Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

  Have you noticed that we always want to be identified as the “good guy”? We love our heroes. They are cool, strong, and have many different powers. The bad guys sometimes are funny, clumsy, and fools although they also have some powers. We know the good will always win.  At least in the movies, we have this knowledge. No matter how strong the evil might look, the good guys will join together and win the battle. What about in the real life? Don’t you think that we are not fighting a battle of good versus evil? Every day there will be something trying to pull us down, to defeat us. During the day we will want to give up or give in, we will give in to anger, gossip, revenge, rivalry, greed, lust, laziness, fear… the list will go on. And by the end of the day, we will feel like all the fight was in vain. We are tired, defeated, and lost. We feel weak and ashamed. We weren't able to fight properly. We sometimes didn’t want even to try to fight. And we drag ourselves to the bench,...

I like talking about Moses and the time in the desert. We can learn so much about that part of the Bible. It is amazing how one can have never read enough of the Bible. You will always learn something new. People who say the Bible is an antiquated, old-fashion book, are completely mistaken. They say that because they haven’t read the book even once, why say they haven’t studied the book ever in their lives. I don’t really understand why some people waste so much energy bad-talk Christianity, the Bible, and Jesus if they don’t even know them. I don’t waste my time talking about people that I barely know. Anyway.   The thing about the crossing of the red sea.  The pastor was fantastic showing us where exactly that happened with proof that really happened in that place. Not that I needed proof to believe it. As he said, if you passed Genesis 1:1 and believed it, why doubt the crossing of the red sea? The point that touched me was about the cloud and the pillar of fire that guided...

  I don’t know many people who really like the book of Job in the Bible. I didn’t know how much I appreciate this book until recently.  The part I like the most is from Elihu forward.  You know, the most part of the book Job’s friends are arguing about whose fault it is that Job is going through all that. Is he really guilty? If he is not, how can we think of a Just God? So that is just the point of the book. We can’t. Our notion of justice is too limited and far from God’s that we can’t make any sense of it.  And I say that not because I am all wise, not at all. Because when Elihu speaks he shows that we know nothing, we are nothing compared to God’s greatness. Our standards for justice are nothing compared to God’s.  You see, God is perfect and we have no idea what is to be really perfect. Because we have never seen perfect, nothing made by man can be perfect. We missed our chance in the Garden of Eden. Everything God does is perfect. When God finally spe...

  Escala de medida da dor We are tempted to think like the ancient pagans “If you are good, you’ll have a good life with no problems; but if you’re evil or bad, the gods will punish you, and you’ll be miserable”. But life shows us a different story, we are tired of seeing good people suffering and bad people thriving. We can recognize a bad and a good person from a mile away. But we forget we judge them from what we see. But God sees them from within. And I am not saying that God agrees with the thought only bad people deserve to suffer. I am saying that our judgment about good and bad is not accurate. But God’s justice goes beyond our understanding, we will never know why some people suffer and other suffers less. I say that because I do not believe that there is one person who has not suffered in life. Some people deal with suffering better than others.  Let’s look at Job from the Bible.  Job was a good man, blessed by God. Considered by God an upright man who feared Hi...

Jesus said that we would be known by our fruits. What fruits? We love saying that God is love and we also love saying that God lives in us. Do you see where I am going, don’t you? Ok. If God is love, and He lives in us, our fruit or our actions should be a reflection of what God is. Isn’t that correct? How exactly can we describe God as love?   In 1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 8a, we should agree that is a description of what God is. So, I am going to substitute the word love for God in these verses and see how it goes. God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, and God is not proud. 5 God does not dishonor others, God is not self-seeking, and God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. 6 God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 God always protects, always trusts always hopes, and always perseveres. 8 God never fails.   Great. That was easy. We can all agree with that. God is all t...