God Will Always Be With Us

So think about your life. Where you have messed up. The times where you have fallen. The times where life was hard, either on account of circumstances out of your control, or even the ones that you yourself had caused. What did life look like in those moments? Did you feel broken? Broken to the point of tears? Lost? Angry? What did you feel? What did you do in those moments? Pray to God for grace to save you? What happened then? God lifted you up, didn't He? This is what happens every-time. Whether we see it in the moment or not. Whether or not we deserve it. God comes through every single time.
The beautiful thing is that when we reflect upon our lives and take a long hard look at where God had restored order to the mess that we had created, we slowly begin to realize that this isn't OUR life at all. God is the one that gives the life. From Genesis on that has been the message. In the beginning God made order to chaos and then He gave us life.
Now He gives us a whole different type of life. A life offered through grace through the death of His son. A life to be lived to the full (Jn. 10:10). A clean start that we don't deserve. A life in which He himself said, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt. 28:20)
If also you remember the passage in Isaiah 43:2, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall no consume you." And again in Isaiah 40:31, "... but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
God is faithful, and He promises His faithfulness. Not convinced? Read Romans 8, the whole thing, it's beautiful. And, it tells us that we are "more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Rom.8:37) and that, "nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom.8:39)
So what am I trying to say? Is this another Jesus loves you pep-talk? Yes, yes it is. You know why? Because, that's the truth. Jesus does love you, and He wants you to know that. I encourage you brothers, to never give up. Even when you think that what you've done is too bad. That when your life seems just too chaotic, remember Who has the control. When you can't walk, crawl. Just don't give up. And ALWAYS put your faith in Him who saves and loves completely. Because, He gave up His life for us to have life, and to put it back in His hands, the hands of the One who breathes it.
And that's what I see, In The Heart of The Lion.

Youth Reunion

Just recently the Church here in León hosted a huge Reunión de Jovenes (Youth Retreat). This was a huge blessing and a great success. It was only a day long with the theme was Rompiendo Cadenas (Breaking Chains). We had six classes to choose from, each having their own topic related to the theme. There were about 140 or so youth that attended. Each was given their own bag, t-shirt, and pen all sporting the theme of the day. Most of the León youth were assigned to some job for the day, whether it was taking out the trash, clean up, making sure there was enough seats in each class, that everyone was able to find their class, registering, teaching, or food. The day went smoothly, easy transitions between classes, and towards the end we played a huge Bible jeopardy type game between congregations and then we had our last meal of the day and a final lesson. Afterwards, we cleaned up and took some of the youth that were able to go to downtown León to hang out and eat. It was nice night and we capped it off with singing in front of a very nice square in front of a very nice cathedral. God is good and works in some wonderful ways to bring His people together to praise Him and get to know each other. Because, we are part of The Body. That's what I see in the Heart of the Lion.