At times in life have you ever wished you could just start all over? Similar to the “easy” button be able to tap it and just reboot fresh and new? I think we all at one point or another get frustrated with our many challenges but isn’t it awesome to know that as Christians we can simply go to the Cross and restart? All we need to do is recognize that sacrifice and immediately a breath of fresh air reinserts itself into our being! He did this for a purpose, that purpose was so we had a point of reference that many of us as humans yearn for. So what stops us from visiting that point of reference? Our inability to understand the magnitude of what He has done. There is no GREATER sacrifice than what He did on the cross. There is no sin too big or too bad that His Blood can’t cover and fix. Now don’t get me wrong there will be consequences, but even they will serve as a force to push us closer to Him. Today He encourages us to take advantage of His new birth given to us and begin to smile again, begin to laugh again and begin to enjoy the life He has blessed us with. Will the problems disappear? No, but they will become smaller as we focus more on Him.
Realizing His love!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 05:05 pm
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Have you ever had a conversation with someone and no matter how loud you got or how much you insisted it seemed like the message didn’t get through? Being a father I can tell you I feel this way frequently J. I’m touching this subject today because frequently God does the same for us, in fact He does it at least once a week (Sunday). Why don’t we hear Him? I think it’s for the same reason we seem to ignore our parents and that is, we think we have it all together. I would venture on saying that the most successful people in the world today are this way because they realize the power of opinion. Don’t believe me? Ever heard of a focus group? These groups were formed by the top companies to be able to get a gauge on what the popular opinion of their product or service is. You still think they have it wrong? I’m sure if this message applies to you then you probably will. Now most don’t know but a focus group was formed many thousands of years ago and it was written out in a book we call the Bible. Many different people wrote down their opinion and experiences and left them for us to enjoy. Never saw the bible like this, huh? SO what's the moral of the story today? It’s simple. In scripture we notice how all that listened to His message were blessed, but all that discarded it were cursed. Do we really want to follow the same mistake of the accursed? I don’t think so! It’s time to rewrite our history and begin to learn from these life experiences left for our growth and development. Can you imagine if David gave up after He committed adultery? Can you imagine if Joshua gave up because of the walls of Jericho? Can you imagine if Jesus gave up because a friend betrayed Him? Neither could I. Let’s stop rejecting His message and let's follow the example of the great patriarchs we see in scripture, its guaranteed success!
Amped up about His message!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 07:32 pm
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God bless! When you were a child did your parents ever ask you to be honest with them and if you were honest, you wouldn’t get in trouble? The same concept works with God, except we don’t get in trouble but rather we avoid the blessings He has predestined for us. God desires to bless us but He can’t do it if we allow sin to linger in our lives. The verse below shows us His everlasting forgiveness and desire to bless us but it also shows us that we must admit, confess and recognize our issues. Who are we really kidding? He knows them and we know them so why try to hide them? Today let's grab hold of His love and come boldly before Him and begin the process to be blessed!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
1 John 1:9 “If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].”
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 07:26 pm
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Has anyone ever called you to "vent" or "pray" about something that involved their feelings toward someone else? In Christianity we call this gossip. One way to determine if what you are dealing with is gossip is by asking yourself "can I in any way help solve the issue between these people?", if our answer is no then we have one of two things to do:
1- stop the person and tell them you don't want to be involved in gossip Or
2- stop the person and tell them about the verse below then proceed to get two to three other people on the phone to have a conference gossip call.
I know most of you are laughing right now but the verse below confronts us with what we are doing and if we find discomfort in having other people involved then this is an obvious sign that we are doing something wrong. Gossip is a sin against yourself and if it involves other Christians a sin against the body of Christ. I can’t speak for you but I don't feel good doing anything against the one being that gave it all up for me.
Time to stop the gossip!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
Listen to no accusation [presented before a judge] against an elder unless it is confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. (1 Timothy 5:19 AMP)
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 04:58 pm
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There can’t be anything in life more consuming than having to rush to finish something with one minute left. It eats away at you and forces you to make irrational decisions. It leaves you in a state of imbalance that forces many of us to have to repeat things due to lack of preparation. So why do we do it to ourselves? In the simplest way I'll say it’s a lack of priority. When we prioritize correctly we are always prepared for the things to come. In the secular we see this problem frequently, but let's talk about the spiritual. If our priorities in the spiritual aren't right, we will find ourselves as unprepared as the women in the parable of the virgins in the Bible. They lacked oil and had to turn back to get more to keep their lights lit, but when they returned the groom had come and go. Are we risking missing the groom because we are leaving everything for the "last minute"? We have to get our priorities right in life or we will find ourselves missing out on our predestined blessings!
