12 de outubro de 2012

Gn.41.1-16

Ainda que por períodos longos ou mais breves possa parecer que Deus esta ausente da tua vida, não duvides que nos bastidores Ele está no controlo.

Por vezes os tempos difíceis e duros, servem para Deus aprumar o teu carácter e confirmar a tua plena dependência de Deus, a sua soberania não pode ser posta causa.

Quando chamado a te pronunciares sobre a tua fé, falo com arrojo, na certeza de que Deus está no controlo e que tudo sabe. O resultado está inteiramente nas mãos do Altíssimo.

11 de outubro de 2012

Gn.40

Mesmo quando empurrado para situações catastróficas, Deus continua a preservar aquele que demostra fidelidade e que compreende a mão de Deus em todos os aspectos da sua vida.

Por vezes a situação que vives, ainda que injusta serve para Deus aperfeiçoar o teu caracter. Ele não se esquece de ti, ainda que te pareça estar a testar a tua paciência e fidelidade.

Quantas situações de dificuldade vais ter e como as vais viver, a confiança na soberania de Deus é essencial.

Mesmo nos lugares mais sombrios podes usar os dons e capacidades que Deus te dá. Os encontros são inevitáveis e aí podes fazer a diferença.

O processo esta em movimento e quem o controla é Deus.

10 de outubro de 2012

Tg.3.1-12

Temos áreas na nossa vida onde precisamos de colocar "freios", afim de as controlarmos. O erro e o pecado estão a um passo de distância, precisamos de nós aperceber de que sozinhos não o faremos, algo pequeno pode alterar toda a tua vida num instante.
Estou a usar a minha vida para honrar ou amaldiçoar?
A minha oração é que do meu coração só possa sair bênção.
Pv.10.17-19

18 de julho de 2012

67 formas de mudar o mundo...



67 WAYS TO CHANGE THE WORLD

Think of others
1. Make a new friend. Get to know someone from a different cultural background. Only through mutual understanding can we rid our communities of intolerance and xenophobia.
2. Read to someone who can’t. Visit a local home for the blind and open up a new world for someone else.
3. Fix the potholes in your street or neighbourhood.
4. Help out at the local animal shelter. Dogs without homes still need a walk and a bit of love.
5. Find out from your local library if it has a story hour and offer to read during it.
6. Offer to take an elderly neighbour who can’t drive to do their shopping/chores.
7. Organise a litter cleanup day in your area.
8. Get a group of people to each knit a square and make a blanket for someone in need.
9. Volunteer at your police station or local faith-based organisation.
10. Donate your skills!
11. If you’re a builder, help build or improve someone’s home.
12. Help someone to get his/her business off the ground.
13. Build a website for someone who needs one, or for a cause you think needs the support.
14. Help someone get a job. Put together and print a CV for them, or help them with their interview skills.
15. If you’re a lawyer, do some pro bono work for a worthwhile cause or person.
16. Write to your area councillor about a problem in the area that requires attention, which you, in your personal capacity, are unable to attend to.
17. Sponsor a group of learners to go to the theatre/zoo.

Help out for good health
18. Get in touch with your local HIV organisations and find out how you can help.
19. Help out at your local hospice, as staff members often need as much support as the patients.
20. Many terminally ill people have no one to speak to. Take a little time to have a chat and bring some sunshine into their lives.
21. Talk to your friends and family about HIV.
22. Get tested for HIV and encourage your partner to do so too.
23. Take a bag full of toys to a local hospital that has a children’s ward.
24. Take younger members of your family for a walk in the park.
25. Donate some medical supplies to a local community clinic.
26. Take someone you know, who can’t afford it, to get their eyes tested or their teeth checked.
27. Bake something for a support group of your choice.
28. Start a community garden to encourage healthy eating in your community.
29. Donate a wheelchair or guide dog, to someone in need.
30. Create a food parcel and give it to someone in need.

