Writings by Eliezer Gonzalez

The Gospel

No One Righteous

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” - Romans 3:10–12

People love to hear the second part of the Gospel (that Jesus saves), but they’re not so keen on the first part (what he saves us from). The Gospel pinpoints the problem and provides the solution. The Good News isn’t good news if it isn’t based on a solution to the human condition. You actually need to fully appreciate the desperate wickedness of your sin before you can truly appreciate the salvation that God has provided.

There is no one righteous apart from the imputed righteousness that God credits, through justification, to those who accept the gift. This is why it’s so important to understand and accept this fundamental Biblical truth: that there is no one who is righteous. No one is righteous apart from the imputed righteousness that God credits, through justification, to those who accept the gift.

The opposite, the idea that we have something to offer God in return for salvation, or that God requires any element of righteousness on our part before he can save us, is at the heart of every heresy about salvation from the start. Paul addressed this problem in his letter to the Romans, and it is as relevant to us today as it was to them. This has been a perennial perversion of the Gospel throughout the generations, because it is always in our self-centred hearts to think that we have at least some righteousness ourselves.

Spiritual Application

If no one is righteous, then we are all equally in need of a Saviour. Consider carefully how you view others whom you consider to be sinners, and especially those who have wronged you. Is your attitude always one of humble grace and mercy?

What’s Wrong with the Gospel?

… Jesus Christ of Nazareth … crucified but whom God raised from the dead … salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. - Acts 4:10,12

There must be something wrong with the Gospel. Otherwise, why would people keep adding to it all the time? Why do would so many try to reshape it to suit their own ideas?

It was simple to begin with. The Lord Jesus came back from the dead and told his followers to share the good news with everyone that he had died for the forgiveness of the sins of the world, of which his resurrection was the proof, so that all who believed in him would live forever.

For some people, the Gospel became more of a social agenda. For other’s, it became primarily a community, so if you felt good about the people you worshipped with, then you knew you were on a good thing.

For some, the Gospel became principally a set of ethical standards for living, so that if you followed them you would stand a better chance of salvation.

Perhaps it’s not the Gospel that’s wrong, but it’s us who are wrong. Perhaps what the Gospel is all about was never what we always wanted it to be about. It never was about us and our own agendas.

Listen to the words of this crucified and risen One about how this salvation is offered to all:

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. - John 3:16

To surrender to this Christ and to this message is to be right in the heart of God. Commit yourself again to the Good News of Jesus today. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God is For Us

…indeed I am for you. – Ezekiel 36:9, NKJV

God spoke these words to the people of Judah, whose city and temple had been destroyed by a cruel foreign nation. He spoke them through Ezekiel, a man who had been deported into slavery.

Even when all the evidence seemed to be to the contrary, God says, “I am for you.”

Perhaps you are struggling through a terrible divorce. Maybe you are grieving the loss of someone whom you love. Maybe your body is losing the battle against a damaging disease. Maybe you have been betrayed by those who should have cared for you. Perhaps you have just been hurt too much.

Or maybe the guilt of your sins and the failures of your past are simply overwhelming you. You may be tempted to think that God is not there.

God has a message for you today. “I am for you,” he says. Even if you can’t see it, “I am for you.” “I am for you – even if you are against me – I am still for you. This is the very heart of God’s Good News for us.

One of my favourite verses from the Old Testament is:

For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,"
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you – Isaiah 54:10, NIV

Hold on to that truth in your struggle today – God is for you, not against you. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God is For You

For, behold, I am for you… - Ezekiel 36:9, KJV

Have you ever felt like God isn’t fully on your side? Maybe after hearing a fiery sermon about sin, or the judgment, or about hell. Or maybe because that’s just what you’ve thought all your life: “If God exists, then he’s certainly not on my side!”

Here is the central message of Christianity: God is for you, even when you’re not for him. This is just as radical today as it was back then.

The Bible is full of God’s assurances that he is for us, and not against us. In my life, what keeps bringing me back to the reality of how God treats me, is how Jesus treated those who felt themselves to be far from God, but who came to him in their need. I think of people like the Samaritan woman at the well, Matthew and Zacchaeus the tax collectors, the woman who had suffered from the bleeding disorder for fourteen years, and the woman who was thrown at Jesus’ feet after having been caught in the very act of adultery. I’m thinking of myself.

God is always implacably and passionately for you (Mark 2:17). That’s what Jesus came to tell us, and to show you by the way he lived. And of course,

If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). - Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus is Never Too Busy for You

“Why are you sleeping? … Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” - Luke 22:45-46, NIV

On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane with such intensity that his sweat was like great drops of blood. Jesus was praying the most intense prayer of his life. It was then, that the Bible tells us that he found his disciples sleeping, and he again reminded them to pray.

How wonderful it is to see, that even at this most difficult of his life, our Lord had time for his disciples! He was concerned for them, because he knew that they needed to be ready for what was to come.

Jesus is never too busy for you. Even if your world is falling apart, he still has time for you.

You might think that Jesus is too busy for you today. After all, he has a universe to run (Heb 1:3). And then there are all those people around the world who pray and need his help: people who you think are probably much worthier than you.

But Jesus is never too busy for you.

Even if your world is falling apart, and even if you’re asleep and disobedient like the disciples, he still has time for you. If he wasn’t too busy at Gethsemane, then you can be certain that he’ll never be too busy for you. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Absurdity of the Cross

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. - 1 Corinthians 1:18

The Cross of Jesus is totally absurd to the thinking of the world. Paul calls it “foolishness.” The idea of the Cross was ridiculously counter-cultural in the first century, and it remains so today. No one could have invented the Christian message of the Cross if it weren’t true.

Most people ignore the questions the Cross raises, but for those who choose to face them, they are questions that demand answers:

• Why didn’t Jesus do something to avoid being crucified?

• How did people come to believe, from the beginning, that Jesus could both be God, and be killed by crucifixion?

• How did people come to believe from the beginning, that Jesus had risen from the dead, something that had never previously been believed of any man in the Graeco-Roman culture?

• How did the Christian message not only survive, but explode upon the world, given that it was so absurd according to the acceptable beliefs of the day?

These questions can only be rationally answered by accepting the message of the Cross: that it is the power of God for our salvation. Nothing explains the Cross except God’s personal intervention to save the world from sin. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Stayed on the Cross for You

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals - one on His right, the other on His left. - Luke 23:33

Why is it that movies that show the crucifixion of Jesus usually show Him being tied to the cross, in addition to the nails through His hands? That’s not really based on any historical evidence at all. Instead, it’s to make sure that the actor playing Jesus doesn’t hurt himself. It’s all about occupational health and safety.

Of course, they can’t really nail the actor to the cross! So they have to have some way to keep him up there, otherwise he’d would just fall down and injure himself. That’s why they use ropes.

But the evidence we have from history tells us that Jesus really was nailed to the cross. But it wasn’t the nails that kept Him there. The Bible tells us that the crowd there laughed at Him,

Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God! - Matthew 27:40

But Jesus stayed on the cross. However, Jesus didn’t stay on the cross because He couldn’t come down, but because He wouldn’t. What kept Him there? It was the joy of the day when you would accept His sacrifice, and He would give you everlasting life!

“Nails could never have kept Him on the cross, but Christ’s love for you is stronger than nails.” – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Are Accepted By Christ

Christ has accepted you. - Romans 15:7, CEV

People everywhere, and society in general, bombard us continually with subtle – and not-so-subtle – messages telling us that we aren’t acceptable, that we aren’t okay. To be in a relationship where you’re loved, just as we are, is to be in a place of safety, and more than that, a place where you can really know who you are, and where you can feel free to grow.

The Bible tells us about how Jesus accepted even those who no one else could accept. People who were rejected by society were acceptable to Him. Jesus came to show us what the Father is like; that the Father’s love is not the kind of watered-down business deal that we call “love” in our world – where it often means “I love you because you’re nice to me.” God’s love for you has no strings attached. The Father’s love is passionately wild and free, relentless in its power, and as endless as eternity itself.

That’s why, just as Jesus accepted the unacceptable, the Bible assures us that He has also accepted you (Romans 15:7). Our acceptance is not based on what we do, but on what He has done. That not only applies to God: it’s also how we should see our relationships with everyone else.

You have nothing to prove that Jesus Christ hasn’t already proven. - Eliezer Gonzalez

Do It For Love

He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. - Titus 3:5, NLT

I have a fear of rollercoasters. Before I got married, my mother-in-law told me that if I wanted to marry her daughter, I had to get on one of those rides. It wasn’t even a full-sized rollercoaster, but it really terrified me. It seemed impossible. But I did it for love.

You find Jesus’ teachings about how we should live summarized in the Sermon on the Mount. And if you read it, you’ll see that the teachings of Jesus cut us all down to size. It seems impossible to live the kind of life that He asks of us. I mean, things like forgiving your enemies look fine on paper, but have you ever tried actually doing it?

And that’s why, in the Bible, the Sermon on the Mount is accompanied by the story of a man with leprosy. This man comes to Jesus and begs for healing. And Jesus heals Him immediately.

He’ll do the same for you. You need Jesus to heal you, and He’ll make you clean immediately. And once He’s done that, then He’ll start to bring out in you, through His Spirit, the kind of life that He taught about.

Christ has already done what you could never do, so whatever you do now, you do for love. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Will Never Forget You

Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! - Isaiah 45:19, NLT

I was waiting for an elevator, and when it arrived, the doors opened and a family came out. First dad, and then mum, and they seemed to be in a bit of a hurry.

Suddenly I noticed that the lift wasn’t empty. In it there was this tiny little girl – maybe six or seven – and she called out to mum. I looked, and there was also a pram inside, with a baby in it.

The little girl tried to hold the doors open, but she was too small and was going to be trapped between the doors. I threw myself at the doors and held them open. By this time, the horrified mum was running back toward the lift.

Everything ended well! Mum and pram with baby were reunited. The little girl was safe.

It’s true, although it’s difficult to understand, that sometimes mothers forget their babies. Fathers forget their sons. Sisters forget their brothers. Husbands forget their wives. I’m sure that you know what it is to face a broken relationship that should never have been broken.

So if you feel forgotten in this crazy world, remember that God will never, ever forget you. Every relationship on earth can fail, but never the love of God for you. He guaranteed that at Calvary. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Christ is Your Representative

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1 John 2:2

There are some things for which you just need a representative. I had to go to court once, and I needed a good representative.

It’s impossible to understand the story of Jesus unless you understand that in everything He did, He was your representative. The Bible puts it this way. Adam and Eve were the representatives of the human race – our first representatives. But they stuffed up, and so we were ruined by our representatives. Then Jesus came into the world as our second representative, and the Bible tells us that,:

“one died for all, and therefore all died” - 2 Corinthians 5:14

In other words, you have died to sin on the cross in the person of your representative, Jesus Christ. The debt is paid. And you have also overcome death in the person of your representative, Jesus. We’ve been saved by our Representative. Christ became our representative without our even asking for it, and before we even knew it. He always intended it to be a free gift to all those who would accept His finished work on their behalf.

Christ, our Representative, has done what we could never do for ourselves, and has opened wide the gates of heaven so we might go in. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Was Heaven’s Gift

They saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. - Matthew 2:11

Unheralded, the Saviour of the World came down to us. In the quiet of the Bethlehem night, He arrived. Though heaven emptied itself as it bestowed its greatest Treasure, no room was found for Him in the inn. Though angels sang, no fanfare announced His glorious arrival.

Although none accepted Him, He accepts all. He came to live among us, to be Immanuel, “God With Us.” Yet He did not come to show us what God is like in power and glory and praise, but in hunger, thirst, loneliness, rejection and pain.

And in the very heart of that revelation to humanity was the greatest gift of all. For all of us are born to live. We strive to live until the end of our days. But He had come to die, and through His victorious death to put an end to death forever.

He had come to a world that slept in ignorance of its need of a Saviour, to be the Saviour of the world. He who deserved only to receive, came only to give. How does one honour a child like this? What gift can we give Him?

Wise men brought Him gifts. But the wisest men of all accept Him as the Gift Himself. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Grace of God Has No Terms and Conditions

This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent. - John 6:29

After Jesus had miraculously fed five thousand people and walked on the water, the people were pretty impressed with him, and so they asked him what they needed to do, to do the works that God required of them (v.28).

You know those ads on radio that say at the end, “Terms and Conditions apply”? Sometimes ads will even offer you a free gift with “Terms and Conditions”. But that’s not really a gift, is it? A gift has got to be free or it’s no gift at all.

The message of Christianity is that there are no Terms and Conditions to the grace of God.

We’re so used to Terms and Conditions, that we just assume they’re there somewhere. We can fall into the trap of thinking that if we try hard enough or live good enough lives, then we’ll get into God’s good books.

But it doesn’t work that way. The Bible says that,

… it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

There are no Terms and Conditions here, because Jesus met them all on our behalf on the Cross. All you need to do is to accept the gift, and he will do the rest. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Salvation is a Done Deal

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. - 1 Corinthians 6:10

Two thousand years ago all your sins were forgiven, you were given a free pass into the Kingdom of God, and you were granted eternal life. The New Testament tells you this again and again, including in 1 Corinthians 6:10. It is a gift you simply receive today.

Sin has been dealt with in our lives through the once-for-all and totally sufficient sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:12–14). Through it we have been made perfect forever at Calvary. Because of that, we are now being made holy.

The greatest benefit of salvation is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), who assures us that when Christ said, “Father, forgive them,” his prayer was answered. The Holy Spirit guarantees to us that when Christ cried out, “It is finished!,” it really was finished — two thousand years ago, at Calvary. He accomplished this complete salvation for the world (John 3:16). It is an historical fact. It is received by faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22). Your salvation depends on it.

We are not to wring our hands and worry about our salvation. Instead we are to celebrate and to hold on to the gift we have already been given (Hebrews 10:23). – Eliezer Gonzalez

Christ Has Won the War on Terror

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. - John 16:33, NIV

Many people everywhere are fearful as they look at the growth of extremism and terror around the world. We will never understand the great problems of this world unless we understand the spiritual nature of the war in which we are involved (Ephesians 6:12). The only one who can solve them is Jesus Christ.

Christ has already defeated the enemy, both in the world and within ourselves. The decisive battle for this world has been fought and won by Jesus at Calvary. The Cross was the battle that has ushered in the Kingdom of God. There, Christ has faced the greatest terror and overcome! That is what we announce as messengers of the Kingdom. The Gospel is the Good News that there is no terror – now or forever – for those who are in Christ.

We are not caught by surprise like those who don’t believe, and we do not despair. Christ told us that we would have trouble, but that even in the midst of it we would have peace, because he has overcome.

So, we take heart! Through Christ’s victory at the Cross, God has already won the war on terror. There’s no place for fear in your life any more, if you trust in Christ. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus is the Ultimate Evidence for God

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. - Hebrews 1:1–2, NIV

Until the coming of Jesus into the world, humanity sought for God, as if grasping at shadows. God had revealed himself, “through the prophets”; in other words, always through an intermediary and not directly.

I have a friend who gave up believing in God, and the reason he gave me was that if a loving God existed, he would have revealed himself directly to my friend. However, that’s precisely what God has done!

When people asked Jesus for evidence, he told them that he was the ultimate evidence for God:

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:8–9

God decided to come and live with us for “such a long time,” as one of us (Matthew 1:23). Isn’t that so much better than appearing in some vision or dream to an individual? Jesus did what God could do, and that included obtaining forgiveness for the entire world at Calvary, and defeating death forever.

Jesus is the ultimate evidence for God. What greater evidence could anyone ever want? – Eliezer Gonzalez

It Was Just the Beginning!

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. - Acts 1:1

Do you ever wonder what Jesus is doing right now? Where is he when you need him?

The words in the verse above are the ones with which Luke begins his second book about what Jesus did. This first book was of course the gospel that bears his name, and this second book is called the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel of Luke is about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” The Acts of the Apostles is about all that Jesus continued to do and to teach “after his suffering” (v.3).

What this means is that although his suffering for your sin (the atonement) is finished, Jesus’ work in this world or in your life is not finished yet. The story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is only the beginning of your own story, which he carefully continues to craft.

Jesus is alive! He is still at work today! His story is not a story of the past, but a story of today!

Will you allow Jesus to continue to work in your life? Accept him again as your Lord and Saviour, and thank him because he hasn’t finished with you yet, and that he has chosen you to be part of his story. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Avoid the Dull Mind of Unbelief

Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! Your dull minds keep you from believing all that the prophets talked about.” - Luke 24:25, CEB

Jesus was not talking to just the two disciples; he was talking to everyone.

Jesus was not telling them that they needed to see him in the Old Testament. He was telling them that they needed understand that he was the whole point, hero, and reason, front and centre, foundation and object, of the entire Scriptures.

Jesus was not telling them that they needed to understand the Messianic prophecies (in other words the “Messianic” parts of the Old Testament), he was telling them that they needed to understand his Cross and victory as the point of it all; in other words, Jesus was telling them that they needed to understand the Gospel.

These people had been taught to read the Scriptures and to see in them anything but the Gospel. They saw history and moral instruction; they saw intellectual theology and wisdom, but they had missed the Gospel.

It’s time to stop being foolish and dull. When you read the Bible and see the Gospel, your heart will burn within you with excitement! It’s time to read the Scriptures afresh! But we will only ever be able to understand them if the Christ of Emmaus is walking alongside us to open our eyes. Then, an exciting new beginning will come into your life! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus is the True Bread from Heaven

Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven… The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. - John 6:32–33, NLT

In Exodus 16:14–22, we read the story of how God sent manna to feed his people in the wilderness. This was bread from heaven (v.15), and it represented the grace of Jesus, the One who would come and be the true Bread from Heaven (John 6:41).

Manna was sweet. You may have experienced bitterness in your life, maybe even right now, but Jesus gives you his grace.

The children of Israel needed to collect the manna every day. You need to receive the grace of God every day.

Manna was free. No one had to work for it. You didn’t have to go looking for it. It was just there at your doorstep. All you had to do was to go and pick it up and look up to heaven and say, “Thanks!” That’s how grace comes to you. You can’t work for the gift of Christ.

Manna was enough. Everyone received what they needed, and it was always enough. The grace of God will always be more than sufficient for your needs. Some of the Children of Israel tried of find manna in their own way, with tragic consequences. It doesn’t work that way.

The Bread of Life is there for us every day, free, and always meets our needs. It’s what gives us true life. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Lamb is the Temple

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. - Revelation 21:22

The Jewish people in Jesus’ day gave tremendous importance to the Jerusalem temple. They believed that the temple on earth connected worshippers with the true temple, which was in heaven. The New Testament also tells us of this heavenly temple that is superior to the earthly.

But then Jesus came, and in his very first recorded public announcement, he announced himself as not only being greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6), but indeed, as the true temple Himself (John 2:19-21)!

• The temple is where the glory of God is revealed. Jesus is God’s greatest revelation (John 17:22; Hebrews 1:1–3).

• The temple is where we learn the things of God. We learn them from Christ’s words and through his works (Matthew 11:29).

• The temple is where God is worshipped. Where better to worship than at Jesus’ feet? (Philippians 2:9–10).

• The temple is where atonement is made for sin. It was done in Christ’s own body (1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 1:3).

• The temple is where we find mercy. We are all invited to find mercy in the loving heart of Jesus (Matthew 11:28; Revelation 22:17).

The prophet says that he did not see a temple in the New Jerusalem, because Jesus is the Temple. He always was (Acts 7:48; 1 Kings 8:27). – Eliezer Gonzalez

We Can’t Even Know Half of What Awaits

Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. - 1 Corinthians 13:12

The Apostle Paul, who claims to have visited Paradise (2 Corinthians 12:1–4) is also the same person who tells us that trying to understand what heaven is like is like looking into an ancient mirror: imperfect reflections of the reality. Mirrors in Roman times were mainly made from polished metal. When the prophets of the Bible talk about heaven, they are simply struggling to put into words what can never be described in human language.

Marco Polo was urged by his detractors to recant—to withdraw the stories he had told about China and the lands of the Far East. I can imagine the dying Marco grabbing the collars of those people with his hands and pulling them down near his face so that they could hear what he had to say. And then the dying explorer said,

“I have not told half of what I saw.”

The apostle Paul encourages us with these words which he quotes from Isaiah 64:4,

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

If you have chosen Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, hang on tight… it’s going to be a wonderful ride beyond your wildest dreams! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Suffering Will End

Affliction will not rise up a second time. - Nahum 1:9, NKJV

One question that has fascinated me for many years is this: if God is going to wipe sin and suffering out, how do we know that it won’t rise up again? The Bible says that there will be peace and joy forever.

There can be no love without free will. And the existence of free will means that, given endless time, there is always a possibility that sin will emerge again. That’s if we look strictly at probabilities. So why is it that God can guarantee that he will make an end of evil and suffering forever? (See also, for example, Revelation 21:4).

There must, therefore, be something that acts through free will as an incentive never, ever to sin again. While some Christians like to use hell as the great motivator for loyalty to God, it cannot be the fear of hell that will keep the universe free of sin forever. It isn’t a sufficiently big motivator. Even from human psychology, we know that negative rewards are never as powerful as positive incentives.

It is the full revelation of the character of the boundless love of God at Calvary that will forever protect the universe from sin. As 1 John 3:16 (NIV) says:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

• Eliezer Gonzalez

You Will Shine Like the Sun

The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. - Matthew 13:43, NIV

Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Weeds (Matthew 13:24–30) ends with the beautiful promise that the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom (Matthew 13:43).

In this life, it isn’t easy to distinguish the righteous from the unrighteous. Not all who are in church are righteous, and perhaps not all who are outside of church are unrighteous. There is deception on every side. The good and the bad seed grow up together. That’s what Jesus’ parable says.

But, in the age to come, the righteous will shine like the sun. No one who sees the righteous will ever doubt that they belong to God. What is not always evident to others today will be forever made clear. When Jesus said this, he was thinking of these words of the prophet Daniel:

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever (Daniel 12:2–3).

The righteous are those who are not only righteous themselves, but who lead others to righteousness. They have discovered the source of righteousness, Jesus Christ the Righteous (1 John 2:1), and they point others to him.

Very soon, the Lord will make it clear who are his and who are not (1 John 3:2). - Eliezer Gonzalez

Back to top of: The Gospel

Forgiveness

The Man Who Wouldn’t Accept Forgiveness

The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go - Matthew 18:27

I have always wondered about what the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18. Here is a man who is seemingly forgiven but apparently loses his forgiveness when he fails to forgive another.

This parable may be all about a man who would not accept the forgiveness of God.

This man owed an unimaginably large sum to his master. He is dragged before the master, and the parable says that he begged to be given a chance:

the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ - Matthew 18:26

The master then goes way beyond what his servant asks, and cancels the entire debt!

Then, when immediately following this, the servant failed to forgive his fellow servant a much smaller debt, the master recalls him and makes him liable for the entire debt. (v.34).

The fact that this servant would not forgive another is the clear demonstration that he had never accepted his master’s forgiveness in the first place. Not only had he not understood it, but he did not accept it, and he consequently failed to pass it on.

The way we forgive others is a reflection of whether we have accepted the forgiveness of our sins by God. One of the most important questions we will ever need to answer is whether we have accepted the forgiveness of our sins in Christ.

Have you? Who do you need to forgive whole-heartedly today? – Eliezer Gonzalez

Don’t Stub Your Toe

One of the most excruciating everyday pains one can feel is when you stub your toe against something. Although it’s been a while since I did that last, I still remember the agony. You’d be crazy to kick that thing again in the hope that the pain would go away, wouldn’t you?

This reminds me of the expression “to kick against the pricks” from the Bible.

“To kick against the pricks” was a familiar proverb at the time when the New Testament of the Bible was written. It is commonly associated with the story of the conversion of the apostle Paul. If you don’t know it, it’s because most modern translations don’t have it; however it is reflected in the King James Version of Acts 9:5:

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.’

This is a reference to how farmers in ancient times would use an ox goad to prod the oxen when plowing. The goad was a stick with a pointed piece of iron on its tip. The sharp iron was “the prick.” If the ox kicked against the goad, that was what it meant to “kick against the prick.” The more the ox rebelled, the more that it suffered.

I have found this to be true in my life. The truth about the Gospel is that I have kicked against the pricks all my life, until I have finally understood the meaning of what Paul finally also understood, that:

In Him [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. – Ephesians 1:7.

Jesus challenges you also. He says to you, “It’s hard to kick against the pricks, isn’t it?” Perhaps it’s time to stop and rest. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Bookkeeping Christianity

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not have life – 1 John 5:12

Christianity can get complicated if you allow it. Take, for example, the questions, “If once you accepted the grace and forgiveness of Christ into your life, and then you reject salvation, for what sins will you perish? Will they include the sins that were once forgiven?”

Dissecting matters in that way could be called “bookkeeping Christianity.” It’s not New Testament Christianity. The only question that matters is if we have accepted the love of the Father. If you have, then nothing else matters.

The forgiveness that God offers us is real! God blots out our transgressions, he remembers them no more (Isaiah 43:25), he casts them into the depths of the sea! (Micah 7:19).

Too often we love to do bookkeeping about our own salvation, and especially about the salvation of others. But God simplifies everything.

This is the most important question you will ever be asked: Do you have the Son?

If you do, then let’s stop doing bookkeeping and let’s start living today! – Eliezer Gonzalez

God’s Undo Button

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

I’ve experienced the sheer panic – that sudden sinking feeling in your gut – when you’ve pressed “send” on an email that should never have been sent. Oops! If only there had been a way to recall it! We’ve probably all been there and done that at some stage, wishing for an “undo” button.

But God has a far better “undo” option than anything on your computer.

At the Cross, the one who was God With Us cried out:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

With those words, forgiveness and perfection of life flowed out from Calvary over the whole world, to be freely received by all those who would accept the gift. That’s God’s “undo” option.

There’s a lot of things I wish could just go away in my life – choices I’ve made, and things I’ve said and done. I wish I could have lived a better life. But the Bible says that:

God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21

Because of Jesus, all your yesterdays can be undone, and all your tomorrows can overflow with joy. – Eliezer Gonzalez

In the Centre of God’s Love

I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself – Jeremiah 31:3

I’m fortunate that I’ve never been in one of those huge cyclones that hit in North Queensland, or in one of those tornadoes in the US. The closest I’ve ever come was when I was a kid growing up in Sydney, and I remember a mini-cyclone that hit the city.

I was out on the street, and there was wind blowing everywhere; then suddenly there was silence and peace as the sky directly above me went still, while the dark clouds raged around. I didn’t know it, but I was in right in the centre of the storm.

Right now you are in the centre of that everlasting love, however much a failure you may feel. No Matthewer how stormy your life might be, you can have peace.

God’s forgiveness is unbounded. He says:

“How can I give you up? I have loved you with an everlasting love. Come to me, and I will give you rest. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Des Ford writes that, “There is infinite joy in a moment when you accept God’s acceptance of you.” Believe it and receive it. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Better Than Anything You Could Imagine

O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. - Psalm 86:5

I couldn’t have dreamt up God, not in a million years!

No atheist could conceive of a God as good, as merciful, as compassionate, and as loving, as the God of the Bible, and as the God who has revealed himself to you and me. No mind that was formed as the result of the random collisions of molecules over millions of years could dream up such pure goodness as God is.

And more, no religion that has ever existed on the face of the earth has ever conceived of such a God as is revealed in Jesus Christ. Other religions can conceive of perfection, justice, and law, but never have they conceived of such a compassionate love as the story of Jesus reveals. As Martin Luther King said,

When I look at myself I wonder how I could ever be saved.

When I look at God I wonder how I could ever be lost.

For me, the fact that the goodness of the character of God is so far beyond what my mind can imagine is evidence for the existence of God. He’s a God who’s worthy of your love, and to whom you can entrust your life. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Best Spoiler Ever

Take heart! I have overcome the world. - John 16:33

Don’t you hate it when someone spoils the end of a movie for you! Especially when there’s a massive twist right at the end. There’s nothing worse! That’s why spoilers usually come with a warning, because people would rather not know them.

But here’s a spoiler alert you’ll want to know! The spoiler that God gives to those of us who are doing life on earth, is one that makes getting to the end all worthwhile. It’s found clearly in the Bible, and it’s all good news!

Here it is: Jesus wins! It’s not just some future promise, but a present reality to hold on to. Jesus never said “I will win.” Instead, he says, “Take heart! I have overcome the world.” When Jesus died on the Cross, he snatched victory over suffering and pain and death. And here is his promise:

I will wipe every tear from your eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Because we know that our sins have been forgiven, and we know that we have been given eternal life, we can face whatever life throws at us now. Most of all, you can know with confidence that God’s tomorrows will always be better than your todays. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How Forgiveness Works in the Kingdom

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. - Ephesians 4:32

I once owed a friend a whole lot of money, and I knew that I couldn’t pay it back. I lay awake at night tossing and turning, and just thinking about it. What did this friend do? He signed a paper called a “debt forgiveness” and he gave it to me, so that I wouldn’t worry about it again. I slept better after that!

Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who owed an impossible amount of money (Matthew 18:23–35). And the man to whom he owed it, incredibly forgave him the whole debt! But then the man in the story failed to forgive another guy who owed him only a few dollars.

Every one of us has failed to live the kind of way that God wants us to live. It’s as if we owed a debt to God. We are all sinners.

But that’s not the worst thing in the world. The worst thing in the world is if we reject the forgiveness that God offers us through Jesus Christ. And how we treat others will show whether we have accepted or rejected God’s forgiveness.

And that’s the moral of Jesus’ story: in the Kingdom of Heaven, forgiven people forgive. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God is Not a Heavenly Bookkeeper

While he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. - Luke 15:20

I’m glad the father in Jesus’ story about the prodigal son wasn’t a bookkeeper, because he represents what God is like.

Years ago, I worked as a real estate agent. One day I wrote a contract for the sale of a house, and I added an extra zero to the price! It wasn’t intentional. It’s just that numbers are not my particular talent. Thankfully my mistake was picked up by the solicitor and no harm was done other than to my ego.

That’s why I love accountants and bookkeepers. I mean, where would I be without them!

But my question is this: is God is some kind of bookkeeper up in heaven, balancing good deeds against bad deeds?

The New Testament teaches us that there is only one question that matters. Have you accepted the love of the Father? The Father has shown us His love by giving us His Son, Jesus Christ.

Sometimes Christians like to do some bookkeeping on their own salvation, and even on others. But there’s no place for that kind of bookkeeping in Christianity.

The Bible tells us that,

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not have life. – 1 John 5:12

If you have the Son, nothing else matters. It really is that simple! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Can Forgive Even Your Greatest Sin

Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they do. - Luke 23:34

Because He died for the sins of the world, Jesus wasn’t thinking just of the people who had physically crucified Him. He was thinking of a lost and broken world. He wasn’t thinking of Himself. He was thinking of you.

It’s only human to sometimes doubt God, and to question whether He even thinks about us. At those times, remember Christ’s words at Calvary. If Christ thought about you then, surely He is thinking about you now.

When Jesus asks the Father to forgive us, the reason that He gives is, “for they don’t know what they do.”

However, in the days before His death, Jesus had in effect told the Jews that they knew what they were doing. Their sin was all the greater because they had been given light and they claimed to understand it (e.g. John 9:35-41). How could He now forgive them?

Like us, those who crucified Him knew in part, and in part they didn’t know. But Christ’s great heart of love looks with mercy on our ignorance and weakness, in His willingness to forgive even the greatest of all sins (Mark 3:28). How is this possible? Because the Cross brings together the greatest sin (2 Cor 5:21), and the greatest love – and love won. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How David Learnt Forgiveness

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. - Psalm 51:1–2 NIV

When David, the future king of Israel, was young, he thought he understood about forgiveness, but he didn’t. Like so many of us, he learnt forgiveness the hard way. David learnt his need of forgiveness when later in life he awoke one day and realised what he had become – a lustful adulterer and a vile murder. In his great Psalm of repentance he cried out to God,

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Psalm 51

David learnt the cost of forgiveness when, later, his own son rebelled against him. On learning of Absalom’s death,

The king was overcome with emotion. He went up to the room over the gateway and burst into tears. And as he went, he cried, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son.” 2 Samuel 18:33 NLT

From David’s life we learn the two great lessons of forgiveness: how free it is from God, and how costly it was to God. We are forgiven only because of God’s mercy and compassion. We are forgiven because God gave us his one and only Son, who died at Calvary.

There is nothing more important in life than learning your need of forgiveness, and its cost. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How Moses Learnt Forgiveness

But now, please forgive their sin — but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written. - Exodus 32:32, NIV

The hardest lesson that the great men and women of God have always had to learn is the lesson of forgiveness: what it means to be forgiven, and what it means to forgive. Moses learnt that lesson, like all of us do, the hard way.

At the foot of Mount Sinai, as God is about to wipe out the idolatrous and rebellious people of Israel, Moses interposes his own life between the people and God, and intercedes for them. At the foot of Sinai, Moses learnt that forgiveness has a cost.

Then forty years later, Moses, now an old man, in his anger at the people of Israel, strikes the rock instead of speaking to it as the Lord had commanded. There at the borders of Canaan, Moses learnt that he would always need the forgiveness of God himself, no matter how long he had followed him.

Forgiveness has a cost: the life of the Son of God. And you will need forgiveness for as long as you live. When you learn these lessons of forgiveness, they transform your life. Then God will also be able to say of you, as he said of Moses, that you are the meekest, most humble person on earth (Numbers 12:3). The lessons of forgiveness are the ones that open the gates of Paradise. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Longest Silence

O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still. - Psalm 83:1, NASB

The longest silence was when that woman who was a foreigner followed Jesus along the road, crying out,

Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! Matthew 15:22

The longest silence was when the crowd cried for the blood of the immoral woman thrown at Jesus’ feet. The longest silence was when they had brutally nailed Jesus to the timbers, and they raised him up high. What would he say?

“Father, forgive them, for they know now what they do.” Luke 23:34

There will be times when you also will go through what seems to be your own time of ‘longest silence’, and when it seems that God is absent, and you are alone in that silence. But it is not God who is silent; it’s just our hearts that need tuning to his frequency of love. Listen to it now:

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name. John 1:12

The longest silence of all was that Friday when they placed him in a tomb behind a rock. They thought he would never again be heard. But on that Sunday the whole world heard his voice.

You are forgiven. You are accepted. You are loved. You are his. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God Focuses on the Heart

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Matthew 6:21

It’s natural for us to focus on the externals—things we can see, hear, touch, and try to control. However, the teachings of Jesus overwhelmingly focus on the heart. Jesus directly and consistently rebuked those whose religious teachings were focused on the externals.

Jesus knew that a transformed heart leads to a transformed life, and never the other way around. He taught a Gospel that emphasised God’s radical love for his wayward children. It is a love that can melt and transform the hardest heart. From such a heart will come the kind of Kingdom life that pleases God.

Without a radical transformation of the heart, the externals are meaningless, and even dangerous in the extreme. To focus on any other kind of “gospel” is to be like the white-washed sepulchres of the Pharisees — seemingly nice and shiny on the outside, but putrid and stinking of corruption on the inside (Matthew 23:27–28).

Jesus was very clear that what defiles us is not the externals, but those things that come out from our hearts (Matthew 15:1–20; Matthew 23:27–28).

If your heart is right with God, the rest will follow. If it isn’t, then you will struggle all your life, attempting to live a life that you will never be able to live. And you will lose your soul. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Forgiveness is The Heart of the Gospel

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. - Ephesians 1:7–8

Forgiveness is the beating heart of the Gospel. It is what pumps its life-giving power throughout the world. In fact, the Gospel is all about forgiveness. Everything else that the Gospel is about stems from forgiveness.

It’s taken me a long time to realise this truth. That’s because all of my religious experience was about the Gospel being something difficult to understand. And it’s because all my life I was taught that we get what we deserve. Well, we don’t. Not from God when we are under his grace.

I used to think that the Bible was all about the grandest sweep of history, and grand philosophy and prophecy, and about advice about how to live. But while all those things are there, that’s not what the Bible is all about. The Bible, from the beginning to the end, is all about God’s forgiving grace (Isaiah 53; Luke 1:76–78; 3:1–3; Acts 2:38; 13:38–40).

Let’s not complicate the Gospel. We need to see afresh the sacrificial love of Christ, so that we can understand that what we need is forgiveness, and then we need to simply accept it as God’s gracious gift. And everything else just flows from there. – Eliezer Gonzalez

A Different Kind of Love

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

What’s your experience of love been? If love were a shop, would you go there again?

Beyond the fairy-tale illusions of childhood, most people only ever know love as a constant tug-of-war in which you only ever feel “loved” if you give in return. And too often our hearts are crushed underfoot.

But all models of human love are basically flawed. Calvary is God’s earth-shattering revelation of a new reality that he brings into the world. The apostle Paul describes it in Romans 5:8. The word “but” means that this is different to any other kind of love.

The word “demonstrates” means that God doesn’t just tell us about his love. He has demonstrated it. The love of God has been demonstrated as an historical and relational reality, so that none can doubt it, and all can experience it.

The phrase “his own love” means that this love is as elevated from all human forms of love as the furthest stars are from the earth. God demonstrated it at Calvary. God didn’t wait until we changed our lives, improved our characters or reformed ourselves. While we were still sinners, he died for us. The shepherd went out to look for his lost sheep, the father of the prodigal ran down the road to welcome us home.

That’s true love. – Eliezer Gonzalez

No One Can Accuse You

Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one. - Romans 8:33–34

All of us have things in our past that could be brought up to accuse us. Some of these might be things that are known publicly. Others might be things that no one knows about.

Imagine if you could go to bed tonight, and wake up tomorrow knowing that nobody, anywhere, could accuse you of anything at all. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful feeling, the start of a brand-new life? You can. In fact, you can have that reality right now!

Remember the story of the woman caught in the very act of adultery (John 8:1–11)? What she had done in secret was now her public shame! But that one act was only a tiny moment in a life that had been filled with broken dreams, loss, and betrayal.

In that story, there were many who could accuse her, but not Jesus Christ. The Word of God exhausts the possibilities of human language to assure you that if you trust in Jesus, then no one – absolutely no one – will ever be able to accuse you.

In Romans 8, Paul exhausts the possibilities of human language to tell you that in Christ, you are free, and no one can accuse you. You can have peace with God, peace with others, and peace within yourself. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Kissing Jesus

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. - Luke 7:36-38

In Jesus’ culture, it was common for men to display affection for each other, such as greeting each other with a kiss. It’s still the custom in Middle Eastern and many European cultures today.

But there are only two people the Bible mentions who actually kissed Jesus: Mary and Judas. Mary gave Jesus a kiss of loving self-sacrifice, by kissing his feet that she had anointed them with perfume (Luke 7:38), but Judas gave a kiss of betrayal in Gethsemane (Mark 14:44).

It is no coincidence that the Greek word for worship springs from a root related to the word “kiss.” Psalm 2:12, which points to the coming Messiah, tells us to,

Kiss the Son – Psalm 2:12.

The truth is that we will all stand before him. The question is, when we see him, with what kiss will we greet him? Will we fall at his feet and shower them with kisses like Mary, or will it be the cold and formal kiss of betrayal?

The world greeted Jesus at the Cross with nails and thorns, and he replied with arms spread wide in forgiving love. It was there that Jesus kissed the world with peace:

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Psalm 85:10

– Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Is Right Here With You

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” - John 20:14

What is the most important question in the world? It is this one: “Who are you looking for?” Everyone is looking for someone.

You see, most of us think that we are looking for things, because if we find those things then they will make us happy. They won’t. Jesus goes to the heart of the matter. God knows that the right answers can only be found when we ask the right questions. God knows that you and I – all of humanity, is looking for someone, not something. And that someone is Jesus himself.

At the tomb, Mary was distraught because she doesn’t know where Jesus is. She couldn’t be more wrong, because the one she was looking for was standing right behind her all the time. She simply didn’t recognise him. She was blinded by her tears.

Too often in our times of trouble, we wonder where Jesus is. We plead with God, “Where are you, Jesus? You promised to be with me always! Where are you now, when I need you?” And blinded, like Mary, by our tears, we fail to recognise that Jesus was with us all along.

The rebuke of the Lord is the gentlest and most beautiful that could ever be imagined. Jesus just says your name with a love that has borne a thousand wounds. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Those Who Stand at the Cross Can’t Be Easily Offended

…the offense of the cross… - Galatians 5:11

Do you know someone who’s easily offended? Perhaps it’s you and me. And if we are among this group, then we should consider the offense of the Cross. For the offense of the cross is not Christ’s offense, it is your offense against Christ. It was an immoral, unjust, depraved offense. You were its perpetrator, Christ the victim, yet he bore it for you.

The rocky hilltop of Calvary is vast enough to encompass the whole world, yet it is not large enough to accommodate the easily offended. The gospel is based on understanding the one’s own badness, and God’s own goodness. Either of these principles is sufficient to disqualify us from ever being easily offended again.

The offense of the cross is so vast that is swallows up all other offenses; yes, even those for which we have borne a grudge for years. It is all vanity and pettiness in the shadow of the cross.

The only ones who can rightfully claim to have understood the grace of God are those who cannot withhold it from others in their own lives. The Cross means forgiveness for others should flow from our hearts even in the midst of the greatest offense.

When you are tempted to be easily offended, consider the offense of the cross, and never be offended again. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Lord Has Provided

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” - Genesis 22:7–8

The lesson that Abraham learned when God called him to sacrifice his son was that God will provide. For a sacrifice, three things were required. Wood, a fire, and a lamb. All of these things were usually carried with them. Most importantly, there could not be a sacrifice without a lamb.

On his journey with his father Abraham, Isaac wondered where the lamb was. After God had indeed provided a lamb for the sacrifice, the faithfulness of God so impressed Abraham, that he called the place, Jehovah-jireh, which means, “The Lord Will Provide” (v.14).

Abraham’s journey to the place where God called him to sacrifice his son is a metaphor of the history of the God’s faithful men and women since the fall. The journey started in sadness and confusion, but it continued in faith, that God would provide a way out – a sacrifice.

The great theme of the Old Testament is the promise that “The Lord Will Provide,” and the victorious cry of the New Testament is “The Lord Has Provided!” (Rom 8:32).

You and I are living not in the time of shadowy, unrealised hopes, but in the time of its glorious fulfilment because of the cross and resurrection of Christ. Truly, the Lord has provided! We have not been left alone in confusion and helplessness (Psalm 23). – Eliezer Gonzalez

Back to top of: Forgiveness

Challenges of Life

God Wants to Be Real To You

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. – 1 John 5:14

You never really know someone until you meet them and speak with them, do you? I was born in Switzerland and grew up in Australia. I always knew that I had many relatives in Spain, where my parents came from, but until I met them, they weren’t “real” to me. A similar thing happened with Samuel:

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him… The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening” – 1 Samuel 3:7,10

Samuel didn’t know God until he spoke with him. Similarly, Job says:

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you – Job 42:5

Prayer is real communication with God. When you speak with him, he speaks to your heart in ways that the spiritual person will hear and understand.

God has a million ways of telling you he loves you. All you need to do is listen. There are many strong, logical arguments and good evidence to support the existence of God, but God won’t be “real” to you until you’ve met him.

How do I know that God exists? I was just speaking with him this morning. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Only Life That Satisfies

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. - John 1:4

If we believe that God exists, then we can also predict that, apart from him, humanity will have a restless desire for something more. Pascal wrote of how:

“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man, and only God can fill it.”

C.S. Lewis said it like this,

Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food… If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

Many atheists have also recognized the existence of a restless, unfulfilled desire for something more. For example, the atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell acknowledged that:

“The centre of me is always and eternally a terrible pain - a curious wild pain - a searching for something beyond what the world contains.”

Our secular culture is relentless in its failed pursuit of fulfillment apart from God. All of this points to the truth of the ancient words:

This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. - John 17:3

Only in Christ can you find true life; anything else is worthless. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God Puts Beauty in Your Life

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. - Ecclesiastes 3:11

I love the magnificent beauty of a sunset over the ocean. I live on the east coast of Australia so we don’t get sunsets over the ocean, but I will never forget my stay in Chile in 1997, when I would rush to the seashore to catch the sunset at every opportunity I could get.

