The next day, while I was in the hospital my husband Oscar went home. Rachel who was 18 months old started asking for milk with all the events that took place the night before he realized that the refrigerator was empty. He told my son to take Rachel to the living room while he prayed in the kitchen.  He then asked the Lord while looking out the window: Lord, I’m a tither and a giver, Rachel needs milk and I don’t have the energy to go out. Then the doorbell rang. Two ladies from our church found out that I was in the hospital and came and brought food for the family. Oscar said thank you and then one of the ladies told her friend. Don’t forget to bring in what the Lord spoke to us to bring in. She went back out to the car and when she came back in guess what she had in her hands…? MILK! Provision did not stop there.  There was so much food that we had to ask people to come over and eat with us because it was abundant. Praise God for His provision.

The Love Walk Tested

Our daughter Jessie started to have complications. The Doctor ran a test showing that there was an infection in her blood. My husband asked the doctor to run the test a second time. In the middle of all that, a gentleman who insulted me found out that I was in the hospital and wanted to see the baby and pray.  My husband saw him through the glass doors and the Lord told my husband: “walk in love” the gentleman asked if he could pray for the baby. My husband told him thank you but it’s taken care of in a nice tone of voice and he left.  After that, the doctor came back baffled because the test showed that there was no infection in her blood.  The Lord told him. This took place because you walked in love and were obedient.  

Jessie went home 28 days later. She is now 11 and a honors student. God is faithful. The seed of the righteous is blessed. 

Serving overseas? 3 kinds of selfies you should never take. My husband and I have talked about this

Serving overseas? 3 kinds of selfies you should never take.: Don't be that ugly foreigner.  Here are some tips to help you consider
carefully the type of photos you take, and the story you are telling with
each image.

Miracles are Here to Stay

These past few weeks I have been meditating as how Good God is.  It seems that is the only thing to hold on to in the middle of trials. Notice I said trials in plural. It is in the middle of a trial that God's goodness shows on display. He shows up in ways that you  realize that YES! miracles are here to stay.  He knows the very secrets that are in your heart and knows them so well.

I was in a meeting this last week and God showed me that He cares so much that the very secrets of your heart hold them dear that His healing power hovers over them.  That secret hurt that you feel you can't get rid of, God comes in with His healing Power and swoops it off the depths of your soul to the point that you are made whole. That secret hurt was not a visible hurt, not like the deaf or the blind or the woman with the issue of blood that was external but it was a hurt that was there lingering for years. Jesus healed it in the most loving soothing way. He restores my soul.
Remember when trials come, remember God's goodness and that He will see you through. He never said you will stay through. He said you will walk through. In spite of what the circumstances are. You have no fear because it is temporary. It is subject to change. It is like the picture of this beach. you see the sand but when the afternoon comes that sand will be covered with water because of the tide. That is how we have to look at our trials. We give them to God and look up realizing that is if subject to change. You become what you behold so you speak to that trial and rise above it. Jesus said:Be of Good Cheer, I have overcome the world.

Learning to Pass on a Legacy to your Children

HI,
It has been a while since I have written. One thing I am learning as I am raising my two youngest girls is how we pass on our culture to our children. As I was watching "El Chavo del Ocho" with my daughters, it was for the purpose of hearing Spanish at home and learning from Latin culture. It is funny and although it is originally from Mexico;  I grew up with it when I was in Venezuela.
As I was watching  the show and laughing having a family good time, I see the connection of passing on a legacy not only of our Latino culture but more importantly our culture of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Our children are a heritage from the Lord. We teach our children the language of Heaven (the Holy Spirit) and show them how to be in the Presence of God, through prayer and reading the Word of God. First, we must teach our children at home that Jesus is his/her best friend, have your children have the experience of salvation? Do they know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and wants to be his/her friend? Life and Death depend on it. Secondly, we must teach them how to pray  and be in the Presence of God through spending time in prayer and the Word. Have your children learned the discipline of using their prayer language?  How ? by sharing  how this took place in the book of Acts and how it is for today. The first minister that they will see is you.  You are loved and accepted!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day. I pray is that you remember how much Father God loves you. If you have a father that is far away or is deceased. Remember how much God loves you. Happy Father's Day!

The Talk of Supernatural Wealth

This last week I have been meditating on Pastor George Pearsons and Sister Gloria Copeland's teaching on Being Rich is not a bad word. It made me think of it more lately. Jesus took all our sorrows and infirmities so we can live a rich life. His Word says that Jesus became poor so we can then become rich. Jesus is no respecter of persons. I put a link on this blog regarding  a testimony of inmates in prison being blessed with supernatural wealth. Really? in prison? You'd be surprised how much the men who attend our services are sold out to God that they take God at His Word.  Jesus is their only hope and I am so grateful that we are able to deliver it. Here is the testimony Oscar shared in November of last year at the Believers Voice of Victory Broadcast to boost your faith. God has a plan for you and me and our families and by hearing this, it reminds me that God loves me so much that He can provide for us when we make Him our only Source.  Don't get me wrong, I am all about working and holding a job, but in the midst of your work God can move on your behalf. Some of those inmates they make an average of $16 dollars a month on their jobs. That's equivalent to a meal at a nice restaurant. He is NO respecter of persons, cultural or ethnic background, I remember years ago when I was asked to be a children's pastor at a church that was located 45 minutes from my home. I had a little hatchback that Oscar when we were dating at that time would call it "La Chicharra"  It was so beat up! ...I was a single Mom then and with the knowledge I had at that time I remember I would confess that I had a new vehicle. "Faith begins when the will of God is known"  Well, it wasn't until 3 years later that someone gave me a nice and reliable car that it was exactly what was needed for me to travel back and forth. God is so good. He knows! Give Him a chance, He won't let you down. Deutoronomy 28:18 NLT "It is The Lord God who gives us power to become rich, and He does it to fulfill the covenant He made with our ancestors"  Consider yourself Blessed!

Supernatural Wealth Testimony - Rev. Oscar Rivera

Rich is not a dirty word taken from BVOV Broadcast June 8 2015