Transcription
[Music] Blessings, Women's Wednesday. We are pleased to be able to come in and greet you. We are here sharing once again Women's Wednesday. We present my sister Levi, to be sharing. Regularly we are here in company. Look, we are going to talk about a topic that is so extensive, right? And so many things that one has to understand about love. Sometimes one looks for it in the search engine, love, you type it exactly into your search engine and you will find a love that is somehow distorted, do you understand? You will find like, uh, sexuality, you will find things that you shouldn't find when love is really something else, right? So, we are going to be talking about love. In fact, this month we are going to be talking about, I think, love, joy, peace, patience, four virtues and four fruits, right, that we need and I think they are the foundation in a woman, let's say, because, hey, this is a women's topic, right? But if there is no love, if there is no joyful woman at home, if she is a contentious woman instead of there being peace, or if she is an impatient woman, right? That we are not going to achieve it, right? Because today we are and tomorrow we are not. Besides, we women are so emotional, we are so moved by the soul. This, today we could say that tomorrow we are going to dress in pink or purple or yellow and then the day dawns and one says, "But what was I thinking, right? Black with white is the way to go." So, and like that every day, uh, as if one is laughing or not laughing, right? You say, "Yes, it's true." I mean, we women say 28 days, the poor 28 days. I do sometimes say, "Poor my husband, right?" Because, because, hey, what's wrong with you? Then he says, "Right?" "And you're fine, you were fine a while ago, right? But anything, sometimes anything irritates us, right? Suddenly I came in a rush, I imagine you too, you leave food, the dishes in the dishwasher, right? Everything arranged, and then if they eat, I'm leaving, right? And if they eat, they pick up the plate, if they do this, this, this, that, and the adrenaline starts to give us, it seems like energy, right? But I do think we need, right? uh, the peace of the Lord, we need patience, we need joy, but more than anything, I do ask the Lord to help me understand his love, right? And that I can also grow in my love from his love, right? Because I do believe, yes, sincerely I tell you, I do believe that even if it's just one step, I have advanced in love, right? Because, one thing is that sometimes one asks the person next to them, but close your eyes and ask yourself, right? Have you changed since you knew the Lord? And I know that yes, right? We have died to many things because he who loves dies. Let's pray so that our thoughts don't wander and we don't get scolded, right? Because they scold us later. Help us to pray, Iris, to start. Father, we thank you at this hour for the wonderful time you give us to be here in your presence. Thank you for this topic that touches us, Lord, to be able to examine ourselves and to know, Lord, if we are in you, if that love of yours dwells in us. Help us, please, to transmit this message that you put in our hearts and that each one of those who are behind those cameras can understand it and also examine themselves and reach the point of being able to, Lord, surrender before you. We thank you for this time and use us, Lord. Here we are in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. Amen. Look, we were talking about love, right? I was telling you that if, if we are advancing, because I do believe they are like steps, right? That if we are advancing in love, we will die to many things. A little while ago we were talking with Iris, right? What is it for women, let's talk from the beginning, right? Not just for women and marriages, right? Or us who are married, the three of us, when one gets married, a discussion begins at home, right? The illusion, the emotion, the fantasy ends, right? And then you say, "Oh, reality, right? And where is it written that he who finds a wife finds good and mercy?" But here it seems like dogs and cats are in one bag and we can't, right? But, but no, I believe that things sometimes start badly at home. Why? Because we start with the flesh and not with the spirit. The vast majority were like that. When we come and know the Lord, our spirit begins to strengthen. We begin to know the Lord, we begin to know the love of God. We begin to know the order of the Lord and the blessed Spirit of God enters our lives, enters our homes and says, "Okay, I am the expert in fixing messes, I will fix them and we will put things in order if we are understanding, right? Because I believe that when we come to the Lord's ways, we have to fold our hands and say, "You know what, Lord? I've fought, I've done, right? Many of us come to the Lord's ways already with many years, already with many instances of disrespect in marriages, with low self-esteem on both sides, because sometimes one says, "It's just that she has low self-esteem, that happens to both, man or woman, right? Why? Because sometimes the inappropriate words we say to each other do hurt, right? And sometimes we dare, because I do believe it's a dare, to get involved with our families or their families themselves, right? With the last name, with the nationality, and before we know it, we've fallen apart, right? The Lord comes, rescues us, and the Lord begins, a new story begins to be written. I see it that way, right? A new story, a new book begins to be written. And I sometimes say, such a crazy adventure, right? That ends in laughter and guffaws, and as the years go by you say, but I was drowning in a glass of water or I would start a fight when someone broke a cup, right? I would start a fight when something happened, right? Even the things that one might say are tragic. None of those, right? Because in the end, one says, "Well, perhaps two things were missing, but if the Lord was there, nothing happens." But I was telling you that we are going to be talking about these four topics this month, but what is love? What do we consider love? Right? When we talk to someone and say, "Would you marry the same person again?" and the other doesn't answer, of course not. Or one starts to say yes, but under other circumstances, yes, but with some conditions. Yes, but, but, but, but, right? Why? Because we start badly. But, but, but happiness, I believe that happiness has to have someone who longs to come home after a day of work. Yes, I believe they are happy. Someone who longs, right? Like, hey, there's nothing to eat, but what if we go to the store to buy something? Yes, that's happiness, right? Hey, there's nothing, but I have some tuna and hey, let's meet at the park with the four kids. That's happiness, right? Because you are willing to die, I believe, to tiredness, I believe, to so many things. Once someone asked me and said, "Who of the two of you have died more in marriage?" And I'm going to ask you now, right? And I was left thinking, die, die, die, like really die. Ah, well, I