Organizing loose ends...
Pastor Joell A. Perez
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 03:47 pm
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Have you ever royally messed up and wish with every morsel of your being that you could turn back time to undo what you did? As I’m sure you are aware there is nothing we can do to change what we did, but there is a lot that we can do to change what we do from here on. Though at times when we make a mistake we feel like the world is coming to an end, I assure you it really isn’t. Yes, there are consequences and yes we will feel moments of discomfort but at the end of the day things will eventually go back to a normal state (even if it is slightly modified). Why am I talking about this today? To many of us are walking with a weight on our back and God wants to rip it off! He sent this message because He wants us to know He loves us, forgave us and wants us to get back on track. Let’s stop wasting time on what could have been and lets begin to worship God and move forward one step at a time!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 04:53 pm
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Let me start this devotional by telling you that the God you serve is God of the impossible! I don’t care how big you think the problem you are confronting is, the God we serve is bigger! When all things around us fail He continues to prevail. As you start this fresh new day it’s imperative that you do it with the right attitude and mind set. Don’t let the devil distract you, he has been playing with your emotions far too long and your day to kick him out of your mind is today! Don’t let one more negative thought cross your mind but rather fill yourself up with the Word of God. Today is the day that you and I have been waiting for, your sales will rise, your deals will get done, that call you have been waiting for is coming, that report will come back negative, today is the day! Don’t doubt it, don’t fight it, just receive it because that is His heart for you!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 10:25 am
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Have you ever seen people go out of their way for attention? Their conversations sound like pirates because every other word is “I”? These are the same people that tend to draw attention away from God in church simply to be able to bask in the spot light of the audience. They talk about their, schooling, degrees, job, cars, clothes, kids, etc. In their eyes they can do no wrong! Most of these people after some time stop drawing positive attention and end up drawing pity because everyone around them can tell that what they are trying to do is make up for a low self-esteem issue. This issue is not something new! As you can see in the verse below it has been predominant since the old times and has dragged until now. Why do I talk about it? In life we will be surrounded by these type of people and as Christians it’s important that we know how to approach them in a way where we don’t get frustrated and where we don’t hurt them either. What is the best approach? Love them past themselves. How? Show them testimony of how it is to be humble until eventually they can realize they are standing out, but not in a positive way. It’s like a room of people saying the word “red” and one person saying “green”. Eventually they will notice that they are not in sync with everyone else. Love conquers all and the truth is many of us fall into this category and many times don’t even realize it. Today I encourage you to take a look within and lets cast the pirate out! If there is no pirate then let’s love some of these pirates off their ship. Though as humans we may want people to “get theirs”, as Christians we should desire that people be saved instead!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
Matthew 6:5 “Also when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward in full already.”
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 10:07 am
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I know you are thinking “it’s Monday, here we go again!” but I have to tell you every day is a “Present”. Don’t look at today as a bad day but rather a new day of opportunity and blessings! Why? Many people would love to have everything you have, your job, your bank account, your car, your life! Don’t put what you have down but rather thank God for it today!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 10:06 am
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Have you ever felt someone took advantage of your kindness and love? How did it feel? What did you want to do when that happened? What did you actually do? I know this is a tough topic to touch (trust me I do) but it’s one we have to deal with at one point or another. Why? If we don't, it develops into venom in our hearts. How do we deal with it? Pray. Prayer is our only resort, we have no other means of restoration of our soul if not through God. Anger, hatred, resentment, abusing others will never supply the peace or justice we seek. Only prayer and relationship with Him will guide us to that road of forgiveness and peace. So what do we do now? What do we resort to today? See the verse below for direction and an awesome testimony!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
In return for my love they are my adversaries, but I resort to prayer. (Psalm 109:4 AMP)
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 02:17 pm
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Have you ever found yourself in a place where you didn’t know what step to take next? The verse below is clear and to the point. In life we have two options to the path of success and they are prayer and worship. Anything else is simply not going to help us reach the mark. Prayer is the key to communicating and worship is the key to making Him react in your situation. What are you going to do now?
