All posts tagged: Jesus

Remember the Fire?

September 18, 2014 Merlin Gonzales a Study on God's Dominion, blog, KIOM, Testimony

Remember when you first commit your life to Jesus Christ?

Remember when you first experience God?

Two months ago, I posted about a house fire that happened to a Pastor who is friend of mine. Many people have helped him in terms of some donated money, furniture & appliances and most of all, prayers. I have been helping him in finding out the best solution for the future of the house that was burned. I have a sense that this tragedy will end up to be a blessing for him and his family. I kept encouraging him and praying for him in the past several weeks.

Last Monday, we heard news about the house and we did more negotiations. We were confirmed that there’s nothing else we can do, so we settled for what was agreed upon. Tonight, I received a message to call the main person regarding the house. We received great news; something that we did not expect!

In these past several months, God has been showing me things that are beyond my imagination. The unexpected things such as the pallet shelving, the launching of one-of a kind food pantry, the $70k walk-in freezer donation and many more.

There is another huge thing that has fall on my lap just 2 weeks ago. I ask that you pray for wisdom and discernment on my part. This one could impact thousands of people and may be an integral part in this particular community for years to come.

God is awesome! I would like to invite you come alongside with me in experiencing the goodness of God. Some people are experimenting with God to see what happens when you trust Him. I would like to invite you to journey with me in fully trusting God in every aspect of our lives.

There’s a difference between making Jesus as our Savior and making Him as our Lord. Our lives reflect who our Lord is – the way we conduct ourselves, react on situations, make decisions and our habits. Our reality is mostly based on our experience. I think many of us have knowledge of God but do not have much of experiencing life with Him – that’s why sometimes we find out selves asking ” where is God in this situation?” Unless we experience Him intimately, His reality in our lives would be fragmented.

Remember when you first experience God and felt that He is involved in your life? If you are like me, I was on fire! It seem like God is so close to me… not only during Sunday but every day of the week! What if we fully trust that every aspect of our lives is connected with our relationship with God…our finances, our relationships, our health and our spiritual life? This may be a silly question: “What if all of our life experience is directly interconnected with our relationship with God?” How would we cope with our failures and celebrate our success, treat our families, work with our associates and deal with our neighbors? If God is ever present in our consciousness, what would our lifestyle be, how would we react with every situation – good or bad, and what would be our perspective in life.

Here’s what I have in mind. I will share with you my experience with Him. Similar with what I have been writing before, I will continue sharing with you what God has been doing in the ministry of FHL. This time, I will be more intimate and share more of my personal experience with Him such as frustrations, praises and prayers, requests and dreams, questions and answers and, my experience. I would like to encourage you to share your stories as well, make comments, prayers and praises. Let’s experience God and share our stories to encourage and to uplift one another.

I hope you would consider joining me in learning more about ourselves and our relationship with the God that we profess – our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. What’s your story and what has God been doing in your life? Remember your passion for Christ when you were a new Christian? Remember the fire in your heart?

Lessons on tendering a garden

July 9, 2014 Merlin Gonzales blog, KIOM

A small 16ft by 4ft plot can yield many kinds of vegetables

During early spring of 2014, I turned a part of my lawn into vegetable plot. I have written how I started my vegetable garden and documented some of my experiences.

Since then, I took care of my garden almost every morning before going to work and almost every evening as soon as I get home. I weed it, water it, prune it, fertilize it and aerate it. It has become my habit and started to enjoy the process. I would look at the flowers and observe the growth of the cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, etc.

My appreciation grew deeper in the uniqueness of every plant and specie, their character and design, and the different fragrance that they emit in the atmosphere.

One morning, I was looking at a plant. I was admiring how the shoots are so long and then, a thought came to me. I enjoyed looking at it although there are no flowers on it. “Of course“, I said to myself, it is not their nature to bear flowers. They have uniqueness in themselves and they are beautiful in their own way. That’s the way the Creator created them. I cannot expect flowers from them because they are not suppose to have flowers.

I know that my argument with myself seems crazy but if we apply this same observation with our families, friends, volunteers, employees, etc. they make a lot of sense. How many times have we catch ourselves expecting others to become just like another person? How can we expect a donkey to run like a thoroughbred and a chihuahua to grow bigger than what they’re suppose to be? Then why do we expect John to be like Paul?

