Author Archive

PRIDE… In the name of love?

During “THE END” sermon series, I recently mentioned that the greatest sin that has crippled nations, destroyed countless marriages and keeps us from becoming the leaders God wants us to be is PRIDE.

C.S. Lewis said:

As long as you are proud you cannot know God.  A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

I recently read somewhere where a person was doing a “soul-search” and he asked himself 3 questions in effort to expose traces of pride that he maybe didn’t know existed.

1)    Am I willing to allow another person to do what I think I MUST do? (This one is for all the CONTROL FREAKS out there, LOL)

2)    Am I willing to do what I am doing, even if no one else KNOWS I am doing it?

3)    Am I willing to let God use me for a season, and then be okay with Him later putting my work into the hands of another?

YEAH… I thought the same thing you are thinking after reading the questions.  These are not your ordinary questions you would ask when thinking about PRIDE.  But then again, what is ordinary anyway.

PRIDE is a funny thing because it CAN creep up in areas we never knew existed.  So seriously reconsider reading them again and do a little soul searching of your own.

WHICH QUESTION LEAVES YOU THE MOST EXPOSED?

Discovery Day?

Today we celebrate Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World.  Wow! How would you like to have one of those days? And on a Monday too?  Most of the free world just hopes to make it past the first workday of the week without anything going wrong, yet today we observe a man who set out on a conquest….what exactly he was looking for is up for debate, but that really doesn’t matter, the point is, here is a man who had strong convictions and was determined to follow his heart and set out against all odds in search of the truth, with reckless abandonment.  What does that say for us today?  Being a follower of Christ, we KNOW what the truth is; yet we all have been guilty to cower down and retreat at the sign of opposition.  My prayer today for you and me is that we are “found faithful, even to the point of death.” Revelation 2:10

What “DISCOVERY” will you uncover today?

Happy Columbus Day!

We are coming up on our second week of THE END series, which is bringing up all kinds of emotions, thoughts and feelings about my future, our future.  I don’t know how many of you know this but being the Disney enthusiast that we are at the Ayala household we are fully aware that this week marks the 40^th Anniversary of the opening of Disneyworld in Orlando, FL.  Well that brings me back to my childhood growing up in southern California and my memories of Disneyland and walking through the gates for the first time and being flooded with all the smells, the sights and sounds, I mean you can almost taste it.  Then I REMEMBER, now being an adult with kids of my own, taking our kids to Disneyworld for the first time and not only experiencing all the emotions that come with that but looking down and seeing the excitement and a sense of AWE on their faces.  There are not many experiences in the world that compares with this, except for one.  This memory I have yet to make, but I CAN’T WAIT to experience heaven and walking through the gates of eternity as a family and being able to see the sights and hear the sounds and the overwhelming sense of AWE of my God.

What is your favorite family memory?

What is it about heaven that you are looking forward to the most?

Any thoughts?