Day 324 - I will never know how much it cost

I will never know, oh Lord, how much you paid so I could be free.
To see you on that cross, suffering, innocent blood being shed, just so I could live.
I, Lord, so small and so sinful, so human. It overwhelms me Lord, to see how much you
care about me and how much you take care of every little detail of my life, so that I can serve you.

You did tell us, "seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all the other things will be added."
Thank you, Lord, for that promise. Sometimes I forget to seek, but you never forget to take care of me.
I am nothing, Lord, without you. I am so so so thankful, so grateful. I do realize how much you do and have done and will still do, forever, just because I am your child.

Thank you, Jesus, my Lord, my Father, my Everything.

Day 323 - The vineyard story

To whom hasn't heard of the vineyard story, in summary it's about this land owner who hires men to work for him at different times of the day. The catch though is that he promises the same wage to all the men, despite how many hours of work they have done, also, he begins paying the ones who arrived at last, and then pays last the ones who began working early in the morning.

With that story Jesus wanted to tell us that it doesn't matter what we do, and how much effort we put into things, we all deserve the same amount of Grace because in truth we are all sinners, made of the same flash.
He also gets me thinking that some of us were built to be the first workers, waking up early, working long hours, and some others were built to come in at the last minute and still receive the same payment. Who is better than who, it's not up to us to judge, but how our hearts respond if we are the hard workers or the lazy bums is what matters.

Let's say I was in the place of the early worker, I might be pretty mad by being paid the same as the guy who arrived at last, I understand the point of view, but what Jesus is trying to say is that, receive what you got thankfully, and realize it was given to you by Mercy and Grace, not because we deserve it.
And if I was at the late comer position who worked only one hour, barely sweat, and then gets the same payment, I'm sue God is looking into my heart to see if I am just humbly thankful knowing that He is acting on Grace with me, or if I get myself all proud just because I ripped somebody off and had advantage over others.

No position is easy, and they are no position is better than the other. It's the heart's challenge that matters, not the outcome I believe.

God does the things that only He understands, who am I to question?
I minus just enjoy what He gracefully gave me, and bow to Him, every day of my life.

Day 322 - When the day comes

Everything shall pass in this lifetime. There is nothing eternal unless it comes from the Kingdom of Heaven.
All the pain, the illness, misery, agony, starvation, all of that one day will end, because the day is near.

Our bodies are not eternal, our houses, our jobs, our troubles, none of it is eternal, only what we store in His Kingdom is eternal.

The they will come when all of us are judged, we will all face God and be accountable for our decisions, our mistakes, our selfishness. But thanks to Him, when that day comes, the ones who believe and follow Christ's steps will be spared from eternal pain.

See, the Bible says that the pain we experience now is nothing compared to the pain we could face in case we are not spared on the judgment day.
It's like people that make jokes about going to Hell, why would you want to go there? Why would you even joke about it? Whoever thinks that way has no idea what hell must be like.

The Bible also says that when the day comes, every knee will bow before the Lord, and every tongue will proclaim His glory. So why so much disbelief and so much rebellion?

I used to say "I would be so much happier if I just believed". And now I do, and I can say: Yes, I am indeed, happy as one could be. With the Holy Ghost in my life and God's guidance before me.

Day 321 - Only God knows why

God has an unique way of working things out. As much as I try to understand, it seems as if God's ways are this big puzzle and I can't wrap my head around it. Each little piece, each little reason for the things He does or allow to be done.
People always say "why is there poverty or illness if there is a God?"
And "why did I have to suffer this much to come to God? Couldn't there be a different way for it?
"If God is God and He is so powerful, why didn't He create humans with less rebellious character?"
And so on, so forth. There are thousands of questions related to God's mysterious ways, and we will never know the answers, in fact, we are not supposed to.

I have to put my mind in the right place and think that I am here only to serve God, and to live for Him, to humble myself so I can be saved, not to know the reasons why He does what He does.

What I need to know is:
- He has created me
- He loves me
- He will never forsake me
- He died for me so I could be saved
- His will won't ever take me where His grace can't protect me.

I love you Jesus, this is for you!

Day 320 - Forgive and forget

Forgive and forget,
Forgive and forget,
Forgive and forget...

