Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Por que não vemos milagres acontecerem?

Romanos 1: 16 fala sobre o evangelho ser o poder de Deus para salvação. A palavra “poder” é a palavra grega dynamis que significa propriamente a capacidade de executar, o poder de alcançar através da aplicação de habilidades inerentes do Senhor, isto é, o poder através da habilidade de Deus. Também pode significar poderes milagrosos, poder e força. Esta palavra é a origem da  palavra dinamite. O apóstolo Paulo estava dizendo em Romanos 1:16 que ele não se envergonha do evangelho, porque é o poder de Deus para salvação e salvação significa não só salvo do inferno, mas a palavra grega soteria que significa bem-estar, prosperidade, libertação, preservação, salvação, segurança, cura.
Ao longo da semana eu estava meditando sobre esse tema e lembrei que o nome de Jesus em hebraico,  Yeshu,  também significa salvação. Em outras palavras, quando Jesus esteve na Terra  Ele mesmo era soteria, e por esta razão a todos que entraram em contato com ele receberam  cura, bem-estar, proteção, preservação, e todas as definições da palavra soteria. Hoje nós temos a salvação EM NÓS através do poder de Deus através do Espírito Santo. Então a pergunta  é por que não estamos vendo obras milagrosas entre nós? Creio que a resposta é porque o evangelho, que é a dynamis de Deus,  não está sendo pregado em sua pureza. Infelizmente, o evangelho genuíno está sendo misturado com definições e experiências humanas,  com tradições que agem como a água diluindo o incrível poder de Deus. Portanto, se queremos ver a manifestação do poder de Deus, que já está dentro de nós através do Espírito Santo, precisamos pedir a Deus para nos revelar, na Palavra, o verdadeiro Evangelho.
O verso seguinte em Romanos, capítulo 1 versículo 17, encontramos uma dica muito importante: Porque no evangelho é revelada a justiça de Deus, uma justiça que do princípio ao fim é pela fé, como está escrito: "O justo viverá pela fé". NVI
Consequentemente, para começar a entender o evangelho e seu poder temos de nos concentrar no que ele revela: a justiça de Deus.  Agora torna-se mais claro por que Jesus nos disse para buscar primeiro o reino de Deus e a sua justiça e todas estas coisas seriam acrescentadas a nós.
Saber que somos justos e compreender a justiça de Deus é um dos ensinamentos fundamentais do verdadeiro evangelho e, infelizmente, raramente ouvimos isto sendo pregado.
Esta justiça é o que diferencia bebês de cristãos maduros:
·         Quem se alimenta de leite ainda é criança, e não tem experiência* no ensino da justiça.
Mas o alimento sólido é para os adultos, os quais, pelo exercício constante, tornaram-se aptos para discernir tanto o bem quanto o mal. Hebreus 5:13,14 NVI
·         não tem experiência * = a palavra grega apeiros que significa inexperiente, inábil, ignorante.
·         Justiça: dikaiosyne (1343) ( "a aprovação de Deus") refere-se ao que é considerado certo pelo Senhor (depois de sua análise), ou seja o que é aprovado em Seus olhos.
CAPÍTULO 5 de Hebreus começa definindo o ofício de Sumo Sacerdote e declarando que Jesus é nosso Sumo Sacerdote. O capítulo termina com a chamada para a maturidade espiritual (de leite para alimentos sólidos).
Um Sumo Sacerdote representa o povo diante de Deus.
No Velho Testamento, Deus decidiu que o povo de Israel seria representado pelo Sumo Sacerdote. O Sumo Sacerdote, entraria  uma vez por ano no Santo dos Santos com o sangue do sacrifício pelos pecados do povo. Se ele se apresentasse justo diante de  Deus, a oferta seria aceita e o povo de Deus era abençoado.
Se o Sumo Sacerdote não fosse perfeito, ele morreria no Santo dos Santos e isso significaria que a oferta não foi aceita e o povo de Deus seria amaldiçoado.
Em resumo: Deus não estava olhando para cada um dos israelitas e abençoando-os de acordo com as suas ações individuais. Ele estava olhando para seu representante, isto é, o Sumo Sacerdote.
Jesus é nosso Sumo Sacerdote
E, uma vez aperfeiçoado, tornou-se a fonte de eterna salvação para todos os que lhe obedecem, sendo designado por Deus sumo sacerdote, segundo a ordem de Melquisedeque*. Hebreus 5:9,10
* Em hebraico (4442) Malki-tsedeq que significa: Meu Rei é Justo  ou Rei da Justiça. No dia que cremos em Jesus, Ele se tornou nosso representante e nossa justiça diante do Pai. Nós somos abençoados hoje, não com base em nosso desempenho, mas com base no desempenho do  nosso Sumo Sacerdote. Se meu Rei é Justo, eu sou justo!
A forma como nós nos tornamos cristãos maduros é acreditando  e exercitando esse presente de Deus que é a justiça de Deus . Você não deve perguntar: Eu mereço as bênçãos de Deus? Mas em vez disso: Será que Jesus merece as bênçãos de Deus? Você não deve perguntar: Sou aceito por Deus? Mas em vez disso: Jesus é aceitos por Deus?
NÃO É uma questão de quão perfeito você é, mas o quão perfeito seu Sumo Sacerdote é!
Jesus é nossa nova identidade!
Fui crucificado com Cristo. Assim, já não sou eu quem vive, mas Cristo vive em mim. A vida que agora vivo no corpo, vivo-a pela fé no filho de Deus, que me amou e se entregou por mim. Não anulo a graça de Deus; pois, se a justiça vem pela lei, Cristo morreu inutilmente! "Gálatas 2:20,21
No contexto, o Ap. Paulo define justiça como não mais eu, mas Cristo. Esta justiça não vem através das nossas obras ( lei). Ela vem pela graça, através da fé em Jesus que nos amou E MORREU COMO NÓS, para que possamos VIVER COMO ELE É.
Dessa forma o amor está aperfeiçoado entre nós, para que no dia do juízo tenhamos confiança, porque neste mundo somos COMO ELE. 1 João 4:17
O inimigo vai tentar convencê-lo de que a sua situação não vai mudar por causa do que você fez ou o que você deixou de fazer. Ele vai tentar mantê-lo ocupado consigo mesmo, olhando para seus erros. No entanto, podemos tirar nossos olhos dos nossos fracassos e experiências e fixa-los em Jesus, nossa nova identidade. Porque Jesus qualifica para receber  todo o favor e bênçãos de Deus, sabemos que nós também qualificamos baseados na Sua justiça.

