Embrace Your Foundation

So everything we do, are bricks of our personal foundation. A foundation can only be built if many bricks are added, and some of us want to go back in time and remove the bad bricks, but we cannot remove those bricks because the foundation will be ruined. There are things that I have done in the past that I regret, there are many mistakes I have made but I cannot remove those "bricks" out of my life. I don't want to, because my foundation is being built by God, it always has been. But now that I know that God is building my foundation, I am going to do my part in making it stronger and indestructible!

I am sure everyone is familiar with, "The Three Little Pigs" story. Two pigs build their houses of straw and sticks and the other builds his house out of bricks. Some of us grow up in a brick house, a strong foundation that is built on the power of God. Some of us grow up in a straw or stick house, a weak foundation of the lost and of the world. The world wants to tempt you with the easy way, to build your house out of sticks and straw, to have something quick and cheap, but once you build that, the world says you are on your own. If someone ruins your foundation, oh well. But what God offers is a house of bricks, a strong foundation that is hard to bring down. Of course you will still be tempted to let bad things come into the house of bricks, but if you let that temptation in, it can ruin you. Build your life like a house of bricks, it will take longer and a lot of hard work, but along with that journey, you are protected by God and given the reward of eternal life in Heaven!

Jesus says and teaches in Matthew 7:24-27 - "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Some of you may believe that this life is not fair. "People have more blessings than me." "How can I serve and believe in God when other people around me don't?" "Temptation feels so good." "God has taken a lot away from me, why should I serve Him?"

God has made EVERY single human on this earth, everyone is God's creation. But not everyone is God's child, we become God's child when we are saved, born again, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We all have a fair opportunity to seek Him and become God's child. I know that when I see a homeless man or woman on the streets, I pray to God that they find a way to Him, because with God, they can get out of that situation. No matter how poor or how messed up your life is, you can find Him because He WANTS you to seek Him.

You should not be so ashamed of your past to where you say, "Oh God I have messed up so much, there is no way I can change and expect you to save me from the bondage of the world's ways." You cannot change your past, whatever you do, good or bad, is a part of your foundation. It is up to you if you want to make those bricks, straws, or sticks. You make your good and bad past experiences bricks, by letting God build them up. If you are saved, everything you have done in the past, has led you to Jesus. So you should not want to alter your past in any way. If the world and the devil build your foundation, as easy as it was to build it, it can easily be destroyed.

We are all given a fair chance to be born again, and we are all given different experiences because God wants us to humble ourselves and be inspired by what other people go through. If you look at someone and say, "Wow they are successful." Accept that as a blessing in your life, and seek to learn from that person and be motivated to succeed. If you see someone and say, "Wow they have it bad." Accept that as a blessing in your life, and humble yourself and find a way to help them.

So do not worry or think about what you have done in the past. Do not let those thoughts keep you up at night, instead feed your mind on ideas or thoughts on how to serve God and sew into His Kingdom. The worries and fears will go away, because when you care to serve Him, He blesses your life with answered prayers. You go searching for a friend, you may not find one. But if you go searching for God, He will provide you with many friends!

We must work hard everyday and never be complacent. If we dwell on our past disappointments and accomplishments, we will not see what we need to do next. The harder we work to live a righteous life, the more powerful we become. Fully obey The Word and you will have a perfect God fully protecting and working in you, the ultimate foundation.

Thank you for reading! Any feedback and suggestions are encouraged! Any questions or prayer requests are welcomed as well!

Sincerely,
Christopher Edward Perez
cperez0116@yahoo.com
Twitter: @C_P_2
Instagram: @cperez02
Facebook: Chris E Perez

What's In It For You?

There are a lot of things in this world that we can love or pretend to love. Different people, different things...we could love movies, music, or anything that we set our heart on. Loving people and loving things are okay, it is when we start WORSHIPPING imperfect people and materials that we need to ask ourselves, what's in it for me?

