God bless you. Welcome, everyone, to the house of the Lord! Praise God that we're here. As we’re singing, praise the goodness of the Lord—amen! Praise the faithfulness of the Lord because He has been so good. How many recognize that? How many say, "God has been good"?

This time is a special time for everyone who's been here this week. You know that this is a special time; we've been celebrating the Feast of the Lord. Especially today, we are recognizing that God has been good in these feasts. We're learning about that—about how God has taken care of us. And in these 40 days—we're almost finishing the 40 days of prayer—we know that these 40 days of prayer have been very special.

We know it's a time of repentance. It's 40 days where the Lord calls His people to repentance, to draw closer to Him, to return to Him. We know that in the Bible, the number 40 is constantly present in the Word of God and has an important meaning. We see it in various parts of the Bible; it's always calling for repentance. At the beginning of this week, the shofar was blown as a command of the Lord to awaken the heart. Furthermore, those 40 days in the Bible also mean other things besides repentance; it's also associated with testing, with judgment, and with renewal. Everything you see with the number 40 in the Bible is associated with those things. Whether it's 40 years or 40 days, right? It has that kind of meaning.

For example, we have the people of Israel who went through the desert for 40 years. We not only have the people of Israel; before Israel wandered for 40 years in the desert, Moses, when he escaped from Egypt, God had him for 40 years in the desert as well, right? When Jesus was baptized by the Holy Spirit, the Word says that the Holy Spirit led Him into the desert for 40 days to be tested. And we have many examples of that.

You know, it's no coincidence that most of these events we're seeing—these trials or difficulties—occur in the desert. They all occurred in the desert. We all know that when we read the Bible and we read about Israel and these stories—we obviously imagine the Middle East as that place where there are deserts around—and when a desert comes to mind, we imagine it as a desolate, arid, dry place, right?

That's what the desert is like. That's what we can see: lonely and often challenging. We know what it's like in the desert; the climates are extreme, so it's probably not a nice place to walk alone. When we talk about deserts, what does it symbolize for us? What does that symbolize for your life and for mine? Because the Bible isn't just about learning stories; the New Testament says we have to look to the example of Israel to learn from them.

So, what does the desert symbolize for us? The Bible uses this example of the desert to refer to difficult times. And what kind of difficulties might they be? Well, the ones everyone goes through: whether it's the death of a loved one, an illness—our own or a serious illness of someone close—the loss of a job, right? Our livelihood is lost due to being in financial trouble, truth lost due to rejection, scarcity, and many, many other things that may happen.

Now, who is the desert for, friends? Who is going to enter the desert? Who can enter there? Will it be that only the bad go to the desert? Will it be that only those who do evil before God pass through that desert? No! The desert is for everyone. The desert is for the people of God. God Himself led His people to the desert.

"The real question isn't whether we are going to go into the desert—we are all going to go. The question is whether we go with God or if we go without Him."

He Himself led them, brother. One can be in the desert with God or without God. The real question isn't whether we are going to go into the desert—we are all going to go. The question is whether we go with God or if we go without Him. A desert without God can be caused by one's own decisions, by bad decisions, by stubbornness, by hidden sins, by lack of forgiveness, hypocrisy, greed—many things.

But do you know why I say this? Because these days the word "process" is very common in churches. Everyone is "going through a process." And when they say that, it's because they've changed the term "desert." And I'm not saying that's bad—I mean, is it—what the desert symbolizes in the Bible for us? In other places, they call it a process because it's true; it is a process. But what happens is that now everyone is in a process, and everything that happens to us, we call it a process. But the truth is that the Bible teaches us to distinguish when it's God who takes us to the desert or who puts us in that process, and when it's us.

Let's look at quick examples to differentiate them. We will get into what interests us, but we need a quick example of when we cause our own difficulties. We talked about how a difficulty can be an illness–if I don't take care of this body, and the illness comes because I neglected it, then maybe it's not God who's putting us through a process, right? If I get up at 5 in the morning to have breakfast with Coca-Cola and a Raptor energy drink, I can't come afterward saying, "God, what a desert you're putting me through," right? It's not possible. It's not God; it's us. These are decisions we've made.

Today in churches, everything is about money. You know why? Everything is about money because people want to hear that God is going to get them out of debt, that there's a "financial activation." But everyone is in debt because no one knows how to add and subtract—because they spend more than they earn! And then they say, “Oh my God,” and the people from the electric company are calling, and the people from the bank are calling, and the people from the credit card company are calling. And they say, “God, this process has me in the desert, but I'm going to church on Sunday to let the devil break every debt in the name of Jesus.”

