20 Saturday Sep 2014
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Today we read about John’s account of the start of Jesus’ ministry. What stood out to me the most was the first two verses, John 1:1-2 says, 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. What struck me is how John makes a point to show Christ’s deity by saying He was there in the beginning with God. It shows Jesus as both fully human and fully God. Pretty amazing when you sit down and let it sink in.
19 Friday Sep 2014
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In today’s reading there is a lot of great information. The big thing that always stand out to me in Luke 5 is verses 31 and 32, 31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The Pharisees, like many modern day Christian elite, thought the Messiah was coming for them only. God sent Jesus for people who recognize how broken they really are. No one, no matter how long you walk with Jesus, is perfect. We all need God’s grace and forgiveness for our sinful nature on a constant basis. I saw a sign the other day on social media that said, “God does not remember the sin in our lives we cannot forget.” Praise Him for that!
18 Thursday Sep 2014
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Today is our 1,000th post. We have posted every day for almost three years and it has been a blessing to know there are people who follow along and get something out of reading God’s word together. A special thanks goes out to Brian Manning who helped start this endeavor and to Sarah Muncell who helped push through a big part of these posts. Here’s to the next 1,000!
For today’s reading, we see the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in His hometown of Nazareth. But even Jesus was not accepted in His hometown. Luke 4:24 says, “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” Don’t be surprised when the people who are closest to you do not understand how God is changing and working in your life. Just be faithful to God’s call and obedient to His commands and He will be glorified.
17 Wednesday Sep 2014
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For today’s reading, I found it interesting and surprising to see Jesus being tempted by Satan. We have to assume the devil knew Jesus was the Son of God, but somehow believed he could convince Jesus to give into temptation due to His weakened human physical condition caused by fasting and praying for 40 days. Ultimately I believe Jesus allowed Himself to be tempted as an example for us. Temptation is around us every moment of every day and we are faced with the choice to either fight temptation on our own or look to the one who knows exactly what we are experiencing each day. God never leave us alone to face our struggles, but we must look to Him to find the strength we need to conquer them.
16 Tuesday Sep 2014
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As we read today’s passages in Luke 3, we once again we see John the Baptist working through his singular mission of preparing the way for Jesus. John was so focused that he never minced words and when asked a question, he answered directly. When he saw a wrong, including Herod for taking his own brother’s wife, John did not hesitate to expose the truth even though it would eventually cost his life. Part of obedience is taking on the confidence of God to do all he commands and expects us to do for His glory and according to His will.
15 Monday Sep 2014
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Today, as I was reading, it struck me how the demons were so aware of who Jesus was. In Mark 1:34 it says, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. The awareness of Jesus as the Son of God was very clear to the demons. More over, Jesus had authority over them to keep them quiet. While God has authority over all things, including demons, He allows us to have free will to choose to follow, listen, and obey Him. God has already chosen us, it is up to us to choose Him back.
14 Sunday Sep 2014
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This past summer I had the privilege of spending 8 days in the Amazon jungle with an organization called Justice & Mercy International. While I spent most of my summers in Brazil as a youth visiting family, this is the first time I visited Brazil in over 20 years and it was a life changing experience visiting and working with the forgotten people of the Amazon. One of the greatest privileges was bringing my oldest daughter with me and sharing this experience with her. These were some of the most beautiful, loving, and gracious people I had ever met and we are both looking forward to our next visit.
The below video shows an overview of the ministry.
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.
13 Saturday Sep 2014
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We all allow distractions to pull us away from God’s true purpose for our lives. John the Baptist is one of the most impressive characters in the Bible to me personally. Through his singularity of mind and discipline, he was able to fulfill God’s plan exactly as He intended. John the Baptist was not distracted and was always focused on God’s plan for his life, never wavering away, right up until his death. John knew his part and even questioned his worthiness to baptize Jesus. In Matthew 3:14 John tries to talk Jesus out of it, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?”. Even so, in his humility, John consented to Jesus’ command.
This is a powerful example for us in a couple of ways: 1) We allow too many distractions that take our focus away from completely serving God and fulfilling His purpose in and through our lives. 2) Even though we feel unworthy to participate in God’s great purpose, He can always use us if we are simply willing to follow His lead.
12 Friday Sep 2014
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Today we continue to read about the early life of Jesus in Luke 2. As I read this chapter I could not help but think about how interesting it was that Jesus’ earthly parents were repeatedly astonished by all that happened around Him. But then I reminded myself that I do the same thing. As much as I read the Bible and understand who God is more and more each day, I am still surprised when He comes through for me. It should come as a no-brainer that God loves me and wants nothing but what is best for me according to His will. Praise God for that!
11 Thursday Sep 2014
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What struck me in today’s reading is the number of times prophecy was fulfilled. Three different times in this chapter Matthew identifies things that were mentioned hundreds of years before. First, where the Messiah would be born, which Matthew quoted from Micah 5:2. Second, was the fulfillment of the killing of children from Jeremiah 31:15 Then third, though the Old Testament prophets never specifically said “Nazarene”, scholars believe Matthew is referring to Isaiah 11:1 where the Hebrew word for “branch” is similar to the word Nazarene or maybe he is referring to a prophecy which is not recorded in the Bible. None the less, Matthew paints the picture of Jesus as the true Messiah, announced by God through the prophets, who came from humble beginnings just as the Old Testament predicted.
Daily Devotion 