We Are One Body In Christ

My friends haven't been the same since their experience with God at the retreat. I've had so much fun enjoying the Lord with them. It has been a great experience!

I just love to be with teenagers or young adults that truly love God <3

We even started a group in Whatsapp and Kik to pray for each other and to talk about our wonderful God. In Whatsapp one of my friends sent these bible verses...

"The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.

In fact, some parts of the body that seem the weakest and the least important are actually the most necessary.

This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the part suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it."

(1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18-20, 22, 25-27 NLT)

When I finished reading it, I told my dad I wanted to experience that. I mean, my friends from the retreat and I to actually experience that. To live being One in Christ!

Later that day at school (where my friends go to and my parents work at), one of the teachers said that one of the students she once taught to, died in a motorcycle accident. We all listened quietly and after she finished... a couple of the students went up to her and hugged her.

No one told them to hug her, but they did. Why?

We already read the answer... 

"....so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it,"

I saw it with my own eyes. We are acting as One Body and I didn't even notice it.

In the afternoon one of my friends dropped her nail polish at school and it broke. It spread on the floor (it kinda looked like art. ha, ha). She quickly ran to get some paper towel and wipes to clean it up before it dried up. Once she got back to clean it up, most of the girls that were there (including me) started helping her.

No one told us to do it. We just wanted to help.

In the picture we already cleaned most of it. 

I'm the one on the upper right hand corner.

A couple of minutes later, I told my dad what happened and he pointed out that I just saw the body of Christ working as One.

There we go Again!!! How did I miss it? 

I said that I wanted to get to see the body of Christ working as One and I did!!! 

I saw it. 

I lived it!

....And I keep living it!

Being Transformed Into Who We Really Are

    This last weekend I went to a retreat for 3 days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). The title was "Being Transformed Into Who We Really Are". The first day was pretty good. God spoke to many of my friends and God spoke to 2 of them through me. He even spoke to me through one of my best friends. He mentioned that I will be able to say that He cured my knee. Of course, he didn't say when or where, but I trust Him.

    On Saturday, different pastors ministered and I really enjoyed what they said. On Saturday night, 9 people accepted Jesus into their heart and that was just amazing. I know that God will never ever leave them, because once you accept Jesus, He will never leave no matter what. Did you read that carefully? 

He Will Never Ever Leave Once You Accept Him Into Your Life! He is never going to let you go!

That same night... A friend of mine passed to the front and they prayed for him and he suddenly fell to the ground and just started shaking and shaking and shaking. Different people went up to him and started praying for him.

                   

God was transforming William completely! 

It really was a great experience to watch. 

The next day (Sunday), William said that he felt transformed. He felt completely different! Now he has Jesus in his life and that is AMAZING!!

Once you are united with Jesus, with God, with the Holy Spirit... you are Never The Same!

On Sunday morning, I was suppose to talk about God to everyone. Like in front of everyone, while everyone is watching me. You get the point. Well, when I first found out that I was gonna talk on Sunday I totally freaked out! What was I gonna say? I've never done that before! Yes, I've done videos and of course, I have this blog, BUT IT'S NOT THE SAME!! I was scared!!

Before the weekend came, I bumped into a bible verse...

"I came to you in weakness - timid and trembling.
And my message and my preaching
were very plain. Rather than using clever
and persuasive speeches, 

I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.

I did this so you would trust not
in human wisdom but in the power of God."

(1 Corinthians 2:3-5 NLT)

Paul was guided by the Holy Spirit when he talked. I wanted that to happen to me too on Sunday. So, I prayed about it.

Sunday came and I still had no idea what I was gonna talk about. I went up front and was honest. I told them that I wasn't prepared and I was going with the flow of the Holy Spirit. 

    I just started saying what came into my mind and spoke about how everyone of us was transformed this weekend, but when we get back home if we keep doing the same things we did in the past, we were going to feel far away from God. We were going to feel miserable! Because if we keep letting trash in, by watching videos and pictures online that we're not suppose to, or hearing music, or having conversations that really just doesn't fill our spirit. We are going to feel BLAH!

