Two Jesus'

 

The Ruiz family

Taste and see that the Lord is good... drink, yes drink deeply, O my beloved. 

One evening last week, I took a walk on the beach and met Jesus. He was about 33 years old and he was a Mexican, he also spoke some English. Then he introduced me to his father, who was standing nearby, and he name was Jesus also. Their last name was Ruiz. (This had to be another one of those Divine appointments.) His wife, Griselda and his daughter, Sara Eunice were also with him standing near the surf. I told them who I was and why I was in Mexico. They were Christians and loved God very much and invited me to come to their house in Hemosillo to visit them someday. After we talked some more I was then asked to have a meal with them at their small bus which just happened to be parked about twenty feet from my van. However, Jesus Ruiz Jr. informed me that the bus would not start so they decided to spend the night there. We sat and ate ham sandwiches, chips, cookies and an orange drink at a small card table. After the meal, I thanked them and then took a walk to give them a little time by themselves.

When I came back, it was almost dark, and they had put out a cot for the grandfather and a large blanket for the rest of the family to lie on. As I watched the grandfather on the cot, he had his hands raised and singing a worship song.  So I decided to spend the night there too and join them in worship. So I backed my van a little closer and then I opened my doors and played beautiful worship music from two CD’s that were given to me by the Lopez family, they were in Spanish. The Jesus Ruiz family loved the songs and so we all worshiped God for over an hour on the beach, while other people nearby could also hear the music. But they didn’t seem to mind, because no one left. After the music stopped, the Ruiz’s family slept and I took a walk. Finally, I went back to my van to go to sleep, I left the windows and the side door open, because it was a warm and humid night. Yet the presence of God was still there and it was a wonderful night

.

The next morning, Jesus Jr. asked if I had jumper cables and I did. So I gave them a jump-start and got the motor running. They asked me to have breakfast with them at a restaurant, but I had already eaten and thanked them just the same. We said our goodbyes and the two Jesus’ were gone for now.

God keeps giving these unique situations. This one reminded me of Jesus high priestly prayer where it says, “...I come to You, Holy Father, keep them in your name, the name which you have given Me, that they may be one even as we are one.”(If the full revelation of that scripture verse was truly understood and lived out this world would be a lot different.)

 

Narirado's wife, Evon and his eight month old daughter. His the one I'm helping to learn English better.

A few days later, I had left the beach to go in town and grab a bite to eat. When I came back a white car had parked near where I had been parked with a man standing next to it. As I pulled in, I also notice a young girl down near the water edge, with another man. She looked like she was about sixteen years old, and she was wearing a small bikini top and just a thong down below. Then she came dancing over to my van with a big smile on her face and giving me a good look at basically her slender naked body. I wondered what was going on. The man next to the white car, then came over to me, while I was still sitting in the driver seat, and asked me what I thought of the girl. I was kind and said she was very pretty. However, the man was very drunk as he held his can of beer. He asked my name and told me his, but I could hardly understand his slurred speech. He also kept repeating that he wanted to be my friend, but he spoke very little English. After a while I finally understand what he was suggesting as the young girl continued to prance back and forth from the water where the other big Spanish man waiting, and my van. However, I told man next to me that I was not interested and got out and retreated to the other-side of my van to talk to another older man. He was parked on the other side of my van and had been watching all this before I arrived. He had taken some pictures of her, and I asked him what was going on. He said the men were offering her to have sex with anyone for a $100 or 1200 pesos. I wasn't surprised, but I felt sorry and grieved for her, so I prayed that God would set her free. (I was just finishing the novel, Redeeming Love, by Francine River, which I had read before. It’s a great story about a man named Michael Hosea who marries a young prostitute, Angel.)

