"Love my neighbor? I don't even know them."

Referenced Scriptures: Matthew 22:36-39, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9, James 3:9

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Thisis the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."(Matthew 22:36-39 ESV)

In Matthew 22:36-39 we see an conversation as Jesus is asked by the "religious folk" what is the greatest commandment. The response Jesus gave them (and us) is sobering. Jesus said that we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, soul, and mind. Now for most of us this is a given and not a difficult thing to do. I mean how can you not love God, when you truly understand all that He did just because He loves us (John 3:16)? So, check that one off, love God, got it. The next part is where I admittedly fall short even to this day from time to time. I am also supposed to love my neighbor as I love myself; what?! Is this seriously something that Jesus is saying is just as important as loving God?? Can I honestly say that I have love for those around me in the same way I love myself? Honestly, NO,I can’t say that I do; at least not all the time. I tend to get irritated way too much and I tend to allow my own circumstances and selfish desires to dictate how I react to people. That is just not right and I can pretty much guarantee that it does not please God. So if this is part of the greatest commandment how are we supposed to do it? There is only one way, through Christ. 

I honestly believe that loving others as you love yourself is completely impossible to do if you firstdo not have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Oh sure we can fool ourselves and even those around us, which is what I did for so many years of my life with people. I'd show love when they were around but the minute they were out of earshot I had something negative or condescending to say or think. It wasn't until I really began to seek God and press into the Bible that the love of Christ became real to me. Prior to this I was just your typical poster childfor a religion, "I go to church on Sunday, I don't swear, I read my Bible sometimes...My name is Eric Ferrera and I'm a Christian..." Imean come on how lame is that? It's not about any religion; it's about a relationship! That phrase has become pretty common church lingo nowadays andI've heard it my whole life, but it makes sense because that relationship is something tangible and very real to me now.

I urge you to examine your actions, motives and internal conversations with yourself. What is being said in the quiet places of your mind that only you and God can hear? Do your actions when dealing with others match what is going on inside? For a long time mine didn't. I had to get real honest with myself, answer some hard questions and admit that I was being fake and lying to those around me, myself and God. In the process of faking to love others I was completely overlooking another one of God's commands. I was now guilty of bearing false witness, or lying. Whoa! Talk about a wake-up call. Now through studying God's Word and prayer God is working this out in me. Now, I'm not saying that I love everyone all the time and I run around hugging people and handing out flowers and chocolates, but I am saying I am much more aware of how I treat those around me. Am I reacting out of love or out of frustration? This "awareness" is the Holy Spirit prompting me and guiding me to make the right choices when dealing with people. These "people" who are made in likeness of God Himself (James 3:9). I do still slip up sometimes and fail to react in love, but praise God that we know His grace is sufficient when we are weak (2 Corinthians 12:9).

It's a process people and it's in the process that we are fashioned and molded into the image of our wonderful Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. So don't give up, hang in there and stay close to God and His Word. 

Take Care & God Bless,

-E

"Sexual Immorality is Pornography"

Referenced Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 18, Matthew 5:28, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5,

2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Samuel 2:11, Psalm 51, Joshua 1:8, Mark 14:38, 1 Corinthians 10:13

Jeremiah 33:3, Psalm 50:15

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. – 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

So time to get into the “being real” aspect of this blog yet again and I have come to learn these are generally the most uncomfortable ones for me to share. Sexual Immorality; what is it? I had read and heard it most of my life but never really had a firm understanding for myself of what exactly this meant. This was one of the areas where I thought I knew what the Bible was talking about but as I began to dig deeper the revelation that God brought forth was staggering. I urge you to question your beliefs, research them for yourselves and be sure that they can be found in the Bible. I am coming to realize that much of my generation is oppressed by the ideology of past generations and although they mean well some of their beliefs are not even able to be found Biblically justifiable. When challenged all they can generally say is, “That's just how I was raised.” So if someone can’t show you Biblical foundation for a specific belief or doctrine should we really be implementing it into our own life as a fact?

Sorry, I digress, on to the study of “Sexual Immorality”. Did  you know that when you go back to the original Greek writings of the New Testament the word used for sexual immorality was πορνεια or porne pronounced (por-ni’-ah). This is what shocked me; Porne is the origin root of where we get the word "Pornography" in today’s English language. Did you catch that?? Pornography! So to unpack this one even further the word porne is defined 1) illicit sexual intercourse 1a) adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc. This isn’t coming from my opinion I am just reading the Bible and digging a little deeper than most people would. Paul and other Biblical authors through the inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16) are instructing believers to abstain from illicit sexual intercourse, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals that sort of sounds like Pornography to me. Wow, really think about that for bit.

