Have you ever walked around aimlessly wondering if God really existed? Whether or whether not you believe, that has always been an enigma at some point in most everyone’s life. There are times we feel Him to be so near to us and there are others when we wonder if He really exist or whether He is still around to hear our prayers?

The truth and reality of this enigma is that God has never pulled away from any of us. The reason why at times He seems far from us is because we draw away from Him. James 4:8 says “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”. Many of us may say but I pray every day and read the Bible and go to church. Yes, we may do all the right things, but sometimes our heart is far from Him. God wants us to return to that first love, not getting caught in good deeds and works alone but loving Him fully. Not doing a lot for Him, but instead giving Him a lot more of our heart and love!

Father help us to draw near to you!

Pastor Elizabeth Z. Perez

Revelation 2:4 “But I have this (one charge to make) against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first (you have deserted Me, your first love).

God bless!

         I think we all have at one point or another looked at something that wasn't ours  and wished it was ours. I'm not saying that to desire something is bad as we all have desires but I am saying that anything that we desire that leads us to do wrong is bad, for us. There should be nothing we desire over righteousness. Is this process of controlling our desires easy? No! Let's analyze this story below, the man sees the spoil, he desires it and disobeys an order. He disregards his leaders direction, he ignores his God's desire and he takes the spoil anyway.  It gets better. He then takes what he desired and hides it under dirt. What's the point in doing that? Why risk your life and not enjoy your spoil? The reason is simple, he knew very well what he was doing was wrong! Are we hiding something that we know is wrong? Are we trying to justify something completely wrong because we want what we want? Are we ignoring God and our leaders because we feel righteous in our own actions and desires? Isn't it interesting how we can read bible stories and sit in a judgement seat towards wrong doers but we ignore our own wrong? I know we didn't want to hear this today but how do we change if conviction is never brought forth? Though all this hiding is wrong it's worse when we get so cold and numb that we take out our spoil and flaunt it because we manage to justify it in our own eyes disregarding the damage that it does to others not to mention ourselves? Let's read the bible and apply it to ourselves so we can change and start uncovering the spoils that are hidden and those that are exposed to the world. We were made to enjoy life not conceal it.

Pastor Joell

When I saw among the spoils an attractive mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath. (Joshua 7:21 AMP)

God bless!

        Ever have an argument with someone about something small and you noticed as the argument progressed the level of their voice and body language changed drastically. It went from an argument over a small issue to an all-out assault? Where you ever that person getting loud? Regardless of our position in the matter the important thing is we reflect today and modify our future approach. Why? One of the biggest requirements for a Christian to prosper is wisdom. If we don't have it and show it (wisdom), our progress to our goals  will be slow and painful. Want to win a "fight" don't shout but rather calm the anger. Don't react aggressively but rather react peacefully, this is the sign of true wisdom and a big step in the right direction towards prosperity.

Taking things easy,

Pastor Joell Perez

Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end. (Proverbs 29:11 NIV)

God bless!

        If you have kids then I'm sure you can understand the frustration in repeating yourself over and over yet still seeing the same wrong actions being done. I'm sure there is times we just wonder are they even listening? The same concept applies between God and us. He insists, reiterates but we don't always listen. The verse below clearly shows if we are "stiff necked (hard headed)" we will end up being destroyed. Maybe not physically but surely it can be emotionally, spiritually or even financially.

I think it's time we listen.

Pastor Joell

Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy. (Proverbs 29:1 NIV)

Blessings from above,

Nothing that you do for the Lord is in vain, He sees all and in due season God will overwhelm you with His blessings! Don’t worry about recognition or feeling appreciated because in the end we do it for God. Therefore if we do it unto His little ones (Gods People) we have automatically done it for Him! Be encouraged and of good cheer for our Lord is watching and repays accordingly for the works we do from the heart!

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord) knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile (it is never wasted or to no purpose).
 

Pastor Elizabeth Perez

God Bless You,

Focus on the finish line, stop looking to see who is ahead of you or who is still behind you… just focus on your finish line and never quit, no matter what! You can do this!! You will achieve your goals; you will get to the finish line as long as you keep moving... (if you stop moving, then you are in trouble…Selah). Stop getting distracted with everything else that is happening around your course-line, jump over every hurdle, swerve any high barriers, just stay focused on doing your very best and keep looking up a Jesus as he cheers you through the entire course (he is your best cheerleader). He will always be there when you are thirsty with his living water; he will always be there to stretch out his hand and lift you if you fall; he will always be there to heal any wounds you may receive as you move along your path; he will always be there with his daily bread to feed you and give you new strength…just remember: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuterenomy 31:8 (NIV)

Pastor Laura Palacios

Hebrews 12:1 (ERV) “We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall.”