I hear and see people talking a lot about their favorite celebrities. They speak on how great they are, they have posters in their room of these people, and they go to great lengths to let people know that they are "perfect". No one in this world will ever be perfect. No matter how much money someone has or how talented they are, they are not perfect. You can say that there are a lot of celebrities that do a lot of good things and I agree. I admire ANY person for doing the right things and doing good for others, it inspires me. But God tells us that no amount of good deeds can ever be good enough for Him. We are born sinners, so in order to have a relationship with a perfect God, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who is all man and all God, to pay the price for the sins of imperfect people. So there is no need to "worship" imperfect people.

Instead of speaking so much on celebrities, speak more on how great God is. Instead of posters of imperfect people, fill your room or house with decorations that represent your beliefs and pride for God. Instead of spending money on clothes and materials that represent your favorite people, spend money on helping others and clothes that will show your beliefs. I am not saying that you need to totally disregard your favorite people, but God should be first in EVERYONE's life. Not money, not your siblings, not your parents, not people. If you put God first, then He will bless you in your finances and the people you love. If you pray to Him, He will know your heart. If you worship Him, you will be blessed more than you will worshipping people. The people you worship and the people you love, more than God...is your god. There is only ONE God that is perfect, everyone else is imperfect. So why would you worship imperfect people that cannot give you what a perfect God can?

There are a lot of people I respect and admire. There are people I read about or I read on what they have to say. There is music I listen to because I like how the lyrics speak to me. There are clothes that I have that represent people and music groups that inspire my life greatly...BUT I realize that those people I respect and admire, follow biblical principles and have Jesus Christ at the center of their lives. I will never worship ANY person, God is the only one that deserves worship. I will love people based on God's love (Mentioned in the article, "What Is Love?"). People will speak to me that will make me love them because of how they are speaking about how great God is, what He does, and what He calls us to do. So what's in it for you to worship people?

I also hear and see people writing on social media or posting pictures that do not necessarily benefit themselves or other people. I see people using Twitter as a way to rant about something or someone. You may realize that you are talking to yourself when you do that...or you could be desperately seeking for attention and wanting people to sympathize for you. You do not need to do that, I believe Twitter should be used to bring awareness and inspire people through short phrases and links. Do not use it as a running diary.

Let me assure you that bringing your problems to God, will benefit and bless your life more than any other way. Unless people speak to you through God's Word and His teachings, those people that try to help you, do not have their intentions based on what is best for you. Instead of bringing your problems to social media, bring them to God, bring them to a strong man of God, bring them to a strong woman of God; and you will not necessarily hear what you want, but you will hear what you NEED.

Do not shy away from people because they are telling you the truth. Telling the truth is not judging anyone, it is bringing you the Good News, it is telling you how to serve God so He can bless your life and break you away from any bondage you may have. I know that when I talk to God, when I open my mouth and speak to Him, He has me speak in a very powerful way. Because as I am speaking to Him, I realize that He is perfect and His ways are perfect. He has given me a Bible that has ALL the answers. So when I talk to Him, I realize that my ways are ridiculous, I realize that my problems are not all that bad. Why? Because I know God is working in me, it is the greatest feeling to be reassured that God is working in my favor. Even during hard times, He is growing me and making me stronger. I realize that He is blessing me, and sometimes I have a hard time finding out how, but I just have total faith that He is.

When I look back on my life so far, I can see how God blessed me when I could not see it at the moment. As I learn more about God's Word and being taught The Word in church, the easier it is for me to understand how God works. I think some of us shy away from God's ways because we do not see it working in our favor...but as you gain more knowledge of the truth, you will gain more of an understanding of how He works. It is not that sinners cannot understand God's Word, it is that they choose not to understand it. It could be too hard to follow His ways, but God created ALL of us to be able to understand His Word. With His offering of free will to us, we choose whether we want to understand it or not. A relationship with God is important, do not let the world's ways, that constantly changes, influence you to lose your privilege in having a relationship with Him. What is considered good today may not be considered good tomorrow, but God's Word never changes, so we can know how to serve Him and how to get to Heaven. If the world is so messed up, what's in it for you to follow the world's ways?

