Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

Can you choose to be   Joyful? (Full of joy) Peaceful? (full of peace) Patient? (full of patience) Kind? (full of kindness) Good? (full of goodness) Faithful? (full of faith) Gentle? (full of gentleness) Generous? (full of generosity) Self-controlled? (totally self-controlled) Can you choose to be like that all the time? To everyone?   What other religion would promise you that? I am not saying that all Christians are like that all the time. No, we are not, unfortunately. However, we are prone to be more successful than others, do you know why?  When Jesus was lifted to the heavens after his resurrection, he promised that a few days later, His Spirit would come to live in us. The Holy Spirit is our helper. When we live a godly life, a prayer life, and are filled with the Holy Spirit, those are the characteristics that should be seen in us—if not all of them, at least most of them.  Would you like to live like that? To treat people like that? Well, I suppose so. ...

Everybody has what looks like a perpetual problem. Most likely, the problem is inside your family.     I can assure you it is a relationship kind of problem. Most of our problems have to do with someone else. I don’t know what you think about that person. But I am sure that you think that you are right and that person is wrong.  Have you read The Sermon on the Mount? It is written in Matthew 5 – 7. The majority of what Jesus is talking about is about relationships.  He started saying that God cares about even the most vulnerable people in the world. He has prepared a special place/reward to those who struggle during their lifetime. We all struggle during our lifetime. We have good seasons and not-so-good seasons. We have abundance and sometimes we are in need.  Today, people need relationships—good, durable ones, relationships in which they can trust the other person. The statistics are horrific. The number of people who are lonely, depressed, and...