Because I am also subject to failure. Because Jesus Himself forgave all of us, and He is perfect.
Because we are no better than anyone else to judge or keep bad tracks about one's mistakes.
Because the things we don't let go eat us up inside.
Because lack of forgiveness leads to lack of happiness.
Because this life is so short, why keep all the resentment?
Because that's we are here for.
Because we are Christians.
Because it's the right thing to do.

Forgive and forget!

Day 319 - Live for you

I want to live for you, Lord. That's the only thing that makes me worthy of being alive.
I sometimes have this fear that if I misbehave I will lose the blessings God gave me,
but the truth is, He doesn't give me things or blesses me because I deserve it, but because
He is merciful and graceful, otherwise, I would be let to die, since I am no better than anyone else.

I don't deserve anything, just as pretty much everybody else I know. So why do I keep thinking
that I need to do things to deserve God's favor? Of course we must obey His law and do good deeds,
but that's just because He doesn't want us to get in trouble, and because He wants us to learn obedience,
which is not part of human nature. But if it was so that we could exchange that for blessings,
we would all be done.

Anyway, God is good, and He is all powerful. He can do everything, anything, at any time. Because
He is God.

Day 318 - Christmas is inside

Dear God,

Thank you for Christmas.
Thank you because I know that your Son Jesus was born, and that He lived,
taught and died so that I could have joy in my heart right now.
Because Christmas is that great joy that doesn't go away for nothing in this world.
Christmas is everyday. It's the assurance that my Lord is with me, that He lives in me,
and that because of Him I can have Salvation, Eternal Life, Forgiveness, Peace,
Kindness, Faith, Hope, Mercy, Grace, everything else that comes only from you.

I love you Lord, I love you so much, and I don't want ever be away from you,
because everything else is temporary, but you, you are the Eternal, the Alpha and Omega.
I have only the right to be happy, to rejoice, to be thankful. Knowing how much you did for me,
I have no right to complaint, to be unhappy.

Encourage me Lord, give me the strength, the righteousness, the peace I need to conquer what you
planned for me.
Because I am your child, and I will always be, because you said "believe and I will never forsake you".

Thank you, Father. Amen.

Day 317 - Gratitude

Specially in times like Christmas, we feel more devoted to give thanks for the wonderful blessings that God places on our little lives. God not only gives food, shelter and clothing, most times He gives us things that are extraordinarialy unecessary, it's way more than we need.

But we should be thankful at all times, Christmas or not Christmas. Thanksgiving day or not Thanksgiving day.
I find myself a lot more thankful when things are bad, when I only have a little bit to survive and like the Bible says, for the one who is hungry, even what is bitter tastes sweet.

That's how I feel in dry times, and then I notice, when more prosper times come, and God blesses me with the things or accomplishments I was waiting for, I begin to complaint and to not see the good in everything.

That something I believe most of us need to work on. Being grateful at very little. Not forgetting everything He has already done to us.

I pray Jesus will help me to be grateful, as well as He will help you in this way, or whatever else needs to be worked out in you.  Amen. Merry Christmas!

Day 316 - God's sense of humour

Sometimes God can have a very interesting sense of humour.
He doesn't simply give us the things we ask for. Sometimes He does, but when He sees the chance of working our character through something we really want, or something we have to go through, He does the things only a loving and responsible father would do, He teaches us.

We ask, "Lord make me patient". He might give us a child who needs a lot of patience to be dealt with.
We ask, "Lord, make me kind". He might give us the worst neighbour it could be, so we will have no choice but to be kind.
We ask, "Lord, teach me to trust you". He might take away all our money to show us how we should believe in Him.
We ask, "Lord, make me holy". He might send us the stronger temptations so we can overcome them.

It would be too easy and not worth it if He just snaped His fingers and transformed us in perfect beings. Growth hurts, it needs work. So He sends us work to do. And as we work our best, He works in us.
They say "be careful what you ask for".

It's like the silver maker, He puts the metal on fire and until it's all polished and He can see His own face on it. Once He can see His reflection on our hearts, then the job is completed.
It's never easy, but it's for the best. To live and become children of God.

Day 315 - He takes His time, but He doesn't fail

The Bible says there is a season for everything, a season to work, a season to rest.
There is always a time in God's schedule for everything and everyone under the heavens.

