Possessing God's Rest

Possessing God’s Rest

“So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God…

…Let us do our best to enter that place of rest.  For anyone who disobeys God, as the people of Israel did, will fall.” Hebrew 4:9, 11

What exactly is God’s rest and how do we enter it?

I.             Jesus sat down in the place of honor!

•  Hebrew 1:3 “The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly.  He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command.  After he died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven."

   A. That Jesus sat down means that the work was complete.  Christ’s sacrifice was final!

•         John 17:4 “I brought glory to you here on earth y doing everything you told me to do.”
•         John 19:30 “When Jesus had tasted it, he said, ‘It is finished!’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” 
•         Jesus pleased the Father to perfection!

  B. Jesus suffered all that was demanded that humanity suffer as dictated by that justice that was established with the union of Satan in Adam.

II.            God’s promise for us to enter his place of rest is there (Hebrews 4) ** so let’s enter into His rest

   A.  We should settle down in His finished work.

   B.  He continues to fight my battles for me.

   C.    He continues to be called upon to leave His rest to combat Satan, disease and poverty over and over.

   D.    1 Corinthians 3:21, 23 “Son don’t take pride in following a particular leader.  Everything belongs to you” “and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”

   E.     God the Father fully accepted the work of Jesus; this work does not have to be done again.

   F.      Rest in the confidence that Jesus has done the work for us.  Rest knowing His Word will never fail.

III.           We have to become God minded

   A.      We have to stop the old way of thinking and become Scripture lead

   B.      The Holy Spirit is here with us to see to it that the rest is not disturbed

• Ephesians 3:20 “Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope”

*  The difficulties that we face sometimes overshadow the reality of God’s promise and some people doubt that God will fulfill his promises.  When we trust our own efforts instead of Christ’s power, we are in danger of turning back.  Our efforts are never adequate, only Christ can see us through.

The Israelites of Moses’ day are perfect illustrations of the problems facing many of today’s Christians?  They profess to know a great deal about Christ, but they do not know him personally, they don’t combine their knowl3dge with faith.  Let the Good News about Christ benefit your life.  Believe in him and then act on what you know.  Trust in Christ and do what he says.

God did not rest on the seventh day because he was tired, no He was indicating completion of His creation.  His creation was perfect and He was well satisfied.  This rest was a foretaste of our eternal joy when creation will be renewed and restored, every stain of sin will be removed and the world will be made perfect again.  Our rest in Christ begins when we trust him to complete his good and perfect work in us, our future eternal life with Christ, which we will only attain through faith and obedience.

God offers us the opportunity to enter his ultimate place of rest; he invites us to come to Christ.  To enter his rest we must believe that God has this relationship in mind for us, wemust stop trying to create it, we must trust in Christ for it, and we must determine to obey him.  Today is the best time to find peace with God, tomorrow may be too late.

God wants us to enter his place of rest, for us Christians this place is peace with God now and eternal life on a new earth later.  We do not need to wait for the next life to enjoy God’s rest and peace; we may have it daily now.  Our daily rest in the Lord will not end with death but will become an eternal rest in the place Christ is preparing for us (see John 14:1-4)

Since Jesus has provided for our rest through faith why must we do our best to enter that place of rest? This is not the struggle of doing good in order to obtain salvation, nor is a struggle to overcome selfishness.  It refers to making every effort to appreciate and benefit from what God has already provided.  Salvation is not to be taken for granted, to appropriate the gift God offers requires decision and commitment.

The Word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, it is living, and life changing, and dynamic as it works in us.  God’s Word reveals who we are and what we are not.  It reaches to the core of our moral and spiritual life.  It discerns what is within us, both good and evil.  The demands of God’s Word require decisions.  We must not only listen to the Word, we must also let it shape our live.

Nothing can be hidden from God, He knows about everyone everywhere and everything about us is wide open to his all seeing eyes.  God sees all we do and knows all we think.  Even when we are unaware of his presence, he is thee.  When we try to hide from him, he sees us.  We can have no secrets from God.  It is comforting to realize that although God knows intimately he still loves us.

We should be comforted knowing that Jesus faced temptation, he can sympathize with us.  We should be encouraged knowing that Jesus faced temptation without giving in to sin.  He shows us that we do not have to sin when facing the seductive lure of temptation.  Jesus is the only perfect human being that has ever lived.

Prayer is our approach to God and we are to come boldly, not with our heads hung low, afraid to ask him to meet our needs.  Neither flippantly, giving little thought to what we are saying.  Come to God with reverence because he is our King, but also come with bold assurance because he is our Friend and Counselor.

He gave us His rest.

God Bless All,

Pastor David J Barberis

Signs, Miracles, and Wonders

Are you still looking for a sign?  Why not thank Him?

Psalm 136:1

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His faithful love endures forever.” (NLT)

 

Throughout this Psalm we find the phrase “his faithful love endures forever”   It is important that this phrase stick with us for we never have to worry that His love for us will run out because that love flows from a well that will never run out.

Hebrews 2:3-4: 

“So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.” (NLT)

Miracles were a part of the ministries of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, and of course Jesus and the apostles, and their miracles primarily served the purpose of confirming their message as being from God.