think both of them, no, someone has died more because one dies to many things, do you agree? One gets married and once, for example, I don't like movies, you'll rarely see me sitting like changing channels on TV and changing and changing because nobody watches TV anymore, everyone is changing channels. This, I don't like series, I don't like movies, I don't like the couch, no. I tend to expend energy on other things. Yes. But my husband likes, he liked movies, for example, he likes soccer a lot, and for me it was like, I didn't have that, well, that hobby or that habit or whatever you want. It was a fight. If he later told me, "Let's go play soccer." "Let's go." "No, of course not. Do you see that I like soccer?" And then it became a mess. This, "Let's go to the movies, no?" "Do you see that I...?" And another, another mess. But one day, by my own decision, I said, "I'm going to go with you to the stadium." And even more so, they almost gave us tickets for the games. They would tell us, "Do you want free tickets? Do you want tickets for the Azteca or do you want tickets for us?" And one day I said, "I have to like soccer because I can't have a fight every time there's a soccer game." "Are you going to the game?" And I said, "Yes, do you want me to buy you a jersey?" "Yes." "And I'll buy you Adidas sneakers, I don't know what." "Yes, you buy me whatever you want, huh?" And I tried. You know, I really tried. I tried, and if my husband is listening, I tried for about the time we were in Mexico, almost 6 years. Wow. And I didn't like it. To this day, I don't like it, but I tried, do you understand? I mean, things like going to the movies, and then he says, "I tried that too, and it gives me anxiety, an itch, something that is very unpleasant, I don't know why, but there are things you try, right? out of love, and one begins to die, to die to things, and those are small things, right? But, for example, coming to this state, it cost me a lot of effort, a lot of effort, the climate, the rain, but, but I say, I love my mom and dad and my country very much, but I think I love this one more because I don't like the state and I don't like this climate and whatever you want and this is nothing like me, right? But something united us. We come and know the Lord and one says, "Lord, I, I sometimes used to complain about this country and this state and this climate, right? And I would go to the back door and say, "Ah, Lord, may I love what you love and how beautiful this state is, how beautifully it rains every day. Oh, I enjoy it." I mean, I said, "Lord, if you sent me here, put that love in me, right? That, that I like being here," and somehow it's dying to certain things, do you understand? But, but, what is it? Let's talk about, about what happiness is. It's like living literally installed in your present, the past you've left behind, already, I mean, it's over, I can't fix anything in the past. If there were a time machine to go back, we'd get in and fix it, right? But there's no way. So, I need to, I am, I am living installed in my present. I have overcome the wounds of the past, I have overcome what I saw at home, perhaps I have overcome all those things, and I am looking, as I am installed in my present, I am looking with hope at my future, and I know that I have the hope that things will be not moderately good, but good if I seek the Lord. Yes, yes, am I making myself understood or am I getting lost? Because if not, look, I'm going to fall into depression. Why? Because I'm not installed in my present, but in my past. So, I'm going to get depressed about what didn't happen, about what they didn't do to me, about what they didn't give me, about what I didn't have, because I didn't go to school, about whatever you want. But then, and I'm going to get sick because the fashionable illnesses right now could be diabetes, depression, depression, anxiety, anxiety, psychosomatic, anxiety, all those mental psychosomatic illnesses. Exactly. Uh, what can I tell you? Uh, tinnitus, which is also a constant alert system, hypertension, these are the fashionable illnesses, anxiety, depression. Why? Because they are so to speak, installed in the past and in the fact that I can't, that I haven't overcome the things of the past, and then, but we are also so to speak, with an anxiety because since you haven't installed yourself in your present, you are anxious because you don't know what the future holds. And if this person leaves me. And if my children leave me. And if the boss gets angry and sends us to the ice, not the ice, and kicks us out. Imagine. You are so to speak, predisposed, do you understand? So you neither live nor let live those who are with you. Exactly. And you're going to get sick, do you understand? So, what is, what is that? How are we living, right? People, people regularly live, live either hooked on the past or worried about their future, right? And wasting their present. And wasting the present. I once talked, I talk with many people, but I was talking with a sister who looked like she was about 65, I mean, I estimated her, and by the way she spoke, yes, I estimated her, oh, look, my first granddaughter was just born, and so, and how is she with her granddaughter? And I said, "Oh, what a strange love," I told her. Oh, yes, but at this age, she said, and I don't use that word. I don't like this "at this age." You know, after 50. I don't like it. No, no, no, that's not for me. No, no, definitely. I grab my bike and I'll tell the story, even if my granddaughter gets scared, but I say, no. Uh, well, talking about "at this age" and "at this age," she said. I said, "Ah, and how old are you?" Because she had already scared me. And she said, "I'm 50." Ah. And I said, "Which ones?" "Look, I'm 52 and I don't consider myself." She said, "And can you bend your knees?" Oh, yes, of course. If you want, I'll kneel and get up, and yes, she said, it's not that it's not, look, it's not the age, but it's how you, how you start to mentalize and say, "I can't, I already have grandchildren, I'm old, I wear glasses, I'm not allowed to ride a bike anymore, or I don't know, right? The things. Why? Because you kind of get stuck in a stage where you don't see beyond that, you don't see a future. I was talking again, my husband will scold me because he says, "Let them talk, don't interrupt them." The apostle Raulito once said, talking with him, he said, "Look, I once said, as soon as my children grow up, let me live, Lord, until my children grow up." He said, "When my grandchildren were born, I said, no, I want to live not just for my children, but I want to live to see my grandchildren, to do things with my grandchildren." So, it's like you renew yourself, right? And what will renew you? Well, I do believe it's love, the love of the Lord, love for your loved ones, oh, look, waking up every morning, right? I, look, I wake up and open the curtains and I say to the Lord, "Oh, Lord, thank you." I don't know if because I told you, and I haven't put the title there, I'll look for it, that a book