I love the fragile beauty of a rose, and the fragrance that it shares. I’m not much of a gardener, but I did grow a red rose bush some years ago. I was so excited to get several perfect roses, and after that the rose bush died!

I love the powerful beauty of the choral music of the Baroque composers like Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi. It simply transports me to another place that is far from the everyday.

I’m sure you have your own list of beautiful things that you love also.

Why do we practically universally recognize what is beautiful? Why do we recognize beauty even when we haven’t seen it before, and couldn’t even have described it before? Where does this come from? Science can’t properly explain beauty, because this is something beyond science. This has to do with a Mind beyond our own.

Beauty comes from the One who is altogether beautiful, and the author of all that is good. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Handles Your Storms

He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. - Mark 4:39

You’ve heard of storm chasers, haven’t you? They’re the people who instead of running away from massive storms, jump in their cars and drive toward them!

I reckon Jesus Christ is the ultimate Storm Chaser. He never avoided the storms, at his birth, during his life, and at his death. Wherever he went, Jesus infuriated the self-righteous, the oppressors, and the unmerciful. Jesus never sought out controversy for his own sake either, but for the sake of the lost, the downtrodden, and the oppressed.

But more than that, Jesus died in the midst of a storm. There was darkness and an earthquake, but those were just representations of the greater storm that raged there. The Cross was the greatest storm that ever raged, between good and evil, love and hatred. It was the eye of the storm for your soul – and Jesus won!

You don’t have to chase storms in your life. You can bet they’ll come to you.

But when you’re feeling like you’re in the eye of the storm, remember that Jesus has already handled it for you! After all, Jesus has already handled death and resurrection for you. What more could you need than Jesus? You’re not alone. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How Not To Miss Your Flight

Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. - Matthew 25:34

I once missed a flight because I didn’t read the departure time on my ticket. It’s not what I had done that got me in trouble, instead it’s what I hadn’t done that was the problem. I felt like a goat.

Jesus told a story about sheep and goats. The sheep are the people who get His tick of approval, and they hear those great words above spoken to them by the King.

But the goats don’t get His tick of approval at all. The problem with the goats is not what they did, but what they didn’t do. They didn’t feed the hungry, care for the sick, and look after the most vulnerable people around them.

Too many people think that what they do will stop them from being lost, but when you look at life through this story of Jesus, none of us have much to boast about. All of us fail to do much that we should do.

You are lost, not just by what you’ve done, but also by what you haven’t done. You are saved, not what you’ve done, but by what Christ alone has done.

This should cause us to throw ourselves completely into the arms of our loving Saviour, because you wouldn’t want to miss your flight! – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Secret to Happiness

Give “joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light”. - Colossians 1:12

Many people pursue happiness as the object of life. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote,

Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it.

The Bible tells us what we must pursue in order to achieve happiness. Happiness only comes as we accept God’s grace.

The word “grace” comes from a Greek word xaris. This word comes from a root meaning “to be joyful,” and so the word “grace” is always associated with happiness and joy.

Grace means that God is for us even when we are against Him. It refers to the active love of God streaming over us as continually and as generously as the sunshine from the sun. Grace is God’s unimaginable generosity.

Happiness is not found in what we do, but in trusting in God’s goodness. It’s not in what we take, but in how much we share. It’s not in what we get from others, but in what we freely receive from God. It’s not in our circumstances, but in what God provides.

Receive the grace of God, and happiness undreamed of will come your way. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God Will Fill You To Overflowing

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

Did you know that the universe is 99.999% empty space? And that means our bodies as well. That means that if you took away all of the space between the atoms in our bodies, the whole human race would take up the space of a sugar cube. That’s because our bodies are 99.999% empty space.

I’m sure that we have all felt empty at some stage or another, and now you know why!

It makes you wonder what there is about people to love. God knows the answer, literally, because He tells us through the Bible that we are deeply, desperately, and continuously loved. If death were the end of it all, then that’s all we are – just empty space. But death isn’t the end! The Bible says that in God’s

“great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” – 1 Peter 1:3.

Because Jesus has overcome death, when you believe in Him, He fills you with new life that’s full of joy and hope and purpose. He fills you with eternity.

When you trust in Him, God fills you to overflowing, through the Holy Spirit, with joy and peace. God fills all your empty spaces and turns them into joy. He fills you with eternity. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Cross Was Not The End

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. - Acts 1:1

The words in the verse above are the ones with which Luke begins his second book about what Jesus did. This first book was of course the gospel that bears his name, and this second book is called the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel of Luke is about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” The Acts of the Apostles is about all that Jesus continued to do and to teach “after His suffering” (v.3).

What this means is that although His suffering for your sin (the atonement) is finished, Jesus’ work in this world and in your life is not finished yet. The story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is only the beginning of your own story, which He carefully continues to craft.

Jesus is alive! He is still at work today! His story is not a story of the past, but a story of today and forever! The Cross was not the end; it was only the beginning. In the same way, Jesus hasn’t finished with you yet! He has chosen you to be part of His story.

In God’s story, the things that seem to be the end are only the beginning, and they lead to eternal glory. – Eliezer Gonzalez

There’s No Need to Wait

What are you waiting for? … Have your sins washed away by calling on the Name of the Lord. - Acts 22:16, NLT

It was a long wait when that woman who was a foreigner followed Jesus along the road, crying out:

Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! - Matthew 15:22

For a time, He answered her not a word.

It was a long wait when the crowd cried for the blood of the immoral woman thrown at Jesus’ feet. And He remained silent while He wrote on the ground (John 8:6–7). And all the while, the woman wondered.

It was a long wait was when they had brutally nailed Jesus to the timbers, and they raised Him up high. What would He say?

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. - Luke 23:34

During your life, you will go through times of apparent silence. But it is not God who is silent; it’s just our hearts that need tuning to His frequency of love. Listen to it now. The longest silence occurred on that Friday when they placed Him in a tomb behind a rock. They thought He would never again be heard. But on the Sunday, the whole world heard His voice.

You are forgiven. You are accepted. You are His. There’s no longer any need to wait. – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Will Be Satisfied in the Kingdom of God

I am the bread of life: He that comes to me shall never hunger; and He that believes on me shall never thirst. - John 6:35

I once saw two photos. In the first one, all the possessions of a typical family in the USA were piled up on their front lawn, and it was an enormous pile! In the second photo, all the possessions of a typical family in the third world were spread out on a single blanket.

At the end of their lives, most people wish that they could have another day, week, or even another minute of time with their loved ones. What matters most is not the stuff, but the people. The trap of falling into the rat race is that you never become satisfied. It tells you that you were never chasing the right thing to start with.

That’s why Jesus tells us firstly who He is: He is the “bread of life”; the Source. And then Jesus tells us what He can do for us: “he that comes to Me shall never hunger; and he that believes on Me shall never thirst.” Christ is the One who satisfies, and nothing else will do.

Jesus tells us to put Him and His Kingdom first, and then we’ll have everything we need, and more. Because in His Kingdom, there’s always much more than enough. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Kingdom of Heaven is Not Just a Future Hope

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. - John 10:10, NLT

Jesus told a story about ten young ladies who were invited to a wedding (Matt 25:1–13). Five of them only focused on the future wedding, and the other five were also focused on what they needed to be doing right now.

The five who were focused on the future didn’t bring enough oil for their lamps while they waited. The other five were just as excited about the wedding, but their joy spilt over into their present, so that they remembered to bring enough oil. The Bridegroom surprised them all!

There’s a kind of Christian who is always miserable and gloomy, and all that they do is look forward to the better times that God will bring. Some of them try to trace out every detail of Bible prophecy, to work out exactly how the end will come. But the Bridegroom will surprise us all.

Jesus has promised us that things will be better in the future. But if that’s all we have, and we are just waiting in misery for that day, then we are like those girls without oil. The Kingdom of Heaven is not alone a future hope, but a present reality.

Only those who live profitably and joyfully in Christ’s Kingdom now will ever come to see the Kingdom of Glory. – Eliezer Gonzalez

There’s No Difference Between Us in the Kingdom

There is no difference … the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him. - Romans 10:12

Albert Einstein once said, “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” Although we’re all individuals, there’s some good advice here.

I’ve been to a few countries around the world and made friends with lots of different kinds of people. And one thing that I have learnt is that people everywhere are basically all the same. We all have the same dreams, the same things make us happy, and the same things make us sad.

The Bible also tells us that there’s basically no difference between us all. In fact there’s two verses that talk about this. One says,

“There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:22-23

That’s bad news. The other verse says,

“There is no difference … the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him.” Romans 10:12

And that’s really good news!

The blessing that the Lord has for us all is the forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life. This is His gift for all who believe, and it is that same gift that underscores our equality in the Kingdom of Heaven. There are no first or second-class seats at the foot of the Cross. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Wants To Focus on Our Hearts

These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. - Matthew 15:8

There’s nothing more annoying than a car that won’t start when you need it to. It happened to me recently with a car I bought that seemed a real bargain. It’s easy to paint a dodgy car up and make it look good, while not bothering to fix it on the inside, where it matters most.

Although we try and try, we’re still not the husbands, the wives, the sons, the daughters, the friends that we could be or should be. Perhaps it’s because we focus too often on externals, such as our behaviours, rather than on what matters most. The Jewish teachers insisted on lots of ritual hand-washing. But Jesus taught that it’s not the germs from the outside, but our hearts on the inside that cause our problems:

The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts — murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. - Matthew 15:18–19

Jesus taught that if our hearts are right, then our behaviour will be right. That’s why the teachings of Jesus overwhelmingly focus on the heart.

God isn’t primarily interested in the externals. He cleans you from the inside out. If your heart is right with God, the rest will follow. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Knocked Down But Not Out

We are experiencing all kinds of trouble, but we aren’t crushed. We are confused, but we aren’t depressed. We are harassed, but we aren’t abandoned. We are knocked down, but we aren’t knocked out. - 2 Corinthians 4:8–9, CEB

If there were ever anyone who had reason to complain about their life, Paul of Tarsus would have been the one. In 2 Corinthians 11:23–27, he writes about how many times he has been thrown in prison, beaten, flogged within an inch of his life, stoned, shipwrecked, and betrayed. He says that he has gone without sleep, food, drink, and warmth, and he has faced dangers everywhere.

Still, Paul’s faith stays strong! How do you get to have a faith like that? Paul goes on to explain that,

We do this because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus… We don’t focus on the things that can be seen but on the things that can’t be seen. The things that can be seen don’t last, but the things that can’t be seen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:14,18

Let’s face facts. Life can be tough … really tough. It is a miracle of grace that any of us will get out of it alive!

Hold on to the fact that you will be raised with Jesus. Focus on the eternal things that can’t be seen. Hold on to them by faith. The storms may rage around us, but we will always stand in the victory of Christ. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Embrace Pure Joy

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. – James 1:2

What is pure joy for you? Is it a day at the beach? Is it breakfast in bed? Is it winning the lottery?

The Apostle James starts his letter with a really strange statement. You would expect him to tell his readers to be joyful when everything is going well because the Lord is blessing them. Not at all; instead he tells us to consider it pure joy when we face trouble and difficulty.

James says that “whenever” you are facing trials — not some of the trials, but all of them — you should could it not as a little bit of joy, but 100%, unadulterated, full-bottle joy!

And the word “joy” in the Bible doesn’t mean a “grin-and-bear-it” kind of pious tolerance. It really does mean your “cup-runneth-over,” “jump-up-and-down,” “can’t-hide-it” kind of joy.

That’s a joy reflects the reality that we live in as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven — the reality that all evil has been overcome, even death itself; the reality that we are not only accepted by God, but are his treasured children, forgiven and cherished. And whatever happens, that always remains true.

Embrace pure joy. Choose today to breathe the pure, sweet air of heaven, instead of the pollution that clouds the glory Christ has for us. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Smashing Good News!

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. - Romans 16:20

This short verse raises some questions. How can Satan be crushed under our feet? Surely, like in other passage in the New Testament, shouldn’t Satan should be crushed under Jesus’ feet? And how can the God of peace do smashing and crushing?

In a quarter of all the times that the Greek word translated as “crushed” in the New Testament, it refers to how demonic spirits crushed people and shattered their lives, taking away their peace. However, Isaiah 53:5 tells us that Jesus was crushed to bring us peace.

The most important thing is to have peace with God. You can have peace in the world, but you will never ever have peace with the world until Satan is crushed. To bring ultimate peace, God must finally crush Satan out of existence, and he will do it under the beautiful feet of those that proclaim the gospel (Romans 10:15; Isaiah 53:5).

To crush Satan under your feet, share the Gospel. When you do that, through the power of Christ, you are coming closer to the day when God will finally crush Satan forever.

How we should look forward to that day! Peace with God now, and peace everlasting to come. That really is smashing good news! – Eliezer Gonzalez

No More Hatred!

“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” - John 15:13, NLT

There is a power that is stronger than hatred. It is the power of forgiveness.

During WWII, Scottish soldiers were forced by their Japanese captors to labor on a jungle railroad. Under the brutality of the Japanese, the men degenerated to barbarous behavior. One afternoon, a shovel went missing.

The officer got his gun and threatened to kill them all on the spot unless the missing shovel was produced. Finally, one man stepped forward. The officer picked up another shovel, and beat the man to death.

When it was over, it was discovered at the second tool check that the shovel wasn’t missing after all. The word spread like wildfire through the whole camp. An innocent man had been willing to die to save the others! The incident had a profound effect.

The men began to treat each other like brothers. When the victorious Allies swept in, the survivors, human skeletons, lined up in front of their captors, and instead of attacking their captors, insisted:

“No more hatred. No more killing. Now what we need is forgiveness.”

Sacrificial love has transforming power. It is the very power of Christ, given to us through his Spirit. We don’t need more hatred. We need to learn what it is to walk as God’s forgiven children, and never look back again. – Eliezer Gonzalez (Story told by Dale Ratzlaff, taken from Ernest Gordon’s Miracle on the River Kwai.)

Jump For Joy!

Be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead. - 1 Peter 1:6, NLT

The actual Greek word that Peter uses, that is translated here as truly glad, and as in the KJV, literally means “jump for joy.”

The Christian can jump for joy even though he or she may have grief in all kinds of trials (v6a). What’s the reason for all this jumping around? This jump-for-joy gladness is because we have been born again (v3), and so we now live in breathless expectation (v3), because we have a priceless and incorruptible inheritance (v4). And even if we suffer now, nothing can touch us unless God permits it (v5).

There are too many mopey Christians who seem to live in perpetual gloom. Perhaps they have not yet got the message that Christ came so that we may have “life to the full” (John 10:10). The happiness promised to believers is not simply a vague hope in the future, but the unshakeable reality of present joy.

This is deep, genuine happiness that we can enjoy now. Yes, there most certainly is “wonderful joy ahead.” That doesn’t mean there isn’t joy now. Think about it. It just means that however good it may be now, it’s only going to get better!

Excuse me. I have to stand up. I have to jump for joy! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Approach God Based on His Mercy

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. - Psalm 51:1

Psalm 26 is very different to the Psalm quoted above. It is a Psalm of David’s youth, written before he understood the depths of his weakness, and the evil of which his heart was capable.

David claims in Psalm 26 to have led a blameless life, to have never faltered, and to have never even sat down with evil-doers. He claims that his hands are innocent – all unlike the wicked, who are scheming and bloodthirsty. David asks God to save him because of his personal blamelessness. David is so confident in his superior moral position in relation to sinners, that he asks God to try his heart.

God did try David’s heart. And David was found wanting. David was horrified to discover later in life that he was fully capable of adultery and the vilest murder: in short, that he himself – to borrow the apostle’s term – was the “Chief of Sinners”. This is when he penned a very different Psalm.

We must learn, like David, to pray the prayer that the older and wiser David later prayed in Psalm 51. How different is this plea! Like David, we should plead with God for mercy, not based on our blameless life, but according to God’s unfailing love and compassion. This is the only basis of salvation and acceptance with God. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Age is No Barrier to Bearing Fruit in the Kingdom

Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. - Psalm 92:14, NLT

There are some people who reach an age at which they don’t produce fruit, at which they are “grey and gloomy” rather than “green,” when “complaining” would be a better description for them than “vital.”

At some time in our lives, we will all have to slow down. But slowing down doesn’t mean turning off. We all have a reason to be optimistic – a great reason – especially when you read the promise above.

I have noticed that as people age, they become clearer and clearer images of either the best or the worst of their younger selves. Some people become angrier and more bitter as they age, while others become gentler and kinder versions of themselves. And I think we have a choice in this today, right now and on an ongoing basis. By beholding we become changed (2 Corinthians 3:18). We can choose to fix our eyes on Jesus.

I want to do that too. I want to produce fruit for as long as God will allow me upon this earth. I want to be vital for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and not for the things of this world. We can always be green and growing in Christ, no matter how old we are. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Be Part of Changing the World

“Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” - Matthew 6:10

Charles Colson, of Prison Fellowship, says that “to speak of [William] Wilberforce is to speak of biblical worldview in action.” He (Wilberforce) almost single-handedly put a stop to the vile British slave trade.

What many people don’t know are the other contributions that Wilberforce made to society. He founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the British and Foreign Bible Society; he was instrumental in prison reform, and either founded or was a leader in sixty charities.

I wonder what our society would be like if we still legally allowed slavery, and cruelty to animals, if we were without prison reform, without freedom of speech and the notion of universal human rights. Yes, those last two come straight out of Christianity as well. Without Christianity, we would not have the society and the freedoms we have in the West at all. Charles Colson says:

I believe that as we come to understand the depth of our own Christian worldview, it forces us not into a life merely of contemplation, but to one of action. We cannot know God more without being moved to love others more — and to care passionately about justice, mercy, and truth. Jesus Christ was a man of action, and so must we be.

The citizens of the Kingdom will always advance the Kingdom. – Eliezer Gonzalez

In the Kingdom We Speak to The Bones

Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!’” Thus says the Lord God to these bones: ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.’ - Ezekiel 37:4–5, NKJV

One of the Bible’s most striking images, one that has stayed in my head since childhood, is the valley of the bones. In Ezekiel 37, the prophet records his vision of a valley where a battle had happened long ago, and the bones of the dead were scattered across the valley floor.

God tells Ezekiel to speak to the bones. What a stupidly hopeless task that must have seemed! Speak to the bones? Surely the most useless sermon ever! But as Ezekiel obeyed God, the bones reassembled themselves into people who came back to life. Before Ezekiel now stood a vast army of living men.

You and I have been given a task that is seemingly hopeless: to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15). Yet everywhere we look is spiritual death; everywhere there seems to be a profound rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is calling you to share and support the Gospel of the Kingdom of life with every word you speak, every activity you undertake, and using all means at your disposal.

Are you happy to sit by yourself in a valley of dry bones? No? Well, what are you waiting for? Start speaking to those bones! – Eliezer Gonzalez

There’s Always Bread in the House of Bread

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” - Matthew 4:4

In the story of Ruth, she and Naomi, her mother-in-law, travel from Moab to Bethlehem because they have heard that there is food in Bethlehem (1:6). That shouldn’t be so strange, because the name “Bethlehem” means literally, the “House of Bread.” The whole story of Ruth, points us powerfully toward the coming, bread-providing Messiah, who would feed His people, the One who would be literally be born in Bethlehem.

When His disciples came back from buying food in the Samaritan village, they found Jesus sharing the Good News with a despised Samaritan woman. He said to them, “I am fed by doing the will of the one who sent me and by completing his work” (John 4:34). Jesus was trying to teach the disciples that the Bread of Life that came from Bethlehem was not only for Bethlehem, but that it was to feed the whole world, even a woman of Samaria.

Can you and I be fed in this way too? Jesus declared, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51).

Because of Calvary, none need ever go hungry again. There’s always bread in Bethlehem. – Eliezer Gonzalez

No Condemnation

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” - John 3:17

The most famous verse in all the Bible, and rightly so, is 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.”

This verse is so good, that we often miss what follows. I was reading the next verse (v.17) the other day when something hit me across the head like a plank of wood! Notice what it says: that God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world.

And if God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn, then… don’t condemn!

It’s interesting that the only sins that Jesus really ever called out were those of the smug and self-satisfied. It’s true that we must stand up against sin. But too often we strain at a gnat and swallow a camel (Matthew 23:24). We’re more concerned about the sawdust in our brother’s eye then the plank of timber in our own (Matthew 7:3).

The sin we must stand up against the most is usually our own.

Jesus spoke the words of John 3:17 to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was good at condemning. I’ve had too much of Nicodemus in me in my past, and not enough of Jesus. What about you? – Eliezer Gonzalez

God Will Fight for You

The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t have to do a thing. - Exodus 14:14, CEV

Moses said these words to the Children of Israel just before the crossing of the Red Sea - see also Exodus 14:13. Moses represents Jesus Christ, the Children of Israel represent you and me, and the crossing of the Red Sea is a very powerful representation of salvation itself.

The Bible emphasises that salvation can only be achieved when we are quiet and still, and when we let God do the work. Perhaps stillness is the most difficult attitude of faith to maintain. It can be the hardest thing in the world, when all of your instincts tell you to run or fight.

It’s like that with salvation. God does the work; not us. And trusting him enough to let him do his work can be the greatest battle we will ever face. It’s the battle of surrender and faith. We do nothing for our salvation, but we have a lot to do with our salvation. The Bible refers to this as being “crucified with Christ.” That’s what the Cross teaches us (Romans 6:11).

Salvation is easy, when you trust in Jesus. Believing in him is the only work that God requires of us so that we might be saved (John 6:29). – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Are a Steward of God’s Grace

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. - 1 Peter 4:10, NIV

In New Testament times, every wealthy household had a steward. This was the head servant, who was entrusted with everything that the master owned, to manage it for the good of the master. Today, we would call this person a “manager.” The key requirement for being a steward was that you were trustworthy. The Bible tells us that,

It is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:2, NKJV

Most of us aspire to have an important position one day, whether in our careers, or our society, or even just in our families. But if we belong to Jesus, we’ve already been given the most important position of all. The apostle Peter tells us that we should serve…

…one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:10, NASB

God has entrusted you with the treasures of his grace. What are you doing with the grace God has given you? Have you let it flourish and grow and fill every part of your life? Have you shared it freely and generously with others?

Have you spoken grace, lived grace, and been grace to those who need it? If so, then you are indeed a faithful steward of God’s grace. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Grace Means that it’s Not Where You Begin That Counts

Although your former state was ordinary, your future will be extraordinary. - Job 8:7, CEB

What can you say to drug addicts and ex-convicts to give them hope, when they think they’ve come to the end and have no hope? I was faced with this dilemma recently when I spoke to a couple of dozen men in a drug rehab centre in Ukraine. A very wise man said something about this in the Bible:

The end of a matter is better than its beginning. Ecclesiastes 7:8

And so I told them that it doesn’t matter how you begin; it matters how you end. What this is saying is that it doesn’t matter how you begin, how bad it might have been. What matters is what you make of it, how you end. The Bible is full of examples of how this is true. Consider the stories of Joseph, David, Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, and Paul. God’s endings for us are always better than our beginnings:

Although your former state was ordinary, your future will be extraordinary. Job 8:7, CEB

(See also Haggai 2:9)

How do you make sure that you end up well? By believing and trusting in what God has promised you, and allowing him to do what he wants to do with your life. It will always be something wonderful!

Are you in a bad place right now? Have you been there for a while? Remember the Cross, and remember the resurrection. Remember: where you begin doesn’t count, only where you end up. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Kingdom’s Cure for Prejudice

All of you are brothers and sisters. - Matthew 23:8, CEB

We live in a world that’s fragmented by prejudice. None of us really thinks that we’re prejudiced, but mostly we are. The Gospels can be easily seen as the story of how, at every turn, Jesus confronted, rebuked, and demolished prejudice both with his inclusive and redemptive teachings, and with his example. Jesus taught that there should be no hierarchical distinctions between us, because:

… all of you are brothers and sisters. Matthew 23:8

What can cure our prejudice? The Cross is the God’s cure for prejudice.

(Ephesians 2:14–18; John 12:32)

The Cross jolts us out of the false safety we seek in prejudice by showing us the darkest evil that is the ultimate result of prejudice. The Cross also shows us how prejudice is overcome with love. At the Cross, the only righteous one is Christ. The rest of us are the ones whose sins put him there. When we understand this, we realise that there are no second–class seats at the foot of the Cross. There’s kneeling room only.

The Cross is God’s ultimate stand against prejudice. Like today, it seemed for a time that prejudice had won. But with Christ’s resurrection, the gates of heaven swung open to receive all who trust in him, without distinction. – Eliezer Gonzalez

In the World We Are Fools for Christ

We are fools for Christ. - 1 Corinthians 4:10, NIV

Why does the Apostle Paul call himself a fool?

In the ancient world, the fool was a standard character in the theatre. The fool was generally considered to be the “village idiot”.

The fool is never seen to be the hero of the play, or a handsome or beautiful character; however, the fool has a very important role. Although everyone laughs at the fool, he or she is the only one who really knows what is going on. Most of the other characters are deluded. At the end, it is often the fool who is revealed to be the wisest of all the characters in the play.

To be a fool for Christ means that what you believe is probably contrary to the conventional wisdom. It means that there are more people who will laugh at you than agree with you. You may even be mistreated. But to be a fool for Christ also means that at the end of the play that is called life, after all the plot twists have been revealed, everyone will agree that you were right after all.

At some point or another, all of us are going to look foolish in some way or another, but the best kind of fool to be is a fool for Christ. – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Plus God Are Always a Majority

The least will become a thousand, and the smallest a powerful people. I am the Lord; at the right moment, I will hurry it along. - Isaiah 60:22, CEB

I’ve never felt quite like the majority. As a child I was very ill for several years, so I was always skinny and small. I was born overseas. I looked different, and I had to learn a whole new language. I got called a lot of names at school.

As I was growing up, there were always people to remind me that I was useless and no good, and I guess that’s why I always tried to over-compensate at school and in other ways.

Now that I am all grown up, I know that I’m expected to face all the challenges of life head-on, with confidence and courage, but I’ll let you in on a secret. Within myself, I’ve always felt small, weak, outnumbered and overwhelmed.

Some years ago, I found a Bible verse that helped change my thinking, and it’s our text for today:

The least will become a thousand, and the smallest a powerful people. I am the Lord; at the right moment, I will hurry it along. Isaiah 60:22, CEB

This says that when the Lord is on your side, you are always a majority, just as a thousand outnumbers one, and a powerful nation outnumbers one small person. With the Divine majority that you have when God is beside you, you can face and overcome anything! (Zechariah 4:6). – Eliezer Gonzalez

No-one Will Just “Squeeze” into Heaven

God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. - 2 Peter 1:11, TLB

Before I knew better, I used to say that I would be happy if I just made it into heaven as the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem were closing, if I could only just squeeze through. What an insult that is to God! But that’s what I used to say before I understood the grace of God.

Not one of the saved will just “squeeze” into heaven!

Christ will give you a grand entrance. The gates of heaven will be flung wide, angels will line the way and sing, and there will be shouts of joy as you enter in. No one will just “sneak” into heaven as if they didn’t belong there!

If we have believed in Jesus, salvation is the easiest thing in the world! The Bible emphasises, from beginning to end, the breadth of God’s mercy, shown to us through Christ! (Ephesians 3:18–19). Whoever believes in him will be saved! (John 3:16). Salvation is inclusive in its breadth, capacity to save, and availability to humanity.

When you know what God is like, then you know that no one will just squeeze into heaven. He throws the gates of heaven open wide, so that all who wish to, may enter in (Revelation 22:17). God will give you a grand entrance into Christ’s eternal kingdom. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Be a Dreamer

Here comes that dreamer! - Genesis 37:19

Joseph was a dreamer. He was teased about it. He was bullied. He was almost killed by his brothers because of it. He spent years as a slave, and then in prison. Much good dreams were! And what kind of dreams were they? Dreams of a glorious future.

And in the end, they all came true.

I think of another Dreamer. They killed him, you know. When you forget how to dream, you kill the dreamers. Dreamers are inconvenient. They are the martyrs who remind us all of what we could be and should be. The dreamers are the ones who sow the world with hope.

That Friday and Saturday night the whole earth dreamt, groaning indignantly at the secret it held. But there was no one to notice. Had everyone forgotten how to dream?

But the next morning – it was a Sunday – the world changed forever. In one single explosion of glory, all the dreams of good that had ever been dreamt peeked in on the world with the rising sun, and said hello.

The Dreamer returned, and all our dreams came true. The dreamers became the realists, and the realists became the fools. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God Will Make All Things New

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new”. - Revelation 21:5, NKJV

The Biblical pattern of redemption can be represented as:

• Creation

• Fall

• Atonement

• Re-creation

This is a pattern that is found throughout the Bible, and that forms the crucial backbone to the salvation story.

The gospel focuses on the “atonement” part of this story, and the results of the atonement are the “re-creation” part of the story. Christ’s promise is to “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5; Compare with 2 Cor 5:17.)

New life is always the result of the gospel. It is spiritually fulfilled for the person who is “in Christ” right now, and it will be physically fulfilled for that person at the second coming, in the Kingdom of Glory.

The atonement of Christ – the Cross and Resurrection – stands at the heart of the Biblical Redemption Pattern. It shines its glory back upon creation, and forward onto the coming re-creation.

You and I are not what we could and should be. But we are not what we were. Because of the Gospel, we have been saved, and as a result, right now, we are being re-created in Jesus Christ, by His Spirit. We are sealed by that same Spirit until the day of glorification, when we will be given new bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35–49), and a new nature that forever pleases God. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Blesses the Wrong People

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:3, NIV

It often seems like Jesus blesses all the wrong people! We all want to be blessed, don’t we? So why did Jesus apparently bless all the wrong people in the Sermon on the Mount?

Those whom society and religion often consider to be blessed don’t get the blessings that Jesus offers, because they don’t think that they need them. Jesus promises the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:1). Who needs the kingdom of heaven if they’re trying to make their kingdom here on earth? He promises justice (v.4). Who wants justice if your lifestyle is built on the exploitation of others? Jesus blesses the poor in spirit, those to mourn, and the meek, because these are the people who understand their need and are open to his blessings.

Like Jesus says in the very next chapter, the self-righteous and those who seek only material blessings in the here and now, already, have received all the reward they will ever get (Matthew 6:2, NLT).

How sad for them! Because they did not seek first for the spiritual treasure – the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33) – they will miss out on what is of true, eternal worth. They miss out on the blessings.

In the end, the wrong people, by accepting Jesus’ blessing, become the right people. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Solve Your Problems the Right Way

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. John 6:11

What’s the right way to solve your problems if you are a follower of Jesus? The answer is found in the Bible story of how Jesus fed the five thousand. We are told that there was a great crowd of people, and they were hungry (John 6:5).

In this story, there are three responses to this problem.

The first response is from Jesus’ disciple Philip. He looks at the problem and concludes that the problem is too big to solve. He says there’s too many people.

Then Andrew, another disciple, gets involved. He looks at the available resources and concludes that they are too few. He says that they don’t have enough food.

But the right way to solve your problems is to do what a boy in the story did. He didn’t look at the problem, and he didn’t look at the resources. He looked to Jesus. He had five loaves and two fish, and he placed what he had in Jesus’ hands. And that’s when the miracle happened.

There is a right way to solve your problems. If you look at the problem you’ll be overwhelmed. If you look at your resources you’ll be depressed. But the right way to solve your problems is to place what you have in Jesus’ hands and to trust in him. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Your Best Days Are Ahead of You

God… gives life to the dead and calls things that don’t exist into existence. - Romans 4:17, CEB

I read a very sad and surprising news report on a website recently. It said that the most likely demographic to commit suicide in Australian society are not the young people, but men over 85 years of age.

There’s another old fellow that we read about in the Bible (in Romans) called Abraham. The Bible tells us that he was around 100 years old; so old that the Bible says that he counted his body as good as dead (Romans 4:19).

But what he didn’t know was that his best days were ahead of him. That’s true for all who believe and trust in Jesus Christ. Because of his faith in God, Abraham inherited the whole world (Romans 4:13).

Whatever may be lacking in your life, God can call into being. We have a God who “gives life to the dead and who calls into being things that were not” (Romans 4:17). He can do this because he is the one who gives life to the dead.

When you feel like you’ve hit your dead end, remember the story of Abraham. When you’re a believer in Jesus, your best days are always ahead of you. Like Abraham, the fulfilment of all of God’s promises are just around the corner, and you’re about to inherit the world! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Be Free from Guilt

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” - Matthew 11:28–30, NLT

My father grew up in a small town in Spain. When he was around eight years old, he had a younger brother called Antonio who was very ill with epilepsy. One morning, his mother told my father to hold Antonio tightly so he wouldn’t follow her to work outside. Little Antonio, who was very upset, struggled hard. He exhausted himself, and he remained very ill for the rest of the day. He died that night.

Their mother was distraught with grief. Antonio was her youngest child. In her grief, she turned on my father, who was only a little boy himself, “You killed Antonio!”

My father carried that guilt for the rest of his life. He was too young to understand that it hadn’t been his fault, and he carried that guilt for the rest of his life.

Each one of us carries a huge load of guilt. It’s part of the human condition. We’re often not even aware of it. Some of it is guilt for which we’re responsible, but often it’s guilt that others have unfairly laid on us. Jesus invites us to lay our burdens on him (Matthew 11:28–30).

Whatever might be the guilt you carry, there’s release and forgiveness in Jesus (John 8:38). – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Must Be Born Again

“You must be born again.” - John 3:7

One of the most striking things about what Jesus said is not what he said, but whom he said it to. Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish ruling council and the leading theologian of his religion (John 3:1,9: “Israel’s teacher.”) Jesus was talking to a man who was revered by the nation for his knowledge and achievements. But what Jesus basically told Nicodemus was,

“I appreciate your sincerity. However, when you are in my presence, everything you have done from the day of your birth until today – and I mean absolutely everything – means absolutely nothing.” Jesus was referring to salvation.

Nicodemus must have been totally shocked when he heard this. But that’s what a new birth is. It means that whatever life you had before is gone, and only your new life counts.

What about you? Have you realised that whatever you have done or achieved before you were born again in Christ means nothing (Philippians 3:7)?

Being born again means that there is nothing in your past that can condemn you, and nothing in your future that can hinder you.

You must be born again. It’s a scary thought at first, I know, but think of the upside – eternal life! It means a new life in which your past means nothing, and Jesus means everything. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Rivers of Living Water for You

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” - John 7:38, NKJV

When Jesus says, “as the Scriptures said,” he is referring to Ezekiel 47. In this chapter, Ezekiel has a vision of the glorious true temple. From the altar of the temple (47:1) a trickle of water flows, which becomes a stream, and then a mighty river. Wherever the river flows, it gives life, and nothing dies. In effect, Jesus was saying that he is the true temple, and he is the source of that river – the source of all life.

Jesus gives you abundant and eternal life, not a trickle of it, not a stream, not one river, but countless rivers or it - when you believe in him.

If the river of life is flowing within us, then we have eternal life as our present possession. It is not something to be looked for outside of us, nor is it just some future hope. It is a present reality, right here, and right now.

Jesus is the source of the water of life (John 14:4). Even more specifically, this living water flows from the alter, as Ezekiel 47 points out. In other words, it flows directly from the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary.

The key question that we must ask ourselves is, “How deep has the message of the Gospel gotten into me?” – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Came With Gifts

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. - John 1:14, NLT

There’s an old African saying that goes, “A visitor is a blessing.” For that reason hospitality to guests is a traditional African value. However, the saying works another way as well, because visitors, especially those who come from far away, bring gifts for the children in the family.

More than 2000 years ago, Jesus arrived at our home, the earth. Although he received some gifts at his birth, it was he who came with the greatest gifts of all. He brought his gifts of unfailing love and faithfulness.

Have you ever felt unloved? Have you ever experienced the unfaithfulness of another? Imagine then a world full of love and a faithfulness that never lets you down. Well, they’re the two gifts that Jesus brought with him when he came into the world! You cannot have love and faithfulness without a relationship, and you cannot have a relationship without a person. That’s why, when Jesus came into the world, he brought these two gifts within himself. As the verse says, Christ was “full of” unfailing love and faithfulness.

Christ didn’t just come to visit; he came to stay (Matthew 28:20). Christ’s extreme love calls for my extreme response. Our hospitality to Christ in our lives should be without limits and without reserve. – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Can Throw Caution Aside With Jesus

“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” - Luke 8:48

Most people tend to be cautious when making important decisions. I know I’ve had to think carefully and make lists of pros and cons for a particular course of action.

The Bible tells the story of a woman who’d been sick for 12 years. She’d tried everything, and now she had nothing left – no doctors who could help, no money, and no hope. So what did she do? She threw all caution aside, and pushed through the crowd, not caring what anyone else thought about her any more. And then she just reached out and touched the edge of Jesus’ clothing, and immediately she was healed.

We all know what it is to be desperate, when no one can help us but God. In those times, sure, you can make a list of pros and cons, and weigh up your options, but that’s not the best thing to do.

But here’s a better plan. You can put all caution aside, push through the crowd, and just reach out. We call that faith. Jesus will be there for you as well.

Those who have thrown all caution aside with Jesus have always discovered that there was never any reason to be cautious. – Eliezer Gonzalez

News You’ll Want To Share

God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. - Romans 5:8, NLT

One of the hardest things to do when someone has won the lottery is to keep the news quiet. Everyone who’s ever known you or heard about you suddenly wants to be your best friend, and share in your good luck. Everyone is suddenly your long-lost relative!

Good news is hard to keep quiet, and the best news travels the fastest of all! So here is the best news of all: God loved you even when you didn’t love him, and he saves you even though you’re a sinner.

If the essential message of Christianity were something like, “Be good and God might save you,” it wouldn’t even travel beyond a few people. But if instead the gospel is grace, and joy, forgiveness, power, mercy and a thousand other good things, then you can understand how the Good News of Jesus travels fast!

Many people believe that they have to earn God’s love. But there’s no good news in the idea that if you’re good, God might love you. But there’s a heap of good news in the story of a God who justifies the ungodly, who receives sinners, the who says, “I will never turn away whoever comes to me.”

God wants that kind of news to travel fast, and who would ever want to keep it quiet? – Eliezer Gonzalez

Be Like the Original Church

Greet also the church that meets at their house. - Romans 16:5

For around two hundred years after Jesus, “church” was never a building. The church was the followers of Jesus themselves. The most usual place for a church to meet was in a believer’s house.

The first churches would normally have had 15–30 people gathering together. This was as many people as could fit in a large house. The size of “church” was actually limited by the sizes of people’s houses. Going to “church” was really going to a small group meeting.

Many of the things that we think are essential for “church” were missing back then. There was no dedicated pastor, there were no sermons, and there were usually no musical instruments at all. There was also very little formal structure to what the believers did when they gathered together. Every church meeting always centered around a communal meal, which was how the instruction of the Lord was understood (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Everyone contributed to the meeting according to their gifts. We can imagine that someone might tell a story that they remembered about Jesus, then someone else might break out spontaneously into praise, and then the group might start joyfully singing. They might then move on to prayer as the Spirit led them. Then they might discuss who was in need in their community, and how they could help. This is the first church that we see from Scripture. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Church Welcomes Jesus

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. - John 1:11–12

John 1:11 is one of the most tragic verses in Scripture. Yet the following verse is one of its grandest promises. Jesus came to his own. These were his people, his church. But his own did not receive him.

They were waiting for their Messiah. But they rejected and scorned Jesus because he didn’t come with social status or with money. In their minds, Jesus hung around the wrong crowd. He also challenged their religious group-think.

What does it take to be a church that welcomes Jesus? I’m not talking about the second coming. Jesus comes to you every day, in many different guises, waiting for you to welcome him. You will never treat Jesus better than you treat others.

It takes a humility that is the opposite of dogmatism and pride. This is a humility that accepts a willingness to be surprised by Jesus because he is the Lord of the unexpected. It takes a heart of love.

In fact, there is a simple way to make sure that the church welcomes Jesus. Scripture tells us:

“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”* Mark 9:37, NIV

Who are the little ones? They’re the ones that we don’t easily welcome. – Eliezer Gonzalez

At the Cross

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:2, NIV

You’ll often hear people saying, “When I got saved…” Or you might hear other people say, “Jesus will save me…”

Which one is correct? Well, both of them, and neither of them. When a person says, “When I got saved,” they are usually referring to when they accepted God’s gift of salvation. And when others say that Jesus will save them, they might be referring to the end of the world.

Both are true, but they don’t reflect the core of the Bible’s teaching about when salvation happened.

The Bible teaches that the entire human race was saved in potentiality at the Cross (John 1:29; John 3:16; Rom 5:18; 2 Cor 5:19; 1 Tim 4:10; Hebrews 2:9; 1 John 2:2).

That may be difficult to understand, so I’ll explain what those words “in potentiality” really mean.

At the Cross, Jesus created, through his own blood, a full and perfect salvation available for all who believe. When you accept it, you step into that reality that Jesus created for you at the Cross: into the perfect righteousness of the Son of God. In that way, you can rightly say that you were saved in the first century when Jesus died and rose again.

However, although a perfect salvation has been prepared for you, you only step into it when you accept the gift by faith. All of God’s children will experience this at some special time in their lives. – Eliezer Gonzalez

All About Jesus

This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. - Mark 1:1, NLT

I love the way that Mark starts his Gospel! He makes it clear that he is announcing Good News! Remember that the word Gospel means “Good News”. More than that, Mark goes on to tell us what the Good News is about. It’s about Jesus!

By defining the Gospel in this way, Mark stops us from ever thinking that the Gospel is about you: your performance, your feelings, your church attendance, your giving of money, or your healthy living.

The Gospel might impact all of these areas of your life, but that’s not what the it’s about. The Gospel isn’t just generic good news. The Gospel is about Jesus Christ!

The Good News isn’t about what you feel about yourself. The Good News isn’t even about what you feel about God. The Good News is about what God feels about you!

And just in case you were wondering what it is about Jesus that is such Good News, Mark explains it in detail: Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. Jesus is fully qualified to save. He is God’s chosen one, whom he loves above all.

Where there was no hope, now there is full assurance of your salvation for all those who trust in him. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Rest in Jesus

“Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.” - Matthew 11:28, CEB

Recently, I went on a 17-kilometre hike down into a valley and back up again. Going down was easy but going up was another story! I’m not as fit or strong as I used to be! That night, I slept really, really well!

While most days aren’t as physically tough as that, every day we live can be mentally and emotionally tough. Over time, if we are relying only on our own strength, our hearts will wither and die within us.

Jesus knows you. He knows you as a physical being. He knows you as a mental being, and he knows you as a spiritual being. And he knows that you don’t only need rest for your body, you also need rest for your mind, and especially for your spirit.

Your endless search for identity, acceptance, and love will end when you find your rest in Jesus. You will find your ultimate goal. You will find what you were made for. Striving to be accepted based on your performance will end when you find your rest in Jesus.

That’s why Jesus invites you to come to him. You will still struggle in this life. There will still be loads you have to carry. But all will be possible, and all will be a joy when you are well-rested in Christ. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Learn from Me

“Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” - Matthew 11:29, NIV

We are often told that we need to learn from Jesus. However, we might think this means learning doctrines or theology. But that’s not what Jesus means in the text above.

Jesus means something else entirely. He is inviting you to learn to have a heart like his. Just think about what that means. It means to love as he loves, and to be grieved at those things that grieve him.

Specifically, Jesus is inviting you to be gentle and humble in heart. This is an invitation that many people simply aren’t interested in because the world tells them that this isn’t the way to succeed. We often believe the opposite: that the way to get ahead is to be forceful and proud in heart.

