Surrender

June 06, 2023·Rapha Abreu

What does “tetelestai” mean?

In the text of John 19, which narrates the death of Jesus, His last words were: “It is finished”, meaning of the Greek word “Tetelestai”. “When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished’. With that, He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit.” John 19:30 Do you know what the weight of that word was when it was uttered by Jesus? No more debts “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us. He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13-14 We were always taught in church about the last word of Jesus before his death, a word that carries so much devotion and surrender. But studying more about it I came across a wonderful explanation of how this word was used in the time of Christ. When someone committed a crime or had a debt to be paid, that person received a document as a certificate of debt. When the imposed sentence was fulfilled or the debt was fully paid, the Judge updated […]

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June 01, 2023·Rapha Abreu

Access to salvation

The word says that we must confess our sins and that, through this, He forgives us. But if He already knows everything before we even speak, why do we need to say? He has the password “According to His eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Ephesians 3:11-12 Salvation has been offered to us, but grasping it is in our hands. Jesus died for us and we now have full access to God, but if there is no movement from us, we are not saved. We need to receive Jesus! Do you know what I mean? It works for other areas as well. God won’t do anything if we don’t want to and if we don’t hand it over to Him. I look at all of this like a bank account. Imagine that someone deposited a very high amount in an account that you don’t have access to, because you lost your password. This money deposited makes no difference in your life if you cannot access it. You will need to go to a bank to solve the access impasse. God has already poured […]

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March 16, 2023·Rapha Abreu

What have I done for God?

We go through some afflictions in our lives. We are human and it is normal that not everything is perfect. Even if your neighbor’s grass looks greener, it isn’t. We all go through difficulties. Highs and lows “For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. “But if I were you, I would appeal to God. I would lay my cause before him.” Job 5:6-8 There are times when difficulties are minor and quickly resolved without headaches. There were times when my family and I were at the best of our lives, spiritually as well as emotionally and financially. Soon after, everything seemed to fall apart. It felt like we were being forcibly pulled out of that quieter moment. And then came the difficulties. In difficult times, if we don’t focus on God, we may lose a few nights of sleep. In those moments we always questioned ourselves with the title question: “What have I done for God?“. Do not hinder photosynthesis You have done nothing for God, for He does not change according to our works, whether they are good or bad. In […]

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February 28, 2023·Ana Julia Luiz

It’s not you

These times I heard a song that had the following phrase “And if my voice fails, You sing for me”. That single sentence, repeated only once, in a song lasting almost 7 minutes spoke to me a lot. Then I found out that the singer had gone through a surgery on her vocal cords and, even after the surgery, she would be unable to sing. During that time she wrote this song and added this line to the lyrics. Today she is fine and is singing again. It was a miracle from God in her life. Still, it wasn’t her story that spoke to me, but the snippet of the song. If you fail, do you continue? Think about what you do. Do you preach? Play? Sing? Teach? If something happens and you can’t do it anymore, what will it be like? What really motivates you to keep going? That’s exactly what God spoke to me. In my church I work in communication, recording, editing and writing, just like I do here on Bible Offline team. And the Lord asked me why I keep doing these things and that got me thinking. I write, record, edit, take pictures, but simply […]

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June 30, 2022·Rapha Abreu

[Series: Miracles of Jesus] God multiplies what we give

Today, in our last text of the series “Miracles of Jesus”, I want to talk about the multiplication of loaves and fish. The passage in Mark 8 begins with Jesus speaking to the disciples about the great crowd that had not eaten for 3 days, asking them to have mercy on those hungry people. The logic of the miracle What is striking about this story is that it was described that there were about 4,000 men, without mentioning women or children. Considering one woman and one child for each man present, we can estimate about 12 thousand people present. When Jesus asks the disciples to feed that multitude, they ask in verse 4 where, in that desert place, they could get enough bread to feed so many people, and then Christ responds with a new question: “How many loaves do you have?” They answered, “Seven” and still find some small fish. Jesus took that little food the disciples had, gave thanks and asked them to start distributing it among the people. Would it make sense to start sharing just 7 loaves and a few small fish to feed a crowd? The confronting gospel Jesus has the power of heaven, He […]

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April 21, 2022·Rapha Abreu

The power of God’s touch

I was studying the book of Daniel these days and I found a passage that caught my attention. The main image of this message was the intensity of God’s light touch. That sounds a bit contradictory, right? But I will explain. The incessant search In Daniel 10:10 the prophet says: “A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees“ This verse refers to the touch that Daniel received from the messenger who was sent by God. The phrase “a hand touched me” makes us think of something serene. But the meaning is much greater! God’s touch on him, through the messenger, was so intense, so powerful, that it made Daniel, trembling, kneel down and lean on his hands. The extraordinary vision that Daniel had received before that touch had already made the other men hide, while he remained without strength, almost fainting, with his face on the ground (verse 8 and 9). Do not misunderstand me. God is a sweet and loving Father, but His touch is powerful. As smooth as it sounds, it’s brash and leaves nothing standing. Daniel says in verse 8 that there was no strength left in him. But will I fill that […]

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