I told them that they had to get rid of the things that aren't doing any good to our spirit!

    After that, God started to speak to almost each one of them through me. I just said what I felt. Like, for example... "Luis, you feel alone. Like no one understands what your are going through. But God understands! He knows your pain. He has never left you." Things like that, but more specific. I said things that I really didn't even know about them. Because it was God! 

The Holy Spirit was guiding me.

When God started speaking to another of my friends through me, I felt his pain. I just started crying while God was talking to him.   

  

Manny knew it was God speaking to him.

God transformed everyone in that retreat. He is amazing! I've seen the change in them. They are not the same people. They are hungry for God! 

If you are praying for a friend or a family member or even your neighbor that they get know God, believe me, God has heard your prayer. Just be patient. They will get to experience God's love!

Praying For A Miracle

    I haven't been dancing lately because I injured my left knee. The knee I had a surgery on a year ago. But no worries! I've been resting and I know God will help me get through this. I trust Him. I have faith in Him, but sometimes I have doubts. Sometimes I doubt that He will answer my prayers with a "Yes".

    God spoke to me through my mom and said that my faith is strong, but sometimes I doubt my faith, the faith that God will do what I've asked Him to do, and He's right. So, this time I don't want to doubt Him. I want to ask God for something without questioning myself.

    I told God that I want my left knee to recover 100%. I want God to perform that miracle for me this weekend. Because this weekend I'm going to a retreat and the 1st day there I want to see that miracle.

I was praying to God on Saturday morning thinking about the miracle I asked Him to do. I suddenly felt the urge to clean up my dresser and I found a Post-It Note with a Bible reference on it, written by me. It said....

(Isaiah 41:10)

  So, I looked it up in my Bible app on my phone with the version New Living Translation and this is what it said..

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.

Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."

    Right after I read "Don't be afraid.." I just started crying. I felt like God was actually saying this to me. It was an amazing feeling! I started thanking Him and I started to ask myself... How can someone question God's existence? He is more real than anything in this world. He loves us so much! We don't deserve his pure and honest love. He knows our weaknesses and our faults, yet He still loves us.

We Weren't Meant To Be Independent

Since the way we were born, we've been taught to be independent. All our parents taught us to eat without anyone's help, or to walk without having to hold on to anyone. Our parents one day let us go to face the world and be independent!

It's the way society lives. They actually think we have to be independent.

They are wrong!

We are not meant to be independent! We shouldn't be independent! Why?

Because being independent means to actually live with our own strengths thinking we can do everything by ourselves. And we are wrong! We can't do anything by ourselves. Not even breathe!

Jesus knew that. Jesus lived on earth knowing he couldn't do anything by himself. Imagine, not even Jesus could do anything independently, then how could we?

So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only 

what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does." (John 5:19 NLT)

He consciously knew that He couldn't do anything without God. Jesus depended on God 24/7!

How can we do that? How can we live depending on God 24/7 after we've been taught almost our whole lives to be independent?

There isn't a secret formula for this to happen. Have in mind that we didn't learn how to walk in 1 week. It took time, until it happened and it became a habit. We don't think about "how to walk" anymore. It comes naturally.

The same way will happen with God!

Talk to God, have a real relationship with Him and while time passes by, the dependence on God will come naturally.

God Answers Our Prayers

    I went to Maryland in December with my family and the thing we prayed for the most was to be able to see snow. My brother has never seen snow before and I saw snow once when I was little, but I don't even remember those memories. So, we prayed for snow and while time passed by I started doubting that we were going to see snow because it was almost time for us to come back home.

    The same day we were going to leave to the airport, my Uncle mentions that it was going to snow the next day. That exact moment, once my mom heard that it was going to snow, she told my dad that we needed to stay a couple of more days. You know what happened? We stayed a couple of more days and exactly like my Uncle said.... We got to see snow and play in it! God answered our prayer!

