But the Lord was pleased to crush Him..........Isaiah 53:10

First at all, the person who is writing this article is a sinner, so this is why I am so grateful for this truth because otherwise I would not have hope whatsoever.

This has been the Easter week, and many of us have remember the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of us are going to hear a sermon about the cross, after having watched a movie about Jesus which for some ends being an emotional preparation for Sunday service even tho if it is not intended. 

Since I became a Christian, I've hear many preachers talk about the love of God, and how Jesus died on the cross for us, and the Romans beating him till death. Sometimes sermons will put up picture to make his death graphic so it moves us emotionally, which is normal. I remembered the once I heard a sermon where the preacher said this: "We are not saved because the Romans beated Jesus or because they hanged Him on the cross, that was necessary and is part of it but we mainly are saved because on that cross the Wrath of God was poured upon Him" ........this preacher accompanied the sermon with the passage Isaiah 53. Of all the passage a verse stood out to me “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.”

Isaiah 53:10 NASB

But the Lord was pleased to crush Him........the preacher kept explaining that this mean that the death of Christ was necessary as a propitiation for our sins. No one else could have died, let me put it this way if you or me or any other human being would have tried to die on the cross for the sins of the people, that would have been a complete failure. Because 1. We are sinners who deserve death, so we wouldn't not be paying for the sins of the world but dying as a consequence of our sin. 2. Therefore God wouldn't have been so pleased with a sinful sacrifice because there was not righteousness to be imputed. The Lord was pleased to crush Jesus Christ on the cross, meaning that Jesus being fully human and fully God being obedient to the father in everything, without breaking any law or commandment gives Himself for us. 

I will never forget the words of my teacher Michael Garreau when we were talking about the doctrines of salvation he said: "the Lord was pleased doesn't mean that the Lord was jumping happy because Christ was dying, but what it means is that the demands of the Justice of God were met on Jesus Christ on the cross and His wrath was being satisfied at that moment. Justice which the nature and character of God demands so the sinner could not just be forgiven but also be declared righteous and blameless before God."

What a great do we have, who is so wise and powerful. So many times we look at the cross and we are very self centered about it, we highly everything Jesus did for us. He died for ME, loves ME, He forgave ME, He did it for ME, and we can go forth with more ME, ME and ME. But the demonstration of the Love of God on the cross is an spark of His being, therefore this should lead us to worship Him. Yes it is true that He did it for you, but he did it for you to be something. God showed His love on the cross so we will come to Him, and if we have come to Him, we will love Him. Loving Him demands that we obey his commandments says John 14:15,23; so it means that if we are not obeying Him then we are not loving Him. God was pleased to crush Christ so you can be righteous, obeying and loving God genuinely is not forced by the human efforts but it flows out of a heart that has responded to the sacrifice of Christ in repentance and faith  who's heart has been changed. 

Yes He died for you and He loves you so you will look to Him, so you will be His child and live like one. It doesn't matter how well your doctrine may be or if you believe the right things but if you don't love God and neither obey Him just because you don't want then you need Him. Doesn't matter if you say the right things, or if you say amen in the right parts of the sermon, We Need Him.!!!!! Doesn't matter how pity or how low you think of yourself, you must go to Him. Self-pittiness doesn't mean that we already have come to Him but it should lead us to Him. God will not overlook our hypocrisy doesn't matter how much we pity ourselves or how much we exalt self. 

Brethren, don't let this precious gift becomes so normal and common for you that you are not amazed anymore at the thought that He gave His only begotten son and was pleased to crush Him so our sins are gone and we receive righteousness. Because it's really easy to buy the next Christian book or study bible and conform ourselves with little of Christ while we lead our own lives. But seriously, if He gave His son and was pleased to crush Him, what excuse do you think you have to not give yourself to the one who died for you.

He is risen and He reigns. He will come back for His church, how do you think that he is going to find you? Our holiness is the mark of our thankfulness for the gift of Salvation in Christ, may God not find us ungrateful on that day.

Love

Edher

“Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.”

Psalms 24:7-10 NASB

God is good

Hi Brethren

I know that I've said before that ministry is about learning but I feel as I walk more into it, more things I see. The commitment of people to some things, and the love that other can have for their beloved ones, sometimes its just little acts of service that others do which reminds me of how I ought to walk. Yes, ministry can be really stressful and sometimes you feel that you can't handle it, sometimes you have joyful days and others are more depressing but I am greatly thankful for where I am. Also, even tho if I have many limitations because of my age, status, and time at place, I am here because God wants me to be. God is good brothers and sisters and He place us where He want us, even tho our mistakes, limitations and our sin still there, He remind us of His greatness because is not about who we are but about who He is and what He can do in us.

The church is growing in number in attendance on Sunday, from 3-6 people we have gone to 10-16, and its really cool and exciting. Now, it is growing in number of people, because there is not outward fruit, I can't tell if most people that are starting to come are truly saved, but I am glad they are coming so they can hear the Gospel. And even tho I would like more people to come, my desire is that this group starts to be consistent and God saves them. Visitations are getting better, people are more receptive and accepting more my leadership in the church. People are asking more, people are digging more, people are getting more curious about things, and I work in making my sermons as simple as I can but as sound as they ought to be. Because although I must be clear to them, I must be faithful to God, so receptiveness of people is a great answer to prayer. From the beginning of this year, I've started a series on the book of Ephesians and that  has been good to them for it has raised many important questions. Praise God for that.

There is a family which lives next to the church and they have been attending the church almost every Sunday. This past Monday, their daughter passed away because of Dengue complications and they are now devastated, I am doing everything I can to encouragement but im trusting the Lord as He uses m to comfort them and draw them nearer to Him.