Finally, there were no takers on their offer so the pretty young prostitute put on a large pullover shirt that covered most of her and got in the white car to leave. But before they left, I when over to her and held out my hand as to greet her. However, when she took my hand, I gently held it, looked into her eyes and told her God loved her. She said, “What?” I repeated it again, “God loves you.” She then realized that she had heard me correct the first time. With a questioning expression on her face; maybe wondering who I was, she smiled and thanked me. But in that brief moment, I could also see the look of shame she must of felt for what she had been doing. Then I told the two men that God loved them also. They didn’t know how to respond, and then I left them to think about it. As they started to pull away, she smiled and blew kisses out the window to everyone. That day at the beach, she got more than she expected; God’s love and forgiveness. 

This is the lost generation the Father is reaching out to, and we are to be his hands extended. I could have taken a photographed of her too, but I chose to clothe her in God’s love, grace and mercy. I also prayed for the two men with her.

“Father, forgive them for they know not what that do.”

Mountains of Israel

I had been still thinking about the Nation of Israel after posting last weeks article, and so God lead me to Ezekiel Chapter 36 in the Bible. It was there that the Lord told the prophet Ezekiel, to speak to the mountains of Israel. I had just finish reading the chapter, when a truck with a empty trailer behind it pulled up near my van. A man got out of the truck with a cut little girl. I was still sitting in the driver’s seat with my Bible in my lap, when he came over and shook hands with me. We greeted each other and said our names.

Fernando looked like he was in his mid to late thirty’s and the little girl maybe five or six. She played in the sand nearby while we talked. He could speak a little English, so I told him he had a cut little girl. He said that he had many children and that they were a gift from God. I told him that Jesus Christ was my friend. Then Fernando talked to me about the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, but I could not understand everything he said. But then he said in clear English, God Bless You. I thanked him. I don’t even remember if I told him why I was in Mexico. Then his little girl came over and stood quietly next to him. I reached out and touched her and blessed her and told them that God loved them. Then they went back to their truck, got in, smiled and waved goodbye as they pulled away. Wow!

I thought how strange for them to pull off the main roadway a block away and never even went down to the water’s edge. He told me he was from Mexico City and had to deliver something to San Carlos on his small trailer, but it also seems that God had something else for him to deliver, another message for me, “God Bless You,” and then they left. This reminded me a little of Abraham’s experience, when He met Melchizedek and received a blessing.

 Waiting on God

This past month I had decided I’m not going anywhere until I know my Heavenly father better, and so I have been spending a lot of time just soaking in His love, and still helping some people. During this time, He has sent special people to me to remind me that He has a plan for me here in Mexico. Even when God is silent I know He is still there and I trust Him. 

Keys 

This past week I also had a couple of interesting experiences. First, I went for a swim and forgot my key to the van with a key-fob on it were still in my swim suit pocket. After my swim, I was drying off and noticed my mistake. I went back to my van and it still worked just fine. Praise God. 

 

Then a few days later, when I decided to go for a swim again, I took off my hat, shoes, and sunglasses and laid them on my shirt along with my key. After a wonderful swim with God and the dolphins, I went back to the beach, grabbed my shirt, hat and sunglasses and went for a walk to dry off. Hours later, after reading and eating in my van, I went to looked for my keys and I could not find them anywhere in the van. Then I realized my mistake, again. I looked for them where I had been on the beach and I could not find them. I lot of families with children had played in the same area and they may have been stepped on and buried or taken. I tried to stay calm; wondering, why these kinds of things happen to me? I was not to worried, because I had a spare key on the van, but the key-fob on it didn’t work. So I went and asked an American man who parks near me regularly, and asked him for help, because he kept a metal detector in his truck. We went back to the area and started looking again. There was a Spanish family nearby whose young son had been stung by a jelly fish earlier, and we helped; I prayed for the boy and another man put some medicine on it, but the boy still complained and so the father took him to the doctors while the rest of the large family stayed and played on the beach and in the water. 

