by Yulisa Camarillo | Jul 29, 2020 | Uncategorized
Have you found yourself recently wondering what is true and what is false?
I know I have.
There is so much information constantly being thrown at us from all directions. A lot of this information is conflicting, and it is confusing.
We hear the words “fake news” and see “false information” alerts on articles and posts now more than ever.
I have found myself asking, “What is truth?”
This is not a new question.
Thousands of years ago, this question was asked by the Roman official, Pontius Pilate.
Jesus was arrested and handed over to Pilate. Pilate questioned him, and said to Jesus, “You are a king, then!” to which Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
Pilate responded, “what is truth?” (John 18:37–38, ESV).
What has always stricken me about this passage is that Pilate asked this question while staring into the eyes of the very embodiment of truth.
Jesus is truth.
He said to His disciples, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV).
John’s Gospel describes him this way: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, ESV).
In a world of confusion and unknown, when we are always wondering what we should believe, let us not cling to truth as a concept, but as a person: Jesus.
We know that it is only in Him that we are truly free.
Run to Him today.
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32, ESV)
by Yulisa Camarillo | Jul 21, 2020 | Uncategorized
Sometimes I find myself asking the question, “why is good news so hard to come by these days?”
It seems that good news doesn’t sell. Newspapers, social media, and other media outlets are constantly pushing out negativity.
It seems like every post we scroll by, and every channel we flip through reminds us that there are many things to fear. It weighs us down.
It is in times like these that I think it is so important to look to Scripture for help. There are so many instances in Scripture where people had reasons to fear. However, over and over in the Bible, we see people choose to hope during these circumstances.
Take, for example, the prophet Habakkuk.
In the last few verses of Habakkuk 3, the prophet describes a situation that looks grim and hopeless. However, he chooses hope and joy during the struggle. He says:
“Though the fig tree should not blossom
Nor fruit be on the vines,
The produce of the olive fail
And the fields yield no food,
The flock be cut off from the fold
And there be no herd in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
He makes my feet like the deer’s;
He makes me tread on my high places.”
~ Habakkuk 3:17–19
There is so much trust exhibited here as the prophet describes what he sees, but says, “yet I will rejoice.”
He recalls the faithfulness and goodness of God, and he has reason to have joy.
YOU have a reason to rejoice. If you have breath in your lungs, God is not done with you.
Things may look grim and tense, but there is so much for which we can be thankful. There is so much joy to be found in the God who is our strength.
Let us rejoice today because He is our salvation.
We can trust Him.
by Yulisa Camarillo | Jul 14, 2020 | Uncategorized
The Kingdom of God is so much the opposite of the kingdom of man.
In God’s Kingdom, the last are first (Matthew 20:16). In His Kingdom, the Shepherd leaves his flock of 99 sheep to go after one that is lost until He finds it (Matthew 18:12). In God’s Kingdom, the hero of the world is not a conqueror but a servant who gives up his life.
The Gospel seems paradoxical. Yet, this is the way things are in the Kingdom.
What does this mean for us?
God has a plan and a purpose for each of our lives. Sometimes, when God reveals those plans to us, we tend to shrink from our calling because we feel unqualified or inadequate. In our weakness, we wonder if God could use us for the task at hand.
1 Corinthians 1:27 (ESV) says, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
You have probably heard that God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called. That statement is so true. God takes our weakness and uses it to show how He is strong.
If you feel that you are not qualified to handle the task God has placed before you, you’re in good company. Moses, David, Paul, and countless others felt the same way.
In this inside-out, upside-down Kingdom, when you are weak, then you are strong.
Don’t be afraid when God calls you to step out and take action for His Kingdom.
His grace is sufficient. His power will be made perfect in your weakness, and He will get the glory.
“For the sake of Christ I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10, ESV).
by Yulisa Camarillo | Jul 7, 2020 | Uncategorized
In times like these, it is easy to become discouraged and fearful of what is to come.
We can get so caught up in the confusion and chaos going on around us that we forget for Whom and why we are here.
It is in these moments that I want to encourage you to recall the faithfulness of the Lord in your life. Every believer has a story, a testimony of how God brought them out of their sin and saved them; how the Gospel of Jesus Christ restored them and set them on a path towards life and healing.
In Psalm 71, the psalmist finds himself in turmoil. He asks God to rescue him from the “hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man” (Psalm 71:4, ESV). He describes the enemies surrounding him, and he is afraid.
One particular section of this psalm stood out to me. The psalmist writes:
“O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.”
(Psalm 71:17–18, ESV)
He also writes,
“You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.”
(Psalm 71:20–21, ESV)
I believe what the psalmist does here is vital to all who have felt discouraged: he remembered. He remembered the Lord, how the Lord taught him from youth, and saw him through many troubles. It was this recollection that assured him that God would see him through again.
What troubles you? What struggles are surrounding you today?
My challenge for you is this: remember God’s faithfulness and be assured that He who once brought you through the struggle will carry you through again.
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