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We often confuse talent or personality with character, but they are very different things. Talent can open doors, and personality can attract people, but character truly defines who we are and how we face life. While talent and personality are visible, character is the deep foundation that supports our decisions and actions. In this blog, we’ll explore why character is more important than any other quality and how cultivating it can transform your life.
Why is character so important?

Character is the set of values and virtues that guide our actions. It’s not innate but built through daily choices. Unlike talent, which can open doors, character is what keeps them open because it inspires trust, perseverance, and honesty.

“Character is doing what it costs, even when no one is watching.” This integrity is the true test of our character. Bill Gothard

Additionally, as Christians, we are called to have character like Christ.

•    Reflect on your values and strengths.

•    Practice discipline and honesty.

•    Learn from mistakes with humility.

•    Strive to imitate Christ’s example daily.

Conclusion

Character is the foundation that gives meaning and direction to our lives. It’s not just about what we achieve, but how we achieve it. Cultivating a strong character, like Christ’s, enables us to live with purpose, overcome obstacles, and build authentic relationships. True success is born from committed character. Are you ready for the challenge?

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1. Relationship with God

Spirituality begins with the desire to know and experience God.

Prayer is a fundamental means for this connection. In Philippians 4:6-7, we are invited to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

This practice allows us to dialogue with Him and open our hearts.

2. Community Life

Spirituality is also expressed in the context of the faith community. Hebrews 10:24-25 encourages us to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.” Interaction and mutual support are essential for spiritual growth, creating an environment where faith is strengthened collectively.

3. Integration of Life

Spirituality must be integrated into all aspects of our lives. Colossians 3:17 reminds us that “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” This implies that our daily actions, relationships, and decisions should reflect our Christian faith and values.

4. Discernment

Discernment is a vital aspect of spirituality. Proverbs 3:5-6 exhorts us to “trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding. In all our ways submit to Him, and He will make our paths straight.” The ability to recognize God’s will is essential for living faithfully and authentically.

5. Personal Transformation

Spirituality seeks the transformation of the individual. Romans 12:2 encourages us to “not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This process of transformation leads to a fuller and more authentic life, characterized by love, peace, and purpose.

Conclusion

In summary, spirituality is a path that encompasses a personal relationship with God, commitment to the community, integration of faith into everyday life, discernment of His will, and personal transformation. This journey not only seeks a deeper connection with the divine, but also urges us to live authentically and meaningfully, reflecting God’s love in all our actions.

by Pastor Mick González

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I was reading a few days ago a couple of articles related to the importance of attending a small church, and I was struck by the way some writers and even pastors of large churches refer in a good way to this subject.

“A lot of people would like to worship in a small church if they could find a good one.

That’s what I keep hearing, anyway”. Karl Vaters.

According to the above quote, the author of this sentence says in his article “Signs of Life: 7 ways to find a great small church to attend and serve”, that it is important not to look for super detailed and even great looking buildings in these small churches, because due to not many members and little financial income they do what they can.

In many of these churches you will find quality experiences, and these are often very different from the big churches, for example you will be able to meet all the members and get closer to them.

In my own experience, I can say how blessed I have been to attend a church of no more than two hundred members. Together with my family, even when we were in Chile, we prayed to know which church we would attend, considering that I attended a large church for a year and a half near where we lived. This church helped us a significantly in the ministry of planting a bilingual church in Lancaster, we had many ties with the pastors and leaders, which could have made our choice simple, but rather, we decided to discern God’s will for our lives and so we did.

In deciding to join Ephrata UZ Church, we believed that God had sent us to fulfill His plan, to “be a blessing to the congregation and together grow in the gifts and ministries God has given us”. It is not that I was ungrateful to the previous church that gave us their support, on the contrary, I met with the pastors of that church and let them know my gratitude towards them, but I also let them know that our decision was based on the following; “We know that in a big church there can be fifty or more people that can do the same as me, but not in a smaller church”, they agreed with me and encouraged me to participate in where God had sent us.

“be a blessing to the congregation and together grow in the gifts and ministries God has given us.” Mick Gonzalez

Once we were installed in our new church, we could see several strengths of this church, one of them was the love for the unreached, not only praying for them but also sending missionaries to foreign places for years and supporting them financially. We have seen their joy in everything daily: the kindness, the gratitude in the simple and the well-being that they give to all the members and to those who are not.

Now I understand why this church is still standing, because it has embraced God’s call to the nations and has made it its own. Whenever I think of a church with great values, I can point to the one I attend, a small church with a big heart.

By MICK GONZALEZ, Equipping pastor of Ephrata UZ Church

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INTRODUCTION

Why is listening an important spiritual skill? Listening to God is the first step to obeying him. This information will not give you a specific formula that describes the prophetic call or how to hear the voice of God. For God’s methods are unique.