Today, many people still seek to experience the miraculous, and some will go to great lengths to have that experience. There may be many reasons for such a desire, and Scripture gives us at least three:

1. Some people looking for confirmation of the Truth still seek signs.  We have eyewitness accounts that have been handed down to us by the teachings in the Bible.  Second generation readers like us did not see Jesus personally.  We base our belief in Jesus on the eyewitness accounts recorded in the Bible.  See John 20:29 for Jesus’ encouragement to those of us who believe without ever seeing Him. “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

Faithfully following His Word is so much more meaningful in God’s eyes, like the Samaritans became believers by hearing John 4:41 when Jesus remained for 2 extra days “long enough for many more to hear his message and believe.” (NLT) Then a few verses later John 4:48 to be exact Jesus rebukes the Galileans when He said “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?” (NLT). You see unlike the Samaritans the Galileans required a sign!

2. Others look for signs because they do not believe that those signs have already been given, or miracles performed.  Such were the Pharisees that asked for a Miraculous Sign on Matthew 12:38-39  “One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority. But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (NLT)

 

These Pharisees were wicked they refused to believe the signs and were adulterous in a spiritual sense that they had already decided not to believe in Him and more miracles would not change the way they felt. Not even the “sign of the prophet Noah” THE RESURRECTION would cause them to believe.

Instead of looking for additional evidence or miracles, accept what God has already given and move forward.  He may just use your own life as evidence to reach another person.

3. And then others look for signs hoping to gain something for themselves like the Galileans who were rebuked by Jesus because they wanted to follow Him not because of the sign but because of His having fed them John 6:26 “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.” (NLT)  The Galileans desire was not to follow Jesus or to witness more miracles; they just wanted to be fed.

Many are wondering what God wants them to do.  The religions of the world are humankind's attempt to answer this question.  But Jesus’ reply is brief and simple – Believe in Him whom God has sent.  Satisfying God does not work from the works we do based on the signs we pursue, but of whom we believe.  The first step is accepting that Jesus is who he claims to be.  All spiritual development is built on the affirmation, declaring to Jesus: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” as Simon Peter told us in Matthew 16:16 as we embark on a life of belief that is satisfying to our Creator.

Rather than looking for a sign or another miracle I chose to live by faith which is more pleasing to God than my relying on a sensory experience, and if I look closely I see not bigger sign than His work on my own life.  John 20:29 once again tells us “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” (NLT)  And for this sign and miracle not only do I thank Him every day but praise His Name at every opportunity that I get.

Pastor David J. Barberis

Rayed Redemption Ministry

SU PLAN Y NUESTRA ESPERANZA PARA EL PRÓXIMO AÑO

Su Plan y nuestra esperanza para el año que viene abarcan los grandes planes que podemos hacer para el nuevo año, conociendo en que nuestro Padre Celestial tiene planes para nosotros, alternado con la esperanza en cuanto a a ser orientados por el Espíritu Santo, que nos ha llevado a nuestra salvación.

Los siguientes versículos bíblicos confirman que la esperanza que poseemos que nos guiará hasta el 2015 y más allá.

Jeremías 29:11 " Porque yo sé los pensamientos que tengo acerca de vosotros, dice Jehová, pensamientos de paz, y no de mal, para daros el fin que esperáis” (RVR1960): Son palabras de aliento para escuchar a un líder, un padre, un profesor, un entrenador, etc. Sin embargo, estas palabras son que nos trajo en la carta de Jeremías a todos que fueron desterrados a Babilonia, en la carta que nos permite saber que nuestro líder nuestro Padre en el cielo nos anima a seguir adelante y creo que podemos hacer las tareas que nos ha dado porque va con nosotros todo el tiempo.

Dios es ese tipo de líder sabiendo que nuestro futuro y sus planes para nosotros que son buenas y llena de esperanza. En la medida en que le permitamos a Dios, que conoce nuestro futuro y nuestro programa ir con nosotros en cumplimiento de su misión, podemos tener esperanza. Ahora, esto no significa que no nos van a perdonar el dolor, el sufrimiento o dificultades, pero Dios nos ayude a un glorioso final. Romanos 8:24 " Porque en esperanza fuimos salvos; pero la esperanza que se ve, no es esperanza; porque lo que alguno ve, ¿a qué esperarlo? (RVR1960)" Nuestro Padre Celestial no hace promesas que no va a cumplir. A veces su plan puede tomar más tiempo de lo que esperamos. Nosotros, como los niños no deben comportarnos a la espera de su voluntad de inmediato para recibir

su regalo de forma imperativa o instantánea. Debemos tener confianza al saber que su tiempo y sabiduría son perfectos. Aunque somos salvos, aún estamos por recibir todos los beneficios de la salvación; cuando Cristo el nuevo reino esté totalmente establecido que será cuando hemos recibido todos los beneficios de ser salvos. Esa es nuestra futura redención. Si bien tenemos la certeza de nuestra salvación, debemos mirar hacia el futuro con esperanza y confianza en quien cambio por completo nuestro cuerpo y de la personalidad que se encuentra más allá de esta vida, en el que seremos como Cristo escrito en 1 Juan 3:2 (Amados, ahora somos hijos de Dios, y aún no se ha manifestado lo que hemos de ser; pero sabemos que cuando él se manifieste, seremos semejantes a él, porque le veremos tal como él es- RV1960). Donde él nos dice que, si bien somos los hijos de Dios no podemos ni siquiera imaginar cómo será cuando venga, pero que sabemos que seremos como él, porque le veremos tal como es realmente. Romanos 8:28 " Y sabemos que a los que aman a Dios, todas las cosas les ayudan a bien, esto es, a los que conforme a su propósito son llamados." (RV1960). Dios trabaja en todo, para nuestro bien. No todo lo que nos sucede es bueno, lo malo prevalece  en este mundo caído, pero Dios es capaz de hacer de cada situación, con él no hay nada imposible. Dios no está tratando de hacernos felices sino a cumplir su promesa, la promesa de que no es para todo el mundo. La promesa solamente puede ser reclamados por los que Le aman y son llamados por él, que es a quienes el Espíritu Santo ha llamado y ha convencido a recibir a Cristo. A continuación, tenemos una nueva perspectiva y una nueva mentalidad. Tenemos confianza en Dios, no en tesoros mundanos, nuestra seguridad está en el cielo, no en la tierra.

