Day 294 and 295 - Thankfulness

Jesus does wonderful things for us. He not only gives us life, and the things he promised, but He gives us even more. He provides, cheers us up, loves us, He gave His life for us.

There is no words to describe the feeling and the assurance of having Jesus in my life. It's a overwhelming heat inside my heart that gives rest to my soul and makes me want to keep going, to become a better person, He makes me want to change according to His will. His Spirit impels me to do better than I would on my own, and that's what I am thankful for.

"You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence."

Psalms 90:8

Day 293 - Making choices

Every second of our life is about making a choice. We make choices as soon as the power to do so is granted to us by our parents. And before that, because God created us with free will to chose our path.

Making choices according to God's word is very difficult in a human perspective, that is because we have to give away all the "good feelings" offered by the world, only pleasing our nature is not what God wants from us.

We can so chose to be angry or to live a happy life. We can chose to be worthy of something or waste our lives in superficial matters. We can die alive or we can be free and live eternally.

It's a matter of choice, choice, decision and action, because His promisses are and will forever be true.

Day 292 - Inspiration

"But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding." Job 32:8

Where does my inspiration come from? It comes from my Lord, God almigthy, the one who lays himself down, who forgives all transgressions and doesn't hold anything against me, even in my worst days, even when I am ashamed of myself, He is never ashamed of me.

Day 291- Be my everything

Jesus is just so great, He is humble even when I am the wrong one. He forgives with no questioning, and no pressure, He loves and that's it. I am overwhealmed at what Jesus is capable of, He is just so, so, so, so awesome that nothing can be compared. His love is infinite. He provides, gives, loves, hears, cares, he does everything we need. He IS everything we need.

Day 290 - We speak like the kingdom

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them."
1 John 4:4-5
 
Yesterday I heard a pastor on the radio saying, the tongue is inflamated, it is part of the devil's tools to act in this world. He controls our tongues and he can act according to what we say.
As ever nation has its language characteristics, we, the nation of Christ, also must have ours. We shall not speak like the world, but like Jesus has taught us.
 
We must develop control, and watch out, because the enemy is around us, and he is just waiting for a bir of space and legality so he can o his nasty work.
The only way to do that is to remember, greater is the one is us, than the one who is in the world. If we allow God to take control of our tongue, than He will, and there will be no space for the devil to work. But if we don't watch and vigilate, our tongue will be just as the Bible say, something used to bless and to destroy other lives by cursing at them, without realizing it.
 

 

Day 289 - Fear not

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.


Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Luke 12:32-34
 
- Where is my treasure?
- What is my priority list?
- Do I have God as number 1 in my life everyday?
- How much does it take me to deny Jesus?
 
Let's all answer these questions, it is not wrong to question ourselves, it is wrong to find out the answer and do nothing to make it better.
 

Day 288 - Trusting the Lord, diving in the unknown

"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."


"I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.""

Psalms 91:1-2
 
Who knows the future?
Who knows exactly what is going to happen tomorrow? In the next few hours? This afternoon?
 
How can we, little humans predict anything, or be sure about anything?
 
Our life is not more than a dive, a leap of faith, towards the unknown future.
Some do that in peace, others do so with anxiety and anger. The difference between the two groups
is where they put their trust. The first group puts their trust in God, in the promisses He made us, and the asurance that He loves us with Jesus' death. The second group, unfortunately, trusts their own strength, money, status, a job position.
 
Let us dive into God's arms, be free, have peace in our hearts, so that the Most High will honour His children and take good care of them. Amen.
 

Days 285, 286, 287 - Catching up with Jesus

Today is one of those days, a day to catch up with what I missed.
My internet was off all these days, so I am behind on this blog, and now it's time to catch up.

However, the reason that this post's title is catching up doesn't have to do with that.
On Sunday I listened to a preacher talking about Peter, at the moment when Jesus is taken to the cross, he followed Jesus, but, by distance.

That's so easy to happen, we focus on ourselves, lose track of Jesus and find ourselves way behind where we are supposed to be.
The problem is, Jesus won't slow down for us, He is not going to stop His kingdom's work so that we can catch up with Him, it should be the other way. Us running faster than we were before to eventually catch up with the work Jesus is doing.

I don't want to be slower than the speed Jesus asigned to me, I don't want to be behind the position I am supposed to be. That's crazy, that's almost giving up and the step after that is forgeting about Jesus completely, and denying Him, just like Peter did.

We will all have our moments in life, those moments when you doubt things, or you get confused, we are humans, we are subject to falling behind. But we need to catch up, we need to pay attention and measure ourselves, not with our own rulers, but with God's measures, having the Bible as reference at all times.

Day 283 and 284 - As for me and my house

"Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. " Exodus 34:10

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

Day 282 - Today I lift my day to you

Good morning, Jesus
This day is yours.
I want you to take over this day
and do with it according to your plan.
Whatever you have in mind, Lord,
for me today, I'll take it!

