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paSTOR`S PAGE
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July 2019
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July 7
The Kingdom of God is a spiritual reality that may be understood and perceived ONLY through faith. By faith, the finite man on earth may enter in a spiritual relationship with God, having the benefit of salvation of his soul and divine blessings. Faith is the only way to enter into the Kingdom of God, and also the only way one can remain faithful to the Lord in the obstacles, trials, and the temptations of life. In the 8th chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome, he explains the benefits of living by faith in God:
• Verse 18: There can be no comparison made between the small trials of earth and the infinite and eternal glory that believers will partake in. We suffer too easily and too little here, in comparison to the eternity in which we will be so joyous alongside our God. • Verse 26: No human weakness will stop God from hearing our prayer in faith, due to the intercession of the Holy Spirit, who prays with and alongside us. God mobilizes heaven and earth, the angels, surroundings, and people to come to our aid. He is our help in absolutely every situation. • Verse 28: No evil happens to those faithful to the Lord; everything that seems wrong or wicked will be transformed into a true victory. Imagine how the momentary sadness of a family in Seattle for missing their flight to France was transformed into victory when they found out in horror that a few minutes after takeoff the plane they were to be on crashed. • Verse 31: No human or demonic authority will be successful against us, as long as God is with us and for us. When God is with us, we are in the majority. • Verse 32: No good is stopped by the heavenly Father for His children who are born again by faith in the Savior Jesus Christ. If God gave His son Jesus Christ to die for us to restore us, all other good things are for us through faith. • Verse 33: No accusation will negatively affect the glorious eternal future awaiting believers who follow Jesus by living in faith. God knows all things; He cannot be convinced to be against us. • Verse 33: No condemnation will affect the children of God as long as holiness is their way of life. Man’s holiness attracts the presence of God who assures protection for believers. • Verse 37: No trial brought on by the devil or by other people will be successful against those who are protected by the Almighty. When God is your protector, it does not matter what others do. • Verses 38-39: No authority, slander, coalition, human or demonic force, disease or pain… can separate God from those who have made a covenant with Him through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is eternal and certain!
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July 14
The family is God’s idea for man’s joy and happiness; it is the place where his needs are met and where he always finds his peace and joy. The family is a condition for human existence and is a universal law. The richest and happiest people still feel the need to get married and even the owner of the largest hotel still sleeps at HOME at night. The most beautiful place on earth is HOME. There, we return from the exam we’ve overcome and from the one we were defeated by; there we return when we are celebrities and when we are failures; that is the place where we keep our most valuable things for ourselves, our loved ones and the important people in our lives. Home is the life partner God has given us through the covenant of marriage, home is where our children and parents are, both unchosen by us, but all loved and we are joyful alongside them. Together we go through the joys and trials of life, together with climb and we descend, we laugh and we cry, together we suffer and are joyful, we gain and we spend, together in good times and bad, together because we are ONE. Home is where the ones we love reside, and despite their imperfections, we appreciate them; we forgive them, despite the fact that they transgress daily. They are the people we cannot be upset with, people we want to live and die alongside. These people from home are our investment in this world, our true treasure. We have no one in heaven more previous than God, and on earth no one more precious than our family. These are the true milestones in the life of a mortal being, a journey that is often difficult and painful, a journey that each one of us must have the dignity to see to the end no matter the price we need to pay. When there is no HOME, nothing has value, loneliness becomes painful and unbearable, pleasure has no taste, work has no motivation, rest has no explanation, spending is futile, food has no taste, sleep has no rest, life has no meaning, death has no importance… Home is where there are people who can help you when you can’t go on any longer, who can help you laugh when you cry, help you be joyful when you are sad, eat when you are not hungry, sleep when you are not sleepy, work when you have no place to, rest when you are busy, who can help you keep going when you feel like quitting. At home you can weep without someone laughing at you, you can laugh without someone feeling sorry for you, you can be joyful without getting others upset and you can be upset without someone reveling in your sorrow. Home is the place where people return from vacation, from a restaurant, from a walk, from their travels, from the museum, from their parents’ house, from their children… because HOME is God’s idea for every human being. Home is where we give and receive in equal measure, it is the place where we invest love, forgiveness, attention, goodness, understanding, acceptance, mercy, generosity, money… and even ourselves.
But if we do not invest in these things abundantly, it means that we have not understood that it was the Creator’s idea. Every mortal should have a home in heaven with God for eternity, and a home on earth with their family for now, because these two coordinates are essential but sufficient for life as a human.
