Author Archives: Dino Evangelista

2012 Day 44 – Luke 9:18-62

13 Monday Feb 2012

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The last verse in the chapter struck me today. Verse 62 says, “Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”” This verse applies to both believer and non-believer. For the non-believer it says they must look away from their current existence and look to a relationship with God. For the believer it has significance because a lot of us, myself especially, have a tendency to look back at our past. We are either slowed by our baggage or we are drawn back into it in times of weakness. We must constantly look forward to where our relationship with God is taking us, not how we got there. The past is of little value for how we proceed in impacting the kingdom of God.

2012 Day 43 – Mark 8

12 Sunday Feb 2012

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Verse 36 is always a great reminder to me, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” I used to thing this verse was strictly talking to non-believers, but the reality is it is talk to everyone. We need to do things with eternity in mind. It is our souls that benefit and/or suffer from our current actions. Money, fame, and earthly glory will benefit us for the short period of time we are here on earth, but to benefit eternity, we must focus on impacting God’s kingdom and for His glory alone.

2012 Day 42 – Matthew 16

11 Saturday Feb 2012

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It is funny how we always think we know best. In verse 22 Peter tries to convince Jesus that He will not be killed by the Jewish leaders and says, “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” The problem is that Jesus was following God’s perfect plan and in His plan the sacrifice was necessary to fulfill the bigger picture. Jesus’ replay in verse 23 was, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” He knew that Peter’s response came from the desires of Satan not wanting God’s plan to be fulfilled. I don’t think Satan knew what the plan was, but the truth is he doesn’t need to know what it is; he is a disrupter and that is all he wants to do. For this reason it is imperative that we listen and follow God’s leading in our lives. He has the big picture and we need to trust and know He has it under control.

2012 Day 41 – Mark 7

10 Friday Feb 2012

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Once again, in this chapter, Jesus keeps His focus on what really matters in following Him. In verses 20-22 He says, “20 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22  greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” We as humans want to keep a lot of rules and regulations so that we can feel good about keeping score. Jesus makes it pretty simple by explaining how all the things we do for ourselves means nothing if it doesn’t result in purity that comes out. What we allow to come out of our bodies (namely our mouths) and how it affects others means everything. Our actions and reactions to others is a direct reflection of our relationship with God.

2012 Day 40 – Matthew 15

09 Thursday Feb 2012

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I know people often look at the Bible as an ancient book that may not apply to our modern society and/or current issues, but I am always amazed at the Bible’s timeliness to the issues we face today. In verses 8 and 9 Jesus is talking about the Pharisees of that day and says, “8 ” ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”” When I read these verses I see Jesus talking to us as modern day believers and a modern day church. We are a society filled with people who like to interpret information to support their own selfish desires. This also applies to our church society where we selfishly interpret the Bible to fit doctrine or rules that make us feel better about ourselves. We need to spend less time worrying about what we think God is trying to tell us and spend more time building a relationship with Him to know what He really wants from us on a personal level.

2012 Day 39 – John 6

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

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“Lord, to whom shall we go?” Those are the words of Simon Peter in verse 68 when Jesus asked the Twelve “You do not want to leave too, do you?” At this point in Jesus’ ministry people were beginning to realize that following Jesus was going to cost something. But the Twelve realized the cost had eternal implications for their lives. Simon Peter goes on to say, “You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” I get goose bumps reading those words! Here was Peter, a simple fisherman, who was standing in the presence of the Holy One of God and he knew he could never go back to the life he had before. This is how we should view our lives! He has changed us for eternity and we should never be able to look at our existence in the same way again, especially when we view our future and the amazing plans He has in store for us.

2012 Day 38 – Luke 9:1-17

07 Tuesday Feb 2012

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Verse 3 says, “He told them: “Take nothing for the journey–no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.” Jesus asked His disciples to trust that all their needs would be provided. It took a great amount of faith on the disciple’s part to trust in the provision of all their needs. We were just talking tonight in our small group at church about this very topic. We took some time to pray that God would provide a bold prayer for audacious faith and boldly asking God to provide for us. I actually had a hard time thinking of something. The problem for me is I know that everything I want and everything I need is actually attainable through my own efforts.  I think sometimes as Americans it is harder to trust in God for His provision because we have so much. It is easy to look at all that we have and think of it as something we attained for ourselves. I want to have the kind of faith where I can take nothing with me and trust God to provide all my needs. My wife Nancy put beautifully when she said we should never put God in a box. God is so much bigger and more capable that my simple mind can comprehend.

2012 Day 37 – Mark 6

06 Monday Feb 2012

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Whenever I read verses that talk about Jesus’ compassion I am amazed. In verse 34 is says, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” We are very much like that crowd. Just like sheep, we are easily distracted and scattered. If it weren’t for the Shepherd in our lives we would be just as lost. I know that our relationship with Jesus is a two way street, but the reality is that Jesus draws me closer to Him and I do. If it weren’t for His constant calling on my life to come closer I would be far, far away from Him by now. I thank God daily for being the strong one in our relationship because the reality is I am too easily pulled in all the wrong directions.

2012 Day 36 – Matthew 14

05 Sunday Feb 2012

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In this chapter, my focus was turned to Jesus walking on the water. Peter’s experience is very much how I am with Jesus in my own walk sometimes. When my eyes are focused on Him, I can handle any of life’s obstacles. But when I focus on the waves crashing all around me, I struggle dealing  with the issue at hand. God never asked me to suck it up. He asked me to trust in Him and know that He will never leave me alone. When I stop long enough to see this, my level of understanding leaves me at peace. The other day a friend posted the following dialog on her Facebook page…

Me: God, can I ask You a question?

God: Sure

Me: Promise You won’t get mad…

God: I promise

Me: Why did You let so much stuff happen to me today?

God: What do u mean?

Me: Well, I woke up late

God: Yes

Me: My car took forever to start

God: Okay

Me: at lunch they made my sandwich wrong & I had to wait

God: Hmm

Me: On the way home, my phone went DEAD, just as I picked up a call

God: All right

Me: And on top of it all off, when I got home, I just wanted to soak my feet in my new foot massager & relax. BUT it wouldn’t work!!! Nothing went right today! Why did You do that?

God: Let me see, the death angel was at your bed this morning & I had to send one of My Angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep through that

Me (humbled): OH

GOD: I didn’t let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that would have hit you if you were on the road.

Me: (ashamed)

God: The first person who made your sandwich today was sick & I didn’t want you to catch what they have, I knew you couldn’t afford to miss work.

Me (embarrassed):Okay

God: Your phone went dead because the person that was calling was going to give false witness about what you said on that call, I didn’t even let you talk to them so you would be covered.

Me (softly): I see God

God: Oh and that foot massager, it had a shortage that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn’t think you wanted to be in the dark.

Me: I’m Sorry God

God: Don’t be sorry, just learn to Trust Me…. in All things , the Good & the bad.

Me: I will trust You.

God: And don’t doubt that My plan for your day is Always Better than your plan.

Me: I won’t God. And let me just tell you God, Thank You for Everything today.

God: You’re welcome child. It was just another day being your God and I Love looking after My Children…

2012 Day 35 – Matthew 10

04 Saturday Feb 2012

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This chapter’s theme is about being ready for persecution of our faith. Jesus made it clear that we would be persecuted, which means we should never be surprised when we are. As Americans we have no idea what true persecution looks like. I hope if I am ever truly persecuted I will be able to withstand whatever comes my way. Verse 39 makes it clear, “9 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” I need to always remember that honoring God is the most important thing I can ever do because my blessing will be for eternity.