WHY?

• 1. Is in the Bible;

“And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them”. Deuteronomy 5:1 (1-5)

[Listen=Obey] (lift ears):

The root is distinguished in the Latin verb auscultāre, postulating the idea of inclining the ear, combining the Latin components auricŭla, interpreted as EAR, and the verb inclināre, understood as inclining.

• 2. Hearing God’s Voice May Require us to Listen Carefully.

1 King 19:12-13, “and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”.

It often falls to us to ask if we are in our place, and on the path of duty: Am I where I should be? Where is God calling me, where is my work, and where can I be of use? Elijah complains about the people and their stubbornness to sin; I’m the only one left – (The wind, the earthquake, the fire did not make him cover his face, but the soft and gentle whisper did) Contemplation.

• 3. Listening Spiritually Allows us to Learn from Others.

James 1:19-20, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God”.

1 Cor 12:1-3 “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: …I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit”

“Spirit” represents something non-physical and normally invisible. We can conclude, except in the one case where “spirit,” ruach, or pneuma describes a being that has revealed itself, that spirit is never seen. (Discernment)

a. “Pneumatikos” – Spirituals, or Spiritual Things (Reference to the tire, filled with air and when in use it works, and when not in use it deflates)

b. God does not want us ignorant of spiritual things or things concerning our relationship to spiritual things.

By Mick Gonzalez, Previously written for Ephrata UZ Church website

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I meet Mark Virkler during a prophetic training in Mechannicsburg, Pennsylvania in 2013 (Global School Intensive, Randy Clark’s ministries). Mark shared some clues to hearing the voice of God and I want to share with you with the permission of his ministry www.CWGMinistries.org

Four Keys to Hearing God’s Voice

She had done it again! Instead of coming straight home from school like she was supposed to, she had gone to her friend’s house. Without permission. Without our knowledge. Without doing her chores.

With a ministering household that included remnants of three struggling families plus our own toddler and newborn, my wife simply couldn’t handle all the work on her own. Everyone had to pull their own weight. Everyone had age-appropriate tasks they were expected to complete. At fourteen, Rachel and her younger brother were living with us while her parents tried to overcome lifestyle patterns that had resulted in the children running away to escape the dysfunction. I felt sorry for Rachel, but, honestly my wife was my greatest concern.

Now Rachel had ditched her chores to spend time with her friends. It wasn’t the first time, but if I had anything to say about it, it would be the last. I intended to lay down the law when she got home and make it very clear that if she was going to live under my roof, she would obey my rules.

But…she wasn’t home yet. And I had recently been learning to hear God’s voice more clearly. Maybe I should try to see if I could hear anything from Him about the situation. Maybe He could give me a way to get her to do what she was supposed to (i.e. what I wanted her to do). So I went to my office and reviewed what the Lord had been teaching me from Habakkuk 2:1,2: “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me…Then the Lord answered me and said, ‘Record the vision….’”

The first key to hearing God’s voice is to go to a quiet place and still our own thoughts and emotions.

Psalm 46:10 encourages us to be still, let go, cease striving, and know that He is God. In Psalm 37:7 we are called to “be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” There is a deep inner knowing in our spirits that each of us can experience when we quiet our flesh and our minds. Practicing the art of biblical meditation helps silence the outer noise and distractions clamoring for our attention.

“be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”

PSALMS 37.7

I didn’t have a guard post but I did have an office, so I went there to quiet my temper and my mind. Loving God through a quiet worship song is one very effective way to become still. In 2 Kings 3, Elisha needed a word from the Lord so he said, “Bring me a minstrel,” and as the minstrel played, the Lord spoke. I have found that playing a worship song on my autoharp is the quickest way for me to come to stillness. I need to choose my song carefully; boisterous songs of praise do not bring me to stillness, but rather gentle songs that express my love and worship. And it isn’t enough just to sing the song into the cosmos – I come into the Lord’s presence most quickly and easily when I use my godly imagination to see the truth that He is right here with me and I sing my songs to Him, personally.

“I will keep watch to see,” said the prophet. To receive the pure word of God, it is very important that my heart be properly focused as I become still, because my focus is the source of the intuitive flow. If I fix my eyes upon Jesus (Heb. 12:2), the intuitive flow comes from Jesus. But if I fix my gaze upon some desire of my heart, the intuitive flow comes out of that desire. To have a pure flow I must become still and carefully fix my eyes upon Jesus. Quietly worshiping the King and receiving out of the stillness that follows quite easily accomplishes this.

The second key to hearing God’s voice: As you pray, fix the eyes of your heart upon Jesus, seeing in the Spirit the dreams and visions of Almighty God.