had been written about the 50 happiest people that that author of that book had found. I don't know if that's the exact title, but he said, "The 50 people there that I found were those who had overcome cancer, a complicated situation, a difficult situation, and those people have a different way of seeing life, a different way, and I believe we don't need to go through complicated stages to see life differently. I went through a very complicated stage and I had a terrible accident, so terrible that they took me, you know, from that accident, they didn't take me in an ambulance, they took me by helicopter from the accident where I had Siaro, and I think I was dying because on one side they were giving me blood, on the other side they were... "Don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep," they were trying to, and I was in a state of absolute peace, don't think I was screaming or in pain, even though the situation was very complicated, but I was at peace, do you understand? So, and it's true that your life passes by, it passes by so quickly, and the unpleasant scenes don't pass, but the sad scenes, sorry, the happy scenes pass. That's at least what happened to me. And to that, you know, I thank the Lord when I wash the dishes, as simple as that, because I see my two hands, because I almost didn't have them, because wow, you almost left me for a few hours, but you came back. But, when I comb my hair, I say, "Ah, Lord, thank you because I can." A little while ago, when I was driving, I'm usually always driving and I rub my arm and I say, "Thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you." When sometimes, when those things haven't happened to us, do you think it's normal to have an arm, a leg, health? I don't know, the ability to sleep well. There are people who can't sleep. Why? Because one is with that, precisely, with that anxiety, because one gets hooked on depression, on illness, on, on, what's it called? Being very clingy. We have to talk about that topic, right? Remind me, Luz, right? That topic that some people are very clingy, they don't let go, right? There are people who have to work on that, but, but we'll keep moving forward because if not, I imagine those are fears, right? When a person doesn't want to let go. You know, we were talking at the women's retreat and I was telling them, and I've been looking for and reading some articles about it, that for example, people who, in the, well, I read an article, okay? That in the, in the asylum, people who are not hooked on anxieties don't suffer from cancer. Or from that, or from cancer, rather. And then it said that because they were, there are many people in those situations who have unexpressed emotions, meaning, you keep the emotion. And speaking of emotions, sometimes one thinks that emotion is only getting on a ride and, no, no, emotions are many things, right? And emotions are sometimes, so to speak, fleeting, right? But, there are times when one has to let them out. I think we women, more closely, those talks, instead of watching television when one is asleep, we should be talking, right? You know, this happened, that happened, I didn't like that, look, this happened, right? That we learn to live, right? To, to, what's it called? Talk, to let all that out. Yes, we said. Let's see. We have here, we have Galatians. Uh-huh. Galatians 5:22. The fruit of the Spirit in conduct. Ah, sorry. In conduct, which is simply the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, ah, goodness, faithfulness. You know, as I'm putting it there, look, there's the Apostle Paul talking, first he's talking about the fruit, uh, love, right? It's a, it's a fruit, and the Bible, you know, refers to this fruit as a collective, right? And I was going to bring an orange, a tangerine, but today I'm going to put it there, not a series of fruits, right? But one fruit. And we can't choose or notice differences in quality. And I put an orange, a tangerine there, right? That you open it and it's a fruit, but it has segments, right? So it's the same fruit. And we can't choose or notice differences in quality between the different aspects of this fruit, because you open it and you don't say, "Ah, this segment is sweeter and the other segment is more sour." No, all, all the segments of that orange have the same flavor. Do you agree? So, but, because they constitute a single whole, and the fruit, right? That we or that should be contemplated, the result has to be the result of a believer who walks in the Spirit. So, there are times when we, as women, might be serving in the church, prophesying, giving, helping, right? And in a way, you say, well, those are gifts, but what about the fruits, right? Because then, but he who walks in the Spirit will then bear fruit. And I put there, for example, talking a little about orange blossoms, because those little flowers, before they bear fruit, before they become an orange, a tangerine, or a lemon, regularly those citrus flowers are orange blossoms, they are little flowers. And I put the flowers there and I put the, but what I want to tell you with that is that it's like a, it's, it's like the fruit, right? An orange or that tangerine with different segments, right? And they are all part of one fruit. First, to bear fruit, it will bear a flower, and if you get close when one of these trees is flowering, it has a delicious aroma. The tea is delicious. The aroma of that flower is, it's exquisite, right? So, how are you as a woman? I mean, what is your aroma? And I'm not talking about your deodorant or the perfume you wear. I mean, is it enjoyable to be with you? Because I was reading, among all the things I read, I was reading, how will you be? Well, as I say, how will you be for her or how will she be for you? Because there are people, or among us women, or talking with husbands too, who irritate, who just by seeing them, you're already irritated, do you understand? If that's the word that we sometimes use as a joke, it's that it's a bit toxic. Do you understand? Because you say, "Oh, just with that, her heavy joke, I couldn't take it." Do you understand? Because it irritates you. So, but how, let's say, are we going to change it into this? What is the aroma of your flowers? Right? How do you ask the Lord, "Lord, give me that fruit, Lord?" May I not be open-minded, right? But may I be of a tender and peaceful spirit, that I don't irritate the one who is there, but that I be of edification, that I be of an aroma that is pleasing, that I be, it's like I sometimes tell you, right? Yesterday I was telling you that I always carry a little perfume in my bag and the truth is that I look for a cream that smells good, I say, oh, and I always carry the little perfume like this and I say, oh, how nice. As I feel, uh, that it relaxes me, but what aroma do you have that relaxes others? What comfort do you give that relaxes others and not? I mean, how is your love, right? If we are a tree, because scripture compares us to trees planted by streams, meaning trees that are structures at the