Gearing Up For War

I feel like I left you hanging last week with the war thing (read We Are At War Whether You Like it or Not blog). It's almost like I told you "we are in big trouble" and left you with no solution. Well the rest of Ephesians 6 explains how we should gear up for this war. 

Of course I am going to put a twist in it so that we can have a little fun and learn something at the same time. Now this book of Ephesians was written back in the day so they used visuals that were common then - war gear. I'm going to try to bring it to something more up-to-date and since it's football season, I will use that.

I also believe that these different war gear suggested by Paul is talking about different characteristics of the Word of God (don't try to sue me....it's my opinion & my blog). Hopefully by the end of this blog you will understand where I'm coming from.

 
Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14) 
The last thing you want to happen in a war is have your pants fall down! Talk about AWKWARD!! The Bible is also considered the Truth. We should use the Bible as a comparison tool in life - "what does the Bible say about that?" 

Breastplate  or shoulder pads of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14)

One way to kill someone in a war is to stab them in the heart. This breastplate protected that. In football, the shoulder pads protect the heart and give you confidence. The only way to be righteous before a Holy God is by His son, Jesus, who died for us for that same reason, among other things. The Bible is a love story about just that. John 1 explains more. 

Shoes or cleats of the Good News (Ephesians 6:15)

The right shoes are important for anything you do. War and football is not different. So we are to share the Good News a.k.a  Jesus' sacrifice for us with everyone we can. It's what Jesus left for us to do. 

Shield or stiff-arm of faith (Ephesians 6:16)

In football there is no "shield" but you can stiff-arm a defender if they try to tackle you! Faith helps you protect yourself when your opponent tries to come against you. Faith come by hearing and hearing the, you guessed it, Word of God. 

Helmet of Salvation (Ephesians 6:17)

Obviously protecting your head is important at war or in a football game -but this also includes your mind. We are continuously thinking (well some of us) and this is the perfect place to begin the attack for our opponent. This is why we should protect our minds daily! Salvation is part of that love story the Bible keeps referring to time and time again. 

Sword or Football of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17)

The sword is how we attach the enemy and in football you can't score without the ball! Most of us would agree that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. My thought is that Paul was doing one of his run-on sentences and when it says ", which is the Word of God" he was referring to all of the previous gear he mentioned. Once again, this is just my opinion. This is no theological conclusion (that I'm aware of). 

In a nutshell, prepare for this war daily guarding your mind & heart by reading the Word of God then share the Good News to others. Memorize some verses so you can defend yourself against your opponent and ATTACK him with the Word of God!!

LET'S GO!! 
GEAR UP!! 

We Are In A War Whether You Like It Or Not

I was in a men’s prayer one night and I felt the urge to pray for one of the men there. This man had a son in the war in Iraq and it was a difficult time for him and his family. Now I’m not one to go around doing these kinds of things but this night I felt a strong conviction to do so. My plans were to go over to him, lay my right hand on his shoulder, kneel next to him and pray this powerful, spiritually-scripted prayer that would encourage even the dead – or so I thought. I gathered enough courage to go over there and pray with him but I did not anticipate what happened next.

As soon as my hand touched his shoulder, I felt this overwhelming compassion for this man and began weeping uncontrollably! It was as if his pain was transferred to me and I was able to relate for a moment with his situation. I eventually let out a brief prayer of encouragement (nothing like what I had planned) and sat back down.

This experience taught me several things and I was amazed at how God works. Here I was thinking I was merely going to encourage this man who was going through a tough time in his life but God wanted to teach me something, too!

We Are In A War Whether You Like It Or Not!

You see every week the church prayed for this man’s son and all the other families who had loved ones in the war in Iraq. Most of us prayed but not with the same urgency as those people whose family members were over there! Although we knew there was a war going on, we were disconnected from the war since it was not as personal as those whose loved ones were actually fighting this war. When it’s personal there is a different level of prayer that is exercised… that fervent, up-against-the-wall, all-or-nothing, totally-dependent-on-God kinda prayer!

The Bible talks about a war that we are constantly fighting – a SPIRITUAL war.

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

Are you ready for this war?

Do you prepare yourself daily for the attacks that are inevitably coming?

How fervent is your prayer for this war?

I challenge you to make an effort every day to prepare for this war. Read Ephesians 6 so that you can be ready!  

Whether you like it or not, WE ARE AT WAR!

Coming To America

January 6, 1979 was a day I will never forget. It marks a new beginning for the Cabreras - coming to America.  For those that don't know, we were born in the Dominican Republic and my father wanted to bring us to America for better opportunities. When we arrived I was only 7 years old but I have vivid memories of the journey.

