JFA Blog

Reflections, studies and news for your walk with God.

March 01, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: Wisdom in the midst of crisis

We are not in an easy moment worldwide, the coronavirus is still circulating around, many people are hospitalized, others are still unemployed, and with this we see the hope of many getting dimmed. More than ever we need to be strategic, focus on what matters, and be wise in our actions and decisions. That is why I want to pray together with you for wisdom in the midst of this crisis, so that we can deal with it in the best way. I leave here a passage especially for you today: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 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 want to follow me, it will be a pleasure, feel free to speak it in your own way. Prayer Beloved God, I want to thank you first of all for all that you have been doing, for your care and protection. I thank you for your provision […]

prayer wisdom

February 25, 2021·Nicole Leao

Do you have conviction in God’s sovereignty?

Today I want to have a brief conversation with you about the sovereignty of God. I know that sometimes we can find ourselves afraid and lost, but our Father knows all the pieces of the puzzle in each of our lives. Even though at times we may not find where each one of them fits together, we can have conviction in His sovereignty and be sure that God will direct us to put the final picture together in His time. God’s Sovereignty and our choices The Bible says that God is sovereign and also that we have the ability to make decisions. Our actions are important and bring real consequences. However, God already knows everything that will happen and promotes His plans. Our personal plans and decisions can never destroy God’s ultimate plan. There is much debate about how it is possible for God to be sovereign and for us to have the ability to make choices. But we can say that God is sovereign because He grants the privilege to choose and defines what we can choose and the consequences of our actions. It was God Himself who placed in our nature the ability to make plans and deliberate. […]

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February 22, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: Humility before the Father!

Today I want to pray for a delicate subject in a world where we are encouraged to think only about ourselves, which is humility. So many times we don’t inflate our ego not only before people, but especially before God who is our father, we are proud, we consider ourselves as the owners of reason, and we act as we please considering what is best for us. The lack of humility also leads us to rebellion that keeps us away from God, so today we will pray for humility before the father and with people. I leave here a passage especially for you today: Be completely humble and docile, and be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2 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 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 goodness, love and mercy. For taking care of me in every detail, even though I sin, make mistakes, and […]

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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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February 12, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: Health to keep going!

In the last few days we have been talking about healing here on the blog and today I want to pray for health to continue standing firm, fulfilling the purpose that God has for us, whether it be work, academic, family or ministry. Without health we are unable to accomplish many things, so today I invite you to pray with me, that we will continue standing firm on the unshakable rock. I also leave here a passage especially for you today: Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you. Exodus 23:25 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 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 my health, for waking up today and being able to live another day for your honor and glory. I also thank you for the health of all those I love. You have been good to me, even though I […]

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February 09, 2021·Nicole Leao

Series: What cure do you need? [Physical healing]

Today we will start a new series here on the blog, called “What healing do you need?”, where through three reflections we will remember biblical stories of physical, emotional and spiritual healing, in which the Lord worked on behalf of his children, showing once again his glory and infinite goodness. We will start with physical healing, which surely we all already need at some point and in a year when we still face the coronavirus is so necessary. Physical illnesses can attack any person and when they arrive we question why and what is the cause of facing such difficult situations in life. We don’t always understand why we pass through certain valleys, but through the word of God we can understand why we pass through them and remember that just like our powerful Father did in the past, He continues to do today. Nowadays medicine is more advanced, and we have different treatments for countless illnesses, but God continues to perform miracles like the ones we read in the Bible, and today I want to remember here the story of Lazarus. The illness and resurrection of Lazarus Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary, were great friends of Jesus. […]

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February 08, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: Returning to the arms of the Father

We are called to be children, but how often by our pride, arrogance and sinful nature, we decide to go our own way, without asking the Father’s direction, trusting that we know what is best. We turn away from God’s presence and at some point we realize that we are actually doing a tremendous amount of nonsense. We are troubled in the depths of our soul, anguish beats, sadness and so many other bad feelings of restlessness. But you know what? God loves you, he never stopped loving you and is eager to welcome you with open arms again. So today I invite you to pray, asking forgiveness for all rebellion and renewing the covenant you once made like the Lord. I leave here a passage especially for you today: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 Remembering that you don’t have to repeat the prayer exactly as I will leave it here, because each of us has a specific way to communicate with the Lord. But if you want to accompany me, it will be a pleasure, feel free to speak […]

