Life

August 03, 2023·Rapha Abreu

There is life in pain!

In churches and in the Christian environment, one of the most discussed topics is the death of Christ, that is, His sacrifice. It’s been a while since I heard a preaching in which the pastor compared Jesus’ death to a woman’s labor. This sermon left a deep impression on me and I would like to share some insights with you. The gestation “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 When a woman is pregnant, there is the entire waiting period of pregnancy, the 9 months, which is a necessary preparation time. It’s no use wanting it to take less or more time, the body has a determined time to generate and be generated. From the birth of Jesus to the day of His death, there was a time of 33 years. During all these years, He knew the promise. He knew what must be done, that he would die for all of us. But even though He had the knowledge of what would happen, the time of waiting and preparation was essential and indispensable. He needed to walk among us, teach the word in a tangible way. Operate miracles and wonders. His […]

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April 25, 2023·Ana Julia Luiz

The Cycles of Life

It’s interesting to think about how our life is made of cycles. People come, people go, situations come and situations go. Hardly anything that comes stays forever. There are exceptions, but often that’s not how it works. If you say you’ve never gone through a cycle closure in your entire life, I’m sure I’ll find it very strange. Chapters I love to read and even more to write. I like to think of our lives as a book. At first, for us it is blank, but for God (the Author) it is filled with stories, situations, twists and much more, from our first little steps to the biggest decisions. God sees from the moment we arrive in this world, still in our mothers’ wombs. Closing cycles can often be a very tense chapter in life. Situations or other characters can leave the protagonist (me or you) confused and make him question: “why am I living this?” I was once talking to a friend, venting about a bunch of things that were going on. She looked deep into my eyes and said: “you are in despair because everything got out of your control, but that is normal, it is part of […]

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April 12, 2023·Rapha Abreu

You only have this life

You only live once. I know this is nothing new. But that also means you only have one life to have faith and follow Jesus. This is not carried into eternity, because there is already everything. The eternity “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” Jude 1:20-1:21 We understand eternity as a life after our earthly death, a life that we will spend physically with God. In a paable way like never before. So we can only work on our faith and prayer while we are here. When we go there, we won’t need it anymore, as it prepares us for a life of worship in Eternity. It is here on earth that the Kingdom is prepared and has its members well aligned and adjusted. Our life here must be based on the search for closeness to God. If we are going to be living with Him, this search will no longer be necessary in eternity. But it is our pursuit here that leads us to Him there. Bring […]

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April 06, 2023·Rapha Abreu

Have you been focusing on death or resurrection?

At Easter time we remember how loved we were by God, who sent His own Son to suffer and die for our sins. The sacrifice of an immaculate lamb that cleansed us and made us the Father’s family. But what about in our day-to-day life? Have we been focusing on the resurrection? The lost “At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)“ Mark 15:33-34 It’s beautiful how Jesus gave Himself for so many people who didn’t deserve even a drop of His sweat. The sixth shows us this pain and makes us recognize His sacrifice. But when we focus only on her, losing hope is inevitable. People who loved Jesus suffered with Him, saw the Man they trusted and followed being killed in a cruel way. We humans know that death is the end here on earth. The people who were close to Him thought they would never again see the One who “was” the promise. In our lifetime, in the midst of what seems like death, finding hope for […]

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December 19, 2022·Ana Julia Luiz

A new life

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard the phrase: “New Year, New Life”. At the end of the year, here in Brazil this sentence is posted on the social media and said by family members, friends, pastors… It is a typical end-of-year sentence. During this period of the year I have the habit of briefly reflecting on my year: what got better, what got worse, the best moments, the worst, among other points. A former leader once also encouraged me to think about something I take into my life: what about my relationship with God? Has it improved, worsened or stayed the same? After all, regardless of all the other things that happened (if I got a job, got into the school/college I wanted, got a car, moved house), what matters most is my relationship with God. Everything loses value if I don’t dive deeper. Relationship with God Sometimes I find myself thinking about the ups and downs I’ve had throughout the year, including my relationship with God. After all, I’m not perfect. I always end up sinning and moving away from His presence a little, but the important thing is to always return to the Father’s feet. […]

devotional life new-year

May 16, 2022·Ana Julia Luiz

Prophesy Life

In Ezekiel 37, we are told a curious story: the Lord led the prophet to a valley of dry bones. And then in verse 3 a short dialogue is narrated. Then he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord God, only you know.” Ezekiel 37:3 Ezekiel’s response was basically a “Thy will be done”, and that’s what happened. Then the Lord commanded the prophet to prophesy life on the bones. There was no hope there, but still, the prophet began to prophesy life over that valley, and the situation reported in verses 7 to 10 happened. So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” So I prophesied as he commanded me; the breath entered them, and they […]

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