water's edge, right? And the water is the Holy Spirit, right? And scripture says that it bears fruit in its season and its leaf does not fall, and it gives rest to the weary. But what aroma do you give? Where I used to live in Mexico, there was a very beautiful tree from afar. And we had to walk, and we would regularly stop to rest under the tree because there was shade. But one day my mom said, "Never stand under that tree because it was a pirul tree." And those trees have hairy caterpillars. Oh. And they drop like a gum. This, and it has a very strong woody smell, but I don't know why it had many hairy caterpillars, and then, but I don't want to be a tree like that, I want to be a tree that gives off aroma, do you understand? So, ah, it says there, look what it says, 1 Peter, chapter 3, verse 4. And if you are seeing it there, rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God's sight. And if the Lord has put his love in us, then we would literally have to be, as we are considered, women, right? tender and serene. Because sometimes, sometimes my dad used to tell me, "Daughter, I got a splinter, a sliver here. What do you have, daughter? Delicate hands." You know, men used to say, women have delicate hands. Here, that's what men probably think of us. And I think so, we handle things with more delicacy, whatever you want, right? But what about this adornment? It says, look, because in this way they are adorned, right? Let's go back. To four again, rather, let it be, look, rather, let it be the inner self. Who is who? That I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. In Christ in us. If love is in us, then in your inner self, what will be there? He, love, rather, let it be the inner self with the imperishable adornment of a spirit, how? as we are considered, tender and serene, and even when you read it, it gives you peace. Right? When you read it, tender and serene, and it gives you peace? I had a book there that I've recommended a lot, and I don't know if you've read it or not, right? Of the Feet of Sierra. That book, really, the Bible gives you peace, but that book, as it is based on singing, it gives you such peace and transports you because that woman suddenly arrives at a place where she arrives at a cabin, if I'm not mistaken, and in that cabin a great storm comes, like it's raining here now, and the winds lash and whatever you want, right? And she was like, she called the Lord and a tender and serene spirit came and gave her peace because it was a process she was going to go through. But sometimes, how do we go through processes, right? How do we go through them? So the Lord comes and tells us what kind of trees, right? we should be or or by what means, through the fruits, right? that our integrity would be known. Now, I, I would say, well, I, I can give testimony of you and testimony of you, testimony of you about me. Oh, you wouldn't believe the pastor. What a good person. But you have to ask my husband or my children. Right? Because perhaps the worst versions of ourselves are known by them. Because sometimes we give others more than we give our own. Sometimes we have more patience with others, right? When we have some privilege in the church or some task to do, right? And with our own, we are neither tender nor serene, right? So, how? Right? A tree, how, how do you consider yourself? How are we? A structure bears good fruit, because if it's bad, it will bear bad fruit, right? And for whom is the fruit? Right now I have a job at my house where I have to remove all the apples to bring them to the Lord's Supper, and the trees are like that, but heavily laden. If I don't remove the fruit, who will remove it? For whom is the fruit? For the tree, right? Obviously, it adorns it and the trees look beautiful. The pear tree, full of pears, uh, all impressive. The trees, a tree put out one apple, only one apple because it's a small tree, but one apple this big that I didn't even want to remove because it was one of those, those crunchy ones, those apples, but just one it gave me because it's the first year that tree is bearing fruit, but I kept looking at it. Oh, I don't want to remove it. It looks so beautiful because its fruit adorns it, do you understand? So, but the fruit is for others. So, the fruit that we are bearing, which is for others, and we, there is a scripture where it says to say to the Lord, "Come, Lord, and enjoy your sweet fruit. Come down to the garden and enjoy it." So, he who dedicated, right? The time, I didn't dedicate that much time to my trees this year, but, at least, right? I would go out to water them, and I'm still watering them at 10:01 at night, right? Because I say, and they lacked water. And they still lacked water. And like that, the Lord, I think the Lord comes down and is watering the tree, is watering the tree, is removing what is not good, is removing what could cause harm, is removing what could prevent the fruit from growing, right? And one learns along the way. For example, apple trees start to sprout shoots from below, and I liked to see the shoots like that. Someone came and told me, "No, you have to remove them." My dad says, "Remove all of that because if you don't remove it, it won't bear, the fruit won't grow because it's spending, so to speak, energy on what's there, do you understand? So, clean all of that that's there. So, the Lord comes and constantly cleanses us. What is the cleansing the Lord does? Oh, send him to the little room, I want to talk to him, right? Send for him, right? Sometimes, like this Sunday when there was a beautiful administration, we had a visitor, I say, who? Give, come here, the other one come here, right? Because one sees that there is a need there, right? And that it is needed. But, what were we talking about? So, look, 1 Peter 3:3 in the TLA version says that your adornment should not be external things like exaggerated hairstyles or with gold jewelry and luxurious dresses. Beauty does not depend on appearances, but on what is in the heart. So, be calm and kind people. This beauty never fades and is very valuable in God's sight. You, there are things that are valuable, and love, as I know it is a, it is a whole, it is a whole from the Lord, but if we put it like, if the Lord has been transforming us, right? Like trees of righteousness, says the word, by whom? Through Christ Jesus. So, we have the capacity, I do believe we have the capacity to bear fruits pleasing to God, right? Because we do know the Lord, that we don't want to, right? It's like we said earlier, when I showed you the flowers, the orange blossoms, what, besides the tea, what does it do? I drink tea to enjoy the aroma, right? Because many times you drink tea and you say, you smell it first and oh, it relaxes you first. I think this one is orange, like this. Oh, it smells so good, right? But it relaxes you, but you don't really know what it's going to do for you, right? And suddenly you say, I need, and there are some kindnesses, yes, we know about certain teas, but sometimes I say, one with chamomile and