Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

Let’s talk about how we talk. How do we talk about what we talk about? When I was much younger, there was this time when I had a very foul mouth, why? Because I thought it was cool; I thought that speaking that way I would be accepted around people I looked up to. Yeah, maybe I was but what kind of people was I looking up to? We certainly should look up to people who bring out of us the best, like Jesus. I was wrong. Although I knew what the Bible says about how our speech should be.   I used to think that when the Bible says something about the way we should talk or speak, I immediately thought that we should only exclude the foul words. But now I see it is a little bit far more than that. Not only it is not pretty to hear foul words all the time, nor they add anything to the talking or to the ear, nor to the heart of those who hear those words. However, there is something more aggravating that just some foul words coming out of our mouth...

Romans 8:28 We usually read Joseph’s story ( Genesis 37; 39; 40; 41 ) and see how God works in our lives, even when we are going through so many troubles. Some people don’t seem to understand why God allows so many troubles to many “good” people, especially people who say that follow God. But when we look into Joseph’s life, we tend to look at him as a good boy who was sold by his wicked brothers out of jealousy. Ok, nothing is wrong with this point of view. But, nobody likes the snitch or the arrogant, or the self-righteous one. Maybe, Joseph was a pain in the neck to his brothers. Not that I am justifying their actions. As sometimes, we, me included, act as we are so righteous and want to people to just do whatever we say they must do because we think we have the right mind, or because we think we are the wisest. Suddenly, we get ourselves into some problems and we don’t realize why. When we look at Joseph’s life we see a lot of ups and d...

How much time do you allow yourself to be jealous or even angry with somebody? How far are you willing to go to make that person pay for something that she or he did maybe intentionally or maybe not? Are you the type of person that searches for revenge? Have you realized that it had passed 22 years since Joseph arrived in Egypt, after being sold by his own brothers? Twenty-two years! It was a lot of o time until they had a chance to reconcile. What if Joseph had died? They would have his blood on their hands. What if that person, you are currently holding a grudge for something that might or might not be so important, dies and you never got the chance to say “sorry, I was being childish; I didn’t mean to get this far. Time goes by, life happens and sometimes, just sometimes we forget that we hold something back from the past. We don’t really know how hurtful our words or lack of them were to that person. I, myself, once held bad feelings towar...

A picture of forgiveness (by Billy Grahan – Wisdom for each day) You have been set free from sin. Romans 6:22 Imagine for a minute that you committed a crime, were arrested and were put in jail. The day has now come for you to appear in court. As you stand before the judge, there is absolutely no doubt: you are guilty of the charges against you. According to the law, you must pay for this crime, and in this case, the penalty is a year in jail. The judge issues his verdict and pronounces your sentence. At once the bailiff comes over to lead you away to prison. But then something almost beyond belief happens. The judge steps down from the bench, stops the bailiff, and takes your place. He is innocent – but he goes to prison and pays the penalty for the crime you committed. You, on the other hand, are free! This is a picture of what Jesus Christ did for you and me. We are guilty before God and deserve nothing less than death. But the judge – Jes...

When God says No, or when we have no answer. (Please check the bible references to make sense of the text). God has 3 types of answers: Yes, Wait, and No. We know all the verses that help us to put in our prayers the right words for requests to God. But, do we put our hearts in the right position to receive God’s answers? Do we keep insisting on the same subject with God as He hasn’t listened to our prayers? Or we keep reminding Him that in the Bible says that we should insist? When do we know that it is time to stop and accept the answer God is giving us? “Although, God’s delays are not always God’s denials. As we continue in prayer, our own hearts are prepared for the answer God will give” (Wiersbe, Warren W. – Be complete) I see some problems in this area. Hindrances to our prayers. 1.        We lack faith.  ( Hebrews 11:6 ) 2.        We are asking for the wrong reasons, usually selfish ones ( ...

Hello, I am back. I am not sure how many times per week I’ll be writing, but the thing is: I will be writing. I needed some time to think. Now I am done thinking. It’s time to keep the good work. Paul wrote letters from his imprisonment. I am not in prison, but I somehow relate to Paul. Obviously, I am not comparing myself to Paul.. hmpf! Who am I? Please, just one more little ant doing what God told me to do. I am a big fan of Paul. Anyway… Happy New Year! I have read the whole Bible twice now, currently going into the third time and always there are many things new and fresh to my eyes. Last year I studied the book of kings (in the church) and one thing that happened many times (in the Bible) and I didn’t know why they had to do in such a way. What is it? Well, before entering the promised land, way back to Moses; God has told the people (and left it written so the next generations could also follow the instructions) how the Israelites should destroy all things t...