God bless awesome people,

How many of you remember that song we all grew up singing "Father Abraham had many sons...I am one of them and so are you..." Well many of us grew up singing that song and as children we didn't really understand the promise behind the song and there are many who still don't. How can we put a demand on a promise that we don’t even know exist? We have been given an enormous inheritance that is more valuable than winning millions in a lottery because the lottery money you win is limited to this earth, but the inheritance we gain through "Father Abraham" whose Father is the Father of all (God the Creator), surpasses this life and continues in eternity! I don’t know about you, but what can a man profit here that is so worth losing his soul?

Go ahead look around and achieve all you can and acquire all you can and stop looking down where the devil lives and to the place where he is which are under your feet! Because Gods promise to you was laid up for you as you read in the verse below, but understand that it is through Jesus Christ that gives us the strength and ability and never forget whom to give glory too!

Genesis 13:14-15New International Version ¹⁴ the Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. ¹⁵ All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever."(NIV)

Hello friends,

    I don't know about you but there have been many times in my life where I walked around down and out and feeling miserable and never understanding or knowing why? Am I alone on this? Have you ever wondered or maybe even attributed your sentiment to someone or maybe even a reason or condition that you are currently struggling with in your life? I am not saying that there are certain circumstances that can very much be justifiable as to causing such sentiment, but there is a greater factor that if we got a hold of, we could be able to overcome our rollercoaster of emotions which in some instances cause us to walk around in defeat and feeling miserable and hopeless.

As we read in the verse below, we can conclude that our lack of joy and peace is due to our hopelessness that comes from our lack of faith. As you read carefully there is an ingredient that leads up to joy and peace and that ingredient is trusting in God (meaning- having faith in Him). When we believe without a doubt that God is working on our behalf and only wishes the best for us and when we are walking in His commandments and fully trusting His Word, no matter what obstacles or apparent hindrances may come our way, His joy and peace will always abide in us. That is His equation, His promise, His Word that never fails and never returns void or without a result. Faith comes by hearing the word of God, so get filled with His word and you will be filled with His faith that will in turn bring you peace and joy. If as a Christian we are still anxious and never at rest then ask God to allow you to surrender your burden to Him because the lack of trusting in God, that He can carry your burden, is pulling you down and handing you anxiety instead of joy and peace. There more we (TRULY from our heart and soul) trust in God, the more that will equate in peace and joy!

On my way to seeking You more Lord, Pastor Elizabeth Z. Perez

Romans 15:13 "¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (NIV)

God bless,

          Have you ever heard that saying "the bad apple spoiled the bunch"? Well it is a saying that holds a lot of truth and it is filled with much wisdom. For those who have experienced one bad apple spoiling the remainder in the bag they bought at the market this saying does make a lot of sense! This can also be said about mindsets and about people. Have you ever been around a person that just sucked the life out of you? You came in to work or home or even church with a positive attitude and all of a sudden "Negative Nelly" and her negativity drained the joy you may have walked in with. It is very true of that expression "Misery loves company", but we have to stand our ground and tell those around us that keep dampening our mood that, negativity will only produce negativity! People who are filled with misery and a low self image and esteem will always have a negative comment to attribute even if everything else is perfect. They will always find the one thing that was a little off or a reason for why something is not good or why it will never work! They will always have something to say, add, comment or refute because of their own feelings within themselves.

Today I encourage you to put aside all of that negativity and maybe even your own mindset and ask God to fill you with His word and His thoughts that are always of good and not of evil (Jeremiah 29:11). Stop giving ear to the "Negative Nellie’s" in your life and fill yourself up with the goodness of God and let it take route in your heart because the more you fill yourself with God, the more of Him will reflect from you unto others. You will overtake negativity with positivity in those surrounding you and if you are the negative mindset, then God will make you feel so good that you won’t feel the need to look upon others short comings and spew anymore negativity!

2 Corinthians 10:5 "⁵ we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."(NIV)

Blessings from above,

How many of you have been on a road trip? How long did it take you to plan for it? I am sure that it was not a small undertaking, as from my own experience I can share that there is a lot of work involved before, during and after!

I have learned throughout my life that there are two kinds of people, those that anxiously want to hurry up and reach their destination and those that like to relax and enjoy the journey. I am not saying that the destination is a bad thing to desire, nor is the preparing and working to achieve it beforehand and during, a bad thing either. A wise man in the Bible once spoke of admiring the ants and how they live (King Solomon-the wisest man ever known). He understood that even with all of his responsibilities and occupations, there was so much beauty in God’s creation and we should all take time to enjoy its splendor because in those moments, he knew that we would also gain wisdom.