a little lavender to be able to rest a little better, right? But talking, let's say, about this fruit, one says, "Well, what will the flower of that tree produce? What will it give someone? Will it calm someone? Will it relieve someone's discomfort, right? Will it strengthen someone, I don't know, their emotions? Will it help someone, give them advice and relieve their heaviness? Will it direct someone, because scripture says, right? that if we are like trees planted by streams and their leaf does not fall, right? And it will give rest to the weary, then the weary one there, weary from what, right? You arrive, how are you? Well, some are very honest, well, so-so. But what happened? Right? I sometimes minister face-to-face, sometimes they send me texts, "Look, I'm not well," and then I ask, "Tell me how you are, how did you get up?" No, this, that, how was your night, how was your evening yesterday, how did you go to bed, how did you get up, how are you doing, how are we doing, do you understand? So, that we be that, that we give emotional balance to someone who is currently in such sad emotional situations. I believe that after the pandemic, many people were left very emotionally unwell, mental illnesses, right? I believe that we, as Hispanics, are so affectionate and huggers, right? And we weren't even allowed to hug, to shake hands, or to give anything, and that undoubtedly is missed. It felt, it felt good. It was a very striking experience for me during the pandemic, because recently, I say, the Lord gives me a family of brothers and sisters, and I want to hug them all, and I want to be with them all, right? Like, well, and then the distance comes, and I'm like, but how can I stop hugging my brother? If I want to hug, I want to shake hands, right? And it's a kind of love, right? that is fed by teachings and by the walk one has. Then he tells me, my father told me, "Yes, do you love your brothers?" "Yes, yes, I love them." Then you fulfill the law. So, at that moment I didn't understand. But then the Spirit comes and convicts us. How will I understand it? How will I feed this love or express this love that I want to have with my brothers? Uh, well, the Spirit comes and says, well, do what is right, and you will feel good, you will feel better. And that is another kind of expression of love, doing the things that the Lord wants us to do, correctly, feeding that love. Yes, feeding that love. What are we going to do? What do we continue with? Let's go. Exactly. Ah, there, in Galatians 5:22, right? The same one that says that the word love comes from the Greek word agape, which means love and charity. According to the dictionary, love is the lively affection and inclination towards a person or thing. I believe that while studying, I was talking with the Lord, you know, because when it's time to confront yourself with the Lord and say, "Lord, right? Let's see what we can talk about, you and I." And I believe that what you said about dying, that it's quite difficult to do every day, because sometimes one says, "Oh, I've already given enough, I've already sown, I'm always doing and giving," but I believe that if the Lord did it, it was like something past, present, and future, because it says that God so loved, meaning, already beforehand, so it falls to us, and we can imitate it, we can do it, but it's that we can be filled through the word so that it manifests in our home with our children and with our husband. But as we look at their faults, then love, so to speak, we reduce it, right? I mean, oh, because he did this, then I reduce it, and I don't manifest my love through, perhaps, acts of love, right? That I can, for example, make breakfast for my husband. Ah, but he didn't reciprocate in something. So, why should I get up and make him breakfast? And the truth is that, as you said, I can come here and do everything that the Lord has already given me, which is all the gifts, but I am not being any living testimony of the love that the Lord has given, because my husband sees me and says, "Well, if they only knew that she couldn't serve me dinner or served it to me reluctantly." So, love is dying, but at the same time it is action, meaning it is manifest. So, this is what the Lord was telling me, because I say, "Oh, my God, it does cost, it does cost." And when one meets someone, the truth is, one doesn't love. One is obsessed and likes the body, the face, and then after years it's just crying and crying and crying, and then one says, "Oh, no, I can't cry anymore." So, one gets to know a little now, and I believe with the Lord, because I was talking to someone who doesn't know the Lord, and I was telling her, "Yes, it's different with God." I tell her, "Because when you don't have God and you have problems, you take refuge in things outside, but those things are momentary." But when you have God, you go, you kneel, and you feel like something happens when you cry, and you get up and say, "Oh, I have a chance for one more day," and that helps you. Instead, outside, no. So, I feel that if we have that love that is mentioned here, yes, yes, we will be able to achieve it, but it's like constantly, meaning, manifesting it every day. Look, Galatians 6:9 tells us, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." And here it tells us that if we continue doing good things and longing, taking care of that love, right? As it is a fruit, uh, feeding it. Ah, I sometimes thought, does love die? No, love does not die.
Our feelings die, meaning, it dies, it dies internally within us that sometimes we say, "How can I love?" And no one can give me back retroactively, right? Because there are people who don't have that fruit. We all have love because from the moment we are born we love our mother, we start to love our mother. It goes in the development of loving our siblings, loving those around us, right? And then comes the stage of a different kind of love, loving your partner, right? It's another love that has to be constantly fed and also, if the person or couple harms each other, they kill that love, the love with which they first met, as you say, "Oh, I like them from afar or because their face impressed me or their features, I don't know." But that's just the beginning of getting to know each other, and they start to feed that feeling that was born in both of them. And as they go along, they have to keep doing the same thing, because if one feeds the love and the other doesn't, it will hardly develop that fruit. It will hardly have the same flavor, as my mother used to say, that the orange has a lot of segments and they should all have the same flavor, right? Different flavor, right? And I've seen that some fruits, you go to the market and pick a fruit, and suddenly, you pick that fruit and it looks beautiful on top and bruised underneath. You leave it, you don't want it. So I say that's how our lives are, to feed love mutually, not just that she worries about the food, about what's done, because I even tell my girls, I've learned that even taking out the trash has to