Nuestra fe en Dios no vaciló en dolor y persecución porque sabemos que Dios está con nosotros. Romanos 15:4 " Porque las cosas que se escribieron antes, para nuestra enseñanza se escribieron, a fin de que por la paciencia y la consolación de las Escrituras, tengamos esperanza." (RV 1960) Los conocimientos adquiridos a través de la Escrituras afectan a la manera en que vivimos nuestras vidas y nuestra actitud hacia el presente y el futuro. La medida que sabemos más sobre lo que Dios ha hecho en el pasado, mayor es la confianza que tenemos acerca de lo que hará en los próximos días, tenemos que diligentemente leer nuestras Biblias por lo que podemos tener confianza en que la voluntad de Dios es lo mejor para nosotros. Romanos 15:13 " Y el Dios de esperanza os llene de todo gozo y paz en el creer, para que abundéis en esperanza por el poder del Espíritu Santo." (RV1960). Al igual que Pablo oraba por los Romanos, que debemos orar saber no sólo que todas nuestras oraciones son contestadas, pero le da alabanza y agradecimiento por el poder del Espíritu Santo y el don de nuestra salvación. 

Dios te bendiga.

Ptr. David J. Barberis

Traducción: Cons. Carmen Ramos

http://www.rayedredemption.com/

His Plan and Our Hope For The Coming Year

What great plans we can make for the new year, knowing that our Heavenly Father has plans for us, with the eternal Hope of His guidance through the Holy Spirit who led us to our salvation.  The following verses confirm that hope that we possess which will carry us through 2015 and beyond.

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." (NLT)

“For I know the plans I have for you” – what encouraging words to hear from a leader, a parent, a teacher, a coach, etc.  yet these words are brought to us in the letter from Jeremiah to all that were exiled to Babylon, the letter that lets us know that our leader our Father in Heaven encourages us as we move ahead and believe that we can do the tasks He has given us because He will be with us all the way.  God is that kind of a leader knowing our future and His plans for us that are good and full of hope.  As long as we allow God, who knows our future guide our agenda and go with us as we fulfill his mission we can have boundless hope.  Now this does not mean that we will be spared pain, suffering or hardships, but God will see us through to a glorious finish.

Romans 8:24-25

“Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently.” (NLT)

Our Heavenly Father does not make promises that He will not keep, sometimes His plan may take more time than what we expect.  We as His children should not behave like children as we wait for His will to unfold, we should have confidence knowing that His timing and wisdom are perfect.  Even though we are saved we have not received all of the benefits of salvation, when Christ’s new Kingdom is completely established that will be when we received all of the benefits of salvation.  That is our future salvation.  While we are confident of our salvation, we should still look ahead with hope and trust toward that complete change of body and personality that lies beyond this life, when we will be like Christ per 1 John 3:2 whence he tells us that while we are God’s children we can’t even imagine what it will be like when He comes, but that we know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as he really is.

Romans 8:28

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (NLT)

God works in everything for our good.  Not everything that happens to us is good, evil is prevalent in this fallen world but God is able to turn every situation around, with Him nothing is impossible.  God is not working to make us happy but to fulfill His promise, a promise that is not for everybody.  The promise can be claimed only by those who love Him and are called by Him, that is those whom the Holy Spirit has called upon and convinced to receive Christ.  We then have a new perspective and a new mind set.  We trust in God, not in worldly treasures, our security is in heaven, not on earth.  Our faith in God does not waver in pain and persecution because we know God is with us.

Romans 15:4

“Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. They give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises.” (NLT)

The knowledge we gain from the Scriptures affect how we live our lives and our attitude towards the present and the future.  The more we know about what God has done in the past, the greater the confidence we have about what He will do in the days ahead, we need to diligently read our Bibles so we may have confidence that God’s will is best for us.

Romans 15:13

“So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (NLT)

Just like Paul prayed for the Romans, we should pray knowing not only that all our prayers are answered, but giving Him praise and thanks for the power of the Holy Spirit and the gift of our salvation.

God bless

Ptr. David J. Barberis 

Why worry? God is in control

Worry not He is in control

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

Sometimes we feel that we just cannot trust anyone when it comes time to make decisions, not even God even though He knows what is best for us.  We must bring our decisions to God in prayer, using the Bible as our guide and then follow His lead.  He will direct our paths both by guiding and protecting us.

Solomon told us to seek His wisdom in all we do, and about a thousand years later Jesus emphasized the same truth in Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  We must make the Kingdom of God our primary concern meaning to put God first in our lives.

Jesus in Matthew 6:25-34 provided us with 7 reasons why we should not worry because;

• 6:25 – The same God who created life in us can be trusted with the details of our lives
• 6:26 – Worrying about the future hampers our efforts for today
• 6:27 – Worrying is more harmful than helpful
• 6:28-30 –God does not ignore those who depend on Him
• 6:31-32 – Worrying shows a lack of faith in and understanding of God
• 6:33 – Worrying keeps us from real challenges God wants us to pursue
• 6:34 – Living one day at a time keeps us from being consumed with worry

APPRECIATE LOVE

(Reference: Luke 17:11-19 "ten lepers are cleansed")

“He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan” LUKE 17:16

Only one of the ten lepers who were cleansed of leprosy by our Lord Jesus Christ returned to thank him. Can you imagine it?, the very son of God, only one out of ten (10 people having a disease more contagious, incurable, and cursed, recognized Jesus as God and thanked him for his grace and love to save him. How many times have you not been thanked or shown appreciation for a noble and selfless action? How does that make you feel? It surely must make you feel bad, helpless, and angry, among other negative emotions that might have an impact on your physical well being as psychosomatic symptoms.

However it did happen to Jesus Christ and it still happens, how many people have turned to the Church for help or have received physical healing from the Lord and have turned away from the same? We do not have enough fingers in our hands to count how many. A Chinese proverb says: "When you drink water, remember the source.” We should always remember those who give us hand during the most difficult moments of our lives, it often happens that when we are no longer facing difficulty and are relieved we forget the "Samaritan" who supported us in that difficult moment, which could have been just being assisted in the street when our car ran out of gas.

Friends and brothers in Christ if Jesus, the very son of God was not thanked by those nine for the miracle of their healing of something as dangerous as leprosy, yet He continued on with His mission to save humanity by giving His life. What then is our response to indolence? What is then our response to the ingratitude of some people who do not stop to be grateful with God or with any act of kindness or gratitude that can come from part of us?

The answer is to think of ten people, there will always be one who returns to thank you for any act of Godly love that you have done with no interest in mind. For that one1, for you and for me Jesus died and was raised from the dead. He is our example and inspiration to continue doing what was commanded: to” love of neighbor.” Be like that "Samaritan", that even he was not of the same race or social lineage of Jesus Christ, he was moved and turned to give glory and thanks to that Jew who had saved his life and gave him the salvation of his soul.

Ingratitude is a product of pride and arrogance, a sign of instability in personality that affects social behavior. Some do not have the ability to give, because they don't know how to receive. They believe that they know everything and deserve all the attention and support of others, or because they exist in their surreal and egocentric world.

The Christian must give, not receive anything to change. "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3). The individual who is firm in his principles and convictions does not boast about what he does for others or their philanthropic actions.   He goes about his business fluidly and these action do not determine his personality, he does not go about bragging about his acts of kindness towards others or donations he has made to different foundations or organizations. He gives all the glory and honor to Him who called him to preach the Gospel and model his lifestyle after.

Ask yourself if you were one of those ten who had leprosy, would you have returned to thank Jesus Christ for the miracle that of your healing from this terrible disease. In addition think of how many people have helped you and you have forgotten thank them for their help and support during the difficult times in your life, rather than thinking about those who you've helped who have not thanked you.

 Remember this: “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” (Hebrews 6:10)

Who should better than the all mighty God to remember our works, so don't worry if we are thanked and appreciated or not... The heavenly father will do so, always, when we do it heartfelt and selflessly.

Love is thankful; love gives without expecting to receive in return. The rewards are at the door, every day the Lord blesses us and rewards us with that same Love that died on the cross and healed those ten lepers.

I thank God for that love which has rewarded me with other brothers and friends, the family of faith and those Samaritans who are always on the road.

Are you one of them?

__________________

Cons. Carmen Ramos. 

Rev. David Barberis

__________________________________

Psychology surrenders...

Today as a clinical psychologist with 25 years of vast experience in the fields of prevention and treatment of mental illness, working with couples and undermined marriages, counseling men who have planted churches consisting of between 500 to 5000 members, and leading 100 to 600 young people in public religious and social events.

Today, that knowledge, and experience surrenders before an act of unconditional love.

I have always maintained a stance against the mechanism of generalization, for instance something like: "all women are the same," as a simple example:

A shy boy who is (shameful) when communication with the girls... we can say that his response ("shame", which are actually multiple answers, both cognitive and physiological) is a conditioned response. Imagine that once this guy tried to invite to a girl, but she refused it. This situation (rejection) would be the E.I. for "shame" (R.I.), and then conditioned as R.C. before the girl (E.C.), who was previously a neutral stimulus. Then, the boy is prone to feeling shame when approaching any woman his age (generalization), but not so with men, or older women (like his mother, teachers...), or little girls. The latter being discriminatory.

The example is pretty simple, but it serves to illustrate the concepts.

All this and more has been applied in my "vast experience" as a therapist and resulting in the satisfaction of solved cases, just as other as others are not solved.

Only when it pertains to you and after days and nights of overcoming duels, and the heart divorced from reason and knowledge. You understand that all that human knowledge is unspeakably passed by with an act of love.

Real love does not coincide with theory or scientific knowledge, giving your life for another, without conditions or asking for anything in return, would be called madness by Science.