Now on to the “being real” aspect of this study, I myself have dealt with various forms of Sexual Immorality in my life in one way or another. I don't even have the time to explain the damage pornography has on a person's mind but trust me porn isn't a harmless thing. Pornography was always a big deal amongst the guys I used to hang out with and sure enough if you didn’t talk about it and fit right in with the crowd you were pretty much a nerd, a loser and not a "real man". For this reason and others I was heavily involved with it from a pretty young age and it quickly consumed me until I had to start attempting to act out the fantasies I was seeing in images, movies & magazines. The actual number of my sexual partners (prior to my marriage) is truly unknown. One compromise after another I soon found myself sexually involved with a married woman; I by definition was an adulterer. All this had started with just one glance at something I shouldn’t have ever glanced at in the first place. Through this self-constructed valley, I was led back to God and restored I also found great comfort and encouragement through the account of King David's life in 2 Samuel 11 & Psalm 51. Something that I find rather ironic about Pornography is how openly this topic is received outside the church where it's just normal, accepted and almost expected but no one ever really talks about it in the church and I guarantee you that it affects many men, women, and even children attending your church today.

You see God instructs us in areas of our lives because we are not meant to take on all the baggage that comes with doing things outside His Will. Sex is a wonderful God-given thing to be enjoyed within the bounds of marriage. I know that in today’s modern society this is not a popular thing to say but it’s evident that Sexual Immorality (aka Pornography) is a cancer consuming our generation; just turn on prime-time TV for 10 minutes and I promise you’ll see some form of it. Now according to Paul’s account we can see that Sexual Immorality has been around for centuries; however, the times are much different now. I believe it’s much more difficult to avoid the “suggestions” that are blatantly thrown in our faces day in and day out. With technology and information at our fingertips these things seem to be around every corner. The only way to combat these things is to really guard what you allow your eyes to see (2 Samuel 11:2), stay in God’s word (Joshua 1:8) and pray (Mark 14:38). God can and will help you with this if it is an area that you struggle with and I am proof of that. You just need to ask Him to help you (Jeremiah 33:3, Psalm 50:15). Now, I am by no means saying that I am never tempted in this area anymore but through God’s grace I can now recognize the signs of my weakness and lean on His strength to find the way out (1 Cor 10:13) when temptation does come and believe me it will come. If you do need help call out to God in prayer; I also recommend very good Christ-based study course that I completed some time ago. I found that it really did help me in this area of my life and it was instrumental to help get me to another level in Christ. The course is free and you can check it out --> Setting The Captives Free (Sexual Purity)

Take Care & God Bless 

-E

"My Grace Is Sufficient"

Referenced Scripture(s): 2 Corinthians 10:5, Proverbs 24:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9

Today during my morning devotional time I knew that I needed to hear from God because the past week or so the mental attacks that have been coming from every direction. I would find my mind drifting off and thinking about past failures and what I like to call "screw ups" that I have made in my past. I would stand on 2 Corinthians 10:5 that reminds us that we are to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. So after battling this now for about a week or so God spoke in a very real and personal way, but once again He said this word is not just for you. He wanted me to share this with you as well.

It started with me speaking this dialog to the Lord in prayer, "Father, I don't want to keep screwing up & constantly relying on Your Grace."

The Lord responded, "That is what it's there for (2 Corinthians 12:9) and I know your heart and the the hearts of all people. Trust me, I can tell when someone is truly in need of my grace and when someone is just blatantly abusing my grace. You do make me proud because you consistently get back up and that just confirms Proverbs 24:16 (ERV), "Good people might fall again and again, but they always get up." You get back up, dust yourself off, repent and keep on running the race I have called you to run. If this was an "easy thing" then everyone would be a "true believer", but you are seeking to know Me in ways that most are not and because of that the attacks that come against you will be at a greater level. This is what makes Me so proud to call you one of My children."

This really blessed me and was such a timely word for me and the fact that God asked me to share it with you confirms that this is something that we all need to know. So I pray this encourages and blesses you as it did so much to me.

Below is a song that I was praying along with and it never fails that when I get alone with God in prayer and this song is on; God seems to always speak. There is a powerful anointing on this song, so check it out.

