Muito Abencoado

Pão Diário

24 de julho de 2013

Muito abençoado

Bill Crowder

Salmo 107:1-8

Rendam graças ao Senhor por sua bondade e por suas maravilhas para com os filhos dos homens! —Salmo 107:8

Salmos 35–36
Atos 25

No meu trajeto diário de ida e volta do escritório, tenho tempo de sobra para ler — isto é; adesivos em carros. Alguns são grosseiros, outros inteligentes e outros ainda absolutamente de mau gosto. Um adesivo que vi recentemente, no entanto, desafiou gentilmente o meu coração sobre a maneira que muitas vezes vejo a vida. O adesivo simplesmente dizia: “Abençoado demais para reclamar.”

Preciso confessar que me senti culpado à medida que ponderava nessas palavras. Muitas vezes me pego lamentando os momentos na vida que não acontecem do meu jeito, ao invés de concentrar-me nos presentes maravilhosos que meu Pai celestial me deu. Ler essa simples mensagem naquele dia renovou o meu compromisso para ser mais ativo e intencionalmente agradecido, pois o meu Deus tem sido bom para mim em mais maneiras do que eu jamais poderia imaginar.

O Salmo 107 é uma canção que procura corrigir o pensamento ingrato. O salmista (que muitos pensam ser o rei Davi) faz um apelo aos corações que se esfriaram com ingratidão, repetindo quatro vezes: “Rendam graças ao Senhor por sua bondade e por suas maravilhas para com os filhos dos homens!” (vv.8,15,21,31). Mesmo nos piores momentos, temos muito a agradecer. Que possamos aprender a agradecer a Deus por Sua bondade conosco!

Não precisamos de mais para ser gratos, precisamos apenas ser mais gratos.

THE PURE IN HEART

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.Matthew 5:8

As our mourning to God begins the transforming process of our new life in Christ, so our lifestyle of purity amid the impure can become the beginning of reconciliation.

This Beatitude necessitates the strictest and most honest self-examination. We are to do everything with pure, unmixed motives. This demands the death of self and the springing to life of Christ within the heart.

So, blessed are those whose motives are unmixed and who operate in purity. They shall be given a vision of God Himself. As we draw closer to Him through purity, we shall see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly. Thus:

Blessed are those whose motives are absolutely pure and whose life is characterized by purity, for they will be able to see God.

The area of moral purity is one major concern of Muslims. Great stress is laid on modesty in dressing and purity of relationships between the sexes. But Christians seem so nonchalant about such issues. Is it because we do not care about purity? No. The difference is in our starting points. In the Muslim view, purity is from the “outside in.” For the follower of Jesus it must be from the “inside out.” Thus, Muslims seek to cleanse themselves knowing they are in need of cleansing, whereas we know Christ has already cleansed us.

But we tend to disregard the danger that dirt can pose to us and we become careless. What is important to realize is that a careless disregard for even the “appearance of evil” will lead people to wrong conclusions and cause them to stumble. It is not enough to say we are pure. We must be seen to be pure.

A co-worker in China was teaching a class of believers in which two antagonistic-looking groups of students sat across from each other, looking as if they were facing enemies. As he was sharing, some students started crying and others were repenting. He told them that if they needed to apologize to others, they should sincerely ask the Holy Spirit to work, and to move them, and to give them the courage to admit their wrongs to others. He said that God delights in pure-hearted children, and He wants to use submissive, humble people. Everyone was hugging and crying. Everyone was confessing his or her sins to each other. The cleansing brought purity to their relationships.

RESPONSE: Today I will seek to live my life in true purity before God with good motives.

PRAYER: Lord, I can only live this way if I listen and respond positively to the reproving of Your Holy Spirit. Help me to be sensitive to purity issues.

Breaking Bad Habits- Joyce Meyers

You can break up with your bad habits just like you can break up with a bad boyfriend or girlfriend. Bad relationships are one of the hardest habits to break, but if we choose to end them, we can spare ourselves a lot of trouble and pain. Let me explain.

For years and years, I had a habit of getting upset every time I didn't get my way. Maybe that's not your bad habit. Maybe you gossip or cuss or drink too much coffee or watch too much TV or spend money on things you don't need. Whatever your bad habit is, you can break it.

I'm not going to say that breaking a bad habit is easy, but it's God's desire for us to take authority over our bad habits. He doesn't want us to be "bossed around" by our emotions, He wants us to have victory.

Breaking a bad habit requires making a series of good choices, one after the other. Most of us will try to do that on our own without the help of the Holy Spirit. But eventually we figure out that we can't please God without God helping us.

The Amplified Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as our "standby." He's always standing by in case you get into trouble and need a little help. But He won't just show up uninvited. You have to ask Him for help.

Romans 12:21 says we "overcome (master) evil with good." That's one of the biggest secrets in the Word of God. It's a lot easier to make the right choice when you're focusing on God and your victory instead of the fear of failure.

Make the choice today to walk in the Spirit to overcome bad habits and live in victory!

Prayer Starter: God, I'm done living with my bad habits. I make a choice now to take the authority You've given me over temptations that want to boss me around. I will follow Your Holy Spirit into new and better life habits.