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February 03, 2021·Nicole Leao

The belief comes before the fulfillment

These days I was reading the passage of Luke 1, and I had my attention fixed on verse 45, where it is written: “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”. These words, inspired by God, were spoken by Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, to Mary, Jesus’ mother. In this chapter the story is told of when Elizabeth, a barren woman of advanced age, becomes pregnant and soon after Mary who is her cousin and virgin also becomes pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. But returning to the fact mentioned in the verse that caught my attention, the faith of Jesus’ mother came before the promise was fulfilled. Reading this passage it is also possible to identify that because of her faith she received the grace to give light to the Son of God. The answer of the Lord’s servant to the angel who announced to her what was to come, was filled with faith, she answered: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be fulfilled in me according to your word”. After reading this, I kept thinking about how many times we don’t want something to be fulfilled, but we don’t […]

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February 02, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: Constance to build!

Today we will pray for constancy, so necessary in our lives, because without it we won’t build anything, nor will we get anywhere. In the Bible we find countless stories of people who, through constancy, took their relationship with God to another level and were used by our Lord. Being a fickle person leads to frustration for never building anything you want, not to mention that this bad feature can lead someone to a divorce or the loss of a job, maybe you have been that way until today, but it’s ok, because I know that with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can change that in your life. Thinking about it, we will pray for constancy to be part of our lives. I leave here a passage especially for you today: May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 Remembering that you don’t have to repeat the prayer exactly as I will leave it here, because each of us has a specific way to communicate with the Lord. But if you want to accompany me, it will be a pleasure, feel free to speak your way. Prayer Dear God, I want […]

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January 30, 2021·Paulo Oliveira

The important things cannot be bought

Every year the chorus “Health to give and sell” is sung in Brazil, while partygoers imagine and wish each other a Happy New Year, with lots of money in their pockets and… health to give and sell. This 2021 started with this chorus more current than ever … but with a new meaning: Many going after anyone who can give a vaccine, or willing to pay dearly for a life-saving treatment. Health to give and sell has ceased to be the personal and disinterested desire of friends, to become a profitable business strand, where countries are not asking the price; citizens are wanting the state to give them health and companies in the health sector are selling expensive; from medicines to equipment, supplies and… vaccines. After all, how much would you not pay for some physical, emotional (and political) tranquility in times like this? As I thought about these facts, I remembered this well-known passage from Isaiah 55: 1-2, where God Himself is proclaiming: “…and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” And also: “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does […]

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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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January 26, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: Bringing peace to the afflicted heart!

How is your heart? There are some days when all we think about are problems and worries about the future. Consequently we feel a bad feeling in our hearts, a weight, a restlessness that we don’t even know how to solve. Fortunately we serve a living God who loves us and who his word tells us to cast our anxiety on him, because he cares for us, and thinking about it, today I want to pray that our Father will bring peace to our hearts. I leave here a passage especially for you today: Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 Remembering that you don’t have to repeat the prayer exactly as I will leave it here, because each of us has a specific way to communicate with the Lord. But if you want to accompany me, it will be a pleasure, feel free to speak your way. Prayer Dear God, thank you for your care, for taking care of every detail and being so present in my life. I am grateful for your love and, because I know that even before I worry about something, the Lord in His infinite goodness is […]

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January 21, 2021·Nicole Leao

Freed from sin!

How great is the grace of salvation, isn’t it? Think with me, sin has put us in a prison, locked behind bars, guilt, shame, deceit and fear. So sin has done nothing but chain us to a wall of unhappiness. But Jesus came and bail us out, being punished in our place, so we are set free. Christ died for us and when we gave our lives to Him, we died for our old self. Many people think of this as a burden, but in fact it is a great deliverance. Salvation does not imprison you but liberates you, in Christ we are truly free to find our identity as children of God and have the mercy of his divine forgiveness. New garments Once talking to a friend, he used a very good analogy to talk about repentance and forgiveness. Let’s think about purity as represented by a white suit, you went out to perform your daily tasks, and then it gets dirty, at the end of the day it’s not whiter as when you left. So, you come home you put her to wash and soon she is clean, free of any brand. So is repentance and forgiveness, when […]

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January 18, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: A quiet night’s sleep!

