Sharing my thoughts and what I have learned in my trip with God. I've started this journey a long time ago and it's as if it was only yesterday. I can't travel alone, that's why I'm sharing my thoughts. You can come and join me in this trip, It doesn't matter if you are near or far... because in Jesus we can be united . There's no distance between us because the Holy Spirit is in us. He will speak to you the same way he speaks to me. I hope you enjoy it... With love. Clarindo
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Protection against the enemy
Protection against the Enemy – 2 Corinthians 2:11
We should not ignore that we have and enemy that always wants to take us away of God’s will.
Our enemy is predictable. His temptations follow a pattern
1. Desire – he identifies a desire within us. A desire for revenge or legitimate desire to be loved and feel pleasure.
Then: He suggests that we should fulfil that desire in a wrong way. If we didn’t have a desire, we wouldn’t have temptation.
James 4:1-3
2. Doubt – He tries to puts in you related to sin! Is it wrong? How come other people do? Doesn’t God want you to be happy? In Hebrews we are warned: “Watch out!!! Don’t let your evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn away from the living God. Hebrews 3:12
3. Deception – Satan is a liar. He’s the father of lies. (John 8:44, but. Anything that he says is untrue or half-true. He also says: _” Nobody will ever know. It will solve your problems… It’s a little sin. Sin is like pregnancy, it will show up one day.
4. Disobedience – If you carry a thought for a long time, you will give birth to behaviour. People become alcoholic or addicted after one more drink or dose. James 1:14.
How are we going to overcome temptation? Being closer to God.
• Satan knows your potential and will attack you.
• When you are praying, he will try to distract you
• He will try to keep you away of your Bible reading
1. Identify your patterns – “When am I tempted? When we are tired we are more vulnerable, alone, bored, depressed, we’ve been hurt, angry, worried or after a big success or spiritual victory – Proverbs 16:17
2. Request God’s help! Call on me on time of trouble – Psalms 50:15
We should not ignore that we have and enemy that always wants to take us away of God’s will.
Our enemy is predictable. His temptations follow a pattern
1. Desire – he identifies a desire within us. A desire for revenge or legitimate desire to be loved and feel pleasure.
Then: He suggests that we should fulfil that desire in a wrong way. If we didn’t have a desire, we wouldn’t have temptation.
James 4:1-3
2. Doubt – He tries to puts in you related to sin! Is it wrong? How come other people do? Doesn’t God want you to be happy? In Hebrews we are warned: “Watch out!!! Don’t let your evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn away from the living God. Hebrews 3:12
3. Deception – Satan is a liar. He’s the father of lies. (John 8:44, but. Anything that he says is untrue or half-true. He also says: _” Nobody will ever know. It will solve your problems… It’s a little sin. Sin is like pregnancy, it will show up one day.
4. Disobedience – If you carry a thought for a long time, you will give birth to behaviour. People become alcoholic or addicted after one more drink or dose. James 1:14.
How are we going to overcome temptation? Being closer to God.
• Satan knows your potential and will attack you.
• When you are praying, he will try to distract you
• He will try to keep you away of your Bible reading
1. Identify your patterns – “When am I tempted? When we are tired we are more vulnerable, alone, bored, depressed, we’ve been hurt, angry, worried or after a big success or spiritual victory – Proverbs 16:17
2. Request God’s help! Call on me on time of trouble – Psalms 50:15
Let the word of God enrich your life
Let His word enrich your lives and make you wise … Colossians 3:16
Reading, receiving, researching and reflecting on God’s words are useless if we don’t become “doers” of the word – James 1:22-23
This is the hardest step as satan fights intensively to takes far way of this truth.
We can become very busy to remember to do what we learned yesterday. Most of don’t remember on Monday what was preached on Sunday service.
Jesus said that everyone who hears His words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24
The blessings come when we obey the truth, not only know it. John 13:17
Why do we avoid personal application?
• It’s difficult, sometimes painful
• The truth set us but it can be painful in the beginning.