be done with love, brother, because otherwise it's not worth it, you really feel bad, you complain that it's just me and just me and just me, so you feel more frustrated and you feel like that little light of wanting to do things just goes out, and it doesn't feel the same anymore, right? No, what happens is that love, I think we are made to love, right? He who does not love God, will love something anyway, something. Because there is no one who says, "No, I don't love anything." No, you will love. If you don't love God, you will love money, cars, women, vices, but you will love something. Why? Because we are designed and made to love, right? But when we come, in our case, when we found the Lord, right? And one says, "I'm not letting go of this, right?" Because we could have known the Lord or come just for convenience, right? Sometimes one comes for a miracle, one comes for a wife, I don't know what the Lord tells you there. If they say miracles happen there, I'll go, you get your miracle and you leave, right? And it's not that God doesn't know because the Lord, many people say the scripture that crowds followed him, right? And then there is a version that is a bit strange that says, "And they followed him because he gave them, you understand? A version that says he gave them to eat their fill, meaning he gave them food, meaning they went for something." But those who knew the Lord, right? Who was all love, said, "No, Lord, even if you don't give me anything, right? Even if not, as we sometimes have a saying, right? Even if there were no hell, I would stay." Meaning, whatever happens. There are people who have defined themselves, right? And they say, "I'll stay, and whatever happens, right? I'll be here." But what is love? The lively affection or inclination towards a person, in this case, right? Towards Christ Jesus, right? Because if he loves the Lord with all his heart and you want to marry him, be sure he will love you and love your children. If he doesn't love the Lord with all his heart, be careful, right? Because it's not like that. So, but look there, First John, what? Chapter 4, verse 16 says that God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. And God in him. It's interesting because, who is true love? He, right? And whoever abides in him. Meaning, whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. So, who is it that has love? The one who abides in him, no matter what happens, right? Whatever happens. If you are with us, who is against us? If you are with us, who is against us, Lord? Right? If things get complicated, I will still follow you. And we see, right, in scripture, women talking a bit about Ruth, about Naomi, what happened to those two, right? But she, I think, what a mother-in-law, I mean, what a good mother-in-law, but also what a mother-in-law in bad times, because the situation we see of Naomi was chaotic. It was chaotic. I don't know how the other one could love her because, my goodness, I say, she became bitter, so bitter that she herself said, "Don't call me Naomi anymore, but Mara, call me bitter." And we see there in scripture, right, when with the two daughters-in-law, right? It says, "And they argued again and then they would argue." So, what was the argument? They fought, and yet something, I believe, a spark, something remained in Naomi that impacted Ruth and she said, "Your God is my God, right? And wherever you go, I will go, and where you die, I will die." Meaning, she loved what she had seen in her, who knows, right? Because you have to study Naomi, right? She followed her in such a way that nothing that had happened mattered, and you can see that she obeyed her faithfully, imagine going through that at that time, right? I mean, a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law, and she didn't know the Lord. So, the first thing she does is, well, I have nothing to do with this anymore, I'm leaving. And at that time, I feel there wasn't the freedom of expression like now, right? That we can have an expression, as you said, a communication to say, look, this thing, I don't like this about you, you could improve it, or you could speak to me kindly because I don't like your tone of voice. It wasn't there at that time. Women were quiet. So, sometimes I say, if the Lord left that scripture for us, how can we not? If she was marked in the word of God for what you said, for an action of a mother-in-law, and she could remain in history, in the genealogy of the Lord, then how can we not? What is our excuse? Or where do we lean on, because we do lean on and grab many excuses, because for example, I have a loving son, but he tells me he loves me with that love, I believe with that love of God, because he always tells me nicely and he says, "But you don't tell me you love me." I say, "Yes, I love you, but you say it like, 'Yes, I love you.'" So, I say, "Why? If I'm an adult and I've known, let's say, the Lord more, what's my excuse? Where do we base ourselves?" So, it's very difficult because I think we grab onto many excuses, right? Yes, yes. It's just that, sometimes there are things that need to change, right? But there are so many expressions of love, and I, oh, I'll have to open my heart, right? But I say, how do I tell this person that I love them? A good breakfast, right? How do I tell this person that I love them? Oh, I'll make some nice cookies. Once I found some at Ccunas, I recommend them, some green pistachio cookies. If you like pistachios, they are delicious. They have a little bit of white chocolate, some a little bit of brown chocolate, others, well, they are delicious. And besides, chocolate does make you see things differently, if you want to take away anger, give someone a little chocolate. But sometimes it's hard, as you said, right? And tell me you love me, well, I love you. That's not it. Meaning, sometimes express it, right? Because some people are very affectionate, some people, with a caress, say, "Oh, how nice, some flowers, a hug, right?" I sometimes, with the sisters I talk to, I say, "Oh, I send you many hugs. A thousand hugs, right?" But it's easy to send hugs by text, right? "Oh, I need a hug." Here are many hugs, hugs, hugs. And you even send them a teddy bear and then hugs. When you have them face to face, you say, "How do I hug them?" Because you're doing the exercise, like practicing, right? Because as we said, right? There are those hugs that feel good, right? And that you have to express. It has to be expressed. Look, when the Lord Jesus asked Peter, I think it was, "Do you love me?" but he said, "Do you love me? I want to tell you." And that's totally different. The other one is also tough. The other one is also tough. It's like, oh, look, you know how I show my love. If I go to the store and find a soft blanket like that, I say, there it is, I'll take it. I love you, I love you. And I put it in the dryer and take it out hot, hot, the kind that hugs you, and like this, I'll hug you. Well, it's a hug I'm giving you, right? With but not, right? The human being, look, needs to be