Skip to main content

Translate

Abundant life




You know, I said that sometimes I would write here in English. Why? I don’t know, maybe because I am living in the U.S; so, here I am; please, excuse my English, since I am neither a native nor a expertise.
Anyway…

I just wrote the post before this one, and instantly I wanted to write this one about the abundant life, or “to have it to the full” – life. Who said that? Jesus said that.

What is it that caught my attention this verse today? The whole verse is: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10. 

Who is the thief that Jesus is talking about?  The thief is the devil, our archenemy or the enemy of our souls; that one who doesn’t want anything to do with our happiness or success or freedom. He is the one who comes to destroy our lives; he might look like a sheep at once, in the very beginning; but he is no sheep, he is a wolf in a sheep’s skin.

I don’t like when they picture the devil as an ugly creature. Because he is not. He used to be very beautiful, full of light, his name used to mean light. But, he got envious and greedy, and covetous; so he had no place in the realms of heavens anymore. So, God kicked him out. The devil can come with a very good disguise to mislead you; like richness, success, beauty, and so many other things that are always shallow and meaningless. He doesn’t want you thinking too much what are the consequences. He wants you to grab it fast and think later when the disaster is already done. He wants you dumb, dull, numb, blind for life. Live like a robot; live like that because he said it so.
But Jesus, He wants your happiness, your real success. He wants to give you life. How? Why? He came to the world to teach you how to give meaning to your life; he came to show you what is important in this life. He came to this world so He could feel your pain. He needed to be human, and live like a human so he could mirror in Him our lives too. He resurrected so you could resurrect too when the day comes. He is the one who can strengthen your to fight against the devil on a daily basis. In 1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”.
Let’s seek the presence of God, and befriend Jesus, so we can have an abundant life and be safe against the devil’s trap.
Let’s pray: Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your provisions and your sacrifice on that cross. Thank you for giving up your life so I could have mine. I want You to live in me and be alert and sober mind to overcome the devil. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus’ name, Amen.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Solitude and Silence // Solidão e silêncio

  In moments of peace and tranquility, it is useful to remember times of stress and struggle by Thomas à Kempis Whenever you are enjoying some time of peace and rest, it is useful to call to mind those times when you have been busy, overworked, or stressed. Whenever you are enjoying the calmness of solitude and silence, it is useful to reflect on those occasions when you have been assaulted with noise and activity. Indeed, calling such things to mind is a sure and effective way of learning to love and value the peaceful tranquility of your times of solitude! If you reflect upon how easily you can become anxious or worried, or how little it takes to perturb your soul, you will also realize that the achievement of true inner peace is not something which human efforts can ever achieve on their own. Left to yourself, how often you have fallen prey to anxiety, even when there is little or no real need to worry! How often, even when you are surro...
Post a Comment
Read more

Doubts and fears leave us halfway // Dúvidas e medos nos deixam na metade do caminho

  Despite all the sad news I got this week, we are still standing. I am in the Book of Joshua, in my annual Bible reading. There is a part in the book that is kind of boring. It is the distribution of the cities and borders. It is tempting to skip this part, but something that I heard from the guy from the Bible Project usually says, “it is wisdom literature”, or “meditation literature”. There is something important besides geographical information in these texts. And there is. Joshua 17:18c “though the Canaanites have chariots fitted with iron and though they are strong, you can drive them out”. In the beginning of the book and several other parts too, the LORD says to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous”. What does that mean? What is this book really about? Well, the way I see it might not be the same way you see it. The way I see this book is about how we trust God and obey Him. Then we will see Him doing amazing things. It doesn’t matter how n...
Post a Comment
Read more

We are the Winners // Nós somos os vencedores

  The death of my cousin made me think about a few things. Yes, it was a sad thing. So unexpected. It got us all by surprise, which hurt. He was such a nice, joyful, and lively guy or man. He will certainly be missed. What we have here but the present. My mom and my other cousin spoke at the funeral. Yes, we have nothing here. It makes no sense at all to get attached to things of this world when at any moment we might leave it. Our days are numbered, but we don’t know how many we were given. How are you living your days? Sometimes we take it for granted because we are young or have health and may think that we have a whole life ahead of us. But do we really? Some live their lives as if all they have to do is party. As if parties were the most important thing in the world. Fun is part of life, so are sadness, problems and relationships, and hard times. Are we going to take something from this world when we die? I am pretty sure we a...
Post a Comment
Read more