Joy at anytime

Another post of #Thirty-three (original at 12/2011)

This {is} the day {which} the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be gald in it.” – Psalms 118:24

 

We tend to thank God for good days. As we read this verse in one of these days we find it quite applicable to the moment. But there are bad days, and this verse does not limit anytime, whether good or bad day.

There are several reasons that a day could be bad – because things did not work, because we got bad news, because we had a disagreement with someone, etc. This, however, does not nullify the fact that we are alive, and if so is, given moments of grace even if we don’t realize it.

If we start the day knowing that God did it, and allow us to live it, our perspective is always positive, even though the day may be bad. And that doesn't means  being with a smile on your face always - that is false joy, or joy of facade, whatever you like more - it just means that we are grateful to God, even though the sad circumstances of life.

Grace teaches us to see a little flower rising, even amid the debris of a gigantic war.

Alegria em qualquer tempo

"Este é o dia que o Senhor fez; vamos regozijar-nos e alegrar-nos nele." - Sl 118:24

Tendemos a agradecer a Deus por dias bons. Ao lermos esse versículo em um destes dias achamos-no completamente aplicável ao momento. Mas dias ruins existem, e esse trecho não limita nenhum tempo, se dias bons ou ruins.

Há diversos motivos para que um dia seja ruim - porque as coisas não deram certo, porque recebemos uma notícia ruim, porque tivemos um desentendimento com alguém, etc. Isso, entretanto, não anula o fato de que estamos vivos e, se assim o é, recebemos momentos de graça divina mesmo sem perceber.

Se começarmos o dia sabendo que Deus o fez, e nos permitir viver nele, nossa perspectiva será sempre positiva, mesmo que os dias possam vir a ser ruins. E isso não significa estarmos com um sorriso estampado no rosto sempre - isso é falsa alegria, ou alegria de fachada, como quiserem - apenas significa que somos gratos a Deus, ainda que tristes pelas circunstâncias chatas da vida.

A graça nos ensina a ver uma pequena flor nascendo, mesmo que seja em meio aos escombros de uma guerra gigantesca.

More than anything

The world “everything” means the following, according to dictionary Oxford:

·                     1 all things ; all the things of a group or class:he taught me everything I knowherbal cures for everything from leprosy to rheumatism

·                     all things of importance; a great deal: I lost everything in the crashhe owed everything to his years in Munich

·                     the most important thing or aspect:money isn’t everything

·                     2 the current situation; life in general:how’s everything?everything is going okay

It can be synonymous of “total”, that according to dictionary Oxford is:

the whole number or amount of something: he scored a total of thirty-three points in total, 200 people were interviewed

Well, all this hassle (not only went because I got tired of looking for the definitions correlated) is just to say that it is plausible to attribute everything to God or completeness.” God is everything”, I hear say. Whereas it is the total and the total is all, everything is great. But then I find myself thinking about God and everything. I  come to the conclusion that everything is very little to define God. So for me, God is more than anything.

Stay with Jesus =)

A graça não é de graça

"Mas o rei Davi disse a Ornã: Não! Quero comprá-lo pelo seu valor, pois não tomarei para o Senhor o que é teu, nem oferecerei holocaustos que não me custem nada." - I Cr 21:24

Já ouvi muito esse versículo em pregações sobre dízimos e ofertas. Não que eu ache totalmente absurda a ideia, mas, na minha opinião, o texto trata de adoração.

O contexto nos mostra que o sacrifício de Davi foi um holocausto em agradecimento pela misericórdia de Deus e como pedido de desculpa pelo erro que cometera antes.

Hoje em dia a adoração é tão rasa, sem vida, que me lembro do barateamento da graça que isso causa. Como diz Philip Yancey, a graça é gratuita apenas porque o próprio doador pagou o preço.

Nós não fazemos nada para merecer a graça, justamente porque não temos condições de fazê-lo. Mas um preço - um preço muito alto - foi pago para que tivéssemos acesso a ela.

Por isso, viverei minha vida em eterna gratidão ao que se sacrificou por mim, porque o que ele fez foi caro demais para eu viver minha vida de outra forma, por isso, não oferecerei ao Senhor sacrifícios que não me custem nada.

