Sunday, January 21, 2018

Cuánto más

Un padre terrenal puede ser muy parcial. A veces es terco, y a veces da por todas las razones equivocadas. Jesús lo dejó muy claro: si el niño pide una cosa, el Padre no le dará otra. Luego hizo una pregunta:
Si entonces, siendo malvado, sabes cómo dar buenos regalos a tus hijos, ¡cuánto más dará tu Padre celestial el Espíritu Santo a los que le pidan! (Lucas 11:13).

     
El énfasis está en "cuánto más".

     
Dios sabe que necesitamos el poder del Espíritu Santo. Los dones espirituales funcionan solo cuando el Espíritu Santo da poder al hijo de Dios. Cuando pidas y busques, recuerda que Dios conoce tus motivos. Él te proporciona el poder del Espíritu Santo para darte la victoria sobre Satanás, hacerte gozoso y permitirte funcionar en los dones del Espíritu.

     
Dios quiere que tengas el poder del Espíritu Santo. Él nos da un enfoque simple de tres pasos: preguntar, buscar y tocar. Tome la Palabra como autoritativa. Sé como la mujer que perdió su preciosa moneda. Lo deseaba tanto que buscó con una vela y limpió su casa.

     
Los tipos del Antiguo Testamento tienen su cumplimiento en el Nuevo Testamento. Daniel escribió acerca de un cuarto hombre en el horno de fuego con los tres niños hebreos; Moisés habló de la roca que siguió a los hijos de Israel; cada hogar israelita mató a un cordero para su Pascua. Todos estos fueron tipos de Cristo.

     
El Espíritu Santo se compara con el viento o el aliento.
El viento sopla donde quiere y escuchas el sonido, pero no puede decir de dónde viene ni a dónde va. Así es todo aquel que es nacido del Espíritu (Juan 3: 8).

HOW MUCH MORE (T.D. JAKES)

An earthly father can be very biased. Sometimes he is stubborn, and sometimes he gives for all the wrong reasons. Jesus made it very clear--if the child asks for one thing, the Father will not give another. He then asked a question:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (Luke 11:13).

     The emphasis is on "how much more."
     God knows that we need the power of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts function only as the Holy Spirit empowers the child of God. As you ask and seek, remember that God knows your motives. He endues you with the power of the Holy Spirit to give you victory over satan, to make you joyful, and to enable you to function in the gifts of the Spirit.
     God wants you to have the power of the Holy Spirit. He gives us a simple, three-step approach: ask, seek, and knock. Take the Word as authoritative. Be like the woman who had lost her precious coin. She wanted it so badly that she searched with a candle and swept her house clean.
     Old Testament types have their fulfillment in the New Testament. Daniel wrote about a fourth man in the fiery furnace with the three Hebrew children; Moses spoke of the rock that followed the children of Israel; each Israelite household killed a lamb for their Passover. All of these were types of Christ.
     The Holy Spirit is likened to wind or breath.

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8).

Pedir, Buscar, Tocar

Entonces te digo, pregunta y se te dará; Busca y encontraras; toca, y se te abrirá. Porque todos los que piden reciben, y el que busca los hallazgos, y al que los golpea se abrirán (Lucas 11: 9-10).

     
Dios no permitirá que tus necesidades y deseos se descuiden, especialmente cuando deseas ser más como él.

     
Jesús dijo que aquellos que buscan encontrarán. Buscar significa desear Jesús quiere que deseemos el Espíritu Santo. ¿Le pedirías algo a alguien y tendrías la cabeza o la mano mirando hacia otro lado? Jesús quiere que nuestros corazones se alineen con lo que dicen nuestros labios.

     
El Espíritu Santo, Su poder y el cambio que solo Él puede traer en tu vida deben ser tan preciosos que no aceptes falsificaciones. Nada más será suficiente. ¿Está tu corazón enfocado en un deseo que no aceptará un "no" como respuesta? ¿De verdad quieres el poder del Espíritu Santo?

     
Aquellos que quieren el poder del Espíritu Santo deben adoptar un enfoque de tres pasos: preguntar, buscar y tocar. ¿Qué te impulsa a abrir la puerta de tu casa? Cuando alguien toca, ves quién es y qué es lo que quiere.

