Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

  The Word of the Lord is beautiful and true. In there, you find so many poems. This is the form the Bible authors chose to communicate the Word of the LORD, and it is profound. I’ve been listening to the Bible Project podcast for more than a year now. Lately, they are covering the theme of “The Wilderness”. Now, everywhere I read in the Scripture, I see something related to it. It is amazing. I am now in the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 43. And guess what? It is wonderful. Just in the first few verses, you find that God is telling His people that it doesn’t matter what sort of hardship they are going through, He, the Creator, will deliver them. Actually, it is said like this: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior....

  Have you ever felt like you haven’t fully overcome some trauma? That all of a sudden, you feel that shame rising, and the only thing you can think of is “to hide”. Oh well, I hope not. I wish this were only my experience. But I know it is not. There are so many things that we suffer once or for a period of time over and over that make us uncomfortable and small. I have to tell you, this world is not for tender hearts. This world is tough, and the people are cruel, knowing and unknowing. People often think they are doing their best, they do what they think is good and the right thing to do. They think they are helping just because they wish they could be of some help. Even without knowing what exactly the problem is. Because of that, we often hurt people without knowing or even wanting to. And to make matters worse, we don’t understand and get ourselves hurt, too. We think the other is being way too sensitive. We instantly go into defensi...

  My family is very worried about what is going on in Brazil, mostly about politics. As they asked me to pray, I am praying for it. Last night, I think, before falling asleep, one thought came to mind. The talk Jesus and Pilate had. When Pilate confronted Jesus, saying, “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. (John 19:10 – 11). I asked God, yeah… I remember this part. What about it? So, the answer came to my mind: who has the authority over the governments of the world? Who has given them authority? Who put them there?” Right.   This was one thing. First of all, God knows everything and has everything under his control. Just the fact of knowing this should be enough not to fret.   Then this morning, while watching the Bible Project class about Abraham, something...

  O amor é uma decisão, não apenas uma emoção. É altruista e um compromisso. As I was watching a TV show a few days ago, this theme came up in that episode. It got me very frustrated because it made me think, “Is this how people are thinking about love and relationships”? So, there was a couple who were married but with a different kind of agreement. They called it a contract. They had a contract of relationship. The woman wanted to have a structured home, but with no feelings for each other. She wanted a family, with a kid, but no sexual interaction with her husband. It was not allowed for them to get “in love” with each other. (In that moment, my jaw fell wide open on the floor). I thought, what were they thinking? They would live together and not get attached to each other? How did they get a child of their own? Well, the child came with an IVF treatment, of course. What a stupid question, Hadassa! So, I thought, on the other hand, we see ...

  This week I read 1 Corinthians 14.  It is about spiritual gifts. Every person gets one or more. It doesn’t need to be the same for everybody, as many want me to think. I understand the spiritual gifts are much more for building up the Church of Christ than just for my own benefit (1 Cor 14:6-17). Paul talks a lot about it. I get that thrill, the wave of emotions that comes when you feel the Spirit moving you. But sometimes I think it is more about physiology than purely spiritual. You see, the music, the beat, the chords, and all about the music can be made to excite you or to make you feel sad. Music is made to change your emotions. The wave sounds (I don’t exactly know how, but they do) can change something in your brain and change your behavior and emotions. So yes, you can feel very emotional in the church when you are singing songs of Worship, and also it can be the Holy Spirit. If it were the Holy Spirit, people would leave ...

  Everybody thinks they know how to love. Do we really? First of all, love is not and should not be an emotion. Love is action. You show a person that you love, you don't demand love. Love is not a fleeting thing. You should choose love and stick with it. No matter what. If you say you love, better show me how. You and I should all be recognized by everyone as "a loving person". There is one thing that gets on my nerves. When someone, anyone, doesn’t believe in me. Who really knows me knows that I don’t lie. I hate lies, and I am not fond of liars. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul tells us about what love should really look like. I read this this morning, and I remember that I have in my family someone with trust issues. This person is always doubting others. Whether someone is plotting something against her/him or someone has a hidden agenda. Or even everybody else has a distorted view of reality, and only this person (the one with trust issues, ...