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May 11, 2022·Rapha Abreu

The Christian as the Cedar of Lebanon

The Cedar of Lebanon is a common tree in mountainous regions and Mediterranean climate. This tree grows slowly, but reaches a great height, being considered one of the largest trees, reaching 40 meters. A curiosity about this tree is that, in the first 3 years of life, its root reaches almost 2 meters deep, even though its height is about 5 cm at that time. Only when its root is well-grounded and secure does the tree begin to grow in height. And that’s the point I want to bring up today. Don’t worry about the external This tree doesn’t need to show everyone at first how big it will be. This period is dedicated to her firmament, so that she stays strong at the base. The well-founded root is what prevents it from growing fragile, only then will it reach its final height with safety and strength. In Psalm 92:12 we find the following passage: “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon” Christ wants us to grow like her, grounding us in His Word, focusing on the inside and strengthening our hearts so that, from there, our growth becomes visible without it melting […]

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January 26, 2022·Ana Julia Luiz

Better than words

When we accept Jesus into our lives, we always say a prayer, something like: “Lord, I accept You as my Savior and I ask You to come and live in my heart.” It is interesting how many moments in our Christian walk are marked by moments with words. Attitudes To be honest, I’ve always been someone who values actions more than words, that person who always says, “Do you love me? So prove it” and over time I’m learning that with Jesus it’s not that different. It’s not that He wants proof of our love for Him, because He knows everything, including whether our love is true or not. What God really wants is for this love not only to be real in our hearts and minds, but that we can shine His Glory everywhere. He wants us to make a difference and also wants to see the fruit in our lives. What’s the point of saying we have a life with Him if we don’t bear fruits? The wordless prayer There is a practice called meditation that basically consists of being silent, with your eyes closed, trying to empty your mind. Many people say it works and that after […]

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December 17, 2021·Gabriela Angerami

Why does the world need a Savior?

This is a fundamental Gospel question. At this time of year, everyone talks a lot about the birth of Jesus, believers and non-believers. We know He came into the world to save us. The first step in our life with God is to confess with our mouth that JESUS is the Lord so that we can be saved through Him (Rom. 10:9-11). But why do we need Christ? What exactly do we need to be saved from? The Origin of All Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. – Romans 5:18 It was in Eden that the first human being opted for disobedience and, from that, brought condemnation to all mankind. All of us from then on were born sinners, condemned and spiritually dead. I really like the child’s example: a good parent never teaches their child to be selfish. However, one of the first sentences of a baby is “It’s mine!” This simple behavior demonstrates that we were unfortunately born with sin. As the Word itself states: “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not […]

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October 25, 2021·Nicole Leao

How to live in harmony?

How to live in harmony when we feel we are failing so badly? After all, we are sinners struggling against our own flesh and against the evil that is in this world. But there is a way to live in harmony and it involves three blessed words, the first is love, the second is forgiveness, and the third is patience. The Bible teaches us to live in harmony by putting on these three acts, the first of which is the most important and determines the fulfillment of the other two, for as it is written in Colossians 3:14, love is the perfect bond. And in the next few days we will delve a little deeper into each of these acts, starting today with LOVE. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love This is one of the best known passages in the Bible, 1 John 4:8, but if only it were the most understood, it perfectly sums up the nature of our creator, that He is love, and what does that mean? Well, in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 we find the definition of love: love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does […]

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July 22, 2021·Nicole Leao

God is love and consuming fire! What does it mean?

The term consuming fire is often used in Christian circles, but do you know what it means? Are you unsure if one contradicts the other? Well our reflection today is to understand where this term comes from, why we use it? What is its meaning? And how does God’s love relate to his consuming fire? To begin with in the Bible fire appears many times directly related to God, as a symbol of his presence in some aspect. Examples of this is when God makes his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15:17, or when he summons Moses when he saw a burning bush in Exodus 3:2. There is also the pillar of fire that accompanied the Israelites, reported in Exodus 13:21. So as we can see, fire can represent the symbol of their presence. Fire is also used for purification, something that we see in our daily life, but spiritually it represents holiness, which is one of God’s moral attributes, for He is fully holy and is the source of all holiness. As it is written in Habakkuk 1:13, God’s holiness is such that His eyes cannot behold iniquity. So why is God a consuming fire? God is consuming fire […]

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May 21, 2021·Nicole Leao

The importance of self-evaluation

To talk about this subject, I will tell you a story, a little naive and jovial, but a good example. Well, one day a young woman decided to watch a video about the ten most common makeup mistakes. Always very vain, she used to wear make-up to go out with friends and to church. She liked the subject and felt confident about it. Until one day she decided to watch a video about the ten most common makeup mistakes. After watching the whole video she realized that she had made some mistakes, and that there was much room for improvement. And what happened to this girl? No one looked at her and pointed out the mistakes she was making in her makeup. She had no direct contact with the instructor, she was not evaluated directly by her. So how did she discover that she needed to change? Through self-evaluation! Analyzing the examples given by the instructor in the video, the girl did a self-examination and realized her mistakes and successes. Learning from Jesus Jesus often promoted moments of self-evaluation to his apprentices. He led them to reflect on their own behavior, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and values, through questions, parables, illustrations, […]

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May 17, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: We can always improve!