Anyway, the Spanish mother asked what we were looking for. The American, who also spoke Spanish, told her, “Keys.” She said that her husband had found them, but they were with him in their van. When they returned, I got my key back and was very grateful again. A little later, God told me He was always watching out for me, even when I’m careless or key-less. However there is One key that I can never lose, Jesus Christ.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep                                to gain what he can never lose." Jim Elliot

The following Scripture is the passage I was reading. At the time it was written is was referring to the Nation of Israel, but as spiritual Jews it also can apply to us. 

 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord God, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’ ³ therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “For good reason they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the talk and the whispering of the people.”’” ⁴ Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about, ⁵ therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” ⁶ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.’ ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults. ⁸ But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. ⁹ For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. ¹⁰ I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. ¹¹ I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² Yes, I will cause men—My people Israel—to walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’

¹³ “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children,” ¹⁴ therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ “I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,” declares the Lord God.’”
¹⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ¹⁷ “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. ¹⁸ Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. ¹⁹ Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. ²⁰ When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord; yet they have come out of His land.’ ²¹ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

Israel to Be Renewed for His Name’s Sake

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. ²³ I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. ²⁴ For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. ²⁵ Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. ²⁶ Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. ²⁸ You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. ³⁰ I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. ³¹ Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. ³² I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”
³³ ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. ³⁴ The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. ³⁵ They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it.”

God Bless Israel

This is another child I got to pray who comes for therapy.

Last week I received a special blessing. I had been sitting in my van reading and watching the people play at the beach when I noticed a man wearing a “T” shirt with a large Star of David printed on the back. I thought that was interesting, and wonder what it meant to the man wearing it, and if he could speak English. So I got out of the van, to go talk to him, but then he started to walk further away, so I decided to wait. I went back to the van and read some more. After a while I got out again, went down to the water edge and watched the children play in the surf. When I turned around I saw the same man again just about twenty feet from me. The shirt also had the Star of David on the front with Spanish words written over it, but I didn’t fully know what it said. So I when up to the man and told him I liked his shirt, as I pointed to the Star. I also said that my name was Israel David. He told me his name, but unfortunately I forgot it. Anyway, he could speak English, but the rest of his family could not, including his wife who was standing nearby. He said they were Christians and that a friend in the United States gave him the shirt when he was there, and that it was one of his favorite as he and his wife pointed out some of the holes and the fading blue colored star and red letters. He told me it said “God Bless You,” referring to the Nation of Israel, and that the Baptist church, where they attended, often prayed for that country. They also named their first son Israel, who was now an adult and had a family. I told him my name was given to me by God and that he sent me to Mexico to speak some words over it, pray and help the sick and the poor. Then I explained some of the things I did and that I hope to be going to that country also in a few years, to help turn their heart back to the Messiah. Jesus Christ, with the love and the power of the Heavenly Father. We talked a little more and then he said he would like to pray for me. I said, “I would like that,” and so we all held hand as we prayed there on the beach. He prayed in Spanish (he had indicated he would) and then I prayed for him, neither of our prayers were short. I prayed for God’s blessing on each of them and the children and for the generations to come until all Mexico knows the salvation of the Lord. What an awesome scene there on the beach as the sons and daughters prayed for Mexico and for Israel. I was indeed blessed and so is that Nation. Again, I am grateful for another Divine Appointment. I also gave him one of Sheldon’s cards. 

As Christians and Disciples of Christ, we too should remember to pray for the Nation of Israel, it is God’s chosen nation and we are from that chosen Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ.

"At that time," declares the Lord, "I  will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people."...I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. Again I will build you and you will be rebuild...For I am a father to Israel." (Jeremiah 31:1-9)

 God bless Israel

A simple blessing for me: Later that night after watching a movie with Ramon, I went into town go get something to eat. It was a warm night, and after eating my fish taco I decided to take a walk to the far end of town to one of the markets to get some food and something to drink. I got some bananas, apples, and a cold soft drink. However, I also wanted some chili and lime flavored chips, but they were not on sale so I decided passed on them. On the walk back to my van, walking the same side of the street I had come, I noticed a bag near the side of road that was not there before. It turned out to be a large unopened bag of chili and lime flavored chips. I laughed in amazement to God’s simple blessing and thanked him for them.