more affectionate. Sometimes now, after the pandemic, there are some before, right? Who were not hugged, who were not. I remember when I got married to my husband, my family are very huggers and very affectionate. So, I brought the boyfriend, right? To introduce him. And then my cousins come and hug him, and he would jump back, way back. I say, "Why are you doing that?" He wasn't used to it. It's because they want to kiss and hug me. They don't want to kiss or hug you. They want to greet you, and you look bad, and I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know how to reciprocate, meaning, you have to reciprocate. A hug, the Apostle Sergio has also said, that Mexicans greet with this, then with this, then with a hug, right? Because I think each country has its different ways of expressing itself, but if the love of the Lord is in us, yes, we have it. Yes, what a beautiful quote. I think love is manifested there. I don't know what it says in other versions, if you want to look it up. First John, chapter 4, verse 16, which we just read. And it says, look what it says. Well, if, let's see, if you don't have a more up-to-date version, but it says God is, God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. So, I want to demonstrate the love of God. Look, you demonstrate the love of God sometimes by being prudent, because that's a barbarity. I think prudence, prudence should come with a lock, right? And put a lock on it or an expression, right? But prudence, because if there is love and you don't know how to manage your attitudes, right? Because sometimes we have, I say, rough attitudes, right? Look, better manifest it like this, look, quietly, because sometimes with the eyes, right? I wasn't defiant with my father with my mouth, but he would say, "Those eyes, those eyes, those eyes, your face, your attitude, your posture." And I, how? How and I didn't know. You understand why? Because there is body language that is saying a lot of things that hurt us, right? So, do you have another version that says something there? Ah, yes, I have the one with the bear, and it says, "And we have known and believed the charity that God has for us. God is charity, and he who abides in charity abides in God, and God in him." It's in Castilian, and it says, "We have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." How wonderful. So, I think, I think then that, let's say, permanence is like a little branch, right? Of love. Yes. A fruit. There is a trunk. Look, as it was the end of the year, one has to prune trees, right? Fruit trees, especially. But you have to see which ones. I didn't know which ones. Now that my father came, yes, I can prune any. And I was cutting like that, they say, "Dad, you cut differently." Meaning, you have to know, the one who is going to prune to make it bear more fruit has to know. So, one day he came to my house, and the raspberries were all spread out, I have raspberry bushes that are still producing. And when I saw him, he disappeared. I invited him for coffee, right? And he, yes, if he's watching, he disappeared. When I went to look for him, he was removing dry branches, he said, because it's choking the others. So he goes and removes, removes, removes this one, he told me, remove more of that one. Well, he made me sweat for a while, and he says, it has to be removed, what remains has to be seen, meaning the fruit remains. The forgiveness, the tree, the trunk, but those things you have to cut, you have to remove. And that was a bush, because let's say raspberries are like a small bush. Imagine a tree that you have to look at how you have to prune it, right? Or how or how you have to work on it. So, we have to let ourselves be worked on by the Lord so that there is constant fruit, so that that fruit remains in us. Because as we move away, I'll put it this way, the bonfire, there's a bonfire, it's cold, right? But you're feeling the warmth. As you move away from the bonfire, you will feel the cold. So, as you move away from the love of the Lord, the fruit will become less and less. And we will start like those people who know the Lord and live in the past. It's not that I used to be like that, I used to give, I used to visit, I used to support, I used to contribute, I used to live in the past. And what happened to you? You moved away, you moved away from the trunk, right? So, but if God is love, we have to remain. Look what it says there, and whoever abides in love. So, there has to be permanence, or there has to be, as we say, stability, because stability is also a fruit. It is a fruit. So, the one who I am today, tomorrow I am not, or as the preacher said last weekend, right? Those who say goodbye. Today I'm leaving. Today I'm going to the nearest church in Venecer, and they are ready. Let's find the nearest church. I'm going there. They don't remain. How many times, how many times did we want to leave our father's house, not just some of us. But we never left. There was no better place to be. Whatever they said, right? But there was no better place. So, God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. So, I do want to remain in him. Why? Out of love for him, because if I am well, my husband will be well, right? If he is well, I will be well, right? If we are both well, there will be security for my children, for my grandchildren. Even though they are married, I thought, you know, when they got married, I said, "What will it feel like to have married children?" Like, I'm done with my job, and see you later. No, it's not like that, I have to be well so that they are well. Yes, because more members are added, like grandchildren, right? The prayers are no longer for four, they are for six. Yes, they are for six now, and they increase little by little. But look, let's read in Matthew 22:37. It says, "And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.' Imagine how you have to love him. With everything, meaning, absolutely with everything. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. And what is in the heart? The word says that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. We want to know someone, what do they talk about? Well, three hours with them, and that's a lot. In 20 minutes, you realize what they talk about, complaints here, complaints about the husband, complaints about the church, complaints here, complaints, complaints. But it says, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.'" And you had another one there that you told me is parallel to this. There's one in John 13:34, right? Let's see, it says, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another." It's just that he came, and the total love came, meaning he came, not he came like, what's his name? Love, like those who said, "I knew faith and I knew no." He came as love, meaning we knew him as love. So, when he comes, right? And then he says, "A new commandment I give you." Meaning, he taught us how to love, how we should love, and how it developed in him while he was here on earth. Because one can say, "Oh, but he is God." No, he