    Why did I doubt that God wouldn't answer my prayer? Maybe because in the past sometimes his answer was "No". So, technically He has answered my prayers, but I have to learn that sometimes the answer is "No". It's hard to hear, but I have to face the fact that His ways are way better than mine. He will always want what's better for me. How can he not want what's best for me? He is in love with me. He loves me!

God always answers your prayers! Sometimes the answer is "Yes" and other times the answer is "Not yet, my timing is perfect" and other times the answer is "No".

Trust Him! He is perfect! His plans are better than ours. He loves you!

Christmas Is About "The Gift"

Today is Christmas! I'm sitting here right now in my Aunt's
living room next to the presents and the Christmas tree,
while everyone is asleep. 

    Kids are so excited about Christmas, but not because we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but because of the presents. Who can blame them? Since they were little they've been receiving presents on Christmas Day. 

    The truth is.. we say Christmas is about Jesus, but really it's about us. We may pray in the morning and kind of acknowledge Jesus' birth. But after that.. when we start opening gifts, we totally forget about Jesus.

    If I tell you, let's just have a Christmas day where we don't give or get gifts and just celebrate Jesus' birthday. I bet you would think I'm crazy. You would think.. "How can we celebrate Christmas without presents?" Well, easy... we acknowledge that Christmas is not about Us, it's about Him.

    It's like, when we celebrate your birthday. In your birthday party, people don't give each other presents and leave you out of it. They give You gifts and try to spend time with you. Then why can't Jesus have that same celebration? Why can't we spend more time relating with Jesus on His birthday and stop thinking about ourselves?

    Jesus is so amazing! He is always with us. He is fun, caring, loving, funny, honest, and our best friend. He thinks about us so much that even on His birthday he blesses us with the opportunity to get gifts we don't deserve and He smiles when we open each one of them. You know why? Because He loves us!

This Christmas give thanks to God because he already gave us the best gift of all.

His Son, Jesus!

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. 

The government will rest on his shoulders. 

And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor,  Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

(Isaiah 9:6) 

Life Passes By In A Blink Of An Eye

Life goes by fast. In a blink of an eye everything can change. So, why waste time arguing, staying mad with someone? It's not worth it! We should enjoy every second we have with the people we love.

    Today at 1am, December 3, 2014 my dog passed away. His name was Blackie. He was loyal, playful, caring, loving, a great best friend. I had Blackie since I was like 7 years old. So in my memory it's like I've never lived a day without him in my life. It was pretty hard to imagine living a life without him.

    Every time I would open the door he was wagging his little tail. He was so happy to see me. I would take him out and sometimes I would be outside with him looking at the stars. Even though he was actually looking for cats to bark at. Haha! But he would lie down right in front of me while I would pet him.

    I taught him how to hi-5, sit, come, stay, lie down, fetch (actually he learned that by himself). I would take him to the park and run with him. He was so active and alive! I loved him so much <3 He will always be in my heart. God blessed me with a great dog, best friend, family member.

Spend time with your loved ones. You never know when is your last goodbye or your last "I love you"or your last hug with that special someone. 

God has blessed you with special people around you. Don't take them for granted! Love them! Enjoy each special moment because time passes by and it's not coming back.

Blackie (2000 - 2014)

Once Blind, But Now I See

    My life has changed! I'm not the same person I was 2 months ago. The way I see food now is way different. I can see how food affects my mood, my body, everything.

Everything changed for me once I saw the documentary "Hungry for Change".  You can go see it on Netflix or FMTV.

Hungry for Change exposes shocking secrets 

the diet, weight loss and food industries don't want you to 

know about deceptive strategies designed to keep 

you coming back for more. Find out what's keeping 

you from having the body and health you deserve. - Anonymous

    It really opened my eyes to reality. I was blind. I was killing my body without even knowing it. It really saddens me knowing all the junk I was putting in my body, all the sugar, GMO (genetically modified organism), MSG (monosodium glutamate), high fructose corn syrup, etc. I had no idea how it affected my body, how horrible it was for my health.