Open Door

Narvido, Kengi and his girlfriend Evon, and Juanita; just part of a beautiful family.

One morning when I was out walking the streets of San Carlos, I met Rosa in her car at an intersection; another Divine appointment. She asked me if I would like to go with her to meet some friends who lived nearby, at six o’clock that Monday evening. I said I would be happy to. When I arrived she introduced me to Juanita, another best-friend of hers and a widow. Her husband die of heart problems four years ago, he was 63, and now she manages the seven apartments that he and his sons built that are connected to her house. Juanita's son wanted to learn to speak English better and that was one of the reasons for Rosa’s invitation. 

His name is Narvido, he is 24 and has a wife and has an adorable eight month old baby girl. They live in one of the apartments behind his mother’s house. Rosa also knows my love for God and my desire to reach others for Him, thus the other reason for our meeting.

Narvido’s mother had fixed a Chinese dinner that night and so Rose and I had some while we talked and learned more about each other. She also told me that Juanita was a very good, and she was right.

Narvido has twenty brothers and sisters, but not all by Juanita. Wow! He is also an electrician and a graduate from college. Then Rosa left, but we were still able to communicate well enough. After we talked for a while I was invited to come back again and continue to help him speak English better. They asked, if I could come every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at six o’clock, and I said, “Okay. I also told them that I had some good movies that could help him, and that some of them were religious faith based. They said that was fine with them even though they were not Christians. (But they will be.)

Then a couple days later I went to see Omar, a little after 10am. When I got there he had just started watching the movie Martin Luther, with some friends; so I sat down and watched it with them. They put the English subtitles on for me so I could understand what was being said. It was something to see their excited reactions to Luther passion for Christ and the Word of God, as he confronted the religious system of his day, the Roman Catholic Church. 

After the movie I got to talk to Juan. He spoke English very well and was the actual manager of the retreat and also has a very pretty young wife. I had met him briefly the last time I was here, but this time we got to talk more. He also reassured me that I was welcomed to stay. He said that there would be other Americans coming in June to help in the churches in the cities where I have been. Wow! It will be interested to see how this works out. There is diffidently a need for help and hopefully a desire to know God in ways they may have never known before in order to see the Kingdom of God established in Mexico.

Pilar left last week, she was a real blessing, now that door has closed for now, but other ones are opening. Her neighbor, Carlos, offered the use of the shower in his house, if I need too. I still get opportunities to minister to others on the beach and touch the sick and the handicap, God's special children. Last week I got to pray for a young blind teenage girl who was enjoying the ocean with her father as her mother watched from the shore. The father spoke some English and said they were Christian. I told him that God had sent me to Mexico to help the poor and to heal people, and I told him that his daughter would see and that God love them.

 

They came two days later, for her to ride a horse as part of her regular therapy.

The next Monday when I arrived at Juanita’s house I got to meet Narvido’s wife, Maribel, and his younger brother Carlos, who spoke English very well, and his cute girlfriend who was there also. We ate and talked and also used his computer to translate some. Narvido told me that he was an electrician and made 2,300 pesos a week, about $6.00 an hour. He also has a Masada sports car, and says it goes very fast. After we ate, we all enjoyed watching the movie Bella, talked some more and then looked forward to getting together again in a couple days.

I enjoy doing things like this, but most of all I enjoy my time alone with my Heavenly Father, plus reading a lot about him. There are times when we walk the shores and see the beauty of his creation on display; the dolphin arcing by or the pelican diving into the sea for their meal. The Lord often tells me that my being here is making a difference even when I don’t see it. Just love them and he will do the rest. However the Lord has been also talking to me about an “open door,” a special one, that lead to another realm. Once we go through that one everything else will change. We won’t have to hardly speak to see lives change, just because the Presence of God will be so strong. 

“I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have little power, and have kept my word and have not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)

After these thing I looked, and behold a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice…said,”Come up here…” (Revelation 4:1)