Friday, January 22, 2010

If my people -- Si mi pueblo

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

First off, let me start by saying that we have to be careful how we apply Old Testatment promises given to national Israel to modern-day situations. I’ve heard of people seeing a house they would like to buy, and walking all around the yard because they believe that “every place the sole of their foot touches” will be theirs. That was a promise to the nation of Israel as they were carrying out the God-ordered occupation of the Promised Land. It isn’t a prescription for a ritual we are supposed to perform to get the house (or even the church property) we desire. It was not a command for all time, like “you shall not have any gods before me” is. It was a specific instruction for a specific people group at a specific point in history.

2 Chronicles 7:14, on the other hand, does have modern application. We just have to be cautious in how we interpret and apply it.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

For God so loved -- Porque tanto amó Dios

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

It's kind of hard to say anything new or fresh about what for most people is the first Bible verse they ever learned. So instead of trynig to be innovative or profound, I just want to break this verse down and look at each phrase.

For God so loved the world
God isn't some angry old man up in the sky waiting to throw lightning bolts at us when we mess up.

that he gave
True love gives. You can give without loving (out of a sense of obligation or guilt), but you can't love without giving. He's a loving God.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Trust in the Lord -- Confia en el Señor

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

My paraphrase:
Put your total trust and confidence in God,
and don’t put too much stock in your own limited perspective.
In everything you do, do it God’s way,
and he’ll smooth out the bumps in the road.

Hopefully this will help me blog more consistently / Ojalá esto me ayudará a escribir con más frecuencia

My home church is in a series called “10 for Life”, where we’re working through 10 key scriptures that every Christian should know by memory and what their implications are for our daily walk. I plan on using each week’s verse as a jumping-off point for a blog post. You can find out more about the series at http://www.tenforlife.com/ or http://www.scripturefight.com/.

La iglesia principal a la cual asisto está en una serie llamada “10 por Vida” en la cual estamos estudiando y memorizando diez pasajes claves de la Biblia que cada cristiano debe de saber. Mi plan es usar el versículo de cada semana como un punto de embarcación para escribir este blog. Puedes aprender más de la serie en http://www.tenforlife.com/ o http://www.scripturefight.com/ .