God Bless You,

Do you think the enemy comes to annoy you and puts you under attack because you are weak or because he feels you are a “nobody”? NOOO way!! The enemy knows exactly how strong you are and this is why he wants to destroy you. He knows exactly who God destined you to be, he knows God himself lives in you! Do you want to know who the devil fears the most on this earth? YOU!! Yes you…the person who is reading this! The enemy fears your full potential in action because he knows God created you in his image and with a great purpose; he knows you have been anointed with a special gift; he knows God loves you more than anything that exists and he will do anything for you. You are the devil’s worst enemy!! The enemy knows what God can do in you, with you, and through you! You are extremely dangerous in his eyes and no matter what he tries to do to eliminate us and even when it may look like he is winning…we have the victory!! We have authority and it is much greater than anything the devil may try to do…take a deep breath, dust yourself off, and stand firm knowing you are a child of Almighty God!

Luke 10:19 (AMP) “Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.”

Pastor Laura Palacios

God Bless You,

Do you think the enemy comes to annoy you and puts you under attack because you are weak or because he feels you are a “nobody”? NOOO way!! The enemy knows exactly how strong you are and this is why he wants to destroy you. He knows exactly who God destined you to be, he knows God himself lives in you! Do you want to know who the devil fears the most on this earth? YOU!! Yes you…the person who is reading this! The enemy fears your full potential in action because he knows God created you in his image and with a great purpose; he knows you have been anointed with a special gift; he knows God loves you more than anything that exists and he will do anything for you. You are the devil’s worst enemy!! The enemy knows what God can do in you, with you, and through you! You are extremely dangerous in his eyes and no matter what he tries to do to eliminate us and even when it may look like he is winning…we have the victory!! We have authority and it is much greater than anything the devil may try to do…take a deep breath, dust yourself off, and stand firm knowing you are a child of Almighty God!

Luke 10:19 (AMP) “Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.”

Pastor Laura Palacios

God bless! 

           Have you ever found yourself asking "what is the right thing to do?”. I’m sure at one point or another we all have. Why is doing what's right at times so difficult to understand or accept? It has everything to do with our Pride. Pride is EVIL! It can and will destroy us if we allow it to. We are not evil. Therefore we have to begin to seek the Lord more to overtake any evil thoughts that might linger in us. Seeking Him is the answer to eliminating doubt over right and wrong.

Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully. (Proverbs 28:5 NIV)

God Bless You,

If we really think about it, many times us humans tend to resist love when we most needed…yes or no? I am not referring about the romantic, dreamy kind of love but rather about the Agape Love we all crave deep inside (the love of God that lives in us, unselfish love, selfless love). I am not sure if you are the one in need of this kind of love today or if maybe there is someone around you who is desperately but “silently” asking for it. All I want to remind you of today is to share the love that God has placed in you with others. This may sound simple but many times we put a brake on ourselves from sharing his Love because we are scared of rejection. Has Jesus ever stopped loving us or showing us his love the times we have rejected him? I dare to say we all have rejected him at one point or another. Don’t worry about how others will react, today just love with all your heart, love with all your might, love with the kind of love Jesus felt for you and for me on the cross…can you imagine it? He could have stopped everything they were doing to him in a heartbeat but all He kept thinking about was our hearts, our freedom, our eternity with him; he loved us more than anything else in this world or outside of it!! Stop resisting his love and stop denying others of the love God himself has placed in you!!

Pastor Laura Palacios

1 John 4:7-8 (CEV) “My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God’s children, and we know him. God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him.

God bless you,

Have you ever totaled the time you spend doing things that are not necessarily bad but in reality do not add anything to our relationship with God? I’m not talking about hours spent at your job, or your responsibilities at home or school, I’m talking about those little “insignificant” breaks that we all get even by going to the bathroom…yes, yes I said it and we all get these (even if some people get more than other). What are you doing during those “break” times? How many times do you check your social media networks? How many times you check your texts? How much time you spend flipping channels on the TV? How many online games are you playing? If we totaled all those minutes into hours…how many hours are we investing in insignificant things? How many minutes or hours are we investing in our relationship with God? Selah… We should be in constant communication with God (all of us, no exceptions), even as we walk down the street we could be having a conversation with him in our spirit…it’s not about being religious at all but instead, it’s all about improving our relationship with him and refining our communication skills with our God.

Pastor Laura Palacios

Hebrews 13:15 (AMP) “Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.”

As soon as Gideon knew the will of God he went forward, full of faith and without a doubt worshiped immediately, even before they had won the battle. His approach and his perception and his action of worshiping even before he had acquired the victory is what moved the hand of God on his behalf. When you know the will of God for your life and move without wavering in your faith and worship Him even before you see the promise completed, before you know it, God will put it in your hands!