This "madness", is the unconditional love JESUS demonstrated to us, that unconditional love, He demonstrates to all of us, still overcoming humanity’s rejection. Because God’s everlasting plans did not include for us to be rejected or posses the inability to love. Unfortunately, in our dark or sinful nature is inflicting pain or always defending ourselves from having pain inflicted to us.

Today this "madness" pierced my heart, reminding me that unconditional love is real: it is not MYTHICAL, it is given by the Father to others to love us as He loves us.

You say, the Bible says: "cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans…" Jeremiah 17:5. And today I answer: “Love…does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things Love never fails…” 1st Cor. 13.

This love is given from God to men. Therefore it is credible that there is "someone" flesh and bone that breaks away from the subliminal defense mechanisms of generalization, and even with all human and scientific law.

Today, this psychologist surrenders and testifies that I have experienced this love because I have witnessed it in his spirit, his soul and in his body. An act of true love overcomes any therapy and experience. This ACT OF LOVE silences the storms, humiliates and tears at pride, breaks the stones into the sea, and it heals seemingly incurable wounds, an act that find in clinics, workshops and group therapies (which help and are excellent tools). Love overcomes the faith, and together they will go only if they go hand in hand.

Today I would like to express that I claim my devotion and love for the Lord, and I have been treated by Him and one of his sons, that being the one who directs this Ministry. Publicly I express that in all these "years of experience, had not seen the ability, sincerity and transparency of humane treatment and restoration with which Rev. David Barberis has been gifted by God.”

I thank God for the opportunity to meet a person with such a gift. Thank God for the treatment of love and redemption that He has made in the life of this man of God, and that I have received: I repeat, it is an honor.

So in summary: psychology and any other science that seeks to conduct proactive or operating changes, will never exceed ACTS OF LOVE, where God blesses and provides some key people to work in his Kingdom, with that unconditional love.

Thank you Rev. David Barberis for being you...

Moral: Love is not mythical, is based on acts and facts that underpin the heart causing actions and reactions that are surprising to reasoning.

Carmen Ramos

The dilemma is not loneliness, are affective deficiencies…

I have discovered something that is amazing. Perhaps others had experienced it before me. We must realize that our brothers are dying inside the walls of the churches?

We should take notice that loneliness is killing them and they smile out of shame, in order to not be excluded from the fold and add more suffering to their social exclusion, by the fact that they may be alone, divorced, separated or widowed, or suffering a mental disorder that limits their interpersonal relationships?
I could cite statistics like how many people who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ, are running in just minutes to express their loneliness or the need for company.
Excepting  scammers, approximately 1000 people within hours. And I am not translating this into financial means, which some "Christian" web pages like some dating or introduction sites will take advantage of.

As I notice in my research on this need, I notice a trend where everything points to the pastoral care for pain. In the churches we notice the "outreach" efforts to demonstrate on their web pages their love and companionship according to the fulfilment of the mandate of Jesus: that we love one another. (1 John 4:7). And in fact, neglect this principle before the needs of their own sheep and newcomers to the Church.
The difficulty manifests itself when in action, in the fruits, in the guidance of the sheep. In our congregations there are sheep that boast about how they have met their brothers needs for affection and company, and these "fattened sheep" being totally unaware of or ignoring the shortcomings of other sheep. I refer to in particular to leaders and pastors of the congregations.
The easiest thing for a leader is to respond to a sheep with physical necessity or spiritual: "pray for that..". Love, the leadership of a servant of Jesus is evident in the fruits, my dear Leaders (the first lesson I see), what we ought to reflect on is:

The amen of this whole situation is the fact that these sheep are isolated and seek refuge in the nets of social networks, and if you will allow me, I will explain to you how "the virtual wolves" mangle the feelings, the hopes, the dreams of these sheep. As a psychologist I am not justifying the behavior of these sheep, or my own. I try to explain this phenomenon, even from the perspective of my own heart. Knowing  that I will be "stoned" by my colleagues in counseling.
As I "penetrate" this virtual world, it moves me as I "listen to" expressions of pain in response to deception, dishonesty, manipulation of feelings and emotions that are manipulated by authentic emotional shortcomings. Whenever an authentic email (excepting scammers), a piece of the persons heart is exposed, a person who only wants reciprocation, or at least the opportunity to have a friendship.
This increases the frustration and the need to "hear" the “bing” or"clink" upon the arrival of emails. The saddest thing according to what this these people relay to me in our personal chats is the "no response,” the ignoring of "a virtual relationship" that was started.
Therefore my recommendation: "end the processes of conversations or emails". We know that face to face relationships could be insincere, what can we then say of a virtual relationship? If there is a commitment to friendship, strengthen it, but if that commitment is not there then extinguish it by way of honest and sincere communication.
On the other hand, do not respond lightly to a request for friendship or possible relationship. First pray and meditate on that person's profile. It could prevent "emotional damage" and let us start with the biblical principle:

“Do for others what you would like for them to for you. This is a summary of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12 NLT
For the aggrieved, he must understand that this are virtual relationships that must be carried with care in every conversation or chat. These relationships are not "your hope of salvation", they are simply a chance to fill an emotional deficiency. The strength you seek is outside of the social network scene,  that strength is in the search for inner peace through peace and love that only Jesus gives to you and in your service to others. Searching for friends or relationships in social networks, is not bad, the error comes when you become isolated from the outside world. I know that it is a defense mechanism in order to not suffer any more emotional damage that these people have already suffered or that they themselves have inflicted to others. Only that the emotional withdrawal becomes more painful over time, which is a product of the need for dependency or the need to be "be reciprocated."
I know that some will say to me: let them be they are adults. My answer: Gentlemen, loneliness, emotional gaps marked by discord do not have age, cultural, race, or socioeconomic boundaries. They are simply deficiencies, which are intrinsic in the sheep of your fold, I am speaking to the leaders.