Habakkuk was actually looking for vision as he prayed. He opened the eyes of his heart, and looked into the spirit world to see what God wanted to show him.

God has always spoken through dreams and visions, and He specifically said that they would come to those upon whom the Holy Spirit is poured out (Acts 2:1-4, 17).

Being a logical, rational person, observable facts that could be verified by my physical senses were the foundations of my life, including my spiritual life. I had never thought of opening the eyes of my heart and looking for vision. However, I have come to believe that this is exactly what God wants me to do. He gave me eyes in my heart to see in the spirit the vision and movement of Almighty God. There is an active spirit world all around us, full of angels, demons, the Holy Spirit, the omnipresent Father, and His omnipresent Son, Jesus. The only reasons for me not to see this reality are unbelief or lack of knowledge.

In his sermon in Acts 2:25, Peter refers to King David’s statement: “I saw the Lord always in my presence; for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.” The original psalm makes it clear that this was a decision of David’s, not a constant supernatural visitation: “I have set (literally, I have placed) the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Ps.16:8). Because David knew that the Lord was always with him, he determined in his spirit to see that truth with the eyes of his heart as he went through life, knowing that this would keep his faith strong.

In order to see, we must look. Daniel saw a vision in his mind and said, “I was looking…I kept looking…I kept looking” (Dan. 7:2, 9, 13). As I pray, I look for Jesus, and I watch as He speaks to me, doing and saying the things that are on His heart. Many Christians will find that if they will only look, they will see. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23). It is as simple as that. You can see Christ present with you because Christ is present with you. In fact, the vision may come so easily that you will be tempted to reject it, thinking that it is just you. But if you persist in recording these visions, your doubt will soon be overcome by faith as you recognize that the content of them could only be birthed in Almighty God.

Jesus demonstrated the ability of living out of constant contact with God, declaring that He did nothing on His own initiative, but only what He saw the Father doing, and heard the Father saying (Jn. 5:19,20,30). What an incredible way to live!

Is it possible for us to live out of divine initiative as Jesus did? Yes! We must simply fix our eyes upon Jesus. The veil has been torn, giving access into the immediate presence of God, and He calls us to draw near (Lk. 23:45; Heb. 10:19-22). “I pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened….”

When I had quieted my heart enough that I was able to picture Jesus without the distractions of my own ideas and plans, I was able to “keep watch to see what He will speak to me.” I wrote down my question: “Lord, what should I do about Rachel?”

Immediately the thought came to me, “She is insecure.” Well, that certainly wasn’t my thought! Her behavior looked like rebellion to me, not insecurity.

But like Habakkuk, I was coming to know the sound of God speaking to me (Hab. 2:2). Elijah described it as a still, small voice (I Kings 19:12). I had previously listened for an inner audible voice, and God does speak that way at times. However, I have found that usually, God’s voice comes as spontaneous thoughts, visions, feelings, or impressions.

For example, haven’t you been driving down the road and had a thought come to you to pray for a certain person? Didn’t you believe it was God telling you to pray? What did God’s voice sound like? Was it an audible voice, or was it a spontaneous thought that lit upon your mind?

Experience indicates that we perceive spirit-level communication as spontaneous thoughts, impressions and visions, and Scripture confirms this in many ways. For example, one definition of paga, a Hebrew word for intercession, is “a chance encounter or an accidental intersecting.” When God lays people on our hearts, He does it through paga, a chance-encounter thought “accidentally” intersecting our minds.

The third key to hearing God’s voice is recognizing that God’s voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.

Therefore, when I want to hear from God, I tune to chance-encounter or spontaneous thoughts.

Finally, God told Habakkuk to record the vision (Hab. 2:2). This was not an isolated command. The Scriptures record many examples of individual’s prayers and God’s replies, such as the Psalms, many of the prophets, and Revelation. I have found that obeying this final principle amplified my confidence in my ability to hear God’s voice so that I could finally make living out of His initiatives a way of life.

The fourth key, two-way journaling or the writing out of your prayers and God’s answers, brings great freedom in hearing God’s voice.

I have found two-way journaling to be a fabulous catalyst for clearly discerning God’s inner, spontaneous flow, because as I journal I am able to write in faith for long periods of time, simply believing it is God. I know that what I believe I have received from God must be tested. However, testing involves doubt and doubt blocks divine communication, so I do not want to test while I am trying to receive. (See James 1:5-8.) With journaling, I can receive in faith, knowing that when the flow has ended I can test and examine it carefully.

So I wrote down what I believed He had said: “She is insecure.”

But the Lord wasn’t done. I continued to write the spontaneous thoughts that came to me:  “Love her unconditionally. She is flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone.”