Help me to be thankful, to be kind and patient,
help me to be a witness of your love,
so that your image will be seen in me.

Lord, I'm so thankful that this morning I have the chance to
come to you, so thank you, so ask you things, to tell you my
deepest feelings.

There are things in life that hurt, and sometimes we don't understand why,
but if we remember what you did for us at the cross,
we will be just fine.

Thank you so much, Jesus, I dedicate this day to you,
to your honour, glory and in your name it will be.
Amen.

Days 280 and 281 - The unexpected blessing

When God said "I have plans for you" and "you can plan, but I make the final decision", it's because He knew what he was doing, He has better plans for us than we can imagine for ourselves, that means, all those prayer requests we give Him may be only one little tiny bit of what He has planned.

It's so amazing when you find yourself in a situation that you say "Oh, God! I wasn't expecting that much!"
It's an overwhealming feeling, to realize how much He loves us and cares for us.

He is just wonderful.

Thank you, Jesus, I love you!

Day 279 - The inside pain

The mouth speaks what the heart feels.
Our actions give away what is inside of us. Bad attitude mean there is something rotten inside, hurting, killing everything else around, like the bad apple in a fruit basket.

Until I had surrendered to Christ, I had so much pain inside, pain that I couldn't handle myself, I needed help.

I went through a tough childhood, divorcing parents, and my heart became rebellious.

So many people out there with the same problem, suffering as much as I did, not necessarily with the same situations, but whatever that causes that pain.
It could be anything. An illness in the family, a burden inside, guilt, fear...all those things hurt very bad all the way inside of us, and it speaks out through our eyes, our speech, our actions.

This life is not easy, and nobody said it was going to be. But someone promised help, someone promised hope, strength and endurance. That someone is Jesus Christ.

Day 278 - My worst enemy

God, save me from myself!

Today at church the message was about flying like birds, being free in God's grace. It also talked about some kind of people that go to monasteries or run away to a deserted island to escape from the world, from sin, from everything. The truth is, our worst enemy is inside ourselves.

It sucks to know that I can be the responsible for blowing everything up. The blessing God gave me can be destroyed by my own self.
That just makes me think of how incapable I am of doing things on my own, it's like I am handicapped and I need God to do everything for me.

It doesn't matter how hard I try, if I don't have God with me, I will just keep messing up and missing the holy aim He has planned for me to have.

Please, Lord. Don't let me by myself, help me to make things right. To not make as many mistakes every single day.

Amen.

Day 277 - Fairness

"Now let the fear of the LORD be on you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery."


2 Chronicles 19:7

"Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.""

Acts 10:34,35

 
What is fair in our eyes is sometimes not fair in God's eyes, but whatever is fair to Him, is trully fair.
The mind of man will never completely understand God's purposes and His plans, but we can be certain that His plans are always good, always fair.
 

Day 276 - You are not into God, but He is really into you

How many people out there say "it's not my thing", "Im not into church stuff"?
I was one of them, used to avoid all church topics, got mad whenever someone said "God bless you" to me.

Today I have the honour to adore my God, to give my life to Him, but before I was a church persecuter.

I realized how much He was trying to reach me, He wanted me as His child, He loved me so much, even though I wasn't a bit interested in Him.

That's my hope, my light at the end of every tunel, to know that even though this or that person may not be into God, He is into them, and He will do the impossible to get their attention.

Day 275 - Jesus I belong to you

És meu tudo, Senhor, toma conta de mim, pois a ti pertenço. Te amo, Deus!

Day 274 - Acceptance prayer

God,
Give me the courage to change the things that I can change,
Give me the patience to accept the things that I can't change,
And give me wisdom to identify those two.


This prayer is said in many groups that help recovering drug and alcohol addicts, it is also said in mental institutions and other places where people have group therapy. Why is it that we don't use is in church? Or in our daily lives?
There are so many things we don't understand, there are so many things that are what they are and there is nothing we can do about it, just leave it in God's hands. Yet, we are so stubborn, including myself, and we get desperate over things that are beyond our power. If we have God, and we know that the world will try to hurt us, but God himself died for us, than there is nothing that could steal our joy and peace.

My prayer looks a little like this:
- God, I am sorry for trying to take control over everything,
I am sorry for getting desperate and upset over things that are beyond my power,
I should just trust you and rely on you, keeping my joy and peace.
Give me the wisdom to realize that I can't change everything,
But when I can, I need you to give me strength and courage.
Thank you for your son, for your love and mercy.
Please, fill me up again with joy and peace, and let this day be to honour your name,
So people will se your presence in my life, and I will be a testimony of your kingdom.
Thank you, Lord, in Jesus name, Amen.