You just have to add and subtract! I can't spend more than I earn. That's not a process. That's not a desert. It's a desert because you wanted to get involved. We understand that part, right? Yes, it's true that there are things that we cause in our lives. There are difficulties that we seek out. I don't mean to imply that people shouldn't take on challenges, but it's as easy as saying, “I earn $10. I spend five on food, two on transportation, and one on another expense. I have two left for the whole month. But I want to buy something, and I have to pay five a month.” Do I have five left over? No! What do I have to do to pay those five? Stop eating! And then when you're clenching your stomach, you cry, “Lord!” We understand that difference. So, God's people have to ask God for wisdom on how to move.

Then, there are the occasions where God, purposefully, is going to allow things for His people. But all the things that God allows are for a purpose. Amen? Say purpose. God has a purpose for you and me in putting us through difficulties. Otherwise, it only produces things for the flesh. But when God puts us in that process, in that desert, it produces fruit for God and it produces life. It produces life. It produces life!

When we are in difficulties, God's purpose is that the product of that difficulty is life—life for us. It's not for death, it's not for fear, it's not for dread, it's not for perishing in the desert. God didn't take them to die in the desert as they said; He took them to give them a better place. He took them to the desert just in passing to give them a better life—to give them life in abundance. And that is one of God's purposes. But I want us to quickly go to the Word so that we can look at some of the purposes for which God takes us by the hand and says, “Let's go to the desert. Let's take a walk in the desert.”

Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 2 in the New International Version says: “Remember that for 40 years the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert and humbled you and tested you to know what was in your heart and to see whether or not you would keep His commandments.” How long? 40 years—the number of the test, of the process, of the difficulty. So God had a purpose for taking them into the desert. We see that, yes, God has a purpose. Now, it says there that He tested them to see what was in their heart. Doesn't God know what's in our hearts? He is God; of course He does! So why did He do it? So that we ourselves would know what's in our hearts. To reveal the heart to ourselves, not to Him. Because when something happens, He isn't scared. He already knows who we are inside. The one who discerns the Spirit is God.

But many times we deceive ourselves, not God. We overestimate ourselves; we think more of ourselves than we should. As we say here in Honduras, “We're fine. I'm fine. I feel fine. I go to church, I go to services, to meetings... so I really am fine.” But many times we have a higher opinion of ourselves than we ought to. And God says, “I'm going to take you there so you can realize who you are.”

He wants to reveal your heart. “I'm going to take you there; I'm going to put you through this situation.” Because many times, we have things hidden in our hearts. In churches, we're all saints, we're all pretty, we're all handsome—but many times we have hidden things that only God knows. And there are other times where there are things hidden in the heart even from ourselves; those things that only come out when a situation happens.

Have you seen those people who go through something and act in a way that makes you say, “Wow, did you see that?” It was there all along; it wasn't just a slip of the tongue. Some will say, “It just came out. Look, it just came out of me.” Jesus says that everything that comes out of the mouth was already in the heart. So those things that happen reveal what's inside, and that's what the desert is for.

“I'm not like that. I'm not angry, I'm calm.” No, it's stored there in your heart. It's like my boss—if I look at him passing by on the street and I'm in the car, I want to hit him. “No, no,” I say. “I bless him, I bless him, I bless him.” But everything that's in the heart comes out when bad things happen in our lives.

Think of Moses. God took care of him from the moment he was born. The king ordered the killing of all male babies, and God kept Moses. God kept him when his mother put him in that basket in the river. Can you imagine putting your son in a little basket in a river? God kept him until he reached the hands of Pharaoh's daughter. He grew up in the palace, he was educated, and he became an incredible man—educated with knowledge and power.

God kept him until the day he ran away. God had destined to use Moses before he was even born, but before using him, He took him to the desert. Moses had to go through boot camp. He had to go to training. From being the prince of Egypt, he went to take care of someone else's sheep. From walking around in gold and finery, he went to walking around in a worn, dirty cloak that smelled like a farm animal. He wasn't the same anymore. It wasn't the same situation. God, as the verse says, humbled him.

He tested him and He humbled him—just because He had a purpose to prepare him for what he was going to do. And what was Moses going to do? Guide the people of God. And what better training than to take care of wild sheep on the mountain? Moses was ready after 40 years.

