"Whether hot or cold, I will spit out the lukewarm." This biblical phrase has been with me ever since I first heard it a long time ago.
I think my mother told it to me, and I remember thinking I understood its meaning perfectly well.
Yet, I've come to realise that, even to this day, while I've understood it, I haven't truly acted upon it. It's something so profoundly important, I can barely grasp it.
It's like the saying, "just do it." It's the one who acts who makes progress, while everyone else knows the way but doesn't walk it. They know where they're going but will never arrive, precisely because they don't act.
In faith, you are only as strong as you nurture it. A little faith can even be counterproductive; to use another image, you become neither fish nor fowl.
It's crucial to be fully committed, otherwise, you risk stumbling.
It's like walking slowly out of fear, only to find you can't clear a threshold because it requires more speed, and consequently, you fall.
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers. These powers wouldn't truly threaten us if we maintained a certain momentum. If we don't, however, it can become very dangerous.
This isn't meant to cause stress; it simply means we must truly stay with Jesus in our minds, our prayers, and our thoughts. Praise him multiple times a day, and build connection through prayer.
Cast your anxieties on the Lord, and he will sustain you. But "just do it" – if you truly wish to live in his love, which, by the way, is the most beautiful thing in this difficult world.
So, from today, from right here where I am, from this moment on, I want to praise and worship you with all my heart, multiple times daily. You are the Way, the Light, and the Life; whoever is connected to you will find exactly that.
Therefore, today, after many years of liberation, yet still very hard times, on your birthday in 2022, in a very special place in Cuba, I declare: I want to praise and glorify you with all my strength, multiple times every day, and make my worries and fears known to you. Afterwards, I will gratefully feel your love and confidence, and with that strength, achieve the very best in your name.
Happy Birthday, Greatest of the Great, your name, which for thousands of years has liberated and sustained this world.
Hail Jesus Christ, 24th December 2022, Mariel, Cuba