Become an educator
31. Offer to help out at your local school.
32. Mentor a school leaver or student in your field of expertise.
33. Coach one of the extramural activities the school offers. You can also volunteer to coach an extramural activity the school doesn’t offer.
34. Offer to provide tutoring in a school subject you are good at.
35. Donate your old computer.
36. Help maintain the sports fields.
37. Fix up a classroom by replacing broken windows, doors and light bulbs.
38. Donate a bag of art supplies.
39. Teach an adult literacy class.
40. Paint classrooms and school buildings.
41. Donate your old textbooks, or any other good books, to a school library.
Help those living in poverty
42. Buy a few blankets, or grab the ones you no longer need from home and give them to someone in need.
43. Clean out your cupboard and donate the clothes you no longer wear to someone who needs them.
44. Put together food parcels for a needy family.
45. Organise a bake sale, car wash or garage sale for charity and donate the proceeds.
46. To the poorest of the poor, shoes can be a luxury. Don’t hoard them if you don’t wear them. Pass them on!
47. Volunteer at your local soup kitchen.

Care for the youth
48. Help at a local children’s home or orphanage.
49. Help the kids with their studies.
50. Organise a friendly game of soccer, or sponsor the kids to watch a game at the local stadium.
51. Coach a sports team and make new friends.
52. Donate sporting equipment to a children’s shelter.
53. Donate educational toys and books to a children’s home.
54. Paint, or repair, infrastructure at an orphanage or youth centre.
55. Mentor someone. Make time to listen to what the kids have to say and give them good advice.
Treasure the elderly
56. If you play an instrument, visit your local old-age home and spend an hour playing for the residents and staff.
57. Learn the story of someone older than you. Too often people forget that the elderly have a wealth of experience and wisdom and, more often than not, an interesting story to tell.
58. Take an elderly person grocery shopping; they will appreciate your company and assistance.
59. Take someone’s dog for a walk if they are too frail to do so themselves.
60. Mow someone’s lawn and help them to fix things around their house.
Look after your environment
61. If there are no recycling centres in your area, petition your area councillor to provide one.
62. Donate indigenous trees to beautify neighbourhoods in poorer areas.
63. Collect old newspapers from a school/community centre/hospital and take them to a recycling centre.
64. Identify open manhole covers or drains in your area and report them to the local authorities.
65. Organise the company/school/organisation that you work with to switch off all unnecessary lights and power supplies at night and on weekends.
66. Engage with people who litter and see if you can convince them of the value of clean surroundings.
67. Organise to clean up your local park, river, beach, street, town square or sports grounds with a few friends. Our children deserve to grow up in a clean and healthy environment.

17 de junho de 2012

3 Steps to Refocus Our Lives on God


Written by  

I recently read a great blog post by Michael Hyatt on the problem of drifting away from your life’s focus. It reminded me that not only can we drift away from our life plans–work, family, creative endeavors, for example–we can also drift greatly from God, and quite possibly, the two go hand-in-hand.
What does it look like when we drift from God? Is this perhaps one of the biggest ways or areas we drift from in our lives? Perhaps when we recalibrate ourselves to be in tune with our Savior, then setting our life’s goals and priorities become that much more clear.
Here are three steps to help you refocus your life on God:
1) Assess: Review your current situation and priorities and pray over what you’re doing. Ask God to show you areas to correct, re-prioritize, and refocus. I find journaling through this process quite helpful, because many times you can’t quite see how God has shaped your refocusing over months and years, but when you go back and review the steps you made to focus on God, it’s much easier to see your progress and feel more at peace about changes you’ve made.
2) Listen: Schedule times throughout the day to listen to God and to be open to hearing what he desires for your life. Pray for willingness to change, to be flexible when God wants to shape your priorities, even if it means making drastic moves that seem unreasonable. Sometimes fasting can help clear your head and allow you to better hear God’s call; or perhaps a day alone, like a mini-retreat will help as well.
3) Tweak: Be open to adjusting and making changes in your priorities as needed–all the while praying and asking God to confirm new direction. If things need to be tweaked or changed, try new options out and ask God to help confirm decision he is leading you to make. Often listening to God and just being open to his gentle counsel in our lives is taking the first step to refocusing our lives on God.
“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9
Lauren Hunter is a freelance writer, church technology consultant (http://lhpr.net) and founder of the blog ChurchTechToday (http://ChurchTechToday.com), Technology for Today’s Church.