I cherish time spent with my family and I do my best to protect it. I love my family very much and I would do anything for them. As much as I cherish my family time, I must be very intentional with my time with the Lord. If I am to be the best husband and father for my family, I can only accomplish this through the power of Jesus Christ resting on me. I must get alone with God and the Lord must be my priority. I so desire to be God's man for my family. I am not perfect and I do not claim to be. I've made mistakes. Mistakes I wish that I could take but they are mistakes that I can learn from. The greatest legacy that I will leave my family when I breathe my last breath is not how much money they will have when I am gone but whether my children and the generations to come will walk in the admonition of the Lord. I would rather die a poor man having done all to invest in my family's spiritual well being than a rich man who lost his family to the cares of this world. This will only happen by getting alone with God.

You will discover much about a person by just listening to them. As a pastor I have learned how to work with different types of people. Some are easy going and some are difficult. Some are reliable and some are not. Rarely will you find two people that are the same. There have been times in my ministry when all I had to cling to was God's calling on my life. I have experienced dark days and joyful days. Notice that I said the word joyful. There is a big difference between happiness and joy. True joy is unquenchable.

As followers of Christ we have much to be joyful about. My joy in Christ is unwavering and unmovable. The Lord has spoken to me in a fresh new way recently and He has filled my heart with joy. My time in His Word has been rich, and my time with God's people has been joyful. I have enjoyed sweet fellowship with my brethren. When God's people are fixed on Christ we will have true joy. Dr. John MacArthur makes the following statements about happiness and joy, "Happiness is an attitude of satisfaction or delight based upon some present circumstance. Joy is a deep down confidence that all is well, no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the difficulty and no matter what the problem is."

Six years ago God called my family and I to serve in a rural community called Sandy Hook in Goochland County, Virginia. Population in Goochland County is about 20,000 and it is quite a place to live. Goochland is small town America at its very best. I love living here and I love the people and community that God has called me to serve.

What amuses me about my calling to this community is that I was born and raised in the New York City metro area and I am of Puerto Rican decent. The culture of my people and my upbringing is nothing like the culture and people of Goochland. Regardless of how different I am from the people and community I serve, God has blessed our time here in so many ways.

God has a sense of humor.

I love living in Virgina because it is a beautiful state. The geography of Virginia is very diverse. Virginians can enjoy the mountains, the beach and everything in between. Another aspect that intrigues me about this great state is that we get to enjoy all four seasons. During each season God decorates nature with beauty and majesty. His fingerprints are quite evident!

While the seasons and weather may change in my beloved Virginia, the Holy Scriptures are never changing. Its teachings are just as relevant today as they were when they were first penned thousands of years ago. Philosophies, world views, values and ideas may change from one generation to the next but the Word of God stands true for the ages.

Our sovereign Lord made the heavens and the earth by speaking them into existence. He orchestrated every event in history that His Son might be born in the fullness of time. It is because of these truths that I know that our omnipotent God is and was able to preserve His Word forever! I do not have to second guess myself as I stand behind the pulpit declaring "thus saith the Lord"! His Word is Truth from age to age. Read it, study it, live it, and share it that it might be a spring of life for you and for others!

Several years ago I knew a teenage boy who had just gotten his drivers license. One day this lad and his sister were on their way somewhere when he hit a patch of black ice. His car began to fishtail and being an inexperienced driver he over-corrected, went off the road and flipped his car into the side ditch. Fortunately he and his sister were not seriously injured but the vehicle was totaled.

Often new and old believers "over correct" in their spiritual walk and become legalistic in areas of their life. Legalism is a cancer that slowly dissolves the joy of being a follower of Christ and can suck the life out of a church. When our spirituality hinges on do's and dont's we have crossed the line of legalism. No one is spiritual by what they do or don't do. We are only spiritual because of Christ's redemption. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Galatians 3:3 reads, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (ESV) Our spiritual maturity begins and continues only by the Spirit of God! Nothing I do adds to it. The claims of legalism, whether spoken or unspoken, are "I do such and such or I refrain from this and that therefore I am more spiritual than so and so." This thinking is full of pride and is godless.

There are some locations on earth that get little to no rain and it is nearly impossible to sustain life. I have traveled overseas to areas where one can see miles upon miles of dusty earth. I have returned to these same areas during the rain season and discovered them to be jungles and completely unrecognizable.

Water sustains life. Believers who drink of the bountiful spring of God's Word will attest to the fact that they can return over and over again to satisfy their spiritual thirst. God's Word is rich and satisfying. Its reservoirs are deep with eternal water that can quench the driest soul. O how many followers of Christ needlessly walk in a spiritual drought! Open the floodgates of God's Word. Meditate and call on the Spirit of God to teach you. Fill your mind and heart with the Scriptures that its waters might satisfy your every longing!

I was on the road this past weekend for a meeting about two hours from where I live. On my return trip I decided to play some worship music and put in a Chris Tomlin CD. As I drove home and listened to the lyrics of each song, my heart was filled with awe and much appreciation for the Lord and all that He has done for me.

As I pulled into my driveway, I looked at the home that the Lord has blessed me with and reflected on my loved ones who live inside of it. When I parked my car and walked into the house, I could hear my children laughing and playing. I smelled dinner cooking and heard my wife sewing on her sewing machine. I was home with my family. I praise the Lord for the family He has given me.

My children love our Family Devotion time. It is a time when I teach a Bible lesson, a new song, or a missionary story in the evenings before the go to bed. I believe that this teaching is critical for children to grow up in the nurture and admonition to the Lord. Parents must take the primary responsibility of discipling their children. The church's only role is to come along side parents and reinforce what their discipleship efforts.

If you are not having Family Devotions I would encourage you to begin to do so. You will be following the Lord's command and you and your children will reap eternal blessings from it.