Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, Psalm 119:105. Have you ever thought about this verse very carefully? The word of God is light. But we can turn it on literally, right? So how can it be?  As I am listening to the podcast of Bibleproject about the sermon on the mount, the things they are saying enlighten my thoughts! Did you see what I just did? In the same way, the Word of God exists to illuminate our life and paths. The more you read the clearer becomes your path in life. Do you know what else happened? You will shine, like Moses. Why? Because you will start living the Word of God, and you yourself will become a light. Moses spent a lot of time in the presence of God, getting the law, which is the Word of God, the Torah.  When Jesus said, you are the light of the world (Matt 5:14), He meant (very likely) that the closer we get to God through His Word, the lighter we’ll become. And Jesus starts giving some examples of what it means to shine. The l...

Verdadeira humildade não é pensar menos de você mesmo, mas pensar menos em você mesmo. C.S. Lewis For the first time, I heard this prayer. And it made me think about it. I stopped to think about myself. My desires, my fears, and what things I am asking for instead. Some of us like to think that we are humble, but are we really humble? What are our reactions when certain situations arise? Why do we do things that we do and how do we do them? I am talking about speeches, reactions, and emotions. Are we just protecting ourselves or there is something else?  I finished today the book of Exodus. And it always amazes me how God loves the beauty, the details, the perfection. And he expects nothing less from us. Of course, He knows that we can’t deliver perfection to Him, but He knows our hearts. He knows better than we do. We do things without even realizing why we do things the way we do. He searches our hearts and finds traces of pride, prejudice, hate, hypocrisy, and fear. He also sees...

  “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject to one another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble” 1 Peter 5:5.   I see how hard this is for the young generation. It seems to me that the more time passes the harder this has become.  I see it very close to me. But I might say that the elderly sometimes have a hard time submitting to someone younger than them.  The verse is very clear to me: submit to one another. It does not matter the age, the social ranking. What matters is that you must consider yourself less, you should be humble. Peter says, “Be clothed with humility”. In the life of a Christian person should not have space for pride.   We should be checking up on ourselves daily to see what time we let our pride get in the way of our good behavior. Even so, when we are right, we should be humble and accept whatever is coming. Humility does not come easily. It is not n...

  To keep and restore a relationship we should always keep this in mind:     Blessed are the merciful,  for they will be shown mercy.  Matthew 5:7   27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.(…) 32-33 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ (Matthew 18:23 -35, The parable of unforgiving servant)   “Mercy is the act of withholding deserved punishment, while grace is the act of endowing unmerited favor. In His mercy, God does not give us punishment we deserve, namely hell; while in His grace, God gives us the gift we do not deserve, namely heaven. Mercy and grace are the utmost attributes of love.” (Christianity.com)   What about these verses,   Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be ...

    Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. EPHESIANS 4:2–3   I was reading this devotional and I wanted to share it with you. Because I know that sometimes keeping a relationship, whatever kind of relationship that may be, is hard. It requires work from both sides. Otherwise, it won't last long.   "In any relationship, it’s easy to start thinking the other person isn’t necessarily playing on your team. Maybe he has a differing opinion or looks at the task from a completely different angle, and before you know it, it feels like you’ll never be on the same page. The best way to thwart his attempts is to maintain “the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” But what does this mean? It means humbling yourself enough to refocus your individual agendas on what God wants. It means being patient the way you want others to be patient with you. It means ...