Please, let's be responsible in our chats and emails, as we respond to someone for any difference, whatever difference there may be. Let’s not nourish "false expectations". Remember, that the presence of All Mighty God fills that void, and virtual networks are not the exception. Be an honest and humble Christian in your greetings, and replies to those who wish to be friends and be care of the scamers. There are many ways to protect your identity and you must investigate how to.

In terms of the leaders or pastors, pray and Shepard the pain of your sheep. Seek real encounters among your sheep, there are thousands of strategies, as well as prayer.
I give thanks to Jesus, our Shepherd forever.
Amen God bless you!
PS: It is important for me to tell you that I found an exceptional man who surpassed all my expectations, only by trusting in Him who sent him: Jesus.

Pastoral Counseling:
Rev. David J. Barberis
Founder

Cons. Carmen Ramos

Deputy Director

Life in a suitcase

Humans have a hard time letting go of possessions accumulated through their lifetime. It is a basic human need to feel safe and secure in a house surrounded by memories stamped on photographs, and objects that convey material acquisitions and rewards acquired through their labor.

Coupled with the competitive nature as related to the popularity they enjoy or their purchasing power. If one divests themselves in part or the whole of these material gain, we will the see drastically psychologically and socially fall.

There are people in our society who are the antithesis of the common social denominator in our society. It is those who have the call or a mission to fulfill that exceed that social logic and break the statutory canons, expressing are what is expected of an ordinary citizen.

That call is highly altruistic and requires detachment from all vestiges of “social normality.” It is those who are called who have “little sense” for the world, and who dare to bypass the social obstacles and dare to bring about changes. I call them: conquerors of souls. And I’m not exposing only the missionaries, but all those Samaritans who decided to contribute a “grain of sand” to help, support and restore the cracks left by the unconsciousness of the “socially accommodated ” such as; wrong political decisions that cause wars: starvation, neglect, racial intolerance, genocide among other attacks towards humanity. In addition there are the alterations in the ecosystem that lead to natural disasters taking their toll on innocent lives devastating villages or entire cities.

It would be very long problematic process to recruit people who are willing to deny themselves in order to bring relief to this world.

The fighters and social activists, missionaries or any common person who decide to get out of their comfort zone are the Ambassadors of good and with their actions they loosen smiles in the face of adversity, embrace the cold winter of hopeless hearts, saving lives that had been plagued by political and Social compendiums.

Jesus Christ decided to leave his heavenly area; this provision has been the ineffable way to save all mankind for centuries of centuries until His coming. The gift of salvation is accompanied by the promise to those who receive it to carry the work in His Name. Because talk is cheap, Samaritan actions require a supernatural miracle.

The missionaries or those that effect changes, are servants just as HE was. Even when Jesus had no House, property, bed, or any material or had social club memberships He never suffered from these needs, He did not have nor a saddlebag for road.

“ Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.” Luke 10:4 (NIV)

The missionaries lives are summarized in the command of Luke 10:4 of walking without possessions and finding lodging in that way. It is unimaginable to think that you can live like this until you get to do it.

Even when we don´t want to sin out of ignorance about the existence of fake missionaries, who live in mansions and profit from their humanitarian services. We will not speak of them nor discuss them in this article.

I have to confess that we have more belongings than Jesus and his disciples did, we have at least one suitcase. Yes, a suitcase. The missionary who travels the world to intervene in social conflicts or natural disasters, knows that he must pack in this suitcase the dreams, hopes, good and bad memories in smaller pockets, family relationships, yearnings and above all your convenience packed, to leave behind the power of compassion and the love of neighbor.

Jesus Christ did not have that suitcase. For this reason, it is a privilege to follow his example and teaching. His eyes, hands, feet and whole body emanated love, faith and hope for those who sought Him or were on their way. How sad it is to think that for those of us who are missionaries contain our lives in a suitcase.

However, it is not so. This suitcase is not the lack of social judgment, it is a symbolic representation of the expression of hope that all human beings would like to achieve: be free to love without social ties. To be emotionally naked and spontaneous at the same time, without prejudice. Only with a condition and a high price to pay: safety and comfort.

In that case also it represents the physical attachment that keeps you stuck to the Earth in every dark night, each room that you enjoyed without decoration or a spot where you only hear the moans, the dripping blood on the ground and people crying before a deafening bombardment that shuts off all hope and human dreams to reach those stars you see in the night.

Thinking of when he will have to pack up and go somewhere else where they need his humble talent, is the hope of all missionary. Even though the embrace and accompaniment of the Lord fill it all, that suitcase locks up promise to love Him and serve Him with all your heart. The sights and memories come to your memory; It´s all your home packed there, your photographs, food packaged in the cold dark pockets to soothe the hunger when you have the opportunity to do so.