What good is it to rush through life and trample everyone you love and miss out on love and great friends and burn bridges just to achieve and/or reach your destination, if when you finally get there, there is no one left to share that achievement? And if someone is left, it is not who really mattered or who we really loved or wanted there to begin with? If because of our focus on reaching the end, we hurt, mistreat, offend, abandon and burn those whom are around during the journey and they are now gone, was the final destination really an achievement? Or would we have achieved more in enjoying the journey even if it took a little longer and really took the time to appreciate every detail and gained knowledge in the process as well as gained love and affection and healthy relationships that will also be at the final destination to support and cheer me on?

Don't undermine the little things in life because in the end they hold the most value and if it wasn’t because of your love and faithfulness in the small things, you would not have achieved the greater. Because even the hurt and lack that you may have endured pushed you to get where you are today and if you are not there yet then Ii encourage you to enjoy the journey to your final destination.

Enjoying my journey, Pastor Elizabeth Perez

Matthew 6:34 “³⁴ therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (NIV)

God Bless You!

God’s delay does not mean his denial!! It’s true that we do not always receive what we want or desire the moment we think of it and this is the case in almost every area of our life. As we pray and beg God for certain things, we set deadlines and targets in the process, forgetting that God’s timing and way of doing things, is very different than our own. I once read a quote that relates to this which read, “Sometimes God answers our prayers with YES, other times with NO, and other times with: “WAIT, I have something better.” God has a perfect plan for each of us and many times he makes us wait for certain things only because he is a Great, Loving Father and he is still preparing us to receive only his very best. He doesn’t want to give us mediocre blessings which will totally be out of character for him; he wants us to be blessed beyond our wildest dreams with His very best. Let’s remember that as we patiently wait on him (quietly and steadily persevering with diligence and endurance)  during this “waiting process”, he is carving our character to be like his son Jesus; he is drawing us closer and closer to him with his strings of love; all we have to do is rejoice for the imminent victory and praise him with all our heart. I remind you as I remind myself today: “TRUST HIM & PRAISE HIM!!” He knows what is best and he knows exactly when to make it happen! Just like he did for Paul and Silas, he will shake the earth if needed to answer your prayer!

Pastor Laura Palacios

Acts 16: 25-26 “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the jail to its foundations. The doors opened, and the chains fell from all the prisoners.”

God bless!

          What are we saved by? Is it by our actions? By the money we give in church? By the good deeds we do? By the apparent sacrifices we make? No, not by any of these. Don't get me wrong these are all good things to do but they don't provide salvation to any of us. They are simply reflections of our understanding of Gods Grace. Our salvation only comes from Him. If it weren't for Jesus none of us would be saved. Why is this important today? The reason is we have to always keep in mind that we don't gain salvation through any action or deed that we do, we couldn't save ourselves if we tried (sorry just being honest). The only avenue to salvation is Jesus Christ. Today I encourage you as I do myself to do good but do it because He's been good to us not because we think we are working our own way into heaven. Just keeping it real.

Pastor Joell A. Perez

But we believe that we are saved through the grace (the undeserved favor and mercy) of the Lord Jesus, just as they [are]. (Acts 15:11 AMP)

God bless!

          As Christians we all want to do the "right" thing. Is it easy? Of course not but the desire is within us. Part of this desire is to embrace and love on all of God’s creation but there is a careful measure we must all keep before doing the "right" thing because it could be wrong (don't kill me yet... Keep reading). Many of us make it a personal project to save a certain person or group because of some connection we may share, this is good but we have to be on the lookout for problems that may exist with these individuals. Of course let me be clear and say : we all have problems but there is a difference when acceptance of the problem exists or doesn't. In the verse below we see how a group of non-believers not only were bitter but promoted their bitterness against the people who were doing the "right" thing. Why? I guess it's best said this way: misery loves company. Am I saying to avoid or not talk to someone? No, what I'm saying is be open to the voice of God and if something is suspect then address it and don't allow things to linger simply because you are trying to do the "right" thing. Doing the "right" thing for the "wrong" mindset/ person can be Wrong....

Pastor Joell A. Perez

But the unbelieving Jews [who rejected their message] aroused the Gentiles and embittered their minds against the brethren. (Acts 14:2 AMP

God bless!

     Why not smile? Why not be a symbolism of happiness wherever you go? What do we lose in trying? I encourage you today to pick your head up and realize how blessed you really are! All things considered don’t you have it pretty good? Consider people throughout the world that don’t have enough to eat or a place to sleep. Who has it worse? Let’s put things into perspective today and smile because when all is said and done we are blessed!

Pastor Joell A. Perez

God bless!

