Christ vs. Antichrist: you look like who?

Hello my brother and sister in Christ Jesus! Has anyone ever said that you are radiant today? I hope you have woken up with a beautiful smile on your face and may your day be a blessing!

You will understand if you are wondering now about the peculiar way that I found to start this text.

Las week I felt God talking to me about some details that sometimes go unnoticed in our day to day life. Details that make a total difference. I was reading the book “Multiply” by the preacher Francis Chan and I came to a chapter where the author talks about love for others. I took time out of my days to observe people and how they act. Their haste for the thousands of everyday tasks and the scarce time to feel happy. Seeing all this, I kept smiling for a whole day, and I wished to wish a good day to some strangers.

On some occasions I offered some praise to people on the street, in the church and some other places. I was astonished. Most people received a simple good morning with strangeness, as if they thought I was crazy. Maybe in their heads they thought of something like “What is this guy doing? I do not even know you! “

Where is the love?

Mt 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. (12) And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Thinking that “offend” is the same as “scandalize”, the dictionary defines it as “provoking indignation or hurting existing morality” I think I can understand a little of Jesus’ words about the time we live today. I see the morality in force in the present day being the one that priorizes the self above the others. That is why small gestures of love dedicated to others generates so much indignation.

Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart (19) Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

We often see the word “lasciviousness” as something only about the sexual issue. However, it is more correct to think of it as a moral degradation of luxury in any kind, which ends up causing an impurity of any kind. In the last text Among so many tragedies: where is God? I mentioned that we can not question the divine morality based on ours. We really can’t. Lasciviousness causes in us the opposite of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Gl 5:22 …the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

If there is no law against the fruits of the Spirit. We see lasciviousness goes against the will of God and is a summary of things like: hatred, sadness, tribulation of spirit, impatience, lack of love for neighbor, indifference, betrayal of any nature, nervousness and lack of self-control. More people move away from the Father’s love. That is because we daily see so much more lasciviousness than the fruits of a life with God.

Going against the world

If we have to be like Jesus and “being Christ” is to surrender and serve others in love. The opposite of that, which is surrendering to oneself and one’s own desires, is “to be Antichrist”. It seems very heavy to think that way. And it really is. We begin to question ourselves as Christians whether we are being more for God or against Him in our day to day lives. Reflect and pray a little about it in your private.

Mt 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Basically, we understand that both commandments are connected and are similar. If you do not love and do not even surrender yourself to the person at your side, you do not love God and do not keep His commandments.

We should not then follow the morality of depravity that is in effect in this world. And this is so difficult and so easy at the same time. The difficult part is that “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with their passions and their desires” (Gl 5:24). And if you still live thinking about your own self, you are not living as one who belongs to Jesus. The other part, however, is the easiest. No, you do not have to go around hunting chances to jump in front of a bullet and offer your life to the next. But you can act simply and offer some of the love that God has placed in your heart. Giving smiles, praising and going against the world we live in. Who lives in haste to seek the anti-Christianity of personal satisfaction above human happiness in general.

How to begin?

I have separated some simple acts that can be practiced in the day to day for this renewal in the way we live. How about trying to do at least one of these things every day?

1 – Send a loving message to a distant relative;

2 – Embrace someone who looks sad;

3 – Praise your workmate’s work with words;

4. Offer to pray for someone on the street;

5 – Pay the toll of the back car;

6 – Pay a friend’s lunch;

7 – Buy a chocolate and offer to a stranger;

8 – Write a special verse for someone who seems unmotivated;

9 – Buy a basic basket or clothes for a homeless person;

10 – Let someone pass in front of the market or bank queue;

11 – Ask about how a colleague lives;

12 – Say “good morning” to strangers in the elevator or in the transport;

13 – Praise the smile of someone in the street;

14 – Share an excerpt from the Bible Offline with a non-Christian friend;

15 – Help cleaning professionals pick up some trash from the floor;

16 – Pay a lunch to a homeless;

17 – To speak of Jesus to a homeless;

18 – Help someone to carry their purchases;

19 – Leave a tip or a “box” for someone who answered you;

20 – If you offer to wash the dishes of the lunch with family;

21 – Ask for a pizza of surprise and have it delivered to a neighbor;

22 – Make a cake and deliver;

23 – Pay the snack of someone who is behind you in the drive-thru

24 – Write “Jesus loves you” in papeizinhos and give to the beggars in the lighthouse;

25 – Give a ride to someone;

26 – Place credit on someone’s cell phone and send a creative sms warning;

27 – Make a coiffure on your next colleague;

28 – Wash the car of some relative;

29 – A couple can go out alone if you offer to take care of their children;

30 – Invite a non-Christian to go to church.

Little gestures can manifest the love of God and How about trying?

May the grace and love of the Lord Jesus assert themselves in your hearts and bring forth good fruits that can impact and change the world! Amen!