    I've also seen how God created such amazing bodies that they're able to heal themselves when we give the body what it really needs. The body just wants to heal from all the toxins we're giving it. It is crying out for help and we are totally ignoring it.

    So I changed my lifestyle. I wanted to give my body what it deserves. I now eat healthy foods and drink juices from freshly extracted fruits and vegetables. Believe me, if I can do it... anyone can! I used not to try different foods. I wasn't interested. I didn't eat vegetables and I only ate like 3 different types of fruits. In one point of my life I remember weighing 163 pounds and I'm only 5'1', can you even imagine how I looked? I think I can help you with that.

                                 

    Yep, that was me in 2010. As you can see I was really overweight. I wasn't happy with the way I looked. In the past I tried different diets and sometimes it worked, but it was temporary after a while I would eat the same foods and gain weight again. I didn't know I was killing myself from the inside. But God changed my way of eating through the documentary and through the website I found FMTV. God saved my life! 

I am a new person and I'm not going back!

    I'm glad to say that right now I weigh 121 pounds! I remember when I first got to weigh 121 pounds. I started crying when I saw myself in the mirror. I could not believe that after years of trying to lose weight I got here and it was easy to lose weight once I started to eat healthy. It wasn't a constant struggle.

    Now I try to tell people how bad the sugar and toxins in the ingredients are bad for their body, but they don't get it. They just don't get it! Sometimes its frustrating to see my friends and my father and my own family to eat blindfolded without even knowing what they're putting in their bodies. See them killing their own bodies. It's really horrible for me and some of them look at what I eat and drink and it's like I'm an alien.

    It's like being in Christ! We see people everyday that need Christ in their life. We can talk to them about God and Jesus, but until they actually have an experience with God's love, they are not going to Get It. They will not understand anything until they feel God in their life. They are blind and no matter how many times we explain a blind person how a sunset looks like, that person will not be able to enjoy it or understand what a sunset is until his eyes are open. In God's time those people will experience God's love, their eyes will be open to reality, which is Jesus.

God Guides My Steps

    It's been a while since I've posted anything. My life hasn't been the same, but in a great way! God has been guiding my steps. He's been taking me to do what I've always loved to do. Dance!

    I quit my job because I've always told my friends that it doesn't matter how much you get paid but what really matters is... That you enjoy what you do. I wasn't enjoying it. I wasn't enjoying my job and I noticed that one of my motivations was to just get paid. I was doing exactly the opposite of what I would tell my friends. So, I quit!

    When I quit I felt a relief, like I can do anything I want to do. The day I decided to quit my job something came to my mind. It was going to be my next job. Dance class! It just came to me. Of course I thought about it a couple of times before but I always felt like I wasn't ready. But now it was different, like something inside of me changed. I felt ready to take that leap! I knew God would be with me wherever I go.

"Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, 

for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. 

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."

(Isaiah 41:10)

    The same day I quit my job, a pastor came to me asking me if I could choreograph for kids at her church. She had no idea I was going to give dance class or that I quit my job. It was surprising how God was putting all the pieces together! That was my confirmation! The confirmation that I had made the right choice in quitting my job and starting to teach.

    It's amazing to know that God is guiding our steps. We don't have to beg Him to tell us what we should do. We just have to talk to Him, relate to Him, have a relationship with Him. Remember, Jesus is the way! So we are never out of the path. Just have a deep relationship with God and His desires will be your desires because together with God we are One!

"The Lord directs the steps of the godly. 

He delights in every detail of their lives."

(Psalm 37:23)

"But the person who is joined to the 

Lord is one spirit with him."

(1 Corinthians 6:17)

The Pain (Video)

A Video Done By Me

The Lyrics From The Video...

