In 1987, President Ronald Reagan went to West Berlin, where he gave his famous speech Tear Down This Wall, where he said freedom was necessary for all Germans.

In that same year, two independent pastors began prayer meetings and held a few freedom meetings. In the spring of 1989, the movement began to gain strength. After just a few months, there were 100,000 people peacefully marching, then 300,000, then 500,000. The main government officials resigned and in one day all the restrictions were lifted and people were released. Soon the main officials of the socialist government resigned and finally the dictatorship fell. Once this state failed, the citizens were the ones who began to destroy the wall.

When I heard that these pastors were the ones who started the movement, I realized it had not been something natural but that it had been the move of the hand of God.

Joshua also faced a great wall

After Moses’ death, God chose Joshua to be Israel’s leader. They were finally entering into the Promised Land, and this was going to be Israel’s great conquest.

This is what God told Joshua:

“Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. 2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” (Joshua 6:1-5 NIV)

The enemy fears God’s plans

The gates were tightly shut. Jericho had heard what God had done through Joshua, and they were panicking. God parted the Jordan River in two, and walked with His people in a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire in the night.

I know that God has given you promises, I know that God has worked miracles in your life, and the enemy has heard all about it. The enemy knows that our God keeps His promises. He is the God of the impossible.

I loved hearing Isabel’s testimony last week at our church’s baptisms. The day after her encounter, the doctors diagnosed her with cancer. This was a battle that lasted several weeks, but she stood firm on the promises of God. Four weeks later, she went in for her medical check-up and to her surprise they found absolutely no trace of cancer. She had to fight her Jericho for several days. She had to stand firm in her faith and decide if she was going to listen to the doctor’s voice or God’s.

What is your Jericho?

David had his Goliath.
Elijah had his Jezebel.
John has his Roman Empire.
Joshua had his Jericho.

Just like Joshua saw his Jericho, you can also see yours, you can feel it, you know that you are going to have to face that adversity. Maybe it’s your boss who yells at you all the time and doesn’t value you. Maybe your classmates make fun of you and your faith. I remember when I was in High School there was a moment I felt very pressured by my classmates. I felt I didn’t fit in. I called my parents that day crying, “Mom, I’m very pressured in this school and I feel like I can’t find my place here.”

Everyone faces their own Jericho. It may be the environment in your school or workplace, it may be a disease, or maybe you feel stuck and without a purpose.

I have good news for you:

GOD HAS MADE YOU A WARRIOR

I love how Bill Hamon teaches us that Jesus is a warrior. Before Joshua went into battle, Jesus appeared to him as a soldier.

This commander in chief was Jesus. He had the sword in His hand, which is the most powerful weapon there is.

“Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29 NKJV)

TRUMPETS

God told them to use trumpets, and when the Bible references trumpets it mean war.
There are a lot of people who say they don’t want anymore war, they just want peace.
God wants to make you a warrior. Imagine if Joshua would have had the “love and peace” mindset, or politely asked, “Excuse me, would it be alright if you let us in?”. If this had been the case, there would’ve never been a conquest.

It’s absolutely necessary that you have a winning attitude!

“His power needs to be defeated. We cannot settle and say we want to live at peace with the enemy. We fight or we die. Evil will overtake us if we don’t overtake it first.” Charles Spurgeon

You need to rebuke the spirit of passivity that has dominated your life for too many years. Declare war on the enemy.

The most powerful weapon the believer has is the power of the blood of Jesus. You need to declare that through the blood of Jesus you have overcome the enemy.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Revelation 12:11)

God’s strategy

If we’re honest, the strategy God gave Joshua didn’t make much sense, the truth is God wanted all the glory. Every time I read this I am shocked at this God-given strategy. Joshua and the people had to march in silence for six days, once a day.The seventh day, they were to march seven times and end with a war cry. This doesn’t make any sense, but God wanted to have all the glory and do something crazy.

The war cry

The war cry is a very powerful spiritual weapon. Does it make sense to shout in front of a wall? No. But God used that shout for the walls to fall.