Even those who are meek and righteous need to constantly evaluate themselves. We cannot settle for the progress we make in the spiritual life. Even if you consider yourself more meek or righteous than others, the Lord still warns us to examine our hearts, not least because we are all sinners and should seek to grow further according to God’s standards and not our own. So today we will pray for transformation and change of behavior. I leave here a passage especially for you today: Let no one be deceived: if anyone among you considers himself wise according to the standards of this time of ours, then it is better to become foolish in order to attain wisdom. 1 Corinthians 3:18 Remembering that you don’t have to repeat the prayer exactly as I’m going to leave it here, because each one of us has a specific way of communicating with the Lord. But if you want to follow me, it will be a pleasure, feel free to speak it in your own way. Prayer Beloved God, I thank you for your undeserved love and because even though I am only a flawed person, you still stretch out your hand over […]

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April 14, 2021·Nicole Leao

The power of intercession

As you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 We are living a moment in which intercession is so necessary, with a health crisis that directly affects the economy, causing besides deaths, unemployment, and so many evils to society. It is at this moment that we think there is nothing more to be done, we see no way out, and the only desire we have is to disappear until everything is over. However, we have what to do, we are children of God, called to freedom and to be light in a world of darkness. Now you may be asking yourself: “but what is within my power?”, and I answer you that you have a powerful weapon against all that is attacking the world, prayer, and more than that, prayer with the intentionality to intercede. So often our prayers can be shallow and selfish, focused only on ourselves, sometimes not even seeking what God wants for us, but almost begging for our own will to be done instead of the will of the Most High. But it is […]

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April 05, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: Jesus, exchange my burden for yours

Today I want to pray for the theme of the last theme presented here on the blog, we will pray that Jesus will exchange our burden for His, which as it is written in Matthew 11:28-30, is soft and light. How often do we not fill ourselves with things to do and forget what we should really be doing for God’s honor and glory. Your work is an important area of your life, as well your family, church, friendship and so many others. Well, today we will pray that in all these areas our Lord will show us how we should act. I leave here a passage especially for you today: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 Remember that you don’t have to repeat the prayer exactly as I am going to leave it here, because each one of us has a specific way of communicating with the Lord. But if you […]

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February 18, 2021·Nicole Leao

Series: What healing do you need? [Spiritual Healing]

Today we will continue the series “What healing do you need?”, where through three reflections we will recall biblical stories of physical, emotional and spiritual healing, in which the Lord worked in favor of his children, showing once again his glory and infinite goodness. In the last text we talked about emotional healing that has a high proximity with today’s subject, spiritual healing. Not all emotional healing is necessarily spiritual, but all spiritual healing is also emotional. When we talk about deliverance we need to remember that this is a wide-ranging subject. But today we will focus on the freedom that Jesus talked about the most, that of being free to live God’s will for our lives. When we understand this, we will realize that what most imprisons us, especially spiritually, is sin. The different spiritual cures Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”. He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:19-21 In this […]

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January 28, 2021·Nicole Leao

Overcoming, when everything says no!

How many things do we no longer overcome in our lives? Living is overcoming daily. Overcoming ourselves, the opposite situations and the challenges of everyday life. Fortunately, when we serve a living God, we no longer need to do this alone, because there is a Father who watches over us. A Father who sent his son to save us and left the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our salvation. That is why you and I are already winners by accepting Jesus Christ as our only savior, in Him we have the certainty of victory, even if things are not as we wanted. Jesus is the way But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 As I said, we do not need to overcome anything alone, as children of God we receive help directly from our father. It is written in John 14:6, that Jesus is the way to truth and life. He is not only by our side, but he is the very way to go to the Father. So the first thing we need to remember is that walking with Jesus is the first step to overcoming all […]

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November 05, 2020·Nicole Leao

A study about John Baptist

There is no denying the importance of this biblical character, being the cousin of Jesus, John Baptist was the son of Zacarias and Isabel, the result of a miraculous conception, since his mother was old and sterile (Luke 1: 57-66). John Baptist knew from an early age what his purpose here on earth was: to announce the coming of Jesus Christ – the Savior – and he remained faithful to his call. The prophet Isaiah had already prophesied about him. And this is confirmed in the text of Matthew: In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” Matthew 3:1-2 The beginning of his ministry When the Spirit of God directed him to the desert to begin his preaching ministry, he did not hesitate to obey (Luke 1:80; Mark 1: 2-6), he lived in the desert until he began his ministry, he did not drink alcohol, he used camel hair and ate grasshoppers and honey. […]