I remember:

• Crying when I found out Magina was not coming with us. She is our "adopted" sister who helped my parents bring us up and since I was the youngest, I spent a lot of time with her.
• Lidia's wooden platform-styled sandals coming off her feet and falling all the way down the stairs as we are climbing into the airplane and Isaias had to go fetch them - the joys of being the oldest! Sometimes I can close my eyes and hear the clinging sound of those things!
• Dinner on the plane (that's back when they served real dinners on planes), the choices: Chicken or Fish and how confusing this was to us. Isaias finally figured it out and explained it to us. The strong accents we had (some of us still have) still rings in my head.
• New York welcoming us with a snow storm! Our first sight of snow and yes I did attempt to eat some.
• The drive from NYC to Rochester took forever with all the snow. If that's not enough, the van we were driving lost its heat and it was cold.
• We stopped at a Burger King to eat. I can still smell the fries - well the old fries they had are better than the new ones. I took another taste of the snow there too!

Do you want to know what was my most vivid memory? It was us sitting in the waiting area in the Dominican Republic waiting for the people that have the authority to give us permanent residence to make their decision. You see we were all nervous about it since we were requesting 7 permanent residencies at the same time. My dad came to America before us and made the request to bring his family over - ALL 7 OF THEM! Not the best strategy to have since most people made request for 1 or 2 at a time. 

I remember the couple that entered before us being denied and they were only 2!! The lady was in tears!! Then it was our turn. Before I tell you what happened (which may be obvious but just humor me for a moment), I did a little research on some immigration politics that were going on behind the scenes without us even realizing this. Check this out:

(From Wiki) The  Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a non-profit tax exempt organization in the United States that advocates changes in U.S. immigration policy that would result in significant reductions in immigration, both legal and illegal. It was founded on January 2, 1979.

Their mission:

FAIR advocates "7 Principles of True Comprehensive Immigration Reform":

1. Reduce the flow of immigrants

2. No legalization

3. No Guest-Worker Program

4. Protect Wages and Standards of Living

5. More Enforcement

6. No Asylum

7. Immigration Time Out (Very strict immigration only for "a narrowly focused refugee resettlement program" and limit family reunification each year)

(Back to me) During the late 1970's there were a lot of immigrants coming to America and the US was not making it easy for anyone to come in. This organization was established specifically for this. BUT GOD HAD OTHER PLANS FOR OUR FAMILY!

So there we were waiting for the verdict... they allowed ALL of us to come to America with no problems at all!! WooHoo!! Did we slip through the cracks?? Was it a coincidence?? I don't think so. You may be thinking that it is not a big deal. But I know it was a miracle!

I asked my mom recently to relive the experience with me and she told me that the night before our appointment with the decision makers, we had our devotional time (check out the Legacy blogs so you can fully understand the "devotional time"). Loida was asked to pray for our meeting and she felt from God that we were going to be able to come to America. She was right! God is faithful!

If you are going to be confronting someone of "importance" to speak on your own behalf whether it is for a job interview, a teacher/professor, a judge, or what ever it may be. Remember that God is with you and will help you get through this situation if you allow Him.

"When they drag you into their meeting places, or into police courts and before judges, don’t worry about defending yourselves—what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there. The Holy Spirit will give you the right words when the time comes." Luke 12:11-12 (MSG)

Living The Dream

I'm sitting in the dealership thinking to myself, "why didn't I have a better answer for him? My life is better than that..." You see my ex-coworker came up to me with his little arrogant smile and asked, "how's it going, Ish?" I replied, "good". To which he replied "that's it?" and I had nothing! Did he catch me off guard? Was I not in the mood for conversations? I don't know what happened but the words escaped me.

Of course his reply is always an arrogant, "GREAT! I'm living the dream!!!!!" (dude if you happen to be reading this I won't tell who you are if you won't - keep reading though!)

What does that even mean? Who's "dream" are we living? Is it the infamous "American Dream" with the wife, 2.5 kids, a dog, a cat, 2 cars, a white picket fenced house, the pursuit of happiness and success/status? Or is it bigger than that? 

There is this perception of living the "world's" dream - usually involves possessions, success, money, power or influence, and "happiness". All of these things are great to have - wouldn't you agree? But that can't be all there is to life. How do I know?? I'm glad you asked! Well there are many people that have these things and yet they are not happy - some even commit suicide!! 