Last year, Bishop Bill Hamon visited our church in Bogota for a prophetic seminar. After speaking about spiritual warfare and the war cry for about four days, we gave our shout…for almost an hour. This happened days before the presidential elections in Colombia, and that day we truly felt freedom come and God extend His protection on Colombia.

“When we let the God in us wake up through our shout, He assures us that our enemies are going to be dispersed.” Bill Hamon

We give our war cry in faith and through it we declare that we are entering the Promised Land.

There’s a song called Hands On and it tells a little bit about his testimony:

Cut out all the lights, He the light
Got pulled over, see the brights
What you doin’ on the street at night?
Wonder if they’re gonna read your rights
Thirteenth Amendment, three strikes
Made a left when I should’ve made a right
Told God last time on life
Told the devil that I’m going on a strike
Told the devil when I see him, on sight
I’ve been working for you my whole life
Nothing worse than a hypocrite
Change, he ain’t really different
He ain’t even try to get permission
Ask for advice and they dissed him
Said I’m finna do a gospel album
What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?
They’ll be the first one to judge me
Make it feel like nobody love me
They’ll be the first one to judge me

The darkest moment

Just like Kanye, Paul didn’t look like he would ever become a Christian. He actually had permission to persecute and murder the Christians.

It says he was full of rage, he was very angry. He thought he was doing the right thing but really he was hitting rock bottom.

“During those days, Saul, full of angry threats and rage, wanted to murder the disciples of the Lord Jesus. So he went to ask the high priest” (Acts 9:1)

Saul was a very well educated man. He had so much knowledge of the law of Moses. So this Jesus thing was not right. He did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. He was defending the law and persecuting Christians, but God saw something in him. Everyone else feared him and saw him as a big threat.

It is in the darkest moment that God decides to show Himself to you. This is what happened to Kanye. He says that it was at the hospital when he had a mental breakdown that he decided to give his life completely to Christ.

RAVI’S TESTIMONY

I heard the testimony of Ravi Zacharias. He is a Christian thinker and apologist. He leads a ministry that goes into Universities to defend Christianity in a very polite way. He leads thinkers to believe and believers to think.

He says he was an atheist until the age of 17 when he tried to commit suicide by swallowing poison. While at the hospital a local Christian worker brought him a Bible and told his mother to read to him from John 14. When he got to verse 19 it really touched him: “Because I live, you will also live”. He said he thought to himself, “This may be my only hope: life as defined by the Author of life”.

The moment he found Jesus was in the darkest hour of his life. He survived the poison he swallowed. It was like God was telling him: “I’m not giving up on you”.

The darkness of sin

When you live a sinful life it’s like if you were walking with a veil in your eyes.

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)

Saul knew most of the law by heart. He had so much knowledge. Yet he didn’t think that murdering “infidels” was a problem.

Sin brings separation from God. That’s why a lot of times you cannot feel him close, maybe you try to pray and don’t feel anything.

When you don’t have God’s truth, then you have this world’s truth.
Like Kanye said: “Devil, I’ve been working for you all my life. Now I’m going on a strike”
Do you see sin the way God sees it?
Now a days the world is turning upside down. They are calling the good things bad and the bad things good.

In a flash of light

“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:3-4 NIV)

This flash of light made him fall to the ground

This reminds me of my dad’s testimony
Nobody preached to him. At the age of 18th he started to get curious about Jesus and the Bible because his philosophy teacher who was an atheist said: “I’ve not only read the Bible, but I have studied it” So he’s like if this guy has started to read the Bible, why shouldn’t I?
Then he made an appointment with God.
Same thing he saw a flash of light come inside his room
Just like Paul, my dad fell on the floor and started to confess his sins

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 NIV)

Have you had a flash of light? Have you experienced a supernatural encounter?

In a flash of light you can declare Jesus is King

Once you decide to surrender your life and put your life is God’s hands. He can start doing something with you.

Imagine Paul’s life was transformed in a flash of light. He was born again immediately. The same thing happened to me. When I went to a retreat and totally understood I needed to have my own encounter I was changed forever.

