Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

Idols. I have written about them before. But I think it is something that they are never old-fashioned. Because everybody may have an idol and haven’t realized it yet.  We have seen more and more lately people “choosing” to not believe in God. Or more especially disbelieving in the God of Christianity. It seems old fashion these days being a Christian, so they say. It is cooler to be a Buddhist or an “atheist”. Even if they say that they don’t have a God or god, everybody does.  It may not be the God of the Universe, but may be their kids, their houses, their money, their career, or their partner (it is old-fashion to say husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend). Anything or anyone who someone really loves, and put it above anything else, and probably would give their lives just to save theirs, has become an idol or a god.  People don’t like the Christianity God because it is hard. It is trouble. They want something they can deal with their own way. They have to be a...

 This image is awesome!  Essa imagem é ótima! There are people who love too little themselves and people who love themselves too much. What do you think? Is it a good or bad thing being in one of these two categories? I know for a fact a person who loves himself too little. Is this person able to love another as he loves himself? Is he abiding to Jesus’ commandment? How do you expect him to love the other if he loves himself too little? Too little? Not exactly I dare to say. Why? Because this person might consider himself unworthy compared to the other, therefore, this person might give more to others than he does to himself. His self-esteem is too low to think that anybody could measure down to him. Everybody would be better than him, therefore, he might love the other, or he might envy the other because he doesn’t look like the other, or see the worth himself, he also won’t see the worth of others. This is a conundrum. Does he or does he not love the other as himself as Jesu...

  For this very reason,  make every effort  to supplement your faith with virtue, [ e ]  and virtue with knowledge, 6  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,   7  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.   8  For if these qualities [ f ]  are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.   9  For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.   10  Therefore, brothers, [ g ]  be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you  practice  these qualities you will never fall. 11  For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our L...

  What makes you lose your temper? What makes you lose your coolness? Same question, right? How can we be more self-controlled? I am looking for that myself. It is not that I am a very stressed or loose-cannon myself, but sometimes in the heat of an argument, I also say things that I regret later. Why? Why do these things keep happening to me? Or dare I say “to us”? I don’t have the answer, if I had I would be a much better person.    I think this is the most common sin (some wanted to call it a mistake), but it is a sin. Not the fact of lack of self-control but what the result of not having self-control means.    Having self-control is important to all of us, and we can never hide behind the excuse of “I was born like this”, yeah, for sure you were. Because we are all born sinners. We give in to this flaw and we sin immediately.   Can you think about one time, just one time, when you lost control of yourself and something very good and extraordinary happen...

  What did come to my mind when I was reading my Bible this morning? There are some people that read their bibles as if it was a horoscope or some sort of a fortune teller. My friend that is simply not good. The Bible is the Word of God, the way He speaks through it to you. You cannot simply take advantage of what is written to use for your own purposes. I mean, some people use the Bible to condemn or justify some actions taking the text out of context. A person cannot use the Bible like that. Whenever you decide to read the Bible, open it and make a short prayer asking God to guide your heart and mind to a full understanding of His word, so you can use it properly.    Neither you can read it looking for specific points to satisfy your desires and say that was God talking to you. You cannot manipulate God. When God speaks through His word you will know. Just be open to receiving a rebuke coming from the Bible as much as you are open to receiving a promise or a blessing....

 I liked this picture because it shows that either love or hate is a choice. Something that you choose to feel. If you cannot control yourself, who can then? Eu gostei dessa foto porque mostra que tanto o amor quanto ódio é uma escolha. Almo que você escolhe sentir. Se você não pode se controlar, então quem pode? I want to talk about love and hatred today. People say hate is a very strong word. Yes, it is. But usually, people don’t really get it. Sometimes I think they don’t realize they hate somebody or some kind of people. I mean, people are used to living by appearances. They don’t take their time to analyze what they really feel, or even why they do what they do. They just do, like a default mode.    Today we see hatred everywhere all the time. And it seems to me that people are ok with that. “It is ok to stir up strife with someone who disagrees with me, or it is to stop talking to someone because they have a different political view or have chosen a different way of...

  In Mark 2, he tells us about some stories that happened with Jesus and the people around him. On a certain occasion, a paralytic man wanted to get near Jesus so he could be healed. But it wasn’t easy, there were a lot of people in the way and they would not let him pass. He was being carried by his friends. They decided to use a different entrance. The rest of the story you might know.  My point today is, that sometimes you want to get close to Jesus but there are a lot of people in your way. Family, friends, colleagues, etc. You think (and maybe right) they will mock you, you will create a disturbance in your family and so many other lame excuses you have been giving to yourself. You have been postponing. Maybe it is because you don’t trust in the churches, there have been so many scandals around the churches, that you’d rather lay low. The paralytic friends were real. They helped him to get up there and get him in front of Jesus. Real friends should help you, not mock you,...