Iglesia Apostólica de la Bahía

Pastor A. Oceguera

Bay Apostolic Church, June 12, 2010

 

My sugar level was high last Friday morning.  I felt defeated and depressed because of my diabetes but in prayer I said to the Lord, “I choose life.”  This meant that I would begin, again, to exercise and eat better and not eat late at night.  This I did that day and by the afternoon, my sugar had dropped to normal.  That evening, I felt content with life and with myself.

John Maxwell wrote: “Attitude is an inward feeling expressed by behavior.  That is why an attitude can be seen without a word being said.  Haven’t we all noticed ‘the pout’ of the sulker, or ‘the jutted jaw’ of the determined?  Of all the things we wear, our expression is the most important.  Since an attitude often is expressed by our body language and by the looks on our faces, it can be contagious.  Have you noticed what happens to a group of people when one person, by his expression, reveals a negative attitude?  Or have you noticed the lift you receive when a friend’s facial expression show love and acceptance?”

I read an article recently about depression and it had an interesting picture to go with it.  A butterfly was trying to pull a heavy anchor out of the water.  This is depression: A sense of hopelessness.  The article stated, “Placebos offer hope.  And one of the chief features of depression is a sense of hopelessness, the belief that you’re not going to get better.  Anything that instills a sense of hope will at least temporarily help treat depression.”  You may feel that the situation you are in now is hopeless but I offer you hope in Jesus Christ.  Look up and choose life.

Choose life—the Serpent in the Wilderness.

In Numbers 21, the Israelite people were murmuring about their wilderness experience.  They complained that the manna from heaven wasn’t any good.  Imagine angel food was considered bad.  Sometimes we complain about our Christian living and the path we are taking instead of being grateful for what God has done for us.  He died so that we might live in salvation and to be filled with his Spirit.  He gave us hope when we had none.

God punished the Israelites by sending venomous serpents that bit and killed many of them.  The people cried out to Moses to help them and he in turn, cried out to God, interceding for the people.  God told Moses to make a serpent of bronze and put it on a staff.  In Numbers 21:8-9, God said whenever an Israelite was bitten, if he looked up to the bronze serpent, he would be healed and live.  God was telling them to “Lift up your heads and see the pole.”  If you’ve been bitten by sin, a good attitude says, “I will not be defeated any longer.  I will choose to live in health and happiness.  I will not do the things that make me sick and can kill me.  I will not sin any longer.”

Choose life—Jesus on the Cross.

In John 3:3-5, we find a man visiting Jesus late at night.  Nicodemus was a ruler amongst the Jews and a Bible scholar but he came to Jesus to ask him questions.  Before Nicodemus could say much, Jesus told him that a man must be born again or he would not enter the kingdom of God.  Confused, Nicodemus asked how a man could return to his mother’s womb.  Jesus repeated the salvation doctrine that a person must be born again of the water and of the Spirit.  This meant, in order to be saved, you needed to be baptized in Jesus’ Name and to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).  The evidence of this baptism would be speaking in other tongues (Acts 2:4).

In John 3:14-15, Jesus made reference to the Serpent in the Wilderness and compared it to his coming crucifixion.  When there is doubt about the doctrine of salvation because you don’t see the results you expected as a Christian, look up to the Cross.  We have the purest doctrine in Christendom and we must believe in its truth.  There is only one God, not three God’s, each equal but separate.  That’s polytheism and the Bible is completely monotheistic.  We believe in the Father, and we believe in the Son, and we believe in the Holy Spirit but these three are the one and same God manifested in three different ways.  Believe that Christ died for you and repent of your sins and you will be forgiven. 

All my life my father was my hero and in the face of death, he chose life eternal.  Just before he died, he was in the intense care unit of the hospital after an operation where they removed his foot.  He already had many serious health problems and was very weak after the operation.  My mother tells me that he asked her to recite Psalms 23 because he could tell she was very upset and afraid for him.  She tried to remember the Psalm but couldn’t get past, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”  He told her, “No Carmela.  This is how it goes.”  He began to recite perfectly the Psalm but as he was speaking, my mother says that alarms began to go off and doctors and nurses rushed into his room and began to help my father.  They took her out of the room and shortly after my father died.  In his last moments of life, he chose life eternal, looking up to his savior Jesus Christ.

When things look bad for you, when ill health has death “stalking you,” choose life.  Look up to heaven for your hope is in Christ, your Savior and healer. 

An attitude of faith in the face of defeat, depression and obstacles in life is what Christ wants from you.  Choose life.  If you have to start again, do it.  If you’ve fallen off from the path of righteousness, return to it. 

If your health is failing, start again to exercise and diet but choose life—an attitude of faith, hope and happiness.  You will find contentment with life and with yourself.