Have you stopped to think? If God had not taken him to the desert to train him that way, what would the Moses who left Egypt have done? When they are in front of the sea and the people begin to rebel, saying, "You brought us here so we could die!” What would that Moses have done? Do you remember what he did back in Egypt? When he saw something he didn't like, he killed a man! If God hadn't taken him to the desert, he would have clashed with all the people. If he had been the Moses who first left Egypt, many of those people wouldn't have seen the Promised Land because he would have struck them down. So God had to take him to the desert and humble him until his heart was ready.

Sometimes God can't give us things. It's not that God doesn't want to bless us, or that He is taking too long—it's that our hearts aren't ready yet. Sometimes we ask for things, and God knows our hearts. How many times have we seen that when God blesses us, instead of bringing it back to the house of God and thanking Him, our hearts move away?

God tests in many ways. Sometimes He tests with need. As the psalmist said, “Don't give me too little, I might complain; but if you give me too much, who knows if I'll forget you? Give me just enough.” God knows the heart, and sometimes He takes things away. He takes them away to see if we're like the people who grumbled and complained when they had nothing to eat.

But then, as on other occasions, when the Lord begins to bless, our hearts can become too full of the blessings and not the Blesser. When the people were well off, they no longer wanted God. When they had food, they no longer needed Him. When we have work, food, a house, and a car, there's no time for God anymore! There is no time for church anymore because we have to work more to pay the car payments. The blessing we were asking God for in the desert now owns us. And sometimes God has such mercy on us that He says, “If I give this to you, you will be lost. I prefer to have you like this and know that you will be here.”

As we were singing earlier, we must recognize the goodness of God. That is what the people of God do—recognize His goodness. Not just say it, but feel gratitude in the heart. That is what the desert produces: gratitude. Gratitude is produced when you know there was nothing to eat, but bread fell from heaven—knowing it came only through God.

Moses was used only after having passed that process. You know, brothers? Because it doesn't matter what one is, or what one was, or what one believes they are. God doesn't care. It doesn't matter if you are a professional with a degree or if you have no studies. It doesn't matter if you speak many languages or can't speak Spanish well. It doesn't matter if you are the president or if you come from the streets. God doesn't care who I am or what past I have. What matters is what God is going to do. If it pleases Him to use us, praise God—but let it be His way!

God can use the engineer, the lawyer, and even the illiterate, because if we allow ourselves to be molded by God, He will be glorified. Many people believe that because they know how to sing or preach, that’s going to get them a "job" in the kingdom. “You should see how I move, people... I have an anointing!” But the other day, someone approached us and said, “Give me a chance, I have an anointing to do finances!” And I told him that I can't do anything. I don't know! All I want is to serve God, and I don't know what He's going to use me for. If God wants to move me, let Him move me as He wants—not because I'm "good" at doing this, but for His glory. Amen? Because if I'm the good one, it's because He's there. So don't worry that you don't know how to do it. That's what God likes the most—because then, the glory belongs to God.

The one who is afraid, the one who has fear... what do you think? That when they saw the giants, they weren't afraid? That's why the Lord repeated four times to Joshua: “Be strong and courageous!” And Joshua says, “Yes, Lord!” And the Lord says again, “Be strong and courageous! I am going with you.” Why? Not because he was a naturally brave warrior, but because God was with him.

In the desert, the presence of the Lord is revealed. Just as it was revealed to Moses in that bush—where was it? In the desert. Where did God speak to the Israelites? Where was the law given? In the desert of Sinai. God speaks in that place. That's why He takes us there; because God wants to reveal Himself to His people, and it's easier that way.

Moses as a prince was surely a proud man—strong, educated, stubborn, and trained for war. But God sent him to take care of sheep. And you know what the Bible says about Moses later? He was the most humble man. He's the only man in the Bible where it says that. From the palace to the most humble man—but only after the desert.

Sometimes the Lord has to remove things from our lives, amen. I say it with sadness, but sometimes God has to uproot things. But it's better for us if He takes them away because they weren't necessary. It's better for the tree to be pruned than to be cut down by the roots. And that's what God does: He prunes the tree. You think if you cut a twig from a tree, it hurts? It’s part of it.

"Patience isn't a gift that suddenly falls from heaven; it is a muscle built in the midst of difficulty."