“I think I’d like to be remembered as one who kept my priorities in order.”
– Truett Cathy

More than about chicken, Truett was passionate about making everyone feel special. Thinking about his employees, he decided to close the restaurant on Sundays. He wanted people to have a day off to be able to go to church and be with their families. He did this himself from the start of his career. He would also tell his team members: “Treat everyone who walks through those doors as if they were the president”.
Chick-Fil-A teaches their employees about the second mile service based on Matthew 5:41 that says, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles” (NIV).

He was able to create a culture of hospitality and this is what made them stand out among the rest. More than cooking chicken, they wanted to impact people’s lives.
Nehemiah was able to inspire the Israelites who were very discouraged because 100 years had passed since the wall lay in ruins. Nehemiah was able to teach the people the work hard, work smart culture. These volunteers were definitely a part of the “second mile team”.

One Heart

“We kept at it, repairing and rebuilding the wall. The whole wall was soon joined together and halfway to its intended height because the people had a heart for the work.” (Nehemiah 4:6 MSG)

They had clarity that the vision was to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem.
Nehemiah had a compelling vision: We are going to build the wall so we can become a nation again.

Most of the people were not in the construction business. A lot of them were perfumers and goldsmiths, they had no idea how to build a wall. But they found hope in Nehemiah’s words. ¨I can be a part of something greater than myself.¨

My testimony

When I first started to be in ministry, I didn’t really see myself as a leader. I saw myself as a singer and a worship leader. I thought, “I’m just going to make music, worship God, and let other people lead”. Even though I had a cell group I wasn’t as passionate about it as I was about music. But God showed me how I could make a difference in someone’s life. Connecting with people and seeing them how God sees them is what I’m most passionate about now.
A few months ago, I began creating the habit of starting my day with specific declarations. Here are two of my daily declarations:
God called me to believe in people, see the best in them and to raise up leaders.
I am a leader. It is not something I do. It’s who I am

Leaders are born in times of need

When they were halfway to their goal, criticism increased.
Critics demoralize but leaders encourage.
As we have learned, the critics were making fun of and mocking the Jews: “You’re never going to be able to finish. Can they do it in one day?”. When these voices came, that’s when the leader rose up and said, ¨WE WILL FINISH THE WORK¨. We have two options: we can either hear the criticism or focus on hearing God’s voice.

King David

We see this in David’s life. His leadership was established by his courage, not by his talent. Who could fight against Goliath the giant? He was just a shepherd boy. Why would king Saul allow him to fight? Because of David s courage.
Leaders are leaders because they are the first to take action. Are you a leader willing to go the second mile?

More than talent you need courage.

Nehemiah was seen as a leader when he spoke to the king, worked on a plan, and when he was able to impart vision to the people.

What kind of second mile do we need to run?

BECOME A PRAYER WARRIOR

Nehemiah had a death threat. The enemies were creating a plot to attack Nehemiah and his crew. He had to train his team to become warriors. Although they didn’t know how to do so, they were willing to die for this vision.

“But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” (V9 NIV)

Many Christians think that they are doing God a favor by coming to church. They just want to be entertained and ask what the church will give them now. But few people want to pay the price in prayer. We are constantly fighting a spiritual battle. There are evil forces in the heavens, and Christians need to understand that this is our greatest battle. God is calling you to run the extra mile in prayer. We have the sword, which represents the word of God. We also have the weapon of the blood of Jesus.
“This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chronicles 20:15 NLT)

SECOND MILE ON GOD’S WORK

Nehemiah’s team decided to keep working despite the death threats. Half of them worked on finishing the wall and the other half kept watch against the enemies.

The first church that ever existed is found in the book of Acts. These first apostles truly were a part of the second mile club. They were willing to give their lives for the gospel.

I love the story in Acts 5: Peter and the apostles were sent to jail for preaching the gospel, but then the angel opened the jail gates and they were free. After that he told them that it was necessary for them to keep preaching the word in the temple. They obeyed and after they finished preaching and sharing the gospel they were severely flogged.

“They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” (Acts 5:40-41 NIV)

What kind of Christian are you?
Do you want to take the easy route?
Do you go to church just to be entertained?
These apostles were willing to give their lives for the gospel. What are you willing to die for? If you know what you’re willing to die for, you’ll know your reason worth living.
God is calling you to be part of the second mile club.

