How are you living by faith?

Hola amigos! Hope you all are doing well! If not, maybe something in this post will lift your spirits! This past week has been pretty busy for me. This past weekend I got to do something I've been wanting to do since the first time I came here. I got to jump off the bridge into the river! We always drive over this bridge on the way to the farm. There are always many people washing clothes at this spot and there are always kids swimming and jumping off the bridge! It was as fun as it looked as long as you ignored the brown water you were swimming in! We did that for several hours and that night I was the most tired I had ever been and had scrapes on my legs from climbing out of the river. It was well worth it though!

The new family for House 1 came to visit on Saturday and started on Monday! For those who don't know, House 1 lost their parents about a month ago due to situations which I won't expand on. So, since then, one of the women who usually just helps the parents during the day has been living here with these kids until the new family was ready. The new family is very nice, though I haven't had much time to get to know them yet! They have a teenage daughter who is very helpful to them and a younger son who has fun playing with the other kids.

As some of you may know, I traveled to another city this week, Trinidad. A man that works at the Home, Neil, the pastors wife, Matilde, and I flew to Trinidad on Monday to fill out papers and such so that I could get a visa that allows me to stay in Bolivia for a year. On Monday, we did a lot of walking back and forth getting papers and signing papers and then we were told that the police had to go to Guayaramerin to see the Home for themselves and ask questions to the people here. So, Tuesday was a lot of waiting for the police to return. It may have been the longest day I've had in a long time! We mostly just went out to eat our meals and then returned to the hotel where there was little else to than watch tv. Finally, on Wednesday, we were able to finish the paperwork, I was fingerprinted several times, we went out to eat with some of Matilde's relatives, and we got on a plane to head home.

Last Thursday I started my first English classes! Their regular classes were postponed until Wednesday, so they gave me an hour with each class (I think once their other classes start, I will have a half an hour). I started with the alphabet and colors. An hour was the perfect time for the oldest class, but the other classes I could have used 2 hours! I hope I will be able to keep up with all the classes going at different paces! One of my biggest concerns right now though is keeping the classes interesting! I want them to have fun learning English!

Recent Devotional Thoughts:

“Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.”

Proverbs 9:7-8

How do we react when someone tries to correct us? Do we throw back insults to defend our pride? Or do we take time to consider what they said? Even if the criticism is wrong or hard to swallow, shouldn't we be gracious toward that person for wanting to help us live a more godly life?

“A fool finds no pleasure in understanding, but delights in airing his own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2

How quick are we to share our opinions? This actually made me think of countless conversations I've seen on the internet. Someone makes an opinionated post and then others quickly throw in their own opinions. Often, the conversations turn into arguments with insults flying back and forth. Why is it that we lose our temper so easily when someone disagrees with us? Everyone is different and you shouldn't expect everyone to agree with your opinions. A good dose of humility and common sense is needed in these situations. Let others voice their opinion and actually listen to them and consider their side of the issue before stating your opinions!

The sermon on Sunday was about having faith in God that He will fulfill His promises. The scripture used was out of Hebrews 11, so when I got home I got out my English Bible and read chapters 10 and 11. Here are some of my notes:

“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” Hebrews 10:11-12

This reminded me of all the rituals and traditions that we get caught up in in church. We think we have to do things a certain way, but why? The traditions and “sacrifices” that we offer will not help atone for our sins. Only Christ's sacrifice can cover our sins and all we need to do is accept that!

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” Hebrews 10:39

It is easy to praise God when you have freedom to do so. However, if and when persecution comes, will you “shrink back” or will you still boldly proclaim the name of Jesus?

Chapter 11 was a big encouragement to me this week. It lists people of the old testament who lived by faith, because they had their hearts set on a kingdom that is not of this world. By faith, Abel offered the better sacrifice. By faith, Noah built an ark “when warned about things not yet seen”, such as water coming from the sky- it was never heard of then. By faith, Abraham left his home to travel to an unknown destination to live in tents as a stranger in a foreign land. He then had faith in God to fulfill His promise to give him a son in his old age, and when he finally had his son, he- by faith- obeyed God when asked to sacrifice his only, promised son. By faith, Moses' parents hid him for 3 months despite the king's edict because “they saw he was no ordinary child”. By faith Moses chose to be persecuted with God's people rather than live a life of luxury and sin. Verses 26-27 say, “He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” By faith the Israelites marched around Jericho for seven days. By faith, Rahab helped the spies.

Wow! These people are incredible! Verse 13 says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.” Is your faith strong enough to last a lifetime and then to only catch a glimpse of the rewards to come? These people were living as aliens on this earth because they belonged to a different kingdom- a heavenly kingdom. They were not living for this world, but for the next. They were in the world, but not of it. These people are my heroes. That is how I want to live! I want to live focused on the kingdom that is to come! I want to be able to look back on my life and say that I lived by faith. I didn't always know where certain steps in my life would take me, but I trusted in God's faithfulness.  My favorite part of this chapters is the end- verses 32-40. I won't type it out since this post is already rather long, but you should look it up and read it! It talks about persecution and martyrs, but the part that struck me is in verse 38: “the world was not worthy of them”. The world persecutes them, yet it is not worthy of them. Christians, we belong to a better world! The kingdom of God! Are you living as if you belong to a heavenly kingdom?