The ultimate truth is that God is faithful, He can do anything He wants, He has the power to transform darkness in light, He CAN, He is, He does, He makes, HE!

I was dead, blind, gone, twisted....but He was faithful of His promises, and my life now is about smiles, it took time, it was hard at first, and sometimes it still is. I am learning, there is still a lot to learn, a lot to change, but it is possible, that's because He can do anything and everything and nothing is impossible for the one who believes!

Day 314 - Out of darkness

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."


1 Peter 2:9
 
He, the Lord of lords, the King of kings, the Mighty one, the Counselor, the Creator, the One who doesn't need any of these small earthly things, threw Himself on a cross, He was whipped, humiliated, crushed to death, tortured, and so much more, so I could come out of darkness. Isn't that something to consider?
How can I not live for Him? How can I not see what He did for me? How can't I be thankful to what He did?
 
- It's impossible. He took the stone in my chest and actually gave me a heart, and even so, I sometimes, very often actually, still have shortcomings. How can anyone not see???
 
I didn't see it before, and I understand how it feels, you are just there, floating, in this darkness, in this emptiness that you can't control, can't understand, it's pointless and hopeless. It's shallow and dark.
 
But what reliefs me is that He said, one day every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim to the Lord Jesus Christ, and so in my heart, whatever that means to those people, at least I know that one day they will see what I see, and they will be in peace.
 

 

Day 313 - The Standards

"For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."


Matthew 5:20
 
Jesus didn't say be just good enough, Jesus said, whoever is not above the 'just good enough' line, is not enabled of entering heaven.
The Pharisees knew Jesus' words, they considered themselves Christians, but did they truly believe? Did they truly follow His commandments? - That we don't know.
 
So, lets not take the risk, lets put our selves aside and live according through Jesus' righteousness so that we can have that eternal life with Him that we said we would.
 

Day 312 - Little baby Jesus

John 3:16
"And God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whomever believes shall not perish, but have everlasting life"

Day 311 - What is Christmas?

Because Christmas should be about the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Us worshiping Him and denying ourselves for His Will. Because He is the Saviour, the Ramson, the Almighty powerful, all wonderful GOD.

Day 310 - Salvation

- What is salvation? According to the dictionary, salvation is:

1.Deliverance from sin and its consequences.


2.Preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss.
 
- What does the Bible say about salvation?
 
"for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls."


1 Peter 1:9
 
"But as for me, afflicted and in pain — may your salvation, God, protect me."


Psalms 69:29

- So, from what we can see there are two types of salvation: the spiritual salvation and the physical salvation.
The verse in Peter mentioned talks about "salvation of our souls". That makes obvious that there is a need for salvation and that without it, we are done, so how can people still believe that everyone is saved, or that for good deeds we will be saved? - No we won't, we need our faith, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to save us, to save our souls from hell.

- Are you saved?
- What's happening to you after you die?

Day 309 - This is the air I breathe

I have life because you died for me. I breathe the saints air because you forgave me.
I am free, because of your sacrifice my Lord Jesus.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." 1 Peter 2:9

Day 308 - Looking in the wrong places

We all seek pretty much the same stuff while on this planet....we need basic things like food, water, rest, shelter and clothing, and then it comes the more untangible things such as need for social recognition, status, pleasure, fulfillment, affiliation, self steem, and so on.
In some cases, the ambition for material things or power and status is extreme and it causes people to turn into sick violent beings, that would get what they want at any cost. In their case, unfortunatelly, they are so lost in their madness that only Jesus operating a miracle to wake them up. (Not saying that to me it wasn't a miracle...because it was!)

At the end of the day, however, we are all seeking a few really vital aspects such as love and care. Who doesn't want to be loved? Who doesn't want to be cared and to care about others? That's us, we, different from any other animal have the gift of loving others, so why don't we?
- Because we look for love and care in the wrong places. Some think "If I get a new car, people will love me" or "If I become the popular one, people will love me".
- Wrong! Because if they don't love you now, then they won't anyways. Because love doesn't need conditions to exist, love loves no matter what.

I pray we will all stop looking for ourselves and our answers in the wrong place.
A new pair of shoes or getting skinier won't get me anywhere, but being with Jesus and following His steps will make me a new person, somebody who can love and can be loved.

