In the times we live in, a lot is said above global warming. The governments of nations gather together to study and discuss how to block this global warming, but they have not yet come to a common denominator that can put a brake on the warming process. Scientists predict that, at the current rate, life on our planet could disappear within a timeframe that is not too far out. With this, we would arrive at the end of days of our world, in accordance with Apostle Paul’s prophecy, “…the heavens will be destroyed by fire. And the sun and moon and stars will melt away with much heat.” What seemed absurd and impossible for many, not too long ago, has become a matter to be studied and imagined.

Now, if this can be the end of the world, let’s raise the question: when did this disaster begin? The degradation began on a certain day and in a certain pleasant place called The Garden of Eden. God had concluded His creation, including that wonderful garden, where He placed His creation’s crown: man and woman, Adam and Eve. God formed human beings with the capability and freedom to make choices and decisions.

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve, the original parents of the human race, were tricked by the devil. They forgot that with freedom comes responsibility and it always has its consequences. This is very true and still applies to this day. Due to the disobedience, sin was instilled in the life of human beings, and this was when the beginning of the end started.

To rid us of this hellish terror, God provided us with an escape: Jesus Christ. This is the door we must enter through to be cleansed and made well with God; only through Jesus Christ. So now, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Jesus came to give us eternal life, not to “finish” us along with the world.

The post The End of the World appeared first on UpFaith.

Did you ever wake up scared because someone was calling out your name? A man told his story: One day, in the middle of the night, he woke up frightened with his wife calling out his name. He ran to the living room and said: “What is it?” It turned out his wife was just standing on the sofa scared of the little mouse that had suddenly gone into the living room and passed by her.

In reality, both of them scared each other. She took refuge on the sofa and the little mouse hid somewhere. Since the husband could not catch the mouse, at 3 am, there he was, setting up a mouse trap. The mouse was cute, but also still a pest and nuisance that could bring about a lot of damage.

This is a metaphor for sin (the things that displease God, that go against His will, as revealed in the Bible). Those who love God, try to always do His will. But our own will sometimes take us over with bad thoughts, feelings of envy and wrath, bad habits, etc… In the case of Cain, the problem was envy, which dominated him. Apparently, God liked Abel more than Cain. However, Cain did not notice that God accepted Abel (Cain’s brother) because Abel did what was good in the sight of God, as opposed to Cain. God warned him making it clear to him that sin will always threaten us and that we need to pay attention so that it does not control us (verse 7). Had Cain also done what was right before God, God would have accepted him/his offering as well.

The warning that God gave to Cain is the same warning that Jesus gave to the disciples in Matthew 26:41 – “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Spiritually speaking, we can be relaxed, calm, and then, suddenly, we commit a sin. At first, sin may even seem cute, but in the end, it causes great damage and withdraws us from God. Since sin is many times “cute” and provides [temporary] pleasure, it can be difficult wanting to withdraw from it. When we find ourselves weak before sin, we need to seek for strength in God so we can resist sin and not allow it to dominate over us.

If you have sinned but repented of it, confess it to the Lord, ask for forgiveness, and receive your forgiveness from Him.

Fight consciously against sin. God will give you the strength to overcome it.
Do your part and God will do His.

The post Sin is… Cute? appeared first on UpFaith.

I Samuel 8:1-10; 19,20

Every human being goes through joy and strife. It is in the difficult moments that we are tempted to look at people and make comparisons. Unfortunately, most of the time, we think that our situation is worse than everybody else’s. We think that “the grass is greener on the other side.”

In the text for today, we see that the Israelites suffered because of leadership not faithful to God’s commandments. This generated discontent, and the people started looking at neighboring nations with the belief that they lived better with their government system centralized in a monarchy. Until that moment, Israel was a theocratic country, where God governed through prophets or judges. By looking at other nations, the Israelites went on to forget about the Lord and believe that if they had a king, like other nations, their problems would be resolved. This was a great illusion and only brought more suffering. Everything happened as the Lord has announced: many served the king and contributed to the maintenance of the governmental structure. Besides, many kings did not follow God and turned their people into idolaters. Israel’s security depended on the contrary of what they did: they should have been different than other nations.

It is always better to walk with the Lord, even through difficulties because our limited view of things can conduct us to illusions. We cannot let ourselves be deceived by the good life of others; greed can blind us and ruin our lives. It is necessary to remember that when God is our leader, we do not need to look at things that belong to others. Even if we are going through troubles in life, we must remember that serving God is still the best option.

Someone else’s life might appear better than our own, but in difficult times, the Lord’s direction is incomparably superior.

The post Illusion appeared first on UpFaith.