All this thinking is the result of my trip to another city, the author was carried by its leader to the train station and she said:

_A suitcase? If you’re going for a travel long time that requires another suitcase.

I looked at her and said:

_Yes, it is a single suitcase.

She looked at me with love and I said:

_Your life is a suitcase.

Then I was so moved and felt that it was aimed at the mission that I had been assigned by Jesus Christ. My suitcase carries with me enough, she complains if I pack things I do not need and remind me that you don’t want to include more material things, since He sends provision my way:

But in any city or village where you enter, ask as to whose house is worthy, and stay with them until you are to leave.And entering into the House, greet everyone within it. And if the House be worthy, your peace come upon it; But if it be not worthy, your peace will return to you.

Matthew 10: 11-13 (KJV 1960)

The ability to adapt to different cultures, languages, physical spaces and dealing with different people and organizations, allows the missionary to expand their understanding of

human pain. It is also exposing to protect their heart because the human endurance has its limits. It is relevant that his spirit and soul be anchored in the unshakable rock of the centuries: Jesus. And that he be accompanied by the Holy Spirit and the word of God as a refreshment and a light on that dark and rugged path.

All these elements do not make heavy suitcases for the traveler, it lightens the burden, because they are packed with the divine promises, the gifts and steadfast dreams of the Ambassador of peace that crystallize when it restores the broken hearts and in the places that for others was impossible to restore.

Poem

The seeds of a missionary…

The town crier is in the square shouting:

Hey Walker! Bring the jumpy and naughty seeds

They are naive and always fight against misfortune

They are credulous and get into the luggage of the missionaries

Are like pearls who look at the sea desiring with desire

And yearning they beg the Pilgrim so that you remove them from your suitcase:

Release us, missionary we don’t care if there is but a sigh.

The Walker watches as they play

awakening their shimmery dreams

Suddenly a little tear shines from afar

They ask and feel embarrassed

The Walker’s heart has been and declares:

Let no one interrupt their wild fanfare

My friends:

They are like the wallflowers and daisies showing their beauty

They look like beans and sunflowers translucent to the senses

They are sparks of light that brighten the bitter grief of the Pilgrim

And its virtues join the fate of that cool drop

In a last minute gasp they tenaciously cling at the helm

Because they believe that the North wind will brighten their illusions

They marvel to see the advancement of the sailor

Who without deceptive bends travel the seas

He sees that his reward is watching beautiful fruits on the horizon

Lighting the flames of love for you. They say to the Walker

The traveler releases and bares his soul

Their image confirms that he must die to win

They beg him :

Bury us to die so as not to trouble your eyes

And we are born again so you can see the vines playing violins and violas

We will spread chords of hope in your wedding

You will freely travel with your whole life in a suitcase

________________________________________________________
Counselors:

Rev. David Barberis

Cons. Carmen Ramos

http://www.rayedredemption.com/

WE ARE SAVED

Pastor David Barberis sermon on the knowledge of our salvation based on the 1st Book of John.

Brothers and Sisters these sermons are available for your downloading or use along with other materials for Bible Studies, Prayer Groups or any act for His glory.

Feel free to contact us by email at info@rayed.org 

or visit our website at

www.rayedredemption.com 

Redemption by His Resurrection

We have scientific proof the Bible was inspired by God;

By simply reading some passages in the Bible we will find scientific proof that the Bible was totally inspired by God and as such, we are not only to believe it but live it. One very simple proof is the roundness of the earth. Remember being taught through our formative years in school that when Columbus sailed for the Indies in the fifteenth century everyone thought he was crazy? They truly believed he would fall over the edge of the flat earth! Here I present 4 passages from the Old Testament that prove that long before man knew the earth was round, God knew. Why? Because He created it! Let’s examine these before going on to the assurance of our Redemption.
Job 26:10 – “He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness.”
Proverbs 8:27 – “When He prepared the heaven, I was there. When He drew a circle on the face of the deep.”
Isaiah 40:22 – “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heaven like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.”
Amos 9:6 – “He who builds His layers in the sky, and has founded His strata in the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth – The Lord is His name.”

Jesus the Resurrection

Knowing that the Bible is not only inspired by God but that it is the Word of God, we must believe the words of Jesus when He tells Martha in John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” The whoever Jesus is talking about is you and me, and the question still is “Do you believe this?”

Mathew 28:1-6, Mark 16:6, and 15-20, Luke 24:4-6, John 20:19-21, and Ephesians 4:8-12 all tell us assuredly that Jesus was raised from the dead.

Philippians 3:9-10 tells us that by knowing Jesus and the power of His Resurrection, we are to faithfully ask in prayer and expect Him now to do everything He has done and more.

Jesus and the power of His Resurrection are the result of His being resurrected by the Word, and we know that we will be resurrected with a shout! For in Thessalonians 4:16 we are told “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” We should comfort each other just as Paul did the Thessalonians for with the resurrection we have redemption, and we should reassure each other with this great hope.

We enjoy a great inheritance, one that is reserved for us in heaven as we are redeemed, and that hope is guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

The Bible not only assures us of His Resurrection, but also forewarned of Jesus’ death and resurrection throughout the Old Testament. Further, Jesus Himself told his disciples and the authorities that He would rise when he said that He would rebuild the temple after 3 days.

We have evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection
Not only do we have the Prophets predictions throughout the Old Testament, but in the Gospels we find Jesus Himself telling His disciples of His death and resurrection. The apostle John tells us in John 2:22 at the very start of his book that the disciples remembered what Jesus had said to them, and that they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had said.
Jesus demonstrated His divinity by performing many miracles. He turned water into wine, walked on water, raised the dead. His resurrection was no fluke. It was but another miracle, the Miracle which is consistent with His life.
He died for us. Without His human death there could not be a resurrection. Jesus could have avoided the agonizing death that He suffered, but He had to be submitted to the cross, for He had to pay for our sins, and He knew that He would conquer death.
The Jewish authorities were never able to produce a body to contradict the resurrection of Christ. What better way to disprove the Risen Christ than to provide a body, which would have dispelled the evidence of a resurrection, a resurrection which is the hope for our eternal life.
Doubting Thomas – The disciples were not anticipating the resurrection. Two of them did not even recognize Him when walking with Him and listening to His teachings. What about Thomas who had to put his fingers in Jesus’s wounds? Just these two incidents prove the reality of the resurrection of our Lord.
Not only do the apostles testify to Jesus’ resurrection, but over five hundred people testified since Jesus appeared to them. Isn’t it ironic that out of all those people not one was found who would deny their testimony.
The early Christianity martyrs who died in the name of Jesus were witnesses to the resurrection, and they would rather die than deny it. Who would die for something they knew was a hoax.
The ever present Holy Spirit. Jesus promised us that when He would ascend, a Helper would come down to us, and that Helper, the Holy Spirit convicts us and reminds us every day that Jesus is the risen Son of God. We Christians have one privilege that no religion, belief system or even cult has and that is that we have the only LIVING GOD! For He is risen.

As we defend our knowledge of the resurrection we are in a position to respond to anyone’s objection or questions about our faith. We have evidence of that resurrection and therefore our redemption.

Redemption the Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:49 – “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.” We all have a body, each looking different, each with different strengths and weaknesses. But as physical, earthly bodies, they are all alike. Christians are promised life after death and a body each bearing the image of the heavenly man, Christ, a resurrection body.

God created us to be His eternal companions. This is our body, when we came to God it became a resurrection, no longer just a creation.

We are guaranteed that we will experience a difference between our physical bodies and the resurrected bodies
Physical Bodies – We are perishable, sown in dishonor, sown in weakness, we are natural, and we came from the dust.
Resurrection Bodies – We are imperishable, raised in glory, and power, we are Spiritual and from heaven

Adam was neither mortal nor immortal. He was eternal, a perfect human being until Satan’s temptation and the resulting sin changed it all. Our bodies completely renew themselves about every seven years. If we did not have the aging process, we would last forever. Adam lived 930 years, almost a millennium. Immortality will come to the Christian at the time of Jesus’ return, negating all that sin has brought upon us.

The Resurrection is the most natural thing that will happen to us as believers in Christ; it is the completion of the plan of redemption.

The key to the Resurrection is found in Revelation 1:5 “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” And in 1 Corinthians 15:20 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus is the first begotten. We are joint heirs with Him, and everything that He received after He resurrected from the dead, we receive.
Revelation 1:18 - “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
First John 3:2 – “Beloved now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Notice John tells us we know, there are no doubts in that statement.
John 5:29 – There are two resurrections “and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
Those who have rebelled against Christ will be resurrected as well; they will hear God’s judgment against them and will be sentenced to eternity apart from Him. There are those who wish to live well on earth, ignore God, and then see death as final rest. Jesus does not allow unbelieving people to see death as the end of it all, There will be judgment to face.

The Resurrection demonstrated that God has the power to overcome death; He raised Jesus from the dead so that we can put our faith and hope in Him. The resurrection of Jesus shows us that He lives eternally as planned from the beginning, and of course taking place at His appointed perfect time.

At the beginning of this writing I pointed to a few scriptures from the Old Testament alluding to the scientific verification of the Bible by the mentions of the roundness of the earth starting with the book of Job 26:10, a book that was written between 2,000 and 1,800 BC, 35 Centuries (3,500 years) before all of the wise people in the world warned Christopher Columbus about his impending fall off the face of our flat earth. So we know that;

We are redeemed and forgiven of our sins, for the Resurrection validates the claims that Jesus has victory over sin and therefore death. The result of sin is death and Jesus conquered it. When we believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we are saved; His resurrection is the reason for our saving faith.

1 Peter 1:18-19 – “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible thins, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” God redeemed us from the tyranny of sin with the precious blood of his own Son. We cannot escape from sin on our own, only the life of God’s Son sets us free. Therefore we know that God is very much involved in our lives. The Resurrection is proof of our Redemption. God predicted it, planned it and performed it.

Once we accept the Resurrection we achieve Redemption for whatever is thrown at us: temptations, attacks, or any other barrier the enemy tries to place in front of us. Then and only then do we have the answer. The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen




Rayed Redemption

The Plank in Our Eye

As the old Sinatra song says "Regrets, I've had a few, But then again, too few to mention"

Yes I made a whole lot of them and asked for forgiveness of the One and only that could redeem me, as for those that made some against me, you are all forgiven and in my prayers. But then again some will judge others without taking a look in the mirror and not realize that with judgment we may be alineating some from their salvation.

So as Mattew 7:5 warns us we should be careful as we point out to the speck in our fellow brothers eye while we have a plank in ours.

Rayed Redemption Ministry