Prayer Requests

1. Character: Pray that I can grow in Prudence, Humility, Wisdom and Love. Also for my relationship with God to increase, I need more of Him as I work for Him. And Faithfulness in my life and preaching.

2. Family: Pray for the salvation of my family. I'm going back to Lima in 3 weeks for voting and also for my visa interview so pray that I can minister to them as I am there.

3. Church in Pueblo Viejo: There is more people coming and pray that I can remain humble and always quick to serve those who are in need. Pray that they come to Salvation which is more important. The city in general is getting a little bit more dangerous so pray the Gospel spread more around the city. Also pray for Gerardo and Erica, parents of Geisha, the little girl that just passed away.

4. Help: Pray that I can get helpers from out of Puerto or from other countries that want to help with the ministry here in Pueblo viejo.

5. USA visa: I'm going to a visa interview in 3 weeks in order to go back to the states for a short time. pray that it will go well. Also if there is a chance, I plan to speak in churches to encourage people to come to Peru. but well let it be whatever the Lord wants.

6. Missionaries: pray for the Missionaries nationals and internationals: Scott and Tracy Blackburn (Canada), Buddy and Loren Firtzgerald (Greenville, South Carolina), Dan and Ruthie Nagao (Texas), Bud and Laura Lenz (Texas), Daniel and Becky Nuñez (Lima and USA).

7.Seminary Project: A Peruvian missionary in Scotland is praying about the possibility to open a seminary training center in the jungle but up north, he also would like me to teach there. Pray for him and this project his name is Mike Fernandez. pray for God's confirmation, and provision for this and this is a long term project so it will take time for the confirmation of this.

8. Support: God has been faithful to provide for my financial needs. Pray that I can be a wise steward of what He has given to me, If you would like to support me financially, you can do it through TD Bank or The Great Commission, ask for more details if you are interested. Also you can send electronic gift cards from amazon or apple to buy eBooks.

Thanks for your prayers, thanks for your encouragement, please feel free to ask any question you have concerning ministry or personal questions. Don't forget to pray, and also tell me how can I pray for you.

Love you all

Edher

Redirecting Passions, Reaching out in Love.

For those who read this blog for first time, I'm a Peruvian missionary in Puerto Maldonado (City in the jungle region). In the ministry that I do, i regularly visit 2 old men, today I want to share the story of one of them and how has this impacted my life.

Gustavo (88 years old), shared a story which reminded me of an important truth which we sometimes ignore. When i visited him for the first bible reading, he welcomed me in a joyful way. I meet with him 2 or 3 times a week to read the bible to him. After our bible reading, he said: I want to share with you a story.

                Long ago his wife was diagnose with a disease (he wasn't sure about which disease was), and she was on treatment for years, he was with her day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year. He said: "as her husband I had to be there in her sickness and remind her how beautiful she is and how much I love her". She wasn't always in a happy mood because of her sickness and the treatment, but for Gustavo all he cared about was that she still there and he was there for her.

               After a while the sickness got worse and she got more sick, one day they took her on emergency to the hospital. The doctor said that she wouldn't be able to move as she used to before, her body got weaker and she needed to stay in the hospital. She was at the hospital for a moderate length of time (he didn't specifically say how long), after that he said: "she wasn't treated as she deserved, she was dying, and I needed to take care of her". Not long after this, Gustavo asked the doctor if he could take care back home, and they said yes but also that she would need a person who dedicates full time to her. Gustavo left everything else that he was doing at that point, and he decided to dedicate fully to serve his wife, getting help from a nurse when needed, he would stay at home taking care of his wife.

                     After a while he said: "she was in pain and something she would groan because of it and I had to do something, so I asked to a catholic priest to pray for her, also a group of nuns would visit her regularly and pray to Mary for her. After a while that I asked an evangelical pastor to come and pray for her, also the mormons but nothing was resulting or making her better. I finally tried a witch doctor to treat her but also that neither worked, I knew she was about to die and i didn't know what to do" said Gustavo in tears.

                      He described the impotence of not being able to do anything for his wife, and that she was about to die. The passion of his words and the tears coming out of their eyes wasn't a sufficient expression of how this man loved his wife, not longer after she passed away.

I want you to see the love and passion that this man had for his wife, I know that many of the things he tried was wrong but there is one thing he wanted and was really passionate about, and that was to save his wife life. He had a big love for her which made him be passionate for anything that would be for the good of her, no other object he was sharing this passion with but only with his wife because he wanted her.

What about us? who probably have the right answer. Are we as passionate like this man that we will do everything it takes to save someones life because we love God and we are passionate about Him? what do we want in this world? and why?

I know too many questions but once in a while is healthy to question ourselves and get offended so we can redirect our minds and lived to what really matters. There is many people like Gustavo, many their stories are not as beautiful even tho mess up likes his. But there is people whom love different other things that are not God, and they are willing to give their lived for it. And it seems that must of us who claim to be believers are willing to be the audience of how this people runs down the pit and we wont tell them about it because of self-preservation.

We just love them we say, oh my dear friend if you love them then you would see that what expects them is eternal destruction. But the Spirit is the one who does the work you say, but the same Spirit also inspired the word of God which tell us to: Love your neighbor as yourself, go preach the Gospel in season and out of season.

Believer what are you living for? what do you want? a mate, career, success, richness? you may say but that's not wrong if we want it in a moderate way. Well let me ask what is consuming our time the most to get those things or God? You don't have time? how come you never have time to the one who always have time for you?

What we live for is a matter of eternity, don't live for things that you may lose of may give you security and satisfaction only in this world but live for God, and you will have eternal security and satisfaction. Love Him with passion, let Him consume your time, your thoughts in such way that you will love other in the same way because the greatness, love, mercy, grace and power of God.

Matthew 22:37 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.' (NASB)