        Would you have ever thought that religion was bad for you? Don't get what I'm going to share with you today twisted, but the truth is holding on to religion (circumcision in traditional Biblical terms) is not the same as holding on to God. From the verse below you can tell how Paul himself understood this truth. Holding on to religion is a sign of distrust because religion is based on acts and not faith or Grace for that matter. The only truth that will lead us to God is a true relationship with Him. It's like a sports fan, they may love the team they support but that doesn't mean they know them personally. Their cheering will never gain them Grace, only a true relationship will do that. The same concept applies to God, do we know Him or do we know of Him? One will lead us to heaven where the other will lead us nowhere.

Pastor Joell A. Perez

Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no profit (advantage, avail) to you [for if you distrust Him, you can gain nothing from Him]. (Galatians 5:2 AMP)

Romans 8:1 Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.

God bless!

      Have you ever sat down and considered how far you have come in your walk with Christ? How much change has evolved in and through you? How many people your change has influenced through the years? If you are able to do this turning back will seem the way it actually is: pointless! You have not walked this far to turn back now. Are things difficult? Sure, but that doesn't make them impossible. Grab on to Him as He is grabbing on to you. Once this happens you will see His support and you will be able to push through the distractions. I guarantee this because He stands behind it.

Pastor Joell A. Perez

Now, however, that you have come to be acquainted with and understand and know [the true] God, or rather to be understood and known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly and worthless elementary things [of all religions before Christ came], whose slaves you once more want to become? (Galatians 4:9 AMP)

God Bless You!

          Did you wake up this morning unsure of what’s coming your way? Are you feeling uncertain of what your true destiny is? Are you feeling lost in the commotion of your daily tasks and responsibilities? Are your routines becoming tedious? Why so many questions you may ask…I must admit that many mornings I wake up asking myself these questions and more; this happens because the enemy is constantly trying to penetrate his favorite battlefield…our mind and thoughts. I encourage you today just like I had to do earlier, shake it off...kick him out of your life!! You are God’s precious treasure and your destiny is in the palm of his hand. God’s love for us is persistent and relentless and mercifully, he never runs out of patience with us. He will lead us to fulfill his perfect and magnificent will in our lives. The dictionary describes destiny as, “the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future”…Your future is in God’s hands and his power which dwells in you, will lead you and me to a “glorious destiny”…keep doing your part and God will do his.

Pastor Laura Palacios

 Psalms 73:24 “You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.”

God bless!

          Have you ever wondered when the time was right to act on a promise? Ever been frustrated because you felt on “Pause”, well the time to act is now! How do I know? The answer is found in the first sentence of this verse “David INQUIRED of the Lord”. Have you inquired of the Lord in your situation? If you have then you will clearly hear and understand His will. But what if you pray and you just don’t seem to hear what you are looking for? The problem is you may be looking for the answer you want and not listening to the answer He is telling you (sorry I’m blunt but Christianity is about change). So what do  we do? Clear your mind, go back to your prayer closet and seek His face. The one constant that made David a man after God’s own heart was his ability to seek God. This was the first step in “acting now” for David. Shouldn’t it be ours? Once we are able to take step one then we will begin the process of overtaking the enemy and his plans! Your time is NOW!

Pastor Joell A. Perez

1 Samuel 30:8 “And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? The Lord answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

God bless!

          Does it annoy you when you cross paths with someone who is simply high on "themselves"? Some think so highly of themselves that they will talk in third person or even refer to themselves as a deity of some sort. It's simply sad. Why am I speaking of this? The reason I am is because it’s important to understand that in our Christian walk our personal interpretation of our walk or place is irrelevant. It only matters what God thinks of us/! If He doesn't see us as being right then no matter how much we try we are still wrong. The moral today is we should feel good about ourselves but let's allow God to determine if we are actually doing good! A humble heart is a righteous heart.

Pastor Joell A. Perez

For [it is] not [the man] who praises and commends himself who is approved and accepted, but [it is the person] whom the Lord accredits and commends. (2 Corinthians 10:18 AMP)

God bless!

        Have you ever been discouraged towards someone for not believing what you believe in? The verse today clarifies something that is important for us to be aware of, unbelievers are blind. It's not that they don't want to see what you see but they simply can’t! So what do we do? We have to go back to the Good book. When we do, as we research we will notice that it tells us that we have the ability to heal the sick, restore vision to the blind, allow the deaf to hear and on and on. All this in the Name of Jesus! So how do we approach them? Showing them how we received the gift of seeing. The problem is many of us want to talk them to healing but the truth is talk is cheap! We have to show them how we've achieved it. This will lead them to be motivated enough to believe because they will see the testimony in you of how it is possible through your results! The best form of making non-believers, believe is simply being transparent. Not acting holy but showing them who you were, who you are and who you are in process of becoming! Less words and more action.

Pastor Joell A. Perez

For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers' minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4 AMP)

God bless!