Este é o alimento sólido que precisamos comer continuamente! Sabemos que somos tão perfeitos perante o Pai quanto Jesus é.

Why don't we experience more Miracles?

Romans 1: 16 speaks about the gospel being the power of God unto salvation. The word power is the Greek word dynamis, which means properly ability to perform, power to achieve by applying the Lord's inherent abilities, that is, power through God's ability. It can also mean miraculous powers, power and strength. This is also where the word dynamite comes from. 

Also, in Romans 1:16 the word "salvation" means more than just saved from hell. The Greek word used for salvation is soteria which means welfare, Prosperity, Deliverance, preservation, salvation, safety, healing. 

Throughout this week I was meditating on it and remembered that the name Jesus in Hebrew, Yeshua, also means salvation. In other words, when Jesus was on Earth, He was soteria in physical form. For this reason everybody that came in contact with Him received healing, wellbeing, protection, preservation, and all the definitions of the word soteria

Today, we have salvation IN US, that is, the power of God IN US through the Holy Spirit. The question is why aren't we seeing more miraculous works among us? I believe the answer is because the gospel which is the dynamis of God it's not being preached in its purity. It's unfortunately being mixed with what men think and with traditions which are acting like water diluting the amazing power of God. 
Therefore, if we want to have the manifestation of the power of God, which is already within us through the Holy Spirit, we need to ask God to reveal to us, in the Word, the TRUE GOSPEL.

Romans chapter 1:17,  we find a very important clue: "for (or because) in it the righteousness of God is revealed from  Faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith".  In the original it says "the righteous shall live by faith".

Consequently, to start understanding the gospel and its power we need to focus on what it reviews: the righteousness of God. With that in mind, it is clearer why Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things would be added on to us.

To know that we ARE righteous and to understand God's righteousness is the foundation of the true gospel and unfortunately we hardly hear it being preached.

This Righteousness is the very thing that differentiates babes from mature Christians:

13For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled* in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:13, 14)

 unskilled* = Greek word apeiros which means inexperienced, unskillful, ignorant.

Righteousness: dikaiosýnē (1343) ("the approval of God") refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in His eyes.

CHAPTER 5 of Hebrews starts by stating the office of a High Priest and declaring that Jesus Is now our High Priest. The Chapter ends with the above call for spiritual maturity (from milk to solid food).

A High Priest represents the People before God.

In the Old Testament, God decided that the people of Israel would be represented by the High Priest. The High Priest, would come once a year into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the sacrifice for the people’s sins. If he was in right standing with God, the offering was accepted and the people were blessed. If the High Priest was not perfect, he would die in the Holy of Holies and it would mean the offering was NOT accepted and the people would be cursed.

In Summary: God was not looking at each one of the Israelites and blessing them according with their individual deeds. He was looking at their representative, that is, The High Priest.