I smile but I'm not happy. They don't see the pain and the agony.
I feel so alone, no one understands. They've played with my feelings
like I was putty in their hands. Teardrops ran down my face
and into the floor. My life was over. I had no value anymore.

But wait I hear a voice... He's calling out my name.
He whispers to me, "I once felt the same. You're not alone!
I am always with you so don't be ashamed. Take off the
mask and just be yourself and I'll cure your heart, because
I chose you before my Father created everything else.

And then He stopped and He told me
something that left me shocked...

"I Love You!"

Put Your Dreams In God's Hands! (Video)

What Are You Chasing After?

    I've seen how people chase things in life. Its like they're trying to fill their hearts with something to make them feel complete. They go chasing after money or clothes, video games, food, followers on Twitter/Instagram, fame, and/or even people. Anything to try to feel that void.

    No, I'm not saying you shouldn't like to play video games or buy clothes or eat food. I'm just saying... What is the true purpose behind it?

    Do you eat because you're hungry or because it comforts you when you feel alone? Do you play video games to entertain yourself or do you try to get your mind out of the pain you feel from this world? Do you buy clothes because you need new clothes or because you want to try to feel better about yourself showing off what you bought?

    Maybe you've tried to do all these things or maybe you're chasing after other stuff. But you should know by now that, That Is Not Working. That won't fill your heart. That emptiness you feel inside will never go away until....

You Accept Jesus Christ In Your Heart!

    God is all we need in this life. Once you accept Jesus, you will be a new creation, a child of the living God. He will always be with you and he will fill that void in your heart. You are complete in Him!

"So you also are complete through your union with Christ..." 

(Colossians 2:10)

If you want to take a life changing step today and accept Jesus in your life. You only have to do something really simple.

"If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God,

 and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved."

(Romans 10:9-10)

If you got to do what the verse says, then I personally welcome you to the family. The heavens must be throwing a party right now because you are priceless. God was waiting for you. He loves you!! 

This is just the beginning! 

People Always Leave

This blog post was inspired by "One Tree Hill".

    It's amazing how people can be your friends one day and in a blink of an eye, they don't even talk to you anymore. They ignore your messages. They don't want to know anything about you. It's like they just left your life and don't want to come back.

    I've learned that people change. They change by the experiences they go through in life and once they change, they will have different interests and priorities. But is that the reason why they leave? Sure, they may have left because of college and work or other important stuff. They may all have great reasons, but it still hurts.

Jesus understands that pain. He went through that same thing. The people he cared about, left him. 

"But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will 

be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone."

(To be continued..) (John 16:32)

    If you have people in your life you care about. Enjoy being with them. Don't waste time arguing about something dumb. You will never know when it will be the last time you see them.

People Always Leave!! 

But Jesus Will Never Leave!!

Jesus said "And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:29)

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are always with us. We are never alone. When we think everyone abandoned us. God is there!

Even Jesus mentions it...

"But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me."(John 16:32)

What Do I See When I Look In The Mirror?

When I look in the mirror, I definitely don't see what God sees.

    Sometimes when I look myself in the mirror, I see flaws and imperfections. I either see a hair out of place or a pimple or I may even see how fat I look. Of course, that's not all the time. Other times, I see a beautiful person. You know, those days when you get all dressed up and you just have to take a picture of yourself to post it on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter so you can receive others approval (also known as "likes").

I wish I could look in the mirror and see myself the same way God sees me. But the truth is... most of us just go to the mirror to see what's wrong with us. 

I asked a couple of people around me, "What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see yourself in the mirror?"

This is what some of them said....

"I'm ugly."

"I could look better."

"I don't fit in."

"My eyes look amazing."

"I'm beautiful."

"Jesus."

    Everyone has a different answer. Everyone has a different perspective about how they look. If I asked you that same question, What would you say? Why do you look in the mirror? Is it to see how beautiful you are? Or is it to see whats wrong with you and criticize yourself?

I think the most important question is, How does God see you? 

Here is the answer...