God’s word:
• exposes our motivations, our failures
• rebukes our sins and demands changes
We learn from others truths that we would never learn from our own.
We need to be in unity with other brothers and sisters:
• to learn and teach.
• To share what God has spoken to us
• To be corrected
• To be encouraged
• To check what we have learned
The Bible was not given to us to increase our knowledge but to change our lives. God doesn’t want doctors in theology but doers of His word.
What did the Bible say about the word?
• They are life. John 6:63
• They are essential as food. Job 23:12
• They don’t fail. I Peter 2:22, Matthew 4:4
• They are solid. I Corinthians 3:2
• They are sweet. Psalms 119:103
• If we abide in His words, we are His disciples. NOT IN TRADITTION – John 8:31
• There’s no failure in God’s words.
• We should read it every day. Deuteronomy 17:19
• We should consider carefully how we listen. Luke 8:18
If we are not learning we need to check our attitude, especially for pride. God can use the most boring teacher if you are humble and r
Reading, receiving, researching and reflecting on God’s words are useless if we don’t become “doers” of the word – James 1:22-23
This is the hardest step as satan fights intensively to takes far way of this truth.
We can become very busy to remember to do what we learned yesterday. Most of don’t remember on Monday what was preached on Sunday service.
Jesus said that everyone who hears His words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24
The blessings come when we obey the truth, not only know it. John 13:17
Why do we avoid personal application?
• It’s difficult, sometimes painful
• The truth set us but it can be painful in the beginning.
God’s word:
• exposes our motivations, our failures
• rebukes our sins and demands changes
We learn from others truths that we would never learn from our own.
We need to be in unity with other brothers and sisters:
• to learn and teach.
• To share what God has spoken to us
• To be corrected
• To be encouraged
• To check what we have learned
The Bible was not given to us to increase our knowledge but to change our lives. God doesn’t want doctors in theology but doers of His word.
What did the Bible say about the word?
• They are life. John 6:63
• They are essential as food. Job 23:12
• They don’t fail. I Peter 2:22, Matthew 4:4
• They are solid. I Corinthians 3:2
• They are sweet. Psalms 119:103
• If we abide in His words, we are His disciples. NOT IN TRADITTION – John 8:31
• There’s no failure in God’s words.
• We should read it every day. Deuteronomy 17:19
• We should consider carefully how we listen. Luke 8:18
If we are not learning we need to check our attitude, especially for pride. God can use the most boring teacher if you are humble and r
Lack of Anything
Lack of anything – February 6, 2011
God loves men so much that He doesn’t want us to have lack of anything. Deuteronomy 8:9
God took the Israelites out of a place of “not enough”.
In Egypt they: were slaves, had no power, were forced to depend on Pharaoh for everything.
But God wants to be free. If necessary, God will send animals to feed us. I King 17:4-6.
God provided for the Israelite what they needed for each day; no more nor less. Numbers 11.
God wants us to trust in Him, to depend on Him. We have to learn to trust in God who is our provider.
When we have “a lot”, we have a tendency to trust in what we have and not in the one who has given us what we have.
“Just enough” gives us a tenacity to keep moving towards better things.
He brought them (the Israelites) to the land of “more than enough”, to the abundance.
Jesus said: “I came so that you have abundant live”. John 10:10
If you aren’t living abundant life, if your life isn’t full of joy, peace … you need to know that God’s goal is to give you everything you need – The only thing needed is to trust in Jesus.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said:”_ Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all this things will be given to you as well.
We have to believe that God will give us what we need if we trust in Him. This is called faith.
Let’s go back to 17:9-16. A widow should be fed by someone, not to feed someone, but that was what God asked her to do…
There was no hope for her, but death… but when she trusted, her life was changed.
What about your life today???
Psalms 4:8
God loves men so much that He doesn’t want us to have lack of anything. Deuteronomy 8:9
God took the Israelites out of a place of “not enough”.
In Egypt they: were slaves, had no power, were forced to depend on Pharaoh for everything.
