What Is True?

John 14:6

⁶ Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We recently read a small book by Andy Stanley titled, "How Good Is Good Enough?"  A short paragraph from chapter ten titled "A question of fairness" really caught our attention so we thought we would share it with you today:

"For most people, choosing a religion is like choosing a flavor of ice cream - we pick what we like, what we are comfortable with, what suits our taste.  That's understandable, but it's not very smart.  The issue is not What do I like?  or How was I raised? or What makes me comfortable?  The issue is What is true?" (p. 78).

May your quest for truth be found in the grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness of Jesus today.

Have a great day!  God bless you.

Louis & Elisa Quintana

The Victory Is Yours Declares The Lord!

1 Samuel 17:45-47

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."  ⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹ Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

We absolutely love reading this story and David's encounter with Goliath.  Goliath had provoked Israel long enough and David was ready to end his taunting.  David's tenacious attitude and faith did not come from a prideful heart.  God had delivered him from the attacks of the lion and the bear while he tended his father's sheep in the desert.  David did not take confidence in himself and in his natural gift to shoot a sling.  He took confidence "in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel," the deliverer of His people.

Israel's trained elite soldiers cowarded in the sight of the Philistine giant.  David, the anointed shepherd boy, RAN toward Goliath, engaged in battle, and killed him!

Sometimes in life we fight from a defensive position.  It's time to start fighting and praying from an offensive position.  Offense moves forward.  Defense moves backward.  Be on the offensive side of the battle today.  "The victory is yours declares the Lord!"

Have a great day!  God bless you.

Louis & Elisa Quintana

Your Reward Will Be Great!

Revelation 22:12-13

¹² "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

I (Louis) remember the day I graduated from college.  It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life.  The emotions ran high as I stood on the infield of the college football stadium.  I had always wanted to play football on that field but life led me down a different path.  Feeling like I had just scored a touchdown in one of the biggest games ever, I stood on the stadium infield, lifted up my arms and shouted, "Yessssss!  I did it!"  At that moment I knew no one could take that feeling away from me.  It was exhilarating!  All of the hard work paid off.  I realized that I was being rewarded not only for the completion of my college courses but also for all of my hard work I put in since preschool.  You gotta' start somewhere!

We'll sum it up with this quote by Napoleon Hill, "Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit."  Keep putting forth the effort in your daily grind.  Your reward will be great!

Have a great day!  God bless you.

Louis & Elisa Quintana

"Lord, Save Me!"

Matthew 14:28-29

²⁸ Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”  ²⁹ “Yes, come,” Jesus said.  So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.  ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”  ³² When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.

Ever take on a task that was risky or that required a lot of courage but somehow resulted in disappointment, failure, or defeat?  Have you ever felt like you were sinking or going under?  How do you get out of this situation?  

First, be encouraged that you had the boldness to step out when others were afraid to.  Second, refocus on what prompted you to "get out of the boat" and not on opposing factors that may have distracted you from your goals and objectives.  Third, call out to your Savior, Jesus Christ!  When you call out to Him, He will rescue you every time!  Fourth, remember that no matter what seems to be prevailing over you, faith in Christ will give you laser beam focus to overcome and achieve success.

Have a great day!  God bless you.

Louis & Elisa Quintana

This Too Shall Pass!

Job 11:16

^"Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:"

Ever get caught up in a frenzy and maybe forget about what matters most?  We found this Jewish folktale and thought we would share it with you today:

One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words "Gam zeh ya'avor" -- "This too shall pass." At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust. (This too shall pass. (2009, July 9). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:38, July 9, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=This_too_shall_pass&oldid=301143902)

If you are having a frenzied day, week, or year, focus on the important matters and remember these words, "this too shall pass!"

Have a great day!  God bless you.

Louis & Elisa Quintana

Take Courage!

Matthew 14:27

"But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

Today is the first day of school for our girls.  All last week the anticipation of starting a new school year brought spontaneous outbursts from each of our daughters.  Our youngest daughter could not stop saying, "I'm gonna be a kindagawdenah!"  Our eldest daughter joined in the outburst by counting down each day shouting out, "five more days... four more days... three more days... two more days... tomorrow is the first day of school!"  This morning the excitement was mixed with nervousness as they both had butterflies loosed in their tiny tummies but they took courage and started the first day of a new school year.

It takes great courage to do something for the first time.  We all need inspiration in life to do things.  Where do you find yours?  The story of Esther has inspired us many times.  Maybe you can find inspiration from these words found in Esther 4:12-16 

¹² When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

These words inspired Esther to take action!

 ¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶"Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

Be inspired to take on the most difficult challenges that you are faced with.  You are not where you are by chance.  God has placed you in your position for a greater purpose.  You are God's answer to someone else's prayer today! 

Have a good day!  God bless you.

Louis & Elisa Quintana

It's Right In Front Of You

Luke 15:8-10

 ⁸ "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Yesterday our girls were playing with one of their favorite games and lost one of the game pieces.  They searched high and low for the lost game piece but could not find it anywhere.  They were so disappointed and sad.  How could they play without the lost piece?

As they sat down to play this morning, they really wanted to play with the game.  Our eldest daughter asked, "How can we find that piece when it's so small?"  Just as she was ending here sentence, our youngest daughter shouted, "We don't have to because it's right here!"  It was stuck on the outside of the game box.  Not in it, not under it, but right on top of it.  The cheers rang out from both of their little mouths.  Big sister hugged little sister and picked her up off of her feet.  A sad, disappointing morning quickly turned into a joyous celebration.  Yes, they started playing with the game right away.

In 2 Kings 5, Elisha heard that Naaman had come to Israel to be healed of leprosy.  Elisha sent a messenger to say to Naaman to go wash in the Jordan seven times and he would be cleansed and his flesh restored.  Naaman had put forth great effort to seek out his miracle and even traveled a great distance.  Can you imagine along the way what he might have been thinking?  This great, valiant warrior was used to the pomp and circumstance.  He expected Elisha to perform a great healing service with all the extravagance he was used to.  However, Elisha did not even meet him personally.  He sent a messenger to meet him.  This infuriated Naaman!  In Naaman's mind the prophet had given him this menial task that was not worthy for a man of his stature to do.  Thank God for Naaman's servants who had enough sense to figure out that Elisha must have possessed great authority and with this simple request a healing would take place.  Naaman submitted to Elisha's instructions and a great miracle occurred.  Naaman was healed of leprosy!  Can you imagine the celebration that ensued?  The picture of our little girls comes to mind.  A sad, disappointing day quickly turned to a joyous celebration!

Naaman's miracle was put right before him but he almost walked away from it.  What you really want and search everywhere for is sometimes found right in front of you.  Be careful not to walk away from your miracle.

Have a great day!  God bless you.

Louis & Elisa Quintana