Daisies

Daisies,
originally uploaded by _tris_.

Happy Birthday to Sophia Maria Espinosa!

5 years old today....

Not a coincidence...

In my class, this week, Dr. Morris talked about Miracles. A Miracle is a supernatural event that has been requested. You know it is not a coincidence, because the person who it is performed for has asked for the Miracle.
Well, I know that another special lesson I learned from the Bible is not coincidence either. Dr. Morris mentioned that a leper was healed by Jesus.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+8%3A1-4&version=NIV

Jesus asked him not to tell anyone how he was healed, but he told lots of people thinking he could help the ministry of Jesus.

I have always wondered why Jesus said that. I really liked what Dr. Morris said. He said that Jesus understood the prejudices, not that he was worried about offending anyone, but he knew that the priests would make a big issue out of a simple situation. The real issue was that a man had faith and so Jesus healed him. The priests saw the picture as that troublemaker, Jesus, was gaining more power and influence. After that, any leper or person who was sick, regardless of whether or not they believed in Jesus, would go searching for a magical healing from Jesus. Jesus only healed someone who had faith.

So, The leper who was healed by Jesus really did more harm than good by telling everyone and not listening to Jesus.

Another situation just like this is in I Samuel 8. I don't believe that finding the same lesson here that I learned in class was a coincidence.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+8&version=NIV

Samuel was old and the people of Israel want a king. Samuel and God are not happy about their request. History would show that their request was a mistake.

http://www.carm.org/1-samuel-1510-11-i-regret-i-have-made-saul-king

What really touched me is that God didn't have to put up with the errors of the leper or the Israelites or even you or me, but he lets us choose to obey or disobey. Sometimes, he even warns us as he warned the leper and the Israelites. God always knows best, but he wants our hearts and not just our obedience and so he lets us choose what to do.

Faith is why the leper was healed. Trust was why David was "a man after God's heart".

http://http://www.ronedmondson.com/2009/08/why-was-david-a-man-after-gods-own-heart.html

Discovery!

Dr. Morris, my teacher, talked about the temptations of Jesus.

Do you know what every temptation is about?

To fully trust God or to take matters into your own hands.

Believe it or not, this same concept came up in my personal Bible reading.

Click on this link to read Samuel 4 , like I did.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I%20samuel%204&version=NIV

I love when God shows me something neat in several ways. It is like he has called my name and said, "Look at this".

Samuel 4 is where the Israelites go out to war with the Philistines. Someone gets this epiphany, "this big aha moment", or at least he thinks he does.

"Those philistines must have their gods with them. We have a real good luck charm! Why don't we go get the Ark? Then we will win."

Eli's son's come with the ark to the camp too. Everyone knows that the ark has "brought good luck before", so they give a big shout and the Philistines investigate all the noise.

The Philistines gather all their courage and best war strategies to beat this new challenge. After all, everyone has heard about the Famous "gods" of the Israelites!

30,000 Israelites die. Eli's sons are killed( just like God told Samuel!) Eli breaks his neck at the shocking news and dies. His daughter-in-law, who is in the most intense phase of child birth, learns the news of the lost battle and her husband's death, and gives birth immediately. As she dies, she never even sees her new son, but she names him Ichabod, "The Glory has departed from Israel".

That's temptation: The Israelites did not trust God to help them win the battle. They had "a better idea" and went to get the ark to use as a good luck charm.

The ark was special because it was the symbol of God's presence. It had no power by itself.

We need to trust God and wait for Him to solve all our woes and worrys. We don't have to come up with any really smart ideas to save ourselves. All we need to do is walk with Jesus all the days of our lives.

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Raul is very worried about the World Cup Soccer Tournament and I am usually studying on my computer, but hopefully he will be able to watch some. We found this great live stream to watch. I had better go study.


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How to get to Heaven

I went to church today and heard some bizarre and wonderful information that I would like to share with you. I don't even know the name of the guest speaker who told me, but here is what he said.

1. What kind of character do you want?


An author that I really admire, Ellen White, wrote in her Devotional book, Maranatha, that when Jesus comes back, our characters will not be transformed. The characters we have on Earth will be the same one we have in heaven. So, we need to work on changing our characters with God's help-here and now.

Go to this website to learn about Ellen White and find this book and others.

http://www.whiteestate.org/books/edevotionals/edevotionals.asp

2. What kind of house do you want? Do you want one like this one?

http://www.livevideo.com/video/D60113EB5BD94D47B0C392C8F9B22581/tiger-woods-tour-this-golfer.aspx

3. Pretty, right? Have you heard about this amazing city?!

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4ADSA_enUS366&q=picture+of+dubai&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=N_0TTO-sOYTGlQe-jJ2kDQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQsAQwAA



4. Jesus has a mansion in Heaven for every one of us.

John 14: 1,2,3

1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

5. Heaven is beyond our imaginations.

1 Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

6. Enoch is in Heaven.

"And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Gen. 5:24

7. How did Enoch walk with God?

Like this, perhaps.

Enoch woke up and stretched. He walked to his guest room and said, "Good morning, Lord."
Then he and Jesus ate a delicious breakfast of a blueberry-wheat-omega Smoothie and a bagel. Next, Enoch said, " I am looking at some land to buy to plant some crops. Can you go with me and give me advice, Jesus?" Jesus agreed and they walk to the land. Jesus inspected the dirt, and said, "This is rich soil. You can grow healthy crops here." Enoch bought the land and invited Jesus home to eat with his family. After a great Spaghetti supper, Enoch asked Jesus if he could go with him to consider an investment tomorrow. The next morning he woke up and stretched. He walked to his guestroom and said, "Good morning, Lord!" After they ate big bowls of Oatmeal with strawberries together, the two friends set off.

This is how Enoch walked with God every day of his life until Jesus took him home with him to heaven one day. Jesus is coming back soon! We need to start living like citizens of Heaven. In Heaven, everyone will be looking out for the needs of others instead of living for themselves only. So go start an argument about who is going to be last in line instead of who gets to be first..Love your enemies.. and be so nice that people will look at you strangely....

Some Cool Facts about John the Baptist

My teacher, Dr. Morris, taught us some neat ideas about John the Baptist:

1. Have you ever wondered why God let John die just because a wicked woman wanted revenge for some truthful words that John said about her (that it was wrong that she was living with her brother-in-law instead of her husband)?

To refresh your memory about this story: Read Mark 6:21-29.

Dr. Morris mentioned what the Author Ellen White said in her book, Desire of Ages.

The gist of this quote is that Jesus did not deliver John, because he knew that John could bear the test... He allowed him to become a martyr so that thousands of future Christians would be encouraged when they remembered how John never gave up his faith and they could find the courage to die instead of forsake Jesus.

2. Jesus honored John(with the words in these verses) and he will honor all those who point others to Jesus.

Read Matthew 11:7-15.

That could be you someday.

Here we are.

Welcome to Our Brand New Blog

Here is the soapbox of the Espinosas. I hope you enjoy the show. I pray that God will even use this little blog for his glory. First, I will introduce the characters who live here. My name is Celesta. I will be the main voice at least until the belles, Sophia(left) and Elena(right) above me start voicing their views to you. Here is our favorite Caballero, Raul.

Have a beautiful, blessed Day.