Besides, there is an after life that does not include any of that stuff - heaven or hell. So living this dream would be living limited to this world. I believe God has bigger dreams than this. 

Here's my take on this dream thing:

• Hope - God is our hope. This is the foundation of His Dream for us. There is a "space" in all of us that can only be fulfilled with God. He made us this way...PURPOSELY! But we try to fill it with other things such as: work, love of money, drugs, alcohol, sexual sin, etc. 
  We need to stay connected to this Hope to keep His dream alive in us. "I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him." (Psalm 62:5 GNT)

• Family - united in: spirit, love, peace, joy, supporting each other, serving each other and God. This includes extended family, also. If the family is healthy, the church is healthy, the community is healthy and the world is healthy. "but as for me and my house, we will serve The Lord" (Joshua 24:15 AMP)

• Community - this part includes the church. We are made to belong to a body. This is where we find additional support and we use our God-given gifts to serve others. "He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." (Ephesians 4:16 NLT)

• Joy - there is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness = a state of being happy or contentment. Joy = a metaphoric oasis of peace and love (as defined in wiki).  The Bible repeatedly talks about the joy of The Lord. When you have this joy you don't wait for the circumstances around you to be positive but inspite of the circumstances you have joy. "You love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express," (1 Peter 1:8 GNT) 

Interestingly enough, I watched this documentary yesterday that my sister-in-law suggested (thanks Kim) and it spoke about similar concepts. The documentary was about a bunch of doctors studying happiness and they found that people are happier when they believe in something and have strong family and community activities. I wrote this blog before I saw this documentary. Things that make you go hmmm! 

So getting back to my ex-coworker with his "living the dream" phrase... If I have the opportunity to redeem myself, I would say, "I have hope...THE HOPE ... Jesus my Savior! He has given me His unexplainable JOY. I have a beautiful, loving, united FAMILY that loves God and people. We BELONG to an awesome church COMMUNITY and are CONNECTED as we SERVE unto The Lord! 

I'M LIVING THE DREAM! 

The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness. (John 10:10 GNT)

OBEDIENCE > sacrifice!

“What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22

For the last few months this verse (well part of this verse) has been ringing in my head: “OBEDIENCE is better than sacrifice”. It sounds so pretty and righteous to say….but what exactly does it mean? That, my friend, is the million dollar question! You see this same phrase can mean different things to different people – God loves to do that! He can use the same message to speak to people in different ways.

For some:

OBEDIENCE = attending church for the first time & having a relationship with God

Sacrifice = thinking that being a good person is enough to please “God”

Others:

OBEDIENCE = getting involved in your church; use your gifts to serve in the house

Sacrifice = attending church is enough

Yet others:

OBEDIENCE = giving your tithes regularly to God

Sacrifice = giving to the people that ring the bell during Christmas is enough

I'm not sure what OBEDIENCE vs sacrifice looks like for you. You will have to figure that out on  your own. I can tell you that God is always looking to stretch our FAITH in one way or another.

 

For me it’s simple, yet difficult all in one…. this “blog” thing is very easy for me to do. I can sit here and write stories till my fingers turn blue…stories and writing (well not including grammar) come effortlessly to me. The difficult part is sending out the Twitter and Facebook reminders to my friends. You see it is out of character for me to ask people for things. It’s something my parents taught me when I was young and it has been instilled in my heart – perhaps to the extreme - or maybe this is just how God wired me. So when I felt from God to write these blogs, I was excited. When I felt from God to send it out several times a day – not so much!

Every week when I am about to send the blog out, I get this devil / angel fight on either shoulder. The conversation goes a little like this:

Devil: “who do you think you are to send out these blogs? You are not important!”

Angel: “you are a  son of the Most High, coheir with Christ!”

Devil: “people are gonna laugh at you…hahaha!”

Angel: “God is smiling down on you when you send it”

Devil: “this is dumb…a waste of time! You already do enough for God! Relax!”

Angel: “OBEDIENCE is better than sacrifice”

So when you see my Twitter / FB reminders, remember this:

OBEDIENCE > sacrifice!

Cabrera Legacy Part III: The Family That Prays Together

Now… where did I leave off? Oh yea… that awesome song! After singing this awesome song (you’re gonna need to read Cabrera Legacy Part I and Part II to follow), we hold hands and my dad asks if anyone has any special prayer requests. We would pray for everybody and their momma – people from church, family, neighbors, you name it… we prayed for them. I remembered how we would always pray for the family members that were not in the house that night… even the ones who had gotten married and moved out! Prayer has always been the foundation of our family’s DNA (we’ll talk about that in another blog). Then last, but not least, the good ol’ Cabrera hug. Now there are all kinds of hugs: bro hugs, BFF hugs, friendly hugs, there are even some that should be illegal! But this one is the icing on the cake of this devotional time. We hug and then give each other 2 simultaneous taps on the upper back followed immediately by 2 simultaneous taps...um... well on the butt. Now that’s showin’ sum luv! 