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October 29, 2020·Paulo Oliveira

A life that overflows into eternity

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly! John 10:10 Do you know what is in this verse that is not written in your Bible? The final exclamation point! But it is difficult to imagine Jesus making that statement without that exclamation point… He came to give us LIFE and abundant life! In many countries and cultures, November 2 is associated with the Day of the Dead. It recalls loved ones who are no longer with us, people line up in cemeteries and decorate their tombstones with flowers. But We can also talk about life. Without any disrespect, if Jesus made this powerful statement about the purpose of His incarnation – to bring life – it must also reach the lives of those who no longer live, right? Which leads me to think of another very strong word in this verse: ABUNDANCE! Abundance means exceeding, not ending, overflowing! It has to do with almost waste, and certainly not with saving, rationing or saving. Doesn’t it look like a consumer dream? Enter the supermarket or mall without worrying about […]

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August 07, 2020·Nicole Leao

The importance of Identity

Do you recognize your identity? Or rather, do you know your identity in Christ? These are certainly difficult but important questions. Your identity determines who you are, which involves many aspects of your life, such as how you act and your personal tastes. So, being sure of it is essential to not lose focus during a walk. You are a child of God Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 Certainly, much of who we are on earth is determined by nationality, upbringing and family, but by accepting Jesus as our only savior, we became part of a heavenly family, we became God’s beloved children. Bearing in mind that the creator of all things is your father, is the first step in knowing your identity. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, so as it is written in 1 Corinthians 6: 19 – 20, we do not belong to ourselves, as we were bought at a high price and with that we must honor God, through it, which begins in our identity. Know Christ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, […]

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August 01, 2020·Léo

It was never about a feeling!

Have we based our relationship with God on feeling? Do we understand that we should not seek only the feeling? Today, I would like us to talk a little about this topic so much talked about in the Christian world. Have we sought the Lord’s presence just to feel Him? Shall we talk about? A rational search “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17: 9 I don’t know if you have been through this situation, but for a good part of my spiritual walk, I carried a heavy burden on my heart because I was deceiving myself. I thought that I would only be having a total surrender to the Lord and would only be living a sincere relationship with Him, if I felt His presence in all services and at all times. It hurt me for a long time and even demotivated me. I went to conferences, services, had my moments with God, but I didn’t feel His presence. Many times I was stressed with the Lord, I was angry and sad, because I did not understand why all this was happening. It didn’t make sense to me. I was looking, […]

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July 19, 2020·Léo

I can’t hear God’s voice

Have you also been troubled by not being able to hear the Lord’s voice? Have you ever wondered why you didn’t hear God speak? Are you going through this today? Today I would like to talk about one of the phrases that I spoke most in my life and that I hear many times! If you’ve ever felt that way, I imagine it’s an important text for you! Shall we talk about it? The noise is too loud! “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16 The Bible shows us that, on several occasions, Jesus withdrew from the presence of others, went to a quiet place and prayed to His Father. But for what reason did He do this? In my view, Jesus withdrew for two reasons: to avoid noise and to be alone with the Lord. I would like to speak specifically about the noise. Noise that deafens us and disturbs us. What noise would that be? The vast majority of us have a busy schedule and a very busy life. We got involved in a lot of activities and ended up with a very full mind too. It is important to say that there is […]

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June 23, 2020·Léo

Help me to seek You!

I would like to say a brief prayer with you, to ask for the Lord’s help! We often lose the incentive and the will to seek the Word of the Lord and His presence! You do not need to repeat this prayer exactly as I am going to leave it here, not least because each of us has a specific way of communicating with the Lord! So if you want to accompany me, it will be a pleasure, but feel free to speak your way! “Lord, I came here again today to open my heart and ask you for help! I have been having difficulties to seek You. I confess that I no longer have the same desire to talk to you, read Your Word and spend time in worship, as it was before This has been bothering me! I want to seek you with all my heart and worry about what really matters, which is pleasing You! So I ask you for mercy. Give me strength, give me hunger, give me thirst. of the Lord and without You, I cannot survive, without His Word, I have no strength to continue this journey! I ask you Lord to guide my […]

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June 19, 2020·Léo

A sincere heart!

