Monthly Archives: November 2014

2014 Day 314 – John 9

10 Monday Nov 2014

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My favorite passage in today’s reading was the healed blind man’s response to the religious leaders about not knowing who Christ was because they did not know where He came from. The man’s response is found in John 9:30-33, 30 The man answered, “Now this is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” This is a pretty obvious assessment of the situation, especially coming from a seemingly uneducated man. Sometimes the obvious is simply the right answer. We tend to complicate things too much. If we simply trust in God and listen for His “voice”, we will know the things that are from Him and those that are not.

2014 Day 313 – Francis Chan: Time With God

09 Sunday Nov 2014

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As most of you know, I am a big fan of Francis Chan. He is one of the most real pastors I have ever heard and he seems to have a grasp on the realities of the life of a believer. In this video Francis Chan begins by talking about spending real time with God. He asks the question, “How can you pull off following God in our culture, in our world, without time alone with God?”  The ultimate goal for ourselves, friends, and family is to become “independently dependent on God.” When we learn to love God through the truths found in the Bible, we learn to fully trust in Him and know that this life will not be perfect, but it will be fulfilling by following Him.

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.

2014 Day 312 – John 8

08 Saturday Nov 2014

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There is no question who Jesus claimed to be. We either believe who Jesus claimed He was, or we do not. In John 8:58 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” Not only did Jesus claim to exist before Abraham, but He also applied God’s Holy name, “I am”, to Himself. There is no doubt about His claims, the only doubt is in a person’s faith and choice to believe in Him.

2014 Day 311 – John 7

07 Friday Nov 2014

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It always amazes me how much the life of Jesus Christ was prophesied in the Old Testament. In John 7:42 it says, Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived? The people recognize that prophesy stated the Messiah would come out of Bethlehem. And while Jesus grew up in Galilee, He was born in Bethlehem. When we first read about the story of Jesus Christ’s birth, we wonder why Joseph and Mary took such a detour, but we find out it was to fulfill a prophesy found in Micah 5:2, which was written over 400 years before Jesus’ birth. Nothing God does is an accident; it is all meant to bring glory to Him and His name.

2014 Day 310 – Matthew 18

06 Thursday Nov 2014

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The picture of God’s love for us and how happy he is when we come to Him is painted beautifully in Matthew 18:12-14, 12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hill and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. God does not want to see anyone lost. His desire is to have all of us to have a personal relationship with Him. God is constantly looking for each person and He is happiest when they finally come to Him.

2014 Day 309 – Mark 9

05 Wednesday Nov 2014

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Back in Jesus’ time, children were often treated as second class citizens. But Jesus used children as an example of service and love to those who needed our help the most. Mark 9:36-37, 36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him by the arm, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” Jesus’ point was to show that our service to others is a reflection of Christ’s love and service to them. While children can be challenging at times to deal with, they are the ones who benefit from Christ’s love the most by helping them form into who God created them to be.

2014 Day 308 – Matthew 17

04 Tuesday Nov 2014

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As we read in Matthew 17 today, we see Jesus getting a little frustrated at the disciples for their inability to cast out the demon in a young boy. Matthew 17:17-18, 17 “O unbelieving world and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. While Jesus was frustrated at the disciples, he was also frustrated with the lack of faith in the “world and perverse generation” as a whole. The disciples were simply a reflection of the lack of faith in the generation they lived in. Jesus came to restore faith and hope to the people if they simply have faith in Him. A few verses later the disciples ask why they weren’t able to rebuke the demon. Jesus explains in Matthew 17:20, He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Faith is a simple act which is actually difficult to have. But when we release ourselves to have faith in God our Father, His power has the ability to amaze us beyond anything we could have imagined.

2014 Day 307 – Luke 9:18-62

03 Monday Nov 2014

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Our pride can be one of the biggest things that hurt us. God has blessed us in this life with knowing who He is and how much power He has to work through each of us. We should never be jealous of what God is doing through other believers. It is all ultimately for His glory. In Luke 9:49-50 Jesus rebukes His disciples, 49 “Master,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” 50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” There is no room for jealousy when we work towards God’s glory as a body of believers. Once we forget about taking credit for victories in the Kingdom of God, we will see more growth than any of us could ever imagine.

2014 Day 306 – I Like Adoption

02 Sunday Nov 2014

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This beautiful short film is about a family who made their home a place where kids from all over the world, especially the ones who had been discarded, were given a home and more importantly a loving family.

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.

2014 Day 305 – Mark 6

01 Saturday Nov 2014

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We must never be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. His sacrifice was too great and too personal to be ignored or denied by us. In Mark 6:38 Jesus says, If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. Christ died for us. He sacrificed His place at the right side of the Father to save us from our sins. What is there to be ashamed of? Shame comes to the those who act like Pharisees and choose to interpret parts of God’s word for their own gain. Shame also comes to those who would rather believe their own opinions rather than believing what God has taught us through His word. Never be ashamed of the Gospel; be ashamed of how some “so called” believer twist the truth.