Miracles x Nature

Another post of #Thirty-three (original at 11/2011)

“And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna anymore; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” joshua 5:12

 

This verse tells of a time that people from Israel was crossing the desert. God did not abandon them, He sent manna for the people be supported in the arid and infertile desert land.As people had access to natural resources, the manna ceased – the miracle is over.

God created the world in a complet, and the guide by the laws of physics. He did not create this function in order to transgress it all the time, so the miracles are so rare

If you create something amazing, would certainly only another instrument with the same purpose if it were necessary. So it is with God, He likes to work through the laws that he himself created.

This is for human beings is something very positive for more than common sense evangelical cry for miracles all the time.

The manna sustained the Jewish people in the desert, but there were many times that the people murmured, looking back to the land of their slave masters, the Egyptians.

Scholars speculate that the manna tasted like honey mixed with olive oil, which may have been one reason why people complained so much. The people wanted the miracle to behave like the natural.

We are all like that. If we ask for healing for a patient, it is because we want to free of that disease, even though nature does not cooperate. If we want a financial miracle, we want to live well, we do not want to have money only for the basic needs. Deeply down when we asked for a miracle, we want everything to return to its natural state.


The brilliant writer CS Lewis said: "God can change and, in fact, sometimes modify the behavior of matter and do what we call a miracle is part of the Christian faith, but the conception of a common world and thus stable requires that these occasions are extremely rare. "

So I think we should want that natural are enforced, even if it means something contrary to what we want to happen often, as is the case of progression of a terminal illness to death.


Lewis also said: "Try to exclude the possibility of suffering implied by the order of nature and the existence of free will, and you find that ruled his life." This phrase could not be more true. We can not live only by miracles, because otherwise we will not live in fact, dont' will be free.

I’d rather live in the natural laws of Canaan flowing with milk and honey, than the base in the desert with manna. Even giants in Canaan will disturb me, I know God is with me, and that is enough.

Milagres x natureza

"E no dia depois de terem comido do produto da terra, o maná cessou, e os israelitas não o tiveram mais; mas naquele ano eles comeram produtos da terra de Canaã." - Js 5:12

Esse versículo narra um período da travessia do povo de Israel pelo deserto. Deus não os abandonou, Ele enviava o Maná para que o povo fosse sustentado nas áridas e inférteis terras do deserto. Assim que o povo teve acesso aos recursos naturais, o maná cessou - o milagre acabou.

Deus criou o mundo de uma forma completa, e o guia pelas leis da física. Ele não criou esse funcionamento para poder transgredi-lo toda hora, por isso os milagres são tão raros. 

Se você criasse algo fantástico, certamente só usaria outro instrumento com o mesmo fim caso fosse estritamente necessário. Assim também é com Deus, Ele gosta de trabalhar por meio das leis que Ele mesmo criou. 

Isso para os seres humanos é algo muito positivo, por mais que o senso comum evangélico clame por milagres o tempo todo. 

O maná sustentou o povo judeu no deserto, mas não foram poucas as vezes que o povo murmurou, querendo voltar para a terra de seus escravizadores, os egípcios.

Estudiosos especulam que o maná tinha o gosto de mel misturado com azeite, o que pode ter sido um motivo pelo qual o povo reclamava tanto. O povo queria que o milagre se portasse como o natural.

Todos somos assim. Se pedimos pela cura de um doente, é porque o queremos livre daquela doença, ainda que a natureza não colabore. Se queremos um milagre financeiro, queremos viver bem, não queremos ter dinheiro apenas para as necessidades básicas.No fundo, no fundo, quando pedimos por um milagre, queremos que tudo volte ao seu estado natural.

O brilhante escritor C.S. Lewis afirma: "Que Deus possa modificar e, de fato, por vezes modifique o comportamento da matéria e realize o que chamamos de milagre faz parte da fé cristã, mas a própria concepção de um mundo comum e, portanto, estável, requer que essas ocasiões sejam extremamente raras."

Por isso, creio que devemos desejar que as leis naturais sejam cumpridas, ainda que isso significa algo contrário ao que queremos que aconteça muitas vezes, como é o caso da progressão de uma doença terminal para a morte.

Lewis afirma também:  "Tente excluir a possibilidade de sofrimento implicada pela ordem da natureza e pela existência do livre-arbítrio, e você descobrirá que excluiu a própria vida." Essa frase não poderia ser mais verdadeira. Não podemos viver de milagres, porque senão não viveremos de fato, não seremos livres.