I would like to bring a brief and simple message, to analyze our hearts! Have we done things from the heart for the Lord? Did we fall into the routine and end up praying or reading the Bible out of obligation? Do we worship the Lord in spirit and in truth? Shall we talk about? Routine compliance It is true that we all have a routine and that, regardless of how busy the routine is, we need to have time for our spiritual life. Time for prayer, reading the Word and worship is sorely needed. However, we often fall into the routine and start doing things out of a simple obligation and do not think about the real reason we are doing that. Unfortunately, this often happens in our spiritual lives. We started to pray simply to pray, to fulfill the table. Read the Bible to fulfill the table. Is this right? With absolute certainty, it is not right at all! The Lord wants us to be whole, wants us to do things with our understanding. What does the Lord seek? “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts […]

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June 18, 2020·Léo

God is in the smallest details

Have you been paying attention to every detail of your life? Can you see God in all things and realize that it is He who does everything? Or do you seek only the great miracles and supernatural experiences? Today, on the day I’m writing the text, I talked to a friend of mine and she helped me to realize that I haven’t seen God’s hand in the little things! Therefore, I would like to talk to you about it! Come with us! See the Lord in everything! “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139: 7-12 We are often in the habit of seeking only the great miracles and the great supernatural experiences in our lives. […]

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June 12, 2020·Léo

Rooted worship!

Is the custom of worship present in our lives? Do we understand the true importance of worshiping the Lord? Or do we leave it to praise ministers only? In these times of social isolation, I have realized how great the impact of worship on our lives. Worship must always be present in our lives! I would like to talk a little about it today! Come on? Worship is individual I always had the habit of not worrying about my secret worship, after all, the fact of praising in the church is enough, right? Quite the opposite. It is very common to think that we go to cults, conferences and events to fill up, but this is completely wrong. The moments of worship must be of surrender to the Lord. We go to church to serve, to empty ourselves and to worship the Lord. Spiritual food, receiving, being filled and filled is in everyday life, in the secret, in the place where we are not seen, where only the Lord sees our surrender. Do you think that early church leaders sought the Lord only on Sundays in their services? “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” Psalms 105: 4 Since the […]

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June 11, 2020·Léo

The importance of discipleship!

Your difficulties, your failures, your sins … with whom have you shared? Who has helped you on your spiritual journey? I have realized the importance of having people to accompany us in our life with Christ. We cannot walk alone, because together we can grow and learn more about our Father and his principles revealed in the Word. I would like to talk to you a little about this! Come on? Have someone accompany you “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10: 24-25 The Bible makes it very clear to us the importance of having fellowship with our brothers and encouraging one another. We all know that a spiritual journey is far from easy. Every day we have struggles, problems, difficulties and sadness that we carry. We are human beings with our limitations; unable to account for all of our problems. We are often ashamed to confess our sins, to open up any difficulties. We are afraid or even think we don’t need to. However, […]

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May 31, 2020·Léo

Run to the Lord!

Where is our refuge? Who have we believed and trusted? In moments of anguish and pain, into whose arms have we been running? These days I have been thinking a lot about refuge. About who I have placed my hopes on. In times of suffering, we need to run to the right place. I would like to talk a little about it! Come on? Where is our heart? “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 The Bible makes it very clear to us that what we pay attention to will greatly influence our decisions. However, several times we pay attention to things that do not matter and this brings us great losses. Whenever we have our hearts in the wrong place, as soon as we experience some difficulty, we tend not to run to God or even to blame Him, even though we have no reason to do so. However, this does not happen only when we are in an uncomfortable or painful situation. This also happens, often, when we are happy and “without problems or difficulties” in our lives. We end up forgetting that it is the Lord who does all things and […]

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May 28, 2020·Léo

Just be yourself!

Have we done things to please others? Where’s our treasure? Have we sought the approval of men and women instead of the Lord’s approval? God has spoken a lot to my heart about it and has shown me how I must seek only to please Him and no one else. We constantly do things to please other people and I would like to talk a little about this topic. Come on? God reveals our identity I have been thinking a lot and learning a lot about character, about who I am and how I should act. In this adventure of getting to know myself better, I realize more and more that I can only clearly understand who I am, when I know my Father more and more. It is no use wanting to discover, for myself, who I am, since I don’t even know what I need and don’t I was the one who grew up. I have a Creator who knows me, knows all my yearnings, all my struggles and knows more about me than I do myself. “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,” Genesis 1:26 Knowing that we are made in […]

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May 03, 2020·Léo

We need to stand up!

Are we living God’s will? Have we done things for Him and in the way that He asks of us? We need to talk about the comfort zone. I have realized that we need to get up. It’s time to act, we can’t stand still! Are you going to stay still? The comfort zone Unfortunately, it is extremely common to see Christians in the comfort zone. I say this because I am often one of them. Several times I chose to stay chill, calm, instead of obeying the voice of God. How many times have I chosen to stop talking about Jesus’ love to a friend or a stranger?! Or how many times have I not helped a homeless person out of shame?! And how many times have I spent several days without reading the Bible and praying out of laziness or “because I am tired” ?! Unfortunately, several times. I was watching a pastor’s live on Instagram and he made a very interesting comparison: in ancient times, people who read the Bible and prayed every day, were doing nothing but their obligation. However, for the current generation, if a person has the habit of reading the Bible and praying […]

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