“It’s not dead but sleeping”

Scripture Referenced: Matthew 9:18-26 (ESV)

While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” – Matthew 9:18

In this portion of scripture we read about a man that came to Jesus because he thought something (his daughter) that was near and dear to him was dead and in the physical she did indeed look to be dead. The man turned to Jesus as a last resort because in the natural there wasn’t anything left he could do. This man was now ready to put all his faith in Jesus and trust that he could revive his daughter. When Jesus approached the man’s home he dismissed the crowds but not before he made this statement, “the girl is not dead but sleeping.” When the crowd heard this they responded with laughter, but in the end Jesus did in fact bring life back to the thing that this man thought was dead.

What in your life have you written off as being dead? 

We all have dreams, goals, visions & desires for our lives and some of them are put there directly by God. If you can find it in His word and it clearly will bring glory to His name then there is a pretty good chance that it’s a Biblical promise that God wants to give his children (us) in due time. Our part is just to believe and trust that He will do what His word says He will do and abandon all fear and doubt. Look, life isn’t always fair, we live in a fallen world that is infected with sin and this can be a dream-killer and a hope-stealer, but just like the man in Matthew 9 (18-26) we need to give it all to Jesus and put all faith, hope and dependency in Him. By doing this we are allowing Jesus to touch and revive that which we thought was dead. This really spoke to me today and I’m not 100% sure where it applies to me specifically but I trust that God will reveal it in the days to come. I myself have felt like some dreams I’ve had in the past do indeed in the natural look to be dead; but, I honestly believe that Jesus spoke to me today through God's word and is now prompting me to tell you as well, “your dreams are not dead but sleeping.”

Take Care & God Bless

-E

"Are You There?"

 Scriptures: Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 3:5-6, &  Psalm 109:1

What are we supposed to do when we have things in our lives that seem so overwhelming and we are not hearing anything from God? That's a question that I believe we have all asked at one time or another in our lives. Recently, there has been a one of these "things" in my life that I have been waiting on God for some direction and yet He remains silent. There are times in my life when God has been silent but never for this amount of time. In the book of Psalm (109:1) there is also some indication that the silence of God is not a new thing. So why does He do this? Well, I have figured out the answer. Are you ready to find out why God is silent in our lives from time to time? The reason is because He is God (and we are not) and He knows best. Although these times of waiting on God and seeking God for direction are sometimes like crawling around in the dark it's in these times that we are usually so desperately seeking Him and leaning on Him for absolutely everything.


When I was in prayer about this today I believe God gave me some clarity on this. Sometimes what we pray for is a good thing but the timing of our character and maturity is just not where it needs to be to carry this thing out to completion yet. We think we are ready but like a child we can't see everything our Father can see. He knows the beginning from the end and I can almost hear him pleading in tears, "If I give you this now it will take away from the plan I have for you." So rather than God just telling us "No, not right now" over and over again I believe He just stops answering us. He can see that if He allows this at the wrong time it can cause more harm than good. I am absolutely positive it hurts Him to see His children hurt when life just doesn't make sense, but on the other hand I can hear Him saying, "Just trust me, I can walk through this with you if you let me."


So what are we supposed to do during the process? We do what we know God has instructed us to do; pray, study His word, go to church, do something for someone else, we are supposed to let this "thing" go into His hands and this tells Him, "Yes, Lord I do trust in You." These are easy things to say but they are a little bit harder to walk out on a daily basis when this "thing" in our lives seems to be insurmountable. All we need to do is trust, that is the word that I keep getting; trust, which defined means to have a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.


"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13


"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6


Take Care & God Bless,


-E

"Doing the right thing"

Scripture referenced Genesis 39, 45:4-8

In Genesis 39 we see a very interesting chain of events. The story picks up here with Joseph. He was sold into slavery by his own brothers to one of Pharaoh’s officers named Potiphar. In Genesis 39:2, we read that God was with Joseph and because of this God elevated him (Joseph) into a position of authority within Potiphar’s house. Joseph was put in charge of everything within Potiphar’s home. This responsibility came with higher visibility as well. So much so, that Potiphar’s wife began eye-balling Joseph and eventually wants him to sleep with her. I think we can all agree, this is NOT the right thing to do and Joseph knew that as well. Potiphar’s wife made attempt after attempt at Joseph (sin is persistent) at which point Joseph took off running away from her; he removed himself from the situation (the right thing to do). So since Joseph did the right thing he lived happily ever after from this point, right? Wrong, Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph of rape which in turn caused him to be thrown into prison.