Eu prefiro viver nas leis naturais de Canaã que mana leite e mel, do que no deserto à base de maná. Mesmo que gigantes venham me perturbar em Canaã, sei que Deus está comigo, e isso me basta.

Absolving the Pharisees and condemning the sinners

Another post of #Thirty-three (original at 06/2007)

 “But when Jesus heard {that}, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what {that} meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” – Matthew 9:12,13

Religious groups of Jesus’ day were outraged by the fact that He is “friend of sinners”. The Pharisees, one of these groups are the “righteous” that Jesus refers to in this text. The Apostle Matthew had given up everything to follow Jesus and Jesus was later dinner at his house, many friends sinners of Matthew were there too. The Pharisees were scandalized by this situation. It was when Jesus summed up beautifully his mission on this earth. He came for sinners, who were sick spiritually because of their sins. Those who think they are well have no need to seek the doctor Jesus.

I was reflecting on this text for a long time and saw that the present church has followed the footsteps of the Pharisees, unfortunately, frequently. Lost sinners in the world are destined for eternal damnation, because the messages “evangelistic” focus more hell than heaven. The good news that Jesus had us to spread turn into bad news. Sinners feel so unworthy, who prefer not follow Jesus by considering not just as good as the church. In the meantime, in the temples, many of the Pharisees are acquitted, because the messages are of hope and victory . The sins are forgiven by these infinite mercy and grace of God, after all, we live in a time of grace. That is, for lost sinners what matters is the law of the Old Testament, and for us, the saved, what counts is the grace. The church then becomes the just and sinners become patients. Well, Jesus came to call sinners, not righteous.

So you say, I approve the sin of the world? No! We just cannot condemn sinners with their sin. Otherwise, we’d all be condemned. Because we are sinners, that Jesus was come. If we were all just his coming would have been unnecessary, but “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23). The apostle Paul so the continues: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”(Romans 3:24).

What about the church, it is forbidden to preach a message of hope and victory, when there are so many facing many difficulties and temptations? The answer is a definite no, again. The problem is not to preach about victory, the problem is always preaching about it and, worse, say that coming to Jesus Christ you will have all your problems solved. We must make clear to the church that were provided sufferings and temptations for Christians, the Bible itself. We will have moments of victory, yes, but the difficulties are necessary to shape our character and make it more similar to Christ, who said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

I conclude here my simple mind, leaving a well-known text of the Bible so that, taking into consideration what was discussed here, you make a new reflection on it, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: {teach...: or, make disciples, or, Christians of all nations} Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, Io, I am with you always, {even} unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:19,20)

Stay with Jesus =)

Fogo consumidor

"Porque o Senhor, vosso Deus, é fogo consumidor, um Deus zeloso." - Dn 4:24

Esse é um de vários versículos usados fora de contexto em muitas pregações de hoje. É comum ouvirmos falar dele como forma de consolo aos evangélicos, pois "nosso Deus é fogo consumidor".Se analisarmos o contexto, entretanto, veremos que é Moisés alertando o próprio povo judeu sobre as consequências de não seguirem os mandamentos de Deus.

Claro, isso se passou no tempo em que a lei era a regra, não a graça, mas devemos ter sempre em mente que a graça não exclui a justiça de Deus mas, na verdade, é a solução do próprio Deus para suprir a sua justiça e permanecer perdoando pecadores como nós.

Portanto, lembremo-nos sempre a nós mesmos, e não aos outros: "O nosso Deus é fogo consumidor, um Deus zeloso."

Blinds by religion

Another post of #Thirty-three (original at 11/2011)

“And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto this word, and {then} lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a {fellow} from the earth: for it not fit that he should live” – The Acts 22:21,22

 

Paul was giving the testimony of his life while he was ready to be judged. The audience consisted of his accusers, who were silent to hear him.

The apostle told his extraordinary salvation, Jesus’ appearance to him, and cure his blindness, the people are silent yet. Until he said that God had sent him to the Gentiles. Their religion was stronger and they wanted to kill Paul again.

There are so many like that in the Church today. If the word does not interfere with their religion, then “Glory to God, who spoke here today”, but if the preacher speak against their traditionalism, against their religion, then they forget the extraordinary, forget that God has spoken, and want to stone the preacher.

May we be free from religious bullshit that keeps us from grace, and that prevents us from living for it!