Jesus is our High Priest

Hebrews 5:9,10 - 9 In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. 10 And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek*. * In Hebrew (4442) Malki-tsedeq which means: My King is Right or King of Righteousness. When we believed in Jesus, He became our representative and our Righteousness before the Father . We are blessed today not based on our performance, but based on our High Priest’s. If my King is Right, I am Right!
The way we become mature Christians is to believe and exercise this gift of Righteousness.You should not ask: Do I deserve God’s blessings? But instead: Does Jesus deserve it? You should not ask: Am I accepted by God? But instead: Is Jesus accepted by God?
IT IS NOT A MATTER OF HOW GOOD YOU ARE, BUT HOW GOOD YOUR HIGH PRIEST IS!

Jesus is our NEW IDENTITY!

20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” Galatians 2:20, 21

In  context,  the Ap. Paul defines righteousness as Its no longer I, but Christ. This righteousness does not come through ours deeds (the law). It comes by grace, through faith in Jesus who loved us and died AS US so that we can live AS HE is.

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:17.

The enemy will try to convince you that your situation will not change because of what you have done or what you haven’t done. He will try to keep you self-occupied. However, we can take our eyes from our failures and past experiences and fix our eyes on Jesus, our New Identity. Because Jesus qualifies for all the favor and blessings of God, we know that we receive it all based on His righteousness.

THIS IS THE SOLID FOOD WE NEED TO KEEP EATING. WE KNOW THAT OUR STANDING BEFORE THE FATHER IS AS PERFECT AS JESUS’.




Thursday, February 04, 2016

Working to complete a finish work

Working to complete a finish work

Imagine if one day you came home early to prepare a wonderful dinner to your spouse. Then, after you finished preparing the meal, you carefully hid it at a special place and quickly went out to get some fresh flowers and scented candles to fully impress your loved one. On your way back, to your surprise and disappointment, you found your spouse at the kitchen, busy preparing dinner. She could be lying on the couch, resting, if she only knew the work was already done!
Are we acting the same way toward God?

"I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build--the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them".

Joshua 24:13


The Israelites didn’t believe God had given the land which flowed with milk and honey (Exo 3:8) and for this reason they didn’t enter and enjoy it. The Promised Land was a picture of the finished work of Christ, because it is a land in which God’s people would enjoy living in houses they didn’t build, eats from vineyards they didn’t plant. Their blessings were based on the work of another.

Today some Christians also struggle to believe that God is “that good” to give them blessings based on the finished work of Christ and not based on their own performance. Some find hard to believe that by Jesus stripes they ARE healed  (Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 2:24); They find difficult to believe that ALL their sins have been forgiven (Daniel 9:24; Rom 4:7, Eph 4:32, Col 2:13, Heb 10:17, 18); They don’t believe they are ALREADY complete, and their ONLY LABOR is to enter in God’s REST and allowing the Holy Spirit to YIELD HIS FRUIT in their lives(Col 2:10, Heb 4:11, Gal 5:22-25); They don’t believe that the enemy HAS BEEN defeated by Christ at the Cross, and that today we should ONLY ENFORCE that victory by holding on to the TRUTH that we are RIGHTEOUS as we proclaim the GOSPEL of Christ which will strengthen our FAITH and make us rejoice over the SALVATION that is revealed through the WORD (Ephesians 6:12-17).

I strongly believe that the reason why many are not getting answers to their prayers is because they are trying to finish the work that has been finished by Christ. This very act of trying to get something God has declared it’s already yours is called UNBELIEF. The book of Hebrews explains this truth brilliantly:

1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
3 For we which have believed do enter into rest (…)
6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief”.
9 There remaineth therefore a rest* to the people of God.
* (the word here is sabbatismos, a Sabbath rest, a rest from all work).
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

This is the only portion of scripture that tells us to fear and that fear is linked to not believing that THERE IS A REST provided by God to his people. When we don’t enter in that rest by worrying and trying to gain God’s approval by self-effort, it does not put our salvation in jeopardy, but it means that we will not enjoy all the fullness of the blessings that ARE ALREADY provided in the REST. The author of the book of Hebrews goes on to explain what is that rest today:

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

In verse 14, the word “profession” in the original Greek means: whom we profess to be ours. In other words, keep confessing that Jesus is ours and that we are His. Keep confessing that we ARE HEALED, THE ENEMY IS DEFEATED, WE HAVE FINANCIAL PROVISION, WE HAVE WISDOM, WE HAVE GOD’S FAVOR, ALL OUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN, WE ARE GOD’S BELOVED...

Jesus is our Sabbath! He finished the work of redemption at the Cross and created by His on flesh a new and living way to all of us into a place of rest in the Father’s heart (Heb 10:20).
Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into this wonderful place of peace and rest, prepared to those who BELIEVE in God’s Word.


Thursday, January 28, 2016

The Parable of the unfaithful steward Luke 16

Please click on the hyperlink below to listen to the message.


The Parable of the unfaithful steward Luke 16



Correction: Meaning of "Fine Linen" - Revelation 19:8:
"And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" .  (KJV)