2015 Day 40 – Mark 9

09 Monday Feb 2015

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In Jesus’ eyes we are all equal. No sin is great than the other and no amount of grace received is in more abundance than any other. The same is true when it comes to our salvation; none of us is greater than any other. Mark 9:35, Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Ultimately, none of us is greater than any other. We all deserve death, which should give us a sense of overwhelming gratitude for the level of forgiveness we have all received.

2015 Day 39 – Why Dads Lie

08 Sunday Feb 2015

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I came across this video earlier this week. In the beginning I couldn’t quite tell which direction the video was going, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised. It reminded me of why I do the things I do as a father to protect my kids. And while “lying” to my kids is wrong, I do think it’s important to shield them from the realities of this world and allow them to grow into maturity at a safe pace. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did.

 

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.

2015 Day 38 – Matthew 17

07 Saturday Feb 2015

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Have you ever had something revealed to you that had been previously hidden? It is a special moment when you see things the way they are meant to be seen. In Matthew 17:2 Jesus briefly shows His true Self, There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as the light. This was a vision of Jesus’ true glory. It was a special moment for a chosen few to witness who Jesus really was. What struck me most of all about this moment was the fact that Jesus gave up all that glory, even though it was for a moment in the light of eternity, for us.

2015 Day 37 – Luke 9

06 Friday Feb 2015

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Making the decision to follow Christ is the best decision we could ever make. However, it is not a one time decision to follow Him, it is a daily act of obedience. Luke 9:23 says, Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” We must choose to follow Christ and be led by him each and every day.

2015 Day 36 – Mark 8

05 Thursday Feb 2015

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People spend their entire lives pursuing happiness and fulfillment by seeking the pleasures of this world. But in the end, in this life, it is a speck of dust in the light of eternity. In Mark 8:36-37 Jesus asks the following questions, 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? The answer to Jesus’ questions is simply: NOTHING. The possessions we gain on this earth mean nothing and there is nothing on this earth that is worth exchanging our eternal souls. We must remind ourselves, in everything we do, that what we pursue and what we strive for matters in the light of eternity.

2015 Day 35 – Matthew 16

04 Wednesday Feb 2015

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Most people can only believe when they see physical evidence. It is one of the reasons why some have a hard time believing in who Jesus is. But this is where faith comes in. In Matthew 16:4 Jesus said, A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. Jesus then left them and went away. Jesus used Jonah as an example of resurrection since Jonah was swallowed by a fish for 3 days just as Jesus would later be resurrected after 3 days. Jesus gave the people around Him plenty of information and signs about who He was and what He would do. But without ears to hear and a heart that is willing to believe, they missed the truth, just as people still miss the truth today.

2015 Day 34 – Mark 7

03 Tuesday Feb 2015

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Hypocrisy is pretending to be something you are not and have no intention of ever being. And just like our churches today, the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were no different. Mark 7:6-7, 6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ” ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ “ There is a great note in my Bible that states: “We become hypocrites when we (1) pay more attention to reputation than character, (2) carefully follow certain religious practices while allowing our hearts to remain distant from God, and (3) emphasize our virtues but ‘others’ sin.”

2015 Day 33 – Matthew 15

02 Monday Feb 2015

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The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were very concerned about being “clean”. They worried more about what entered the body than what came out. Their outward relationship with people was not a loving and caring one, but one of judgement and condemnation. Jesus came along and turned everything around. He pointed out that what comes out of you is the more important than what is placed in you. In Matthew 15:19-20 Jesus said, 19 “For out of the heart come evil evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’ “ Let us be more concerned with what comes out of our mouths and the actions we produce with our hands than what we put in. This does not mean we can put filth into our minds and expect beautiful things to come out, but it does mean we must be intentional about producing love through our actions and words.

2015 Day 32 – It Is Well with My Soul – Jimmy Needham featuring John Piper

01 Sunday Feb 2015

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This is such a beautiful rendition by Jimmy Needham of the song It is well with my soul, which was originally written by Horatio Spafford in 1873 in response to the loss of his four daughters and nearly losing his wife in a ship accident on their way to England. John Piper describes the story beautifully in the middle of the song.

 

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.

2015 Day 31 – John 6

31 Saturday Jan 2015

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Jesus is everything to us. Few verses in the Bible state it more clearly than John 6:35, Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” While Jesus can provide for our physical needs, when we have a personal relationship with Him, He satisfies our spiritual needs completely. For this reason Jesus called Himself “the bread of life”.