Day 273 - The great 'I am'

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Exodus 3:14

"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. " John 14:11

The first thing we learn when we step into a church is that Jesus is our Lord, and that He, sent by God, came to this world to die for us so that whoever believes in Him and follows Him will have eternal life.

It's a very intriguing scenario where Father and Son are one, and then there is the Holy Spirit, and everything happens around those three.

The name of Jesus is so powerful that everything at one point bows to Him, there is no demon, no evil that can stand up before Him. Even the saints, we are drawn to humble ourselves due to the immense love and overwhelming power of The Lamb.

He is the great "I am", He is everything, the centre of this universe.

Day 272 - Being in God's Glory

I want more of my God, I want to feel His presence every moment of my days, I want to feel His breath on my face, His comforting arms, I want to be in my Lord Jesus' presence have Him as my best friend forever.

"Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise." James 5:13

Because my God is Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. And He will always be, the alpha and omega, the truth, the answer, the beginning and the end. Forever and ever, amen.

Day 271 - The source of all problems

When something goes wrong, and when relationships don't work out, it's most likely than the cause of the problems is within us than in others, however, in our view, the others are most likely to be the reason of our misery.

"How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."   Luke 6:42

When we get annoyed of someone or something, the problem and the solution are inside of ourselves, with God's help to let us see clearly and give us the courage to change our own behaviour so that the we will treat the outside better and so it will respond to our change.
It is easy to criticize, but very hard to take action. Only the Holy Spirit can act in us.
 
 

 

Day 270 - Showing appreciation

"And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away." Nehemiah 12:43

Who likes a cranky person that never smiles or never shows joy?

God clearly told us, REJOICE, on bad days and on good days. We are born to rejoice in His presence.

Despite the bad things of this world, the most important and meaningful thing has already been done: the death of Jesus on the cross that saved us all.

We have tons of things to be thankful and appreciative about, our families, our roof, our food, our health, just God Himself is plenty of content for us to feel loved and know that we are here with the purpose of rejoicing in His name.

Day 269 - Good night, Lord

Good night, Lord Jesus.

What a great day you gave me!

In all things today there was your hand,

Even if I may not have opened my eyes to see.

I just love everything you are, everything you do.

Thank you for being so good to me, so

graceful.

Your name is worthy of all efforts, it is

worthy laying down my life for.

Lord, you are the center of this universe,

and to you and by you are all things.

Please teach me to obey your voice,

To recognize when your Spirit talks to me.

Your will be done, Lord, that's ALL I can ever ask for.

I fell you hugging me, giving me a good night kiss, because

you are my Father, my wonderful loving and wise Father.

I will need you every single day of my life,

and I want to praise your name at all times.

Thank YOU, Lord.

In YOUR name, amen.



Day 268 - Good morning, Lord

My dear Lord Jesus,

Good morning!

I give this day to you, I give all 24 hours of this day to come, to you.

To you I surrender my mind, soul and spirit.

Please, let my thoughts be like yours,

My actions should come from you,

My heart should be filled with wisdom and strength that comes from your Holy Spirit,

Thank you that I am awake this morning,

And that I can see, hear, speak, walk,

That I have food on my table, clothes to make me warm,

A soft bed to sleep on.

Thank you Lord, that you are Lord, and no one else.

All my day, Lord, I surrender;

Today there will be no pain, no worry

Today I will exercise my faith,

By praying for others, prophesying the good,

Please, Lord, if at any time of this day I forget about you,

or get caugth doing only what my flesh wants,

Let your Holy Spirit remind me that I live for you.

I want to be like you, Jesus.

And that's why I say Good Morning, Lord.

Day 267 - The Spiritless Church

I saw a quote the other day that said take the Spirit out of most churches and nobody will notice the difference. That's sad, really sad, the whole point of the death of Christ is that He died and left His spirit on Earth to dwell among us and give us the insights that Jesus wants us to have. It is through the Spirit that things happen, it is through the Spirit that we act in the church, and do the will of God.

If the Spirit is not present, there is no point in doing good acts, because God said, I will recognize you not for doing good things but for doing my will.

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" John 3:3

A murder can become blameless with Jesus pardon, but a little kind housewife, mother of children that gives food to the poor every month can go to hell if she doesn't do does things for Jesus and does not have the Holy Spirit with her.

The churches and it's Christians have become Spiritless, they go to church which is awesome, but their hearts don't belong to Christ, their lives are not led by the Spirit. How can they do God's will then?

- They can't.

Day 266 - The Love of Jesus

The whole Bible talks about one central theme: the Love of Jesus.

It goes all around the statement that we, humans, have been separated from God by sin and would not be able to enter heaven, none of us would be acceptable where God is. That's the whole point of Jesus' death. In order for us to be saved, we would need a perfect history, but none of us are perfect, the only perfect one is Jesus, God Himself that loved so much this world that wanted to save us, so gave Himself as a man, and died a death of cross.

"God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes shall receive eternal life"
John 3:16