Christmas is a time to remember that God sent his only Son to earth to die on a Cross for our sins...
Christmas is a time to give thanks for the hope of having Jesus...
Christmas is a time to reflect and understand the message of Jesus: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17)
And then Jesus is knocking at his door. You open?
Ancient coins have been found depicting a tree stump (representing the dead Nimrod) and a small tree growing nearby (Tammuz). The idolatrous Israelites performed their rituals under trees:
“...yet on every high hill and UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE YOU WALK BROWING UP AND WHOLORYING YOURSELVES.” Jeremiah 2:20
“Only acknowledge your iniquity, which you have transgressed against YHWH your God; AND YOU HAVE EXTENDED YOUR WAYS TO STRANGERS, UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE, AND YOU HAVE NOT HEARDED MY VOICE, SAYS YHWH.” Jeremiah 3:13
It was also the custom of the apostate Hebrews to decorate the tree for the worship of idols:
“(...) Because the customs of the nations are despicable;
Because the FOREST TREE he cuts down, the work of the hands of an ax worker.
WITH SILVER AND WITH GOLD HE DECORATES IT…” (literal translation of Jeremiah 10:3-4, directly from the Hebrew).
In the text above, it is not clear whether there was a cult to the tree itself or to the idol arising from it. For some scholars, the quoted passage refers to decorating the tree for idolatrous purposes (see “All About Christmas 2,000 BCE to Date”, written by Ed Stevens and edited by James Trimm).
Ed Stevens and James Trimm teach that the Egyptians used palm trees and the Romans PINE trees for the worship of their gods, which later resulted in the “Christmas Tree” (“All About Christmas 2,000 BCE to Date”, written by Ed Stevens and edited by James Trimm).
The use of trees for idolatrous purposes has a remote origin in Babylonian religion. Many Hebrews even performed profane cults under trees, as well as decorating them in honor of the gods. A similar custom was observed by the Egyptians and the Romans. All of this ended up being syncretized in the Christmas Tree.
PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW. THANKS.
My mom isn't watching...
My leader is not watching...
My pastor is not watching...
My wife, my husband are not seeing...”
"God is watching and so is the devil, and he doesn't play at being the devil"!
“Technology can be a blessing, but it can also be a curse if we don't have control...” (Débora Menezes).
*Posted by Júlio César Prado
It is impossible for any Christian who spends his nights, month after month, week after week, day after day watching the top shows: soap operas, Big Brother (BBB), movies and shows, to develop a Christian mind.
My advice? Stop watching television and cut off cable, especially Netflix. A young couple a few days ago confessed: “We canceled cable TV because we want to have time to study the Bible and read the books that will help us develop a Christian mind. The husband said: I can't control the television, I'm spending almost all my time indoors watching TV. We have radically decided to cancel cable TV.”
In an article published on the website Observatório da Imprensa, journalist and Doctor of Philosophy, Orlando Tambosi wrote that “the market war drags the television networks more and more towards vulgarity, obscenity, rudeness, the exploitation of sex and violence , without distinction of public and time”. Rede Globo's nine o'clock soap operas are totally diabolical. When you sit in the living room to watch soap operas, a legion of demons (fallen angels) accompanies you and your guardian angel turns away completely. Christians who await the return of Jesus should never watch soap operas and other TV programs because we are living in the end times.
The eroticization of the Internet is a more real phenomenon than one might imagine at first glance. International surveys show that one third of Internet accesses are made by people looking for some kind of virtual sexual activity. These include visits to "sites" with explicit sexual content and endless hours spent in so-called erotic chat rooms. The phenomenon has behavioral implications and a surprising economic implication. On the behavioral side, experts are frequently diagnosing Internet sex addiction, which ruins marriages and alienates people from normal relationships.
In Brazil, psychologists already receive patients complaining about spending 14 hours a week in front of the screen in search of virtual erotic adventures. They can't kick the habit without expert help. In exchange for virtual pleasure, many people completely lose contact with reality and need special care to get rid of the disease – just like drug addicts - As the network expands at breakneck speed, the problem tends to take on an ever-increasing dimension. bigger time.