     
Jesús dijo que tocara.

     
Antes de tocar, debes tener el deseo de preguntar. Este deseo de conducir le hizo llegar a la puerta con gran expectativa y determinación. Buscó hasta que encontró la puerta y ahora toca.

     
Puede parecer que Jesús tiene estos pasos fuera de orden, pero eso no es cierto. Si no tiene voluntad de preguntar, no hay razón para llamar. Sin la voluntad de buscar, no hay razón para llamar. Tocar está precedido por un deseo de preguntar y buscar con diligencia. Tocando te da acceso a lo que has buscado diligentemente.


ASK, SEEK, KNOCK (T.D. JAKES)

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Luke 11:9-10).

     God will not let your needs and wants go unattended, especially when you desire to be more like Him.
     Jesus said that those who seek shall find. Seek means to desire. Jesus wants us to desire the Holy Spirit. Would you ask someone for something and have your head or hand turned the other way? Jesus wants our hearts to be lined up with what our lips are saying.
     The Holy Spirit, His power, and the change that He alone can bring in your life must be so precious that you will not accept a counterfeit. Nothing else will suffice. Is your heart focused with a desire that will not take "no" for an answer? Do you really want the power of the Holy Spirit?
     Those who want the power of the Holy Spirit must take a three-step approach: ask, seek, and knock. What prompts you to open your front door? When someone knocks, you see who it is and what they want.
     Jesus said to knock.
     Before knocking, you must have a desire to ask. This driving desire caused you to come to the door with great expectation and determination. You searched until you found the door and now you knock.
     It may seem that Jesus has these steps out of order, but that's not true. If you have no will to ask, there's no reason to knock. Without the will to seek, there's no reason to knock. Knocking is preceded by a will to ask and search diligently. Knocking gives you access to what you have diligently sought.
 

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

La parábola de la taza de té

Una pareja solía ir a Inglaterra a comprar en sus hermosas tiendas. A ambos les gustaban las antigüedades y la cerámica, y especialmente las tazas de té. En su vigésimo quinto aniversario de bodas, en una hermosa tienda vieron una hermosa taza de té. Dijeron: "¿Podemos ver eso? Nunca hemos visto uno tan hermoso ".Cuando la señora se los tendió, de repente la taza de té habló. "No entiendes", decía. "No siempre he sido una taza de té. Hubo un tiempo en que yo era roja y yo era de arcilla. Mi maestro me tomó, me dio la vuelta y me dio unas palmaditas una y otra vez, y grité: "Déjame en paz", pero él solo sonrió y dijo: "Todavía no".

"Luego me colocaron en una rueca", dijo la taza de té, "y de repente me di vueltas y vueltas. '¡Para! ¡Me estoy mareando! "Grité. Pero el maestro solo asintió y dijo: "Todavía no". Luego me puso en el horno. Nunca sentí tanto calor. Me pregunté por qué quería quemarme, y grité y llamé a la puerta. Pude verlo a través de la abertura y pude leer sus labios mientras negaba con la cabeza, "Todavía no". Finalmente se abrió la puerta; él me puso en el estante, y comencé a refrescarme. 'Ahí está mejor', dije. Y él me cepilló y pintó por todas partes. Los humos eran horribles. Pensé que sería una mordaza."¡Basta, detente!", Lloré. Él solo dijo: "Todavía no." Entonces, de repente, me metió en otro horno, no como el primero. Esto era dos veces más caliente y sabía que me sofocaría. Yo rogué. Supliqué. Grité. Lloré. Todo el tiempo pude verlo a través de la apertura asintiendo con la cabeza, diciendo: "Todavía no." Entonces supe que no había ninguna esperanza. Nunca lo haría. Estaba listo para darme por vencido. Pero la puerta se abrió y él me sacó y me colocó en el estante. Una hora más tarde me entregó un espejo y me dijo: 'Mírate a ti mismo'. Y lo hice. Yo dije, 'Ese no soy yo; ese no podría ser yo. Es bonito. ¡Soy hermosa!'