In the context of his times, Jesus was really inviting his listeners to become his disciples. That invitation is for us today, as well. The word “disciple” meant “a learner.” Disciples learnt from their teachers, not by listening to formal lectures, but by living with the teacher and observing his life. By living together with him, they learnt to live like him.

Jesus was saying that the most important thing he wanted his disciples to learn about and imitate was his humility and his gentleness of heart. This should be uppermost in how we seek to live as disciples of Jesus. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Wants To Focus on Our Hearts

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” - Matthew 15:8 NIV

There’s nothing more annoying than a car that won’t start when you need it to. It happened to me recently with a car I bought that seemed a real bargain. It’s easy to paint a dodgy car up and make it look good, while not bothering to fix on the inside, where it matters most.

Although we try and try, we’re still not the husbands, the wives, the sons, the daughters, the friends that we could be or should be.

Perhaps it’s because we focus too often on the externals, like our behaviours, rather than on what matters most. The Jewish teachers insisted on lots of ritual hand-washing. But Jesus taught that it’s not the germs from the outside, but our hearts on the inside that cause our problems:

The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander (Matthew 15:18–19).

Jesus taught that if our hearts are right, then our behaviours will be right. That’s why the teachings of Jesus overwhelmingly focus on the heart.

God isn’t primarily interested in the externals. He cleans you from the inside out. If your heart is right with God, the rest will follow. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Grace of God Has No Terms and Conditions

“This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” - John 6:29

After Jesus had miraculously fed five thousand people and walked on the water, the people were pretty impressed with him, and so they asked him what they needed to do, to do the works that God required of them (v.28).

You know those ads on radio that say at the end, “Terms and Conditions apply”? Sometimes ads will even offer you a free gift with Terms and Conditions. But that’s not really a gift, is it? A gift’s got to be free or it’s no gift at all.

The message of Christianity is that there are no Terms and Conditions to the grace of God.

But we’re so used to Terms and Conditions, that we just assume they’re there somewhere. We can fall into the trap of thinking that if we try hard enough or live good enough lives, then we’ll get into God’s good books.

But it doesn’t work that way. The Bible says that,

…it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

There are no Terms and Conditions here, because Jesus met them all on our behalf on the Cross. All you need to do is to accept the gift, and he will do the rest. – Eliezer Gonzalez

There Is A Perfect Church

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. - Ephesians 5:25–26

Imagine the perfect church. The perfect church would have the perfect church building, pretty as a post-card, with the perfect lawn at the front.

When you walk into the perfect church you’d see all those perfect people, warm and welcoming. Everyone is smiling all the time. No one ever disagrees in the perfect church.

Of course the perfect church would have the perfect pastor – and of course he’d be a great speaker.

Everyone will always want to come to the perfect programs that are run by the perfect church. Oh, and did I tell you that the perfect church would have the perfect music?

I hope you’re imagining the perfect church. Because if you ever found it, I can tell you one thing: you’d never be allowed in.

Let’s come back to reality now. There’s no perfect church, because there are no perfect people. When the Bible says that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23), it means “everyone,” and he doesn’t mean that they only sinned before they started going to church!

The good news is that church is for sinners. In fact, you should find a church where they actually let people like me and you in! Now that’s a perfect church, a church that Christ loves (Ephesians 5:25)! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Knocked Down But Not Out

We are experiencing all kinds of trouble, but we aren’t crushed. We are confused, but we aren’t depressed. We are harassed, but we aren’t abandoned. We are knocked down, but we aren’t knocked out. - 2 Corinthians 4:8–9, CEB

If there were ever anyone who had reason to complain about their life, Paul of Tarsus would have been the one. In 2 Cor 11:23–27, he writes about how many times he has been thrown in prison, beaten, faced, flogged within an inch of his life, stoned, shipwrecked, and betrayed. He says that he has gone without sleep, food, drink, and warmth, and he has faced dangers everywhere.

Still, Paul’s faith stays strong! How do you get to have a faith like that? Paul goes on to explain that,

We do this because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus… We don’t focus on the things that can be seen but on the things that can’t be seen. The things that can be seen don’t last, but the things that can’t be seen are eternal (2 Cor 4:14,18.)

Let’s face facts. Life can be tough… really tough. It is a miracle of grace that any of us will get out of it alive!

Hold on to the fact that you will be raised with Jesus. Focus on the eternal things that can’t be seen. Hold on to them by faith. The storms may rage around us, but we will always stand in the victory of Christ. – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Can Safeguard Your Faith

Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. - Philippians 3:1 NLT

Faith in Jesus is a precious thing, but it can also be fragile if we don’t safeguard it. If you ask most people how you should safeguard your faith, they might tell you to read the Bible, to pray, to go to church, and to serve others. These are all important.

However in his letter to the Philippian church, the apostle Paul gives us a surprising answer to what we should do to safeguard our faith. The advice that Paul is giving us is that if we rejoice in the Lord, we will safeguard our faith. In fact, our first response, whatever happens, should be to rejoice in the Lord. That way, our faith will stay strong.

That goes against our natural reaction to the bad stuff that happens in our lives. Our first response is to worry and to stress.

But Paul says that if we rejoice in the Lord, our faith will stay strong. He says it over and over again in his letters. And when something is repeated so often, perhaps we should pay attention.

In spite of our circumstances, if our focus is on the Lord’s goodness to us, our faith will stay strong. If worrying were helpful, the Bible would say tell you to worry. Perhaps it’s time for less complaining and more rejoicing? – Eliezer Gonzalez

Remembering Keeps Your Faith Strong

Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! - Isaiah 46:9 NLT

God often tells us to remember, because he knows that we are prone to forget. Here are three things to remember that will help you get through tough times:

1. Remember who you are

In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith (Galatians 3:26).

We are not abandoned orphans. No matter how sad you may be, remember that you are a child of God. Your can trust your Father in heaven.

2. Remember who you belong to

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine (Isaiah 43:1).

You belong to God. You can only ever suffer as much as he allows, and he will always be right there with you in the midst of the storm.

3. Remember where you are going

Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20).

Whatever you go through in this world is only a fleeting moment in the light of eternity. Remember that you belong to heaven and not to this world. Remember that you have a Saviour and his name is Jesus.

This world is like an obstacle course that tries to make us forget. We are only safe when we remember Jesus. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Purpose of the Law

…rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin… - Romans 3:20

Paul here makes clear that instead of helping us to be righteous, the purpose of the law is that we may have an awareness of sin.

Most people have a mirror in their bathroom, as well as soap. We go to the bathroom and look in the mirror to see where we have dirt on our face, and then we use the soap to remove it.

The purpose of the law is that we may have an awareness of sin.

At a basic level, the mirror is God’s law, and the soap is the cleansing blood of Jesus. The “soap” is offered to you as a free gift when you trust in him. We may also call it the grace of God. You don’t look into the soap and try to clean your face with a mirror, but that’s what people try to do. Just because the mirror highlights the dirt on your face, it doesn’t mean it can clean it. Instead, the purpose of the mirror (the law) is to make the dirt evident, and the purpose of the soap (God’s grace) is to cleanse you.

This is the purpose that the Bible ascribes to the law: that “we become conscious of our sin.” The law of God is “holy, just and good” in its correct function, but when you use it for other purposes in your life, the law is deadly.

Back to top of: Challenges of Life

The Reality of God

God Tells Us The Truth About Our World

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. – Psalm 24:1

The reality of the world is itself evidence for the existence of God. The universe’s fundamental constants fall within a narrow range that is compatible with life. Today there are 38 recognised cosmic constants. Of these, the most sensitive is the space energy density (the self-stretching property of the universe). Its value cannot vary by more than one part in 10,120, or else life would be impossible.

However, it’s not just the mathematics of the universe or the world that points us to God.

People look at the suffering and evil in the world and see it as evidence that there is no God. Instead, I see it as evidence for God, because God tells us that we live in a world of suffering and evil. I believe in God because this world is exactly what I would expect it to be if there were a God who tells us the truth.

I see a world that is broken and lost in sin; but even so, Christ loves it, and he passionately claims it for himself by virtue of his blood. In the words of Abraham Kuyper,

There is not one square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, does not exclaim, “It’s Mine!” – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Language of the Stars

The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvelous display of his craftsmanship. Day and night they keep on telling about God. Without a sound or word, silent in the skies, their message reaches out to all the world. - Psalm 19:1–3, TLB

Once a year, our family goes camping by the beach in northern NSW, Australia. This is when I am happiest, since it combines two of my great loves: the sea and the sky.

My most intimate prayer times with God are typically when walking along the beach, or under the stars. There is something about being free of four walls and a ceiling that liberates my soul beyond myself.

When I see the power of the ocean waves against the enormity of the blue horizon, or when I walk under the immensity of the stars of the Milky Way, strewn like countless candles across the sky, my thoughts cannot help but go beyond myself, and turn to God. It is almost as if God himself speaks, without words, directly to my soul.

That’s what David wrote about in Psalm 19. He tells us that the heavens have their own language that continually tells us about God. He also tells us that their message reaches the whole world.

All of us need to enlarge our spirits beyond ourselves, to reach out to heaven, to breathe in the language of our Creator God. I’ve found that difficult to do within four walls. But he’s still there; God never stops speaking. Are we listening? – Eliezer Gonzalez

To Know Him Is To Love Him

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. - Hebrews 1:3

When Amy Winehouse covered the song, “To Know Him is to Love Him,” she might not have known that this title is more true of God than of anyone else. If what Jesus reveals about God is true, then the only reason that anyone would have for not loving him is because they’ve never known him.

Our ideas about God come from many sources, but just how accurate are they? Is God some kind of moral monster? Or is he like a strict disciplinarian father? Or does he just intervene in this world from time to time and from far away by pressing a few keys on his heavenly computer?

The Bible tells us that Jesus came to show us what God is like. It tells us about a God who became one of us because he loves us recklessly and at any cost. That’s what the story of the Cross is all about.

If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. Jesus is a living revelation of God that you cannot get from any philosophy, teaching, or book. Christ’s revelation of the goodness of God will change how you see yourself, the world, and everyone you share it with. – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Can Trust Who’s On The Throne

I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. - Revelation 5:6, NIV

We’ve all wondered at some point why life hardly ever works out the way we expect. Why the best-laid plans too often fail?

God showed the prophet Ezekiel a vision of enormous wheels within wheels turning in every direction, and above them, the throne of God (Ezekiel 1). The great mystery of this vision was, “Who is it that sits upon the throne?”

In the Book of Revelation the prophet John saw a similar scene. But in this vision, the identity of the one who sits on the throne is revealed. For right in the middle of the throne is the Lamb who was slain.

The One who is on the throne is not some distant deity; He is the Man of Sorrows, the Lamb of Calvary – the One who understands. The constant movement of the wheels within wheels tells you that the Lamb of Calvary is quick to be with you when you need Him. Nothing can happen without His permission. And wherever those wheels go in your life, you can trust the One who’s on the throne, for on the throne is Love Himself. He is the Lamb who was slain for you.

What do you do when you can’t understand? You keep on trusting. What do you do when you’ve seen the Lamb? You keep on following. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Eternity is God’s Gift to You

I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. - Revelation 1:8

In spite of what Dr. Who, the Time Lord from the BBC television series, might tell you, we haven’t mastered time yet. Time goes by at the same speed for all of us. It’s what we do with it that counts.

There is only one Time Lord, and that’s our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. While you’re thinking about eternity, I want to do a thought experiment with you based on an illustration told by Des Ford.

I’ve seen the Andes in South America, and they’re awesome. But the Himalayas are even bigger still! So now think of a bird that, once every million years, comes and takes away a grain of soil from the Himalayas. How long will it take that bird to get rid of the Himalayas? That length of time is just the start of eternity!

What God offers us is eternity. And if God wants to give us something as infinite as eternity, how could we finite humans ever earn it? It has to be free.

Our God tells us that He loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), a love that’s stronger than death (Song of Solomon 8:6), and that fills eternity. Because of what Jesus did at the Cross, eternity is there for the taking. It’s what you do with it that counts. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Gives You Real Life

Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. - John 11:26, NASB

Look at how full of life children are! Although age, sickness, and the eventual troubles of life wear us down, most people at the end of their days hold on, wanting another day, another hour, even another minute. It’s innate in us to want to live, and not to die.

Although we all inevitably die, that’s not the reason we come into the world. We come into the world to live.

But Jesus is different, because Jesus actually came to die (John 3:16). Jesus came to die so that by delivering you from death, you could live – truly live – both here in this life (John 10:10) and in eternity. Just as little kids enjoy life, Jesus has given us eternity to enjoy.

Jesus died so you might never die (John 11:25). When you believe in him, though you may die an earthly death, Jesus counts it merely as a sleep (John 11:11,14), and as the blink of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). You are always safe in Christ and you will rise again!

When you accept Christ’s gift of life, you have eternity in which to be the person whom you were always meant to be, and to enjoy the best of life forever. That’s God’s ultimate purpose for you. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Cross Makes the Bitter Sweet

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. – Ephesians 5:2, NKJV

After the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, the Children of Israel travelled through the desert for three days without finding any water. Then suddenly, in the distance, they saw what looked like an oasis!

Imagine their disappointment, when they bent down to drink, to find that the water was bitter and undrinkable! They called the place “Marah,” which means “bitter” (Exodus 15:23).

God showed Moses a piece of wood, and when Moses threw it into the water, the water became sweet and refreshing (v.25).

Because we live in this world, there’s always some bitter water just around the corner. But piece of wood represented Christ. He is the One who threw Himself into the bitterness of this world, so that everything that He touches turns sweet. He is the One who was offered the bitter gall upon the Cross. He is the one who drank the bitter cup of the wrath of God on behalf of the entire world, so that all who accept Him may drink the sweetest wine of His love.

That piece of wood represents the Cross of Calvary. It is the Cross of Christ by which the transforming grace of heaven has touched this earth, bringing a flood of sweet living water for all who believe. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Joy Is In the Walk

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. - John 10:27, NKJV

As Christians, we seem to be always waiting for God to do something. We often think that the joy is in the answered prayer, but what if the joy is also actually in the praying itself?

I was sitting at an airport waiting for my flight recently, when I had this feeling for a moment that someone was watching me. It’s odd when that happens, isn’t it? And sure enough, a few moments later, a friend who also happened to be in the airport came up to me and said, “Hi!”

Maybe Jesus felt something similar as he was walking along one day, he realised that there were two men following him. So he turned around and said to them,

“What do you want?” They said to him, “Teacher, where are you staying?” He replied, “Come, and you will see.” – John 1:37–39

Jesus doesn’t invite them to a destination, rather, he invites them on a journey. He just says, “Come.” It’s natural for us to want to know the destination. Too often we think that happiness is at the end of the road somewhere.

But Jesus knows that the joy is in the walk, and if you’re walking with Jesus, you’re already there. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Your Heavenly Father Sees You From Afar

While he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. - Luke 15:20, NLT

While swimming at a surf beach, I became caught in a current that dragged me towards some jagged rocks. I didn’t fully understand the danger that I was in, but before I knew it, a lifeguard appeared beside me, and he took me back to safety. I had been a long way out from the shore, so he must have seen me through his binoculars.

In the Bible there’s a story of a runaway son. He thought he’d have a better life if he left home, but one day he finally realised what his father’s love meant. And so he started his long journey home.

The boy’s father had never given up on him, and the story says that even while the boy was a long way off, his dad saw him from far away, and ran out along the road, to throw his arms around him and welcome him home.

This tells us that God sees us. No matter how far you think you are from God, he sees you, and he sees you with love in his eyes. Your Heavenly Father waits for you, with a loving welcome, and acceptance and joy.

We have a Father who sees us from afar, and saves us from our foolishness. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How Jesus Sees You When You’re Down

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist…” - Matthew 11:11, NIV

The important thing is not how you see yourself, but how Jesus sees you when you’re down. If you accept how Jesus sees you as your reality, you can get through anything!

A few weeks earlier, John had been standing up courageously for Jesus (John 1:29). But now things had changed. He was in a dungeon and it looked as though it was the end. John was fearful, depressed, and doubting what he thought he knew.

Jesus was speaking about John to a crowd of people, and he talked to them about John’s strength, courage, and faithfulness. In fact, he told them that he was the most successful, and the greatest man, ever to have been born into the world (Matthew 11:14)!

John is feeling fearful; Jesus sees him as courageous. John is feeling weak; Jesus sees him as strong. John sees himself as a failure; Jesus sees him as the most successful man who ever lived.

I’m willing to stake my life that what Jesus says is true, over and above whatever John might have felt about himself. In fact, I do stake my life on it, because the question is not how Jesus saw John the Baptist when he was down, but how Jesus see me when I’m down.

Trust how Jesus sees you through his eyes of grace. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Father Never Forsakes His Children

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” - Matthew 27:46

Have you ever felt forsaken by God? I have. We’re all human. But one of the hardest lessons we must learn is not to trust our own feelings. Jesus felt forsaken by God while on the cross as well.

But how could the Father who never forsakes his children, abandon his Holy Son?

Jesus said that the Father did not leave him alone (John 8:29). Paul says explicitly that at the Cross,

God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. 2 Corinthians 5:19

Read Psalm 22, from which Jesus quotes in his cry of abandonment. Read the context. You will find that this psalm is actually an explicit affirmation of God’s presence, in spite of all appearances to the contrary (v.24).

At the end, Jesus speaks words of faith to his Father, in full confidence of his loving presence,

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46

He knew that the Father had not forsaken him, in spite of his suffering and anguish of mind.

The lesson of the Cross is that the Father never forsakes his children, even in their darkest moments. No matter what you might be going through, if you can still call him “Father”, then remember that he forever calls you his precious child. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Reigns!

The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” - Psalm 110:1–2, NIV

The passage from the Old Testament that is most often cited in the New is Psalm 110. The apostolic church saw this Psalm as referring to the risen, ascended Messiah, and the Kingdom that he had firmly established in this world at the Cross. They understood that they were living in the time of the ‘until’ — the time during which Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father, waiting until the time his Kingdom physically overthrows all the kingdoms of this world.

Despite worldly appearances, Christ is sitting at the right hand of power. The Kingdom of God is already established on this earth, although not yet manifested in its fullness. Christ still rules “in the midst of his enemies” (Psalm 110:2). We look forward to the time soon when Christ’s enemies will all be completely overthrown.

Until that time, we are living in the ‘until’. We keep our eyes on Jesus who has gone before us, who has won the victory on our behalf, and who rules over all. That reality is transformative for how we see ourselves, for our relationships, and how we relate to the world around us.

We announce Christ’s kingdom wherever we go, while we wait until the time when all of Christ’s enemies will finally be under his feet. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Unbeliever and the Acorn

I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. - Philippians 3:10, NLT

In Italy is the centuries-old grave of an unbeliever. Before he died, he ordered a huge stone slab for his grave to prevent him from being raised from the dead if there was, after all, a resurrection. The sign announced: “I do not want to be raised from the dead. I don’t believe in it.”

A hundred years later an acorn had pushed through the slab and grown into a towering oak tree. A visiting minister asking himself, “If an acorn, which has power of biological life in it, can split a slab like that, what can the acorn of God’s resurrection power do in a person’s life?”

This story, told by Tim Keller, highlights a powerful truth. When you know Christ you will experience his mighty resurrection power. The apostle Paul talks specifically about the resurrection of the dead at the last day, but also about how that certainty changes our present reality. When, by faith, we accept Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf, this empowers us to press on towards the heavenly prize (Philippians 3:14).

Today, the mighty resurrection power of Christ is shed abroad to all who believe; to all who are righteous through faith in him. There is nothing that can keep a Christian down, not now, or certainly not on the day of resurrection! – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Can’t Bribe God

Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink — even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine and milk — it’s all free! - Isaiah 55:1, TLB

The story of Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8 illustrates how Christianity was misinterpreted even in the times of the earliest church. Simon was a magician in Samaria. He liked to portray himself as having great wonder working powers. So he offered the apostles money so that he could receive the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:18–19).

Simon tried to bribe God. He thought that if he gave God his money, that God would give him his blessing. He was as mistaken as you can get.

Too many people relate to our religious experience as if it were some kind of reciprocal business transaction with God. “If I am good, then God will save me.” “If I follow the rules then God will love me.” “If I am faithful then God will heal me.” But God’s blessing is his own free gift to us. We shouldn’t cheapen the blood of Christ by trying to bribe God with the paltry, miserable things that we offer up to him.

You can’t bribe God (Acts 8:20). All religion that tries to offer God something in exchange for his favour is false religion. The only thing that can make us acceptable before God is the atoning blood of Christ that was shed for us at Calvary. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Costly Grace

“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.” - John 3:16

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: ‘Ye were bought at a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God. – Dietrich Bonhoffer

There is another gospel: the gospel of cheap grace. So, what is the gospel of cheap grace? It is any gospel that says that your salvation is so easy that you could do something to contribute towards it. I believe in costly grace. Cheap grace is not enough.

The only one that can save me is the grace that cost God everything and is free to me. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus is the True Temple

I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ - Psalm 122:1; NASB

Sometimes, the building in which Christians meet is called their “church,” the “house of the Lord,” the “sanctuary,” or even the “temple.” The Old Testament is full of expressions that point to how good it is to be in the “house of the Lord.” However, this expression only ever refers to the Jewish temple in the city of Jerusalem. This, and everything associated with it, are called “shadows of things to come” (Colossians 2:17.)

One of the very first things that Jesus did in his earthly ministry was to stand right in the middle of the Jewish temple and announce that he himself was the true temple (John 2). The temple only ever pointed to him. Every temple concept in the Bible, whether on earth or in heaven, always ultimately points to Jesus and his ministry.

Jesus announces that salvation, safety, and blessings are found only in him, in whom the fullness of the glory of God dwells (Colossians 1:19). Jesus is himself now the true “house of the Lord,” and through Jesus, his people can be God’s house as well (1 Corinthians 3:16).

The Bible tells us that one day soon there will be no more temple – not in heaven, and certainly not on earth – because the Lamb of God is revealed as the True Temple. (Revelation 21:22). – Eliezer Gonzalez

God’s Church is Unlimited

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. - Ephesians 3:14–15

As Neil Armstrong gazed at the earth from space, he is reported to have reflected that, “it suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.”

Perhaps the perspective that we often have about God’s church is too small, because we are limited in our natural perception of space and time. Perhaps God wants us to see the bigger picture. Wherever it is that you gather with God’s people, it is wonderful to realise that God’s church is unlimited.

God’s church is unlimited because it extends throughout heaven and earth, and throughout the universe. (Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 12:22–23). Its extent is beyond our comprehension.

God’s church is unlimited because it cannot be limited to any one denomination. The different Christian communities have been a great blessing to the church of God in different ways, however none of them can ever claim to encompass God’s church within themselves (Acts 2:21; Acts 13:39).

God’s church is unlimited because it does what Jesus Christ did when he walked on earth, and that is to welcome sinners (Luke 15:2).

There’s nothing small about God’s church. So, let’s live big for Jesus! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Is Right Here With You

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” – John 20:15-16

What is the most important question in the world? It is this one: “Who are you looking for?” Everyone is looking for someone.

You see, most of us think that we are looking for things, because if we find those things then they will make us happy. They won’t. Jesus goes to the heart of the matter. God knows that the right answers can only be found when we ask the right questions. God knows that you and I – all of humanity, is looking for someone, not something. And that someone is Jesus himself.

At the tomb, Mary was distraught because she didn’t know where Jesus was. She couldn’t have been more wrong, because the one she was looking for was standing right behind her all the time. She simply didn’t recognise him. She was blinded by her tears.

Too often in our times of trouble, we wonder where Jesus is. We plead with God, “Where are you, Jesus? You promised to be with me always! Where are you now, when I need you?” And blinded, like Mary, by our tears, we fail to recognise that Jesus was with us all along.

The rebuke of the Lord is the gentlest and most beautiful that could ever be imagined. Jesus just says your name with a love that has borne a thousand wounds. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Lord Has Provided

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” - Genesis 22:7–8

The lesson that Abraham learned when God called him to sacrifice his son was that God will provide. For a sacrifice, three things were required. Wood, a fire, and a lamb. All of these things were usually carried with them. Most importantly, there could not be a sacrifice without a lamb.

On his journey with his father Abraham, Isaac wondered where the lamb was. After God had indeed provided a lamb for the sacrifice, the faithfulness of God so impressed Abraham, that he called the place, Jehovah-jireh, which means, “The Lord Will Provide” (v.14).

Abraham’s journey to the place where God called him to sacrifice his son is a metaphor of the history of the God’s faithful men and women since the fall. The journey started in sadness and confusion, but it continued in faith that God would provide a way out – a sacrifice.

The great theme of the Old Testament is the promise that “The Lord Will Provide,” and the victorious cry of the New Testament is “The Lord Has Provided!” (Romans 8:32).

You and I are not living in a time of shadowy, unrealised hopes, but in the time of glorious fulfilment because of the Cross and resurrection of Christ. Truly, the Lord has provided! We have not been left alone in confusion and helplessness (Psalm 23). – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Kingdom of the Born Again

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” - John 3:3

When the army of the Arameans surrounded Samaria, the prophet Elisha’s servant was terrified. The prophet said to him,

“Don’t be afraid … Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 2 Kings 6:16

Then Elisha prayed for his servant, so that the Lord would open his eyes, and this is what happened:

The Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. v.17

We are surrounded and immersed in a spiritual world that exists alongside the physical realm which we inhabit. Like Elisha’s servant, if we could only see the spiritual realities, we would understand why things are as they are.

There are some people who profoundly understand what the kingdom of God is about, and more than that, they experience it as the bedrock reality of their lives. Then there are those who don’t understand, who laugh at it, and at those who believe in it. Why is there such a difference between these two groups of people?

Jesus’ words give us the answer. The Kingdom of God can only be seen, and experienced, by those who have been born again. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Kingdom of God is For Real

Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see. - Hebrews 11:1, CEB

The worldview of many people can be defined as “scientific materialism,” which says that physical reality, such as can be accessed by the natural sciences, is all that exists. These people reject out of hand such things as life after death, the Kingdom of Heaven, and even God himself.

However, the Bible teaches us a very different way of looking at reality. 1 Corinthians 15 has a fascinating discussion about physical and spiritual realities. It tells us that the natural (or the physical) points us to the spiritual, and the spiritual is far greater than the natural as the sun is to the moon in its light. To stop only at the physical is to miss out on the greater part of existence and reality.

That’s why in Hebrews 11:1 it tells us that “faith” isn’t some fantasy. Faith is like another of the physical senses, except that it isn’t physical. To exercise faith is a real experience. It allows us to take hold of the unseen world of the spiritual.

After his resurrection, Jesus said to Thomas,

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

There is a blessing for those who experience reality through the eyes of faith. To do that is to see God. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Beauty Points to God

He has made everything beautiful in its time. - Ecclesiastes 3:11

I love sunsets, especially when they occur over the water.

Beauty itself is, in fact, a great mystery. Why is it that our world overflows with beauty, rather than random chaos? Why is it that the colours of sunset are so perfectly colour-coordinated? Surely that speaks of design?

Why is it that we seek out beautiful sights and things, not for any other purpose, but to for the sake of beauty itself? Doesn’t that infer that we are naturally drawn to something beyond us, something transcendent that doesn’t respond to the immediate and practical needs of survival?

The other amazing thing about beauty is that we don’t tend to disagree very much about what is beautiful. There’s a universal dimension to beauty. In spite of a few cultural differences, we tend to be in general agreement about what is beautiful.

Why is this so? To my mind, the answer lies in the existence of an absolute Being over and above us all, who values beauty for its own sake, and has created us to value it also. That kind of God – one who values love, goodness, and beauty – is One that I can unreservedly worship.

My God is a God who has destined me for beauty. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Made for You

He who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited. - Isaiah 45:18

The Bible tells us that planet earth was made specifically for humanity. If that is true, then what would we expect to find with regard to this planet?

• We would expect to find the right ingredients to sustain life forms that can coexist with human beings, such as liquid water, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and a chemical building block like carbon.

• We would expect to find temperatures within a narrow range to sustain human beings (and other things such as liquid water).

• We would expect to find a large moon positioned to ensure climate stability.

• We would expect to find just the right star that would remain fairly stable.

• We would expect to find a planetary core that would help generate the planet’s protective electromagnetic field, to protect us from deadly solar radiation.

• We would expect to find the right planetary neighbours, such as Jupiter, which shields the earth from constant stellar bombardment.

All of these things work together, with extreme precision, to ensure a safe home for humanity. Scientists call this the “Goldilocks Principle,” because of all the apparent coincidences that are involved in ensuring that the earth is “just right” for us. However, there are no coincidences with God, only the providence of his grace. God knew what he was doing when he created this planet and put us in it.

God still knows what he’s doing today, and if you will allow him, he’ll work out your life to the fulfilment of a wonderful destiny that’s even more than “just right.” – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Evidence of Experience

I heard about you from others; now I have seen you with my own eyes. - Job 42:5, CEV

How is it that people know that you exist? Because they experience you. They experience your presence, activity, and impact on their lives. It’s the same with God.

Throughout the Bible, God is never trying to give logical evidences for his existence. The Bible was never meant to be an apologetics textbook. The “proofs” are there for the philosophers and debaters to play with. But you don’t have to prove logically that you exist to someone who experiences your presence, do you? That’s why God is constantly inviting people to experience him in their lives.

In the Bible’s book of Job, the story comes to a climax as Job expresses to God his amazement at how wonderful it is to know God for himself, rather than all the things that others had said about him. In my own life, it has been a slow, sometimes dramatic, and even sometimes painful journey to know who God is for myself, through an ever-deeper personal relationship. I thought I knew who God was, because I had heard sermons about him and read about him in books – even in the Bible.

But I’ve learnt that it’s not good enough to know about God. It is only good enough to know God, for yourself, and with nothing in between. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Creating God in Our Own Image

They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself. - Romans1:26, NLT

In many ways, people have created God in their own image: narrow-minded people serve a narrow-minded God, resentful people serve a resentful God, small people serve a small God, and legalists serve a legalistic God.

Others serve a great big God whose forgiveness is unconditional, whose mercy is boundless, whose companionship is personal, and whose currency is love. Why do different people see God so differently?

Human beings have been trying to create God in their own image from the beginning. We want a God who is just like us – a God whom we can control. Because what we create, we can control. But you can’t create, and you definitely can’t control God. Some people like the idea of god, more than they like God himself, because an idea is easier to control than the real thing. God showed us how unexpectedly and concretely he acts, in sending Jesus Christ to us to show us what God is actually like. This revelation was not abstract or intellectual in nature, but totally objective: God lived among us for decades in the flesh.

God desperately wants us to know Him, because to know him means salvation. Don’t let your knowledge of what God is like be defined by your upbringing, culture, or even your church. You can know God by knowing Jesus. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus is the Son of Man

“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Mark 10:45

The name that Jesus used most often for himself, the name by which he preferred to be known, was a name that intimately and forever connected him with humanity – “Son of Man.” Not “Son of God”, but “Son of Man.”

The name “Son of Man” expresses one of the closest human bonds that can exist, the son-father relationship. In Jesus’ culture, the son always put the father first; the son honoured the father and did what the father could not do for himself. Even more than this, Jesus specifies that this servant-relationship to humanity is expressed in his redemptive self-sacrifice for all. He says that,

“…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many…” Mark 10:45

Jesus came to this earth to be by your side – to be much more than just your best friend. He came to be related to you by blood – a blood-relationship that is even closer than anything you may have understood before, because it was forged by the sacrifice of flawless love and not by flawed genetics.

In whatever may be your need right now, He will stand there beside you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. – Eliezer Gonzalez

He Loved Them to The End

Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. – John 13:1, NKJV

This text describes the attitude of Jesus just before the Last Supper. The thought of what he was about to do, and the weight of the awesomeness of the burden that he would carry almost overwhelmed him.

This text doesn’t mean that he loved his own until the end of his life. That’s not what the Greek means at all. The Common English Bible translates it as:

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.

What the text means is that Jesus loved them to the uttermost. This is extreme love. This is even more than a love that goes beyond what we can understand or beyond what we have experienced. This is love taken to an unending extreme, in a way that only the divine heart of bottomless love can do. Jesus loves us to the end.

The ones whom he loves are “His own who were in the world.” He was talking about his disciples, with whom he was about to eat the Last Supper. He was about to be betrayed, denied, and abandoned by them. Yet still he loved them to the end.

He was talking about you and me, by whom he has been betrayed, denied, and abandoned. Yet he loves us to the end. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Love That Makes No Sense

Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! - 1 John 3:1, Voice

While most prophecies begin with an explicit command for the prophet to prophesy, the book of Hosea begins with God’s instructions for him to get married (Hosea 3:1).

This is no ordinary marriage. God shockingly commands Hosea, a respectable young man, to propose to a prostitute.

Hosea’s marriage became a living sermon: a reflection of the sad relationship between God and Israel. What Hosea did for Gomer, God did for Israel; what Gomer did to Hosea, Israel did to God.

Humanly speaking, Hosea’s love for Gomer did not make any sense. People must have thought, “What is wrong with Hosea? Why doesn’t he divorce her and get himself a decent wife?” But, that was the very point of the message. God’s love for sinners is unexplainable apart from his free and sovereign grace.

The message of Hosea transcends his time and circumstance to ours. We too have turned to strange gods of money, politics, traditions, fame and wealth. At the Cross, God enters into a marriage covenant with us, having saved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

As it was in the marriage of Hosea, so is it in the covenant of grace. God continues to love us despite our constant failures. The only proper response to this kind of love is always genuine repentance. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God Invests in You

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? - Jeremiah 32:27, NKJV

Jeremiah 32 describes a time when things were very bleak for God’s people. Their nation was about to be destroyed by the Babylonian empire.

Just then, God comes to Jeremiah with an astonishing business proposition. He says,

“I want you to buy your cousin’s field.” v.8

Who in their right mind would be buying real estate in the current situation! Surely it was worthless! And Jeremiah himself is in prison, with no certainty that he will live! God is no fool. He’s the greatest investor ever. But Jeremiah can’t work out the logic behind this. So the Lord speaks to Jeremiah and says,

“I am the Lord, the God of all living things! Is anything too hard for me?” v.27

There will be times when it seems that no one will invest in you; that everyone has written you off. There will be times when it will appear as if you have no future, and that your life is absolutely doomed. It is then that you need to remember that there is someone who has already invested in you – Jesus Christ at Calvary. He was a prisoner, just like Jeremiah. He was surrounded by his enemies, just like Jeremiah.

Jesus bought the field of your life. And the price that he paid for it was his blood. – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Have a Prodigal Father

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” - Luke 15:20, NLT

Prodigal means extravagant, even to the point of wastefulness. Most people think that the Parable of the Prodigal Son is about the younger son who was prodigal with his Father’s gifts. But it’s not about him. Some people think that the parable is about the older son who appears in the second half of the story. It’s not. Yes, the older son was prodigal with his hard work. But it’s not about him.

The main character in the parable is the Father.

It’s the father who’s the greatest prodigal, giving half of everything he owns to his younger son in the first place. He didn’t have to do it. He’s prodigal even to the point of wastefulness! Those who heard this story surely shook their heads in disapproval at the father!

It is the Father who is the greatest prodigal, in his love and forgiving mercy towards his wayward child. And then, scandalously, the Father throws the biggest, noisiest party ever, so that the whole neighbourhood would know that there is joy in this home because his son has returned! Oh yes, this parable has the expansive, unbounded, extravagant love of the Father written all over it.

It really is the Parable of the Prodigal Father. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Nothing Can Separate You from the Love of God

I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38,39

Life is a journey, and we’re all travellers through this world. We’re all on a quest: the quest for love.

Often our love will be betrayed. And even the very best kinds of love are only a pointer to the ultimate goal of our journey. We were made to be loved by God and to love him in return. The apostle Paul tells us that this experience is a present reality, whatever our current circumstances may be. The love of God is not the goal of the journey; it is in the journey itself.

In Romans 8, the apostle Paul exhausts the limits of human language to assure us that absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God. If Jesus didn’t abandon you at Calvary, how could he abandon you now?

Where’s your journey brought you? Whether you’re in bed unable to get up to face the day, or curled up in the corner of a room on the floor, nothing can separate you from the God’s love.

Refuse to listen to the voices that condemn and belittle you. Your feelings are liars. Only the assurance of God’s love is the truth. Believe it, and take the hand of God, and let your journey continue. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God is For You

For, behold, I am for you… - Ezekiel 36:9, KJV

The Bible is full of God’s assurances that he is for us, and not against us. I remember how I felt once when “my sins had found me out,” and I was racked with guilt and remorse. In my life, what keeps bringing me back to the reality of how God treats me is how Jesus treated those who felt themselves to be far from God, but who came to him in their need.

God is always relentlessly and passionately for us (Mark 2:17). That’s what Jesus came to tell us. So be encouraged!

The very reason why Jesus was crucified was because he was for sinners, and not against them. Jesus shows us that God is truly like, because he himself is “Immanuel… God with us” (Matthew 1:26). It was necessary for God to come down to this earth and walk among us, so that we might truly believe that God is not against us, but that he is for us. As the Bible says,

If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

God is for you. That’s what Jesus came to tell us. Embrace this truth, because when you do, you are taking hold of the almighty hand of God that is reaching out for you. – Eliezer Gonzalez

All the Power of Jesus’ Name is For You

I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. - John 14:13

In the ancient world, it was believed that the gods hid their true names from humanity. By using the true name of god in prayers and magical incantations, people believed that they could exert power over the god, to get him or her to do what you wanted. This background helps us to understand what the Bible says about the power of Jesus’ name.

The Bible tells us that God has exalted his name to the highest place of all (Philippians 2:9–11). The name of Jesus is more powerful than any other name in the universe. Jesus has promised his children that anything that we ask in his name will be done. (John 14:13; See also John 16:26-27).

The marvellous thing is that although the names of power in antiquity were often hidden and mysterious, God has revealed the true name of power to his children.

The angel said to Joseph,

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

There’s no magical power in the name of “Jesus”, but all the power of omnipotence belongs to the One who bears it. Through Jesus, all the treasures of heaven are at the disposal of God’s children. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus is Better

The ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. - Hebrews 8:6, NIV

Jesus is better than any other of God’s revelations to humanity (Hebrews ch.1). He is better than any other member of the human family (ch.2). Jesus is better than Moses, or any of the other prophets (ch.3). Jesus is a better leader than Moses because he takes us to a better rest (ch.4). He is a better High Priest (ch.5), who gives us the better things of salvation (ch.5.) Among his gifts, he gives us better blessings, because he has given us a better hope (ch.6.). Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant, which is based on better promises (ch.7).

This better covenant is also based on a better sacrifice (ch.9). This ensures heaven for us, which is better than anything else we can possess (ch.10.) Those who possess heaven will take part in a better resurrection (ch.11.) Whatever we have in this life, God has planned something better for us (ch.11) in eternity to come. God has provided a place for us in the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, our true home (ch.12). This is all possible because the blood of Christ is better and more powerful than anything that we could offer (ch.12.)

That’s a summary of the whole book of Hebrews, and that’s why I love it. Jesus is better! – Eliezer Gonzalez

The God Who Bends Down

I love the Lord because he hears my voice… because he bends down to listen. - Psalm 116:1–2, NLT

This idea of God “bending down” was completely unknown in all ancient cultures, and today, it is still what distinguishes the true God from all other gods. The gods lived up there in the sky and in the stars, or on the highest mountains, and they never came down to associate with humanity in any meaningful or caring way. But the true God bends down in mercy!

At the core of Christianity is the idea that God has come down to us, not for any other purpose than that he just loves being with us, because he just… loves us!

God doesn’t wait for you to reach him. He bends down to reach you. (See also Matthew 28:20.)

When Jesus was born, the angel announced that his name would be “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

This means that it doesn’t matter what situation you may find yourself in life; God is able to reach you there. Even if you think you’ve hit your lowest point, if you accept him as your friend, he will be there for you. God doesn’t wait for you to reach him. He bends down to reach you.

Being all-powerful and glorious is fine. But God bends down. And that’s the greatest reason to worship that we could ever have. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Waiting for the Blessing

If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. - Habakkuk 2:3, NLT

Have you been waiting for God’s blessing? There’s a beautiful lesson in the story about when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Martha had been waiting to be blessed by Jesus, to the point when now it seemed too late. Her brother Lazarus had died. Now, after Lazarus had been dead for four days, Jesus finally arrives. Martha is deeply grieving. She tells Jesus that she believes in the resurrection at the last day. But Jesus says to her, “That’s good, but more importantly, do you believe in me?” (My paraphrase). And Martha replied,

“Yes, Lord! I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the one that we have been waiting for!”

And Jesus went and called Lazarus from the dead, and he came out of the tomb alive.

When you believe in Jesus, the blessings come sooner than you think. Martha thought that her blessing would come at the end of the world. But Jesus was right there, and the blessing was just around the corner. It was a blessing that Martha never expected, and it was even better than what she ever could have hoped for.

It’s the same with the blessings that Christ has for you today. Christ’s blessings are always better than you could have ever dreamed, and they come sooner than you think. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Grace of God is For You

“The Most High… is kind to the unthankful and evil.” - Luke 6:35, NKJV

This is one of the most amazing verses in the entire Bible. We sometimes tend to think of God as we view other human beings, as narrow-minded, mean-spirited, and exclusive. But that’s not what Christianity teaches at all. The grace of God is not restricted to a particular church or denomination, or race, or some kind of limited notion of the “elect”; not at all! The grace of God is for the entire world to enjoy (John 3:16).

The grace of God is like the light that fills our world, and like the atmosphere we all breathe; it is free and available to all. Light, by its very nature, cannot be hidden. It gives light to everyone (John 1:4,9). On another occasion, Jesus also said that our Heavenly Father,

“…causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:45, NIV

The interesting thing is that Jesus said this in the context of encouraging us to do the same (v.44).

God encourages us to do just what he does: to be kind to the ungrateful and to the evil. He says that when we do that, we are living like his own children. After all, joy is found only when you love. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Salvation Made Easy

“Come to me… I’ll show you how to take a real rest… Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you… learn to live freely and lightly.” - Matthew 11:28, MSG

I’m not very good at any sport, but I enjoy it. I’ve been playing a bit of tennis recently. Usually we hit the ball around a bit before we play for points. I find that I hit the ball much better and I’m more relaxed, when I’m not playing for points than when I’m actually playing a game.

For me, that’s a great analogy of what life is like. You can either live life as if trying to earn salvation: religiously focused on avoiding mistakes, and striving to improve and to be good enough. Or you can live as if your salvation has already been won, and you are now under grace. Jesus takes away the stress of performance and gives you the peace of grace.

The grace of God has its own rhythms, and they’re easy and unforced. Under grace, you can enjoy life, knowing that each mistake is an opportunity to learn, and that it doesn’t count against you.

This doesn’t mean that you live carelessly. Instead, you treat your life as a wonderful privilege that has been granted to you by Jesus, and you give your best for him.

I invite you to enter into the “unforced rhythms of grace.” Discover what it means to be saved without the struggle: salvation made easy. – Eliezer Gonzalez

I Am Who God Says I Am

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! - 1 John 3:1

I believe in God because what he says about me is true. I am exactly who God says I am.

Within myself I feel the stirrings of the noblest aspirations, yet my ability to reach these is sadly lacking. In spite of my greatest desires, I cannot, through my performance, be the person I want to be.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

Every moment of guilt, doubt, or anxiety is evidence that what God says is the best explanation for who I am. But if I stopped there, it would be tragic! I am also profoundly and eternally loved, and so that I might never doubt it, God came down himself in the person of Jesus Christ, and gave his life for me. God calls you, not just his friend, but his child; not just acceptable, but perfect; not just a guest, but royalty in His kingdom. And that’s in spite of yourself, and all because of Jesus.

I may have my ups and downs, but joy rules in my life, because I know who I am. And there is no better explanation for who I am, than the one Jesus gave me at the Cross. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Received by Faith

• …to be received by faith…* - Romans 3:25

How do sinners receive the atonement accomplished by Christ on our behalf? Paul is clear: It is “to be received by faith.”

We should always remember that justification isn’t achieved by faith; instead it is received by faith. We aren’t saved because we have faith; we are saved because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. This salvation is received by faith. Righteousness is never achieved, taken, or earned. It is always simply received.

Many people think that they receive salvation based on their own performance. Consider the magnitude of what they are trying to earn!

Our salvation is not achieved, but received by faith.

Such a sacrifice could never be earned, could never be merited, and could never be recomposed. No amount of perfect law-keeping or strenuous good works could ever equal the value of the life of the spotless Son of God shed, poured out for you. To think otherwise is spiritual arrogance and foolishness in the extreme!

The book of Hebrews tells us that,

…faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Heb. 11:1

Faith is the vital connection with Christ by which we receive the gift. We are confident in the righteousness of Christ, and assured of our salvation, because we know him and that his word is true. To put it very simply, faith is trusting Jesus. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Back to top of: The Reality of God

Living in Faith

Seeing God For Yourself

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” - John 20: 29

There’s no greater evidence than the evidence of your own eyes, or so they say. This is what Job affirmed after he had gone through all of his troubles,

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. - Job 42:5

The entire message of Christianity is bound up on the eyewitness nature of the testimony of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “We have seen the Lord!” is the catch-cry of the Christian.

How can we be Christians if we have not seen the Lord with our own eyes? How can we even believe in God?

Things that are spiritual are just as real as those that are physical (1 Corinthians 15:46). That’s why there’s another kind of sight that the Bible tells us about. The Bible talks about the “eyes of your heart” (Ephesians 1:18). This is the means through which the believer perceives the spiritual world. We also call it faith.

Through faith we are assured of the presence of God, of his love, and of his acceptance of us through Jesus Christ. Our faith is never just an intellectual belief, but is grounded in a lived reality.

It isn’t good enough to hear about God. We need to hear from God. And his message is in Jesus Christ. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Prayed For You

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. - Luke 23:34, NKJV

Because I’ve got relatives overseas, some of whom are elderly, I’ve had to say goodbye to them, knowing that I might never see them again. Our final words mean can mean a lot. Sometimes people pray.

It is fitting that Jesus’ final words on the Cross were a prayer. He could have prayed for many things. He could have prayed to be saved from crucifixion, or to be granted a painless death. He could have prayed for a display of glory from the Father to vindicate his name, or for courage for his cowardly disciples. But he prayed for none of these things. He prayed for what his heart most desired: forgiveness for you.

You weren’t there, but because he died for the sins of the world, Jesus wasn’t thinking just of the people who physically crucified him. He was thinking of a lost and broken world.

He wasn’t thinking of himself. He was thinking of you.

He understands how hard it is for us. He understands how often and how far we fall. And most of all Christ wanted you to know that you are forgiven.

It’s only human to doubt God sometimes, and to question whether he even thinks about us. At those times, remember Christ’s words at Calvary. They should banish your doubts forever. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Prayed For You at Calvary

I have prayed for you … that your faith may not fail. - Luke 22:32

Each of Christ’s seven last words on the Cross was a prayer on your behalf.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

This was prayer for forgiveness for a sinful, ignorant world.

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

This was a prayer that spoke of Christ’s saving love for every sinner, no matter the depths to which they may have fallen.

“Jesus said to His mother: ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then He said to the disciple: ‘This is your mother.’”

This was a prayer for a new humanity, created through His own blood.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

This was a prayer on behalf of all those who have ever felt abandoned by God.

“I thirst.”

This was a prayer on behalf of all those who have suffered for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

“It is finished.”

This was a prayer that announced a completed atonement for all who believe.

Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.”

This was a prayer of total trust in God.

In each of these seven perfect prayers of Christ, you see His heart, and in Christ’s heart there is perfect assurance of salvation for everyone who believes. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God Hears His Children

When you pray, I will listen. - Jeremiah 29:12

It seems that the more connected we are with the world, the more disconnected we become from each other. People wander around, lost in a world of noise, and they wonder if anyone listens. We can upgrade our phones but we never seem to be able to upgrade our communication.

Sometimes, we think of God as being distant in that kind of way. But in the Kingdom of God, it works differently. Yes, God hears our prayers, but it gets even better than that! God says,

Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. - Isaiah 65:24

In the Kingdom of God we are connected with Him all the time, so that even before we call Him, He answers, and He knows what we’ve said even before we’ve finished saying it. There’s no communication system on earth that can compare to that! And that should make you feel very safe in the Kingdom of God, whatever dangers that you may face. It’s kind of like God’s own ultra-advanced Kingdom-technology that He makes available to you. You don’t even need a contract. It’s all been paid for by Jesus Christ, so you get it for free.

Jesus has an open-door policy: it’s called prayer. – Eliezer Gonzalez

We Can Believe Even in the Face of Mocking

“Don’t be afraid; just believe.” - Mark 5:36

When Jesus arrived at Jairus’ house, he said,

“What’s all this commotion and crying about? The child isn’t dead. She’s only sleeping.” Mark 5:39 CEB

But the people there:

“laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.” Luke 8:53 CEB

They didn’t just smile quietly to themselves; not at all. The Greek word used for ‘laugh’ here means to ‘deride’. The King James Version translates this as ‘they laughed him to scorn’. They openly mocked the apparent stupidity of Christ. This was just a foretaste of that awful day when the crowd would laugh him to scorn on Calvary’s hill. They thought he was helpless and defeated in the face of death. How wrong they were!

But what happens next in Jairus’ house is startling:

He threw them all out. Mark 5:40a, CEB

The Greek word translated here as ‘threw’ implies haste, and even force. Jesus didn’t want their laughter and mocking to ruin the wondrously beautiful moment that would come after he said the words,

“Young woman, get up.” Mark 5:41

That was when the real party began, as a mother and father received their daughter back to life again.

Don’t allow unbelief to ruin the wonderful moments that Christ has in store for you. As Jesus said to Jairus, Don’t be afraid; just believe. – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Get Free Fruit in the Kingdom

The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. - Galatians 5:22–23, NLT

There’s a supermarket near where I live, where I often go to buy food. As you come in, there’s a basket full of apples, bananas and pears, and above it is a sign: ‘Free Fruit for Kids’. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22–23 that God gives free fruit to his children as well.

Although everyone is given different spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:8–10, 29–31), every follower of Jesus receives the fruit of the Spirit, without distinction. After writing about the spiritual gifts, Paul says that there is something even better:

I will show you the most excellent way. 1 Corinthians 12:31

Then Paul goes on to write about the supreme importance of love, which is part of the fruit of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13). The problem with the Corinthian church was that they were giving more importance to the gifts of the Spirit than to the fruit. We must be careful not to make the same mistake. (1 Corinthians 13:3).

The gifts of the Spirit are wonderful! However the fruit is even better. The fruit is given to every follower of Jesus, and it is the fruit that distinguishes a Christian from a non-Christian (John 13:35). And best of all, it’s free!

My favourite fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Give Jesus Your Full Attention

Fixing our eyes on Jesus… - Hebrews 12:2, NASB

Digital technology brings us many benefits. However, one of the harmful effects of digital technology is called Continual Partial Attention, which means that we are continually dividing our attention between various things. This can be especially harmful on our relationships.

Let’s think about our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Hebrews tells us that the secret of a successful Christian life is to be fixing our eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2).

The Greek word used here literally means to take our eyes off everything else and to ‘stare’ at something else. We need to set aside time every day, away from our phones and all other distractions, to just be with God. This takes discipline, but it’s so worthwhile!

In addition to setting ourselves aside for God on a regular basis, we should also develop the practice of keeping God foremost in our thoughts throughout the day. We must develop the “practice of the presence of God” as Brother Lawrence called it. We do this by recognising that God is in every activity that we are engaged in throughout our day.

At the cross, in spite of his own situation, Christ gave his Continuous and Complete attention to you and your salvation (Luke 23:34). Doesn’t he deserve the same from you? – Eliezer Gonzalez

Be Remarkable

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. - 1 Peter 2:9

God calls you to be remarkable! That means that people will remark about how you stand out from the crowd, but for all the right reasons.

Throughout history, it’s been Christians who have been the explorers, pioneers, the innovators, the creators, and those who have forged ahead to new horizons.

The idea of the individual is a Christian idea, and so is the whole idea of human rights. The idea of equal rights for men and women was originally a Christian idea. The abolition of slavery came through Christianity. The idea of universal public schooling is a Christian idea. The first hospitals were a Christian invention. The idea of the university is a Christian invention as well. The originator of every single branch of modern science was a Bible-believing Christian. Arguably, most, if not all, of those landmarks of western civilisation would not have come about without Christianity.

All of these things happened – in effect the establishment of western civilisation – because of Christians who believed that God had called them to be remarkable: people who represent the Kingdom of Heaven right here in this world.

So, don’t let the world get you down. If you have the assurance of salvation, if you know that you’re going to live forever, then all bets are off, aren’t they? Your potential is limitless! – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Can Have an Overwhelming Assurance of Salvation

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” - John 10:27–30

Sometimes I don’t feel an overwhelming assurance of salvation. Feelings – whether mine or yours – are not a reliable guide to spiritual reality. The Bible describes many times what I can only call an “overwhelming assurance of salvation.” Look at Jesus’ words in John 10:27–31. Can Jesus have been more definitive or categorical than this?

Jesus seals this promise with the identities of the Father and of the Son. If you trust in Jesus, there is nothing and no-one in the universe that can countermand the eternal life that Christ has given you. No one can snatch you out of his hand.

The problem, however, is with my feelings!

We have to understand that things like the love of God, forgiveness and salvation are not feelings. They are facts. Feelings themselves never determine the facts. Here is an example. If you jump out of an aeroplane without a parachute, you might feel that you are flying free as a bird, but that feeling will never change the fact of the law of gravity.

The fact is that God has given his word. Your feelings have nothing to do with it. When we really understand that our salvation is based on Christ’s performance, rather than on our feelings, then we will certainly know the overwhelming assurance of salvation in Christ. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The 144,000 + 1

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. - Revelation 7:4

In Revelation 7, it talks about 144,000 people who are saved. I always felt sorry for the 144,001st person; you know the one who missed out and didn’t make the quota for the number of people who are saved.

I’m being a bit “tongue in cheek” with this familiar passage, so let me explain myself a bit more. I grew up in an environment in which the issue of whether the number 144,000 was a literal or symbolic number was a significant discussion and debating point. In the past, I tended to think that it was a literal number. But now I know better. God doesn’t have some kind of numerical cut-off for those who are being saved. There’s no limit to God’s forgiveness, mercy, and grace.

If you trust in Jesus and have made him your friend, there is no way that you could ever miss out on the gift of salvation! The number 144,000 is a symbolic number only and not one that limits the power of saving grace. The symbolic number of 144,000 represents that God guarantees the number of the saved will be a vast number of people.

At the end of Revelation 22:17 we are told,

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22:17, NIV

Whoever you may be, whatever may be your failures and weaknesses, no matter how great, there’s room for you in eternity. All you need to do is to come and take the free gift of salvation that Jesus Christ offers you. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Church That Washes Feet

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” - John 13:14

The church doesn’t exist to please itself or for its own comfort and safety. The church exists to be God’s agency for the ministry of Christ.

Every person who walks through this world will end up with tired, dirty feet. The dust of our journey, as well as the wounds and sin mar the beautiful feet that God created for us. The ministry of Jesus is to soothe in cool waters, to heal through his loving touch, and to clean by his blood.

The work of the church isn’t what we think it is. The work of the church is to do the work of Jesus.

Jesus never owned a building. He never had a bank account. Instead, he did the work of a slave for others; he washed feet. When the Christian church understands that its principal work is to wash tired and dirty feet, then it will be on the path to fulfilling its God-given mission.

To wash one another’s feet means to be willing to kneel down and serve at the feet of those who are dirty from the roads of life. It means to help them experience the cleansing love of Jesus. He said to his church:

  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:17

True Worship

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. - John 4:24

One of the greatest confusions in Jesus’ day was about worship. If only they could worship at the right place, at the right time, and with the right procedure, then God would accept them. But Jesus taught that worship wasn’t about those things at all.

Jesus introduced the woman at the well to a new kind of worship: spiritual worship, in which we worship in the Spirit. This, he tells her is true worship. We are no longer tethered to places and times and rituals. Now, because Jesus has come, we are set free from those limitations, which were there to instruct us before the coming of Christ. That’s why the apostle Paul writes,

I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

This is the worship of the every day. It’s good to praise God and worship in church. But the sign of a true worshipper is that wherever we go and in whatever we do, we are worshipping God. What God desires the most is for our everyday lives themselves to be the truest act of worship, offering praise to God. This is what it means to worship in Spirit and in truth.

People Not Like You

“I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” - Matthew 8:11–12

The people in Jesus’ time thought that only people of their ‘church’ – the Jewish religion – would be saved. They thought that the grace of God was only for people like themselves. But Jesus told them that the people who thought they were in, were out and that the people who thought they were left out, were invited in!

Never challenge God by trying to restrict salvation to people just like you.

After the resurrection, the disciples met together in Jerusalem to decide what to do about the Gentiles who wanted to be saved. In the midst of the debate, Peter stood up and said,

Why are you now challenging God by placing a burden on the shoulders of these disciples that neither we nor our ancestors could bear? On the contrary, we believe that we and they are saved in the same way, by the grace of the Lord Jesus. Acts 15:10–11, CEB

The word that Peter uses here for ‘challenging [God]’ is the same word that is used in 1 Corinthians 10:9 to refer to the apostasy of the children of Israel in the wilderness, when, as a result, they died by being bitten by serpents. So, this issue is serious business to God! Salvation is for all who trust in Jesus, even if they’re nothing like you. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Forgive and Forget

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. - Isaiah 43:25

When God forgives our sins, he both forgives and forgets:

What this means is that God, from the moment he has forgiven us, treats us for all intents and purposes as if we had never ever wronged him. He restores us completely to the standing we had with him before we fell. Love keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:5

However, it isn’t possible for us to “forgive and forget” in the same way that God does. It can take us a long time to heal from the wounds that others have inflicted on us.

What we can do is to “forgive and forget” in the sense of taking the decision that you will choose to forgive the person who has wronged you for the sake of Jesus Christ, and move on with your life.

You know that you still need to heal. But once you come to the place where you decide to forgive someone from your heart, something very special happens. God heals your wounds.

As your own wounded heart is healed, you will more and more see the other person as God sees them, treating them as if they had never sinned against you. We must never let a root of bitterness spring up in our hearts (Hebrews 12:15). – Eliezer Gonzalez

Get Out of God’s Way

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour. - Psalm 25:4–5

One of the big things I’ve had to learn in my life was the same lesson that Peter had to learn: to get out of God’s way.

In Galilee, Peter tried to stop Jesus going to Jerusalem, to the cross, and Jesus had to rebuke him (Matthew 16:21–23). It happened again in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Peter tried to defend Jesus with his sword, again Jesus had to rebuke him (Matthew 26:50–53). For Peter, being a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean the path of suffering, it doesn’t mean the path of the cross. Jesus knows what he has to do, but Peter always seems to know better than the Lord.

How many times in my life have I been in Jesus’ way because what I’ve wanted hasn’t matched up what God has wanted for my life? It’s especially hard when you feel that you aren’t in control of what is happening, and when you don’t understand “why.” And for me, that’s most of the time.

I’m learning to get out of God’s way. I still have a long way to go. We all do. It took Peter a long time too.

It’s not always easy, but we all need to learn that God’s way is always the best way even if we don’t fully understand. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Comfortable Christian Living

We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. - Acts 14:22

Some people suggest that if you join and give to a particular church or ministry, that you will have an easy life. God’s blessings are interpreted as necessarily being such things as worldly prosperity, freedom from sickness, and superior relationships. But it doesn’t always work that way.

If you want to have a comfortable Christian life, you might have a comfortable life, but you won’t have a Christian life.

A true Christian life is modelled on the life of Christ. Jesus was homeless. If you want to follow Jesus, there will be hardship and suffering in some way. If it doesn’t come through the circumstances of life or the opposition of others, it may simply come because you are willing to choose to sacrifice your own good for the sake of others.

So, if it’s going to be like that, why continue to follow Jesus Christ? In Mark 10:29–31, Jesus says that if you have given up things in this life for his sake and the sake of the gospel, the rewards in this life (“along with persecutions”) will be a hundred times greater. And then Jesus adds that in addition to that, in the age to come, we will enjoy eternal life.

What is knowing Jesus Christ and having eternal life worth to you? (John 6:67). – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Risky Business of the Gospel

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” - Matthew 10:37

I’d probably be right in saying that everyone who follows Jesus, does it so they can gain, and not lose. The secular “business” of the gospel has made some people very wealthy, but God continually warns us that to gain eternal life, we must be willing to risk, and even lose, everything else (Matthew 10:38–39).

The apostle Paul tells us that the degree to which you know God is limited by the degree you’re willing to risk for him (Philippians 3:7–10). Those who are willing to risk much for their Saviour will drink deeply from the life-giving waters that springs from his heart. You have to be willing to let go of everything that is selfish and material in order to understand God and gain eternity.

The call of Christ is “follow me”. Read Philippians 2:5–11 and be reminded of how much Jesus risked for love.

The best kind of risk is when you know that you are perfectly safe. It’s only when you have understood the gospel that you’ll be able to risk everything for the sake of Jesus. If you really want to know God, then you need to risk for him; otherwise, you’re just a bystander in the Kingdom.

Following Jesus isn’t a spectator sport; it’s risky business. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The God Who Redeems

This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. - Isaiah 48:17

One of the powerful ways in which God presents himself throughout the Bible is as a “Redeemer” (Isaiah 44:24; 48:17). The idea of redemption comes from the practice of ancient slavery. A slave was redeemed when someone paid the price for their freedom. That’s why God says that he “redeemed” the children of Israel, from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 6:6).

A redeemer sees value in what is seemingly worthless. A redeemer looks at a slave and sees freedom. A redeemer transforms reality by paying the price that makes a new reality possible.

The way that God redeems is difficult to explain to people who are not followers of Jesus. God takes weakness and turns it into strength. He takes sorrow and turns it into joy. He takes limitations and turns them into possibilities. He turns suffering into glory. That’s why the Apostle Paul rejoices in his sufferings (Romans 5:3) and attributes them to the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:10).

God often saves us through trouble and not from trouble. Even with Israel in Egypt, God didn’t take them to the Promised Land right away. They had to learn to trust him.

God is the Great Recycler. He recycles the rubbish of your life and turns it into something beautiful. The Bible teaches us that we have been redeemed because of Jesus’ mighty act at the cross (Ephesians 1:7). That’s where he paid the price. Every experience in our lives must be seen in the light of the cross. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Walk on Water Today

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. - Matthew 14: 29

Walking on water means to get on top of the things that drag you down. It means to get through the storms of life. It means to do the impossible. Peter is the only person who has ever literally walked on water. When he saw Jesus coming to him through the darkness and the waves, he called out,

“Lord, if it’s you… tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said. - Matthew 14:28–29

Peter knew that if the Lord called him to walk on water, that he would ultimately be safe. He knew that God’s every call is an empowerment, and his every command is a promise. Jesus did call him, and so Peter got out of the boat and walked on water (verse 29). How many people have missed out on the most exhilarating moments of their lives because they refused to answer God’s call? But you only get to walk on water when you obey. You don’t get to experience the exhilarating joy of the Kingdom of God by staying in the boat.

Think about the challenges that you are facing. Are you trusting in the Lord to walk on water right now? Eventually, Peter learnt to completely trust in Jesus. And so, must we. Don’t wait. Walk on water today. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How Moses Learnt Forgiveness

But now, please forgive their sin — but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written. - Exodus 32:32

The hardest lesson that the great men and women of God have always had to learn is the lesson of forgiveness: what it means to be forgiven, and what it means to forgive. Moses learnt that lesson, like all of us do, the hard way.

At the foot of Mount Sinai, as God is about to wipe out the idolatrous and rebellious people of Israel, Moses interposes his own life between the people and God, and intercedes for them. At the foot of Sinai, Moses learnt that forgiveness has a cost.

Then forty years later, Moses, now an old man, in his anger at the people of Israel, strikes the rock instead of speaking to it as the Lord had commanded. There at the borders of Canaan, Moses learnt that he would always need the forgiveness of God himself, no matter how long he had followed him.

Forgiveness has a cost: the life of the Son of God. And you will need forgiveness for as long as you live. When you learn these lessons of forgiveness, they transform your life. Then God will also be able to say of you, as he said of Moses, that you are the meekest, most humble person on earth (Numbers 12:3). The lessons of forgiveness are the ones that open the gates of Paradise. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Naked Before God

All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. - Galatians 3:27, NIV

Some people have nightmares about being caught out naked. It’s one of our greatest fears. Those who tell us there is a psychological meaning to these dreams say that they represent feelings of being vulnerable, and a fear of having an aspect of your life totally exposed.

Biblically, they are not far off the mark. The question that God asked Adam and Eve after they sinned was,

Who told you that you were naked? (Genesis 3:11).

The implication of God’s question is that no-one told them, so how did they know? They had done something, and as a result they felt ashamed. Their guilt exposed them before God. Sin had come into the world and into the human heart.

We are all naked before God. For many, this sense of nakedness is simply reflected in a yearning for something more—for identity—for permanence. Others who know God know this restlessness for what it is: the presence of sin.

The Apostle Paul gives us the solution when he tells us that if we have been baptised, we have been clothed with Christ. What was lost by our first parents has been regained by Jesus. Our spotless righteousness, pristine purity, and absolute perfection exists only in him. In Christ, you will never be naked and exposed. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Back to top of: Living in Faith

Christianity Today

Celebrate Something Better Than Halloween

On the day I’m writing this, it’s Halloween. But I’ve got something better to celebrate. You see, I’m a Christian. Christians celebrate life. Halloween celebrates death.

Halloween has its origins in the ancient pagan festivals in honour of the dead. These festivals are found in almost every ancient pre-Christian culture. In these festivals, on certain days, the dead were permitted to have contact with the world of the living.

In these pagan cultures, the living have always had an ambiguous relationship with the dead. On the one hand, the living feared the dead, because they could come back to harm them. But on the other hand, the living also celebrated the dead. Of course, one reason was because the dead were those whom we had loved in life. But the other reason was precisely to keep the dead happy and quiet, so they wouldn’t harm the living. That’s why in these pagan festivals it was customary to have a party and to offer the dead sweets and other kinds of foods for that very purpose.

The idea was to make friends with death, after all, we’re all going there!

The Christian faith is the very opposite to this. While the world celebrates death, Christianity celebrates life. For Christians death is not a friend, and will never be a friend. In 1 Corinthians 15:26, the Bible calls death an “enemy”. The word that the Apostle Paul uses here refers to someone who is hateful. Death is the ultimate enemy!

In the west, we live in a largely post-religious world, and so the fear of death remains. Although we consider ourselves so much more sophisticated than those ancient pagans, the ideas behind Halloween still fascinate many people. While we may think that people celebrate Halloween “just for fun,” our culture celebrates death very prominently in a myriad of ways through movies and music and through the many expressions of popular culture.

Christians do not celebrate death. But although we hate death, we face it with hope, and our sorrow is not like those who have no hope. Because the Bible tells us that the power of death has already been destroyed by Jesus Christ, who gives us the victory. Our victory will be seen on the day of resurrection.

Here is what Christians celebrate:

Christ has been risen from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. - 1 Corinthians 15:20, NLT

That’s a much better kind of celebration! – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Cross Is An Invitation

We … see Jesus … crowned with glory and honour because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone. - Hebrews 2:9, NIV

I love to travel, and whenever I travel, I love to visit churches, especially those awe-inspiring cathedrals in Europe. I once drove from the Netherlands through Brussels, and right into southern France, and then back to the Netherlands, just to visit churches that I’d only ever seen in post-cards. And what was nuts about it was that I did it all in a weekend!

But beautiful buildings are not what Christianity is about.

Jesus didn’t die in a quiet place of meditation and reflection, but beside a busy road. In this way, He showed us that we must all eventually face Him and His sacrifice.

Jesus didn’t die under the roof of a beautiful temple, but under an open sky. In this way, He showed us that He died for all, and that His sacrifice knows no walls or boundaries.

Jesus didn’t die between two beautiful pieces of art, but between two wretched criminals. In this way, He showed us that He could think of no better place to be than with the broken and the lost.

The essence of Christianity is not found in any building, but in a person, our Saviour Jesus Christ. It is an open invitation to all, to believe and to live. – Eliezer Gonzalez

God Fills Your Emptiness

He has put eternity into man’s heart. - Ecclesiastes 3:11, ESV

Did you know that the universe is 99.999% empty space? We can easily understand that as it applies to outer space, but did you know it also applies to our bodies? If that space were removed from all our bodies, the whole human race would take up the space of a sugar cube!

In a literal sense, there doesn’t seem to be much substance to people. If makes you wonder what there is about people to love. God knows… literally, because he tells us through the Bible that we are deeply, desperately, and continuously loved.

If death is the end of it all, then that’s all we are: just empty space, just wasted lives of no consequence.

But death isn’t the end! The Bible says: in God’s great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).

Jesus has overcome death, so when you believe in him, he fills you with a new life that’s full of joy and hope and purpose.

All those who have accepted salvation in Christ have no more empty space. If you are his, Christ fills every part of your being with eternity. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus is Your Saviour and Lord

God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. - 2 Peter 1:11

It’s easy to just say “thank you”, without being truly grateful, but it’s often harder to show our gratitude.

Two blind men once came to Jesus and asked him to have mercy on them (Matthew 9:27–31). He healed them, and then he told them to make sure that they told absolutely no one about what had happened. Instead, they both raced off and started telling everyone what Jesus had done.

Yes, Jesus had saved them from their blindness – in this sense, he was their Saviour. But if they had been truly grateful, they should have done what Jesus asked them to do. In obeying Jesus, they would not only have been accepting him as their Saviour, but as their Lord as well.

There are many people who happily claim Jesus as their Saviour, but how many truly accept him as their Lord? As Jesus said on another occasion,

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” - Luke 6:46

Unlike those two blind men, are you grateful enough to let Jesus be both Saviour and Lord of your life? After all, Jesus can’t be your Saviour if he isn’t your Lord as well. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Remembering Keeps Your Faith Strong

Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! - Isaiah 46:9 NLT

God often tells us to remember, because he knows that we are prone to forget. Here are three things to remember that will help you get through tough times:

1. Remember who you are

In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. Galatians 3:26

We are not abandoned orphans. No matter how sad you may be, remember that you are a child of God. Your can trust your Father in heaven.

2. Remember who you belong to

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

You belong to God. You can only ever suffer as much as he allows, and he will always be right there with you in the midst of the storm.

3. Remember where you are going

Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20

Whatever you go through in this world is only a fleeting moment in the light of eternity. Remember that you belong to heaven and not to this world. Remember that you have a Saviour and his name is Jesus.

This world is like an obstacle course that tries to make us forget. We are only safe when we remember Jesus. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Use What’s In Your Hand

His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. – Matthew 15:32–34, NIV

When Jesus suggested to the disciples that he wanted to feed the enormous crowd of 4,000 people by the lake, the disciples were full of excuses. Too often we are the same.

Just as he did with his disciples beside the lake, Jesus doesn’t take any notice of our excuses at all. Instead, he simply asks us what we have in our hand.

I imagine that when the disciples said they had seven loaves and a few fish, they thought Jesus would have responded, “I see. You were right. That’s useless. Let’s think of another plan.” But that’s not what Jesus said at all. Instead he took what they had in their hands and turned it into more than enough to feed 4,000 people.

Don’t be frightened at the huge size of what Jesus asks us to do: to take the Bread of Life to the world. He doesn’t ask us to do the impossible. Not at all! He takes care of that.

All Jesus asks is that we give him what he has already put in our hands, no matter how humble or small, and he will do the rest. When you offer Jesus what’s in your hand, that’s when miracles happen.

Check what’s in your hands today. In faith, offer it to Jesus. Then stand back and watch what happens!

Beyond Indoctrination

“Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Matthew 9:13

During approximatly 100 days between April 7 and mid-July 1994, it is estimated that between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Rwandans were killed, up to 70% of the Tutsi and 20% of Rwanda’s total population. This was the genocidal mass slaughter of the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutu, by members of the Hutu majority—many of them Christians.

Yes, the horrific reality is that those who rose up to barbarously hack their neighbours to death were Christians of all persuasions. The churches in Rwanda before the genocide tended strongly towards fundamentalism and legalism, and they still do today. Has nothing been learnt? How can this be? Because Christians have too often spent their energies indoctrinating people, rather than ‘gospelising’ them.

In terms of priorities, God does not call us to be rooted and grounded in knowledge and standards, or to understand all doctrine or prophecy. God calls us, as our first duty, to be rooted and grounded in love, through the indwelling of Christ in our hearts (Ephesians 3:17–19). Religion based on any other foundation incurs the words of Christ:

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25: 45-46.

What about you? Have you been truly gospelised? Or have you merely been indoctrinated? – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Coherence of Scripture

Every word of God is pure. - Proverbs 30:5, NKJV

Properly understood, the Bible is itself the strongest evidence for its truthfulness. But it must be properly understood. If you look at the Bible as you would consider any other book, then you might see apparent contradictions and problems. But the Bible is not like any other book.

Everything must be judged according to its purpose. Most people don’t understand what the purpose of the Bible is, so they fail to see its beauty.

The Bible was not given to us to explain scientific principles. It wasn’t to be a history of the human race. The Bible wasn’t intended to be a compendium of rules for right living. That’s not what it’s principally about. From beginning to end, the Bible has one primary purpose: to reveal Jesus Christ as the way to salvation (Luke 24:25–27; John 5:39).

Jesus is the key that unlocks the meaning of Scripture. When you understand that, then you can understand how “every Word of God is pure.” – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Will Be Reunited with Jesus

I am married to you. - Jeremiah 3:14, NKJV

Sixty years ago, Boris and Anna Kozlov were married for only three days before he had to ship out with his Red Army unit. When he returned, Anna and her family were gone – exiled to Siberia by Stalin’s purges. Then one day, on a chance encounter, they found each other again!

“I thought my eyes were playing games on me,” Anna said. “I saw this familiar looking man approaching me, his eyes gazing at me. My heart jumped. I knew it was him. I was crying with joy.”

80 years-old Boris had returned to visit his parents’ grave. As he stepped out of the car, he looked up to see Anna standing by her old house, where they had lived for the few days after the wedding.

“I ran up to her and said: ‘My darling, I’ve been waiting for you for so long. My wife, my life…”

This was an amazing reunion. However the book of Revelation (19:7–9) describes another amazing reunion between a bride and her husband. It will be when you are reunited with Jesus, face to face.

Don’t worry about whether Jesus will recognise you or not. No matter how life may take its toll on you, Jesus will always recognise you. Because you’re his. – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Can Have an Overwhelming Assurance of Salvation

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. - John 10:28–29, NLT

Sometimes I don’t feel an overwhelming assurance of salvation. But I’m thankful that feelings are not a reliable guide to spiritual reality. God knows how untrustworthy our feelings are. That’s why, in the Bible, he provides many times what I can only call an “overwhelming assurance of salvation.”

Look at Jesus’ promise in John 10:27–31. Jesus seals it with the identity of the Father and of the Son. There is nothing in the universe who can take away the eternal life that Christ has given you.

These words are absolute. If you listen to the voice of Jesus, and follow him, you have eternal life, and you will never perish.

The great people of the Bible all went through dark and difficult times. Elijah, Isaiah, and John the Baptist all felt in different ways that their connection with God was gone, that they had been abandoned, and that they were failures.

We must break the connection, in our minds, between our feelings and our salvation. Our assurance depends on God’s incredible, generous gift alone. – Eliezer Gonzalez

I Am What I Am

By the grace of God I am what I am. - 1 Corinthians 15:10

What is it that makes Paul “Paul” and not “Saul”? It’s the grace of God.

We all search for identity. In Philippians 3:7–8, after making a great list of all of the things that are normally considered assets in society, the apostle Paul says that he writes them all off as a loss in comparison to knowing Jesus. Paul refuses to be identified by the apparent advantages in his life. Paul also refuses to be identified by the tragedies in his life (2 Corinthians 11:23–27).

The only response to the grace of God is to choose to become its servant. Paul’s first words in his epistle to the Romans are “Paul, a servant of the gospel”; literally: “a slave of the gospel.” Grace brings us all down to the same level, because at the foot of the Cross there’s no economy class, and no first class; there’s only kneeling class.

Saul, a man of learning, privilege, and power, bent his knee in awe at the foot of the Cross. When he did that, he became Paul – a completely new person.

You and I must also kneel at the foot of the Cross, to be able to say, “By the grace of God, I am what I am.” – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Must Eat Jesus’ Flesh in the Kingdom

I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. - John 6:53, NLT

Jesus said some things that were offensive within his own religion and culture. This verse above just one example. Soon after Christianity’s emergence, it was condemned within the Roman Empire as a dangerous new cult. Christians were accused of practising cannibalism by eating the body and drinking the blood of someone they called Christ. This was a misunderstanding of what is called the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist.

When Jesus spoke about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, he was actually talking about true religion. What Jesus meant is that it’s got to be personal. Jesus was saying that you don’t receive eternal life by understanding concepts or by believing the right things, but instead by a personal and intimate relationship with him. Jesus must be more important to us than our very food and drink, and closer to us than the nourishment that courses through our body and gives us life.

This requirement for salvation offends our deepest need to consider ourselves to be the masters of our own destiny. It means surrendering all that we are and hope to be, and everything we think and all that we have, to the Carpenter of Nazareth. For those who refuse to do this, it really is offensive. But for those who embrace it, this means eternal life. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus is Never Too Busy for You

“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” - Luke 22:46

We live in a society where everyone is too busy doing something else other than what we should be doing.

On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. After a while, Jesus, who had asked his disciples to pray also (v.40), went and found them sleeping. I had never understood the meaning of what Jesus said to them before. I thought that Jesus was upset with them.

True, Jesus was disappointed in them, but more than that, he was concerned for them. He knew that over the next three days they would experience the most difficult time of their lives. That’s why, no matter how busy he was, he took the time to warn them and to encourage them for the disappointment that was to come. How wonderful it is to see, that even at this most difficult of his life, our Lord had time for his disciples! Jesus is never too busy for you. Even when your world is falling apart, Jesus still has time for you.

Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus sustains “sustaining all things by his powerful word.” And even if you’re asleep and disobedient like the disciples, he still has time for you. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Prayer in Lonely Places

Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. - Luke 5:16, NIV

If you can pray at any time and in any place, why did Jesus have to go to lonely places to pray?

It’s the same reason we all need a quiet place, away from the distractions of our everyday lives. We can speak to God at any time, but we do need a quiet space to hear his voice. When you create space in your life for God, he fills it.

I often go for a long walk outside, typically along a quiet road or sit in a peaceful place in nature, where I can simply spend time with God. When I pray in this way, I’m acknowledging that prayer isn’t just me speaking to a seemingly silent God. I have discovered that God is desperately longing to speak to me in many different ways. Prayer involves listening for the voice of God, allowing his heart to be revealed to me. Prayer is receiving his blessings.

It’s vital for every child of God to make space in their lives for God. That’s why Jesus “withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” We all need a “lonely place” to pray. But, here’s what I’ve discovered. That “lonely place” for prayer is never really lonely, because when you sense the presence of God, that’s when you most know that you are never alone. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Beyond the Trappings of Christianity

And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. - Matthew 27:35, NIV

The trappings of Christianity – the beautiful music, the caring friendships, the feeling of belonging – can be enticing, but don’t be fooled. You can either seek the trappings or the Christ, but if you seek the trappings, you’ll never have the Christ!

The people in charge of Jesus’ crucifixion were a squad of Roman soldiers. John 19:23 suggests that the crucifixion squad consisted of four men, which makes sense. There was a centurion, and then three soldiers. This would have been enough for the three soldiers to have held down both arms and the legs of the condemned man as the nails were driven home, with the centurion to oversee.

John 19:23 tells us that the soldiers divided Jesus’ garments into four shares. His tunic was left over. This seems to have been the most valuable item of clothing Jesus had. Because it had no seam, the soldiers decided not to rip it up. Instead, they decided to gamble for it.

I wonder what the man thought who won it? Did he go home feeling a winner? While the Son of God died in agony for the sins of the world, the soldiers squabbled over the trappings. That was their focus, but it shouldn’t be ours.

The trappings of Christianity can never substitute for the real thing: Jesus Christ himself. - Eliezer Gonzalez

Your Great Ambition

It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known. - Romans 15:20

I’ve discovered the greatest ambition of all! It’s the ambition that Paul expresses in Romans 15:20.

I used to think that was unique to Paul, because he was an apostle and a preacher, but now I realise that it must be the greatest and all-consuming ambition of every follower of Jesus Christ. You don’t have to jump on a plane and go and preach where people have never heard of Christianity. Most people you associate with every day, maybe even your family, have the wrong idea about God, about how good he is, and about what he has done to save them. They need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Not everyone has the gift of preaching. Not everyone can be a missionary in faraway countries. But sharing the Gospel is not just about words. It’s all about what others see that you put first in your life. When you put God first, you will certainly make an impact for Jesus where he isn’t yet known.

So, make Paul’s ambition your ambition: to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ where he is not known. The greatest thing that you can ever achieve in this life is simply sharing the Gospel. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Gold Standard of Prayer

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” - Luke 23:34

You’ve heard that saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”? Well, here’s another one: “When the going gets tough, the tough get praying.”

It’s probably true that people, even non-religious types, are more likely to send up a prayer when it comes to crunch-time, and it’s life or death.

I once had a friend who, believe it or not, used to regularly pray for God to strike down his enemies! He got that from the Psalms, so it’s not entirely unbiblical. But it’s not the best kind of prayer. Christians call themselves “Christians” because they follow Jesus. Without doubt, Jesus’ toughest time was before and during his execution.

So, what did he pray for?

His first prayer was for the forgiveness of those who had wronged him – that’s all of us. His final prayer was a profound expression of confidence in God.

The most powerful prayer you can pray is an unselfish prayer. It’s a loving prayer for others. It’s a prayer that simply trusts in God. I don’t know what you pray for in tough times, but Jesus forever established the gold standard of what to pray for in tough times.

It’s praying for the grace to forgive others, and for more strength to trust in God. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Just Say Thank You

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. - 1 Chronicles 16:34

It’s easy to take God for granted. It’s difficult enough to say thank you to people around us, who we can see, let alone remember to say thank you to God, whom we can’t see. And often we don’t pray “thank you” to God, because we don’t say “thank you” to others. We just aren’t in the habit of gratitude, full stop.

I’m often prone to negative thoughts, and a good friend of mine suggested that I should keep a daily “gratitude journal,” in which I write down things for which I’m grateful. I’ve found that the more that I think about what I’m grateful for, the more grateful and positive I become! It’s like that with God as well.

Think about how you act when you are really grateful to someone. You can’t do enough for them, can you? And you do it happily.

Maybe relating to God isn’t so difficult after all… if you’re grateful.

Perhaps the German theologian was right when he said, “If the only prayer you ever said in your whole life was ‘Thank you,’ that would be enough.”

You know, God is good, all the time. You’ll be getting 86,400 seconds today.

Why don’t you use one or two of them to say thank you to God? – Eliezer Gonzalez

Alone with God

“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” - Matthew 6:6, NLT

I’ve learnt that sometimes, whoever you are, you just have to be alone. And that’s true about prayer as well. I need to create space in my life to clarify my focus and my thoughts in prayer. I need to be able to hear God’s voice over the “busyness” of the world.

Jesus often prayed just short, little micro-prayers. Like, he would be speaking to a crowd, and suddenly he would say something to his Father in heaven. But he also needed to spend blocks of time alone in prayer.

When I was younger, prayer was something I did because I had been told it was something you had to do. It was a monologue that I sent up to God in the hope that reception was good on his end, and he would somehow receive it.

But now, I’ve discovered what prayer really means. Perhaps you don’t really make that discovery until you come to the point where all earthly help is helpless, and you really do need God in your life. I’d even go as far as to say that some of my most memorable experiences in my life are things that only God and I know about, because they happened while I’ve been spending time in prayer alone.

How about you? How do you connect? - Eliezer Gonzalez

The Prayer You Shouldn’t Pray

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love. - Psalm 51:1, NIV

One really dumb thing I did as a teenager was to jump off a rock into the ocean, on a dare by my mates, only to find out later that it was infested with sharks there, and they knew it. True story! Some mates they were! But did you know that some of the greatest people in the Bible were also pretty dumb in their younger years? For example, in the 26th Psalm, written by King David, he asks God to accept him on the basis of the good life he has led.

Can there be a more foolish attitude with which to approach God than this? That’s a prayer you should never pray. Everyone who approached Jesus on the basis of the merits of their lives was sent away empty-handed. But no-one who approached Jesus simply on the basis of their need failed to receive his mercy and blessing.

Perhaps David in his youth, like me, had led a rather sheltered life. Many years later, like me, when life had knocked some sense into him, David learnt to pray based on God’s unfailing love and compassion (e.g. Psalm 51).

That’s the kind of prayer that we need to pray, because it’s the only basis of salvation and acceptance with God. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Words That Make God Gag

“God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” - Luke 18:13

The Bible tells us that there are some words that make God gag. Can you imagine God feeling ill and even gagging when he hears people say these words? They must be pretty bad, right? Well, here they are! What do people say?

They say, ‘Keep your distance. Don’t touch me. I’m holier than thou.’

These people gag me. I can’t stand their stench. Isaiah 65:5, MSG

Of course, most Christians would not want to admit to saying these actual words, “I’m holier than thou.” But there are many who say it with different words, and through how they live and how they treat others. Let’s consider the many ways to be “holier than thou”; to say the words that make God gag. You can do it by judging others, excluding them, or by ignoring the opportunity to help them.

Let’s be reminded that mercy is only for the merciful (Matthew 5:7). The reason for that is that if you’re “holier than thou,” you’ll never even see your need for mercy.

That’s why Jesus spent his time mainly with those who knew they needed him. But his harshest words were reserved for those who came to him presenting the false outward credentials of their life and their achievements.

Let’s resolve to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8) – Eliezer Gonzalez

Travel Lightly Through the World

“Take nothing for the journey — no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.” So, they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere. - Luke 9:1–3,6, NIV

When Jesus sent out the Twelve to preach the kingdom of God, he told them to simply go and actually pack nothing for the journey (Luke 9:1-3,6, NIV). Jesus had his eye on a deeper meaning.

Jesus calls his followers to travel lightly through the world. That’s the opposite of how society tells us that we should travel. Society tells us that we should weigh ourselves down with possessions: houses, cars, boats, investments, and bank accounts.

But Jesus shows us a better way to live. If our goal is to accumulate “stuff,” then we have misunderstood the meaning of life and our purpose in this world. We are here on a mission, and the “stuff” that we cram into our lives just weigh us down.

What Jesus is saying is not about not “having,” but instead about how we use what we “have.” If your possessions are weighing you down for the mission of sharing the gospel, then they’re a problem. If you’re using your possessions, not for yourself, but for the sake of the spreading the Kingdom of God, then you are travelling through the world the way that Jesus wants you to.

Are you travelling lightly through the world? Perhaps it’s time to declutter your life for the sake of Jesus. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Your Greatest Achievement

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. - 1 Corinthians 2:9, NLT

I’m someone who wants to be successful in life. I’m often frustrated by the limitations that money, time, and health place upon our ability to achieve. No matter what I do, I always want more! It’s not that my goals are necessarily selfish. I’d like to think that I’m ambitious for God.

As I prayed about this the other day, it was as if the Lord said to me, “Do you want to know what the greatest achievement is in your life? In any person’s life? Here it is: the greatest achievement you can have is to have accepted the salvation that Jesus Christ offers to you.”