In Jesus' loving name,
Amen

Day 307 - A thankful prayer

Dear God, Creator of the Universe,
I want to say Thank You.
Every time I think I was dead and blind, and now I can see less blurry,
I have this warm feeling inside of me. This eager to put myself at your feet and
bow my whole being at you.
I am nothing without you, and even when I don't pay attention, and don't rejoice,
or when I focus on myself; Lord, you know me, you know my heart and how much
I am aware that YOU are God, and that without you, there is nothingness.

Your name is so powerful, your presence is so wonderful,
Your love is unfailing, it smashed my heart, it makes me feel humbled by
how much I know that you are faithful, and I am not.

Thank you, Lord, thank you. And I am sorry. For everything, everyday. Because I am a sinner, Lord, and
everyday, as small as it can be, I make a mistake. And if wasn't for your Mercy, your Grace,
There would be no chance for me.

Thanks! :) I love you!
Only yours,
Your daughter.

Day 306 - Follow the Book

Just today I have realized that occasionally we say "I will wait for God to tell me" about something, a calling or a plan. The thing is, sometimes the answers are under our nose and we just seem to not see it, or when we do, we just ignore it, like we know nothing. The truth is, it's all in front of us, and if it is not, it's on The Book. The Book God left to us has all the content we need to know to run this life. It is not a big mistery, it's all there, black on white.

"Where there is a need, there is a calling" I heard someone saying once. And it's very true, but we tend to get lazy, slow to pray, weak in faith, and then forget that our first calling is to follow Jesus, and Jesus would step in whenever there was a need. We, however, as human as we are, make excuses, and the Christians favorite excuse is "I am waiting for God to call me" or "in time I will step in". It's never to early to help when there is a real need for help.

"He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.""
Luke 10:2

Day 305 - Shout to the Lord

Like children we lay down our heads on our Father's lap, and so we can feel comforted, and adore that Big man, holding us, making all pain go away, because He is our Father, the Almighty one. Because He is the best Father we could ever have.

Day 304 - Revival

Live, seek the truth and the truth will set you free. That's what Jesus says and that's all of us on this planet should do, seek what's real. What is real?
Think about it, God put us all on this planet spinning around itself and around the Sun, every single day, non stop. Spinning, spinning and spinning, going nowhere. If God put us here it' because He has a purpose for it. He wanted us to be away from everything, all these billions of people stuck together on this ball, just so we can work out our problems, just so we can look at the inside of us, and live, clean all the dirt that there is inside of us, so we can be pure and be at a level when we are ready to see what's real.

This life, this globe, it's all a game, just like when people lock other people in a room so they can work their issues out. We have been put on this game by God. The start is our sin, so we start in hell and our goal is to achieve heaven. The rules are: Love God above all things, Do not make carved idols, Do not take the name of God in vain, Remember the Sabbath, Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not witness falsely, Do not covet.
Then God realized we are too much of low functioning creatures and so He gave us a push, sent His own son to die on the cross, so we could be forgiven, or else 99,9% of us would be in hell, just think: how week in character are we that God Himself had to die on a cross for us?

I just wish people would wake up, pay attention. I remember my days of blindness, of death in my own life, wake up, people, watch around you, what you are living, is it real?

Day 303 - Nothing else I need but You

This world has come to crisis. It has become a limbo where you are either with God or without Him. There is no in between, there is almost no more "good and decent non Christian people". And even some Christians are also not that good and decent. Without Him we are all in a big blur, a big ship sinking in extreme speed, and there is nothing we can do to jump out of it.

What are people waiting for? There is not much time left, it's here and now the time of salvation. As far as we know there is not going to be a late comers Mercy line up. After we die, what does it matter all that crap we studied? All the junk we bought to make ourselves look better on the outside. I am sure the inside stayed the same. Why do we waste our time??

- Live, and be free! Wake up! I've been there, and I still am sometimes, I know how it feels to be blind, but the power of the Holy Lamb can make you see, can make you breath again.

Day 302 - Nothing is gonna hold me back

The Lord is my Shepherd, my strength, my shield, He is my water, my food, my roof, my ground.