But God wants to be free. If necessary, God will send animals to feed us. I King 17:4-6.
God provided for the Israelite what they needed for each day; no more nor less. Numbers 11.
God wants us to trust in Him, to depend on Him. We have to learn to trust in God who is our provider.
When we have “a lot”, we have a tendency to trust in what we have and not in the one who has given us what we have.
“Just enough” gives us a tenacity to keep moving towards better things.
He brought them (the Israelites) to the land of “more than enough”, to the abundance.
Jesus said: “I came so that you have abundant live”. John 10:10
If you aren’t living abundant life, if your life isn’t full of joy, peace … you need to know that God’s goal is to give you everything you need – The only thing needed is to trust in Jesus.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said:”_ Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all this things will be given to you as well.
We have to believe that God will give us what we need if we trust in Him. This is called faith.
Let’s go back to 17:9-16. A widow should be fed by someone, not to feed someone, but that was what God asked her to do…
There was no hope for her, but death… but when she trusted, her life was changed.
What about your life today???
Psalms 4:8
Increase our faith
Increase our Faith 20/02/2011
Our lives are a direct result of the values that have fashioned us.
Let me explain this: Edgar is a football supporter so it is very common to see him wearing Teams T shirts, even teams he doesn’t like, just to show he likes football. He spends a lot of money buying T shirts, shorts, football boots, games and etc. He is a sports man.
The values we carry in our hearts are important and leads (guides) us in the way we live.
James said: “We are in a process of transformation and we must be linked to God all the time, to have our values changed and to be strong.”
In James 1:4 we read: “Perseverance is the key word for our lives to be changed to what God is.”
Our perseverance will be:
• An anchor – Without values we are adrift; we are sent from one side to another and overtaken by the storms of life. But with God’s value we have an anchor to hold strongly.
• Your values will be always with you and they will never let you behind.
• Your compass – Seasons change, relationships change, circumstances change and even goals change but not values… People (even believers) can say you are a foolish person because you live by faith. They will try to lower your standards saying that just going to Sunday services is enough…
We have to centre our lives in God and His patterns.
“Faith is the heart of life”, someone said.
We have to draw near to God and He will draw near to us. James 4:8
You go to a doctor whose name you don’t know, who gives you a prescription you cannot read, then, you take it to a pharmacist you don’t know either and gives you a medication you don’t understand and “ you take it”. This is faith.
Unbelief put circumstances between us and God. Faith puts God between us and our circumstances.
How can you and I improve our faith then? How can we draw near to God?
In Romans 10:17 says that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God.”
The deeper is your faith in God, the greater is the potential to carry you through the rough times.
We can ask the Lord to increase our faith. In Luke 17:5 the apostles said:”Increase our faith.”
To increase our faith we have to increase the ground we are stepping in. We have to know more the one we are serving and become more like Him.
Let’s pray.
Our lives are a direct result of the values that have fashioned us.
Let me explain this: Edgar is a football supporter so it is very common to see him wearing Teams T shirts, even teams he doesn’t like, just to show he likes football. He spends a lot of money buying T shirts, shorts, football boots, games and etc. He is a sports man.
The values we carry in our hearts are important and leads (guides) us in the way we live.
James said: “We are in a process of transformation and we must be linked to God all the time, to have our values changed and to be strong.”
In James 1:4 we read: “Perseverance is the key word for our lives to be changed to what God is.”
Our perseverance will be:
• An anchor – Without values we are adrift; we are sent from one side to another and overtaken by the storms of life. But with God’s value we have an anchor to hold strongly.
• Your values will be always with you and they will never let you behind.
• Your compass – Seasons change, relationships change, circumstances change and even goals change but not values… People (even believers) can say you are a foolish person because you live by faith. They will try to lower your standards saying that just going to Sunday services is enough…
We have to centre our lives in God and His patterns.
“Faith is the heart of life”, someone said.