The most successful person on earth is the one who has accepted salvation through Christ, and who, as a result, has been born again. With Jesus, an eternity of glorious achievements awaits you. Does this sound too simple for you?

But it’s the truth. Believe in Jesus Christ and accept the eternal life that he offers you. Then God will start to work out his will in your life throughout eternity, and your achievements throughout eternity will exceed your wildest dreams (John 3:16).

You don’t have to be anxious about tomorrow, or about anything in this life at all. If you’ve accepted Jesus as your friend, it’s never the end of the road. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Why You Should Be Encouraged

“Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.” - Matthew 9:2, CEB

In Matthew 9, we find the story of a paralysed man who was brought to Jesus. He was lying on a mat on the ground, and Jesus told him to be encouraged because his sins were forgiven.

Jesus didn’t say what you might have expected him to say. The man expected that Jesus would heal him so that he would be able to walk again. But instead, Jesus firstly forgives his sins.

The reason why you can be encouraged in every situation is because Jesus has forgiven your sins. Because of that, you can know with certainty that you are loved by God and that you will surely overcome every adversity in your life. Because your sins are forgiven, you have eternal life.

The story ends like this:

[Jesus] said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God. Matthew 9:6–8, NIV

Jesus may not give you what you think you most need. Because he knows what you most need, and it is always an outflowing of forgiveness from his heart to yours. When you know that you’ve been forgiven by God, you can face anything. This is the ultimate source of encouragement and hope. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Tears in Heaven

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. - Revelation 21:4

Will there be tears in heaven? I know that’s a question that seems to have an obvious answer.

But not every tear is bad. Most of the times that I have cried in my life have been when I have shed tears of joy. Tears of joy are good. They represent an overwhelming sensation of joy that is too much for one to bear. That’s why we call them happy tears. When the Bible describes the redeemed in heaven, it describes them as experiencing irrepressible joy (Isaiah 51:11, NIV).

I can’t even begin to imagine those first moments when we realise that we are home at last, when our senses can’t even begin to take in the beauty and goodness that surrounds us, when we are reunited with those we love, and especially when finally come face to face with Jesus. Perhaps we will cast our crowns at his feet and fall down before him. But he will come and touch us, and gently lift us up, to embrace us with all the joy of heaven.

Is it possible that crying is an ability that our Creator gave us from the start, and that its purpose was in fact, to express a surplus of joy?

Will there be tears in heaven? I think so. – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Will Shine Like the Sun

“The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” - Matthew 13:43

I was recently looking at some photos of my children when they were little. While I looked at their childhood photos, I was struck by how much they had changed, and how I could never have known how amazingly they would turn out. It’s the same with us as Christians. How we see ourselves today does not predict what we will be in Christ in the future.

Jesus gives us the beautiful promise that the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom (Matthew 13:43).

You may be called a fool, and you may be laughed at, but one day you will shine like the sun. The apostle John says:

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2, NIV

So, be strong and be encouraged! Hold on to Jesus! The brokenness of your life that you see today is not what will be tomorrow. If you are a child of God, his destiny for you is so glorious, that when Jesus thought of you, there was only one way he could describe it.

You will shine like the sun! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Sit on the Stone

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. - Matthew 28:2

Matthew says that on resurrection Sunday, an angel came down from heaven, went to the tomb, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. The stone represents everything that limits you. It represents the worst and the sum of our fears.

What’s impossible for humanity is not only possible but easy for God (Luke 18:27). It’s as if God were saying, “Do you think that’s the end? Do you think that that’s powerful? Well, just look at this!” And then the angel – just one angel – rolled away the stone and for good measure, sat on it as if nothing had happened!

We all have stones in our lives that seem to block our way. Sometimes we’ve struggled for years and years, and the stone seems impossible to shift.  But your stone will be rolled away too!

Everything that the stone represented has been overcome by Jesus Christ. Through his victory, everything that limited you is gone: overcome through the resurrection of the Lord! Because of Christ’s resurrection, there are no more blockages in your life that cannot be overcome, there are no more limitations to who you can be and what you can achieve (Romans 6:2–8).

What’s your stone? Sit on your stone by faith today. Claim the victory that is yours and be at peace.

A Better Kind of Love

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:7–8

The Bible tells us what the love of God is like. In Romans 5, the apostle Paul tells us that God’s love can’t even be compared to the highest kinds of human love (vv. 7–8). Because people might be willing to die for the worthy, but Christ died for the worthless.

Jesus told a parable of a worthless son in Luke 15. He is worthless in every sense of the word, yet the father sees him from far away, throws off his heavy cloak, and runs down the road as fast as he can. When he gets to his son, he throws his arms around his neck, weeping tears of joy. The Father loves simply because he loves.

The other brother doesn’t understand this. He has the human definition of love: that love must somehow be earned, and he is angry with his father.

At the end of the story, as the brother refuses to celebrate, it seems that he will never understand the Father’s love. The Father’s love doesn’t conform to his expectations or his religion. It’s a different kind of love.

Love isn’t defined by the worth of the loved, but by the character of the Lover. And after what Jesus did at Calvary, how could you ever feel unloved again? – Eliezer Gonzalez

He Touches Your Feet

He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. - John 13:5, NIV

In the Middle East, the foot is considered the most shameful part of the body. Feet are considered dishonourable and unclean. This makes what Jesus did before the last supper all the more astonishing. The Gospel of John says that he poured water into a basin and washed his disciples’ feet (John 13:5). This was a job only fit for a slave because he had to touch your feet.

When Jesus picked up the towel and wrapped it around his waist, the disciples’ mouths fell open, because they saw what Jesus was about to do. And as Jesus started washing their feet, they just looked away in awkward silence.

This was an acted parable. Christ took off his heavenly glory and took upon himself the appearance of a servant. Then he stooped low, even to the cross, to cleanse us from our sins.

This story tells us something shocking about Jesus. It tells us that he touches your feet: the worst, dirtiest, most shameful part of you. He did it when he bore your sin.

You need to let Jesus touch your feet. Peter had a problem with that (John 13:8). Will you let Jesus touch your feet? – Eliezer Gonzalez

How to Avoid Stinking Thinking

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. - 2 Timothy 1:7, NLT

“Stinking thinking” consists of the negative thought patterns that drag you down and pull those around you down as well.

I believe that our society has a serious case of “stinking thinking” itself. Trying to dismiss God out of existence hasn’t helped. The Apostle Paul describes what happens to our thinking when we don’t acknowledge God in our lives:

They didn’t honour him as God. They didn’t thank him. Their thinking became worthless. Their foolish hearts became dark. Romans 1:21, NIVR

The key to avoiding stinking thinking is to recognise who God is. You can pray and study the Bible all you like, but still not understand what God is like (e.g. John 5:39; Matthew 23:15.) The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ is the supreme revelation of God (Hebrews 1:1–2; John 1:14–18). To see Jesus is to see God (John 14:8–9). To know Jesus as your friend is to have everlasting life (John 17:3).

When you understand what God is like, everything changes in your life. Knowing the goodness of God helps remove the “stinking thinking” from your life. What do I do when the “stinking thinking” starts to creep back into my life? I take some time to acknowledge who God is, in Jesus Christ.

I don’t have time for worthless thoughts in my life! – Eliezer Gonzalez

God Wants to Be Real to You

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. – 1 John 5:14 NIV

You never really know someone until you meet them and speak with them, do you? I was born in Switzerland and grew up in Australia I always knew that I had many relatives in Spain, where my parents came from, but until I met them, they weren’t “real” to me. A similar thing happened with Samuel:

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him… The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said,

“Speak, for your servant is listening.” – 1 Samuel 3:7,10 NIV

Samuel didn’t know God, until he spoke with him. Similarly, Job says,

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. – Job 42:5 NIV.

Prayer is real communication with God. When you speak with him, he speaks to your heart in ways that the spiritual person will hear and understand. God has a million ways of telling you he loves you. All you need to do is listen. There are many strong, logical arguments and good evidence to support the existence of God, but God won’t be “real” to you until you’ve met him.

How do I know that God exists? I was just speaking with him this morning. – Eliezer Gonzalez

In the Centre of God’s Love

I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. – Jeremiah 31:3 NLT.

I’m fortunate that I’ve never been in one of those huge cyclones that hit in North Queensland, or in one of those tornados in the US. The closest that I’ve ever come was when I was a kid growing up in Sydney, and I remember this mini-cyclone that hit the city.

I was out on the street, and there was wind blowing everywhere, when suddenly there was silence and peace as the sky directly above me went still, while the dark clouds raged around. I didn’t know it, but I was in right in the centre of the storm.

Right now, you are in the centre of that love, even though you may feel like a failure. No matter how stormy your life might be, you can have peace.

God’s forgiveness is unbounded. He says,

“How can I give you up? I have loved you with an everlasting love. Come to me, and I will give you rest. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Des Ford writes that, “There is infinite joy in a moment when you accept God’s acceptance of you.” Believe it and receive it. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Can Forgive Even Your Greatest Sin

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” - Luke 23:34

Because he died for the sins of the world, Jesus wasn’t thinking just of the people who had physically crucified him. He was thinking of a lost and broken world. He wasn’t thinking of himself. He was thinking of you.

It’s only human to sometimes doubt God, and to question whether he even thinks about us. At those times, remember Christ’s words at Calvary. If Christ thought about you then, surely, he is thinking about you now.

When Jesus asks the Father to forgive us, the reason that he gives is, “for they don’t know what they do.”

However, in the days before his death, Jesus had in effect told the Jews that they knew what they were doing. Their sin was all the greater because they had been given light and they claimed to understand it (e.g. John 9:35-41). How could he now forgive them?

Like us, those who crucified him knew in part, and in part they didn’t know, But Christ’s great heart of love looks with mercy on our ignorance and weakness, in his willingness to forgive even the greatest of all sins (Mark 3:28). How is this possible? Because the Cross brings together the greatest sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), and the greatest love – and love won. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Was Heaven’s Gift

They saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. - Matthew 2:11 NIV

Unheralded, the Saviour of the World came down to us. In the quiet of the Bethlehem night, he arrived. Though Heaven emptied itself as it bestowed its greatest treasure, no room was found for him in the inn. Though angels sang, no fanfare announced his glorious arrival.

Although none accepted him, He accept all. He came to live among us, to be Immanuel, “God With Us.” Yet he did not come to show us what God is like in power and glory and praise, but in hunger, thirst, loneliness, rejection and pain.

And in the very heart of that revelation to humanity was the greatest gift of all. For all of us are born to live. We strive to live until the end of our days. But he had come to die, and through his victorious death to put an end to death forever.

He had come to a world that slept in ignorance of its need of a Saviour, to be the Saviour of the world. He who deserved only to receive, only came to give.

How does one honour a child like this? What gift can we give him?

Wise men brought him gifts. But the wisest men of all accept him as the Gift Himself. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Prayed for You at Calvary

“I have prayed for you… that your faith may not fail.” - Luke 22:32

Each of Christ’s seven last words on the Cross was a prayer on your behalf.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

This was prayer for forgiveness for a sinful, ignorant world.

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

This was a prayer that spoke of Christ’s saving love for every sinner, no matter the depths to which they may have fallen.

Jesus said to his mother: “Woman, this is your son.” Then he said to the disciple: “This is your mother.”

This was a prayer for a new humanity, created through his own blood.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

This was a prayer on behalf of all those who have ever felt abandoned by God.

“I thirst.”

This was a prayer on behalf of all those who have suffered for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

“It is finished.”

This was a prayer that announced a completed atonement for all who believe.

Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

This was a prayer of total trust in God.

In each of these seven perfect prayers of Christ, you see his heart, and in Christ’s heart there is perfect assurance of salvation for everyone who believes. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Turns Your Endings into New Beginnings

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. - Revelation 22:13

The sisters Mary and Martha thought that it had all ended, now that their brother Lazarus had died. Martha busied herself with the funeral arrangements, and Mary just cried and cried inconsolably.

What was the point of Jesus coming now? Lazarus had been in the grave for four days; at least the mourners were still there. He had come just in time to share in the grief. Even Jesus wept. It was the end. That’s how you mark endings, isn’t it? With tears?

Jesus goes to Mary and he says to her, “Do you believe?” (John 11:26), and although it is through a cloud of tears, she says “Yes.”

Then Jesus goes to the tomb and cries out with the voice of the Son of the Living God, “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus emerged from the grave into the arms of those who loved him.

I don’t know how this year was for you, but I’m sure it wasn’t all good. We call it “the end of the year”, but the question is, “Do you believe?” If you believe in the one who is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Resurrection and the Life, then all that seems an end, is only ever a new beginning in disguise.

Do you believe? – Eliezer Gonzalez

You Have to Let Go to Enter the Kingdom

“I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne… everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” - Matthew 19:28–29, NLT

I was sailing on a catamaran with a friend on a lake. What I didn’t know was that the mast hadn’t been secured properly to the hull. In a gust of wind, the catamaran tipped over, and the mast came off!

Now the bottom of the expensive mast was sitting on the bottom of the lake, and I was desperately holding the top with both hands. Every time a wave came, my head went under and I would start to swallow some water. Eventually I saw sense: I had to let go of the mast so that I wouldn’t drown.

So, I let go. I lost the mast and saved my life.

None of us will ever enter the Kingdom of God with anything in our hands. When the Bible shows us a picture of the people who have been saved in heaven, they’re not holding anything in their hands except what Jesus has given them as a free gift. That’s the scandal of grace. It really is shocking. Too many of us spend our lives trying to hold on to the things that bring us death.

It’s not by what we offer that we enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but by what we accept. We have to be prepared to let go in order to receive. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Cross Was Not the End

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. – Acts 1:1

The words in the verse above are the ones with which Luke begins his second book about what Jesus did. This first book was of course the gospel that bears his name, and this second book is called the Acts of the Apostles.

The Gospel of Luke is about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” The Acts of the Apostles is about all that Jesus continued to do and to teach “after his suffering” (v.3).

What this means is that although his suffering for your sin (the atonement) is finished, Jesus’ work in this world or in your life is not finished yet. The story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is only the beginning of your own story, which he carefully continues to craft.

Jesus is alive! He is still at work today! His story is not a story of the past, but a story of today and forever! The Cross was not the end; it was only the beginning.

In the same way, Jesus hasn’t finished with you yet! He has chosen you to be part of his story. In God’s story, the things that seem to be the end are only the beginning, and they lead to eternal glory. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How Forgiveness Works in the Kingdom

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. - Ephesians 4:32

I once owed a friend a whole lot of money, and I knew I couldn’t pay it back. I lay awake at night tossing and turning, and just thinking about it. What did this friend do? He signed a paper called a “debt forgiveness” and he gave it to me, so I wouldn’t worry about it again. I slept better after that!

Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who owed an impossible amount of money (Matthew 18:23–35). And the man to whom he owed it, incredibly, forgave him the whole debt! But then the man in the story failed to forgive another guy who owed him only a few dollars.

Every one of us has failed to live the kind of way that God wants us to live. It’s as if we owed a debt to God. We are all sinners.

But that’s not the worst thing in the world. The worst thing in the world is if we reject the forgiveness that God offers us through Jesus Christ. And how we treat others will show whether we have accepted or rejected God’s forgiveness.

That’s the moral of Jesus’ story: in the Kingdom of Heaven, forgiven people forgive. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Make the Kingdom Choice

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. - Ephesians 1:4–6

Have you ever had a straight-out choice between something nice and something not so nice?

I’ve often travelled overseas with a particular colleague, and he often offers me a choice of rooms. Usually, there’s one room that is much more appealing than another.

I try to make “Abraham’s Choice,” and I leave the better room for my friend.

What’s Abraham’s Choice? That refers to the story of Abraham in the Bible, when his nephew Lot gave him the choice of a good land or a worse land for his sheep, and Abraham took the worse land for himself so that his nephew could have the better land.

The original “Abraham’s Choice,” was made by God, who could have chosen to remain in Heaven, but instead he came to this earth to be right here with us. He chose to be one of us. He chose to die to heal our broken lives.

When we know that God always has something better for us, it becomes easier to give what is better to others. Abraham knew that God had a Kingdom prepared for him. That’s why “Abraham’s Choice,” is the Kingdom choice.

It’s all about honouring others above yourself. When you do that, you’re honouring Jesus, who chose you even above all of heaven. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Kingdom of Heaven is Not Just a Future Hope

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” - John 10:10, NLT

Jesus told a story about ten young ladies who were invited to a wedding (Matthew 25:1–13). Five of them only focused on the future wedding, and the other five were also focused on what they needed to be doing right now.

The five who were focused on the future didn’t bring enough oil for their lamps while they waited. The other five were just as excited about the wedding, but their joy spilt over into their present, so that they remembered to bring enough oil. The Bridegroom surprised them all!

There’s a kind of Christian who is always miserable and gloomy, and all that they do is look forward to the better times that God will bring. Some of them try to trace out every detail of Bible prophecy, to work out exactly how the end will come. But the Bridegroom will surprise us all.

Jesus has promised us that things will be better in the future. But if that’s all we have, and we are just waiting in misery for that day, then we are like those girls without oil.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not alone a future hope, but a present reality. Only those who live profitably and joyfully in Christ’s Kingdom now will ever come to see the Kingdom of Glory. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Guest of Sinners

He has gone to be the guest of a sinner. - Luke 19:7

Jesus was a guest of sinners. He horrified his contemporaries by the way that he loved. Not only did Jesus not avoid sinners, but he sought them out, and he enjoyed their company! And when the people complained about Jesus that,

He has gone to be the guest of a sinner. Luke 19:7

Jesus replied,

“The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” v.10

It’s almost as if Jesus shrugged his shoulders and said, “Guilty as charged! It’s what I do.”

Too often the only sinners Christians are happy to associate with are those who supposedly aren’t sinning anymore. But this is what the Gospel is all about. There’s no other hope for us than a Saviour who comes to be a guest of sinners. And if that’s how Jesus operates, isn’t it time we did the same?

There are no better sinners, only different sinners; but thank God there are also forgiven sinners. The Son of God didn’t wait for sinners to stop being sinners before he loved them. He didn’t wait for them to be reformed before he came. John 1:14 says that,

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. NKJV

This should challenge those of us who live comfortable Christian lives. − Eliezer Gonzalez

Pray Because You Need To

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” - Matthew 7:11

Why do you pray? For many years I prayed because I had been told that that’s what you did if you were religious. God had to allow me to go through some very difficult experiences so that I could learn that I can truly depend on him.

But now I’ve learnt that Jesus loves it when I talk to him, and he always wants to hear from us. Just after saying, “Ask and it will be given to you (Matthew 7:7). Jesus tells the people that their Father in heaven is just longing to give good gifts to those who ask him, even more than earthly parents shower their children with love.

And you know what? The more you talk with God, the more that you’ll want to do it. It’s just how it works. And the best kind of prayer life is when you pray because you need to; not because you are necessarily in big trouble, but just because you know you need it more than breathing itself!

Why don’t you plan to set some time aside for communicating with Jesus today? Why not speak with someone who actually loves to speak with you? You can learn to love prayer and to pray because you want to. − Eliezer Gonzalez

Christ’s Greatest Promise

“I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are.” - Mark 3:28, CEV

There are so many wonderful promises in the Bible, but many people miss the greatest promise of Jesus! The greatest promise is this one, from the lips of Jesus himself in Mark 3:28.

Jesus pledged, on his honour, that all your sins, no matter how grievous, can be forgiven. There is no sin under heaven so terrible that it cannot be forgiven. It is this promise that has sustained life when all other hope has fled, and that has given peace to sinners in their final breaths.

In this promise of Christ lies the genius and power of Christianity. No other faith could conceive, or has ever conceived, of a God of such love, that he could be willing to forgive any and all sin.

At the heart of the Gospel is the fact that Jesus has the human race was saved in potentiality at the Cross, through the sacrifice of the Son of God who paid the penalty for sin. The benefits of Christ’s salvation are applied to all who trust in him.

In the light of the fact that Jesus has already died for all your sins, it is a denial of the cross for anyone to be weighed down with guilt. Mark 3:28 is a precious promise that ought to be written on our hearts and repeated frequently. – Eliezer Gonzalez

When God Answers Back

Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? - Job 38:1–2, NLT

When we pray, we are usually talking to God. We’re telling God what we think we need, we’re asking God for this or that, or we’re giving God our opinions on different things. I doubt that many of us have heard God answering back.

But what if he did? We might be surprised!

King Hezekiah of Judah was dying, and he prayed for God to heal him. God answered his prayer. He lived fifteen more years and they were wasted years that contributed to the downfall of Judah (2 Kings 20:1–6, 12–19). Praying that prayer was the worst decision of his life.

When the old apostle John was on the prison-island of Patmos, he was praying. Suddenly, the Lord decided to answer him, and he heard behind him “a loud voice like a trumpet” (Rev 1:10, NIV). John says that he fell at the Lord’s feet “as though dead” (v.17).

While Job had been complaining to God about his misfortunes, God suddenly answered him,

“Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?” - Job 38:1–2, NLT

We should learn to pray in humility and submission to God’s will. God is able to answer back at any time and in any way he chooses. You need to be ready for it. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Throw Your Staff on the Ground

Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” - Exodus 4:2

Moses was giving God excuse after excuse about why he didn’t want to serve God, and all the while, he was clutching his shepherd’s staff tightly. This was a vitally important tool on which Moses had learnt to depend. But the Lord knew what was going on and he asked him what he had in his hand. When Moses replied that it was a staff, the Lord asked him to throw it on the ground.

There’s a powerful spiritual meaning in this episode. Moses was relying on his own strength. And so, God asks Moses to throw the very item that Moses used for work, support, and protection to the ground.

When Moses threw his staff on the ground, it became a snake. Moses saw his staff in its true form, as a deadly enemy, and he ran from it. We too would run from many the things to which we are most attached if we could only see how dangerous they are to our souls.

Today, the Lord is asking you the same question that he asked Moses, “What is in your hand?” The Lord is asking you to trust in him alone, so that you may be qualified to serve him. Admit your weakness, and God will become your strength.

– Eliezer Gonzalez

I Am With You To Deliver You

Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you. - Jeremiah 1:8, NKJV

When I was a little boy of around 9–11 years old, I used to walk to and from school with my brother. We had to walk through the shopping centre.

I remember looking at the people who were going about their business. I noticed how unhappy and grumpy they looked. I decided that most people didn’t look friendly at all. As a child, it was rather scary.

I am reminded of the words that the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah when he called him to serve him. God told the prophet, Jeremiah, not to be afraid of the faces of the people he would meet (Jeremiah 1:8). God knew that when he gave his message, he would have to confront angry and resentful faces.

As you go through life, you will come across people with many different kinds of faces. Faces can be among the most beautiful parts of our beings. That’s when they express openness, encouragement, and care for you.

The Lord says to you, “Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you.” Knowing that the Lord is with you lets you face every face with confidence and strength. The love of the Lord lets you love the person behind every face. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Mercy Trumps Judgment

For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. - James 2:13, NASB

When the Pharisees complained that Jesus was spending too much time with sinners, he said to them,

“Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13

Jesus wasn’t interested in their religious rituals or their religious pronouncements. Above everything else, Jesus was interested in mercy. Mercy trumps judgment. Every time.

Mercy is, in fact, the defining quality in the judgment of God. The mercy you have shown others is directly proportional to the mercy that you will be shown before God. Why? It’s because showing mercy to others is the sure sign that a person has accepted the free mercy of God in his own life.

When the Apostle James says that “mercy triumphs over judgment”, he is also actually pitting mercy against judgment. There’s a principle here. If you are ever unsure whether to decide to show mercy to someone or to judge them, you should always err on the side of mercy.

I still struggle with being judgmental, but more and more, I can see mercy win in my life. There will always be a struggle in your life between mercy and judgment. Let mercy win in your life too. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Hope for Those with Little Faith

I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! - Mark 9:24

There’s this story of a man who came to Jesus, asking him to cure his son (Mark 9:24). This man admitted that although he had some faith, his faith was mixed with doubt. Of course, Jesus cured his son. The faith of this man is the model of how it always is with us this side of eternity. This story tells us that you don’t need to pray a perfect prayer, just a saving prayer.

Our faith is never perfect. We are always falling, stumbling, and weak in how we come to Jesus. And he is always understanding, compassionate, and quick to stand beside us in his strength.

Jesus never said that he would only love those who come to him in perfect faith, but instead, that even faith the size of the tiniest seed was enough (Luke 17:6). Our tiny faith is never perfect in size, but it is perfect in its power to take hold of the strength of Christ.

Of course, the Bible challenges us to have a perfect faith (James 1:6), because faith comes with blessings. However, God tells us that it’s not the struggles of the journey that count for salvation. Instead, what counts is the decision we’ve made about to whom we entrust our lives, in spite of our doubts and failings along the way. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Voice from the Heart of Darkness

A great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces… but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. - 1 Kings 19:11-13, NKJV

We expect to see God in beauty, praise, and joy. We expect to see God in light. But what happens when all we see is darkness?

When the Children of Israel arrived at Mt Sinai, they were terrified. Later, Moses, remembering that event, said to the people,

“You heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire.” Deuteronomy 5:23, NLT

Around fifteen hundred years later, there was darkness on a hill outside Jerusalem. It was truly the heart of darkness, for there on that hill, the Son of God brutally died as a victim of the hatred of this world. There, from the heart of darkness, came the greatest revelation of God ever given to this world. There, God announced mercy and grace for this world. They had witnessed darkness vanquished by love.

Perhaps your relationship is crumbling. Perhaps sin has you in its deepest grip. Perhaps the doctors have told you that your time is short. There is a special blessing when you can hear the voice of God even from the heart of darkness.

From the heart of the darkness, God speaks to you of his faithful love for you. He speaks of strength and victory. He speaks of a future that is far, far better than your past. Will you trust him? – Eliezer Gonzalez

He Came Down from Heaven

“No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” - John 3:13, ISV

When Jesus says this to Nicodemus, he doesn’t mean it literally. He’s actually referring to a poetic and mysterious part of the book of Proverbs called the “sayings of Agur.” The writer challenges the hearer to understand and be wise (Proverbs 30:1–3), and then he challenges the hearer with:

• Who has ascended into heaven and descended?

• What is His name or His son’s name?

• Surely you know! (Proverbs 30:1–4, NASB)

Agur’s questions culminate in the name of the Son. The key point that Jesus is making to Nicodemus is that he is God’s Son. If you read Proverbs 30, you will see that Jesus isn’t just claiming to be the Messiah. He is also claiming to be God himself, for the one who ascends and descends in Proverbs 30 is the Creator God.

Jesus goes on to tell Nicodemus that all of existence depends on that same Son and that his own salvation depended on believing in him (John 3:18). Should anyone not believe in his name, indeed, they have been judged already (vv.14-18).

Jesus is the one who has come down from heaven (John 3:31). By doing that, Jesus has interrupted the history of this world. He wants to interrupt your life, so that one day you may be able to go up to heaven with him. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Storms We Make Ourselves

Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” - Matthew 14:27

While they were crossing the lake, a huge storm arose (Matthew 14:23). Early in the morning, and in the middle of the storm, Jesus went out to meet the disciples, walking on the lake. When the disciples, who were in the boat, saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. They assumed it was a spirit coming toward them, and they cried out in fear. Immediately Jesus told them not to be afraid. That’s when they recognised that it was the Lord.

It was their own fault that the disciples were in this situation because Jesus had told them to wait for him (Mark 6:45). But instead, they had set out without him (John 6:16-17). Despite this, the Lord had come to save them. They would never have been in that position if they had simply done what Jesus had asked them to do.

Like the disciples, so many of the storms in our lives are of our own making.

But when we have Jesus as our friend, he never leaves us to face the consequences of our decisions alone. He comes to us in the midst of our storms, and once he gets back into the ‘boat’ of our lives, he knows how to calm our storms, and bring us safely to the other shore. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Salvation is a Done Deal

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. - 1 Corinthians 6:10

Two thousand years ago all your sins were forgiven, you were given a free pass into the Kingdom of God, and you were granted eternal life. The New Testament tells you this again and again, including in 1 Corinthians 6:10. It is a gift you simply receive today.

Sin has been dealt with in our lives through a once-for-all and totally sufficient sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:12–14). Through it we have been made perfect forever at Calvary. Because of that, we are now being made holy.

The greatest benefit of salvation is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), who assures us that when Christ said, “Father, forgive them,” his prayer was answered. The Holy Spirit guarantees to us that when Christ cried out, “It is finished!,” it really was finished—two thousand years ago, at Calvary. He accomplished this complete salvation for the world (John 3:16). It is an historical fact. It is received by faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22). Your salvation depends on it.

We are not to wring our hands and worry about our salvation. Instead we are to celebrate and to hold on to the gift we have already been given. (Hebrews 10:23). – Eliezer Gonzalez

It’s OK To Ask Why

You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I — and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. - Job 42:3 NLT

In the Bible story, Job suffers seemingly without cause, and naturally, he asks, “Why?” His three friends, in different ways, all tell Job that he is suffering because he has done something wrong. The solution they give him is that he must confess and repent so that God will bless him.

Isn’t that like the typical answers we give as Christians? Yet God is angry at Job’s friends because they have lied about what he is like (Job 42:7).

The book of Job doesn’t give us the ultimate answers, because we will never have them in this life. However, the book ends with God telling Job all that he can handle, and all he needs to know. In essence, what God tells Job is that he is much more powerful and much more loving than anyone could ever imagine (Job 38–41).

The chances are, simply because you are human, that you are suffering right now. And often, there is no direct relationship between the choices you have made and your present sufferings.

The assurance that God was all-powerful and all-loving was enough for Job. It restored the joy in his life. Shouldn’t it also be enough for us?

One day, we will have all the answers to every question we ever asked. Until then Christ is enough. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Made for Heaven

“When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too.” - John 14:3, CEB

My wife made an interesting observation the other day; something that I’d never really thought about before. She said that human beings were designed to live and not to die.

She observed how the systems within our bodies are all designed to repair themselves. We all know about blood clotting, which, by the way, is an incredibly complex system. However, I did some more research and discovered information about the P53 gene, which is amazingly clever. It acts as a gate-keeper for cell division. In other words, it protects you against cancer.

If a cell in your body has too many mutations, P53 will stop the cell division and activate repair mechanisms. And if that doesn’t fix it, it will actually make the cell commit suicide. About half of cancers involve mutations that break P53 itself, so that body can no longer protect itself.

You have been “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) to live and not to die (See Romans 5:12). Death is the enemy and not the destination. Because of the grace we have received through Jesus Christ, we now rule in life! (v.17).

You were made for life, and with all the good things that it brings. That’s why Jesus has gone to prepare a place for you, and he will return to take you home. – Eliezer Gonzalez

By Faith, Not by Sight

We live by faith, not by sight. - 2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV

The early explorers who discovered the Americas believed that there was land beyond the horizon. How can we believe in heaven, beyond the horizon of this earth?

The answer is this: when all we see is earth, we must look higher. The Word of God tells us to “live by faith, not by sight.” The Bible tells us that Moses was an illustration of how this works.

Moses, by faith… left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. Hebrews 11:27, NIV

When you look higher, through spiritual eyes, we can see him who is invisible: you can see God.

Scientific materialism tells us that the only things which exist are those which can be discerned through our five senses. If we can touch it or see it, it must be real.

But God teaches us differently. He teaches us that there is a reality that lies beyond the material world in which we live. This unseen reality is superior to that which is seen, as Scripture says,

We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV – Eliezer Gonzalez

Give Thanks in Every Circumstance

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV

These words of Paul represent one of the most challenging pieces of advice in the Bible. It’s easy to give thanks for the good things that come our way, but “in all circumstances”? How are we to understand that?

Jesus had just finished denouncing the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed because they did not repent and accept him (Matthew 11:20-24). Then, in what seems very strange to us, he lifts his eyes to heaven and breaks out into a beautiful prayer of thanks! (vv.25-26). There are some important lessons to be learnt here.

The first lesson is that Jesus sees every setback as an opportunity for the Father to bless in another way. The second lesson is that Jesus is able to survive disappointment because he accepts that it is the will of the Father. He understands that God’s purposes cannot be thwarted; that if God does not fulfil his will in one way, he will do it in another.

Whatever happens to a child of God is only what God does or what he permits, nothing more and nothing less. Beyond our understanding, God can turn everything to his purpose. Because of that, Paul is able to say, “Give thanks in everything.” – Eliezer Gonzalez

By His Wounds

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5, NIV

As little children, we learned that wounds were never good. They caused pain and fear, and they usually made us cry. We ran to our mum for comfort, or we just sat there crying, waiting for her to come, as she always seemed to do.

But some wounds are beautiful. Those are the wounds that Jesus bore for you.

Our verse for today contains the most magnificent of all the prophecies of the coming Messiah, where the prophet presents him as both our substitute and as our representative. Jesus is our substitute because he bore our wounds. Independently from us, he did what we could never do. Jesus is our representative because we are healed as a result of what he has done and not by what we do.

He suffered in our place. Our healing did not come easy. It cost.

Anyone who has ever forgiven knows that forgiveness costs. Anyone who has ever experienced the healing of their heart knows that healing costs. Anyone who has ever loved knows that love hurts.

Jesus knows. He is the one who paid the price. By his wounds, we are healed. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Five Wrong Reasons To Obey God

I could never tell you that obedience isn’t important. The Bible tells us over and over just how important it is. But most religious obedience we see in the world around us is not only unacceptable to God, but also downright dangerous. So, here is a list of reasons why you shouldn’t obey God.

1. To feel better about yourself

Examine yourself carefully. Are you trying to obey God to feel better about yourself? That’s always going to end up badly. Trying to feel good about yourself based on your performance doesn’t work for two reasons. This is a selfish reason for trying to obey God, and selfishness will always end up making you feel worse about yourself.

Even worse, no matter how hard you try, you will never come to the point that your performance will never be good enough. Trust me, I’ve been there!

2. To get rich

There are some Christians who have an Old-Testament style thinking that says that if they obey God, then God will shower them with financial blessings. And there are some preachers out there who exploit people’s poverty and needs with just that kind of thinking. But that’s not how it works.

Just think of the example of Jesus, surely the most obedient person who ever lived. He was poor in material things. He died naked, with not even a filthy rag of clothing to his name.

It’s best to let God decide how he will bless us.

3. To be accepted by your church community

Some people will follow the rules of a particular community in order to feel accepted and part of the group. Unfortunately, often the rules of religious communities are not the same as the obedience that God wants from your life.

But even if the community’s rules are Biblically-based, and good in themselves, when we obey in order to be accepted by any community or any person, we become a slave of the one whom we obey. God doesn’t want that kind of obedience.

4. To be more loved by God

I’ve heard parents tell their children, “Be good or else God won’t love you!” These children are being set up for failure in their lives. They are being set up to not only despise themselves, but also to hate God!

The truth is that your obedience or disobedience doesn’t make God love you any more or love you any less. God’s love is based on the desire of the giver and not the worth of the receiver.

5. To be saved

If you’re trying to obey God in order to be saved, you are completely off-course in your religion. If there is one thing that the Bible teaches us most clearly, it’s that we are not saved through our own works, but instead by the grace of God, which we access through faith in Christ.

So, Why Should You Obey God? Obedience to God is a very important in the Christian life. How can you call yourself a follower of Jesus if you’re not willing to follow him?

Obedience to God is the fruit of your salvation, and never the root. And you should always distinguish between the root and the fruit. That’s what makes all the difference.

If you are obeying God as the grateful response of the transformed, Spirit-led heart for the gift of life in Christ, then you are obeying for the right reason.

While your obedience will never be perfect this side of eternity, you will still receive a perfect reward. The reward won’t be for your obedience, but for putting your trust in Jesus. And the deeper your relationship with Jesus becomes, so too will your obedience.

– Eliezer Gonzalez

Good Salt

Everyone will be salted with fire. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” Mark 9:49–50

This passage is one of the difficult sayings of Jesus and is not easy to understand. Earlier he mentioned hell, in which “the fire is not quenched.”

When Jesus said that “everyone will be salted with fire,” he is referring to the sacrificial system in the temple. Every sacrifice had to be sprinkled with salt so that it could be acceptable to God. The sacrifices were then burnt with fire.

That’s why salt in the Bible is associated with judgment, as in Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember how Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt? That’s why salt is also associated with hell-fire, as in the preceding verses. That’s judgment.

The fire that the sacrifices had to go through represented the judgment of God.

What Jesus was basically saying that everyone of us is going to have to come before the presence of God. Everyone will face God’s judgment; in other words, “be salted with fire.” Fire represents the presence of God.

So, if that’s the case, Jesus was saying, then we should live in the presence and peace of God in all our relationships today. That’s what he means when he says, “Have salt among ourselves.”

The choice is to be sprinkled with spiritual salt today, which is the presence of God, or to be literally turned to salt in the fires of judgment.

The disciples were not at peace among themselves. They were fighting and arguing about who was the greatest.

But Jesus was telling them that the kind of life that is acceptable to God is the life that seasons all its relationships with peace. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Man Who Went Away Sad

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. - Mark 10:21–22

A man ran up to Jesus, fell on his knees, and asked him what he had to do to have eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the commandments, and the man assured the Lord that he had kept them since he was young. Perfect obedience! According to the religious ideas of the time, that should have been more than enough for this man to have eternal life. So, how did Jesus respond?

This man wrongly thought that he could obtain salvation by doing. Jesus goes along with this man’s wrong assumption, and he points him to the Ten Commandments. The man replies that he’s kept them all from when he was a boy.

But look at how tenderly Jesus treated him! Marks says that Jesus looked at him and loved him!

Jesus told this man he was still missing something. To tell a Jew in that time that perfect commandment-keeping was not enough was radically shocking! Then he told him to go and sell everything he had and to give it to the poor and to follow him.

Jesus was saying that to inherit salvation, you must put God first, and to trust implicitly in Jesus. Jesus knew that this man was a wealthy man. But this man wasn’t willing to put God above his wealth and then trust in Jesus to supply his needs.

Jesus wasn’t saying that in order to be saved that you have to sell everything you have and become a homeless beggar. As with so many of Jesus’ sayings, it’s the principle here that’s important. The principle here is that you cannot let anything stand between you and God if you want to inherit life. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Rich and the Kingdom

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” - Mark 10:23–25

Jesus asked a wealthy young man to sell everything he has, give it to the poor, and then come and follow him. Jesus loved that man, but the man turned his back on Jesus and he returned sadly to his comfortable home.

As Jesus and the disciples watched in amazement as the man leaves, Jesus said something even more amazing! As far as the disciples, or anyone in their society, were concerned, if anyone deserved to be rewarded with eternal life it was the rich young man that they saw leave the presence of the Master.

The first reason was that he had apparently kept the commandments, which in their religion meant a ticket straight to heaven. And the second reason is that he was very wealthy, which in that religion meant that God approved of him and had especially blessed him for his faithfulness and devotion to him.

So, when Jesus sadly exclaimed, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” the disciples were amazed. So, Jesus repeated it again, and then said that it’s harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. The camel was the largest animal they knew, and everyone knew how small the eye of a needle was. Jesus was emphasising with wry humour just how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God if you are burdened down by wealth.

According to global statistics, if you live in the west, you are certainly among the “rich.” No matter how “poor” you may feel, you are still in the top miniscule percent of the world’s wealthy. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Who Then Can Be Saved?

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” - Mark 10:26–27

Jesus exclaimed, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” This statement shook the disciples to their core. The issue for the disciples wasn’t so much that they were concerned about the salvation of others. They were concerned for themselves.

They just saw a man who seemed to meet all the requirements for heaven, according to their religion, be turned away by Jesus. He apparently kept the commandments, and he was rich. The way that they understood it, to be rich meant that God approved of you and that’s why he blessed you.

So, if it was so hard for rich people to be saved – people who obviously had God’s approval – what about them? The disciples were dirt poor. Jesus’ answer to them is very simple: Salvation is impossible for men, but not for God. All things are possible for God.

Jesus is emphasising the important lesson that the disciples needed to learn: that salvation was not about man’s work, but that it was the work of God.

And Christians have struggled with this central concept since then. – Eliezer Gonzalez

An Amazing Procession

They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again, he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.“We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles,who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise”. - Mark 10:32–34

Jesus, the disciples and others who were following them were on their way to Jerusalem. Jesus was leading the way. It was an amazing procession.

Everyone knew that the rulers in Jerusalem were out to kill Jesus. The disciples also believed that Jesus is probably the Messiah, and that he was heading up to Jerusalem for a great showdown, where he would declare himself as the king sent by God, cleanse the temple, throw out the Romans and the corrupt priests, and re-establish the eternal kingdom of David.

The verbs used to describe the attitudes of the people as they walk are very revealing. Mark says that they are “afraid.” They are afraid because they know how the Romans have massacred other crowds who gathered around Messiah-figures.

The disciples were “astonished.” It means that they didn’t know what was going on or what to think. Because Jesus kept telling them that the chief priests and the teachers of the law would hand him to the Romans and that he would be killed. That wasn’t in their script for what should happen to the Messiah at all!

Also, when Jesus kept telling them that he will rise from the dead three days later, that wasn’t part of their world-view either, because if Jesus were to be killed, it would mean that he wasn’t the Messiah, and that was it. And everyone knew that people didn’t just rise from the dead.

That’s why they were confused and astonished. As they walked behind Jesus to Jerusalem, they didn’t know what they would find there. It was all too much. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Back to top of: Christianity Today

From the Blog

How I Would Have Handled the Resurrection

There are many things that are odd about the resurrection of Jesus, but then again there were many things that are odd about his ministry and his death. That’s because Jesus never seemed to do things the way other people expected him to.

If I had been Jesus on that Sunday morning, I would have first of all summoned Caiaphas, the Chief Priests, and the whole Sanhedrin. And I would have said to them, “Here I am, losers!”

Then I would have given Pilate a little visit to see how he reacted at this opportunity to renew our acquaintance. After that, perhaps I would have gone to the centre of power, Rome itself, and announced myself as the new ruler of the world. If that had happened, today there would probably be no-one who would doubt that Jesus rose from the dead. Whether they liked Jesus or not would be another matter.

But it didn’t happen that way, because I’m not Jesus. And the world should be very grateful that I’m not.

The resurrection appearances are really quite so odd. Some sceptics have looked at them and concluded that the resurrection itself should be questioned, because Jesus doesn’t behave the way they think he should. Let’s look at Christ’s first resurrection appearances.

After his resurrection, Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, who was heartbroken and weeping along at the tomb (John 20:1-2, 17-18; Mark 16:9-11). With great compassion he revealed himself to her and told her to announce his resurrection to the other disciples.

Then Jesus appeared to the rest of the women who had visited the tomb and who were terrified because they had seen the stone rolled away and had heard the message of the angels who were there (Matt 28:8-10).

Jesus is more interested in telling his disciples that he loves them than in telling others that they are wrong. Jesus also appeared to Cleopas and to another unnamed disciple was they were walking dejectedly to Emmaus to (Luke 24:13-35; Mark 16:12-13; Luke 24:34.) They were depressed about what had happened and they didn’t believe what the women had said. However, Jesus walked with them and patiently taught them and in the end, they recognised him.

Jesus also had a one-on-one with Peter (Luke 24:34) who was not together with the other disciples. This was probably because he didn’t consider himself worthy of being with them after his betrayal of the Lord.

That same day, the Lord appeared to the disciples, although Thomas wasn’t with them, and gently convinced them that it was he himself and that he had risen (Matt 24:33-49). Eight days later, Jesus appeared to the disciples again while Thomas was with them, and he encouraged the disbelieving Thomas to accept that he had risen. (John 20:26).

What does all this tell us? Jesus was more interested in comforting his downhearted followers than proving that he was alive. Jesus was more interested in telling his disciples that he loved them than in telling others that they had been wrong. Jesus is more interested in being in the centre of his love than in the centre of power.

