How many Christians would imitate the gesture of Elisha? - 7

* Luís Alberto Alves

Another form of this Evil Army's role is to encourage homosexuality, be it male or female. In a sophisticated way, satan stuffed this cake, whose interior is garbage, like a lifestyle. It distorts the Word of God when it says that God is love, leaving out the rest of the phrase: "but it is justice."

There are cases of marriages that have come to an end when one of the partners decided to go and live with a man or a woman. However emotionally prepared, any man or woman who is changed by another in this kind of situation will feel the thump.

God in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9/10 says, "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither immortals, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor passive or active homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor alcoholics, nor slanderers nor cheaters will inherit the Kingdom of God. "

In this case the Christian with Giasin's behavior will call Jesus Christ radical or homophobic. Is God, in this kind of problem, stupid and we sinners are the smart, knowledgeable of the truth? Some say we are in the age of Grace and God is merciful. Yes! When the
We know.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor

How many Christians would imitate the gesture of Elisha? - 6

* Luís Alberto Alves

Sometimes this evil army appears in drug addiction. This is another serious problem. No father, mother or son or daughter to see someone in the family strung on marijuana cigarettes or in the powder of cocaine or heroin or any other kind of drug.

It's terrible because it destabilizes the family. The junkie leaves the house, stays days or months distant, without giving any news. Or when you're in the house, you steal or even steal things to make money and keep addiction.

The Giasin, in this case, seek to ignore the faith and go to the confrontation, in some cases even chasing away the dependent chemist. He does not look at God, he fixes sight on the problem. He refuses the Word of the Lord, that He continues with ears open to the cries of His servants.

At this hour the power of prayer must prevail. It is to act like Elisha, trusting in the help of Heaven. It may seem impossible, but it arrives. God has no pleasure in the suffering of his servant. But the enemy will tinker with the emotional to try to overturn what is left of faith.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor

How many Christians would imitate the gesture of Elisha? - 5

* Luís Alberto Alves

There is the Army's case of marriage destruction. The tactic of these evil spirits is to attain the feeling by mistreating the man or the woman. Hit this key until one of the two parties divorce or leave home, leaving behind children and the achievements they both achieved in the time of happiness.

It's sad to see a marriage come to an end. The ruin of a union, the collapse of the home, which once was synonymous with love and peace. You talk to both of them and realize that neither of them takes the blame or remembers when the destruction began. They were not attentive to the signs that evil had issued announcing their arrival.

In this case, one of the mistakes is the couple leaving the prayers in the background. The devotional becomes flash. Many do not even go to church or read the Bible. The concern is to accumulate treasures that in this world will be eroded by moths or stolen by thieves. God was a museum piece. It is no longer invoked.

Like Elisha, you have to act fast. Proceed in prayer when you realize that something is not right. Stop overvaluing each other's mistakes, but highlight the virtues. Try to open your mouth to speak positive words. In addition to always invoking the name of the Lord.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor

How many Christians would imitate the gesture of Elisha? - 4

* Luís Alberto Alves

Another terrible Army is that of a serious illness whose doctor has already deceived you. The treatment is only palliative, in a gesture to postpone death. Even in frank conversation, it has already been stipulated that the life span is short. Anyway, now it's just waiting for death to arrive.

As a pastor, I have already visited hospital beds and witnessed the sadness of relatives in this situation. As a servant of God I prayed for the sick, I perceived by the countenance, the agony eroding the soul and spirit of those people. Everyone is afraid of death. Especially from someone dear.

As much as we speak of the power of Jesus Christ, many people continue to behave just like Giasin. They refuse to have the faith and posture of Elisha. They remain trapped in the discourse of medicine, instead of paying attention to the Lord's action.

In some cases, family members are in a panic. They do not reason anymore. They only see the worst. As a pastor I understand, but he who has power over life and death is still God. Nothing happens without your permission.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor

How many Christians would imitate the gesture of Elisha? - 3

* Luís Alberto Alves

In times of fighting we usually act like Giasin. We focus on the problem instead of looking at the solution, which will come from God. It is at this hour that Satan increases the feeling of fear about the person immersed in this gale. In the case of unemployment people appear pessimistic.

They say that you are over the age of 40, or you are a woman, you are married, you have children, or you live in a region of the city that HR managers judge as problematic, negatively influencing a recruitment and selection interview.

Sometimes depressive comments appear inside your home, or it is the husband or wife seeking to throw you down instead of putting their spirits up. They repeat Giasin's behavior. Even with faith, they are still far from the anointing of Elisha.

It's like you're in a little rubber boat trying to get to the beach surrounded by a terrible storm. The movement of the oars seems to have no effect in the face of the fury of the waves. But to keep surviving the secret is not to give up.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor

How many Christians would imitate the gesture of Elisha? - 2

* Luís Alberto Alves

Perhaps the Army sent against you, my brother and sister, is the terrible unemployment, which in Brazil reaches 13, 2 million. People who no longer know what to do to put their daily bread in the house, nor how to pay the bills that pile up for lack of money.

This enemy acts strongly on the emotional. It overthrows esteem, fuels the bonfire of depression, apathy, sadness and causes diseases related to the nervous system. Every weekday, those without work bet on the change of scenery, which in some cases already lasts almost a year.

That's when Giasin gets up. It overthrows the will to go to services, to preach the Word, to evangelize or even to open the mouth to worship the Lord, who is worthy of all honor and glory. At this hour we look at the situation, not God.

It is hard for many to trust in Jesus Christ. They leave faith aside, they focus strength in the arm, in the human, not in the spiritual. Sometimes they ignore Elisha's pleas. They respond that he does not know the intensity of that struggle.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor

How many Christians would imitate the gesture of Elisha?

* Luís Alberto Alves

How many Christians today would imitate the gesture of the prophet Elisha, as narrated in 2 Kings chapter 6, when the Aramean Army was sent to Israel to kill him? Giasin, the boy who walked with him came in terrified at home fearing for the life of his master.

Elisha, trusting in God, asked the young man to remain calm, for greater was what was in the heart, soul and spirit, than the soldiers of the enemy. He ordered Giasin to look again at the men who had been assigned to take their lives.

The scene contemplated by Giasin marveled him as he saw horses and chariots of fire from the angels of the Lord sent by God to protect them from the fury of evil. Minutes later, all the enemy's soldiers lost sight of a request from Elisha made to God.

Today the same situation is repeated. But with different scenarios, but causing fear and sadness in those who trust in God, but only when the bank account is full of money and plenty is reality in their homes.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor

The burial of the Christian church

* Luís Alberto Alves

Once upon a time there was a small town inland that had its Shepherd a man who was already old and sick. One day, he died. As the bishop had no other pastor to replace him, the city was without a shepherd.

Slowly, the people were forgetting the Church. They finally locked the doors of the old Temple ... The people said that the Church there had died.

Several years passed, until the bishop, concerned, sent a newly ordained pastor there.

The young priest arrived and with all his enthusiasm opened the doors of the old Temple ... removed the cobwebs and set up the church speaker system to function, calling the people. But no one came.

The pastor went out into the streets, personally inviting those he met. The answer was always the same: "No use, pastor, the Church here died."
The pastor had an idea: If the Church is dead, let's bury it. And he invited the people to the burial of the Church.

The news spread. The women who washed clothes in the stream and the men in the bars commented: "Have you ever seen a church burial? ..."
At the appointed hour, the old Church was full. The shepherd had removed the benches and placed in the middle of the temple a coffin, surrounded by a rope.

After the funeral, the pastor said in a funereal tone: "I invite you to approach the coffin and give your last farewell to the deceased Church."

The rope was opened and the people approached. But everyone who looked into the coffin was scared and left with his head down.

You are already imagining what the pastor put in the coffin: A mirror. Every person who looked, saw himself inside!

REFLECTION: That's the truth. We are Church. To criticize it is to criticize ourselves.

 May God teach us to love our Congregation, our Community, our brothers. To love the Church is to make her ever more alive, holy, beautiful and alive, we must return to the first love.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor

Difficult times are coming - 2

* Luís Alberto Alves

It is sad to see how greed can prevail in the population. There is no concern for the underdog. People needing help, but ignored, because unfortunately they are in financial crisis. Some close to being on the street, for lack of rent payment.

On the other side of the wall, billionaires spend money on idleness, like toasting millions in Las Vegas casinos, just to satisfy their ego. Others buy planes and ask to line the interior with gold and other bullshit.

They do not care about millions of starving people in many countries. People who do not even find junk to serve as food, who need help urgently. But let go of the covetous.

He who has ears listen to what the Spirit has to say to the Church. It is we who serve Jesus Christ. We must pay attention to the atrocities committed today. It's not a joke or an invention. Times are bad because the Lord hastens his return to bring the righteous into glory. Stay tuned! I'll come back to this.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor

Difficult times are coming

* Luís Alberto Alves

The words that Jesus put on the lips of Timothy are coming true, when the servant of God says that "in the last days shall come difficult times." We just look around and everything is confirmed.
Every day the situation gets worse. In several regions of the world, the catastrophe becomes routine, as is the accelerated growth of violence.

People today are lovers of themselves. They ignore the next one.
We take, for example, the issue of unemployment, with millions without work around the world. Whoever is in the business forgets the fellow who screws up for lacking money at home and continues to live worthily.

This is one of the examples of bad times. Even warning, people refuse to hear the warning of Christ. They think only of them, they only look at the navel. The rest they screw up. It is individualism taken to the extreme.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor