LOSS = LIFE

Have you ever lost something in your life and thought that you weren't going to make it through. Like the pain will never go away. You go through life hiding your emotions and everybody around you keeps saying that it's going to get better. Your tears contain the pain that nobody sees. Your heart struggles and every step gets harder and harder to take. I have experienced that in my own life and with every new day there are new challenges. The devil is great at putting you down and keeping you down. Sometimes God allows things to happen not because He wants to see you in pain but with suffering comes perseverance and then hope. God wants the best for you in any situation. You can be at the top and feel like your untouchable and in an instant lose everything. I became proud and thought I had everything I wanted because it was me not God who worked for it. I stopped giving praises to the only one in this world who should be receiving them above all. I stopped doing His will and started living my way. Our ways are never going to amount to anything unless we have God in charge. Yes I can plan anything, do anything, but if I don't include God guess what sooner or later I will be humbled. Again, God doesn't do it to be mean but sometimes it's to discipline us. Sometimes it's to protect us from a future event that could have been worse for us. I lost my house, my job, and my wife left. For any person in this world, that would've been enough misery to just want to quit. But God's plan is bigger than my plan. God's will is better than anything I can ever see. Yes I lost everything but I have gained something much better. I have an intimate relationship with God. God has seen me on my knees crying. He has seen my heartache. He has seen my suffering and He pulled me close to Him. He held my hand like any good father would and said "I'm here"! I became clay and I am being remolded by the creator of life. How can I view that as a loss? Yes my life is still a struggle and yes the pain is still very real but I have the creator of life with me. I have the Living God who moves mountains, who with the sound of His voice stars are born, massaging my back as I pray telling me it's okay. This great and huge God offers me grace for as long as I want.

When you give your life to Jesus nobody said that your life will get easier. I didn't go up to the pastor and say "So everything is downhill now right cause I have God on my side"? Doesn't work like that. I believe the devil has more fun trying to tempt Christians and making them backslide rather than non believers. Why? I know that non believers don't have the eyes of God so they view the world as normal. Drugs, alcohol, pleasures of sin it's all normal to them. They don't realize that those pleasures can cost them their salvation. So the devil doesn't have to work hard to keep them right where there at. Christians have spiritual eyes so they know what sin can cost them. Jesus said himself "Deny Yourself" Anyone who wants to follow me(Jesus) will lose his life. So what do you lose? When you come to Christ you have to deny yourself...the things that bring wickedness. The sinful nature is pleasure...but a temporary pleasure. The devil knows this and knows what buttons to press for every single one of us. That's why Jesus said "Deny Yourself". When you follow Jesus you can't live the way you used to. God is Holy and pure and in order to have an intimate relationship with Him we have to remain righteous. Does that mean perfect? Not at all...our flesh makes us weak...ALL OF US! Christians, Catholics, any religion. Doesn't matter who you are we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Can't help it...were not perfect. Jesus was the only one and because He died we can be righteous by asking Him to come into our lives and also for forgiveness. Jesus lost His life to make things new...We have to give up our old life to have a new one. It's still going to be hard and you will be on your knees crying and struggling. But you will NEVER have to face it alone. You might lose everything...you might be left with only God. But that's enough. With God in your life you will always have everything you will ever need. God take everything from me...your will is my command. Keep me in your arms and under your grace and I will be happy for all my life. I will praise you because you are always worthy. Take everything I have or all that I am...ALL I NEED IS YOU!

YESUS GITANO,

CARLOS