Now, that’s a resurrection I can believe in! That is a Saviour I can trust! - Dr Eliezer Gonzalez

You’re Invited Into the Father’s Love

During the walk from the Upper Room to Gethsemane, Jesus gave his disciples his most important teaching. He opened the mysteries of heaven to them. Here is one of his statements to them, a statement that is so incredible that you might consider it heresy, if it wasn’t in the Bible.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you (John 15:9).

God is before all things. God existed before creation. But God has never existed alone, because above everything else,

God is love (1 Jn 4:8).dd

It’s impossible to love without having someone to be the recipient of your love. That’s why God has existed from infinity past, and before creation, as a plurality: a community of love : the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It is this very love that defines God himself, and that compels God to continually create in order to share this love with others. I’m not talking about the love between friends, or the love between lovers. I’m talking about the Source of all that is good and the Source of all love.

To understand the staggering implications of what Jesus said in John 15:9, ask yourself these questions:

• For how long has the Father loved the Son?

• What are the limitations on the Father’s love for his Son?

• How much does the Father withhold from the Son?

And here Jesus is inviting you into that divine community of love. He says,

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.”

This is mind-boggling! God has already made you worthy through the Son.

Of course, your first thought, like mine is, “But I could never live up to that. I’m unworthy. I’m unclean.” Jesus knows what you’re thinking, and so, he says… and look it up if you don’t believe it… it’s in verse 3,

You are already clean.

This is a very strange thing for Jesus to say. Within a few hours all of his disciples will have abandoned him, and would be hiding, quaking in fear for days. One of them, Peter, will have denied him, with curses, three times. And none of them understood what Jesus was about. How could he say that they were already clean when they were so completely flawed!

Jesus has his mind on the cross. That’s why he says, “You are already clean.” And what means is that you don’t need to be worthy to enter into God’s love, God has already made you worthy through the Son! Even when you feel dirty, when you look to what Jesus did at Calvary, God sees you as clean!

That’s how God can invite you into the eternal divine community of love. Jesus wants to draw you into the bond of love that he shares with the Father. It’s the greatest invitation ever extended to anyone on this earth. And God is patiently waiting for your reply. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Being the One Percent

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always felt like the odd one out. However, I have the sneaking suspicion that deep down, most of us go through life feeling like that. That’s why we struggle so hard to fit in. We feel like we belong to the one percent rather than the other ninety-nine.

So, what if I told you that it’s a wonderful thing to belong to the one percent?

You see, Jesus told a story about what it meant to be in the one percent. There was a man who had a hundred sheep. That was a very wealthy man back then. He took his sheep out for the day. During this trip, he realised that one of his sheep was missing.

He leaves the other ninety-nine sheep and goes to search for that one lost sheep, the one percent! When he finds it, he brings it home to safety on his shoulders. He’s so happy to have found the one percent that he throws a party for the whole neighbourhood. You can read Jesus’ story in Luke 15.1-7.

The odd thing about this story is not that the shepherd finds his one lost sheep. Instead, the odd thing is that he does with other the ninety-nine sheep: leaves them in the wilderness! (See Luke 15:4).

This raises all sorts of questions. Is the shepherd being irresponsible by leaving them out there? Aren’t they exposed to danger? Wasn’t the shepherd taking a huge gamble that by going after that one sheep, his other sheep would still be there when he returned?

But those questions actually don’t matter, because they’re not the point of Jesus’ story. The whole focus of Jesus story is on the one percent: on that one lost sheep. What Jesus is trying to tell you is that he loves you as if you were the only one.

He Loves You As If You Were The Only One.

Just think of what the Son of God would have done if he thought that you were the only one who might accept his salvation. Jesus would have been born for you in a manager, just for you. He would have lived and suffered among us for thirty years, just for you. He would have been brutally tortured, just for you. He would have suffered a prolonged and savage execution, just for you. He would have risen again, just for you.

As Jesus said at the end of his story about the lost sheep:

“I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10, NIV).

It’s not that the Good Shepherd is irresponsible in leaving the ninety-nine. They’re always safe if they are where Jesus has asked them to be. However, that’s not the focus of Jesus’ story. His focus is on the one that is lost: the one percent.

You may feel right now like you don’t fit in anywhere. You may feel like the odd one out, like the one who is most lost. Right now, Jesus is reaching out to you. He is calling your name. His heart of love is going out to you. You have all of his attention.

It may not be a comfortable place that you’re in, but it’s also incredibly special. Because you’re about to be found!

– Eliezer Gonzalez

How to Remain in Jesus’ Love

How to remain in the Father’s love… have you ever asked yourself, what does God want from me? What does he want me to do?

It’s easy to think that what God requires from us is complicated and difficult. It isn’t. As Jesus walked to the Garden of Gethsemane, he distilled all of his teachings into what was most important. This is what he said:

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” John 15:9

Jesus is saying to his disciples here that the Father already loves him, the Son. In the same way, he already loves them with the same everlasting love. Now all they need to do is to remain in his love. They need to continue receiving it, being present with Jesus.

So what is it that you have to do once you have found the source? Jesus tells us. He keeps repeating this word in the teaching, “Abide… Abide… Abide…” That’s in the King James version. In the New International Version it’s translated as “remain.”

So what do you have to do to “abide”?

Nothing. The word really just means, “don’t leave.” It means: “to continue to be present.”

Jesus is simply asking you to be present for him. It really is that simple.

And Jesus has to hammer this point home, because the Jewish people just couldn’t get it. In John 6:28-29 we have the extraordinary answer that Jesus gave the Jews when they asked him,

“What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Jesus Wants You to Continue to Be Present With Him.

In the Gospel of John believing is completely synonymous with receiving. You have to believe in Jesus. You have to receive Jesus. Believing and receiving are exactly the same thing as abiding. The branch must abide. The branch must be connected to the vine. The branch does nothing but receive the nourishment from the vine. What we are called to do is to continue to be present for Jesus.

This can be challenging for us to understand, because religion often wrongly conditioned us to think that how you feel about God determines how he feels about you. And your feelings about God are conditioned by your performance. Don’t buy into that lie.

So, what does remaining in Christ’s love look like? What does “abiding” look like? It means that you make personal time to walk and talk with Jesus alone. It also means that you have learnt to maintain an awareness of Jesus’ presence with you as you go through your daily activities. It means an inward looking to Jesus. It means that in the confusion of life and your struggle for identity and your messy relationships, the loudest voice you hear is his.

That’s the ideal. But remember, if you fall short, Jesus loves you first. It’s his love that heals and restores and makes everything new. And the best thing is that his love isn’t conditional on your performance. Just accept it, and then remain in it. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How Losing Helps you Grow

We all like to accumulate, don’t we? No one hates to lose. When we gain something, we celebrate! But we associate loss with misfortune, and with grieving.

That’s why some of the things that Jesus said can seem so strange to us. In John 15, just after saying that he is the true vine and we are the branches, he says,

“My Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” - John 15:1,2

Now, this is a strange thing for Jesus to say! In other words, if you aren’t bearing fruit then God will cut things away off your life, and if you are bearing fruit, then God will still cut things off your life. It sounds like a lose-lose situation, doesn’t it?

None of this sounds pleasant. It’s like a lose-lose situation.

God wants you to be happy. He wants you to enjoy his blessings.

Not only do the branches of a vine not bear fruit properly if it isn’t pruned, but neither does it grow and reach its full potential.

God wants you to be always growing towards the very best version of you. And the very best version of you has a most wonderfully fruitful life.

But, and it’s a big “but”, the only way that can happen is through a process of loss.

And here’s why. Because pride doesn’t bear fruit. Selfishness doesn’t bear fruit. Unforgiveness doesn’t bear fruit. Fear doesn’t bear fruit.

And all your life, you’re going to be start putting out the branches of selfishness, unforgiveness and fear, and so on. These branches aren’t nourished from the true vine. They’re nourished by self.

Trust in the Work of the Divine Gardener.

If you’re connected to the vine, it means you’re giving the Father permission to spot these sickly branches and cut them off. That way, other healthy branches will grow, to bear fruit in your life. That’s what the Father does, he’s continually going around and removing those branches in our lives, often even without our knowing it.

Sometimes we have been so hurt by others, and sometimes even by bad religion, that we’ve covered our lives with layers of false identities. We place layers of armour around our hearts, to make sure that we aren’t hurt again. And we stop bearing fruit. You can’t connect properly to the vine with these barriers in place. And so the Divine Gardener has to remove those also, so your life can be fruitful again.

Pruning can be painful, Perhaps at times you will be confused. Perhaps at times you will need to mourn something you thought was important. However, but you’ll never find true happiness again unless you let the Father do his work.

Sometimes we put out a branch to go left, but God wants us to go right in our lives. Snip. Or God sees that we are becoming too dependent on a particular material possession. Snip.

We need to trust in the work of the Divine Gardener. When he prunes something from our lives, it’s only because he wants to replace it with something better. It’s only because he wants your joy to be full (John 15:11, NKJV). – Eliezer Gonzalez

When Your Life is Out of Control

I know that sometimes your life feels like it’s spiralling out of control. I know because at times I’ve felt that way too. But because I’m a follower of Jesus, I look to him to learn the important lessons of life.

During his life on earth, when should Jesus have felt most out of control? I guess it was then the mob arrested him, and when he was falsely charged and unfairly tried? I can imagine that it was when he was brutalised and tortured and brutalised for hours. Jesus surely would have felt completely out of control when he was forced to the ground onto the cross, and when nails were pounded into his hands and feet. And then there were the hours of agony on the cross, while all the time he was ridiculed and shamed.

But that’s not the picture that the Gospel give us of Jesus. The Bible never presents Jesus as a helpless murder victim. Before the horrific events I’ve described above, Jesus himself had said,

“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again.18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” John 10:17-18, NLT

No one killed Jesus. No one can kill my Lord.

Just think about what that means. Jesus wasn’t killed by others. Instead, he willingly gave his own life. That is supported by the evidence of what happened on the cross. The victims of crucifixion normally lasted at least a few days on the cross. Taking a week to die up there wasn’t unknown. But Jesus died on the cross within a few hours. The Romans couldn’t believe it and they shoved a spear up into his heart to prove it (John 19:34; See also Luke 23:46).

Jesus was always strong and never weak. At the moment of his death, Jesus was still strong. He was coherent. “He called out with a loud voice” (Luke 23:46; See also John 19:30). These are not characteristics of someone who dies of slow asphyxiation, blood loss, or septicaemia: the typical causes of death by crucifixion.

These details are all significant. The gospel writers appear to be trying to tell us that the death of Jesus was a voluntary, intentional process. But it wasn’t a suicide. It was a deliberate self-sacrifice. And that’s exactly what Jesus had said it would be.

Jesus knew what he was doing. Jesus died of a broken heart, as a result of the sins of the world that he accepted into his life.

Even in the most horrifically difficult moments, Jesus was always in control. Jesus isalwaysin control.

No matter how dark and out of control you feel that your life has become, you’re not expected to do this alone. God sent Jesus into the world, to show you that he is the one who is always in control. You can trust him. Hand the troubles of your life over to him.

And because of what Jesus has done, there is a new life waiting for you, full of abundance, and goodness, and love. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How to See God

Since the beginning of human history, we have wanted to see God. All of the religion of humanity, with its temples, priests, and rituals, has always been about seeing God. But they got it all wrong.

At one level, no-one can see God. In John 1:18, Jesus says,

“No one has ever seen God…”

When you compare this with a similar statement from Jesus in John 6:46, you can see that Jesus is equating God with the Father. Also, in both statements, Jesus says that no-one has seend God, except himself.

The reason why this is interesting (and important) is that there are many instances in the Old Testament where you find people who see God.

In Isaiah 6:5, the prophet says,

my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.

In Exodus 33:11 we are told that,

The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.

The whole of the eighteenth chapter of Genesis is an extended conversation between Abraham and the Lord God. Here, God visits Abraham on his way to do something about Sodom and Gomorrah, and they even share a barbequed goat! The chapter begins with the words, ‘the LORD appeared to Abraham’; so, you can’t say that no-one has seen God.

What is going on?

Jesus said that he who has seen him has seen the Father:

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:9

Jesus doesn’t say that if you have seen him it “is like” seeing the Father, or that it is “as good as” seeing the Father. Jesus says that if you have seen him you have seen God. Jesus, as Hebrews 1 tells us is the very essence of the core being of God. This is precisely the meaning of the Greek text in Hebrews 1:3:

He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature…

So are there have been many people who have certainly seen God, and seen his face, because they saw Jesus when he was on earth.

Because of the cross, you can see God.

However, this goes deeper, because the Bible says that,

there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind,, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5

This tells us that every communication between God and humanity, as recorded in the Bible, has always been through the second person of the Godhead. Whoever has seen God, has seen him through Jesus. When Moses saw God, he saw Jesus (John 8:58). When Abraham saw God, he saw Jesus (John 8:56-59). When Isaiah saw God, he saw Jesus (John 12:41).

But let’s talk about you and me? Are we able to see God? Yes, absolutely, because Christ has promised it:

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8

To see God, you must be pure in heart. You must be righteous. David prayed in the Psalm 17:15,

As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.

The idea here is that David is confident that he will have a righteousness that will allow him to see the face of God. This is a purity of heart, a righteousness, that we can only have through our mediator, Jesus Christ.

Accept the gift! Because of what Christ has done at Calvary, you will see the face of God! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Let the Father Interrupt You

When you were a child, did anyone ever tell you that’s it’s rude to interrupt? The truth is, sometimes I still need to be reminded!

But when God interrupts you, it’s a great thing, because he always has a very good reason! There’s a classic example of God interrupting someone in the story that Jesus told about the Prodigal Son. This man’s son has run away with his father’s money and wasted it on parties and loose living. After finding himself broke and starving, he decides to return to his father’s house. Along the way, he rehearses a speech that he is preparing so that his father might accept him back. It goes like this,

Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants. Luke 15:18-19

But while he’s still a long way off from his father’s house, he sees his father running toward him, arms open wide. His father smothers him in an embrace, and the son thinks that it’s now or never, and he begins his prepared speech.

The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But that’s as far as he gets, before his father interrupts him:

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. - Luke 15:21-24

God isn’t interested in your self-pity and negativity.

Some people have this idea of God where they think that they need to wallow in self-pity and even humiliate themselves to get God’s attention. Some followers of Jesus have this notion that the worse you feel about how your stuff-ups, the more likely God is to take you back and help you out.

For them, being a follower of Jesus is more about being miserable than being happy. As a result, many people have decided that they don’t like this kind of religion, and I don’t blame them.

Our Father in heaven isn’t like that at all! Of course, God lovingly wants you to realise your mistakes and feel sorry for them. But this sorrow isn’t meant to torment you! It’s meant to lead you back into the loving arms of a God who is already desperately waiting to welcome you back!

And just like in the story, God doesn’t welcome you back as a servant or as a slave. God’s not looking for slaves! He’s looking for friends!

God welcomes you back as his child. He’s not interested in your self-pity and negativity In fact, your heavenly Father doesn’t even want to hear it!

So, when you start going down that negative path, let your heavenly Father interrupt you by throwing his arms around you and accepting you back fully into his love.

When we interrupt others, it’s rude; but when God interrupts you, it’s amazing! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Grow Your World

Have you noticed that as people get older they tend to become more and more afraid? Things that only concerned them before now seem to overwhelm them. They start being afraid of things that never frightened them before. Why is that?

It’s because their world is shrinking. They’re shutting down!

However, this is true for people of every age in life. The more you let your world shrink, the more fearful you will become. And the more fearful you become, the more you will shrink your world. It’s a vicious circle!

In the Bible, you continually find God having to deal with people who are gripped by fear. And he always deals with them according to the same pattern. So, here is the short-circuit that breaks the cycle of fear.

This is the promise that God repeatedly gives to the fearful throughout the Bible:

…do not fear, for I am with you… Isaiah 41:10

When God tells you not to be afraid, that’s not a command that comes with a punishment to the fearful. Instead, it’s the voice a Father that soothes his terrified child. He doesn’t tell you to not be afraid as a command for you to stop it or else! Instead, he is telling you that he knows that you actually are afraid.

The Solution to Fear is to grow Your World.

The next step is that God tells you to grow your world. That really is the practical secret to overcoming fear. You start growing your world by growing in how you see God, yourself, and in growing in your openness to others.

Jabez lived in a time when the borders of the people of God were shrinking under constant attack from their enemies. Although fear ruled everywhere, Jabez refused to live in fear, and he was determined to grow his world! Jabez,

cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!” 1 Chronicles 4:10

Here then, as the steps to overcoming fear:

• Listen to God’s voice that soothes your fear

• Recognise that God is with you

• Let God challenge you to grow your world.

To the disciples, Jesus said,

“I know you are afraid, but I am with you. Take it in bite-size chunks: first Jerusalem, then Judaea, then Samaria, and then the whole world.”

What’s he saying to them? That’s right, grow your world!

You see, the world used to be a small, dark place. A place of small thoughts, narrow minds, and petty hatreds. A place where fear ruled.

But one man has opened the gates of eternity and let its infinite possibilities into your life. Lifted up on a rocky hill, he took every nightmare, the sum of all your fears into his own being, he stared them in the face. And just when you thought that fear had won, be came back triumphant from the darkness.

He says to you, “My child, I know that this side of eternity there is fear. I know, I’ve been there. But you don’t have to be a slave to it any more. Its chains are gone. Sit with your fear and look at it in the face and see an enemy defeated. By me! So, take up your mission and grow your world. Because I am with you.” – Eliezer Gonzalez

Slaves of ‘They’

Have you seen or read in science fiction about those future societies where human beings are slaves to a dark, faceless power? If you think about it, the world is actually in bondage today.

In your life every day, you will hear a million voices telling you, “They say… you should think like this, do this, love this, reject this.” We are all under the tyranny of “they.”

You see it in the groupthink of social media, in the cult of celebrity, in the cult of the politician, on television, on radio: even in the conversation of your friends. It’s everywhere, even seemingly in the air we breathe: the cult of “they.”

It tells you to think like “they,” to value things like “they” do, to act like “they” do: to adopt the worldview of “they.”

The society you see around you is the product of the voice of “they.” That’s what wrong with our world today.

‘They’ aren’t a new problem. It was a problem in the time of Christ also.

‘They’ Just Want To Control You.

Jesus asked his disciples,

“Who do people [they] say the Son of Man is?” - Matthew 16:13

The people are the ‘they’. Jesus is effectively asking them, “What does the voice of ‘they’ say that you should think about me?”

The disciples tell Jesus what they are saying about who he is. And every one of the opinions of the voice of ‘they’ are wrong. Then Jesus challenges them to ignore what “they” say and to think for themselves. He says,

“But what about you? Who do you say I am?” v.15

It’s only when they think for themselves and ignore what “they” say, that the disciples can actually come up with the right answer. And it’s profound!:

You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God(v.16).

The ‘tyranny of they’ has no time for the idea that Jesus is actually the One sent from God to be the Saviour of the World. In fact, ‘they’ tell their slaves that there is no real truth at all; just think and do and be whatever and however you like. But it is precisely this foundational reality about who Jesus is, that has opened up the door for millions of people to escape the slavery of “they” and to be able to see and to step into a whole new world.

Look at the advice that the apostle Paul gives us in Romans 12:2:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

See that “pattern of the world” that wants to make you into a cookie-cutter version of itself? That’s the “tyranny of they.” They want you to think, to believe, and to act as they do.

The Message paraphrases this verse this way,

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.

In fact, the apostle Paul tells you how you can escape the “tyranny of they.” He continues in the same verse (v.2),

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Remember Jesus’ question:

Who do you say I am?

Get the answer to that question right, and you will have broken free of the ‘tyranny of they’. You will have discovered ultimate truth and ultimate life. – Eliezer Gonzalez

What God Wants More Than Anything

Have you ever thought of this question: What does God want most of all in the world today?

I think there are many answers to that question, but here’s one: most of all God, just wants to be believed!

We live in a society in which no-one believes anyone any more. We don’t believe our politicians. We don’t believe the media. We don’t believe religious leaders, and so on. I’m sure that there are probably very good reasons for all our lack of trust in these institutions. But hardly anyone believes God any more, either.

The gospel of John uses the verb ‘believe’ ninety-eight times. That’s almost five times per chapter.

The Jews were very interested in doing the right things. So they asked Jesus what were those “right things” that God waned, so that they could do them. But Jesus told them that what God wanted them most of all was just to be believed. Here is the exchange:

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” - John 6:28-29

Why does God want so much to be believed? The answer is simple: because without believing him, we will never know what God is really like. To really know what God is like is called in Bible, “seeing the glory of God.” That’s why Jesus said,

“Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” - John 11:40

God Just Wants To Be Believed.

The solution to all the fears and anxieties of life is to know what God is like, through a real relationship with him. And you can only do that when you believe that what he says is true.

In the upper room on the night of his betrayal, Jesus dealt with the deepest fears and concerns of his disciples.

That evening, as described in the latter part of chapter 13, Jesus has just told them that one of them will betray him (vv.21-30). Then Jesus also tells them that he will be going away (v.33). The disciples are shocked, and they react with a mixture of confusion, sadness, and denial (vv.36-38). So now, as Jesus looks at the devastated faces around him at the dinner table, he says these words,

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” - John 14:1

In our society, there are a million voices screaming out, telling you that God cannot believed, and that he says isn’t true. And I’m not even talking about the atheists! Tragically, some of these are religious voices. They say, yes:

• Jesus can solve any problem, but not yours.

• Jesus came to bring happiness, but not to you.

• Every sin can be forgiven, except yours.

• Salvation is for the weak and the stumbling, but not for you.

What Jesus wants most of all is to be believed, because ultimately,

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life…” - John 3:36

– Eliezer Gonzalez

Mathematics is of the Devil

Did you know that mathematics is of the devil? Well, sometimes it is. Let me explain.

Mathematics is always fundamentally about counting. The more advanced your maths gets, it’s just about counting in fancier ways, but basically it’s just about counting.

And there some things that God just doesn’t want you to count. That’s when maths is of the devil!

There’s a fascinating story in the Old Testament. Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops,

‘Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.’ - 1 Chronicles 21:1-2

Then David said to God,

‘I have sinned greatly by doing this.’ - 1 Chronicles 21:8

What is happening here is that David has spent all his life living as a warrior, going out to battle and in his later years, always on the look-out for internal rebellions. And so David decides to do what every prudent government does, and that’s to have a census. He felt he needed to find out how many men of fighting age he had available for the army.

What could be wrong with that? After all, every responsible government does this, right?

But notice that the verse says that it was Satan who incited David to take a census of Israel, and the reason was because Satan wanted to harm Israel. David’s census was followed by a fearful punishment from God both for David and for Israel.

It hardly seems fair! What is going on here! Why was King David punished so harshly for doing some basic maths?

When the numbers are stacked against you, trust in God.

This King David was the same person who had earlier written the following as part of Psalm 20,

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (v.7).

God wanted David to trust him, just like he wants everyone to trust him. And although David had understood when he had written Psalm 20 that his safety depended on the Lord alone, like us, he was very forgetful.

God had delivered David from the giant Goliath when he was just a boy with a sling. God had delivered David from the entire army of King Saul when David had had only a handful of men. Now, in his old age, and despite knowing these things, David decided to trust in himself, so he could sleep well at night. He had forgotten his own teaching.

Ultimately, there’s nothing wrong with numbers and with mathematics, and there’s nothing wrong when you take wise and prudent decisions in your life. But at this stage of history, God wanted to teach David a very important lesson, and it would be good if we learnt it too: When the numbers are stacked against you, trust in God. - Eliezer Gonzalez

Walk with Your Head High

When you read Psalm 3 in the Bible, there’s a little note right at the beginning, that tells you something very important about the situation in which David wrote it. It says,

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

This tells us when David wrote this psalm. It was when he had sunk to the lowest point in his dramatic life. It was definitely the most humiliating moment of his life.

In the years of his old age, when he should have been sitting peacefully on his thrown, his family had completely fallen apart, and he had been betrayed by his own son, Absalom. King David had been forced to flee from his own throne, palace, and from his own city. The once mighty conqueror had been totally humiliated, not by a pagan king, but by his own flesh and blood! And the worst thing was that the ruin of his family had been precipitated by David’s own sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, and his loyal servant, Uriah.

David knows that he has brought all this upon himself. And it is right in the middle of this humiliation and shame that David writes the following words,

But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. - Psalm 3:3

Given the circumstances, this is an amazing claim!

There are two kinds of trouble that you will face in life: those which are caused by others, and those which you have brought upon yourself. It is difficult enough to walk with your head high when you have been the victim of the evil of others. How much more difficult is to walk with your head high when you face troubles that you know you have brought upon yourself!

How is it that David can walk with his head high? The answer is also for us! We find it right in the next few verses:

I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. 5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. 6 I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side (vv.4-6)

When you believe that it’s the Lord who sustains you, you will walk with your head high.

I don’t have ten thousands of real enemies who are out to get me at all. But what I do have is worse: a deep sense of worthlessness ingrained in me by my own wrong responses to my experiences in life. Despite how I may come across to others at times, my natural tendency is definitely not to hold my head high!

In different people this false shame can reveal itself in many ways, and not necessarily in obvious negative thoughts. It can be through behaviours that tear us down and bring down those around us. It can be manifested through defensiveness, withdrawal, anger, or various kinds of obsessions.

But when you let the awareness sink deep into your soul that it is the Lord who sustains you through the patterns of life, your life will be transformed. He is with you in every detail; even when you lie down and sleep, it is the Lord who wakes you. When you believe that it’s the Lord who sustains you, you will walk with your head high.

When your life is grounded in a real and active relationship with the Lord – when you know that when you call out to the Lord, he always answers – then you will learn to live without fear. You will live with your head held high, sustained by the Lord. - Eliezer Gonzalez

The Secret of Personal Growth

We all live our lives in motion. Sometimes, we feel pulled in so many directions, we feel as if we’re just going in circles. Have you ever felt like that?

In his later years, when I’d ask Dr Desmond Ford how he was doing, he’d often respond with,

“They never bury anything that moves.”

The truth is that while we live, we move. The question is: Are you moving in the right direction?

After his resurrection, Jesus had told his disciples to meet him in Galilee, and once they get there, Jesus makes sure that he has some “alone-time” with Peter. Peter was devastated that he had disowned Jesus in the house of the High Priest. He probably felt like total rubbish, completely unworthy to be trusted by Jesus again. After all, Peter had had set such standards for himself, and he had also failed so miserably!

Now, Jesus asks Peter,

“Simon son of John, do you love more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” … “Follow me!” (John 21:15-23).

Keep growing in your love for Christ.

When Jesus spoke with Peter, he knew that there was a possibility that Peter might get stuck in the failures and the pain of his past. And so, Jesus wants to challenge Peter to keep growing in the right direction, and so he asks him,

“Do you love me?”

When Peter answers that he does, what Jesus is saying to him, in effect, is,

“That’s good, Peter. You’re headed in the right direction. Now keep going. Keep growing in your love for me.”

The secret to personal growth is to keep growing. We always need to keep moving in the right direction, and often we wonder just what direction is.

Jesus explains it to Peter. The key is to keep growing in your love for him. And the key to understanding this conversation that Jesus had with Peter, is that just when you realise that you’re close to getting there, Jesus is there to tell you that you need to go deeper still.

“Loving Jesus” isn’t just some religious or mystical thing which has nothing to do with the real world. Instead, this passage suggests that the more that you grow in love for Jesus, the more opportunities that you will find for helping the weak, the vulnerable, and the lost. These are Christ’s sheep.

That’s the ultimate secret of personal growth. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Just Be

Despite what some might tell you, God doesn’t want to turn you into someone you’re not. Basically, he wants you to just be.

Our society teaches you to find your identify in what you do. Have you fallen into that trap? You define yourself by your profession, by the social circles you frequent, or by how the material possessions you have accumulated.

The religious version of this is an even more dangerous error: the idea that your standing with God depends on your performance. And so your life turns into a cycle of endless frustration, and eventually apathy or even despair, as you try to “do” better, for the sake of your relationship with God.

But our identity is not in what we do, but in who we are. I once heard someone say, “That’s way we’re human beings and not human doings.”

What God wants is for you to just be: to be the best version of you, the version of you that will always make you happiest. This isn’t something that you strive for. It’s something that you achieve by trying harder. This is just you at your best. This is you relaxing into who he made you. This is you surrendering your striving to him.

To some people, this might sound like some kind of eastern mysticism. It isn’t. This isn’t about emptying yourself into nothingness. It isn’t about finding your true self deep within you. This is about ceasing your striving to become, so that you creates space in your life for God.

Too often we want to help God along, as if he needed our help! The best thing that any of us can do to cooperate with God is to cease our selfish and misguided striving and simply rest in him in trust.

To know who God is, you must be still.

Moses is a case in point. After living in Egypt for the first 40 years of his life, he thought he would take matters into his own hands to help God free his people from slavery. So he murdered an Egyptian slave-driver. God had to put him in the desert for the next 40 years of his life so he could learn to just be and to let God work in his own way.

It’s a similar story with Abraham. He decided to help God fulfil the promise of s son, first by adopting his servant Eliezer, and then by having a son with his wife-s servant Hagar. After that, God gave him circumcision as a sign for Abraham not to work in his own flesh. And then, because he believed, and simply rested in the Lord, God credited his faith as righteousness.

Psalm 46:10 says,

Be still and know that I am God.

To know who God is, you must be still. Beyond all of our religious doings, we need to find to sit before our God and just be. To open our lives up before him and to simply listen and rest in him.

But when you surrender your life to God, he will free you up to just be. Yes, you will become loving, and humble and obedient. That’s because you will reflect the beautiful attributes of the character of Jesus. Because that was who you were always meant to be. And your life will become the greatest joy.

– Eliezer Gonzalez

Worthwhile Desperation

What are you desperate for in life? Some people are desperate for love and attention. Others are desperate for financial security. Others are desperately trying to fulfil career ambitions. Some of these things might not necessarily be bad in themselves; in fact they can be powerful drivers that keep people engaged and productive.

Of all the people in history who have been the most successful, it’s hard to go past the apostle Paul. Although he was executed by the Roman empire, the results of his 30 years of ministry transformed the world. Paul was a key figure in the foundation of the Christianity, and in taking the belief in the risen Christ beyond the walls of Judaism into all the world.

What drove Paul was desperation. But it wasn’t a desperation for wealth or fame. I’ll let Paul explain his desperation in his own words,

I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. Philipians 3:10

Paul was desperate to know Jesus. That’s easy to say. Most Christians would say that they want to know Jesus. But what was different about Paul was both the intensity of his desperation, and the specific object of his desire.

A desperation for knowing Jesus is always worthwhile.

We can see the intensity of Paul’s desperation in the preceding verses. When considering the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus, Paul considers everything else, by comparison, to be garbage (vv.7-8).

We can also see the specific object of Paul’s desperation. His desire is to generally to know Christ, but even more specifically, to know him in a very specific sense. Pau wants to participate in his sufferings, and to be like Christ in his death, and to experience the power of his resurrection. It is notable that Paul lists the resurrection first. It’s that that makes it all worthwhile.

Many followers of Jesus today will tell you that that want to experience the power and the glory of Jesus, or even that they want to receive his love and grace. Those are the kinds of things that you’ll generally hear people singing or praying about in church.

But how many people ask to suffer like Christ, or to be like he was in his death?

We mainly want to avoid suffering. Some people become Christians for that very reason – thinking that they will avoid suffering, whether in this life or in the life to come.

But the heart of God is a suffering heart. It suffers for those who suffer. It breaks with love for the pain and the injustice in the world. It comes down and suffers with humanity, and not just forhumanity. If you want to know God you need to experience his heart. And the more you know him, the more desperate you will be to know more of him. Because Christ suffers, to know him deeply is to suffer.

If that’s your desperation too, then you are a very special person in the heart of God.

How Grace Comes

The world really doesn’t have a definition for grace other than ‘smoothness and eloquence of movement’.

Here is a beautiful Christian definition and description of grace:

Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return… Grace is being loved when you are unlovable… Grace is a love that has nothing to do with you, the beloved. It has everything and only to do with the lover. Grace is irrational in the sense that it has nothing to do with weights and measures. It has nothing to do with my intrinsic qualities… It reflects a decision on the part of the giver, the one who loves, in relation to the receiver, the one who is loved, that negates any qualifications the receiver may personally hold… Grace is one-way love… One-way love lifts up. One way love cures. One-way love transforms. It is the change agent of life. (Paul F. M. Zahl, Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life.)

In an essentially graceless world, our hearts long for this most beautiful of all virtues as a dying man in the desert thirsts for water. Yet few recognise that this is the source of the desperation that gnaws at them from the cradle to the grave.

So, how is it that we find grace? Grace, by its very definition, seeks us out and comes to us. We cannot find it ourselves and go to it, to place ourselves in the embrace of grace. Grace comes to every man and every woman, and it brings with it the opportunity for us to accept it and respond.

The greatest revelation of all is the grace that comes through Jesus Christ.

So then, how is it that grace comes? It comes in a person, through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Peter writes,

[F]ix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13, NASB).

This isn’t talking about the second coming. This is talking about the grace that has already been revealed with the incarnation of our Lord, and which is revealed afresh to countless people when they discover the beauty and wonder of Jesus.

That’s how grace comes.

It has already come, and it will come afresh to you if you are willing. Don’t worry. Be assured that grace will find you. And if it has already found you, it will find you again, continually, with ever-greater revelations of the goodness and the mercies of God. Because grace will never let you go.

The greatest revelation isn’t some prophecy, or the meaning of some great conspiracy. The greatest revelation of all is the grace that comes through Jesus Christ.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. - John 1:1

There is no greater knowledge you can have than the simplicity of grace, no greater logic than the irrationality of grace, no greater wisdom than the foolishness of grace. There is no greater experience you can have than entering into the grace that has been revealed through Jesus Christ.

Knowing and Believing

Whenever people are afraid and when their faith is wavering, and they ask Jesus a ‘knowledge’ question, he never answers with a ‘knowledge’ answer. Jesus always answers with an invitation to enter into a deeper relationship with him.

In John 14:6, Thomas asks Jesus a ‘knowledge’ question. He asks Jesus where he is going. In effect, he is saying, “If you tell us where you’re going, then we will know how to get there.”

Look at how Jesus responds to Thomas,

“I am the way and the truth and the life.” - John 14:6

With these words, Jesus doesn’t give Thomas more knowledge. Instead, he is inviting Thomas to enter into a deeper relationship with him. Why doesn’t Jesus give Thomas more information in order to increase his faith? Because Jesus knows that it’s not knowledge that builds faith; it’s relationship. When you have the right relationship, then you will believe.

The fall in the Garden of Eden was occasioned by the wrong pursuit of knowledge. But all along, God just wanted them to trust him. Christ undoes the curse of the fall, not by knowledge, but by foolishness:

[18] For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate’ [25] For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. - 1 Corinthians 1:18,19,25

True faith grows as your relationship with Jesus deepens.

There are two central trees in the Bible. The first one is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The second one is the Tree of Calvary, which reveals the truest and best knowledge, which is Christ crucified, the wisdom of God. The first tree represents knowledge which belongs only to God. It is knowledge that humanity cannot have, because that knowledge belongs only to the one who is judge over all.

The best and ultimate knowledge is to know Jesus and him crucified. The Bible calls this ‘foolishness’, because it’s foolishness in the eyes of the world. The Cross undoes the vile results of the fall. The second tree destroys the first.

Knowledge of the Bible and its teachings, and knowledge about the evidences for why Christianity is true can be very important indeed. They can play a role in making people look at who Jesus is, and at his teachings. God definitely wants you to use your brain. But mere intellectual knowledge can never ultimately grow your faith and bring you closer to God. That’s why in the Bible, you find examples of people, like the Centurion and the Syro-Phoenician woman, who knew very little, but had the greatest faith, while those who knew the most, like the Pharisees and the Scribes, have the least.

Don’t be tempted by the false idea that the more knowledge you have, the more your faith will develop. True faith grows as your relationship with Jesus deepens. The deeper your relationship with him, the more your faith will grow, and the more you will know of what is truly worth knowing.

The Greatest Adventure of All

People crave adventure. Most of them look for “fake” adventure through various forms of entertainment, whether it be sport, movies, or gaming. Unfortunately, however, when the screen gets turned off, people end up right back in their typically very unadventurous lives!

Some people think that being a Christian is boring: just go to church, sing the songs, be good, and so on. That’s one reason why, these days, not so many people want to be Christians.

To Live Life with Jesus is the Greatest Adventure of All! But that’s not at all how the life of a follower of Jesus is meant to be!

One of the perhaps most adventurous of all characters in the Bible was the apostle Paul. He live his life as one magnificent adventure. I like The Message paraphrase of 1 Cor 7:9:

God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.

Here’s why a life with Christ is the greatest adventure of all:

A Life with God is an Adventure of Infinite Possibilities With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God (Mark 10:27, NIV).

Adventure is about breaking through barriers, and having new experiences. But life in this world is full of very real limitations.

With Christ, everything that you ever thought impossible suddenly opens up and becomes possible. There may be times in your life when you don’t feel that is so, but don’t trust your feelings! Trust God, for whom all things are possible!

A Life with God is an Adventure that Never Ends.

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 (John 3:16, NIV).

Imagine if you could live forever in health, strength and happiness! There is nothing that would be unachievable for you!

The reason why every possibility will open up for you when you live which Christ is not just because of the infinite power of God, but also because he gives you eternal life. With him, you are living every day in eternity. Given infinite time, you’re in for an infinite adventure!

A Life with God is an adventure with the Best Companion. God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6-7, NIV).

When you live your life with Christ, you are in heavenly places with him. In the ceaseless ages to come, his purpose is to be beside you, through whom God will show you his incomparable kindness and grace. What better companion could you have?

You can jump out of airplanes if you like. You might scale the tallest mountains. You might even explore the furthest reaches of space. But to live with Christ is the greatest adventure of all.

How to Read Scripture Devotionally

You can learn to read Scripture devotionally. Many of us want to read the Bible and have it speak into our lives with power, but many people don’t know how. Here are my tips for how to read the Bible in a powerful devotional way. If you learn to read the Scripture devotionally, I promise you, you will never be the same again.

These same tips are relevant if you are writing a devotion or preparing to give a devotional talk.

Tip #1: See God in the Everyday

Jesus is the greatest teacher who ever lived, and he taught us that we must learn to see God in the everyday happenings of life. He was surrounded by farming and fishing, and so many of his teachings are anchored in stories of farmers and fishermen. Think about the simple, everyday things that you experience and ask God to help you see the powerful spiritual lessons you can find there. This can go in two ways: the experiences of the everyday can point us to the Word of God, or the Word of God can point us to its applications in the everyday experiences of our lives.

Tip #2: Get Personal

Spiritual teaching often has no power because we live in a culture in which people are afraid to get personal. The Bible is full of examples of how God connects with people through other people and their experiences. If you want the see the power of God at work, then you need to be prepared to get personal, both in being honest about your own sorrows and joys of life, and also in similarly reaching into the lives of others with love.

Tip #3: Be Encouraging

God didn’t write the Bible to make anyone depressed, but instead to bring encouragement. It’s like positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is always much more powerful than the negative. So, go easy on the apparently negative parts if you are seeking a devotional focus. But even the parts of the Bible that seem to be about doom and destruction are there to encourage. They are meant to encourage people to turn their lives around, but also to encourage God’s children with the fact that he will win in the end. But basically, people are basically discouraged enough. So, when you read the Bible, ask yourself, “How is God trying to encourage me here?”

Tip #4: Put Yourself in the Story

When you read a passage of the Bible, ask yourself questions like: “Which character am I most like in this story?”, “In what ways am I like this character?”, “How would I have responded in this situation?” This is a powerful way to help us understand the spiritual teachings of the Bible. This is a powerful way to help people understand the Bible. For example, how does the story of Boaz and Ruth in the Old Testament help us to understand what happened at Calvary? This is all about comparing Scripture with Scripture. One part of the Bible illuminates another.

Tip #5: The Character of God Revealed

At a general level, the whole point of the Bible is to show us what God is like. So, if you’re focusing on other lessons, you could be missing the main point. Every part of the Bible exists to show us something about the character of God. Seek spiritual eyesight from God so that you’ll be able to see it.

Tip #6: Pointing us to Christ and to the Cross

The ultimate purpose of every part of Scripture, as well as the spiritual lessons we can draw from life, is to point us to Christ and the Cross. This is the heart and goal of all Scripture. If you want to read or teach Scripture with power, then this is a vital question you must be able to answer. Remember, there is only power in the Gospel; everything else is just consequences. This is one of the principal keys in how to read Scripture devotionally.

Tip #7: Call to Action

Jesus in the Bible is never afraid to call people to action, and neither should we. Our society is very hesitant to call people to action. It’s seen as intrusive. That’s why too many spiritual talks are just a bunch of intellectual or theological points that have no personal application. These are wasted opportunities. God is in the business of transforming hearts. If you are reading Scripture for yourself, you need to have the courage to always ask yourself at the end, “How does God want me to respond?” And then you actually need to respond. If you are preparing a devotional talk for others, then you need to have the courage to present the call to action with clarity and boldness at the end.

I challenge you to learn to read Scripturally devotionally. It will transform your understanding of your life, your relationships, and your God.

A Message of Hope in a Time of Fear

My Dear Friends, you can have hope in this time of fear! Supermarket shelves are stripped bare, people are forbidden from gathering, and even churches are closing. What are we as Christians to make of all this?

I want to tell you not to be afraid. This is the word of the Lord (Isaiah 41:10). However, I don’t hold to that glib form of Christianity that says that if you pray hard enough, nothing bad will ever happen to you. You know well that at times in the past depression has afflicted God’s people, cancer has taken the righteous and that the martyrs still died.

In the Bible, when God repeatedly tells you not to be afraid, it is commonly followed by the reason why. It isn’t because the bad stuff won’t happen to us. It’s because, as God says many times, “I am with you.” He will be with us through the trial. You can have hope in a time of fear.

This is illustrated so well by the story of Daniel’s friends in Babylon. When King Nebuchadnezzar threatens to throw them into the burning furnace for refusing to bow to his idol, they answer him:

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Daniel 3:17-18

Although their situation seemed hopeless, they held onto their hope in a time of fear. Their faith is based on the fact that they are certain their God is stronger than Nebuchadnezzar. They know that God can deliver them. However if he allows them to go through affliction, still they will not abandon their faith. And Christ himself was with them.

I can assure you that our God is most definitely stronger than COVID-19. It is right and appropriate to pray for health and deliverance. And as you do that, remember that even if you have to suffer, your God will be with you always. In every circumstance, you can have hope in a time of fear.

Fear in society is nothing new. In 1948, C.S. Lewis wrote an essay entitled, “On Living in an Atomic Age”:

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?”

I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

What C.S. Lewis is saying here is that in times of crisis the Lord should find us doing what is most important: living our lives as his children and doing his work, rather than huddled in fear:

“It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.” Matthew 24:46

Indeed, the present circumstances of the world give us a special opportunity to speak with our friends about the hope we have in Christ, and it should provide us with renewed urgency in making sure that the message of the Gospel is heard and received by as many as possible. Perhaps your work of sharing the Gospel of Christ through GNU has only just begun! As the Bible continually tells us, time is short!

It is also important to realise that at a time when gatherings of people are discouraged or forbidden, and even churches must close their doors, GNU is uniquely positioned to continue its work of evangelising the world. Because GNU is a digital ministry, we can reach people right where they are, bringing them hope in a time of fear, whether in self-isolation or in hospital, anywhere in the world!

Churches in various countries have had to suspend their meetings for a time. I would encourage you to connect more deeply with GNU through digital means. We offer:

1. Daily email devotions

2. Blogs, articles, audio and videos on our website www.goodnewsunlimited.com

3. Bible reading plans on the Youversion app.

4. A regular online prayer meeting with me through Facebook every Friday evening at 6.45pm, Brisbane time. To access it you need to apply to join the GNU Prayer Room.

5. A regular weekly online Bible study with me and the GNU community through Facebook every Friday evening at 7.00pm, Brisbane time. To access it you need to apply to join the GNU Discipleship Room.

