Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

God was giving Israel a new land, where before they take possession of it, the LORD made promises and a new covenant with them. When you read this passage, I want you to think about the land as your life. A new life. A life with a purpose, the purpose of serving God, the Mighty God. I am going to underline some words and think about them. Deuteronomy 11: 8 , 11 – 17 “ Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess; But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven . 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for ; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end . 13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today— to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul — 14

People frequently say that the Old Testament is the time of the law, and now we are under the Grace of God. Surprisingly, I just found out an explicit act of the Grace of God in the Old Testament. As I read chapter 9 of Deuteronomy , in which has a title Not because of Righteousness (ESV). I am stunned to see verses 4 - 6, they say: “ Do not say in your heart , after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘ It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving y

Are you a good listener? How about a good doer? None? I was reading Deuteronomy chapter 7 and 8 today and two things caught my eyes. First thing was 7:12 where it says, ‘“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. English Standard Version (ESV) – I put the bold. How many times we don’t take the time to listen, and I’ll say no more. Because if we don’t listen the rest of it won’t be done. It is crucial to understand and receive the blessings God has prepared for us that we listen, we keep and do the commandments. I am not saying that everybody should be a Jew now and follow the Law. I am saying that most in life we should take the time to listen before speaking. Listen before jumping to any conclusion; listen. To keep something is because you care about it, so you keep it. To keep what God has told you is important; it is a demonstration of yo

Recently I was studying the Sermon on the mount in a bible study at the church. It was wonderful to meditate and go deep in these Jesus’ words. So many details we sometimes don’t realize. We are very quick to see the flaws and failures of others. But interestingly the things we see faster in others are probably the things we don’t see or won’t see in ourselves. It is easy to point a finger when someone is, for example, throwing trash on the streets, when one doesn’t even bother to do the same at home. In Brazil, we have this saying “blacksmith’s house, woodpecker.” Who are you to point a finger to anyone when you yourself cannot do better? Your sin is no smaller than his. Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ( Matthew 7 :3). Look, sawdust is something small, and plank or log is something much bigger than sawdust. Sometimes we are able to see something very insignificant in othe

You certainly have heard about idolatry. But what exactly have you heard about it? That idolatry is only those carved images in some forms of animals and people? Now, I am going to ask you something. Have you ever felt jealous? Jealous of anything, a person, a pet, a musical instrument, a boyfriend or girlfriend? How does it feel? Did you feel angry? Or did you feel betrayed? What did you wanted to do when you feel jealous? Did you want to do something bad? Like hit or yell? Which one did you want to destroy? The person you felt betrayed for or the other one? One thing for sure I know, it hurt. Why did it hurt so much? I am sure your answer will be: “Because I loved it”. So, now you know why God abhor idolatry. Because this is exactly how He feels when we, who are supposed to love Him above anything else, betray Him. The Bible says that ‘For the Lord, your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God’ . Deuteronomy 4:24 . He feels hurting. He is the only who loves you and n

I have been reading a lot about how we read, use and study the bible. The Bible is the Word of God, have you ever thought about it? The very Word breathed from the mouth of God. It is powerful. It is true. It is not to be used to adequate in our perspective or point of view. Either you believe or not. You can’t read only a few parts and forget the rest. You can’t use it for your own purposes. It is God talking to you through it. You have to read and ask Him guidance to you understand perfectly. There is no contradiction in the Bible. Who says that is because doesn’t know it, probably never read it. Or never had God’s Spirit as a guide through the readings. Let me give an example: Matthew 7:7-8 says “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye. shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For everyone that asked received; and he that seeks. Find, and to him, that knocks it shall be opened”. I imagine that you probably think that whatever you want to ask God,

I used to look back at my life and think what if I had chosen another path, what would have happened? When I was about to go to University I was in between minds, I want to go to Vet school, but for that, I had to leave the city, and I didn’t want that because my mom had just separated from my father and she was still devastated. I wanted to be there for her. And I also thought about Med school, but I knew I take too long to study seriously, it was too late for that. So, I chose Zootechny, something in between. But it wasn’t what I was expecting, and I got really sick because of the humidity and mold in the campus. So, I decided to study a little more and try Med school. I didn’t get in. So, I changed the course and started Nutrition school. Well, it wasn’t the course of my dreams, it was ok. Interesting though. The point is: In any of these options that I could have gone, I know that I would fall in love for Physiology anyway. And I would pursue an academic career

Sometimes I wonder why God allows people born with some defectiveness or disabilities. Kids struggle with that all the time (It breaks my heart). I wonder why. But I got it. God knows us better than ourselves do. So, He didn’t allow them to come to this world like that without the ability to overcome it. He knows that with the struggle they will learn and also teach those who struggle with so much less and be strengthened by them. So, this is the beauty about God, He knows us, He provides for us, even when we are not aware of it. Psalm 139 , David worships God recognizing that there is no place to hide from God or run from Him. He knows our words even before they are on our tongue, He created us and knows us since we were in the womb of our mothers. Who can understand us better than Him? That’s why we are allowed to bring everything to His feet without shame or fear. He loves us, and He is always willing to help us in the best way that most time we can’t even ima