“Remember that hope is a powerful weapon even when all else is lost.”
— Nelson Mandela

“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.”
― Nelson Mandela

When others said, “You cannot do it. You’re a loser. You are worthless”, he never gave up. Mandela knew that his vision was an idea given by God to a whole nation. A united South Africa was not his idea, it was God’s idea.

A God idea vs. a good idea

Nehemiah knew that he had a God vision. The rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem wasn’t just a good idea. It was a God idea.
Who could fix a 100 year old problem? Every time they had tried to fix it enemies always stopped them. Nehemiah wasn’t the first to try to rebuild the walls. So what made him succeed?

Nehemiah had a concern about the city and the people in Jerusalem. That concern turned into vision. That vision turned into a plan. During his time of conceiving the vision, he was able to get God’s favor. Just as he had prayed for an opportunity. He got it. When the king asked him to tell him why he was sad. He was able to share his heart for Jerusalem. Then when the time came for him to go to Jerusalem and tell the people his vision. He said:

“Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” (Nehemiah 2:17 NIV)

Good ideas depend on our abilities, and our strength.

A God idea depends on God’s ability and in his supernatural work.

When Other people say you can’t

“But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?” (Nehemiah 2:19 NIV)

Sanballat and Tobiah were fellow Jews. At first I thought they weren’t Jewish and they just simply hated Jews. They represent those envious people who don’t want anyone else to be successful. These are the kind of people who say: “If I failed then I want everyone to fail.” These are very selfish people who are always trying to speak negativity into people’s lives.

How does opposition speak?
You cannot do it
You don’t have the money
You don’t have the talent
Keep dreaming

Are you lifting people up with your words? Or are you bringing them down?
Are you bringing people down with your words.
Do you feel you have envy?
Do you get jealous when others succeed? Or do you get happy and you want to learn from them?

There are spiritual opponents as well
“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 NLT)

How are you going to respond?
“I shot back, “The God-of-Heaven will make sure we succeed. We’re his servants and we’re going to work, rebuilding. You can keep your nose out of it. You get no say in this Jerusalem’s none of your business!” (Nehemiah 2:20 the MSG)

I love this version of the Bible. “You can keep your nose out of it” (haha) I’m pretty sure this is what we want to say to people most of the time. Nehemiah actually said it. He knew that although they were Jews as well. They did not love Jerusalem and they did not love its people. Basically he paid no attention to these people and he just kept working on what God had told him to do.

ACT IN FAITH

Most people in the Bible got to become great leaders because they had courage. They were obedient. They acted in faith. Nehemiah is one of those leaders.
Noah acted in faith when everybody mocked him as he was building an ark and not a drop of water was falling from the sky. He was acting in a God vision.

“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8 NIV)” By faith Abraham went into the unknown. He persevered on God’s word.

When others say you can’t, believe in God’s vision

When others say you can’t believe in the things not yet seen
When others say you can’t declare “I will walk by faith and not by sight”
When others say you can’t declare “without faith it’s impossible to please God.”
Faith is to believe in the unseen

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor and the civil rights leader. He was a preacher’s son and actually he didn’t want to follow God’s ways. At a very early age he was able to attend college and eventually he was born again. He then realized God had called him to be a minister as well. He had a concern for his fellow African American people. He knew segregation was wrong. There were many incidents happening nation wide that completely broke his heart. This took him to India to learn how Gandhi did the non violent protests. He adopted this method and it was very successful as it was the start to the end of segregation.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
(Martin Luther King Jr)

Eventually he became a national hero and was able to gather thousands of people in 1963 where he gave his famous “I have a dream” speech.

IT STARTS WITH A CONCERN

Nehemiah’s role as a leader also started with a concern. Nehemiah was a Jew, he was cupbearer to the King. (This means he was like the prime minister today). So he was a very important person but as a man of God and a Jew, Jerusalem had special place in his heart.
“They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” (Nehemiah 1:3 NLT)
Although he had never been to Jerusalem in his life these news got to him. These were real facts: the people were called “survivors” which means that’s what they lived for, to just survive. They were constantly under attack and in great danger. A city with no walls means a a city with no protection and without anything valuable inside.