Doing the right thing doesn’t always get the outcome we expect. There was a bigger picture here with Joseph that only God knew (Genesis 45:4-8). Joseph understood this and trusted that God would be faithful as long as he did what he knew was right. How many of us could have had this attitude after being disowned by our family, accused of raping our boss’s wife, and then being tossed into jail? I think I would have really begun to question if God really was in control and take matters into my own hands; we are all guilty of this in some way. We start a new day and vow, “OK, today I will be kind and loving to all I come across,” and then the first time we get cut off in traffic we are ready to use our “tall finger” and tell that bonehead “yeah buddy yup you’re #1 too”, hey I’m guilty of this from time to time as well. We have to consistently do the right (Biblical) thing even if we don’t immediately see right results from it. We have to do the right thing because God’s Word tells us it’s the right thing to do; love God, love others, believe in Jesus, go to church, pray, read the Bible, share the Gospel and eventually God’s plan will be revealed but it may take some time. All we need to do is be consistent in doing the right things and eventually it will all work together for good as Romans 8:28 tells us it will.

Take Care & God Bless,

-E

"Don't Tell Me What To Do!"

*** This blog entry does contain sexual content ***

So today I heard a news story on the radio that was staggering. The story went along and stated the Barna Group recently concluded a five-year study comprised of eight national studies, which was done on teenagers and young adults between the ages of 18 to 29. It found that nearly three out of every five young Christians (59%) disconnect from church life, either permanently or for a long period of time after the age of 15.

When asked a group of teens stated they liked the idea of being in community but were tired of being told what to do. Speaking from experiences I can see both ends of this statement very clearly. When we are told NOT to do something we inevitably want to do that thing it is we were told not to do (see Gen 2:17, 3:6-7). So we as Christians (me included) have at times not responded to others in the right way and have come across as condemning or self-righteous; and yes, I can see how this can be tiring to others. 

On the other hand, what is it exactly that you are “tired of being told not to do”? If a fellow Christian or someone you know walks with the Lord tells you something that can be found Biblically sound then could the issue be something that you should really stop and consider? For example, if a Pastor or a fellow Brother (or Sister) in Christ pulls you aside and out of love tells you, “Hey, I’ve noticed that you have an issue with anger (see Matthew 5:22),” and you take offense to this then your issue is with God’s word and not Christians “telling you what to do”.

Now let me be real again, there was a time for me from the ages of 22-27 (prior to my marriage) where I was living for no one but myself. I was a self-proclaimed womanizer, adulterer and fornicator. I had those around me that told me that I was living outside of God’s will and I was even aware what God’s word said about sexual immorality and fornication yet I self-willingly continued to have the proverbial “notch-on-my-bedpost” mentality.  I remember my attitude at that time towards all Christians/Church-goers/praying family members was, “don’t tell me how to live my life and don’t tell me what do.” I wanted to do what (and who) I wanted to do and whatever/whoever made me feel good. Just being real.

It was only by the grace of God that I escaped that sexual bondage somewhat unscathed.  Physically, God’s grace protected me when I was shall I say “unprotected” but I still deal mentally with many of these choices to this day. So when I think back now, I thank God that I had people in my life telling me, Biblically, what I should do and shouldn’t do (thanks Mom & Dad). 

God had (and still has) a plan for my life as well as yours. He knows best so His commandments aren’t lists of “dos and don’ts” but they’re there to help us avoid pain and issues that we shouldn’t have to deal with. He is basically saying, “Look, things will be a lot better for you on this earth if you don’t go around killing each other” [see Exodus 20:13 & Matthew 5:21-22]. His Word is also saying, “Sex? Yea, it is great and I created it and I want you to have sex; just not with every woman (or man) you see and not outside of my plan (marriage)" [see Exodus 20:14 & Matthew 5:27-28]. When I think about all the pain and anguish sex outside of marriage caused me this just makes way too much sense. We weren’t designed to handle much of the pain we bring upon ourselves and God knows that. This is why He gave us commandments and instructions in His word; it’s like GPS for navigating through life.

So just stop and ask yourself this question. What has doing things your way really brought you in your life up to this point? You’re out all night hoping to find someone that will love you (aka have sex with you), in and out of all the hot spots around town, but at the end of the night you end up home alone, drunk, and/or high knowing there has got to be more to life than this.  Be honest and answer that question to yourself, I bet the answer you come to could be life-changing if you allow it to be. 

Take Care & God Bless,

-E