        Ministry has to be one of the hardest things to do in life. Anyone who thinks ministry is easy is simply not being realistic. It is a great deal of work and it has no "schedule" or limits. So why take part of it? I guess speaking from my own reasoning it's simple: I realize how much work is involved on Gods part with regards to getting me into heaven so how can I bicker about being a part of a ministry? How can I talk to God about what I sacrifice for Him when He sacrificed His only begotten Son? My sacrifice is tiny in comparison! When I think of this it reboots my personal internal computer and reminds me that I am not alone in this. God is with me now and always and ultimately has sworn to bless me. Neither you nor I will be left alone and we will not faint! All we have to do is hold on tight to our God!

Pastor Joell A. Perez

THEREFORE, SINCE we do hold and engage in this ministry by the mercy of God [granting us favor, benefits, opportunities, and especially salvation], we do not get discouraged (spiritless and despondent with fear) or become faint with weariness and exhaustion. (2 Corinthians 4:1 AMP)

God bless!

          Are you like me with regards to being anxious for my blessings? I can’t speak for you but at times I get so frustrated because I just don’t see things coming to pass as I would like. Then I ask myself: is life supposed to go the way I want it to or the way I need it to? At this point I usually thank God for His wisdom with dealing with me and I regain a great deal of understanding. It has to be at His time and not mine as He has a greater perspective and any movement out of time can cause a great delay and great deal of hurt that frankly I don’t want to deal with. I leave you today with a bit of my realistic issues because I’m sure I’m not the only one that deals with this. You are not alone and neither am I! We just have to remain patient as our blessing is right around the corner!

Pastor Joell A. Perez

Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven”

God bless!

         Your call is no mistake. Your gift is not just a figment of your imagination! You have been formed to do great things. You have been formed to help others, to lift those that are down. You have been made with the intention of being a blessing to all those around you. Don’t believe it? Then WAKE up! The verse below reminds you that He will not leave you, He has sworn a covenant to you. You will be and are a blessing to those around you. It’s time to take your place and shine like the light that He has formed you to be!

Pastor Joell Perez

Isaiah 42:6-7 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind,  to free captives from prison  and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

God bless!

         Have you ever borrowed something from someone and had some issues returning it later? Did you get that feeling of despair in your gut because you wanted to return it but simply couldn't find a way? Can you imagine if the person you owed it to simply released you from returning it during that time of despair? Wouldn't that be simply awesome? I would say the greatest example of releasing someone of a debt we have encountered is that of Jesus dying on the cross to release us of our debt of sin. So why am I talking about this today? Being that He has released us of many of our debts, shouldn't we do the same to others? In the verse below it talks about the time that was allocated for that release in biblical times but what about today? Many of us have others held in a "soul captivity" due to money, hurt, favors or other outstanding issues but unfortunately at times those others aren't even aware of it or they simply don't care. So who suffers? Let's reset the clock today on debts (at least the emotional ones!) as He reset our clock many years ago.

Realizing God is my Justice!

Pastor Joell A. Perez

Deuteronomy 15:1 "AT THE end of every seven years you shall grant a release."

God bless!

      Have you ever heard that expression “don’t kill the messenger”? I’m sure you have but how many of us have really taken time to review our reaction once the message is delivered? I can’t speak for others but usually my reaction to the messenger is a bit sour J (when it’s a bad message that is). It may not have been that persons message but in my mind I say “it was that person’s mouth!”. Now this works both ways, what would your reaction be if someone brought you a message that you won a great sum of money? Would you not hug that person and celebrate with them? Of course we would! Now why am I talking about this today? It’s simple, in the scriptures we see many men and women of God that were beaten and abused due to their call, they did what they were instructed to do but for some reason people didn’t deal directly with the person sending the message but rather exhausted their frustration on the messenger.  This is just wrong! Many of us in life still carry this same reaction to the messengers in life, we listen to those that bring us “good” news but what about those that bring us correction or are simply passing a message along? Speaking from a parents perspective I can tell you my kids never want to hear me correct them but they sure do enjoy the blessings I share with them. Are we the same way with God? Do we pick and choose what we want to hear from Him? Do we search for a place and people that only will share “good” news with us but not news that’s “good” for us. As a parent we never want to harm our kids and a great deal of the things we share with them is correction, but don’t we do it because we want to see them excel? Don’t we bring correction so there is harmony and growth in their lives? Don’t we share things with them so they don’t have to go through what we’ve gone through? God does the same with us, He simply wants to guide us and bless us but we can’t “choose” only what we want to hear because that isn’t wisdom but rather being being spoiled. Now God has lifted men and women in our lives to bring us messages and our job is to receive and digest the message whether it is sweet our sour to our ears. Remember don’t kill this messenger!

Pastor Joell A. Perez

God bless!

You are a child of the most High!

You are like the apple of His eye!

You are His chosen people!

You are His prized possession!

You are His masterpiece!

You are His anointed one!

You are His smile!

You are His!

Don’t forget it!