The Lord makes all things new 2

* Luís Alberto Alves

This style of acting shows that the Lord makes all things new. There is no lost case for God. It is when it enters our lives, at a time when the world was already leaving us aside, just as orange without juice, whose destination is the garbage.

That is why in Corinthians chapter 1, verse 27, Jesus makes it quite clear: "But God chose the foolish things of this world to confound the wise; And God chose the weak things of this world to confound the strong ... "

Sometimes we look at someone lost in drugs, prostitution, perversion, witchcraft, crime, addiction, idolatry, robbery, and we consider them annihilated without any service in the hands of God. The Lord is expert in making new what the devil has spoiled with the sheaf of sin.

The greatest men and women God has ever used to spread His Word all over the world were despicable people before society. Few valued them. They were just numbers on the left, without any use.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.

God chooses the illogical 1

* Luís Alberto Alves

Man's mistake is to imagine that God works with logic, as in mathematics, where 2 + 2 is 4. It already begins in the Trinity: God + Holy Spirit + Jesus are one! Three are actually the same God. It is the only case in mathematics where 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 and not three, as dictated by the rule.

Take the case of the 12 apostles. All men full of faults and sins. Prosecutor Matthew was corrupt and a thief. John, later known as an apostle of love, was too nervous to ask Jesus to lift his hands to the heavens and rain over the city, whose inhabitants refused to hear his Words and stoned them.

After his death, Jesus Christ appeared for the first time to Mary Magdalene, a woman from whom he drove out seven demons that forced her to become a prostitute and then became one of her followers.

And what about Noah, man chosen to build the ark and deliver the family from death. From the root of it came Japheth, Shem, and Cam. Adept of the wine, he drank so much one night that he collapsed and had to be clothed by his children.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.

Heart stuck to consumerism 5

* Luís Alberto Alves


It is quite different from the chocolate egg festival without any meditation. What matters is if you fill with this kind of candy, without thinking of God and lasts only one day. The proposal in this case is to kill the will of the flesh without any reflection on the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

From the moment the Christian comes into harmony with the thoughts of God, life becomes easier and we find the strength and wisdom to win the battles. Because we begin to look at our passage on this earth with the vision of God. The pleasures of the Earth do not seduce us. Our heart is not stuck with consumerism.

We behave like the prisoner who is anxious for the day when he will leave that prison and breathe the eternal air of life at the Lord's side. He will lose the fear of death, for no one enters Heaven without dying, except for Elijah and Enoch who were caught up in God.

 But it is good to be aware that our thoughts will never be the same as the Lord's. They will be better and more perfect than ours. Meditate and see if you think just like Jesus Christ or just look at the pleasures of this world.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.

Traps prepared by the evil one 4

* Luís Alberto Alves

We have a bad habit of valuing too much the passage through this dark world. It is the same as the prisoner who happened to like the prison cell where he is serving sentence, forgetting the life in freedom that awaits him after serving the sentence. By leaving aside the desire to dwell in Heaven, the Lord's thoughts will not clash with ours.

The Devil realizing this attitude will sow several lentil dishes, reinforcing the idea that it is better to enjoy the pleasures of the world, because in Heaven they do not exist. Yes, because nothing sinful comes in here. By entering into this trap, the Christian departs from the ways of Jesus Christ and his thoughts of life and falls into the trap of the enemy.

Blinded by the pleasures of this world, the Lord's rebel servant can not visualize that the pleasures of the world are swift. An example of this is Carnival. It lasts a few days and in the end people are tired and out of money, some of them contaminated with venereal diseases, which will jeopardize their marital relationship.

Every party in the world is short. The feasts that the Lord has asked Israel to do are several days and serve as meditation to strengthen the spirit and communion with God. It is not a festival of the satisfaction of the flesh, but of adoration of the Lord. An example of this is the Passover, where a ram is roasted and all share, not forgetting the past suffered in Egypt, from where the Lord has set them free.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.

Sinful nature of the human being 3

* Luís Alberto Alves

The thoughts of various Christians is to get well of life. It has high limit credit card, designer clothes, expensive shoes, famous perfumes, luxury cars, and lots of money in the checking account. It is no sin to desire all this. The problem is when it takes the place of God, leaving Him in the background.

But how can we identify that my thoughts are in tune with the God? One of the signs is the divergence. Example: sunny Saturday, wallet full of money, tank of the car clogged with fuel and much disposition. By the logic of the world, it is the ideal day to stroll, to get a beach or to fill up with bags in the malls.

In the Lord's sight, this beautiful day could be used to visit some asylum, orphanage or even hospital, to pray for these abandoned and needy people of the mercy of Jesus Christ. Three hours would be sufficient to make this idea of ​​the Lord and then we could carry out our projects.

However, the sinful nature in the heart leaves this project of God aside. We spend all day just satisfying our flesh instead of valuing the spiritual. In this example it is quite clear that the thoughts of God do not match those of the human being.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.

Mind seized by the pleasures of the world 2

* Luís Alberto Alves

As our mind is very attached to the pleasures of the world, we develop the habit of believing that the human will equals the spiritual of the Lord. Even when we pray, we often put our requests ahead of worship. We have entered the petition alone, without giving any reverence to Jesus Christ.

We forget that the eternal abode of every authentic Christian is in the Heavens, not here on Earth. But we are preoccupied with acquiring earthly blessings, sometimes in clear disagreement with God. In the sentimental area, many people engage in relationships that the Lord does not like.

We leave our projects ahead of God's. He wants us to do his work to win souls for his Kingdom, but we enter the path of consumerism and pleasures, especially of the flesh. The important thing is to carry out our projects, even those without any harmony with the Heavens.

The thoughts of the Lord are of good, of salvation of lives, of preaching his Word to all (especially to those who hate us) and prayer to the captives for evil. But when we get up in the morning, we do not even thank God for the night of sleep. We shower and then coffee and go to work or school without looking at the Lord.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.

Is your thought attuned to God's? 1

* Luís Alberto Alves

The famous passage from Isaiah, chapter 55, verse 8: "My thoughts are not yours, for I am in heaven and you on earth ..." When we analyze this Word we realize that what we often think is not in tune With Jesus Christ.

Our mistake is to imagine that our thoughts, most of the time, hit those of God. By the way, it is very clear how selfish we are. We can not see the future, nor can we be alive in the next week, month, or year.

When Isaiah, inspired by God, wrote this text he spoke about Israel, as always praying the Lord's promises, sometimes putting aside his advice and predictions.

There in Heaven there is nothing sinful, there is only holiness and Glory of the Lamb who has taken away the sin of the world through His death on the cross. Being eternal, God has the condition to know what is going to happen to us in the future, whether it is good or bad.

*Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.