How are your nights sleeping? Have you been able to relax? The Bible instructs us that the night was made for sleeping, but often with the rush of day to day at bed we can not relax, a thousand and one things pass in our minds. The moment before we sleep, is not the time to look for a solution to our challenges, but to give everything in God’s hands, trusting that he is already working in each of the areas you need. Our Lord takes care of us, whether during the day or at night, and today we will pray for a quiet and safe night’s sleep, so that you wake up renewed, willing for another day of many blessings. I leave here a passage especially for you today: I lay down and slept; I woke up because the Lord sustained me. Psalms 3:5 Remembering that you don’t have to repeat the prayer exactly as I will leave it here, because each of us has a specific way to communicate with the Lord. But if you want to accompany me, it will be a pleasure, feel free to speak your way. Prayer Dear God, I thank you for another […]

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January 15, 2021·Nicole Leao

Don’t let fear stop you!

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 Today when I woke up I was thinking about how fear can get in the way of simple daily tasks. Particularly I was a very fearful child, I was afraid of the dark, of dentist, hospital and a lot of things, even my parents instructing me in the ways of the Lord and knowing that “heavenly father”, as he affectionately called God, was taking care of me. This is because I did not understand where these fears came from. Many times we can feel frightened without even knowing the reason. Today, at my 20 years of age, I have overcome many of them, but there is still much to improve. Last week I started my driving lessons and I can say that in the first day I couldn’t even hear the voice of the instructor so afraid that I was hitting the car. As soon as my first lesson was over I ran to talk to several people to better understand how the clutch, the […]

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January 14, 2021·Nicole Leao

Be careful with your tongue!

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. James 1:26 Today we will talk about a very important topic for the good functioning of the body of Christ, we will talk about the language, this small organ with power to bless and curse. And I would like to focus on a more specific topic that is gossip, because as we live in community, naturally we come to know more about each other’s lives and with the advent of social networks, this “word-of-mouth” has gotten worse and much worse in the churches. It seems just innocent talk Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 2 Timothy 2:16 Whoever has never seen “gossip” gain the affectionate nickname “comment”, a somewhat euphemism for something that can bring weight to the life of the one who speaks and the one who is the target. Often a simple comment passes from one to the other until it becomes something bad and as the verse above reminds us, it leads to impiety. Maybe the one who started it hadn’t seen evil in what […]

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January 11, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: Throwing out anxiety

Do you usually feel anxious? Well, I sometimes feel that way, I don’t have clinical anxiety, but not always a person “is” anxious, sometimes they find themselves in this condition in front of important decisions or something that is waiting for a certain time to happen. Last night I was a little anxious what impacted my sleep. I couldn’t sleep properly, I woke up countless times, had nightmares and finally it was as if I hadn’t slept. I wasn’t worried, but I knew that the next day great events were coming. The Bible teaches us that we should not look forward to the day of tomorrow, this is because it belongs to God, but we as failed human beings do not always remember this, so today I invite you to pray throwing away all anxiety. I would also like to remind you that if you feel this way constantly, it is important to seek help, God left health professionals to help us and gave them skill and knowledge. I leave here a passage especially for you today: So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run […]

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January 08, 2021·Nicole Leao

3 application features that can help you!

The year has started and with that people make plans and goals. We know that the goal of many of our users is to have a routine of prayer and reading the word. That’s why today we want to present to you some resources of our application that can help you in this objective so that your 2021 is a year when you grow in the word and take the relationship with God to another point. 1. Audios Now reading the Bible can be much more dynamic, because in our application you can listen to the Bible in audio, not to mention the original audios of the New International Version (NIV) and Christian Standard Bible (CSB) translations. Check out the explanatory video: 2. Versions Something that can make it easier for you to understand the word and find the version of the Bible that you are already used to and in our application you have the main versions in English. So, be sure to check it out and find the ideal biblical translation for you. Check out the explanatory video: 3. Pray more Pray more, it is a Christian social network for you to pray more, which you can access […]

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January 07, 2021·Nicole Leao