came to earth, right? He went through the same things, the same passions, the same situations. He fell into depression too, right? Because he was sad, even to death, he said. So, one realizes that, and in the prayer before going to the cross, he told the Lord, "Not my will, but your will be done." So, in essence, you understand. So, one sees in the flesh a fear, saying, "Lord, not that I, for myself, I believe he was God, right? But to go through those situations." And then, read it again. It says, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another." One another. And pastor, a question, for example, if someone, right, who is watching us or someone here among us says, "Ah, I cannot love my brother because I don't love myself." Meaning, what can that person do? Because one doesn't love oneself. Meaning, how? I cannot love my neighbor because I don't love myself. What happens, daughter, is that people give what they have. Unfortunately, there are people who did not receive, you understand? Who did not receive affection, a cuddle, a hug, they didn't know that. So, if the other person, right? If they are close to you, right? And you say, "Well, then I will teach them, I who know the Lord, if the other person knows the Lord, let them hug them, approach them, share what the Lord has given us." On one occasion, I had a person, let's say, for a discipleship, the relative of the owner of the discipleship arrived. And then he became very aggressive. He became very aggressive, and he said, "Of you people," speaking of Christians, because one Christian lumps us all together, right? "Of you people, I have known this and this from my neighbor, this and this from a relative, this and this," and he started talking, and I got scared because I thought, "And what do I tell him?" He was so aggressive. And I prayed to the Lord and said, "Lord, oh, what do I tell him? I want to leave here, run away because I don't want to be here." And you know what he told me? "He has not known my love." And then I, well, yes, I know he hasn't known your love. And now, what do I tell him? And you know what he told me? "Ask for forgiveness." And still, one is reasoning, right? And I say, "And why should I, if I don't even know him, he's insulting me like that, and how do I ask for forgiveness?" And you know, at that moment, I didn't say, "Look, look, look how sorry I am," I said, "but I ask for forgiveness for your neighbor, for your uncle, for your brother-in-law, for all of them." I said, "But I come to present the love of the Lord to you." Mhm. Right? Because forgiveness, you see, forgiveness opens doors of blessing, and those people who suddenly don't want to accept anything or don't know love is because no one has approached them to say, "Hey, forgive me for an attitude, they never gave them that." So, many times people give what they have. What do they have? Contempt, rejection, never an approach, there was none. So, people are like, look, it's a bad example I'm going to give, but I don't know if you've seen, right, that there are programs that go around picking up abandoned animals on the street, and I happened to see one, and I stayed watching, and I was almost crying because they picked up a very injured animal, a very injured puppy, and then the animal was healthy, but very malnourished. In the end, do you know what the veterinarian said? "He no longer trusts man," he said. And he didn't want to live. Meaning, he died of sadness. Oh, because when the opportunity came for someone to hug him, the puppy no longer wanted to. So, in the end, he let himself be taken to the veterinarian, right? And the man hugged him, his eyes were no longer of trust, meaning, the animal had trusted his whole life. And in the end, he said, "We don't know why he died, but he just didn't want to anymore." Oh, wow. You understand? So, sometimes I think for those people, that example you're giving, yes, ask the Lord, "Lord, may they know you, and if I am, if I am a channel of blessing, because we are channels of blessing, and if I am here, Lord, tell me how. Ah, do I have to go and ask for forgiveness? I ask for forgiveness, right? Because sometimes one has to ask the Lord, right? Because discernment is also a fruit of the Spirit. How will I present your love? Look, we're saying goodbye. Time went by so fast, right? But I think it was an interesting and very extensive topic, right? And to understand what the love of God is. The love of God is in all things, everywhere. You wake up, it's the love of God, it's raining, it's the love of God. I can breathe, it's the love of God. I was looking at an article today, right? About people who are emotionally ill, and they were saying that, oh, how do I say it? That the chromosomes, when a person, when a person has suffered since childhood, their X's are short, let's say. And when a person has been loved, cuddled, important, those little legs are like longer, longer, and then it's defined whether they will get sick or not because they have emotional support. We hug our children. I tell my children, hug them, cuddle them as much as you can, kiss them, kiss them. I didn't do it. I wish I could go back in time, right? And say, "Ah, Lord, it's just that I didn't know." We sometimes have age against us, right? Hug as much as you can, hold onto the Lord, and everything will be fine. We'll leave you, we'll say goodbye, we'll see you next week. We thank the Lord because he allows us to enter his house. Share, right? With someone who perhaps doesn't know the Lord, and here we are, Wednesday after Wednesday, to serve the Lord. Will you say goodbye for us, Levi, please? Yes, we love you very much. We say goodbye. Yes, beloved Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, once again, Lord, for this great opportunity, Lord, to be able to, Lord, meditate on your word, Lord, to be able to speak of your word, Lord, and of the great love, Lord, that you have, Lord, for us, Lord. Great, Lord, and marvelous are your works, Lord, upon us, Lord, and upon all those, dear Father, who need that seed of love, Lord, who need, Lord, to be, Lord, loved, dear Father, please, Lord, may this seed be sown in their hearts, Lord, and may they, Lord, feel your presence, Lord, of love, Lord, that presence, Lord, with which you come filling, Lord, you come, Lord, supplying, Lord, those hearts, those needs, Lord, that are in the soul, dear Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, we bless each of the homes, Lord, that have been able to connect, Lord. We bless, Lord, all those who have that need, Lord, of love, dear Father. And likewise, Lord, our hearts, Lord, and our souls, Father of glory, we place them in your hands, Lord. Take us home safely, Lord. And likewise, Lord, to those who will be transmitting, Lord, in the next hour, dear Father, bless them, Lord. Pour out your Holy Spirit, Lord, so that your word, Lord, may be spread, Lord, as your word says. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we thank you, Lord. Amen. And amen. See you next week. God bless you. [Music]