We have to draw near to God and He will draw near to us. James 4:8
You go to a doctor whose name you don’t know, who gives you a prescription you cannot read, then, you take it to a pharmacist you don’t know either and gives you a medication you don’t understand and “ you take it”. This is faith.
Unbelief put circumstances between us and God. Faith puts God between us and our circumstances.
How can you and I improve our faith then? How can we draw near to God?
In Romans 10:17 says that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God.”
The deeper is your faith in God, the greater is the potential to carry you through the rough times.
We can ask the Lord to increase our faith. In Luke 17:5 the apostles said:”Increase our faith.”
To increase our faith we have to increase the ground we are stepping in. We have to know more the one we are serving and become more like Him.
Let’s pray.
Faith that changes lives
Faith that changes lives.
Sometimes we feel that our faith is going out. We are about to lose a battle.
Faith is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes.
David was continuously hounded by his enemies. Even when he was anointed to set the throne, but Saul (the old king) was still there.
What did he say, then? Check please on Psalm 4:3, 4:8, and when he was hidden in the cave. Psalms 57:1
S. Felix of Nola was running way from his enemy and ended up in a cave. While there, a spider began to weave a web across the small opening, sealing it off and making it look like nobody had been inside for months. As a result, his enemy didn’t check inside. When he stepped out he declared: “_ Where God is, a spider web is a wall.”
People or circumstance can disappoint you or me, but if Jesus is with us, how can we lose? Romans 8:37.
When Job lost all his properties, his children, his house … what did he do?
“He fell on the ground and worshipped God. Job 1:20
He decided to trust God. He knew God would see him in the middle of all his problems and would rescue him. Job 23:10
He knew what to do: keep going on God’s ways.
God Himself will fight for us. II Chronicles 20:17. We have to keep still and wait.
When we walk by faith we try God’s provision. Remember Elijah being supported by the ravens and then by a widow? I Kings 17:4. He had faith to that widow that she wouldn’t die if she trusted the Lord.
And she trusted, she became free of death and the famine would kill her and her son.
What about us? Paul said in Ephesian 3:12. We go beyond by faith. In the verse 16 it’s written that the Holy Spirit would strengthen us and be complete.
When people have faith they have their lives changed:
• Noah was a farmer and became the best ship engineer builder.
• Abram a childless businessman with no hope to have his own heir and tried to save his neck n by lying and compromising his wife safety became the father of a big nation.
• Raab was a prostitute and she was saved then included on the Israelite’s generation. She became the mother of David.
• The great men of the Bible were human just like us. They believed and God could use them to change entire generations.
He will do the same with us if we simply believe. Hebrews 11:33-34
Sometimes we feel that our faith is going out. We are about to lose a battle.
Faith is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes.
David was continuously hounded by his enemies. Even when he was anointed to set the throne, but Saul (the old king) was still there.
What did he say, then? Check please on Psalm 4:3, 4:8, and when he was hidden in the cave. Psalms 57:1
S. Felix of Nola was running way from his enemy and ended up in a cave. While there, a spider began to weave a web across the small opening, sealing it off and making it look like nobody had been inside for months. As a result, his enemy didn’t check inside. When he stepped out he declared: “_ Where God is, a spider web is a wall.”
People or circumstance can disappoint you or me, but if Jesus is with us, how can we lose? Romans 8:37.
When Job lost all his properties, his children, his house … what did he do?
“He fell on the ground and worshipped God. Job 1:20
He decided to trust God. He knew God would see him in the middle of all his problems and would rescue him. Job 23:10
He knew what to do: keep going on God’s ways.
God Himself will fight for us. II Chronicles 20:17. We have to keep still and wait.
When we walk by faith we try God’s provision. Remember Elijah being supported by the ravens and then by a widow? I Kings 17:4. He had faith to that widow that she wouldn’t die if she trusted the Lord.
And she trusted, she became free of death and the famine would kill her and her son.
What about us? Paul said in Ephesian 3:12. We go beyond by faith. In the verse 16 it’s written that the Holy Spirit would strengthen us and be complete.