WHAT BREAKS YOUR HEART?

These news broke Nehemiah’s heart.
“When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 1:4 NIV)
Apparently he had a great position, a really good income. Why did this break his heart? Because his heart was with his people.
What is the condition in your house?
Maybe you left your loved ones…
Maybe you are alone in this country or in this city
Maybe you see injustice at your job or you have a passion to help people.

What makes you angry?
Nehemiah was angry that the people were treated horribly. His heart was with his people. This people were constantly attacked. Their only concern was to survive. They lived in fear. This is what took him to become a leader.

This is what led my mom into politics. She was a young woman just the pastor’s wife. One day she saw a self proclaimed witch announcing she was running for president. This got her really mad. She was like: “Where are the people who fear God?” If I need to become a politician to bring redemption to my country I will do it. This is what took her to become the first Christian senator in the Colombia.

BUT FIRST PRAY

Although Nehemiah could immediately go talk to the king. He was wise. He knew that it was smarter not to immediately act but to first pray. He didn’t yell. He didn’t go talk to the people under him. He sat down and wept. Nehemiah was going to do something about the city but first God had to do something in his heart. Nehemiah didn’t do a 5 minute prayer. It says that he prayed for days, and he was before God day and night. He prayed for repentance as if he had committed all of these sins. He humbled himself before God

MY PERSONAL STORY

Last year I went through something like this. I felt stuck. I was doing a lot of things, leading a lot of projects but felt that I wasn’t going anywhere. Have you felt like this? I have been in this city for more than 18 years. For the last 2 years God has brought a great compassion for this church. I was praying: “God you have called us to be your hands and feet, but what are we doing?” I knew that as a church something had to start in us before we could reach others. This led me to repentance for the bad leadership I was doing in the past. Like Nehemiah I seemed God, together with my husband we did a 3 day fast of just water, it was just for purpose. It was in that pursuit that I was led to find some books and eventually my mindset began to change. God brought clarity to my life in so many ways.

“Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.” Soren Kierkegaard

PRAYER LEADS TO VISION

After prayer Nehemiah knew he was the leader to do something about this terrible situation. This concern took him to pray, and fast and eventually it brought vision into his heart.
This concern brought a passion of what should be. He understood that he had to bring this issue to the king. And he knew he had to lead this project. Every vision starts as an idea

God’s vision for our lives isn’t about us but about others
When you understand that it’s not about you then your vision makes way more sense. If you have a vision of becoming a millionaire, and just living a good life then that’s not really a purpose. Nehemiah’s vision became clear when he knew God had called him to build the walls in order to protect God’s people.
This vision of what could be was the thing that took him to speak to the King. This was the thing that made him want to risk his life for a greater cause.
I believe God wants to bring you his vision. Just as Nehemiah start to think, what is my concern? What breaks my heart? Don’t act immediately but first seek God. He will show you what to do next.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN YOUR HOUSE?

Maybe you go to church or are even a leader in church, but what happens when you go inside your house and close the doors?
How is your relationship with your spouse? Is there death in your romance?
Or if you’re single, how do you feel with your parents, siblings, roommates?
Is Jesus really the center of your home?

“If Jesus is not in the home, then the most important person is missing. If the most important person is missing then the house is empty.”

WHAT IS DYING?

Jairus was a very important person yet his little girl was dying. He knew the law, but it was the miracles that Jesus was doing that gave him hope.

“Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him” (Mark 5:22-24).

There was a terrible situation happening in Jairus’ house. That is why he turned to Jesus and invited him to his house.

BELIEVE

What could be more terrible than seeing your own child dead? At first there was still hope because she was still alive, but after a few hours she died. This is something that would require a supernatural miracle.

“Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher any longer? Overhearing what was being said, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; only keep on believing [in Me and my power]” (Mark 5:36 AMP).

As Jesus was walking towards the house He told them, “Keep on believing” in Jesus and in His power. I imagine Jesus’ attitude was super calm and not alarming at all.

The movie Breakthrough is about a 14 year old boy who falls under water for 15 minutes. He was pronounced dead 45 minutes later. The doctor in the hospital said he would not survive the night and if he did he would remain in a vegetative state. His mom, who was a Christian, started praying and asked the Holy Spirit to breathe life on her son. After that prayer, he started to get pulse again, not only that but he was completely healed.

PUT YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER

Who are you bringing inside your house? What type of behavior are you having or are you allowing in your home? Jesus was straightforward. He told them, “I don’t want anyone inside the house, only Peter, James and John.” He knew they had the same faith He had.
“He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John, the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep” (Mark 5:37-39).

You can make the decision to take negativity out from your home.
You can have some principles and start living by them.
My daughter Ariana is an extrovert, so when she is happy she is extremely happy and when she is mad, she is very mad. We’ve started to discipline her. We always tell her, “We don’t yell in this house, if you do that again we will discipline you one more time.”

HAVE SOME PRINCIPLES

I will never yell.
I will always have a good attitude.
I will only bring people of faith into my house.
My house will become a house of peace.
Jesus did not allow other people inside. Who are you letting inside your house? When you bring faith and the Word of God, the atmosphere changes.

ALLOW JESUS TO SPEAK LIFE

“Taking the child’s hand, He said [tenderly] to her, “Talitha kum!”—which translated [from Aramaic] means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” The little girl immediately got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they [who witnessed the child’s resurrection] were overcome with great wonder and utter amazement” (Mark 5:41-42 AMP).

When disagreement comes and love is dying – speak life.
When finances are short and numbers reflect death – speak life.
When dreams are gone and hope is lost – speak life.
When doubt comes and you don’t even know if God is real – speak life.
When you don’t feel like living and depression comes – speak life.
When fear is near and wants to hunt you down – speak life.

Look at what David says about God “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16 NIV) God’s concern for life begins at conception. The mother has the right to do what she wants with her body, but God sees another person in the womb.
In this movie, one of the things that caught my attention was how these clinics made the women think the baby wasn’t a baby yet, it was a fetus. By law they had to do an ultrasound but they wouldn’t allow the mom to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. Why? Because when there’s a heartbeat there is life.

GOD LOVES YOU

Don’t think you are here by accident. Every day of your life has been written by God. This day was in God’s agenda for you.
He knew you needed to hear this message.“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 NLT) Perhaps you think, what have I done to deserve this love? Nothing. This is what grace is. We don’t deserve it. It’s not about what we have done. It’s about receiving God’s love through faith. Maybe your parents failed you. Maybe your spouse failed you. God says: “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5)

YOU HAVE A PURPOSE

“The two most important days in your life are: the day you’re born and the day you figure out why.” Mark Twain
This is man’s constant search. What is my purpose in life? That thought actually came to my mind at the end of last year. I started thinking of what God had really called me to do. This led me to read more, pray more, learn more. After a long search and daring to take action I felt that God slowly began to guide my way. God has never created anything without a purpose. Only your creator can tell you your purpose

YOUR PURPOSE STARTS WITH GOD

I’m sure you’ve seen movie stars, great entrepreneurs, who apparently have everything, but in reality they have nothing. What kind of life do you want to live? “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up” (Ephesians 1:11 MSG)

“You were made by God and for God and until you understand that, life will never make sense.” Rick Warren

THE RIGHT CHOICE

I had a conversation with a young man. He’s married, 3 kids. He met Jesus 10 years ago. When he first got to church he was doing drugs. He had an encounter with God and said he would never do drugs again. This was the fourth time he had consumed drugs after coming to church. He starts hanging out with some old friends, and then falls into drugs. He disappears for 4 days. He says he doesn’t want to do it. He says he loves his wife and kids more than he does drugs and those “friends”. I spoke to him and told him he needed to do some deep changes in his habits and friends.

“Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful” (Joel 2:13 MSG)

Do you think he wants to choose death? Do you think he wants to end up in the streets?

