What we are today is the result of our past decisions, or the lack thereof. Too often we forget this truth to hide behind excuses, saying that it is because of circumstances or other people that our situation is what it is now. Which is wrong, because if we cannot control what is happening to us, we have the capacity to determine how we respond to it. It's about knowing how to position yourself in the right way, ...

It is amazing to see the increase in the number of items offered for sale on online shopping sites in the days following Christmas. It seems that many people did not appreciate what they received as a gift and want to get rid of it… There is a form of ingratitude here, not knowing how to be grateful for what has been received. And sometimes that's the attitude we have to what God gives us and does for us .... Sometimes we get so focused on a ...

Have you ever noticed that what you feed is what grows and develops? Here, Mary has just given birth to her baby, Jesus. The circumstances surrounding this happy event were truly special. There were several angelic manifestations, first of all towards Elisabeth the cousin of Mary, then for Mary herself, then Joseph and finally the shepherds in the countryside… But there is also the fact of finding oneself pregnant before be married and ...

This is what Jesus asks Bartimaeus. Why ask such a question, the answer seems so obvious… He is blind and Jesus is the One who works miracles, so why ask? The answer is found in the next verse, when Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “Get your sight; your faith has saved you ”. When God asks questions, it is not that He waits for an answer or an explanation ... He just desires to release our faith, for faith moves the arm of God for the miraculous ......

Faith is simple, and God uses examples from everyday life for us and from nature to reveal the truths of the Kingdom of God to us. What Paul is saying here seems so obvious, it is the measure of what we plant in the ground that we can harvest. Because if we cannot control the result of the harvest, namely how much each seed planted will bear fruit, we can control the fact of knowing how to plant. Because it's always God who makes it grow and He's going to ...

Have you ever realized how important and precious your life is? You are an extraordinary person, with many gifts and a real inner richness. These are not empty words, they are the truth, for you were created by God in His image (cf. Genesis 1:27). You have been desired, wanted and chosen from all eternity by God (cf. Psalm 139: 13-18) with a future and hope. Here's the truth, no matter what you think, whether someone may have told you or you ...

The apostle John is giving us here a revelation of what is happening in the spiritual world and it is important to remember that what we experience in this world is only a reflection of what is happening in the spiritual world. To fail to grasp this truth is to struggle with our own strength without being able to obtain any real victory. It is for this reason, for example, that Paul tells us that we do not have to fight against flesh and blood, but against powers of darkness (cf. ...

The Bible contains many promises, for God desires to fill us and bless us beyond measure. However, our reality is sometimes that we know the promises of God without however being the reality in our daily life. These promises concern all areas of our lives, I invite you to take the time to read Deuteronomy 28: 1-14 to get a good overview of God's promises. It is sometimes tempting to believe that ultimately these promises are not for ...

If we are not vigilant it is very easy to get into a routine life where we are comfortable with our lifestyle and habits. If we are not careful, our thinking becomes secular. We must remember that Christ reigns and works miracles. As followers of Christ, there is no room for the status quo as we are called to a life of adventure. The one where we do the works of Christ, greater than He has ...

This is literally what “triumph” means here. It is about filling the atmosphere with cries of triumph. Usually this is what we do when we are happy, when we have good news, a victory or great joy. However, here it is a matter of uttering cries of triumph when everything is opposed to it. Because with God victory is not a question of circumstances, it depends on who God is for you and what He says. As His disciple you are ...

Christ has all authority, He has accomplished everything (cf. John 19:30) and all things are subject to Him… As His disciples we have everything fully in Him (cf. Colossians 2:10). Nevertheless, we have to face a reality, there is a tension between what the Bible states and our daily life. It is this tension between the now and the not yet that we all have to contend with. For these promises and this abundant life are not just about when we ...

The life of a disciple is not a long calm river, it is a real life of adventure and challenge. Trials are an integral part of the path that Christ has planned for us and He has warned us of it (cf. Matthew 10:16). And this verse gives us an extraordinary promise regarding the pressures, tensions and other trials that we might encounter. And to fully understand this, it is necessary to know the meaning of the word “Baka”. This is the Valley of Tears ....

To have peace and what is good is something we all desire. It is the aspiration of the heart of every human being and it is normal, because it is for this that we were created… It is the desire and the plan of God to bless and fulfill us. However, too often we do not live up to what burns in our heart and that of the Lord. And yet it is simple - because with God it is always simple, which does not mean easy - you just have to agree with ...

It is completely crazy and irrational what is happening here. There was in the time of the prophet Elisha a city that could have been pleasant to live in if its water source did not produce sterility and death. It might have been tempting for the locals to throw in the towel and move to another more favorable location. However, they preferred to stay and ask God to perform a miracle. In our lives there are sometimes situations where everything seems unnecessary, the circumstances are difficult and ...

When things change, when there are transitions, when things don't go the way we want them to it seems so easy to go back to old things. This is exactly what is happening here. When Peter says “I am going to fish,” he goes back to his old activities, which he did before he met Jesus. As if these three years spent with Him were a kind of parenthesis in her life. Yes Jesus is risen, He appears regularly however things are no longer ...

To experience multiplication is the norm of the Kingdom and that is why we were created… God put in everything that is living the seed for multiplication, we see this from the Creation (cf. Genesis 1:12). , 22). In this passage from John, Jesus describes this as bearing fruit, asserting that we are called to bear much fruit (cf. John 15: 8). When we speak of fruit here, it is not a question of the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22) but of disciples. An apple tree gives ...

These words of Christ constitute His order of mission for all His disciples until His return. For about three years Jesus was with His disciples, they lived together and now there is a handover. As He goes to the Father, Jesus hands over the responsibility of making disciples to those He has trained. It is up to them to set in motion and Mark 16:20 reveals to us that Jesus worked with them as they set in motion. When you get a ...

This is Paul's exhortation in the previous verse and so this is what we are called to experience. So let's take a moment to discover together what this implies for our life and how to make it a reality ... The first thing is to come and confront a false belief that there are spiritual things and others. When you are a disciple of Christ everything is spiritual. Because God is with us in everything we do. He is the One who works in us wanting it ...

God loves us and He wants to bless us. It is enough to read the first fourteen verses of this chapter 28 of Deuteronomy to discover His will for His people and that even before the coming of Christ. He is still the same, His willingness to bless us has not changed and through the death and resurrection of Christ, He has done everything to make us live in His blessing. Ephesians 1: 3 states that in Christ we are blessed with all spiritual blessings and in Colossians 2:10 ...

When I was a child, while I was on vacation with my grandparents, I did something stupid… My reaction was to do my best to hide things and hide myself behind a mask of all is well… My big -mother knowing what had happened approached me, not to scold me but to show me her love. This experience marked me and gave me a real lesson in life, namely, it is useless to want to hide our mistakes. However, I soon noticed that this ...

God is good and He is always good! This is not an easy phrase or statement. This is the truth, for goodness is part of the very nature of God. This implies that the goodness of God is not conditioned by our actions, our prayer life, or anything else. God is always good, His goodness is renewed day after day (cf. Lamentations 3:23) and that for all, whether we are righteous or unjust (cf. Matthew 5:45). The fact that we're alive, that ...

From the beginning of Creation, we discover that God chose to make Man his partner for His work (cf. Genesis 2: 19-20) and that has not changed… God created you. so that you can be partners with Him for His Kingdom. And the basis of all partnership and dialogue, so God desires to speak to you so that you know His will… It is simple, because God does not speak in coded or hidden language, He speaks in a clear way so that we can. understand ... The challenge is often our ...

When we talk about dependence, it is generally something negative that we try to avoid… We value the fact of being independent, of not having to depend on someone or something. Being independent is also often considered a success and a proof of maturity ... Here Jesus will say exactly the opposite, the maturity of a disciple is to recognize and live in absolute dependence on the Father. Jesus will affirm it again in John 15: 5 when He says that ...

This is certainly one of the greatest offering to be found in the Bible. One may be astonished by what Solomon offered on the day of the dedication of the Temple (cf. 1 Kings 8:63) or by other extravagant offerings, however all are inferior to what this widow put. Because the value of the offering is not in what is given but in the sacrifice which is made and the act of faith. So God never considers what we give, but the attitude of our heart when we ...

The cross is empty… Christ was crucified, He died, He was laid in the tomb, but on the third day He rose again and now He reigns in the heavens with power and authority. His Name is above any other name. By dying on the cross, Jesus became sin in our place, He took upon Himself the curse and the punishment that was reserved for us. When we approach Him by acknowledging our faults and failings to ask Him for forgiveness and choosing to ...

Have you ever noticed that the life of a disciple is so simple, you just have to obey God and His Word… God chose it to be simple so that it is accessible to all, it is not a question of intelligence, ability or whatever, it's just a matter of decision: to obey. And yet it is often so difficult, because it costs and involves radical changes in the way of life. And the command of Jesus above which was already in the Old ...

The miracle is the natural one of God, which implies that it is also that of His children… God loves to perform miracles and He wishes to perform them in your daily life. What is extraordinary is that He chose to make you a partner in His miracles. It is so bad that you determine the extent of your miracle… You want to live a miracle life, so how to act intentionally… Praying for miracles is a good start, however it is not enough, we must. ..

There is so much more to each of our lives and we are called to learn and grow until our last breath on this earth. If we are not vigilant, we could easily get stuck on what we have learned by contenting ourselves with living on these bases ... Because growing up requires effort, it forces us to get out of our comfort zone and forces us to know how to unlearn. One of the foundations of learning is knowing how to unlearn what we already know or ...

The life of a disciple is rich in challenges and trials, that is normal… It is even a promise that Jesus made to us, when He said that as He was persecuted, we will be persecuted (cf. John 15:20 ). Paul says the same thing in 2 Timothy 3:12 and James even goes so far as to invite us to consider the trials we face as a matter of complete joy (cf. James 1: 2). When we understand this, it will do two things. First of all, we're going to stop wanting to avoid them, ...

This invitation from Jesus is still so relevant to us today… Rest is something we all need and which is essential to our balance. And yet it sometimes seems like a real struggle to know how to respond to this invitation from Christ. It is normal that we need rest on a regular basis because we were created in the image of God and God rested from the beginning of Creation (cf. Genesis 2: 2). God created everything, the sun, ...

Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation, where you have to face pressures and trials that seem to overwhelm you? Certainly yes and if not, rest assured, it will come ... It is very likely that you have wondered what could have happened to make these things happen to you ... If you had made a mistake or if it was an attack by the enemy, or whatever other reason ... I would like to ask you the question and if it was God who ...

You have certainly noticed that the Christian life is not a long calm river, on the contrary it is a life of adventures, challenges and fights ... It is normal and we must know how to take advantage of it, because when we are in eternity with God, these things will no longer exist. To be a disciple of Christ and not to have a fight is not possible, because when we met Jesus and decided to follow Him, we left the kingdom of darkness to enter the Kingdom of Christ (cf.

I don't know about you, but for years I read this verse with enthusiasm saying to myself: “wow, this is great, for the first time the Church is becoming intentional in sending people to fulfill Its Mission and to plant churches". However, I missed the implication as I was already watching the outcome to come, Paul's missionary journeys, the nations impacted, churches planted, and lives saved. Often it is the same in our lives, we fix our ...

When we speak of inheritance it means to receive something for which we did not work and of which we did nothing to deserve it… It also implies that someone else paid for it and that this person died for bequeath us his legacy. The inheritance Paul is talking about in this verse is the one that Christ bequeathed to us, it is His inheritance… Christ died so that we could be reconciled to the Father and receive life in abundance. We did nothing to deserve ...

When I was younger, I often heard that we had to serve someone else's vision first before God could give us a vision. The examples given were generally those of Joshua who served Moses or Elisha with Elijah. Which implied a dimension of hierarchy, position and promotion… Things which have no place in the Kingdom of God and in the Church. In fact, Joshua never served the vision of Moses, just like Elisha didn't with Elijah ... They ...

This verse introduces us to two important principles that characterized the Church in Her beginnings. It is not a question of wanting to be nostalgic by wanting to return to the first Church, because it is not possible and it would be false ... The book of Acts does not present us with a model to follow but tells us the story of the first years of the Church. These biblical principles are fundamental, because they are applicable in all contexts and all times, always producing a result ...

Have you ever noticed that you never learned to worry? Unfortunately, it is something easy and natural that destroys the life of the person who is worried and those around him. It is, however, something that has no place in the life of a follower of Christ. So let's take a moment to see how to overcome worry and be free from it. Because God's plan for you is that you don't worry about anything (cf. Matthew 6: 24-34) and that on the contrary ...

This story is certainly the one that best reveals the heart of the Father, it is simply extraordinary and I encourage you to take a moment to read it in full in Luke 15: 11-32. Jesus reveals here wonderful aspects of the heart of God for us who are His children. This son behaved in a terrible way by completely rejecting his father and his family to go and live his life according to his desires and his plans. Which led him inexorably to hit rock bottom ...

It is not good that man is alone… These words coming from God denote with what precedes where He never stopped saying that it was good and very good in speaking of His Creation. This reveals an important aspect for our lives, because in reality man was not alone, God was present. However, there remained a solitude in the heart of man, that of having a vis-à-vis that only another human being could provide. This observation directly follows the order of mission that God gave to ...

You are a worker with God! This is what Paul declares, what an extraordinary privilege to be able to be a partner with the Creator of the whole universe… Which means that God has chosen you to build with Him. And the first of the important things is to understand that it is with Him and not for Him. Likewise, we live with Jesus and not for Jesus. It is because you are with Him that you can do with Him. It is essential to be able to align your life with this reality because often ...

It is not trivial that these Words of the Father arrive at this time, when Jesus will start His earthly ministry which will end some three years later with the cross. Jesus was fully aware of who He was, at the age of 12 already He was going to tell His parents: “Did you not know that I must take care of my Father's business?” (cf. Luke 2:49). However, the Father needed to affirm His identity and His love to Jesus in a special way. For the ministry is ...

A few years ago I found myself in one of the most challenging seasons of my life… I had to face a lot of work as well as many challenges and yet there was inside me a real joy. If the circumstances were difficult, however, I felt like I was in a game in which I found great pleasure. It was there that I discovered the true meaning of the above verse. Life is not a game, however we ...

Imagine the scene… A few moments ago, Jesus is going to declare that Peter is happy because he has a revelation that comes from heaven (cf. Matthew 16:17) and now, Jesus is going to say that Peter's words come from satan… Wow, what a change and what a radicality in the words of Christ to reject the lie which came from the mouth of Peter. It is this same radicalism that we must have with regard to the lie. And what allows Jesus to react that way is love ... love ...

Last March when the covid crisis started, one of the first thoughts that came to me was: "like in Joseph's time, the world is going to be put into slavery". And this is what is happening, the world is caught in the bondage of fear ... These words of the apostle Paul are important for us today ... You are no longer a slave, it is a reality in Christ then do not let yourself be enslaved by anything! Slavery is the loss of freedom, it is acting under duress and ...

A few years ago we had received a car for the church and we hastened to have it stamped with the name, address and website of the church. I quickly noticed that when I was using it my driving was different than usual. I was careful to obey all traffic rules, I anticipated things and let all pedestrians pass with a big smile. Many of the people who used it made the same remark to me ... All of this ...

Imagine, you arrive in the sky, you are introduced (e) in a projection room. After you sit down in a comfortable chair with your favorite drink and some snacks, a movie will start. From the first seconds you are seized by these images of an extraordinary life, with trials, difficulties, joys, miracles, God at work, etc ... This until the letters “END ”Appear on the screen. It is then that you realize that you did not take advantage of what ...

To be meaningful in life and to be successful is something that every human being aspires to. For we were created in the image of God, with a unique destiny (cf. Genesis 9: 7 and Ephesians 2:10). To be successful is therefore simply to accomplish what we have been fashioned by God to do. Which means that it has nothing to do with our life circumstances and our surroundings, on the contrary! In the above verse it is about Nehemiah, to put the context the latter is exiled in a ...

When times are difficult, people often say that tomorrow will be better… A bit like a fate, where we endure the present in the hope that better days will arrive. It sounds reassuring and yet it is so empty, without any basis. This year which is coming to an end has certainly brought many challenges, trials and at the same time so many good things. Wanting to believe that next year will be easier is certainly what we would like and ...

I still remember the first Christmas present I gave to my beloved when it had only been a few weeks since we were together. Nothing was too good for her, that's why my choice fell on a beautiful gold bracelet. I did not consider the price or the implication on my budget, I wanted to please him and for that no sacrifice was too great. Because when you love you don't count and I'm sure you've already experienced this. In this...

The search for success is something natural in the life of each of us and it is normal because God created us for it. However, it is important to know how to define what success is in order to ensure that it is achieved. The best definition of success seems to me to be simply being able to accomplish what God created us for (cf. Ephesians 2.10) in order to one day hear His words “well, good and faithful servant you have been faithful in few things, I t 'will establish on ...