If we can learn how to appreciate the uniqueness of each individual, we can avoid the stress of trying to change other people. What if we slow down and observe others and learn about them for the first time again?

God had created us to be different from each other and to realize that our differences complement one another. As the famous saying goes, “slow down and smell the roses” is very true – to see the importance and the value in each of us. This is also a reminder for ourselves to learn more about ourselves, to appreciate who we are and to celebrate how God had created us.

– Merlin

Significance of spoken and written words

July 3, 2014 Merlin Gonzales blog

Governor of Indiana proclaimed the July 20-26, 2014 is Faith Hope and Love Week in the entire state

In 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 & Ezra 1:1-3, King Cyrus of Persia issued a Proclamation throughout his realm that the exiles from Israel be given safe passage back to their land so they can build the Temple of the Lord. The people of the land are to provide supplies, materials and food for the Israelites as well. Because of this proclamation, God’s people were able to start building the temple in Jerusalem.

The families were reunited after the 70 years of exile in Babylon and the neighbors provided everything they needed including goods and livestock. The families settled in their own towns. After seven months, they came back together again as one people to offer burnt and freewill offerings. This was the start of the process of rebuilding the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. God had used King Cyrus of Persia through issuing a proclamation that became like a law of the land.

God created the universe with His word. When He spoke the word, it never returned void. In the Old Testament, He used the prophets to speak His words. It was the prophet Jeremiah who prophesy that the exiles will return after 70 years of captivity. The prophet Isaiah prophesy of the coming of the Messiah. Jesus Christ proclaimed that those who believe in Him with all of his mind, might and being will become heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. It was Jesus who spoke that the the believers will be filled with the Holy Spirit – the very same Spirit who filled Him while He was here on earth. Jesus said that the believers can do the things that He had done through the Holy Spirit living in them.

I believe that God speaks to His people. In 2005, I sensed the Lord spoke to me to ask for the Mayors of Central Indiana to issue a Proclamation for Faith, Hope and Love Day (soon it became Faith Hope and Love Week). After a few years, the Governor of Indiana proclaimed the same every year. And every year, countless people in Indiana celebrate the week through serving others. This year, all services and projects are focused on addressing hunger.

There is significance in our spoken and written words. For us Christians, it is even more powerful because as we speak words that are in alignment with the will of God, it will happen because we have the same Spirit who dwell in Jesus Christ while He was here on earth. What is the will of God – faith, hope and love. All of these three remain.

Be careful what you say and be watchful what you write. God had given us delegated authority including the power to create through our words.

The world’s norm vs. the Kingdom’s way

June 19, 2014 Merlin Gonzales KIOM

God’s way is different than the world’s

There are times when we feel we have to modify God’s plan because things do not make sense. For example, for many years, you have been praying for finances and material things to come to you. You have been struggling to pay your bills month after month for years. Your credit cards balances are at the maximum limit, you have withdrew most of your retirement funds and just getting by.

Then you started to work long hours thinking that you can increase your income and find more resources to get you out of the hole. Money started to come. However, the more you feel you are getting ahead, your bank balance is getting worse. Things don’t make sense so you worked even longer hours.

In 2 Chronicles 13:1-22, Judah’s King Abijah was outnumbered by his opponent, King Jeroboam of Israel. Abijah had only 400,000 soldiers while Jeroboam had 800,000! It is had to imagine witnessing that many people in one place killing each other and this happened around 3,000 years ago. Abijah knew that he has no chance to defeat Jeroboam, but his faith strengthened him. In verse 10 he said, “But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned him.”

Meanwhile Jeroboam devised a plan to surround Abijah and his people in the front and the rear. So Abijah cried out to the Lord! They blew their trumpets and shouted the battle cry. God defeated Jeroboam. In verse 17 & 18, “Abijah and his army inflicted heavy losses on them; 500,000 of Israel’s select troops were killed that day. So Judah defeated Israel on that occasion because they trusted in theLord, the God of their ancestors.”

Be encouraged as you face impossible situations (as we know it). Do as Abijah did, cry out to the Lord and shout the battle cry. God is always watching out for His people. He fights for us because we are His children. Don’t forget that you are a child of the King.

“Preacher, I’m a drug dealer!”

May 28, 2014 Merlin Gonzales blog

What would you do if a drug dealer wearing dark sunglasses suddenly walked in the middle of sanctuary during the middle of your sermon at a church located in one of the most dangerous cities in the US? The suspicious man sat in the front row with his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

I woke up early on Sunday, May 25th, 2014 to prepare my message at Tree of Life Ministries just north of downtown Indianapolis. I have been thinking about the message in the past several days but could not get myself to write it. I knew I will be speaking about the occasion – Memorial Day. While researching and writing my message, I suddenly felt my heart beat fast, I hyper ventilated and I felt that I was being attacked by the enemy. I prayed and continued writing my message while I breath hard to suck more air in my lungs.

My parents came with me to the church and we arrived just on time. The church rents a space at a store front located at a busy intersection. I heard just several months ago, there were shootings at the intersection. This is an area that is considered 17th most dangerous neighborhoods in the US. This small church has only 3 rooms – the sanctuary, the back room with 2 restrooms and a pantry. They were just finishing their Sunday Bible Study when we arrived.

At the Bible study, they were talking about marriage and somehow they started talking about addiction. When I heard the word “addiction”, I thought I should mention something about it when I preach. After the Bible Study, we had a brief intermission, then I saw my daughter pulling up at the curb and my instinct told me I should help her to park. As soon as I got outside, my daughter immediately said that she does not feel safe because the people on the street were staring at her suspiciously and she is afraid to park her car on the street. I assured her that nothing bad will happen.

The style of the church worship team is southern blues. I really like the freedom to worship with them. After a few minutes of worship, I felt shaky and weak. I was trying to figure out if it was because of low blood sugar or I was just nervous. I went to the back room and helped myself with a doughnut and coffee to regain my strength. Then, I prayed for strength and for clarity of mind.

I still felt a little weak as I approach the podium. However, I forgot about my physical weakness when I started to talk. “Even just for one” was the title of my message. There were about 20 adults including my parents, my daughter and me. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit as I was getting into my message. Suddenly, a man wearing rugged clothes with dark sun glasses walked in the middle of the sanctuary and sat in the front row. I was talking about the Parable of the lost sheep. Jesus left the 99 to find the lost one – the backslider.

“I’m a drug dealer”

All of a sudden, the person who walked in late, raise his hand. After acknowledging him, he said, “I am a drug dealer, I need help.” It took me a couple of seconds to compose myself. I told him that God can heal him. He took his sunglasses and his eyes told me that he was serious. I asked the pastor of the church if we can take a few minutes to pray for him. After prayer, I encouraged him with positive words and affirmation. A couple of people were wiping their tears as they were praying.

He received a mighty move of God in his life

Before I ended my message, I prayed for the leaders of the church for wisdom, protection and provision. As soon as I got to my seat, a well-built man came to me, shook my hands and gave me a big hug. Then, the pastor came and did an altar call. The same person who shook my hands came to the front to receive Jesus as his Savior. The entire church raised up to their feet, clapped their hands and more people started to weep. I found out later that he was the son of one of the church leaders. It was a chain reaction. When he saw the boldness of the drug dealer who confessed publicly, he opened up to the grace of God. God has been pursuing him and He used the drug dealer to communicate His unconditional love.

As they were praying for this gentleman, the pastor’s wife began to praise God with her voice and her entire body. She was being filled by the Holy Spirit. I gave the man a big hug and encouraged him by telling him that he will be used by God mightily by leading an army of God.

I was awe struck by the entire service. In my years of preaching at different churches, I had never experienced someone interrupting my sermon by saying he is a drug dealer. Through him, the “one” who was lost was found. This happened in a small church located in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the US. The small church had no fancy sanctuary but they have authentic congregation, the church sits in a rough neighborhood but they have peace inside their building and in their hearts, the church is definitely not the building, but the people who cares for everyone. It is a church that welcomes everyone, prostitutes, drunkards, addicts and the poor in spirit, similar to the crowd that Jesus hanged out with. It is a church that is willing to interrupt the service, let go of their plan for the service and let the Holy Spirit take over the schedule for the day. They are small in number but they have big hearts for the lost. More is not always better and the central point is not always bigger.

Later, I realized why I couldn’t get myself to sit down and to write the message, why I hyper ventilated while writing the message and why I felt weak during the worship. God was about to do something very special for 2 people and the entire congregation that Sunday morning. The person who walked in late and interrupted the service by saying, “Preacher, I am a drug dealer!” was used by God “Even for just one” lost sheep.

Praise you, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, my Lord and my Savior.