TV and the Internet, little by little anesthetize the spiritual conscience and predispose us to the most corrupt things. If Heaven is our destination, if that's where we want to go, then we need to make radical changes that will help our spouse and children get to Heaven. Please, dear wives, don't go to sleep leaving your husband alone on the internet. The man is generally defined as a “nocturnal animal” he needs the help of a wise wife who takes him to bed earlier. “Right thoughts, and pure and holy purposes, do not come to us spontaneously, we have to fight for them” (Counsels on Health, pg. 291).
We will never have a Christian mind without reading our Bible daily with meditation. Because? Because we cannot be profoundly influenced by something we do not know and have not experienced. The apostle John, who at first was known as the “son of thunder” because of his temper, but who later became known as the “disciple of love”, gives us the hint of victory: “What was from the beginning, the what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at, and our hands have touched of the Word of Life... this we proclaim to you” (1 John 1:1, 3).
By beholding Jesus in the gospels, assimilating His character and mind through prayerful study of the Bible, our minds begin to like what Jesus likes, and the evil desires of human nature lose their hold on us. It works like a daily download of the heavenly program that is downloaded by the Holy Spirit and implanted in our minds. This heavenly program is called: The Mind of Jesus! The Holy Spirit communicates the Mind of Jesus to us, not in a day, or in a month, but during a lifetime. It's an ongoing, daily process that doesn't happen by miracle, but by fellowship alone with God and His Word. The mind of Jesus is a very heavy file that contains all of His character traits and temperament developed during His 33 years of earthly life. This heavenly download is slow and our mind, our hard disk, would not support something faster, however, it can be speeded up or delayed, and even interrupted, depending on the frequency of this communion.
“It is in good thoughts that the only safety for every soul lies. Man 'as he thinketh in his soul, so is he' (Proverbs 23:7). The faculty of mastering develops through exercise. What seemed difficult at first becomes easy by constant repetition, until pure thoughts and actions become habitual” (Counsels on Health, p. 295).
We need to develop selective awareness. “God does not want us to hear all there is to hear, nor to see all there is to see. It is a great blessing to close our ears so that we do not hear, and our eyes so that we do not see” (Mind, Character and Personality, p. 332) (Photo: Disclosure).
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*Júlio César Prado is a journalist
Because it hurts?
It is necessary…
When Joseph was betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers, he suffered innumerable pains; humiliated, slandered, arrested... his pain favored not only him, but countless people, including those who led him to suffering.
After his father Jacob died, his brothers were afraid that Joseph would take revenge on them.
What did he say?
You meant evil against me, but GOD meant it for good, to make it as it is this day, to save many people alive. Genesis 50:20
Paul suffered a lot for the sake of the Gospel of CHRIST, that is, to take the teachings of JESUS.
So that for Paul not to exalt himself, he was given through Satan, a thorn in the flesh; he pleaded with the LORD three times that this thorn be taken away from him.
What was the answer?
My grace is sufficient for you, because My strength is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9a
Nobody likes to be in pain; but for the greater good, it may be necessary, for the benefit of the life of one, and many...
Joseph and Paul teach us with the pain of suffering:
After Joseph's humiliations and pains, he was exalted;
Joseph's pain benefited his family and other nations;
Humiliation and pain put the person in a place of total dependence on GOD;
There are useful and necessary pains;
Pains will bring benefits to the sufferer, and to others;
Do not beg the LORD to remove the thorn that causes pain;
The thorn reminds you that the grace of the LORD JESUS is sufficient;
His strength perfects us in our immense weakness.
Paul suffered to bring the Gospel to humanity.
Let's endure the pain of thorns, to generate miracles and benefits in our lives, and in other people's lives?
His grace is sufficient for us!
IT'S BETTER SUFFER NOW
God's children are continually corrected and disciplined by Him, to teach them the truth, purify their faith, teach resilience and detach their hearts from this world.
The others are left to the passions of their hearts, to the mistakes and lies common to men and even enjoy an apparently peaceful and trouble-free life. However, in that sinful slumber they will be taken suddenly and judged and justly condemned for their sins.
Happy is he whom the Lord rebukes and disciplines like a son.
HEBREWS 12.4-11