So, why all this talk about a family devotional time? I strongly believe that while we were in those devotional times laughing, goofing around, learning about the bible, and praying for each other, God was implementing a Legacy that would live in our hearts for years to come! Out of this one family devotional came 5 family devotionals with their own twists from my brothers and sisters and their families. Our prayer is that our kids will also have their own family devotional memories with their own twists – and so on and so on! I have even heard people from church that happened to be at my parent’s house around the 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM time and were “persuaded” to stay for the devotional time who now have their own family devotional time. My parents with their sweet, loving, generous and humble hearts began a Legacy that will live on for years to come! 

As I was thinking about these family devotional times we had with our parents I was challenged to have intentional family devotional times where my wife and kids can have fun, laugh, learn about God’s Word and have memories that will inspire our children to do the same with their families. There’s this saying, “the family that prays together, stays together” and I believe it….. not because it sounds pretty…. but because I lived it! My wife and I decided to put up a reminder in our room not too long ago to help us stay focused on this. I would’ve tattooed it on my arm but I don’t like needles. Besides, the words would probably not make sense when I got older and wrinkled.  

So I challenge you today…what Legacy are you leaving behind for your children? It’s never too late to start.

Acts 4:32-33

"The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn’t even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, “That’s mine; you can’t have it.” They shared everything. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them."

Cabrera Legacy Part II: The Annoying Song

So there we were....same circle, same night, same family devotional (read previous blog to catch-up)....my dad had just finished reciting his memory verse when, out of the blue, my mom busts out with her favorite song of all time (at least that's what it seemed like). She LOVED singing this song during our devotional time! It never got old for her. She would close her eyes and begin leading this song before anyone could choose another song. As soon as she began singing, I thought to myself, "not that annoying song again!" (Just being REAL). Eventually, we all began singing along - as if we had a choice. Before you knew it, we were all having a grand ol' time! Laughing, singing and trying to see how many different harmonies we could make out of that circus-like music song. And just when you thought it was over, she would begin again from the top. If any of you have ever been over the Cabrera's house during our devotional time, you know what song I'm talking about! Ready to sing along? Here we go:


// En el hogar, en el hogar, tú necesitas a Jesús. //
// Veras que feliz se vive, veras que feliz se vive con Jesús en el hogar. //

Ok for those that don't understand Español, use Google Translate! Ha! JK! Here is the translation:

In the home, in the home, you need Jesus.
You will see how happy you will live with Jesus in the home.


I must say it sounds much better in Spanish - some songs were just not made to be translated. Any ways, until about 2 weeks ago, this was just an "annoying" song to me. Then it hit me one night while I was preparing for this blog!! I understood why my mom was so happy singing this song - and to be REAL with you, I felt convicted while tears ran down my face as I reminisced this moment. You see she understood that these weren't just words of a song that we were singing....she was declaring these words over our lives without us even realizing it! Eyes closed...clapping to the circus-like beat...singing loud and proud...with a smile on her face...her family around her in a circle singing alone - what more could a mother ask for? It was as if she was in another world with her God as she sang her favorite song. Yet deep in her heart, I'm convinced, she knew that this song would ring in our hearts for a very long time! She was right!

I called my mom this week to ask about this "annoying" song. This is how it went down:

(En Español of course)
Me: Mami, do you remember that song that you would always sing during our devotional time?
Mom: En el hogar! (all excited without letting me finish the sentence)
Me: Yep. That's the one! Why do you like that song so much?
Mom: Oh my son (poetically) because it's important to have Jesus as the center of our home! Without Jesus, we are nothing....our home is nothing! (then she began to sing the last part of the song)

También nosotros por la fe, nos acercamos Cristo a ti.  Aunque tu rostro no se ve, sabemos que tu estas aquí.

Translation:
By faith, we also draw closer to you, Christ. And although we can't see your face, we know that you are here.

BTW: This song is not so "annoying" to me anymore! :)

Psalm 126:2
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues were will with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."

SHE GOT IT!!