I challenge you to worship God preemptively, as I do myself today!

Pastor Elizabeth Z. Perez

Judges 7:14-15 “And his comrade replied, this is nothing else but the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand God has given Midian and all the host. When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped and returned to the camp of Israel and said, arise, for the Lord has given into your hand the host of Midian”.

God bless!

      Have you ever felt bad because you were the only one who felt in a certain way or did a certain thing. In the eyes of others you seemed to be an anomaly. Did that change your mind or approach? To most the peer pressure would prove to be too much to bear but not to Noah. He was alone in belief and action. Everyone ridiculed him, everyone judged him  but when God's day of judgment came where were those voices? Today maybe you and I find ourselves in the same predicament as we want to be different than the rest and the message is clear: be different! Who cares what anyone thinks? Only God can save us. You and I are not alone for He is with us!!

Loving Him more every day,

Pastor Joell

But Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8 AMP)

God bless!

     Does it seem right that an enemy can take your joy away to the point that you can't even eat? The verse below talks about just that. Let's review this for a moment.

The enemy (devil) messes with us year after year (constantly) when we go the Lords house (church) and we cry (mourn instead of worship) and don't eat (receive the preached word of God). Does this look right? Can it make sense to run from God and church when we have hardships? I have to say plainly: NO! When the enemy attacks then we have to press in even harder, I can't speak for you but he will not steal my joy! Looking at things this way proves we haven't come this far to turn back now.

About to eat and worship!!

Pastor Joell

So it was year after year; whenever Hannah went up to the Lord's house, Peninnah provoked her, so she wept and did not eat. (1 Samuel 1:7 AMP)

God bless!

        God is for you! He will not allow anyone to have their way with you. At times it may seem like they are but we must remember God is the most Strategic being that ever existed. The truth is what would we prefer, to seem to be winning throughout a process and lose at the end or have difficulties through the process but be victorious? He will guarantee your victory if you trust Him! Who cares what the enemy does, at the end he loses.

Getting my victory groove on!

Pastor Joell

For You deliver an afflicted and humble people but will bring down those with haughty looks. (Psalm 18:27 AMP)

God bless!

        Have you ever felt so alone, deserted, in despair, enough to look around and realize that there is no one there to make you feel differently? After the water works (tears) flow have you been able to take the time to think of God? Speaking from my own personal moments of loneliness I can say that in the deepest, darkest moments after I allowed my emotions to catch up to my life style (trust me at times we get too busy to even feel emotions) I've always been able to assure myself that despite my failures and those of the ones around me, He always is my true constant. Many make God a "variable" in their life (option), I realize He is my "Constant" (base). He doesn't change, He doesn't forget, He doesn't fail. He is on time all the time! He is the one thing we can count on in life, so why make Him an option? Why not make Him our constant and build around Him rather than trying to build around ourselves and putting Him where we see He may fit. As the verse says below: "I have no good beside or beyond You.".

Loving my Constant

Pastor Joell

I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good beside or beyond You. (Psalm 16:2 AMP)

God bless!

      Have you ever felt like the person in charge, responsible for or above you was wrong about a decision or direction? How did you react? Did you go with the flow of things and see things play out? Did you fight the direction and eventually separate yourself from that authority? Did you simply ignore the direction and continue to do things your way? Which did you choose? If we read the verse below we realize that there is only one right choice. Now let me put in my disclaimer: we never follow or adapt to SIN*, in other words authorities that lead you to sin are not to be regarded as the authority mentioned below. On the flip side are we desiring sin? Is our direction the sinful one? This isn't always something we can answer so swiftly as sin is very devious and sly, we must invest time into determining our intentions and those of others. What's my point today? It's simply that we have to take time in making decisions as whatever decisions we make will lead us to either prosperity or Ill judgment. I can't speak for you but I'd rather wait than regret.

Pastor JOELL

Therefore he who resists and sets himself up against the authorities resists what God has appointed and arranged [in divine order]. And those who resist will bring down judgment upon themselves [receiving the penalty due them]. (Romans 13:2 AMP)

Have you ever shared a dream or vision or desire with someone who does not share the same sentiment? Have you ever walked with someone you were not in agreement with and/or someone who voiced their opinion against yours? How did that make you feel? I am sure you felt bad or frustrated and maybe even angry and disappointed because you trusted in them with something so special to you, to then have it crushed and discarded.

I come to tell you today, dot be discouraged, don’t be dismayed, don’t lose hope and absolutely don’t give up on what you know you were created to do!!! It doesn’t matter how old you are, how young you are, how much you messed up and what you failed to do. God is still for you and He has predestined you even before the womb of your mother for something greater. That is why He birthed that desire in you and gave you the talent (gift, anointing) to do it. It doesn’t matter if no one else believes in you as long as you know you are walking in what God called you to do, then get up and do it! God doesn’t need anyone else’s faith to fulfill His plan and purpose in your life, so it doesn’t matter what they think. God only needs your faith in Him, for Him to move on your behalf!

Stop throwing your pearls (dreams, hopes and desires) to the hogs!

Pastor Elizabeth Perez

Matthew 7:6 “Do not give that which is holy (the sacred thing) to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before hogs, lest they trample upon them with their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.”

God bless you,

When we say that we have surrendered everything to God, is that really true? I am not going to go too deep into this today, let's just focus on one simple thing but surely an important one. Are our eyes consecrated to God as well as other parts? Who do your eyes belong to? What are we looking at? Seriously, think about this for a moment. What are you looking at? I am not referring to us looking at other humans alone, is everything else as well...everything our eyes look at will in one way or another affect us now or later. Any image whether is in real life or through film, pictures, drawings or any other format could seriously affect our thoughts and our heart even if it's just for a split second it stays with us, sometimes...forever. This issue has existed in humanity from the very beginning. Let's remember Eve, "The woman could see that the tree was beautiful and the fruit looked so good to eat..." Genesis 3:6 She looked at the tree, something God had already warned them to stay away from. It must have been way more than just a quick, innocent glance because she was able to tell that the tree was beautiful and that its fruit looked delicious. We all know what happened after that. Let's keep our eyes focused on God and him alone!! If we can't do that, what makes us think we could handle our hearts? What are you looking at?

Pastor Laura Palacios

God Bless you,

Everywhere we look, we’ll find rules to follow; at home, at work, at school, at church, at the gym, in the street, in a plane, etc…this life is full of rules whether we like them or not. Most of these are meant to keep us away from trouble, to keep us safe or to keep us focused on a goal. We hear about rules since we are children. We learn that breaking the rules is a bad thing or at least that it has a negative consequence. I am personally someone that likes rules because they help me stay focused and keep things in order; most rules are meant for our good. What is the point of talking about rules today? I’ll keep it simple, just like the verses tell us today, “we cannot be ruled by our sinful selves”. There is no point in following earthly rules if at the end we are slaved to sin!! If we let our flesh make and run the rules we are in serious trouble!! What is the point of following the rules at church, at home, at work, etc. if deep inside we know that we sin “on the side”? Sin is sin and it chains us to evil…Jesus wants us free!! He paid the price for our freedom!! He wants us to follow his rules so we could have true life. Don’t follow rules blindly or out of a routine, do it consciously and with a purpose…let the Holy Spirit be your guide.

Pastor Laura Palacios

Romans 8:12-13 (ERV) “So, my brothers and sisters, we must not be ruled by our sinful selves. We must not live the way our sinful selves want.  If you use your lives to do what your sinful selves want, you will die spiritually. But if you use the Spirit’s help to stop doing the wrong things you do with your body, you will have true life.”

It would be silly to think that we would receive an inheritance from a Billionaire stranger, right? Well of course! Why would a complete stranger even want to talk to us, much less leave us an inheritance. God sent His only son to His own (His creation, His chosen), unfortunately He was rejected by most. I can’t even imagine how broken hearted He must have felt and even now, how He still hurts when we don’t accept what He gave up for us. Jesus paid a price that no one else could pay and carried a load no one else could carry and He did it for you and for me! Let’s not be counted as those who reject Him but instead accept all the goodness He has set before us to choose. He has given us His Name and inheritance and all that is good according to His riches and Glory, so let’s just reach for it and make it ours and thank Him for all He has done!

I am a child of the Most High God!

Pastor Elizabeth Perez

John 1:11-12 “He came to that which belonged to Him [to His own—His domain, creation, things, world], and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.¹² But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name.”

God bless!

              Have you ever had a goal in life but something kept taking your focus off of that goal? Maybe you were 90% to the goal but something swayed you from completing the task. Now to be clear my example relates to something righteous as many could use this as motivation to do wrong and that is surely not my desire. The reason I’m talking about this today is because too many of us allow ourselves to complete parts of tasks but we want 100% of the benefit and things in life don’t work that way. I’m sure I’m bursting some bubbles today but mediocrity is a curse and God did not call us to be mediocre! God called you to fulfill your tasks! He called you to have Good Success! He called you to complete His Will and His Will is not half good it is all good! I motivate you today to remember His promise for your life, go the extra mile, realize He hasn’t forgotten you and He will never forget you. Put your mind to the task at hand today and push past the distractions. You can do it!

Pastor Joell