Tag Archives: Trust

2014 Day 269 – Luke 5

26 Friday Sep 2014

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One of my favorite pictures in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is His calling for Simon Peter, James, and John to follow Him. Just after Jesus tells Simon to drop his nets in the water and they pull out an enormous catch, Luke 5:9-11 says, 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Like these men, when we choose to follow Christ, we do not need to be perfect or even fully equipped, we must simply be willing to do whatever He asks. Obedience, faith, and trust are the keys.

2014 Day 268 – Luke 4

25 Thursday Sep 2014

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There are many pieces of evidence that Jesus was God. One of the biggest is in this chapter is Jesus’ authority over demons. Luke 4:35, “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. God, and therefore Jesus, has authority over all things, including demons who are nothing more than fallen angels. No matter how hard life becomes, we must always remember God has authority and power over all of it.

2014 Day 257 – Justice & Mercy International – Amazon

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.

2014 Day 256 – Matthew 3

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.

2014 Day 255 – Luke 2

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!

2014 Day 254 – Matthew 2

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.

2014 Day 253 – Matthew 1

10 Wednesday Sep 2014

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Today we continue the chronological view of the Gospel of Christ in Matthew 1. What struck me was the perfect genealogical balance from Abraham to David to exile in Babylon to Jesus, which is laid out in Matthew 1:17, Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, Fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ. It is often difficult to see God’s plan when we are in the middle of the journey, but when we look back, we are able to see more clearly the orchestration of God’s plan. We must trust God as He leads us through this life and know we are part of His perfect plan.

2014 Day 249 – Psalm 118

06 Saturday Sep 2014

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God’s love is greater than anything we could ever experience. Love from another human being pales in comparison to the great love He has for us. Psalm 118:1 says, Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. We must always remember to be thankful for the love He has and the fact that His love will never end. God wants nothing but what is best for us. Even when things are at their worst, His plan is perfect.

2014 Day 248 – Psalm 137

05 Friday Sep 2014

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In todays reading we are in Psalm 137. The overall chapter comes from the weeping of the people in captivity and while no one verse specifically jumped out at me, this reading reminded me of how difficult it can be to find joy when we are going through struggles. However, God is still in control even when everything feels completely out of control. God never promised to make it easy, but He did promise to never leave us.

2014 Day 244 – Psalm 37

01 Monday Sep 2014

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God’s plan is perfect. While it may be difficult to wait on God’s timing, He promises His timing will honor us. Psalm 37:34 says, Wait on the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. In our obedience, God will change our circumstances when His timing is right. God is always faithful in delivering us through obediently following God’s plan for our lives.