"Quiero que recuerdes, entonces", dijo, "sé que duele que te rueden y palmeen, pero si te hubiera dejado solo, te habrías secado. Sé que te mareó girar en el volante, pero si hubiera parado, te habrías derrumbado. Sé que dolió y estaba caliente y desagradable en el horno, pero si no te hubiera puesto allí, te habrías roto. Sé que los vapores fueron malos cuando te cepillé y pinté todo, pero si no lo hubiera hecho, nunca te habrías endurecido; no habrías tenido ningún color en tu vida. Y si no te hubiera puesto en ese segundo horno, no sobrevivirías por mucho tiempo porque la dureza no se habría mantenido. Ahora eres un producto terminado. Eres lo que tenía en mente cuando comencé contigo ".


MORAL: Dios sabe lo que está haciendo (para todos nosotros). Él es el Potter, y nosotros somos su arcilla. Él nos moldeará y nos hará, para que podamos ser hechos perfectos para cumplir su voluntad buena, agradable y perfecta (Hebreos 12: 3-9).

The Parable of the Teacup

A couple used to go to England to shop in its beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. On their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, in a beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, “May we see that? We’ve never seen one quite so beautiful.”
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke. “You don’t understand,” it said. “I haven’t always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, ‘Let me alone,’ but he only smiled and said, ‘Not yet.’
 
“Then I was placed on a spinning wheel,” the teacup said, “and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. ‘Stop it! I’m getting dizzy!’ I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, ‘Not yet.’ Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as He shook his head, ‘Not yet.’ Finally the door opened; he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. ‘There, that’s better,’ I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag.
 
“‘Stop it, stop it!’ I cried. He only said, ‘Not yet.’ Then suddenly he put me into another oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head, saying, ‘Not yet.’ Then I knew there wasn’t any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, ‘Look at yourself.’ And I did. I said, ‘That’s not me; that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful!’
 
“I want you to remember, then,” he said, “I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn’t put you in that second oven, you wouldn’t survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.”
 
MORAL: God knows what He is doing (for all of us). He is the Potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will (Hebrews 12:3-9).

Funeral Wishes

Three buddies were discussing death. One asked the others, "What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?" He said, "I would like them to say, 'He was a great humanitarian who cared about his community.'" The second said, "I want them to say, 'He was a great husband and father who was an example for many to follow.'" The third guy said, "I want them to say, 'Look, he's moving!'" One day we will "move" as we experience the general resurrection of the dead (John 5:28-29).

"The dead in Christ shall rise"
1 THESSALONIANS 4:16 

Lifetime Memories

Pause with your child when others hurry by; walk with your child when others are running.
     Smile with your child when others can find only frowns; listen to your child when others appear preoccupied.
     Talk with your child when others prefer shouting; praise your child when others can find only fault.
     Hug your child when others fail to sense the power of touch; read with your child when others prefer television.
     Learn from your child when others have forsaken curiosity; play with your child when others prefer being entertained.
     Discipline your child when others fail to establish limits; apologize to your child when others pretend perfection.
     Pray with your child when others have lost faith; dream with your child when others have become too cynical.

     --Anthony Witham

Suggestions for a Better Life

Focus on others, not on self (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:3-5).

     Someone wrote, "How to Be Miserable." It reads, "Think about yourself. Talk about yourself. Use 'I' as often as possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. Listen greedily to what people say about you. Expect to be appreciated. Be suspicious. Be jealous and envious. Be sensitive to slights. Never forgive a criticism. Trust nobody but yourself. Insist on consideration and respect. Demand agreement with your own views on everything. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them. Never forget a service you have rendered. Shirk your duties if you can. Do as little as possible for others." --Daily Walk, June 29, 1993

Suggestions for a Better Life

To help your children turn out well, spend twice as much time with them and half as much money on them (Genesis 44:30; Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 5:16; 6:4; Colossians 4:5) [H. Jackson Browne].

Suggestions for a Better Life

It is not our job to get people to like us. It is our job to like people (John 13:35; Hebrews 13:1; 1 Peter 1:22, 2:17).