Please stay safe, and remember whom we serve. Grace and Peace.

Eliezer Gonzalez Senior Pastor, Good News Unlimited

Let Yourself Be Loved

Why is it that there are so many people who just don’t find love?

I mean this in the broadest possible sense. I’m referring to people who exist in loveless relationships, and to people who see only the bad there is in the world and not the loving and the good, and to people who fail to experience the love of God.

Why is that, if the love of God is boundless and surrounds us and is constantly pouring over us? Why is it that some people just don’t find the love of God?

Here’s one reason. It’s because no one can be forced to receive love. You have to let yourself be loved.

I’ve known some of the most saddest people, who have been dearly and deeply loved by their families, but they have simply decided to live in misery. It’s one of the greatest tragedies.

Why is it that people refuse to let themselves be loved? The basic reason is that to be loved is to be willing to lose control. It means to let another in. In the absolute sense, it means to let God in. It subsequently means to let those around you into your life. And that can be terrifying for some.

They are terrified because they have been hurt before, sometimes again and again. Their experience has been like one of those “whack-a-mole” games where every time the critter sticks his head up, it gets whacked down. And because of that, people have learnt to protect their hearts with layers of doubt, pain, and even resentment.

Let yourself be loved deeply.

Many of us have gone through different experiences in life which explain why we don’t let ourselves be loved. Looking back on my own life, I realise that one of the greatest desires that I had during my formative years, though unconsciously so, was to be loved by my father. Now as an adult, I realise that he loved me, but that there were reasons why he wasn’t able to express that love.

This turned the focus of my life inward, into constantly trying to be worthy of love. I hid behind the pursuit of academic achievement and the need to always be right. My focus was so much on myself that to a large extent I lost the ability to be truly open to others, and to realise just how much I really was appreciated and loved.

I don’t know what it was in the life of Jesus’ disciple Peter, but he didn’t let himself be loved either. Peter hid behind his brash and impetuous actions. He was interjecting himself forward in every situation. But all of that was just a front, a façade to cover the true needs of his heart. And all along, the Lord just wanted Peter to let him in so that he could show him his love.

Think of everything that Peter went through. But in the end, Peter understood. That’s why towards the end of his first epistle, he wrote these words:

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8, NIV).

Like Peter, let yourself be loved. Let yourself be loved deeply. Then you will be able to learn what it means to love others with that same love. I’m sure there’s lots of good advice that you will receive in your life, but this is the most important. It’s “above all.” – Eliezer Gonzalez

Hope in God

I’ve discovered something that will never let me down. It’s my hope in God!

A believer’s hope in God is a completely different thing to the hope we have in other things. You can go out without an umbrella and hope that it won’t rain. You can invest in the stock market and hope that your investment will turn out well. You can get go into hospital for an operation and hope that everything will turn out well.

You see, when you hope in anything else, it’s never a certain proposition. That’s why we have come to think of hope as something that always involves uncertainty.

One of the most important lessons you will ever learn is that your God will never let you down. But when you hope in God, your hope is always a sure thing. There’s never any risk that God won’t come through for you. The Bible says that,

this hope does not let us down (Rom 5:5, CJB; “hope does not put us to shame” – NLT)

And it goes on to explain why we can be so sure that your hope in God will never let you down:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:6-8, NLT).

The certainty of your hope has already been proven because Christ has actually died for you, not when you were at your best, but when you were at your worst.

That’s why, when it comes to God’s love for you and his salvation, you will never ever be let down. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Receiving: The Hardest Work

The hardest work is to receive; specifically, to receive Jesus and his grace.

This might seem a strange thing to read. After all, receiving should be easy, right?

The Jews loved to do work in order to improve their standing with God. That’s why, they asked Jesus,

“What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:28-29, NIV).

Of all the hard works the Jews performed in order to feel right with God, this was the one they had the most trouble with. And for many of them, it was way too hard, for they rejected and crucified the one whom God had sent.

John 1:12 makes clear that to receive Jesus is the same as to believe in him:

to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12, NIV).

To receive Jesus really is the hardest work you’ll ever do

But before you receive you have to acknowledge that you have a need. And in that need, then you need to extend an empty hand. To receive Jesus really is the hardest work you’ll ever do.

Some people don’t want to do that work. They want to enter into life through a million and one other ways other than by simply receiving. That’s the reason why Jesus says,

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13–14, NIV).

I have experienced this in my own life. Although I would have never expressed it like this, I know that I grew up with a deep sense that I had to be good enough to be loved. This applied to my parents, and by extrapolation, it applied to God. I had a very real difficulty receiving love.

In my early years, I quickly worked out that I wasn’t going to be loved for my good looks, and that I wasn’t going to be loved for my sporting abilities. For a time I thought I might be loved for my wit and humour and I worked hard at these, but these were a bit “hit-and-miss.” I tried to be loved for my musical abilities on the violin, which while productive, was very hard work. Then I realised that if I worked hard, I could do really well in my academic pursuits, and so I worked at doing the best I could academically. I enjoyed this, and I achieved great things.

But you know what? No matter what I did, I never felt loved. All I felt was a deep, tormented sense of confusion and frustrated purpose. The reason was that I wasn’t willing to receive love, because I thought I had to earn it. I was on that broad road that so many walk, that leads to destruction, that so many unknowingly walk on.

But now I’ve started to learn what it means to receive, with the empty, open hand of faith, the gift of love and salvation in Christ. - Eliezer Gonzalez

When You Can’t Understand

I’m reminded of the story of the blind man to whom Jesus restored his sight in Jerusalem. When the Pharisees interrogated him about how this could have happened, there was a lot that the man didn’t know. But he admitted,

One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see! (John 9:25).

For him, it was really simple.

I constantly run into people who try to over-explain and over-define salvation. In fact, this is one of the reasons why there are so many different Christian churches. They all read the same Bible, and many of them defines and explains salvation in a slightly different way.

I do believe that some might be more correct than others. I also believe that the Bible explains clearly as much as we need to know about what happened at the Cross and how salvation works. But to go beyond that ultimately serves little useful purpose, and in fact can be positively dangerous.

Jesus had something to say about this also. He had been working in the towns of Galilee, and in Matthew 11, he denounces them for their lack of repentance despite the many signs he had given them (vv.20-24). You see, the Jews liked to complicate their religion. So, in the midst of denouncing these Galilean towns, Jesus interrupts himself to utter a prayer to his Father in heaven:

I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do (Matt 11:25–26, NIV).

What Jesus is saying here is that the truths about God cannot necessarily be understood by the wise and the learned. Instead, God reveals his truths to those who are like little children. It’s not always the theologians who get it right.

When you reach the limits of your understanding, it’s good to simply trust

There’s a substantial element to the Divine and to salvation that cannot be understood. It’s called a mystery:

without controversy great is the mystery of godliness… (1 Tim 3:16(a), NKJV).

While it is a mystery, it is a mystery that has been revealed, so that,

the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed… (Col 1:26, NIV)

What has been revealed is the what:

God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory (1 Tim 3:16(b), NKJV).

But not everything the how has been revealed.

Really, if the depths of divine love and grace isn’t unfathomable it’s not from God, is it? And if we understood every aspect of the holiest mystery of all, the Cross of Calvary, where would be its power?

When you’re in the confusing and darkest moments of your life, it’s good to try to understand, at the right time, and in the right way. But when you reach the limits of your understanding it’s good to simply trust. You won’t always be able to understand, but you’ll always be able to trust in the goodness and faithfulness of your heavenly Father.

– Eliezer Gonzalez

If there were no God

Some years ago, I visited the city of Gori in the east of the country of Georgia. Most people haven’t heard of it, but it’s famous for one very notable event. It’s the birthplace of Joseph Stalin, who was the leader of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s.

At first, what I found there was only interesting. It seemed just like any other museum. But soon I became more and more disturbed, and then eventually completely shocked.

To understand why, you need to know a bit about who Joseph Stalin was. He was born in the Russian empire, and as a young man he raised money for Lenin’s communist faction through robberies, kidnappings, and protection rackets.

After the Russian Revolution, Lenin founded the Soviet Union, and after Lenin died, Joseph Stalin took over the leadership of the country. Stalin became one of the twentieth century’s most influential figures.

One of the things that Stalin is mainly remembered for was his murderous brutality. In what is known the “Great Terror,” in which during a period of a few years, at least nine million people died, with at around 700,000 so-called enemies of the state being directly executed. 18 million people were imprisoned. Additionally, Joseph Stalin also oversaw massive famines that killed millions.

The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and since then, in both Russia and Georgia, Joseph Stalin has retained his popularity as someone who led the people to victory in wartime, and as someone who established the Soviet Union a major power in the world.

That’s why, when I visited Gori, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. I didn’t feel the surprise in the beginning. It just seemed like another town with a museum to the past. It was a fascinating museum, with even the railway carriage that Stalin used for travel on display.

The surprise actually crept up on me gradually, until it became a visceral shock that seemed to urge me to leave as soon as I could.

What it was, was a very sense of the total and absolute glorification of Joseph Stalin. There was no mention of his callous murder of millions. The whole museum focused on his life as a loving family man, and father and leader of the nation.

I’m glad I live a universe in which there is a God.

The whole place made me feel what the world would be like if there were no God.

If there were no God, there would be no truth because there would be no final reckoning. History would be altered to suited ourselves, with no accountability. The suffering of millions would be ignored as irrelevant to the powerful.

If there were no God, humanity would glorify man and his achievements through any means, regardless of moral boundaries. It’s “survival of the fittest” and “to the powerful go the spoils.”

If there were no God, the masses would mindlessly follow the strong, justifying themselves based on the delusions of grandeur and power.

If there were no God, every wrong and every evil would be justified. There would be no excess of immorality and cruelty that could not be explained away as necessary, and “swept under the carpet of history.”

These were all the things that I saw at Gori, and it made me sick to my stomach.

Then I realised that it’s not just Gori. I realised that I see these things all around me in the world today, and that they have happened again and again throughout history. And this made me feel the dark hole of despair in my guts.

But, there is good in the world, because there is a God. The merciful will be shown mercy, the peacemakers will be called the children of God, the pure in heart will see God, and the meek will inherit the earth (Matthew 5). There will be a final reckoning before a God of goodness and love.

I’m glad that I don’t live in Gori. I’m glad there is a God. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Finding Jesus

During his earthly ministry, many people came looking for Jesus. And today, after he rose again and ascended to heaven, many look for him still.

The question of how to find Jesus is actually central finding not only fulfilment in this life, but also in finding eternal life. Jesus said, “I am… the life” (John 14:6, NIV). In other words, to find Jesus is to find salvation.

In a very important passage in the letter he wrote to the Romans, the apostle Paul wrote about this. He compares those people who want to find Jesus by doing stuff, with those who realise that you don’t need to do any works to go to Jesus because he has already come to you. This is what he says:

Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom 10:5-9, NIV).

Jesus is as close to you as your heart that beats and the air you breathe.

You often hear Christians talk about “coming to Jesus,” and in a sense there’s nothing wrong with that: except when it gives the impression that salvation is something they must do. For some, God is so holy that he is so far above us, and we must struggle to morally climb up to him. For others, God is so mysterious that he exists in some profound spiritual dimension into which we must descend through all kinds of spiritual disciplines and practices. The apostle Paul is talking precisely to thosepeople here.

False religion tries to go on wearisome pilgrimages through life to find Jesus and his righteousness. What Paul is saying is that Jesus has already come to you. He has already brought his righteousness to you. He did it when he came to earth as a human, and died for you, to forever be the bridge of salvation between heaven and earth. Because of the Cross, Jesus is as close to you as your heart that beats and the air that you breathe.

The righteousness that is by the law says that Christ is far from you. But the righteousness that is by faith says,

“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart” (v.8).

Why does it say, “the word”? Because the righteousness that is by faith is accessed simply by your declaration of faith that “Jesus is Lord.” This isn’t an idle mantra or ritual chant. This is declaration that is based on the belief “in your heart that God raised him from the dead.” Then, says the apostle, “you will be saved” (v.9).

Just like when he walked the earth, many people try to find Jesus today. He isn’t far. He is very close to you. Jesus didn’t rise from the dead to leave you, but to be always with you. Acknowledge him in your life, and you will be saved. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Power at Sunset

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door,and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. - Mark 1:32-34

Jesus is in Capernaum on the Sabbath day. He taught in the synagogue where he healed a demon-possessed man. Afterward he went to Simon Peter’s house, where he healed his mother-in-law. And now, at the end of the day, the action heats up.

Because it was the Sabbath, the people waited until after sunset to come to see Jesus. And when they came, they brought their family and friends who were sick and demon-possessed. In fact, Mark says that Jesus cast out many demons.

Earlier in the chapter, when Jesus had cast an evil spirit out of a man in the synagogue, the evil spirit had publicly screamed out Jesus’ identity. So, now Jesus wouldn’t allow the demons to speak at all because they knew who he was.

The time hadn’t yet come for Jesus to reveal publicly who he was. Because when he did, he knew that his enemies would be out to kill him. He still had much to do.

It’s interesting that when the demons wanted to identify Jesus publicly, they were only speaking the truth. But Jesus silenced them.

The devil speaks to us as well. And the things that he says aren’t always total lies. Sometimes they’re true.

Like when he whispers to you that you are a sinner, that you are unworthy, that there’s no reason for God to possibly love you. This is true, but there’s a greater truth.

Because of Calvary, God sees you as his perfect, precious child, because the worth of Jesus stands in the place of yours. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus is Willing

A man with leprosycame to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was indignant.He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. - Mark 1:40–42

What was Jesus’ reason for healing and blessing those in need? Mark gives us an important insight.

When Jesus saw the man, he was “filled with compassion.” Jesus felt compassion for this man in the strongest, most passionate sense.

In Jesus’ day, because of poor hygiene, leprosy was much more widespread than it is today.

Leprosy was a horrific disease. Over the years, the extremities of people with leprosy like their fingers, toes, noses, and ears would rot and fall off. And the smell was awful.

But Jesus has no fear of leprosy. He reaches out and touches this man–probably the first time he has felt the touch of another person for years–and he heals him.

The man falls on his knees to Jesus and says, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” He knows that all he needs to be healed is for Jesus to want to heal him, and he is ready to receive the blessing.

There are many people who want to receive God’s blessing, but they don’t receive it because they don’t really believe that God actually wants to bless them. They think they haven’t done enough to deserve it, or that they’re unworthy. But Jesus comes near to you and does not run away. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Anger on the Sabbath

Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. - Mark 3:1–6

The religious leaders confront Jesus about how he observed the Sabbath day. In response, Jesus shockingly claimed that he was the Lord of the Sabbath. Now, their disagreement about the purpose of the Sabbath is about to escalate further.

This was a set-up. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus and condemn him, because in their eyes, it was wrong to heal someone on the Sabbath.

These religious leaders lacked compassion and mercy for the poor man with the shrivelled hand. They were only using him. They were happy for the man to continue suffering for the sake of proving a religious point.

Jesus is heroic in his response. He tells the man to stand up in front, where everyone can see him. Then he directly challenges the people there to confront their horrific hypocrisy.

When Jesus asked this question, everyone remained silent. There was no mercy in their hearts. While everyone was silent, Jesus looked all the way around to everyone in the synagogue with anger on his face.

Then told the man to hold out his hand, where everyone could see it, and he healed him.

This is the first time that Mark tells us that Jesus was angry. The other gospel writers never mention Jesus being angry. Mark always highlights Jesus’ emotions and his compassionate humanity. But Mark only ever shows Jesus as being angry when injustice and abuse occurs against the defenceless. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Evil Spirits Fall Down before Jesus

Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him. - Mark 3:11–12

The Gospel-writer Mark wants us to know that Jesus has absolute power and authority over everything. While the crowds are pressing around Jesus, he is confronted by impure spirits.

Once again, as noted earlier in Mark, the evil spirits proclaim Jesus’ identity. But Jesus commands them not to reveal his identity. His time has not yet come.

Notice how the evil spirits obey the voice of Jesus. More than that, Mark emphasises that as soon as the evil spirits saw Jesus, they fell down before him.

While people might treat Jesus carelessly, none of the evil spirits dared to do that. They knew exactly who he was. And they knew his total power over them. This reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

Jesus has all power even in whatever area of your life you might be experiencing weakness. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Appoints the Twelve

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. - Mark 3:13–19

Large crowds have been following Jesus wherever he goes. Some of these people have been called personally by Jesus to follow him. But most are following him because of his remarkable teaching and his amazing power.

Now, from among them, Jesus chooses a special group of people.

There are many people following Jesus, but he picks out twelve people to be his closest followers, called “disciples.”

In the Jewish culture, “disciples” were learners who were to learn from the teacher by living and travelling with him, and listening and watching everything that he said and did.

Twelve is not just a random number. It’s highly symbolic. In the Bible, it’s the number of God’s government. In the Old Testament, God established his nation on the twelve tribes of Israel. Now Jesus is going to establish his church through twelve disciples.

It’s also interesting that Jesus gave nick-names to some disciples, and they reveal that Jesus definitely had a sense of humour. For example, the fishermen James and John were probably loud and boisterous, so he called them, “Sons of Thunder.”

These disciples were among the unlikeliest people that Jesus could have chosen. He didn’t choose the most educated, the best-connected, or the wealthiest. He chose people in whose hearts he saw potential.

Yes, even Judas.

Jesus didn’t choose people who were qualified. He chose people who were willing to say “yes,” and then he qualified them. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How to Live a Life of Worth

A friend of mine often says that we need to live for a good funeral. None of us are going to avoid a funeral of some sort, and we get to decide how our funeral will be. I’ve been to funerals which have quite frankly been horrifically bleak, and I’ve been to funerals where a life of true worth has been remembered.

So, how do you live a life of worth? Here is the advice of the apostle Paul:

So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. 12 Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Let’s look at what Paul is saying here. There’s a lot in it!

First of all he sets the standard. The standard is the call of Christ. We are to live lives worthy of his call. This is the call by which you have been called to be a follower of Jesus and a child of God.

It is faith that prompts you as you go through life, or is it fear?

Next, we can see that we are, within ourselves, unable to live such lives of worth. It is only God’s enabling, as he gives us power, that allows us to live according to his call.

It is faith that prompts you to do the good things that God calls for. The opposite of faith is fear. Ask yourself, this very important question when you are making a decision for or against going something in your life: Is it faith that is prompting me, or is it fear?

When we live in this way, then the name of Jesus will be honoured, and we will be honoured together with him. Notice that it isn’t that we are honoured and then we generously decide to share some of that honour with Jesus. No! How it works is that when we live lives of worth, Jesus is honoured, and then because he is honoured, we will be honoured together with him as well.

Take a moment to review your own life. Are you living today for a good funeral tomorrow? Are you living a life of worth? Are you living a life that obeys the promptings of faith and not of fear?

It’s God who gives us the power to live a life worthy of his call. It’s only possible through God’s grace. That’s the same grace that teaches us that though we may always fall short this side of eternity, the love of Christ is there to drive out fear from our lives so that we may live in the light of the freedom of his grace and acceptance. That’s how we can live more selfless lives that honour God, and when he is honoured, he will honour you.

Finally, Paul says, it is only possible for us to live lives of worth because of the grace of God. It isn’t our doing; it’s his. – Eliezer Gonzalez

His Family Thinks Jesus Has Gone Mad

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” - Mark 3:10–21

In Galilee, Jesus was challenging what was expected of a Jewish man in the first century. He even touched people with horrific, contagious diseases! And the things he said went beyond what any man should claim. He even claimed to forgive sin.

His family in Nazareth have been hearing the reports of what Jesus was up to, and they were getting more and more concerned. So, now, they come to get him and take him home. Jesus’ family must have been horrified. And they were probably also listening to what the religious leaders were saying about Jesus: about how the things he was saying were crazy, and about his behaviour was so scandalous and shocking.

So, Jesus’ family came to take him back to his town in Nazareth, just as you would do to a lost child or a relative suffering from a mental illness.

I’m sure you’ll agree: it’s an amazing scene! Imaging how Jesus must have felt! – Eliezer Gonzalez

Is it God or the Devil?

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” - So, Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.” - Mark 3:22–27

Jesus’ enemies are mainly based in Jerusalem. When they see Jesus driving out demons, they tell the people that he is able to do this because Jesus is possessed by the devil himself, and he is doing it to deceive the people.

The teachers of the law can’t deny what Jesus is doing; that he really is liberating people from the power of demons. And since they can’t deny it, they try to explain it away by saying that Jesus is doing it by the power of the devil.

Jesus applies some good sound logic to the situation. He asked the religious leaders, “How can Satan drive out Satan?” Satan can’t work against himself.

But notice what Jesus said at the end. He said, “No one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.”

What Jesus was saying was that Satan was the “strong man” and that he was the one plundering Satan’s house. But to do that, he had to disable the strong man and leave him helpless.

Jesus was saying that when people saw him driving out demons, it was because Satan was helpless before him. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Sin That Will Never Be Forgiven

“Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” - He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” - Mark 3:28–30

The religious leaders from Jerusalem have been telling the people that Jesus is doing his mighty miracles through the power of the devil.

Jesus told these leaders that Satan doesn’t work against himself, and that he has power over Satan. Now, Jesus continues.

Is there a sin that cannot be forgiven: an unpardonable sin? And what exactly is it?

Let’s look at the context. Jesus said this because the religious leaders were denying the work of God and attributing it to the devil.

So, the sin that Jesus is talking about has to do with denying the work of God.

God is always working in people’s hearts to call them to repentance: to acknowledge that they have done wrong and that they need his forgiveness in their lives. He does it through the Holy Spirit. We call it your “conscience.” But what happens when you continually deny the work of God, like these religious leaders were doing? What happens if you continually silence your conscience?

If you do it often enough, you will come to the point where you won’t feel your need for forgiveness any more, and you won’t want to repent.

Look at the positive part of what Jesus said. Every sin can be forgiven.

Some people talk about the “unpardonable sin” does not appear in the Bible at all.

The only sin that cannot be forgiven is the sin that you don’t want to be forgiven: the sin for which you don’t want to repent. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Who is My Family?

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” - “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. - Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” - Mark 3:31–35

Jesus’ mother and brothers still think he has gone stark raving mad, and they’ve come from Nazareth to take him back home where they can keep him quiet.

But they can’t get into the house where Jesus is to get him, because the house is crowded full of people listening to him teach.

This is a dramatic scene. The response of Jesus to the message that his mother and brothers are waiting outside to take him home is very surprising.

He ignores them. He asks,

“Who are my mother and my brothers?”

Then he looks around him and says that these are all his mother and his brothers, and that whoever does the will of God is his family.

Why did Jesus respond like this?

Jesus’ family didn’t understand his mission at all. Jesus was introducing a more important concept of family than just our physical family: the family of God.

Jesus is saying that no matter how vitally important our physical family may be, the family of God is just as real, and even more important. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The People Ask Jesus to Leave

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. - Mark 5:11-17

Jesus was confronted by a man possessed by many demons in the land of the Gerasenes. The demons knew that they are about to be cast out of this man, and they begged Jesus not to cast them out of the region where they are. They had it good here, and they don’t want to leave. What happens next is dramatic!

Jesus commanded the demons to leave this man, but they asked Jesus to allow them to go into a herd of pigs nearby, rather than to send them out of the region.

Jesus allowed them to do this, but the demons made the pigs go mad and they drowned themselves in the lake. This region on the western side of Lake Galilee wasn’t Jewish. That’s why their main business was keeping pigs. Their livelihoods depended on it.

The people here didn’t care that their neighbour had been liberated from the power of Satan. No, they cared more about their money, and so they begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone. And so, he did.

The fact that these people got rid of Jesus shows that the demons got what they wanted. They had stayed in that region, controlling the minds of the people.

Instead of a demon-possessed man, it was really a demon-possessed community. And the sign was that they valued money more than Jesus.

When these people asked Jesus to leave them, he did. Jesus will never force himself into your life. And the tragedy is that when we value the things of this world, like money, our achievements, or our pride more than Jesus, we’re asking him to leave. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus in His Hometown

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. - Mark 6:1–6

After healing Jairus’ daughter by the sea, Jesus travelled inland to his hometown, Nazareth. When you think of home, perhaps you think of a place of love and acceptance. Jesus was looking for some rest, and you’d think that he’d find it back home. But sadly, that’s not what happens at all.

Jesus was rejected in his own hometown. It seems that they already know all they need to know about him. They know that he doesn’t have a high level of formal education. They know that he’s a carpenter and they know his mother, and his brothers, and sisters.

Although they can’t deny the wisdom of his teachings or the mighty miracles he’s been performing, they do what most people do when they can’t understand something. Their worldview feels threatened, and so they attack what they don’t understand.

Jesus replies to them by telling them that a prophet does not have honour in his own town, one of the many sayings of Jesus that have become just part of the English language.

But the sad part about this is that although he did so many mighty miracles in other towns, because of their lack of faith, the people who should have been closest to Jesus didn’t receive his blessings.

It’s easy for people who have spent time associating with Jesus to think that they know him. And that’s why it’s easy for them to reject the real Jesus. And ultimately, they will miss out on the blessings that Jesus has for them.

That’s what happens with many people who’ve grown up in religious homes or in church, and they think they know what Jesus is all about. And they don’t like what they see and leave. But they don’t really know the real Jesus. They don’t know what he’s like and what his message actually is. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Where is the Lamb?

On their way to the fateful sacrifice on Mt Moriah, Isaac asks his father Abraham,

“…but where is the Lamb?” Genesis 22:7

The is the central question of all of Scripture. If your focus is not on this question, and if you miss the answer, you have missed the whole point of the Bible and of God’s revelation to humanity.

The Lamb is everywhere in Scripture.

In Genesis, the Lamb is the ram caught in the thicket through whom the children of Abraham are spared.

In Exodus, the Lamb is the Passover sacrifice, through whose blood the people of God are saved.

In Leviticus, the Lamb is the heart of the sacrificial service of the sanctuary, through whom atonement is made for the people.

In Isaiah the Lord has laid on the Lamb the iniquity of us all.

In Jeremiah, the gentle Lamb is led to the slaughter and is cut off from the land of the living.

In John, the Lamb of God is announced as the one who takes away the sin of the world.

In Acts, it is reading about the Lamb of God that convicts an Ethiopian eunuch so that he is baptised.

In 1 Corinthians, Christ is the Passover Lamb who has been sacrificed for us.

In Hebrews, it is the shed blood of the Lamb that through which our sins are forgiven and our lives purified.

In 1 Peter, Christ is the Lamb without blemish and without spot, through whose blood we have been redeemed.

In Revelation, the Lamb who had been slain, is at the centre of the throne. Through his blood, salvation has come, and the Lamb is announced as worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise.

God himself will provide the Lamb.

If you go back to Genesis, to the story of Abraham, when Isaac asked,

“….but where is the Lamb?” Genesis 22:7

his father answered,

“…God himself will provide the lamb…” v.8

This is literally the crux of the issue. (The word “crux” means “cross”). This is the whole message of Scripture.

Where is the Lamb? The Lamb is everywhere in Scripture? The Lamb is everywhere in salvation. The Lamb is everywhere in your life. The Lamb is everywhere if you will only open your spiritual understanding and see him.

If you open the Bible and see good advice; I ask you, “Where is the Lamb?”

If you open the Bible and see interesting history; I ask you, “Where is the Lamb?”

If you open the Bible and see fascinating prophecies; I ask you, “Where is the Lamb?”

If you open the Bible and see important doctrines; I ask you, “Where is the Lamb?”

And, if you are going through a really tough time right now, I ask you the same question.

For the Lamb of Calvary is God’s ultimate answer to every human struggle and dilemma. Every other question in life and faith is secondary to the question, “Where is the Lamb?”

God himself has provided it. You need only look up, as Abraham did - Genesis 22:13 - and you will see the Lamb of God. – Eliezer Gonzalez

We have been Rescued because We are Loved

The Gospel reminds us that we have been rescued because we are loved. The Gospel is the announcement that because of God’s great saving act through Jesus at Calvary, we are fully forgiven, credited with the righteousness of Jesus, and accepted before God. The Gospel is that we receive eternal life as a gift from God. These things happen the moment we believe.

As a result of the Gospel we have peace, hope, and a solid foundation for our identity. Today, the world needs the Gospel more than ever.

We live in a world that has less peace than ever before. There is trouble within our minds, trouble within our communities, and trouble among the nations.

We live in a world that has less hope than ever before. For most, they are born, they live in hopelessness, and then they die. During their lives, they may try a myriad ways of masking and soothing the hopelessness, but in the end, what is the point of it all? Deep within us, we are all desperate to discover who we are and our place in the world. Yet at the societal level, we have given up the search for peace and hope and identity as hopeless. So, hardly anyone talks about these things anymore.

Because, how can there be peace, hope, and meaning, if we are all descended, and are made up of, the mindless clash of atoms? In our great intelligence we have dismantled the answers of the past, and replaced them with hopelessness. There is no God but whatever you want God to be, there is no truth but whatever you prefer to say it is, and there is no purpose except for the self in the here and now.

The Gospel reminds us that there is a way out for humanity, and it’s not due to our knowledge or science or technology or by anything we’ve done. We have been rescued, because we are loved. You have been loved. Contrary to what the society tells you, you can know where you’ve come from, who you are, and where you are going. It’s all due to Christ’s mighty saving act at Calvary, where the Son of God loved you and gave his life to ransom yours. Because of it, you have a firm foundation for your identity that no-one can ever take away. You are a child of God and you have eternal life by his grace.

That’s what matters most. That’s the Gospel, and it’s as much good news today as it was when Jesus burst through the doors of death and came out of the tomb! – Eliezer Gonzalez

What God Thinks About You

They say that you can know when someone is talking about you because your ears are “burning”? I wonder what happens when God thinks about you? Could God be thinking about you right now?

In fact, have you stopped to think about what the thoughts are that God has about you?

In Psalm 139, you have a beautiful passage that talks about just that. It says,

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! (Psalm 139:17–18a, NLT).

Let’s ask God, some questions about his thoughts about you, based on this psalm:

You: God, what is the quality of your thoughts about me?

God. They are precious, precious thoughts.

You: How many precious thoughts do you have about me every day?

God. I have so many precious thoughts about you that they are beyond numbering!

You: But Lord, surely you can count them? Do you think about me once per day?

God. No, I think precious thoughts about you so often that they cannot be counted.

You: OK, God. Let me try to pin you down. Here’s a huge number… 7,500,000,000,000,000,000. That’s approximately how many grains of sand there are in the whole world. Does that come close to the number of precious thoughts you have about me?

God. Not even close!

When you know the truth about how God thinks of you, it is the most freeing revelation on earth! You are accepted! You are cherished! You are loved! When you let these truths penetrate into your heart, you will be truly free, no matter what your circumstances in life may be.

As God thinks of you, think of him

Too often our view of how God thinks about us is all wrong. That’s because our society’s ideas about God are wrong, and it’s also because Christians haven’t always represented who God is in the right way. Too often we think that God is like the worst of ourselves: someone who is harsh and judgmental, unforgiving and just looking for excuses to punish and torment us. But that isn’t who God is at all. This is what God says of himself,

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV).

When you think about our own impoverished and miserly thoughts about God, doesn’t this put us to shame? There is a proper response to all of this. As God thinks of you, think of him. Think precious thoughts of him, as he thinks them of you.

To know the truth about God is the foundation of right living. To live out the truth of God is the foundation of joy. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Back to top of: From the Blog

Unlimited 2021

What Hypocrisy Is

So, the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” - Mark 7:5–8

Mark explained how the Pharisees taught that you had to wash your hands before eating. That’s good advice, but they taught that it was a sin if you didn’t do it. This was part of the oral law. Jesus refers to this as the “tradition of the elders.”

The Pharisees taught that if you ate with unwashed hands, anything on your hands could get into your food and into your body, and defile you.

A striking thing in what Jesus says to the Pharisees is his definition of hypocrisy.

We tend to think that hypocrisy is saying one thing but doing another.

More specifically, Jesus says here that hypocrisy is when you say you follow God but instead you follow human traditions instead of God’s commandments.

Human traditions are embedded so deeply within us that it can be very difficult to separate them from what God wants. We can learn human traditions from our society, from our parents, or even from the church. Many of them are well-meaning, and some of them may even be good. And like the Pharisees did, they’re often justified on moral, religious, or theological grounds.

A tradition is a belief or practice that has been around for so long that no one questions it. But Jesus questioned them, because false traditions take your attention away from him and from salvation. – Eliezer Gonzalez

How to Nullify the Word of God

And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and mother, and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus, you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” - Mark 7:9–13

In this passage, Jesus is in the middle of an intense discussion with the Pharisees. He called them hypocrites and that they ignore the commandments of God while holding onto human traditions and rules.

The law of God says that you should honour their father and mother. This is the law that God had written in the Bible. But the Pharisees had an exception to this law, that they had concocted themselves. This was part of their oral law. If you didn’t want to support your parents in their old age, then you could declare your possessions “corban” which was effectively a vow that your possessions belonged to the God, and that one day they would be given to the temple. So, they couldn’t be used to help your parents.

That’s why Jesus says that, through many religious rules like this, the Pharisees tried to cancel out the Word of God.

Human traditions are much easier to follow than the commandments of God. Because they’re human rules, you don’t risk being unpopular if you follow them.

But Jesus taught that we should follow the Word of God and the Word of God alone.

And the worst human traditions are the ones that nullify, or cancel out, God’s Word. Like the practice of “corban,” these traditions are usually based on our own selfishness, rather than love for others, and the true keeping of God’s law. – Eliezer Gonzalez

What Defiles You

Again, Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” - Mark 7:14–23

Jesus told the Pharisees that they nullify the Word of God through their traditions, and he wants to make sure that the people get his point, because it’s an important one.

The Pharisees taught that you became a sinner when you allowed what was outside you in the sinful world into your life. But the teaching of Jesus was the opposite. Earlier Jesus spoke only to the Pharisees, but this was so important that he called the crowd over to him so that everyone could hear what he had to say.

Jesus told them clearly that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them, but instead, the things that defile us come from inside ourselves, from our own hearts.

He uses the example of food. The Pharisees were scrupulous about washing their hands, so that nothing might contaminate their food and make them sinners. But Jesus said that food goes inside us, goes through our body, and then exits the body. However, sin comes from the inside out and not from the outside in, and that’s where the real problem. The religion of the Pharisees was a legalistic religion.

This kind of religion often teaches that the way to be acceptable to God is to avoid being contaminated by the sin that there is in the world around you.

But Jesus taught that sin is already deep within our hearts and that it is what contaminates us. The only way to be acceptable to God is to repent, accept his forgiveness, and trust in Jesus. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The People Are Hungry Again

During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them” (Mark 8:1–4, NIV)?

Jesus was still in the Gentile region of the Decapolis, and the crowds gathered around him again to hear his teachings. They came to see Jesus, but they never thought that they would be as captivated by him as they were. They stayed much longer than they thought they would, but they hadn’t brought food with them.

A little while ago, Jesus fed five thousand. They were Jewish people. This time, Jesus fed four thousand. These were Gentiles.

You see, Jesus repeated this miracle for two reasons. The first one was to show that he didn’t have favourites; that his blessings were for all. The second reason was because, as we’ll find out later, the twelve disciples hadn’t learnt the spiritual lesson that Jesus was trying to teach them.

One of the biggest problems that we face in our lives is the delusion of self-sufficiency. Before the Lord steps in, he made the disciples confront the problem first. He does it so that they will understand the hopelessness of their situation, and their total need of him. It’s only when they admit their helplessness that he intervenes.

The Lord does the same thing in our lives too. If he always stepped in and resolved all our problems before we even knew we had a problem, we’d never learn to trust him, we’d never grow to have more faith or to know him better. Often, he lets us feel the weight of the problem that we are facing first. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied.

He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha (Mark 8:5–10, NIV).

There were thousands of people who came to hear Jesus. They were there for three days, and they were really hungry!

Jesus told his disciples about the problem, and they replied that they were in a remote place and that there was no food anywhere nearby. Again, it seemed like an impossible situation!

After making the twelve disciples see that they could do nothing to resolve the problem, Jesus told the crowd sit down on the ground. All eyes were now only on him.

Do you remember how before the miracle of the Red Sea, Moses said to the people, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord”?

So, here is the spiritual lesson.

For God to work his miracles in your life, to see his salvation, you have to stop working, and let God work. Salvation is through faith, and not through your works. So, Jesus just told the people to sit down.

I wonder, do you need to do some sitting down at Christ’s feet in your life? The Jewish people would always give thanks before meals, and Jesus did the same.

It looked like the seven loaves and the few fish were only ever going to feed a handful of the people, and not the thousands who were there. The striking thing here is that Jesus gives thanks before the food is even there.

He gave thanks in faith, knowing the goodness of his Father in Heaven. It’s when we’re grateful that the good things happen. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Pharisees Ask for a Sign

The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side (Mark 8:11–13, NIV).

The Pharisees were following Jesus everywhere, peppering him with questions, and challenging him at every turn.

They can’t deny his wisdom or the evidence of his miracles. But still, they can’t work out who he is, because he doesn’t conform to what they expected according to their worldview.

There are some people whom no evidence will ever convince. The Pharisees didn’t believe in Jesus because of any lack of evidence. There were many strands of powerful evidence that came together to point to Jesus as the Messiah sent from God. The Pharisees knew the prophecies that Jesus was fulfilling, they heard his teachings, and they were witnesses of his mighty works.

The reason why the Pharisees didn’t believe in Jesus because they didn’t want to believe in him, simply because Jesus didn’t conform to their opinions and worldview. It was easier for them to simply explain everything away.

They were always asking Jesus for yet another sign, but Jesus refused to give it to them. Jesus didn’t play games. It was wasted effort. Jesus wasn’t going to, as he said elsewhere, “throw pearls before swine.”

Mark, more than any other of the gospel writers, reports to us the human emotions of Jesus. He tells us that when the Pharisees asked for a sign again, Jesus sighed deeply. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Yeast of the Pharisees

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied. “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand” (Mark 8:14–21, NIV)?

After feeding the four thousand, Jesus and the disciples travelled on by boat. But it seemed that the disciples haven’t learnt the lessons of the great miracles that Jesus had recently done.

Typically, the disciples weren’t following what Jesus talked about. Jesus was talking about his life-giving power, because that’s what bread does: It gives life.

Anyone who has ever done any baking knows that yeast almost seems to have a miraculous power. It makes bread and cakes to rise up, beautifully light and fluffy. But if you use yeast that’s old, it doesn’t work, and your bread ends up worthless.

When Jesus warned his disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees, he warned them that they have no power. They cannot give life. Their teachings are worthless.

Jesus referred back to when he miraculously gave bread to the five thousand, and he highlighted that there were twelve basketfuls left, and after he fed the four thousand, there were seven basketfuls left. Jesus highlighted these particular numbers because they have special significance.

For the Jews, numbers had spiritual meaning. The number twelve refers to the rule of God. And the number seven refers to his perfect, completed work.

Jesus was pointing out that when you accept his rule, he will perfectly and completely work to supply every need that you may have.

You can trust in him, even if, like the disciples, you forgot to bring bread in the boat.

Too often, like the disciples, we forget to bring bread. By this, I mean that the reason why we are in the trouble that we’re in is our own fault.

But Jesus is still merciful and kind, and has promised to provide for your needs. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Heals a Blind Man

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go intothe village” (Mark 8:22–26, NIV).

Jesus performed a very interesting miracle at Bethsaida. It’s interesting that Jesus gently led the blind man by the hand to a place outside the village.

The crowd was in the village. Who knows what they thought of this man? Typically, people with disabilities were considered to be cursed by God and scorned. And out of respect for this poor man, Jesus brought him to a quieter place away from the crowds. It’s a beautiful picture of the gentleness of our Lord.

And again, we see the intimate nature of the healing that Jesus brings. As unhygienic as it might seem to us. Jesus spits on the man’s eyes and puts his hands on him.

Unlike other healings that Jesus performed, this man isn’t instantly healed. For some reason, this man needed special care. And at first his sight is only partial. He looks around and people look to him like blurry trees walking around.

Jesus has to put his hands on him again before his eyesight is completely restored. And then Jesus sends him straight home, telling him to not even go into the village where others might see him.

This man had been very wounded by the cruelty of life, and Jesus took special care of him.

We’ve all been wounded by sin, by life, and by other people. Sometimes we wonder why God doesn’t work a miracle and heal our hearts immediately.

By this miracle, Jesus demonstrates how he sometimes needs to heal our wounds gently and over time. We need to be patient and allow him to do his healing work in our hearts. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Don’t Worship Your Stuff

Let’s face it, we have too much stuff! Even more than that, our stuff is taking over our lives. We think that our stuff improves the quality of our lives, when instead, it’s taking it away. In fact, it’s even destroying our lives! Wouldn’t your life be simpler if you had less stuff? Wouldn’t your life be better?

We live in a society in which, in our great wisdom, we have rejected the spiritual and embraced the material. We once worshipped a spiritual God. Although we now call ourselves “atheists,” all many have really done is replace one God with another: a god who we can see and touch and count, a material God – our stuff.

After all, our god is whomever we make the centre of our lives, whatever we live for, and what we are even prepared to die for. And in our culture of modern idolatry, we have made our stuff our god. This is precisely what the apostle Paul described thousands of years ago. It’s still true today:

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Romans 1:25

That’s the basic definition of idolatry: to worship the provision, and not the Provider. Of all the things that God warns us about in the Bible, from beginning to end, idolatry, or false worship is at the core.

In fact, God even portrays the world just before the second coming of Jesus as being divided along issues of worship: the true worshippers of God and the idolaters, who worship their stuff. It says of this second group that they,

…repented not of the works of their hands… and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood. Revelation 9:20, NIV

Your stuff is going to burn up and disappear.

Why is centring your life around your stuff so easy to do? The reason is that the dominant worldviews of our society tell us that the material is all that exists, and it rejects the spiritual. Even if we are people of faith, and we overtly reject this worldview, the temptation is strong to think that what we can perceive through our physical senses: what we can see, touch, hear, taste; is somehow more real than the spiritual realities.

The reason why this is so dangerous, is that the Bible says, literally, that all that is physical and material in this world is going to burn:

the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly* 2 Peter 3:7

Your stuff is going to burn up and disappear – yes, all of it. And if you derive from your identity from your stuff, what will be your destiny?

To truly worship God is to completely derive your identity from him, and to trust in him for everything. Your stuff may disappear, but God’s not going anywhere. You too will remain forever, if you are with him. That’s why in a final message of warning to the world, God tells us to,

Worship God and give glory to him Revelation 14:7

It’s important to examine your own life and ask yourself: Is there any aspect of it in which you are worshipping your stuff? Is there any aspect of your life in which you have adopted the materialistic culture of the world? – Eliezer Gonzalez

Not Far from the Kingdom

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions. - Mark 12:32–34

One of the religious teachers asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment in the law. Jesus answered that it is to love God, and that the second commandment is to love our neighbour.

Now the same teacher showed that he truly understood what Jesus has said.

This man affirmed that what Jesus had said was right. He acknowledged that our duty to love God and our neighbour is above every other duty. Specifically, he said that the duty to love was more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

This man was one of the very few people in the Gospels to receive a “well done” from Jesus for his theology. And he was very brave indeed. Because when he said that love was more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices, you have to remember where he said it. He said it in the temple, the centre of all those burnt offerings and sacrifices. It was the very heart of their religion.

Is it any wonder that no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions? He had put all of their supreme religious authorities to shame with his answers. And now what Jesus was saying was profoundly subversive to the established religion and to the temple itself.

Did you notice that when this man understood that God wants to see whole-hearted love more than religious observances, Jesus said to him that he wasn’t far from the kingdom of God?

You see, the more we love, the closer we are to the kingdom of God.

– Eliezer Gonzalez

The Defective Prophet

Elijah is one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. For the Jews, he ranked alongside Moses. In fact, he was such a powerful prophet, and served God so faithfully that he never died. Instead, God took him straight up to heaven in a chariot of fire.