YOUR SMALL DECISIONS TODAY WILL DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE TOMORROW

Sin is easy, there’s no effort. Loyalty demands effort and time.
Unfaithfulness takes 1 minute but can bring destruction to a family.
Telling the truth might cost you something at the moment, lying can cost you your life.

Will I choose what is right or what’s convenient? “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster” (Deuteronomy 30:15 NLT) You can make the right choice. I know in my heart that God has chosen you for something greater. Don’t choose the easy route, choose the route of obedience, choose true life.

Let’s look at Daniel

• He was a Hebrew boy.
• He served the God of Israel.
• He was from the lineage of David.
• When he was about 17 years old all of Israel was taken under captivity under the Babylonian empire.

There were several things that the Babylonians wanted to do with Daniel and his friends when they were taken into the palace.

The indoctrination of the Babylonians

“Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s “young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians” (Daniel 1:4 NIV).

The Babylonians’ agenda was for Daniel and his friends to completely forget about God. They wanted them to learn their language and to start behaving in their ways. There was a big push for indoctrination. He had to fit into that ungodly culture. Him and his friends were forced to live under that environment. The whole point was to teach them to follow the Babylonian gods and for them to forget about the Hebrew Law (Mosaic Law).

Daniel means God is my judge but it was changed to Belteshazzar – which is a name after a Babylonian god.  His friends ́ names were also changed to names of Babylonian gods (Shadrac, Mesach and Abednego).

Do you feel this type of pressure in your environment?

YOU can choose to be different

“But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king” (Daniel 1:8 NLT)

Even though he lived in an ungodly culture. He was the head of the magicians and astrologers. He never compromised his values. How do you achieve this? By choosing to be different.

Choose your friends
No one is forcing you to have the friends you have right now. If you know that they are people who don’t have your principles, you can choose to stay away from them, even if it means to stay with no friends.

Choose your habits 
When you become a new creation, your biggest change is inside of you. You are a child of God, therefore you have the habits of a child of God. Do you have any of these habits?

Choose your mentors 
Who are you listening to? Are you accepting what your atheist college or school professor is teaching you? You decide your sources. Even for business, there are a lot of Christian people who can mentor you in these areas.

You can choose to be happy.
You can choose to forgive.
You can choose to quit your vices.
You can choose to start eating healthy.
You can choose to love your family.
You can choose to stop complaining.

This year I added two new habits to my life.  I listen to an audiobook a week, and I say a daily declaration of who I am in Christ. I say this declaration everyday after I do my Bible study and before I pray.

MY DAILY DECLARATION

• Jesus is first, my priorities are in order
• I am a leader, it’s not something I do, it’s who I am
• I honor others to honor God
• I love my family and I live to serve them
• I am disciplined, God helps me to finish everything I start
• Because Christ lives in mi I have a balanced life
• I am creative, innovative and focused because the Holy Spirit renews my mind everyday
• I am example in everything because I live to fulfill God’s mission on earth
• I wake up with purpose, direction and meaning

My prayer is that you will decide to be different just like Daniel was. He was willing to give his life for God. How willing are you to give your life for Christ?

1. DANIEL HAD AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT

“Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” (Daniel 6:3 NIV)

He was a man of God
He was a great administrator
He was an example in everything he did
He was a good servant to the king
He was one of the three governors under the king, but he was better than the other two.

The other governors and important political figures saw the favor and the excellence Daniel had and they were very jealous of him. Imagine this he had been in office for over 50 years and they couldn’t find anything against him. So they had to make something up

“At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent” (Daniel 6:4 NIV)

What do people say about you?
It’s not about coming to church, or being in church for a long time, it’s about having these principles that sets us apart. Are you trustworthy? Do you have a good testimony with other people?

2. THERE WAS A DEATH DECREE

“The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.” (Daniel 6:7 NIV)

These are very shrewd people. This is how the enemy is. The Bible says: “ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV) Imagine these evil people knew that it would only take 30 days to take someone’s life. Is there a death decree over your life? Is there a death decree over someone’s life? Then you better stand firm so you can obtain life.