Pastor Joell A. Perez
James 5:13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
Posted by: Joell A. Perez AT 05:46 pm
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Have you ever felt so frustrated that you couldn’t even understand why you did a certain thing? Have you ever sat and thought how you got into a certain situation and cried because you simply didn’t know how to get out? It's in moments like this in which we have to go to the source of all understanding, and that is GOD. The verse below shows how the psalmist gave up on trying to understand himself and simply asked God to search and review him. Why? I feel that the experiences of the psalmist in the past led him to understand that if he rendered himself to God, then God would rearrange his situation. Are you feeling frustrated and a bit out of whack today? Maybe you made some wrong decisions recently and you are now stuck between a rock and a hard place. Well I come with good news for you today: God is willing to review your case and make the necessary adjustments to bring greatness out of your great mess! All you have to do is cry out and ask Him to take charge!
Start this week right and render your heart to Him…. You are never too far!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
Psalms 139:23 “Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!”
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 05:41 pm
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As you awake this morning I ask that you ponder something, who is your Savior? The immediate answer for most is Jesus while others are still confused or in doubt. What is the relevance of this today? Many of us live our lives allowing peoples judgments and words to have too great of an effect on us. Who cares what they think or say? They can’t save you? Sure they stalk your social media pages, sure they are the presidents of your “against _____ (insert your name here)” club but at the end of everything their opinion and voice will have no effect on your end destination (unless you allow them to). Why am I talking about this today? We need to get passed the drama and start walking in our blessings and we will never be able to do that by allowing the hatred spewed over us to have an effect on us. We must begin to push passed the voices and hear only His voice. The verse today talks to those that are in the judgment seat and clarifies the fact that they are no one to judge anyone and therefore no one we should listen to!
It’s time to shut the voices down!
Pastor Joell A. Perez
James 4:12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Posted by: Pastor Joell A. Perez AT 12:05 pm
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We should all know this but many times we fail to realize that most human beings are constantly running and rushing. Each day we rush from place to place as if we were contestants in some type of race to see who is the fastest. On my way to work I could easily see how everyone is constantly rushing; it doesn't matter what time of the day it is, there is a constant rush, a race against the clock. Many times even as we walk, we may bump into someone but all we do is walk even faster without any apology; many times we actually just expect them to apologize.
With all the rushing back and forth, we rarely see the beautiful but yet "simple" things that are constantly happening around us. Birds singing, an elderly person's smile, the tender and curious way a child looks around, the sound of the rainfall, a sunset, etc. The same way we take these things for granted at times, many of us as Christians just say a prayer "rushing" and all we are doing is limiting the time that already belongs to God. We ask him for things, we talk and talk like parrots but, ¿do you think we are really waiting for his response, are we really taking our time to hear God's voice? Today, I encourage all of us to make some time in our busy schedules and just enjoy all the beautiful things God is constantly doing all around us. Focus a little and just hear his voice, look at his powerful hand move in our lives; his love is in constant action. We at times, do not appreciate something as simple as being able to read this message; how many blind people wish they could read? How many wish they could see the sunrise or the sunset? Some of us at times, simply devalue the beautiful works of our creator. Let's learn to delight ourselves in all of the gifts God has granted us...all of them!
Have a blessed day filled with all of his blessings!
Pastor Roberto Palacios
Psalm 104:24-25 "O Lord, how many and varied are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures. Yonder is the sea, great and wide, in which are swarms of innumerable creeping things, creatures both small and great."
Posted by: Pastor Roberto Palacios AT 11:02 am
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God Bless You!
If you win a car in a raffle, would you accept 4 wheels and a trunk or do you want the car that was promised to you when you bought your raffle ticket? If you buy a first class seat in a flight would you be okay if they sat you on the last row of the plane next to the bathroom? Would you like to receive only half the blessings God has set apart for you or would you rather get 100% of what He wants to give you? Did Jesus pay “half” the price for our salvation and our right into heaven or did he pay the “full” price? I think we all know that the answers to these questions are big NO’s! Why is it that many times we are not willing to accept these “halfway” things in our daily life scenarios (we would do whatever it takes to get what we paid for or what we won in full) but we are willing to live with halfway spiritual blessings simply because we are not willing to fight for the “full” blessings Jesus died to give us? God is good and loving all the time and He created each one of us to bless us in FULL not halfway! We need to do our part and seek Him earnestly; He will not do our part for us, He has already done His part! He is compassionate to forgive us and shower us with his blessings. We were created to be successful, happy, and blessed not hopeless, unhappy, and cursed. Remember this when you start to feel hopeless: the ship was not made to stay at the harbor, it was built to navigate the oceans; the airplane wasn’t built to stay parked at the airport, it was meant to fly the skies…YOU were created by Almighty God to soar like the eagles and live a life full of victories, not half-way blessings!
Pastor Laura Palacios
Psalms 145:9 (NLT) “The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.”
Posted by: Pastor Laura Palacios AT 02:03 pm
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