A blessed year is a year with the knee on the ground

To have a blessed year we need to keep our knees on the ground, that is, we need to pray. Prayer is the main way to develop intimacy with God and the prayer of the just is powerful, so it is one of the main weapons of everyone who believes in the Most High. Surely, you have heard someone say that dialogue is the basis of every relationship, well, our way of dialoguing with the Lord is through prayer. Through prayer, we talk with our father, we are instructed by Him, we thank Him, and we deliver our supplications. God hears your prayers Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. James 5:17,18 Perhaps at some point you thought that God no longer heard your prayers, but God always hears us. Often what happens is that we want an answer, but we are not able to hear, or simply do not want the answer our God is giving. This happens because of our […]

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January 05, 2021·Nicole Leao

Prayer: See the opportunities of God

Sometimes I find myself wondering if we don’t miss many opportunities for such banal reasons as time, mood, shame and so many others. I don’t speak only of those opportunities that are very clear, but also of those that seem more like a common everyday event. Examples of this are moments between children and parents that are lost because they are “too busy”, when a friend comes to tell us about a delicate situation that is going on, and we simply speak a generic phrase instead of being willing to pray, or when we have the great opportunity to speak of God’s love for someone and out of shame we stop doing it. Finally, in 2021, we cannot let opportunities pass us by, whether big or small, and today I invite you to pray that God will open our eyes before them. I also want to leave a passage here for you today: Be very careful, then, how you live not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15,16 Remembering that you don’t have to repeat the prayer exactly as I’m going to leave it here, because each one of […]

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December 30, 2020·Nicole Leao

A year of victory!

We are on the fourth day of the year 2021, which is just beginning. Well, one of the most beautiful things for me at this time is to see how everyone fills up with hope, a few weeks ago I wrote here in one of the blog texts about how and important it is that this hope is not only kept in the time of parties, but that we carry it all year long. This is because we serve a God who is hope itself. Over the past year I’ve heard many pastors saying that this would be a special year for the people of God, of many victories and I really don’t doubt it at all. I don’t know if you noticed the same thing, but I saw many people returning to Jesus last year, choosing baptism and having their lives transformed, which is already a victory. The True Victory With this, I believe that 2020 has been a year of preparation, but the preparation does not last only a year when we are God’s people, but a whole life, because our victory is in heaven, it is on high. The true victory is the one we have in […]

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December 29, 2020·Nicole Leao

Discover your ideal reading plan for 2021!

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8 We know that with the rush of day by day, reading the Bible daily can be a challenge. Sometimes in the midst of our routine we find ourselves completely out of time, but reading from God’s word is essential. The Bible is food for our soul and through it we are often directed by God. In addition, God’s Word says it is important that we seek knowledge and listen to the instructions and advice of the wise, and surely there is no wiser advice than we can find in the Bible. So today I want to present you with reading plans that can help you a lot in this challenge. Reading plans are super important, they can help you in your daily life and also to make you accumulate knowledge. In our application we have an area especially for them, which is very easy to find, just look in its menu section “Plans”. And now I invite you to get to know each […]

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December 28, 2020·Nicole Leao

Be a messenger of good news!

Are you easy to talk about the gospel? In talking about the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior? Many times we think that we can be invasive or bother the other, but this is a mistaken thought on our part. That is because knowing Jesus is a privilege, and when we stop talking about His love we are being negligent in spreading salvation. Some time ago I met a girl who only heard about Jesus and his beautiful sacrifice of love, when she was 15 years old, even though she lived in Brazil, a mostly Christian country. Fortunately, this girl, who is now over 20 years old, had time to have a real encounter with Jesus and today has been used a lot to reach other lives. With this, I keep thinking, how many times have I stopped talking about salvation? how many lives could have been reached? Knowing Jesus is something wonderful and we who already know him have the mission to be messengers of the best news anyone can receive, the news of salvation. I know it can be challenging, but that is why we must prepare ourselves in prayer and reading the word. Well, thinking about it […]

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December 26, 2020·Paulo Oliveira

How to find the path to prosperity?

Have you noticed what we say to each other when the Year ends …? We wish you all a Happy and prosperous New Year! To prosper is to advance, to grow, to move forward. So, when we think about prosperity, we think about the future. Do you think 2021 can be a prosperous year in your life? Do you think, want or need? In fact, the distance between being prosperous and wanting to be prosperous is not wanting too much or needing too much … who doesn’t? Many need it! It is also not to have a hunch or even a feeling. The difference is in finding, finding the path to prosperity! So I want to leave here some tips of what we learn from the Word of God about it: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what […]

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