3. COMMITTED TO PRAY

“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before” (Daniel 6:10 NIV)

If you think about it, it was only 30 days that he had to not pray. If you pray for the remainder of this month you are going to be thrown into the Den of Lions What would you have done? Maybe you say: “I’ll pray with my eyes opened, in secret, nobody has to know” He decided to pray 3 times a day
What a commitment! He simply continued as he had been doing before. I was looking at one of the definitions of the word church and I loved this one.
Church: a group of people willing to give their lives for Jesus
Are you part of that church? Are you willing to give whatever it takes to spread the gospel?

4. 30 DAYS FOR LIFE

God spoke to me that in order for us to see a new move of his Spirit. We had to commit to pray for 30 days. As a church we’re going to be inspired in what Daniel did. We’re going to be determined to start working on our prayer habit.

Our Challenge

• Start a daily prayer discipline (30 days)
• Choose 3 people who don’t know Christ
• Pray 3 times a day for those 3 people

We do this every time we get our meals
When you pray for other people God blesses your life as well. My prayer for you is for you to start seeing God’s supernatural power during the next 30 days.

There are many examples in the Bible about the power of prayer. Hannah, prophet Samuel’s mom, couldn’t have children for many years. But she said a prayer pouring out her heart to the Lord and obtained her miracle.

I remember when my mom got very sick; she was in the ICU, getting worse instead of better…it didn’t look like things would turn around. My dad began to pray and God gave him a vision where he saw my mom in God’s hands, as if He was taking her to Heaven. My dad continued to pray asking the Lord to not take her. He saw the Lord return her back to him and smile. My dad decided to take her out of the hospital, under his responsibility, and immediately my mom began to get better.

Who was Daniel?

Daniel was a young man who was taken to Babylon where he experienced many different things. He determined to not defile himself with the food of that kingdom and only have vegetables to eat and water to drink. Daniel was a prophet; God gave him visions and the ability to interpret the visions of the kings of his time. He was chosen to be part of the king’s service along with other young men, but purposed in his heart to be different and not defile himself with the food of the palace. During King Darius’ reign, a decree was given that for 30 days no one could pray to any other god or king or they would be thrown into the lion’s den. It’s incredible; anyone else could think it was just 30 days without prayer, but NOT DANIEL. Right then and there, he prayed with his windows wide open three times a day.

There are four things I see in Daniel’s prayer, based on chapter nine of the book of Daniel.

1. PRAY BASED ON SCRIPTURE

“In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” (Daniel 9:2 NKJV)
Daniel understood that the time of captivity for the people of God was coming to an end. He understood this through the prophet Jeremiah; God had promised that He would free them from Babylon. Daniel saw a light of hope, and instead of doing nothing he began to pray. Daniel was an amazing student of the Scriptures, it was in that time of Scripture study that he was able to understand Jeremiah’s prophecy.
Read the Bible with a burning desire to understand it
Read it with simple faith, like that of a child
Read it in a spirit of obedience and personal application

2. PRAYER AND FASTING

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.” (Daniel 9:3 NKJV)

Daniel knew that he was living a very critical time in his life and so was his nation. The first thing he did was fast and turn to God with all of his heart. Fasting is a physical act of obedience that releases blessing and miracles. When you fast, you’re saying,”Less of me and more of you God”. “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face…¨ (Matthew 6:17 NKJV). Fasting is a Christian’s duty. Fasting is quite the sacrifice because it helps us defeat the Stomach King.

3. PRAY WITH WORSHIP

“And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession and said, ¨O Lord, great and awesome God, who Keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments…¨” (Daniel 9:4 NKJV)

Start praying by worshipping God, telling Him how good, great and merciful He is. That is how Daniel started praying, He didn’t start with, “Lord give me, help me, bless me¨. He started with gratitude and magnified God’s goodness.

4. PRAY WITH A REPENTED HEART

“We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.” (Daniel 9:5 NKJV)

Daniel didn’t pray “forgive them” but “forgive us”. Even though maybe he had not committed those sins, he prayed as if they were his own. True repentance happens when we feel a great pain for having failed God. We cry out for mercy over our city’s great wickedness.

“If my people, who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV)

“May our simple prayers be transformed to agonizing prayers.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Lorena Castellanos