When people have faith they have their lives changed:
• Noah was a farmer and became the best ship engineer builder.
• Abram a childless businessman with no hope to have his own heir and tried to save his neck n by lying and compromising his wife safety became the father of a big nation.
• Raab was a prostitute and she was saved then included on the Israelite’s generation. She became the mother of David.
• The great men of the Bible were human just like us. They believed and God could use them to change entire generations.
He will do the same with us if we simply believe. Hebrews 11:33-34
When there is no vision
Where there is no vision, we perish – Proverbs 29:18 – 08/03/11
Everybody ends up somewhere but only a few end up somewhere on purpose. You have to have a goal, a target. Nobody leaves home without a destination.
We start our lives with a purpose – our parents had a goal for us. Then when we grow up, we start living life the way it comes, no destination. That’s why some people never finish what they have started.
A vision gives us a meaning, a reason for living.
A vision with courage to follow through increases your chances of coming to the end of life with satisfaction. You look back and can say you have succeeded.
You can say “I finished well, I made the difference.”
Without a vision you have a feeling that your life was good for nothing.
Our vision must be God’s vision. What’s God’s vision?
Jesus said: “My vision (my will) is to fulfil God’s plan.
What’s God’s plan? To have many children like His son Jesus Christ, to save the world.
Please read: John 4:34 – John 5:30 – John 6:38 and I John2:17
A vision gives us:
• passion – It shows us what is to come
• Motivation – because of what could be – a dream fulfilled.
• Direction – without vision “good things” avoids us to get “great things”. People who don’t have a vision keep changing direction. They don’t have a spiritual, relational, financial or moral compass. They make decisions that rob them of their dreams.
• Purpose – a vision gives you a reason to get out of bed in the morning. If you don’t show up, something important will not happen. Suddenly your life matters a lot.
In democracy every person has the right to dream his/her own dreams about the future, but at the cross, we are tied to Jesus dream. (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
Our heart is going to beat at “Jesus beat” that is fulfilling God’s plan which is having children to the Lord.
We were created to do God’s will. Ephesians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 6:15.
Your talents, experiences, opportunities aren’t to please yourselves, but to please God.
What’s our direction? Psalms 119:113
God will help you. Philippians 1:6
Let’s keep focused in the vision. Philippians 3:15
Everybody ends up somewhere but only a few end up somewhere on purpose. You have to have a goal, a target. Nobody leaves home without a destination.
We start our lives with a purpose – our parents had a goal for us. Then when we grow up, we start living life the way it comes, no destination. That’s why some people never finish what they have started.
A vision gives us a meaning, a reason for living.
A vision with courage to follow through increases your chances of coming to the end of life with satisfaction. You look back and can say you have succeeded.
You can say “I finished well, I made the difference.”
Without a vision you have a feeling that your life was good for nothing.
Our vision must be God’s vision. What’s God’s vision?
Jesus said: “My vision (my will) is to fulfil God’s plan.
What’s God’s plan? To have many children like His son Jesus Christ, to save the world.
Please read: John 4:34 – John 5:30 – John 6:38 and I John2:17
A vision gives us:
• passion – It shows us what is to come
• Motivation – because of what could be – a dream fulfilled.
• Direction – without vision “good things” avoids us to get “great things”. People who don’t have a vision keep changing direction. They don’t have a spiritual, relational, financial or moral compass. They make decisions that rob them of their dreams.
• Purpose – a vision gives you a reason to get out of bed in the morning. If you don’t show up, something important will not happen. Suddenly your life matters a lot.
In democracy every person has the right to dream his/her own dreams about the future, but at the cross, we are tied to Jesus dream. (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
Our heart is going to beat at “Jesus beat” that is fulfilling God’s plan which is having children to the Lord.
We were created to do God’s will. Ephesians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 6:15.
Your talents, experiences, opportunities aren’t to please yourselves, but to please God.
What’s our direction? Psalms 119:113
God will help you. Philippians 1:6
Let’s keep focused in the vision. Philippians 3:15
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