I shall see...

But I Know that my reedemer lives and he shall stand at last on the earth. 
And After my skin skin is destoyed this I know that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another.  Job 19:25-27


Amazing is the assurance every believer has in the certainty of the resurrection.
The reason for that is simply because we understand that our salvation doesn't depend on ourselves.
All other worldly religions based their "salvation"  on the individual's fulfilment of certain rules, and principles and that leads them to always doubt their " salvation". The reason is our inability to gain God' s favour based on our own merits.
It is interesting that no matter how hard life is and how many dangers and difficulties we go trough, believers have that amazing assurance not on their merits to win God's favour, but on God's sovereignty to keep us, trusting His word to questions of salvation.
 I recommend to all of you that are still struggling with the (inexistent) role of our merits or good works on our salvation to pray to the Lord about it and meditate on what His word tells us about this crucial issue to the Christian faith. I suggest Galatians for this endeavour and its precious words that assure us of the necessity of faith in the work done in the cross and the importance of Jesus' blood and righteousness.


Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we 
have believed that we might be justified by faith in Christ Jesus and not by the works of the law; for BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW NO FLESH SHALL BE JUSTIFIED. Galatians 2:16 


May the Lord give you assurance not in yourself but in the precious blood shed on the calvary and the imputed righteousness only possible by God 's Son dying our death.
May you understand the consequences of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and the true reason why we search a life of righteousness day by day not to the means of salvation but as a consequence of it.


I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I life by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Some thoughts on a servant's heart

There are too many people looking for great things to do for God, almost always they end up doing nothing.

The man God uses is the one that says:

I will do anything for God however humble, however insignificant, unnoticed...

AND

when we are faithful in little, we are often given to be faithful in much..

(...)

True leadership comes from a servants spirit ...

By these means God makes sure the glory continues to himself...

Children of Obedience/ Filhos da obediencia

 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 
 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 
 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 
  When Christ,who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 
  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

Spiritual Gifts-Sunday's Sermon

This Sunday's sermon was about the spiritual gifts.

This is usually a hot topic amongst evangelicals as many error comes in our churches because of a lack of understanding of Bible verses related to spiritual gifts.
Pastor did a great job introducing the topic which we will be the issue of his sermons for the following weeks.

Now, the notes on this Sunday's sermon:

Charisma is the exactly word for gift. ( Strong's Hebrew and Greek dictionaries G5486 ).

As we can read in Ephesians 4 the Lord gives His church Spiritual gifts
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

The Lord gives different gifts:
And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.

The Lord gives us different gifts that are complementary and only useful when used in the body of Christ  for the benefit of the body:
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself [ the body] in love.[emphasis added]
1 Peter 4 -10,11

The Lord commands us to make use of our gifts "ministering to another"  for, again, His Glory:
 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another,  as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Now This is far from being all that we need to now, but those passages bring some initial lights in this issue.  


If believers fall into the trap of believing  that they do need to go through some kind of miraculous charismatic experience they are missing the main point and reason for being a Christian.
We are saved by God's grace and our "job" is to grow in knowledge of the God of scriptures;" covet earnestly the best gifts"; and use them for the edifying of the body of Christ [His Church].


Just to remember:

• Our  spiritual gifts are not to bring attention to ourselves ...
• They are to edify, complement; not to divide, differentiate or classify believers ( levels of spirituality).
• Our spiritual gifts are for the common good...
• They are to be used in the church ( for the purpose of edifying the church), because not one person has all the gifts and it is important for our spiritual growth that we are in the church because "we will be blessed by other's gifts and bless them with our gifts".

In Christ


J Roque

What a Love!!!

The King of Love my Shepherd is;

whose goodness faileth never;

I nothing lack, if I am His;

and He is mine forever.

Where streams of living waters flow;

my ransomed souls he leadeth;

and, where the verdant pastures grow,

with food celestial feedth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,

but yet in Love He Sought me,

and on His shoulder gently laid,

and home, rejoicing, brought me.

In death 's dark vale I fear no ill,

with Thee, dear Lord, beside me;

Thy rod and staff my comfort still,

Thy cross before to guide me.

And so through all the length of days,

Thy goodness faileth never:

good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise,

within Thy House forever!

Henry Williams Baker, 1821-77