"You are fearfully and wonderfully made. 

You are precious. No one can be compared to you 

because you are unique. You are special. "
(Psalm 139:14-16)

God had a big smile on his face 

when He made you and He keeps 

smiling by just seeing you.
He is totally in love with
you. He Loves You Just

The Way You Are!!

Beautiful For Me

"Beautiful For Me" - Nichole Nordeman

I really love this song <3

I Don't Want God To Be Part Of My Life

    I go day by day living my life and sometimes I just stop. I think about God, and I say the name of Jesus. But I don't want to live like that anymore. I don't want to take a minute and think about God.

    You see... I've read the Bible a couple of times and I've seen how some people in the Bible live life in a totally different way than I do. They actually breathe God. They feel Him. When people got close to them, they could feel the presence of God. Some people even got healed by just the shadow of one of them.

    I want to experience that. I want to actually breathe Christ. I want to be so in love with God that I don't have to stop and think about him because He will be in my mind constantly. The same way David couldn't stop thinking about God.

"I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on 
you through the night."(Psalm 63:6)

    I don't want God to be part of my life because He Is My Life. I want to fall in love with Him more each day because he is my everything. Without God I am nothing. I would be blind to the truth. I would be in complete darkness. But with him, I'm in the light. I am free! I am loved! I have life!

I Don't Go To Church

First of all I want to clarify that I actually don't go to church, none of us do.

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church;" (Colossians 1:24)

Pay attention where it says.. "which is the church". It says that Christ's body is the church. So, technically we don't go to church. Those who have Christ Are The Church.

"All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it." (1 Corinthians 12:27)

Now that we know that we know that We are the Church. We should also know that we are part of the same church. We are in the same body! 

    People think that there are different churches around the world and some of them try to compete trying to have the most members. But don't they know that we are all in the same church? They also think that we can't be in different churches every week. 

    I've visited different "churches" and you may think it's wrong but I'm really visiting my family, just being with different members of it. It's like when I want to go visit my grandmother at her house on sunday and on thursday I went to visit my aunt at her house. We are part of the same family. 

We are One in Christ! 

Voices Of The Cross

An incredible video by Dan Stevers

http://www.danstevers.com/

God Is All Around Me

This weekend I was celebrating my 21st birthday. I usually celebrate my birthdays at a pool because my friends can be there without paying anything and we can hangout and have fun.

As I dived into the water, it was like time stopped. The world was in slow motion.

    It was just me and the water. The water was everywhere. Every part of my body was touched by the water in the pool. Suddenly, I started thinking about God. How God is literally everywhere like really.. Everywhere. I am constantly moving In God. Everywhere I go, God is there.

"For in him we live and move and exist."(Acts 17:28) 

    Isn't that just amazing!? Now thats not the only incredible thing. The most amazing, incredible, awesome thing is that God is also In Me. That is mind blowing. Knowing that God is actually living inside of me and that we are One. WOW!!! There are no words to describe it.

"But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him." (1 Corinthians 6:17)

Why Can't They Tell Me The Truth?

Something I value so much is honesty. 

    I went through a tough process in a point of my life. I had trusted the wrong people. Those "friends" lied to me and betrayed me. "Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead."(Psalm 144:8) I felt miserable! I thought no one could understand what I was going through and I felt so so dumb! Like, why didn't I notice that they were lying right to my face? It was obvious but I trusted them too much to see it.

Since then, I've learned that I can't trust everyone and that if a person lies even if its a "white lie" he/she can't be trusted.

I used to think... Why is it so hard for them to tell the truth? But then I learned that those who don't have Jesus in their heart can easily lie to someone because they don't have Truth in them.

"Jesus told him,  “I am the way, the truth, and the life. 

No one can come to the Father except through me."(John 14:6)

Jesus = Truth

Asking them to be completely honest is asking them to go against their nature. But those who have Jesus can easily speak the Truth. For the Truth lives in them.

"because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever."(2 John 1:2)