Cabrera Legacy Part I: The Bible Verse

Let me set the scene:

My mom, dad, brothers and sisters are all sitting in a circle in our living room. We just finished reading Romans 8 and now it's time to recite our Bible verse. My oldest brother has just finished saying his 10-sentence memory verse from one of Paul's letters (SHOW-OFF) and now all eyes are on me! My hands are sweaty, heart beating a million miles-per-second and my face is red. With a big gulp and thinking "here goes nothing", I let it out:

(En Español of course) "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! Proverbs 6:6" Before I could even finish, everyone questioned in unison, "AGAIN?!?!" I responded with "that's all I got" and we all begin to laugh. You see this was my favorite Bible verse when I was a kid mainly because during our family devotional time, we had to recite a Bible verse and John 3:16 was not an option. So I went to the book of Proverbs (not for wisdom but for easy verses). I found this "ant" verse... read it... memorized and made it my own!

Now we all know that nothing just happens by coincidence, right? So what was God trying to tell me about an "ant" that was so important? After all, to me ants were merely victims of The Giant Man (me) who loved to squish little villagers (them) - or an occasional science experiment that involved a magnifying glass and the sun. Well this little ant is worth taking a look at (according to this Proverb). They are admired for their hard work-ethics and wise planning. Could it be that God was trying to prepare my work-ethics for what would become a difficult road ahead for me? You see every job I have ever had I have had to work hard to be successful - I didn't get anything handed down to me based on "who I know". I believe this verse was rooted in my heart and would rise-up during these difficult times in different jobs that I had. Coincident? I think NOT!

"So faith come by hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ". Romans 10:17 (NLT)

I had a chance to interview my daughter and asked her what her favorite Bible verse was since she memorized a bunch of them. Here answer - Deuteronomy 31:6 "So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (SHOW-OFF)!

What was your favorite Bible verse growing up?

I'd love to hear from you!

The Fatboy In Dodgeball Theory

Who can ever forget gym class in high school when everyone would line up against the wall and await the dreaded team selection? No one wanted to be that person picked last because of their lack of skill and/or appearance - or as I like to call it "the fatboy in dodgeball theory". Now this theory is not about being overweight but about being disqualified by others based on your outer appearance or because you are not part of the popularity circle.

I was blessed with some fair athletic abilities and had plenty of friends in gym class so this wasn't an issue for me. However, as an adult, I was invited to play basketball with a group of people who did not know me. During the warm-up/shoot around, I noticed I was one of the better players on the gym - not tooting my own horn but TOOT! TOOT! :) Any ways.... As team selection began, I was sure to be first, second or third choice worst case scenario but NOOOOOOO! Dead last! I mean SERIOUSLY?! One guy shot the ball as if he wasn't sure if he was right or left handed! Side note..... I am kinda competitive. So I played as hard, fast and best as I knew how! By the end of the game I had 11 out of the 15 points, 4 steals, 8 rebounds (mostly off my own misses) and 5 dunks!!! Ok maybe not the dunks but the rest were true. Ha! I showed them, huh? 

I would soon find out that this "fatboy in dodgeball theory" is common practice in the workplace where I was passed up for several positions based on popularity or the lack there of. Then time and time again throughout life even in the - brace yourself - CHURCH! Yes! This PK was the victim of the "fatboy in dodgeball theory" in church! 

Do you know who else was a victim of the "fatboy in dodgeball theory" in the bible? One of my favorites… David (1 Samuel 16). Long story short... God tells Samuel that the next king would come out of the household of Jesse, David's father. So Jesse rounds-up all his sons except David because he didn't think he was good enough – “he’s just shepherd boy”. Wow! That is just SO wrong in SO many levels!! Disqualified by his father, of all people! Eventually, Samuel asked Jesse to bring David and anointed him. Even after being anointed, David went back to taking care of the sheep. That little shepherd boy would become one of the greatest kings Israel ever had!  

You know what sticks out to me from that story? David's humility... He could have had a conceited heart toward his father and brothers at that moment - "Ha! I showed them"! But instead he went back to taking care of the sheep for about 13 years after he was anointed until he eventually became king. But during those 13 years God was with David. He played the harp with such anointing that evil spirits would flee… defeated a giant with a slingshot… defeated a lion with his bare hands… just to name a few things. 

Like King David, we have a choice to make when we fall victim to the "fatboy in dodgeball theory". We can complain and give up or we can work harder and keep living life to the fullest. Continue to use your God-given gifts His perfect timing comes for your life. Go take care of those sheep like King David did. Only you know what that may look like – for me it’s writing these blogs. 

But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV)