I believe kindness is a powerful aspect of love, especially when applied in our own homes. It is something that can cause immediate change to our day and it helps our love not to grow cold. When someone acts kindly to you, it triggers a chain-reaction; being kind bears much fruit. I suggest we all start planning situations where we …
In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-31), Jesus describes three ways of thinking: how we think about ourselves when we have done something wrong, how we think about ourselves when we have done something right, and how God thinks about us.
The younger brother knew he had messed up but he chose to return to his father’s house and beg to work as a slave. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). There was no hesitation from the father. The moment he saw his son he began expressing his love. God is this loving father. It does not matter how much of our inheritance we waste, or how long we wander without Him, the moment we take a step and return to Him, He will run to us with loving arms. He will clothe us with the robes of his nature, give us his ring with authority, place new sandals on our feet so we can learn to walk in a new way, and kill the fattened calf for our abundant joy. When we come before the Lord He has the best for us, He is not holding anything back.
The older brother thought he was doing everything right. He worked diligently to please his father and earn his inheritance. However, when he spoke to his father he had a slave mentality. He was jealous and angry because his brother got a party when he didn’t, but it was never his father who limited him. The father’s response was the same for both sons, “All that is mine is yours.” No matter what you think you did, or have to do, to deserve the Fathers love, you are wrong. The only thing you have to do is come before Him. All that the Father has is yours.
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“But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.” John 4:23 I love this scripture so much. Every time I read it I think of King David and how honest he was in his expression of worship to …
I expound on the oneness of the early church as described in Acts 2 through 5. Our drive to walk in love and oneness is a key to bringing forth the restoration which is taking place in the church today.
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“and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. ” (Ephesians 3:19, NAS) I have been living in this verse for a while now and there are two things that come to my mind: one is that the love of Christ surpasses knowledge, which means that I …
I dive into what it means to be a Christian. When we refer to ourselves as Christians, we should think of ourselves as anointed ones being sent on a mission to love one another. We receive God’s love for us through Christ and reflect that love to those around us.
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On August 7th we are resuming our After School Program for our school age children. The focus of the program is very simple: We love our children and want to create an atmosphere where they can learn and grow. That being our goal, we have gathered an amazing team of moms, aunties, and grandmas to help us. We bring the …
I expand on my explanation of the sower and the seed parable from Luke 8. The soil has to be prepared to receive the seed of the word from God. If we prepare our hearts to receive the word, then it can be planted and activated in our lives.
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Seeds have an amazing ability to retain and preserve their quality and ability to reproduce and multiply. Seeds kept for years still retain the same untouched qualities they had generations past. I have heard of some 2,000-year-old seeds that germinated. They can not only reproduce the same DNA—the qualities of what they are—but they can reproduce it in great quantity. …
I explain the parable from Jesus Christ about the sower and the seed in Luke 8. The seed that is spoken of in this parable is relating to the word from God that we hear. How we listen to and use the word will determine if it bears fruit.
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We should have abundant life and be in a constant process of growing in our love for the Father and for each other. But then the question is: how can we do this? I think that the most important thing is to consistently connect back to our first love (Revelation 2:4). Think back to the first experience you had with …
This July 15, 2017 marks exactly ten years my husband and then, five year old daughter, Julia Jael, left our families, careers, and possessions in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and moved to Maui, Hawaii. Earlier that year in March, we were praying and looking for the next steps in our lives. That is when our beloved pastors and spiritual parents …
Is it better to be disillusioned or to live in illusions? We easily build illusions about God and what we think He should do for us and in the world around us. When we walk with God we have to be seeking Him and studying His word, and we must do it with the Holy Spirit as he guides us …
There were several times throughout Christ’s ministry where He received an impartation of God’s spirit and love. (Matt 3:16-17, Matt 17:5) These experiences equipped Him to do the will of His Father. The disciples were likewise equipped in order to fulfill the commission they received in Matt 28:19-20 to make disciples of the nations. In Luke 24:29 Jesus told them …
As we approach the time of the Feast of Passover we are filled with anticipation to celebrate it as a family. The Feast of Passover is inexhaustible in its significance for us today because it represents the love and drive of God to see His people delivered from any obligation so they can come to worship Him only. During the first …
Recently at our Bible Study we went over a lesson on prayer and it is clear to see that when we study the scriptures, we understand the Father knows our needs before we ask Him. However, there is something about the daily time in prayer that leads us to practice His presence, bringing us closer to Him. Our time in …
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT). God is a loving Father who created mankind out of a desire to have a relationship. He longed to have sons that would give their lives in worship to Him. Although …
During this holiday season I wanted to take time to study the scriptures on being joyful. In my studies I came across this nagging question: What makes us joyful? The answer became clear when I read Nehemiah 7 through 9 about the days of Jerusalem’s restoration. The people of Israel were reconnecting with the word of God and restoring the …
The scriptures teach us that we are to believe for the kingdom coming on this earth; Jesus taught us to pray to our Father this way: “Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Christ also said that the kingdom is like a leaven that leavens the whole lump of dough (Matthew 13:33). The …
We are approaching the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. As Christians, we do not only celebrate it in remembrance of what God did in the past, but we also anticipate the fulfillment of what God is doing during the Feast of Tabernacles today. We believe that there are truths hidden in plain sight in the Scriptures, but we also …
When we study and celebrate the Old Testament Feasts we are not looking back to something that God did in the past. We are actually looking into the future and anticipating what God promised that He would do during the time we are living now. Leading up to the Feast of Tabernacles we observe the Feast of Trumpets from Sundown …
As we approach the time of the Feast of Tabernacles we reflect on the time when the people of Israel experienced the presence of God with them for forty years. That time was prophetic and a type of the days of the Kingdom of God on earth (Deuteronomy 8:4). We also think about the coming of Jesus Christ as the …
God is looking for us to be His worshippers, but we don’t do anything without discipline. We must set our will on God and discipline ourselves to pray and worship. We invite the Holy Spirit to enable us so that it is not just a mechanical ritual but an expression of our relationship with the Father and a meaningful offering …
I have been meditating on one verse for the last week. The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But victory belongs to the LORD (Proverbs 21:31). In my mind I started to think about all the details that are necessary to prepare a horse for a battle, or even a competition. It takes years to prepare a horse, …
Whenever I read the Scriptures, I want to try and understand what really happened by placing myself in the story. For instance, at the coming of Christ many people were fed, healed, and resurrected (Luke 7:20-23). Out of the thousands that had some contact with Him, only one hundred and twenty were together on the Day of Pentecost. It bothers …
Today it is very easy to find information about everything. Everyone has something to say about anything. More and more people rely upon their knowledge and understanding, and yet we are told to trust the Lord. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). But, trust must be based on …
We have been studying the life of David and how he had to be anointed three times to finally become the king of Israel (1 Sam. 16:12; 2 Sam. 2:4; 5:1). When Samuel first anointed David he was still a young boy, but the plan of God for his life was established. David went through a period where it did …
In our walk with God we experience times when we feel like we are stuck on a level and things stop working the way they did before. All the mechanics of our walk with God, all the ministries and gifts are not supposed to be our goal. The goal always has to be a deeper experience of God’s love for …
When we read the scripture we see that in Christ we are born again. Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. “Do not …
Mark 5:25-29 gives us a great example to follow, “A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and …