However, I think there’s more to Elijah’s story than meets the eye. I think there’s enough clues in the Bible to let us see Elijah as a person just like you and me, who struggles with some very similar issues.

Just like so many other heroes of the Bible, Elijah the prophet is deeply flawed. His story isn’t so much a story of how God can use powerful people. Instead, it’s a story of triumph through weakness. Elijah’s story is a story of God’s grace, and not of Elijah’s moral worth.

Throughout his story, the prophet Elijah seems awfully self-centred.

As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve. 1 Kings 17:1

That’s his trademark saying. While it starts by mentioning God, the focus quickly shifts to himself and how he serves God.

You’ve probably never thought of this, because we tend to read the Bible thought sanitised, “religious” way, in which its heroes are glorified and their faults minimised.

Elijah is actually your pretty classic manic-depressive. He has moments of frenetic energy and activity, with great clarity and focus. In between these moments are times of deep depression and inability to act.

The greatest example of this in the life of Elijah was his experience on Mount Carmel. One moment he was facing down the hundreds of false prophets of Baal, and calling down fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice in their sight (1 Kings 18:20-40). That must have been exhilarating. But the next moment he is running for his life into the wilderness, afraid of Queen Jezebel. He sits under a bush in the desert and he wishes for death. Then he goes into a cave, caught in the deepest depression. When the Lord comes to him and challenges him with the question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” his response is telling. Elijah is self-absorbed in his own importance (1 Kings 19:14,18) and accusing God of not doing the right thing by him (v.14).

Never think that you’re useless for God.

God responds to Elijah by telling him that he is wrong. He is not the only true follower left. He has 7000 more. And, just after Elijah’s greatest triumph, God effectively sacks him! He does it in a gentle way, but he still sacks him (See 1 Kings 19:16). Not long after this, God takes Elijah up to heaven in a chariot of fire, one of only two men have entered heaven without seeing death (Enoch was the other).

What does all of this tell us about how God deals with us? There are some powerful lessons here if you’re willing to listen. Much of what we’ve been told about God is wrong. Never think that you’re useless for God. The story of Elijah tells you that God loves you with your imperfections and your weakness. He uses you with your flaws, even if, as in Elijah’s case, that happens to be a mental illness like depression. Read 1 Kings 19:3-18 and see how gently God encourages Elijah and woos him back from his thoughts of loneliness, failure, death.

God isn’t who you think he is. Wherever you’re at in life, even if in the deepest pit of despair, you are still loved by God. You are not alone. He still has a purpose for you. And he still has a wonderful reward for you, just as he did for Elijah.

Whatever your weaknesses, flaws and failures, God is still waiting for you to say “yes” to him. If you will do that, he will take care of the rest. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Biggest Hole in History

Dr Eliezer Gonzalez Mar 22, 2021 311

The Biggest Hole in History I want to tell you about the biggest hole in history. It’s a mysterious hole that secular historians are unable to fill.

They know that something big happened in the first century, but they don’t know what it is.

It transformed the Roman Empire In fact, it transformed the world and laid the foundations of society as we know it today.

Christians know how to fill that biggest hole in history. They know that it is perfectly filled by the biggest event in history: the resurrection of the Son of God.

Most historians of the period agree that the Gospels represent important historical documents. They agree that Jesus was born, lived and died, much as the Gospels say that he did. But when they look at the evidence for the resurrection, they draw back and say, “No, that never happened.” Why? Because their worldview doesn’t allow them to believe in God.

If you don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus, there is a huge Jesus-shaped hole in history which is basically unexplainable without it.

What would our world be like today if Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead? There’d be no Christianity: a worldview that has shaped our modern world like no other.

Why are our societies today not based on Mithraism or Gnosticism or polytheism, or any of the other “-isms” that existed in the first century? These made much more sense in the ancient world than Christianity. That God would be born as a Jew on the fringes of the empire? Worshipping a crucified criminal? Maintaining that he rose from the dead? There could be no beliefs more stupid than those. There is nothing that can explain the rise of Christianity other than that it is true: that Jesus really did rise from the dead, and that there were a large number of people who knew it to be a fact and who were willing to give up their lives for it rather than go back to the comfortable things they once believed.

What would our world be like if Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead? It’s not just that. If Jesus’ hadn’t risen from the dead, there’d be no science as we know it. There’d be no hospitals and modern health care. There would be no universities and public education. There’d be no organised benevolence and charities. There’d be no human rights. There were none of these things before Jesus rose from the dead. They were all introduced into the world by Christians, based on the principles that they learnt from the message of Jesus. None of these things ever existed in non-Christian societies before the coming of Christianity, at least not in the form that we know them today. You can say that it’s just luck and that they could have existed given enough time and the right circumstances, but the fact is that they didn’t.

Something happened in the first century that changed the world by setting in motion the philosophical and societal underpinnings that allowed all these things to be created. It was the life, teachings and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But that’s not just a hole in history. It’s also an aching hole in the life of every person who lives today who hasn’t yet discovered Jesus. It’s just that most people just don’t recognise it: that Jesus really is the answer to their every good desire, to their every noble ambition, and their most cherished hopes.

– Eliezer Gonzalez

Politics and Piety

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.“But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot”. - Mark 13:1–2

The high point of the Jewish calendar was the Passover. It was, for the Jews, one of the holiest times of the year.

However, while Jesus encouraged and prepared his disciples for the things that are to happen, the religious leaders were engaged in a very different kind of activity.

This passage presents us with a very strange contradiction. On the one hand, it is almost the holiest time of the Jewish year, in which the festival of the Passover is observed, which represents salvation and life. On the other hand, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, who are responsible for being the spiritual leaders of the people in this observance, plotted to kill the Son of God.

What this passage is highlighting is the evil and self-delusional nature of religious hypocrisy. In the end, the plans of the chief priests and the teachers of the law came to nothing. They ended up arresting Jesus on the eve of the Passover, and murdering him during the Passover itself. And in the end, Jesus returned from the grave anyway.

These religious leaders who thought that they were so carefully manipulating everything eventually lost it all in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

There is a vital lesson here for us. The chief priests and the teachers of the law ended up in this situation of gross hypocrisy because they were intent in protecting their own interests first. If we claim to be followers of Jesus, then we have to put Jesus first in every aspect of our lives, otherwise we will slide, even unknowingly, into hypocrisy, and even into murdering the Son of God. – Eliezer Gonzalez

A Woman’s Love

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. - Mark 14:3, NIV

When in Jerusalem, Jesus didn’t stay in the city itself. He usually stayed in the house of his friend Lazarus, in the town of Bethany, just outside Jerusalem. There he enjoyed peace and companionship.

The Cross is drawing near, and it is at this time that Jesus receives a very special dinner invitation.

In the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke, the host of this dinner isn’t called “Simon the Leper,” but instead “the Pharisee.” They were almost certainly the same person.

A leper wasn’t allowed to have any contact with other members of the community, so Simon must have been a Pharisee who had been healed by Jesus. When he heard that Jesus was in Bethany, Simon felt obliged to invite him to dinner.

Luke also tells us that the woman who gate-crashed the dinner was a notorious sinner in the town of Bethany. He also mentions that Jesus had forgiven her many sins.

She brought all she had to Jesus. The value of the perfume was equivalent to more than a year’s wages. The alabaster jar was also precious. But she didn’t care. She broke it to pour the perfume on Christ’s head.

What’s the lesson here? It’s that this woman valued nothing that she owned above the privilege of knowing Jesus. She brought everything she had to him.

That’s what happens when you realise how great the love of Jesus is for you, and how complete his forgiveness and acceptance for you is. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Burn Your Bridges

The ancient Romans armies were the toughest of the tough. That’s why Roman commanders were known to burn the bridges behind the legions, so that there could be no retreat. There was nothing worse than being trapped with water at your back. The army knew that it had to fight, and it had to win. There was no fall-back position.

In the Bible, the prophet Elisha did something similar right at the beginning of his ministry. Elisha was working on the family farm, ploughing with twelve pairs of oxen, when Elijah came by and called him to become his prophetic apprentice. Elisha left the oxen where they were and ran after Elijah and asked to let him say goodbye to his mother and father. But Elijah replied and effectively told him that if he went back he could have nothing to do with him.

Elisha understood that what Elijah was telling him was that he had to burn his bridges. Elisha did go back. He killed his oxen, and he cut up his wooden ploughing equipment. Then he cooked their meat using the wood and shared it with his neighbours. There was no better way for Elisha to let everyone know that he had made his choice. There would be no going back, because there was nothing to go back to. His future lay only in serving God. You can read the story in 1 Kings 19:19-21.

Have you heard the saying, “Don’t burn your bridges”? Well, the Bible says to do it. When you choose to serve God, it has to be a 100% commitment. God warns you not to try to keep a foot in the world and another foot in the Kingdom of God. He warns you not to look back, because he knows how easy it is to slip back into your life of the past, and abandon the good choice that you made to follow him.

…No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62, NIV).

Jesus has other similarly “hard” sayings, about people who wish to follow him must not go back and say good-bye to their family, or go back to bury their father (Luke 5:57-61). People read these in the Bible and consider that Jesus is being entirely unreasonable, and even harsh and cruel. But that’s not what Jesus meant in these sayings.

He was talking to people who wanted to commit to him – but not fully. A relationship with Jesus is like skydiving with a parachute. It doesn’t work unless you commit fully to jumping out of the airplane. Jesus was just emphasising, using hyperbole, that your commitment to him must be complete.

For a relationship with Jesus to be a saving one, it must be like that. God committed everything to your salvation, and you must commit everything to him. This is how God has loved you:

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:32, NIV).

Christ’s cry of abandonment (Matt 27:46) tells us how far he went to save you and to bring you back into the family of God. It was all or nothing. God burnt his bridges for you. That’s how desperate your situation was, and that’s how desperate he was to save you.

That’s why God asks you to allow him into your life: to burn your bridges and to not look back. – Eliezer Gonzalez

This is My Blood

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. - Mark 14:23–24

Jesus took the cup of wine and, just as he did with the bread, he gave it new meaning for his followers.

Step by step, he taught them what he is about to do, which is the basis of their salvation.

Jesus said that the wine represents blood of the covenant, poured out for many, and that the blood of the covenant is his own blood. This was a completely radical idea for the disciples.

Jesus explained that the covenant of salvation between God and his people, which every Jew knew about and relied on, was centred on him, because the sacrificial blood was at the very heart of the covenant. More than that, he told them that his blood was to be poured out “for many”: many, many more than his Jewish disciples could ever imagine. It was poured out for the salvation of the world.

The Gospel tells us that when Jesus gave them the cup, they all drank from it.

It’s not good enough to have been told about the blood of Jesus. It’s not good enough to know all about the blood of Jesus. It’s not good enough to be with others who have applied it to their own lives.

Jesus said, “They all drank from it.” You have to personally apply it and accept the blood of Jesus as being the very source and nourishment of your life. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Most Forgiven

The most forgiven people should be the most forgiving.

That’s the lesson that Jesus tried to teach Simon when Simon had invited him to his house for dinner. You see, Simon was a Pharisee. The Pharisees talked about forgiveness, but they didn’t think that they were the ones who needed the most forgiveness. As they saw it, forgiveness was needed the most by those sinners “out there,” and not by them – the Pharisees – who were religious leaders and admired for their pious and righteous way of life.

That’s why Simon was particularly offended when a women barged into his dinner with Jesus! It wasn’t just any woman, either! It was a notorious prostitute! She knelt at Jesus’ feet and poured expensive oil on them, and then dried his feet with her hair. In that culture, that was just about the most outrageously loving thing anyone could do for someone else. In fact, it was unthinkably scandalous! Luke 7:36–38

Jesus was pointing out that this woman loved so extravagantly because she had been so abundantly forgiven. He said of her,

“…her many sins have been forgiven — as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7:47

Simon thought that this woman was the problem. But she wasn’t the problem. He was the problem.

The most forgiven are also the most forgiving.

We’re not told much in the Bible about who this Simon the Pharisee was. But Jesus contrasts all the things that this woman has done for him with all the things that Simon hasn’t done for him. Simon hadn’t even given Jesus the usual courtesies that a host would extend to a guest (Luke 7:44–46). Jesus is clearly contrasting this woman’s response with Simon. He’s also doing that when he says to Simon,

whoever has been forgiven little loves little.

It’s actually not that some people are forgiven much and that some people are forgiven little. We are all offered the same forgiveness: it’s unconditional and complete. The measure of our forgiveness is not the forgiveness we are offered, but the forgiveness we receive.

Just like this grateful woman, Simon evidently also had serious sin issues in his life. But unlike her, he had not accepted the forgiveness of God. That’s why she loved much but he loved little.

Those who have received love should share love. Those who receive forgiveness should forgive. Our love for others will be shown in many ways, but crucially, it will be shown by the breadth and depth of our forgiveness.

This isn’t some kind of legalistic commandment. Instead, it’s the natural and Spirit-led response of a grateful heart. It’s the true fruit of the Gospel.

However, it’s easy and natural for those who, like Simon, haven’t experienced grace, to think that the people who most needed forgiveness are those people “out there.” But Jesus wanted Simon to realise that he himself was the one who needed to be the most forgiven. Simon was the one, who, instead of looking down on the sins of others, should himself have been the most forgiven.

It’s easy to be like Simon the Pharisee, isn’t it? But it’s much better to be like the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet. It’s better to be the most forgiven… and the most forgiving. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Flesh is Weak

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” - Mark 14:37–38

Jesus prayed in anguish of heart. But he hasn’t forgotten his disciples. He was worried for them, because he knew what would happen. And also, he hoped to be able to draw strength from them.

So, he went back to see how they were doing, He was about to be bitterly disappointed.

In what Jesus said to the three disciples, we often see a rebuke, imagining that they were spoken with an angry tone.

We need to learn to see Jesus in a different light.

Certainly, his words conveyed his disappointment, but they were spoken in love. Christ’s concern is their lack of preparation for the coming trial that they are about to face.

When Jesus says, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” he wasn’t accusing Peter, James and John; he is merely stating a fact.

Just an hour or so back, they all said that they would never abandon him, even if they had to die with him. And now, when Jesus asked them to do a simple thing, just to stay awake, they can’t do it!

It’s often the simple things that trip us up, isn’t it? But what this passage tells you is that Jesus understands. He understands not just your spirit, but he also understands your flesh. – Eliezer Gonzalez

They Did Not Know What to Say

Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. - Mark 14:39–40

Jesus was bitterly disappointed to find his disciples sleeping instead of praying. This disappointment was for their sakes and for his, because he could barely deal with the anguish and temptation that he was facing. Christ went away to continue praying for strength again.

I want you to notice that Jesus “went away and prayed the same thing.”

Sometimes I’ve wondered why we often pray for the same things over and over again. Wouldn’t once be enough? After all, God hears, and he knows what we need, doesn’t he?

But even Jesus had to pray “the same thing.”

This tells us that the purpose of prayer isn’t just for God to hear. He always hears us. The purpose of prayer is also for us to wrestle in our humanity, so that as God fills us, we may learn to trust, and to see as God sees, and to do his will.

That’s how Jesus prayed.

When Jesus returned and found Peter, James, and John sleeping yet again, notice that Mark says that “they did not know what to say to him.”

Have you ever found yourself in this same situation: where you have found yourself in repeated disobedience and you have no excuses left to make? Perhaps this is your experience today. It is a terrible thing to go through.

But Jesus had not cast them out. They were still his disciples whom he loved. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Serving God For All the Wrong Reasons

There is only one reason for serving God that is acceptable to him.

Some people write about the dangers of “religion,” and religious people tend to complain about this, because religion is a good thing. Alternatively, some people talk about true and false religion. What is a proper perspective on religion?

The difference can be a subtle one. If it were simply a matter of doctrinal beliefs, then it would be a simple thing to tell the difference between the right and wrong kind of religion. But it isn’t. You can tick all the right doctrinal boxes and your religion can still be one that leads to death. How can this happen?

It all comes down to your motivation: your reason for wanting to serve God.

In the early days of Christianity there was a sorcerer named Simon whose motivation was to be recognized by the people as a great man. When Simon saw the power of God manifested through the apostles of Jesus, he recognized an authentic power far greater than his own trickery.

What is your motivation for serving God? So, he offered the apostles Peter and John money so that he might receive the Holy Spirit.

Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

This simple story illustrates two truths that show us the difference between false and true religion.

False religion serves God to get. True religion serves God out of selfless love.

The blessing that you might want in your life might be financial or healing or other kinds of blessings. There is nothing wrong in wanting to receive God’s blessing. But if you do religion in order to receive a blessing, then you’re serving God for the wrong reason. This is false religion.

True religion simply receives God’s favour through Jesus Christ. False religion always seeks to buy God’s favour. True religion simply receives God’s favour through Jesus Christ.

There are many ways in which people try to buy God’s favour. Some people try to buy God’s favour by giving money to their church or favourite ministry. Others try to buy God’s favour by making their flesh suffer through fasting and other self-imposed difficulties. Some people try to buy God’s favour even by much prayer and Bible-reading, as much as these are good things in themselves.

It isn’t always what we do that matters so much, but the reason why we do it. That’s why the Bible tells us that God doesn’t look at outward appearances, but instead he looks at our hearts (1 Sam 16:7). The apostle Paul tells us that the law of God is good, but when we use it to try to obtain or remain in God’s favour, it brings about our death (Romans 7:13).

The only reason for serving God that is acceptable to him is a love that is born out of gratitude for what he has done for us. You can’t buy that kind of love. It is freely given by the Father to all of his children, and those who accept it will reflect it back to him, and to all creation.

Pilate Was Surprised

Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. - Mark 15:25-26, NIV

Joseph of Arimathea, a leading member of the Sanhedrin sought an audience with Pontius Pilate to request the body of Jesus.

For many reasons, this was a highly unusual request.

The reason why Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead was because he would have expected Jesus to have lasted days upon the cross, as was usually the case.

In fact, Pilate couldn’t believe it, so he summoned the centurion for confirmation.

You see, Pilate didn’t understand that it wasn’t the might of Rome that had killed Jesus at all! He didn’t understand that Jesus had given his life as an act of his own self-will. Pilate didn’t understand that Jesus’ sufferings at the place of execution hadn’t been principally physical but spiritual. He didn’t understand that there, atonement had been made for the sin of the world.

Pilate, you see, dealt only at the level of the physical.

The centurion absolutely confirmed that Jesus was dead, because he had asked one of his squad to thrust a spear through his side into his heart after his death.

And so, Pilate let Joseph have the body. The fact that he did so speaks of Joseph of Arimathea’s exceptionally high standing. Normally, not even the family was permitted to have the body.

Pilate asked for proof that Jesus had died. And Pilate had no idea of the monumental spiritual achievement that Jesus had just made at the Cross.

We live in an age of scientific materialism in which we need 100% proof for anything otherwise we just won’t believe. That’s why people don’t believe anything anymore; they just have opinions. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Burial of Jesus

So, Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. - Mark 15:46

Now that Pilate gave Joseph of Arimathea permission to have the body, Joseph returned to the place of execution to take charge. He had to move quickly, because the sun was low, and once it set, the Sabbath began, during which no work could be done.

No-one would have expected Joseph to do what he did! As a high-ranking member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin, Joseph knew that by touching a dead body he would become ritually unclean. This would have been the last thing someone in his position would have done, and especially at Passover!

But Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body down from the cross, and was stained with his blood. Can you imagine the scene? Joseph of Arimathea was a very wealthy man, and he had prepared his own tomb in a nice place outside the city walls. This was very expensive real estate, in a garden setting. It was where Joseph himself had expected to be laid upon his death.

But he gave that privilege to Jesus, for him to lay there in his place. Christ lay in your tomb and now, because of it, the tomb need never be your destiny.

As Paul says, “We have been buried with Christ” and because of that we may live today in newness of life.

And this “newness of life” that Christ offers you is an eternal life, because all those who have been buried with Jesus will be raised to new life today in this life, and for the age to come in the resurrection. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Stone

Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. - Mark15:46

Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus’ body in a tomb cut out of rock. It’s very important to notice what he did next. Mark makes a big deal about this. Why?

First century Jewish burials were different to ours. The body would be placed in a tomb cut in a rock, and sealed with a heavy round stone. This stone could weigh between 1 and 2 tonnes. The rolling stone was typically set in a groove in front of the entrance, and it was kept from falling forward by a stone wall built along the rock face, parallel to the tomb entrance. This groove the stone rolled in usually sloping down toward the entrance of the tomb; so to open the tomb, the stone would have to be rolled up the groove at an incline.

Given the way the tomb was built, it would have been impossible for Jesus, from the inside, to simply push the stone over. Also, it would have been impossible to roll the stone back up the groove without having anything to grip. And of course, the Roman guard made it impossible for anyone to have come from the outside to remove the body.

That’s why Mark makes such a big deal about the stone.

Mark’s repeated emphasis on the eyewitness nature of the accounts is interesting, because it is very likely that Mark’s gospel substantially based on the recollections of the Apostle Peter.

In his second epistle, chapter 1:16, Peter wrote,

…we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses…

– Eliezer Gonzalez

The Eye-Witnesses to the Burial

Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid. - Mark 15:47

The greatest historical claim of Christianity is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

This was an absurd claim to make in an ancient culture that considered itself highly sophisticated and in which the concept of bodily resurrection did not exist at all. That’s why the first believers in the resurrection of Jesus were always open to the attack that their faith was based on a lie. And that’s also why the details that Mark adds to his gospel are so important. They highlight the factual authenticity to his account.

He told us that Joseph of Arimathea sealed the tomb of Jesus with a large stone. So, now look at what he writes next. What Mark says here is that there is no doubt that Jesus was laid inside the tomb and that the tomb was sealed with the stone, because eyewitnesses saw it happen, and he makes the point of naming them. Mark makes a big deal about the stone, because later he will point out that there were also eyewitnesses to the fact that the stone was rolled away on Sunday morning, and that Jesus was no longer there.

And when Mark wrote this, these weren’t just eyewitnesses in history, but real people, who were still alive, and who could be cross-examined. However, there is something strange about these eyewitnesses. They were women, whose testimony had no legal validity in the courts of that culture. And any testimony by Mary Magdalene in particular would have been even more rapidly discounted.

Yet, these were the key witnesses whom God chose for the resurrection of Christ. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Don’t Be Alarmed

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. - Mark 16:5-6

As the tomb of Jesus came into view, the women saw to their surprise that the massive stone had somehow been rolled away. In shock and confusion, they hurried to enter the tomb to see what had happened. Typically, first century Jewish tombs had a ledge on which the body was laid. This is where the women saw the angel sitting. And when they saw the angel, the women were absolutely terrified!

But what does the angel do? He encourages the women to open their eyes and look and see.

The evidence of God’s grace and victory is all around us if we will only look. What they feared was not there. Christ was not dead, but alive! Don’t forget that Mary the mother of Jesus was right there. This was the second time that she had seen an angel and received Good News. And there had been a long time between the first and second times.

Just because angels don’t appear to us regularly doesn’t mean that we have been forgotten by heaven. Remember, Mary had had the presence of Jesus all along. The same is true in your life. When the women entered the tomb, they saw an angel sitting on a ledge on the right-hand side. This would have been the ledge in the rock where the body of the Lord had been laid.

Here is the lesson: God turns the place of apparent defeat into the place where angels sit. – Eliezer Gonzalez

He is Going Ahead of You

But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” - Mark 16:7

The angel at the tomb told the women the incredible news that Jesus has risen. But that’s not all he has to tell them! The angel told the women to “tell the disciples and Peter.” This suggests that Peter was not with the others in the upper room.

After his betrayal of Jesus, Peter doesn’t consider himself worthy of being with them, and separates himself from them in shame. And this small detail in what the angel says shows us that God hadn’t forgotten Peter at all, and that he held a special place in the heart of Jesus. The angel tells the women that the disciples would see Jesus in Galilee, but because they didn’t believe the women, the disciples didn’t go at first. They stayed locked in the upper room, trembling in fear.

But when they wouldn’t go to Jesus, Jesus went to them.

It seems that it wasn’t Christ’s original plan that they see him in the upper room, but the fact that he went there for their sakes emphasises again the truth that it is Christ who always comes to us. Here is the lesson in what the angel said to the women, “He is going ahead of you”.

Wherever you go, you need not fear anymore.

Because he has risen, Jesus is going ahead of you, defeating every enemy, and opening every door, so that you may pass through victoriously as he has done. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The First to See Jesus

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. - Mark 16:9

Mark tells us that when the angel announced to the women that Jesus had risen, they fled in fear and confusion, and they initially didn’t tell anyone. From the other Gospels, we know that there was one exception: Mary Magdalene. She went and told the disciples, and then followed Peter and John back to the empty tomb. When they left, she stayed behind, and that’s when Jesus appeared to her. Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb with the other women and discovered it open. She had heard the message of the angel telling them that Jesus had risen.

And after she and the women had fled in terror, she had returned again with Peter and John. In fact, she was the only one of the women who returned. But then, when Peter and John went back to the upper room, Mary lingered outside the tomb crying. The tomb was very close to where the cross still stood. In the New Testament, the crucifixion and the resurrection are referred to as one and the same event called the “Cross.”

It’s important to linger at the Cross.

It’s because she lingered at the Cross that Mary had the most amazing and transforming experience of her life. I really recommend that you read what happened when Jesus appeared to her in the twentieth chapter of John. Mark highlights that the first person to whom the risen Lord appeared was Mary Magdalene, a great sinner. It’s still true. The first to see Jesus are usually the greatest sinners.

That’s because it’s the ones who understand how great their need is, who best appreciate how great a Saviour he is. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Unbelievable News

She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping.When they heard that Jesus was alive, and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. - Mark 16:10-11

The risen Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. She is the first to see him, and she returns and tells the disciples. When Mary runs back to the upper room, it’s significant that Mark tells us that the disciples there are not only mourning, but weeping. The loss of Jesus was a loss they can’t comprehend, let alone overcome. Now they don’t even have his body!

So, who is it that Jesus has just sent to them to announce that he has risen?

Christian tradition tells us that this Mary Magdalene was the same woman whom the Jews had wanted to stone for adultery, and who had been a prostitute. Mark tells us that Christ had driven out seven demons from her. Mary’s life of degradation would have ended very recently: within the last few years, during which time she had met Jesus. Why would anyone believe someone like her? On this day, on which the Christian church was founded, Mary presented the disciples with her eyewitness testimony, but they didn’t believe it.

This tells us a very important thing. The Christian message is based on evidence, but people choose not to believe it. There’s no problem with the evidence. From the very beginning of Christianity, the problem for people is with unbelief. People choose not to believe because the facts don’t fit their worldview. And people choose not to believe because they can’t look past their fear.

Both of these were true for the disciples that Sunday morning. But the resurrection of Jesus has changed everything.

Are we often like the disciples in the upper room? We’ve been told that Jesus is risen and alive, but you can tell from our attitudes that we really don’t believe it. Like the disciples, we are mourning and weeping. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Tries Again

Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. - Mark 16:12-13

The disciples didn’t believe the report of Mary Magdalene that Jesus is alive. So, Jesus tries again. Mark is giving us a chronological list of the initial appearances of Jesus after his resurrection. He mentions that Jesus appeared to two unnamed people who were walking in the country. These two people were the two disciples who were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus that Sunday morning. Luke gives more of their story in the twenty-fourth chapter of his gospel.

Mark is careful to list the resurrection appearances of Jesus in order because he is intent on recording the facts: true eyewitness testimony. There are two other very interesting elements in these verses. The first one is that it says that Jesus appeared “in a different form” to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. They didn’t recognise him at first. This shows us that Christ’s resurrected body was not exactly identical to his earthly body.

Make note how Mark continually highlights the unbelief of the disciples, even in the face of multiple eyewitness reports. That resurrection morning, Jesus challenged his disciples again and again, in different ways, to believe that he had risen from the dead.

This highlights the spiritual principle that God will lead us again and again into the specific area of our lives that most challenges our faith. It is because he wants us to grow in our relationship and trust in him. – Eliezer Gonzalez

Jesus Rebukes the Eleven

Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. - Mark 16:14

Mark continues to recount the list of the initial eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ. Finally, he appeared to the eleven. What does he say to them?

The disciples didn’t believe Jesus when he told them that he would rise again. The disciples haven’t believed Mary Magdalene when she told them that she had met with the risen Lord. They haven’t believed the other women. The disciples haven’t believed the report of the other two followers of Jesus who had met him on the road to Emmaus. This is why the Lord’s first words when he personally appears to them in the upper room are to rebuke them for their lack of faith, and for their stubborn refusal to believe.

The words which Mark uses here are very strong. The word “rebuked” is the same word that Mark uses to describe how Jesus was mocked at the cross. It literally means that Jesus “threw it into their teeth.” The work for translated here as “stubborn refusal” literally means “hardness of heart.”

When his own disciples don’t believe the Good News, after all the evidence, it’s serious business for Jesus! The Lord rebuked his disciples for stubbornly refusing to believe those who had brought them the Good News.

It’s so important! – Eliezer Gonzalez

At the Right Hand of God

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. - Mark 16:19

Jesus gave his disciples what we call today, “The Great Commission,” the instruction to preach the gospel to the whole world.

The Gospel of Mark is coming to its dramatic end.

The New Testament tells us many times that at his ascension, Jesus sat at the right hand of God. This is repeated often to remind us of two vital facts. The first one is that the right hand of God is the seat of divine power. Jesus has all the power! And if you are trusting in him, then all power is yours, in Jesus’ name. The second vital fact follows on from the first. Everything that Jesus did was for you. He lived for you, he died for you, he rose for you, and he has ascended for you. He did it as your substitute and representative.

If the Father has accepted Christ at his right hand, then he has also accepted you, and all those who trust in him. Now, as the apostle Paul forcefully reminds us, there is nothing to separate you from the love of God.

The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:6-7 that,

God raised us up in Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

This is past tense. It happened at the Cross. When Jesus died, you died, when he rose, you rose, and when he was seated at the right hand of God, you were seated in heavenly places with him. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Overwhelming Assurance of Salvation

Sometimes I don’t feel an overwhelming assurance of salvation. And sometimes I do. Feelings – whether mine or yours – are not a reliable guide to spiritual reality.

God, in the Bible, knowing how untrustworthy your feelings are, describes many times what I can only call an “overwhelming assurance of salvation.” Look at Jesus’ words in John 10:27–31. Can Jesus have been more definitive or categorical than this?

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[c]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Jesus seals this promise with the identifies of the Father and of the Son. He says that his Father “is greater than all” and he asserts: “I and the Father are one.” There is therefore nothing and no-one in the universe who can countermand the eternal life that Christ has given you. No one can snatch you out of his hand.

These words are categorical. They are absolute. If you listen to the voice of Jesus, and follow him, you have eternal life, and you will never perish.

The problem, however, is with my feelings! How do I, as a Christian, have this overwhelming and continuous assurance of salvation, when assurance, as we usually understand it, depends on my feelings. And we all know that our feelings are up and down depending on our mood, our successes or failures, and our weaknesses and sin. How do we deal with this?

What we must do is to break the connection, in our own minds, between our feelings and our assurance of salvation. We must understand that our assurance has nothing at all to do with our feelings, but it has only to do with the authority of God’s Word. Our assurance depends, alone, on God’s authority to save sinners, and not on my successes or failures, and certainly not on my feelings. Otherwise, what hope would there be for any of us?

How do we do this? How do we break the connection between our feelings and our assurance of salvation?

God will always fulfil his word no matter what your feelings may be

We have to understand that things like the love of God, forgiveness, and salvation are not feelings. They are facts. As facts, they are never the results of feelings. Certain feelings may or not result from the facts, but the feelings themselves never determine the facts. Here is an example. If you jump out of an airplane without a parachute, you might feel that you are flying free as a bird, but that feeling will never change the fact of the law of gravity.

The fact is that God has given his word. Your feelings have nothing at all to do with it. God will always fulfil his word despite your feelings. We have a wrong view of how the life of faith really works. The great people of the Bible all went through dark and difficult times. Elijah, Isaiah, and John the Baptist all felt in different ways that their connection with God was gone, that they had been left all alone, and that they were failures.

When we know that our salvation is based on Christ’s performance, rather than on our feelings about our own performance; when it is based on his sure promise, rather than on our wavering faithfulness; when it is based on Christ’s glorious heights, rather than on our sad and tragic lows, then we will certainly know the overwhelming assurance of salvation in Christ. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Faith of Abraham

In the Bible, Abraham is a foundational figure, and he is particularly renowned for his great faith. That’s why the apostle Paul says of Abraham that:

he is the father of all who believe (Rom. 4:11.)

A little later in the same passage, writes that Abraham is father of all those who,

who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed… (Romans 4:16–17.)

In the book of Hebrews, the “faith chapter” highlights the heroes of faith. Among them, the faith of Abraham is highlighted more than that of any other Biblical hero. It is said of him that,

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore (Hebrews 11:8–12.)

Something doesn’t seem to quite add up about the faith of Abraham. The problem with all of this is that the historical record of Abraham’s life doesn’t seem to point to him as a man of great faith, but instead as a man of a weak and doubting faith. The reason why we don’t easily realise this when we think of Abraham is because we filter and view his life through the narrative of Hebrews 11. But that actually wasn’t the reality of Abraham’s life. Let me show you.

God called Abram (who was later called “Abraham”) while he was living in the city of Ur of the Chaldees, as Stephen informs us in Acts 7:2–3:

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’

In Genesis 12:1–3, the call of Abraham to go “to the land I will show you” (v.1) had happened earlier, in Ur. The pluperfect tense is used, i.e. “The LORD had said to Abram…” I can understand Abram’s hesitancy. Leaving everything behind, to go and live in tents in a wild and untamed land wasn’t too appealing to a civilised and wealthy man. So he didn’t. he went to Haran instead. Haran was another nice city like Ur.

Abram stayed in Haran for many years. Why didn’t he simply obey God and go to Canaan? This doesn’t have the hallmarks of a man with great faith?

We see hesitancy, doubt, and fear, even into Abraham’s old age. When Abram finally arrived in the Promised Land, he was disappointed to find that it was in famine. When you live off the land, famine threatens your life and the life of those whom you love. How would he survive?

Instead of having faith in God, Abram left Canaan and went to Egypt. There in Egypt, he landed in even bigger trouble, when he found that the king of Egypt wanted Abram’s wife for himself! Again, he takes matters into his own hands, and he lies about who Sarah is, saying that she is his sister. When Pharaoh takes Sarah, God afflicts him, and Pharaoh realises the truth. It is Pharaoh, a completely pagan king, who rebukes Abram for lying and for deceiving him! (Gen. 12:10–20.)

In Genesis 15, although God had promised him a son, Abram took matters into his hand and nominated Eliezer, his servant, as his heir (v.2). That doesn’t sound like something a great man of faith would do, does it? So God told him that his plan was no good, and that he himself would give him a son (vv.4–5.)

In Genesis 16, Abram participates in his wife Sarai’s plot to let Abram sleep with her servant Hagar, so that they could have a child that way. It was another human plan! It was another display of a lack of faith! God was so disappointed with Abram that he told him to have himself circumcised as a permanent reminder not to trust in flesh, but to trust instead in God (Gen. 17:9–14,22–27.)

Genesis 20 seems like a rewind of Genesis 12. Same story, different king. It’s true that God keeps bring us, again and again, to the same situations in our lives, so we can grow in the areas we most need to grow. By now, Abram was very old. In fact, he was almost 100 years of age. Yet he still hasn’t learnt to trust in God!

Eventually, when Abraham was 100 years old, the Lord fulfilled his promise and Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. It almost seems that the Lord fulfilled his promise despite Abraham’s faith.

The only clear response of faith that one can find in Abraham’s story is when the Lord tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to offer his son as a sacrifice. Abraham responded without hesitation, although in the end, the Lord himself provided a sacrifice (Gen. 22:1–19.)

Abraham never gave up. Despite this apparent lifetime of failure, Abraham “was called a friend of God” (James 2:23.) The Lord himself said of him that,

Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions (Gen. 26:5.)

Above all,

Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:3; see Gen. 15:6.)

The faith of Abraham wasn’t so great, but God’s faithfulness was. Obviously, “believing in God” and “faith” do not mean what we usually think they mean. Apart from the one episode at the end of Abraham’s life we see little evidence of the kind of quality that we would normally call faith. Instead, we see hesitancy, doubt, and fear, even into Abraham’s old age.

However, there is something else we see in Abraham’s life. Despite his many failures, he is always receptive to the voice of God, and to his work in his life. Abraham never gives up. Despite his stumbles, Abraham always comes back to his relationship with God.

In the end, the story is much more about God’s grace than about the faith of Abraham. Yet if we are going to talk about Abraham’s faith, perhaps the best way to understand such faith is “endurance.” On the one hand, God had to put up with a lot from Abraham. Yet, more importantly, Abraham always stuck with God, through all his mistakes. That was the faith of Abraham. – Eliezer Gonzalez

When I was a little kid, I used to catch flies and put them on a string. I did, really! This was something my dad taught me. He learned to do it when he was small, growing up in post-civil war Spain. Back then the only toys or fun you had was what you made for yourself.

You basically get some sewing thread and make a tiny noose on the end. Then you have to catch a fly, and the bigger the better. Then you hold the fly by its wings and very carefully slip the loop in the thread over the fly’s head and tighten it just enough: not too tightly! None of this was easy. It was very difficult for little fingers and took a long time.

If it all worked, you had a fly on a string! It would fly around as you held the other end of the thread. If you were lucky, it would fly around for a long time, before its head fell off. I’m sorry. I did try to warn you!

Most people want to have God on a string. But more seriously, it’s true that most people want to have God on a string too! We find it reflected in the Gospel of Matthew. The context here is that Jesus is pointing out that many people didn’t accept the ministry of John the Baptist because he lived a sober life and didn’t go to parties. But on the other hand, they also rejected him – that’s Jesus – because he went to feasts and drank. So can you see that they were inconsistent?

You see, the issue was that they wanted God’s messengers to live and behave in a certain way that they defined, according to their stereotypes. They wanted God on a string, so they could pull the strings, and he could dance to their tune! That’s exactly what Jesus said to the people:

16 “To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,

17 ‘We played wedding songs,

and you didn’t dance,

so we played funeral songs,

and you didn’t mourn.’

18 For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.” (Matt 11:2-19).

Be prepared to be perpetually surprised, and even utterly amazed by God. Jesus here represents the people as playing music and expecting Jesus to dance to their tune. For many centuries they had expected a Saviour to come: the Messiah. But Jesus didn’t come from where they expected the Messiah would come from. He didn’t look how they expected the Messiah should look. He didn’t live the way they expected the Messiah would do. And he didn’t do the things that they expected a Messiah would do.

The Jewish people were looking for an earthly Messiah, who would come from some important family, who would be of majestic appearance, who would obey their laws as they understood them, and who would literally take the throne of David, and drive the Romans out, freeing them from oppression and restoring the nation to greatness. They wanted to be the puppet-masters and pull the strings. But Jesus was none of those things. You can’t have God on a string.

What about you and your life? What are the things you want God to do for you on this earth? What if God has other plans for you? Are you still prepared to trust and follow him, or is your religion based on you having God on a string?

If you believe that God is really God, then be prepared to be perpetually surprised, and not just surprised, but in the end, utterly amazed and delighted.

How to Find Real Love

Real love. Everyone wants it, but not many end up finding it.

My life has been a journey in search of love. This is true of every life every person who has ever lived, regardless of when or where the live existed, and regardless of personality types.

The great quest of life is to find real love. I’ve often heard it said of women that they are searching for love, but I am a man, and I can freely confess that it is true for me as well. When you don’t find real love, it’s easy to try and replace it in your life with things that can consume you and destroy you from the inside out. That’s why this topic is so important.

The reason why it’s so hard to find real love is because we are all broken. Real love can only come from real love, and there are many today who have never received it from those who, from their earliest years, should have immersed them in it. And so we go through life, looking for real love, but unable to tell the true from the fake, and only able to share flawed versions of love ourselves.

When you don’t have real love in your life, you try to replace it with other things that appear to satisfy, but in the end, they always let us down.

Whether we recognise it or not, every life is a journey in search of real love. The reason why this is true for everyone is because we were created for love. We are only fulfilled as human beings when we love fully and are loved in return.

But the world is full of fake love that tries to deceive you into accepting is as the real deal. But it isn’t real love. And most people fall for it!

What is the difference between fake love and real love? The difference is you have to earn fake love, while real love is freely given. Fake love depends on who you are and what you do, while real love comes from who the giver is and what he does. Fake love comes mainly from the desire of the recipient while real love comes solely from the nature of the giver.

Real love can only be found in Jesus. To a world in which the very meaning of love is corrupted by selfishness, the Bible announces what real love is:

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins (1 John 4:10, NLT.)

Here, God tells us some five very important things about real love.

The first one is that real love originates in God. He loved us first. Our love of him is our response to him, merely a reflection of his own love for us.

The second is that real love is not transactional. It is based on his love for us and not our love for him.

The third is that real love gives. Remember John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave…”

The fourth is that real love hurts. Real love is always, in some sense, sacrificial. It has its greatest manifestation at the Cross.

The fifth is that real love makes us better people. The love that God showed to us by sending his Son as a sacrifice, took away our sins. We don’t have the ability to take away sin, but real love is always transformational.

That’s why, in the same letter, the apostle John writes,

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16.)

This is the great quest of life. It is to find real love. I’ve learnt that it can only be found in Jesus. I’ve also learnt that when I’ve found it, I simply can’t help loving others in response to how I have been loved by God.

Share the Everlasting Gospel

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. - Mark 16:15–16

The writers of the New Testament are at pains to point out that the Gospel that must be preached is the identical Gospel as preached by Christ and the apostles. That’s why the Bible calls it “the everlasting Gospel” (Revelation 14:6).

In 1 Corinthians 15:3, you have Scripture’s own definition of the Gospel: the gospel is that “which you heard from the beginning” (1 John 2:24). This special message cannot be changed, redefined or added to. Note how strongly Paul makes this point in Galatians 1:8–9, where he says that it cannot be altered even by divine revelation (”an angel from heaven”).

The everlasting Gospel is the means by which God has chosen to save sinners. It was first announced by the apostles on the basis of the Cross and resurrection of Christ, and it remains until the end of the world, for it is the means by which God has chosen to save sinners. There are no adjustments, no fine-tuning. The everlasting Gospel is it: the good news for every sinner, in every circumstance, and for all time.

We can restate it but never redefine it, we can magnify it but never augment it, we can reclaim it but never claim to own it – that’s the everlasting Gospel! And we must always confess that we are the ones who need it most. – Eliezer Gonzalez

The Benefits of Suffering

…because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. - Romans 5:3b–4

Paul is describing the benefits that a child of God receives. He has just told us that we are to glory in our sufferings. That’s very counterintuitive; after all, who likes suffering? So, why is suffering so good for us in the end?

Paul’s answer is that suffering, although its source is evil, can be productive for the one who has understood and accepted the Gospel. He isn’t saying that suffering is either easy or pleasant. Instead, Paul is telling us that suffering is part of a process that produces good in us.

Suffering produces perseverance.

The apostle has told us that those who stand in grace rejoice in their sufferings. How do we come to the point at which we can rejoice in our sufferings? Only when we can see that it has a purpose. Only when we can see the prize. The process is that suffering produces perseverance. The more that we persevere, the more firmly our character is formed. The more that our character develops, the more that hope will grow within us. It is hope that seizes the prize and keeps us encouraged until the end.

Professionals in the field of sport apply it to earthly prizes such as records, prizes, and medals. How much more should we value suffering for the cause for which Christ has called us! Think carefully about your own life. We all suffer, to some extent or another. At which stage of this process that Paul describes do you principally find yourself? Are you developing perseverance, are you forming character, or are you growing in hope? Or is it a bit of each?

Back to top of: Unlimited 2021