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July 21
At the end of creation, God affirmed five times that all things were “very good”, with the exception of Adam’s solitude. The Creator’s solution was to continue the process of creation by bringing the woman Eve into existence. Now it was Adam’s turn to appreciate. If alongside the rest of creation the family was something very good, then why do we have so many failures, unhappiness, tears and pain today? Sociology, psychology, theology all try to answer this question but the landscape of the family life seems to be filled with suffering more and more. This reality bears down on the young generation deeply and they are discouraged from dreaming of a happy family life. Marriage is easily confused with sinful pleasure, cohabitation, adultery… and the results come accordingly. What is the secret to a successful family life – is it a myth, a miracle, or labor and maturity? The statistics in the United States and Europe are discouraging when it comes to family life. Thousands of children are born without knowing their father or they terrifyingly and helplessly witness violent arguments and divorce, forever losing their hope for a fulfilling family life. In Europe, every 30 seconds a family’s life is ending in divorce or a child is aborted before birth. Despite this terrible reality, people have explanations and justifications, trying to excuse themselves. In the end, no one is guilty and this ridiculous anomaly has become the norm. Some blame poverty, but we don’t have room on our highways for any more cars; others blame a lack of education but we are running out of diplomas; men blame Eve, women blame Adam, and both blame the Snake. So, what is actually the truth? No one wants to biblically think about God, the Creator who was betrayed in the garden, the Maker abandoned in Eden, about the painful process and all of its consequences. No one has the strength anymore to hope in the restorative solution that God has, no one thinks about the “seed of the woman” that was to come, no one is interested to find out if He has come or not. We seek answers in books, in pleasure in money, on vacations, in adventures, in coalitions, in technology and we reject the answer in our hearts that calls us daily to our God. The family life cannot be happy if the spouses are not happy, it cannot be holy if the partners are not holy. The family life is exactly what the two make of it, it is the expression of their character and personalities. People, before all other things, need God; they need the restoration of their relationship with the abandoned Creator, they need to accept God’s solution offered in the holy person of Jesus Christ. How enlightened is our generation if they don’t see a 2000-year-old solution and instead are trying to invent it? The family life was invented by God and functions only by respecting His principles. The Bible is the manual as it talks about repentance and righteousness, about confession and abandonment of sin. The young generation has the right to dream about a happy family life only when they put their lives and destiny into the hands of God, only when they read the Bible and pray. Modern technology manages to fabricate airplanes and performance vehicles, but happiness, peace, rest, joy, and a fulfilling family life are gifts from God. The family is strong and its happiness is guaranteed when the partners live with God and fulfill His commandments.
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July 28
The marriage is the first institution God has established on earth, being the foundation of any human society. People have turned away from God and this unfortunate phenomenon has had dramatic consequences first and foremost on the family. Most young people being educated in the spirit of the world, have a wrong opinion about the family, which either prevents them from marrying or it lets them marry in ignorance and disbelief of the Creator's principles. In time, ten misconceptions about the family emerged and because of the media, they influence the young generation more than the Church and the Bible together: 1. Men are more likely to benefit from marriage than women. In fact, this mentality is the reaction of feminism, whereby the woman does not want to take care of two or more people, but only of herself. 2. Children contribute to the union of spouses. Not the child helps the parents, but vice versa. The love for the partner does not come from the presence of children. 3. The key to the success of a lasting marriage is luck. The truth is that luck lies in repentance, in a choice according to God's will and in a family life lived with responsibility, love, patience and wisdom. 4. The more educated a woman, the lower the chances of getting married. The intention of feminism and modernism is to discourage marriage, saying that only uneducated women marry. Marriage, sleep, nutrition... these are for all women regardless of their education level. 5. Couples who live together before marriage have the opportunity to test how well they fit together. Living together before marriage is a sin, and God will not bless such a marriage. If we look objectively at divorcing families, we will find that most of them have had an intimate relationship before marriage. 6. People cannot expect life-long marriages as in the past, because today we live much more intensely. If the intensity of life is so influential, it either changes everything, or nothing, that is, food, drink, sleep... marriage. It is shameful for today`s educated and elevated generation that it fails to have life-long marriages, like the previous generations. 7. Marriage exposes one to violence more than singlehood. It is unfair to associate marriage with violence. A normal marriage is founded by normal people, and it is based on love, forgiveness, kindness, patience and more than anything else, on a strong desire for the spouse`s well-being and happiness. 8. Married people have a less satisfying intimate relationship than single people. An affair can be characterized by enthusiasm and passion, but never by love. 9. Cohabitation is like marriage, so the "piece of paper" does not hold the family together. The car or house certificate does not make hold the car or the house by you, and yet we never buy them without a certificate. 10. Divorce is a solution to unhappy marriages. The definition of marriage is happiness, and divorce is the most uninspired solution. If you fear God, stay away from these myths and fight against them. They dishonor the name and Word of the Creator, harming the first institution of God on earth, THE FAMILY. The family is established by God and He will protect it to the end.
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