31 Saturday Aug 2013
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If you ever come across anything you’d like me to post on this blog, please feel free to contact me at dino.evangelista@gmail.com.
30 Friday Aug 2013
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For those of you that know me know that I love the book “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. The video below is an introduction to the book. I would highly recommend this book if you have not already read it. I hope you enjoy the intro video.
If you ever come across anything you’d like me to post on this blog, please feel free to contact me at dino.evangelista@gmail.com.
29 Thursday Aug 2013
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We are going to take the next three days off from reading. We will resume on September 1 with the book of 1 Timothy. In the meantime I will try to post something for our reflection days. I found today’s video interesting. Let me know what you think.
If you ever come across anything you’d like me to post on this blog, please feel free to contact me at dino.evangelista@gmail.com.
28 Wednesday Aug 2013
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27 Tuesday Aug 2013
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Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem prepared to find a broken wall that needs fixing. He also finds broken lives that need to repentance and a return to righteous living. With the help of Ezra, who read God’s law, the people repent and promise to change their lives by obeying God’s word. No matter where we are, we are always at risk of falling away from living a righteous and godly life. We must constantly check our behavior against the standards God has placed in the Bible. If we are faithful to follow God’s word, we will be less likely to suffer from the consequences of sin in our lives because it is meant for our protection.
26 Monday Aug 2013
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Sometimes we need to recognize where evil comes from and whether it is something that God has allowed to enter in our lives. Nehemiah 6:11-12 said, 11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Nehemiah recognized that the persecutors in his life were not authorized in his life by God and he was able to rebuke them. We must know that not all bad things in our lives are allowed by God and whether we know it or not, it is ok to ask God to remove bad things from happening to us. God does not expect us to meekly take all the bad things in our lives. He expects us to continuously ask for help and mercy.
25 Sunday Aug 2013
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Today we begin the book of Nehemiah. It is historically the last book of the Old Testament and records the history of the third return to Jerusalem after captivity. The main story tells how the walls of the city were rebuilt and the faith of the people was renewed. This book was probably written by Nehemiah and Ezra. The book opens up with Nehemiah recognizing the need to rebuild the walls and the struggle against those who did not want it rebuilt. Sometimes we know things must be fixed or changed in our lives, but there are people who choose to put up obstacles instead of helping to fix our issues. It is times like these where we need to press forward and do what is right regardless of whether someone chooses to help us or not. Focusing on God is what we ultimately need to fix everything anyway.
24 Saturday Aug 2013
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The very first verse of Psalm 118 says everything we need to know about the level of respect and love The Lord deserves from us, 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. First, God is good. He never wants harm to come to us, but through our rebellion the consequences of sin will sometimes hurt us. Second, His love endures for ever. There is nothing we can do to make God stop loving us. His love will never end for us no matter what happens to us or how far we rebel against Him.
23 Friday Aug 2013
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Today we read the shortest chapter in the Bible. It is also the middle chapter of the Bible., Psalm 117, 1 Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. 2 For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord. Paul quotes from this Psalm in Romans 15:11. While God brought salvation for His people, Paul also wanted to show how God’s salvation is given to all people, no just the Jews.
22 Thursday Aug 2013
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Today we begin the book of Ezra. The purpose of the book was to show God’s faithfulness in restoring His people back to their land. This book was written after the exile to Babylon. While the Israelites were still under Babylonian rule, they were ultimately allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. God may allow bad things to happen, but He never forgets about us or leaves us to deal with our consequences on our own.