Now everyone that knows me knows I do not see benefits for taking self-portraits (i.e. selfies). I have heard many ways that people try to explain to me that they are beneficial, but I still do not see why. One reason why people take self-portraits, is to see how many "likes" they can get. And I see an addiction coming because people get so consumed on getting more and more likes. They will add picture filters, they will reveal more of their body, they will do whatever it takes, to take a good picture of themselves.

Personally, I have heard this, "Wow that girl looks way better on Instagram than she does in person." I believe that is a big turn off for people, because the person does not appear the way that they seem. So you can be lying about your physical image

People also do it for the comments, "You're so beautiful!" "You're so perfect!" Now when I see a beautiful person, I will tell them because that should not go unnoticed. But beauty is more than a picture or a physical image, beauty is revealed when a person does good things and lives righteously. It says in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 - "And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do." Women do not need to attract men on how they reveal themselves, but be attractive on how God reveals them. The most attractive quality for me personally is a positive relationship with God, someone who serves Him and helps others. The physical beauty will take care of itself, if God sees you working to serve Him, He will bless you with great physical qualities that will attract people. If you serve God, and you look good, than what will stop you from God revealing the perfect spouse for you?

The one comment that bothers me is, "You're so perfect!" Because like I mentioned, none of us are perfect, so why would we tell people lies on Instagram when they post a self-portrait? I know I can be reading too much into that. But some people can take that comment, and really believe they are perfect. When people believe they are perfect, they tend to trust their own ways. People have told me that comment too, not because of a self-portrait, but because of my positive attitude and willing to help others. I realize that when people tell me that, they are telling me a lie. When people tell you this comment, it could definitely be an exaggeration. So I think of perfection like this, being perfect means that you realize you are imperfect, and are willing to be perfected. No one will ever be perfect, God did not create us that way, because He wants us to constantly seek Him and have a relationship with Him. Our purpose on this earth is to get as close to perfection as we can, knowing we will never fully reach it. So if you post self-portraits or comment/like self-portraits, what's in it for you to show lies and tell lies?

All I am saying really, is to focus on having a strong relationship with God, put Him first in your life, and He will take care of the rest. Some of us struggle to find a purpose for why we are here, well let God work in your life and He will show you why.

With a relationship with God, I am not saying that you need to go preach The Word or write about it or to know every scripture in The Bible. If you haven't had a relationship with God, start slow. If you have had a relationship with God, continue to find ways to serve Him. Starting off slow can mean reading a verse a day, watching church on TV, then going to church, asking a friend to go with you, etc. Believe me, I took small steps, very small steps, on my path. I have only been going to church for 5 years, and after 5 years, I can finally say that I am ALL IN with God to where I am going to serve Him and put Him first in my life. A journey of a thousand steps starts with one. Do not get overwhelmed with people that know worship songs and verses, they are just on a higher spiritual level than you are. But that does not mean you cannot catch those people. I knew NOTHING when I first stepped into a church, surrounded by people that knew a lot about The Word of God. Instead of shying away and being intimidated, I took on the challenge of being a better Christian so I would not feel lost.

There are people in this world that are lost, not in understanding God's Word. If you are lost, you are not alone. If you are lost, you can be found. Do not follow the world's ways, you will be even more lost. Follow God's ways, and He will reveal your best qualities, and show that you do matter, and that you have a beneficial purpose on this earth!

Thank you all for reading, any feedback, good or bad, is appreciated. Please contact me in any way if you have questions!

Sincerely,

Christopher Edward Perez
Email: cperez0116@yahoo.com
Twitter: @C_P_2
Instagram: cperez02
Facebook: Chris E Perez