In Him I rejoice, and want to live forever and ever. With Him I want to laugh and cry, I want to glorify His name, His power and His goodness.

He is wonderful, He is all there is, the rest is a big lie, darkness, ephemera.

I love the Lord my God, my Jesus and my Holy Spirit. The ONE who keeps me seeing, who takes the blur away of my eyes and keep me from being a zombie in a world without rules, without moral, without respect and love. Because of Him I know I am not going to be condemned in my sins, but instead I will have eternal life with the one who is perfect, who is everlasting, who is all mighty and all powerful, the one who holds the truth and the light. The one and only one we can ever rely on.

Amen.

Day 301 - Remembering the purpose

When life gets tough, remember that Jesus is our almighty Saviour, and if He defeated death, He can defeat anything else.

When worries come, remmeber that God left a message to us: Fear not, worry not, but rejoice.

When good things happen, lets rejoice in the Lord and give Him the Praise of the deed, let's not remember Him only in bad times, but also, and even more, in good times.

When you find yourself asking 'what am I doing on this planet?', remember that everything has a purpose under the heavens and that every hair on your head has been counted by God, and that your life is as important as everyone else's.

Remember the cross, the blood, the ressurection. Fear not, worry not, and Remember!

Day 300 - Is there a meaning?

A friend wrote on her page about not knowing if there is a meaning to this world. She also said 'there HAS to be a meaning to this life, this life HAS to be more than what we see'

"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
Ecclesiastes 1:2

 God's first message to us is His own Creation, He created all there is around us, all Nature, all animals, all life, Creator of the Universe. And so His expectancy is that we will see Him and glorify Him by just looking around, that's His first calling to our attention.

When my friend said that there HAS to be a meaning to life more than what we see, it means she is already realizing that God Himself has given her life and created everything that surrounds us.

In His glorious name, Praised be the Lord our God almighty.
Amen.

Day 299 - Make a Habit

"But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
Hebrews 5:14

Today I heard: If you do the same thing over 30 days, it becomes a habit.

That being said, pretty much everything can become a life time habit. Watch over the first 30 or so days, until it just becomes natural and you won't have to make an effort anymore.

The thing to think about though is 'how do I go from the first to the secon day, and then third and so on?' or even 'how do I get the first day started?'

Everything has a beginning, just as the Bible say "in the beginning", therefore, just as babies are taught into eating solid food, and just as each one of us once became devoted to Christ, we can also teach ourselves into good habits, or even just getting rid of a bad habit.

Day 298 - Tolerance and peace of heart

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."


Ephesians 4:2

Easy to say, hard to put into practise.
As I type it, I am angry at someone.
Today at church the pastor talked about having a complete change of mind, which allows God to change our heart and spirit as He said He would.
If we don't realize we need a change and we start looking at things in a different way, in my case, not being selfish and understanding I am not the centre of the universe and that I am not here to be pleased or served but that I am here to serve and to please.
I shouldn't have to tolerate anything, I should understand and accept things instead, not getting myself uptight for things that I have no right to be mad.
 

 

Day 297 - The future belongs to God

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

I think this verse speaks for itself. We do not have control of the future, therefore, the best we do is to leave it up to God. He has promised great things, and He is not a human to forget his word. He is the great God Almighty, the perfect one. He was, is and is to come.
 

Day 296 - So they call Him Jesus

Day 296 - Getting used

Humans are adaptable, changeable, we do have that ability to get used to new things if we put ourselves to it, that's how God created us, to be able to change.

Throughout Bible's stories, we see several people who had been changed. People who moved from place to place, people who had their names and destinies changed, people who married people they weren't expecting to, and even people who didn't really know what and how they were supposed to do things, but relied on God's insights to give them the correct instruction.

 If God didn't know that we can be flexible when we want, He wouldn't have sent Jesus on Earth, because the main thing about Jesus is that we change and receive new life once we recognize Him as our saviour.

And the truth is, we can get used to all sorts of things, bad things and good things too. We can forget who we are and put ourselves to start a new story, or we can on purpose, rebuild a new life.

"The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person." 1 Samuel 10:6

Whenever we say 'I could never get used to this', that's when God's sense of humour comes and so He shows us the potential we didn't even know we had in the first place.

Thank you Jesus,

Amen.