My mind immediately objected: She is not flesh of my flesh. She is not related to me at all – she is a foster child, just living in my home temporarily. It was definitely time to test this “word from the Lord”!

There are three possible sources of thoughts in our minds: ourselves, satan and the Holy Spirit. It was obvious that the words in my journal did not come from my own mind – I certainly didn’t see her as insecure or flesh of my flesh. And I sincerely doubted that satan would encourage me to love anyone unconditionally!

Okay, it was starting to look like I might have actually received counsel from the Lord. It was consistent with the names and character of God as revealed in the Scripture, and totally contrary to the names and character of the enemy. So that meant that I was hearing from the Lord, and He wanted me to see the situation in a different light. Rachel was my daughter – part of my family not by blood but by the hand of God Himself. The chaos of her birth home had created deep insecurity about her worthiness to be loved by anyone, including me and including God. Only the unconditional love of the Lord expressed through an imperfect human would reach her heart.

But there was still one more test I needed to perform before I would have absolute confidence that this was truly God’s word to me: I needed confirmation from someone else whose spiritual discernment I trusted. So I went to my wife and shared what I had received. I knew if I could get her validation, especially since she was the one most wronged in the situation, then I could say, at least to myself, “Thus sayeth the Lord.”

Needless to say, Patti immediately and without question confirmed that the Lord had spoken to me. My entire planned lecture was forgotten. I returned to my office anxious to hear more. As the Lord planted a new, supernatural love for Rachel within me, He showed me what to say and how to say it to not only address the current issue of household responsibility, but the deeper issues of love and acceptance and worthiness.

Rachel and her brother remained as part of our family for another two years, giving us many opportunities to demonstrate and teach about the Father’s love, planting spiritual seeds in thirsty soil. We weren’t perfect and we didn’t solve all of her issues, but because I had learned to listen to the Lord, we were able to avoid creating more brokenness and separation.

The four simple keys that the Lord showed me from Habakkuk have been used by people of all ages, from four to a hundred and four, from every continent, culture and denomination, to break through into intimate two-way conversations with their loving Father and dearest Friend. Omitting any one of the keys will prevent you from receiving all He wants to say to you. The order of the keys is not important, just that you use them all. Embracing all four, by faith, can change your life. Simply quiet yourself down, tune to spontaneity, look for vision, and journal. He is waiting to meet you there.

You will be amazed when you journal! Doubt may hinder you at first, but throw it off, reminding yourself that it is a biblical concept, and that God is present, speaking to His children. Relax. When we cease our labors and enter His rest, God is free to flow (Heb. 4:10).

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onderful testimony from Danielle Horst, let’s see how “Healing reveals God’s love”.

1. PLAYING SOFTBALL

Last summer I was playing softball, as I do every year, but something happened that doesn’t normally happen.

I was running around trying to catch the ball, when I fell and dragged my ankle. The pain was so intense that I couldn’t stop. This game was special because Micky and his family were visiting and watching the game. Along with my team, Micky came to see what was wrong with me. Immediately Micky suggested praying for me and he began to do so.

Miraculously the pain went away!.

– DANIELLE HORST

Miraculously the pain went away! Micky asked me to write my testimony for the School of Prophetic Ministries, but I was too busy and forgot.

A couple of months ago, I heard Micky preaching at my church and remembered that I had never sent him the testimony. However, after what happened yesterday, I can’t pass up the opportunity to give God the glory.

2. DURING THE MESSAGE GOD OPERATES

Yesterday, God used Micky in my life in a truly miraculous way. Micky and his family were visiting us again this year. And in the middle of the preaching, Micky stopped and said:

“There is a woman here who has sciatic nerve problems” (Word of Knowledge).

Mick Gonzalez

Just as I was impressed with how he knew the word sciatic nerve in English, I thought about how regularly I had sciatic nerve pain. I wasn’t ready to raise my hand and say it was me, as I thought maybe there was someone else in the church with that same pain.

Micky went on and said, “This pain is in your left leg and sometimes it keeps you awake” (Word of knowledge, even more specific).

At this point tears are streaming down my face and my husband leans over to me and says, “Isn’t that the pain you are in?” Micky made eye contact with me and after asking if it was me, I nodded and he Immediately began praying for me and asked the whole church to join him.

A day has passed since then, and although the pain is not completely gone, it is much better than it has been since I started having problems with it!

Several years ago I asked God for a sign, and in His own time He has given me one. Even if the pain never completely goes away, I know without a doubt that God is real, He knows me, He loves me, and He cares infinitely for me, and this applies to all of His children. God loves you more than you could ever imagine.

DANIELLE HORST

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!

Previously written to Escuela de Ministerios (Mickgonzalez.com)

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