The Lord is working on character, perhaps on our patience. Patience isn't a gift that suddenly falls from heaven; it is a muscle built in the midst of difficulty. Last week a brother told me, “I ask the Lord to give me patience.” “That’s beautiful,” I said, “how lovely.” But you know how the Lord teaches those things? That's not a gift where the Holy Spirit descends and—poof!—suddenly I have patience.

Think of people who exercise to build muscle. How do you build muscles? You have to train. You have to go every day and put in the effort. At night you’re sore, and the next morning you don’t want to touch those machines again, but you go back day after day. That's what patience is. You gain patience in difficulty, just like Moses gained it by being someone else's worker after being a prince.

Deuteronomy 8:5 says, "Recognize in your heart that just as a father disciplines his son, the Lord your God also disciplines you." Discipline means education. The Lord educates us like gold put into the fire to be purified. He takes His people to the desert to cleanse them and remove the filth.

In Exodus chapter 16, verse 4, the Lord says to Moses, “I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you.” The people were complaining, saying they should have stayed in Egypt. So God said, “I am going to test them to see whether or not they follow my instructions.” Why? To produce obedience. Look at the instructions: "Gather only enough for the day. On the sixth day, gather double because the seventh day is My day—no one will work." And what do you think the people did? From the first day, someone gathered more. Why? “What if tomorrow there isn't any? What if God doesn't keep His word?”

The Word says people went out to gather on the seventh day and found nothing. And for those who gathered more for the next day, verse 20 says the bread became full of worms and it stank! In other words, the one who said, “Nobody is going to notice... I'll save a little bread here under the bed,” everyone noticed because their house stank.

That's how disobedience stinks to God. When we try to hide things, God says, "That stinks to me." And someday that's going to come to light. All that rot will be revealed, and everyone will know who obeyed the Lord and who didn't. This year, the Lord makes a line. He will distinguish between those who obey and those who don't.

"The devil can imitate anything except obedience—because obedience is of the heart."

Disobedience stinks, but obedience is of the heart. The devil can do anything—he can perform miracles, he can sing, and he can preach beautifully. Anyone can preach! But no one can obey without the Holy Spirit. The devil can imitate anything except obedience—because obedience is of the heart. That's what the Lord is seeking from His people: faithfulness.

God has made a covenant, a commitment, and that's what we celebrate. When you marry someone, you expect them to be faithful, right? Moses told the people, “The Lord wants to make a covenant with you,” and they all said, “We accept.” But as soon as Moses went up the mountain, they were no longer faithful.

If anything marked Jesus' ministry, it wasn't just His miracles; it was obedience—obedience unto the cross. We must be faithful to God wherever we are. When the Son of God was taken to the desert, He waited on the Lord. He didn't go around with a shovel looking for treasures; He waited.

The Lord makes sure the heart of His bride is His. The trials in the desert test faith to know—not so that God knows, but so that you and I know—if what we have is faith or just religion. It is faith if, in the midst of silence and difficulty, we only want to be with the Lord. But if we despair and seek other things, perhaps it is not faith.

Lastly, look at Hosea chapter 2, verse 14. The Lord takes us to the desert to test us and break our pride, but He also takes us there to make us fall in love with Him. “That's why I'm going now... I am going to allure her. I will take her to the desert and I will speak to her with tenderness.” At that moment when the Lord takes you by the hand, He's going to make you fall in love again. He doesn't just correct; He demonstrates His love. In the desert, the Israelites never lacked food, and their shoes never wore out. God says, “Recognize that you are in the desert, but I have never taken My hand off your life. I am going to break your heart so you are the person I always wanted you to be, but you are also going to recognize that I am your Husband, your Beloved.”

Only there, in the solitude, do we realize that only God is for us. God is not only known when the sea opens or when a miracle happens; God is known in the silence, when you think you have been abandoned and everything is going to be destroyed. Blessed be our God, because there we will truly know Him.

God is not looking for fleeting love affairs; He is looking for His wife—one who is faithful. When we talk about obedience, people get scared, but it is simply loyalty. He is looking for His beloved. Verse 19 says: “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.”

"At the end of the desert journey is salvation and life for us."

Then you will know the Lord. In that situation, in that place, you will know your God. John 17:3 says that salvation is knowing God. It doesn't matter what process you are in; if you place your trust in Him, it will produce true faith. At the end of the desert journey is salvation and life for us.

Amen. Blessed are you, Lord.