ALL THINGS NEW!

Hello people!
WOW! It's been a while hasn't it? Well, I got a new Facebook rolling on, Freedom Within) about my work for the women's prison. I got a moving going on, to a new house, with new teammates, who came all the way from Mozambique; I traveled here and there. Right now, I'm writing to you in Macapà, in the very north of Brazil, right on the equator line, heading for Cayenne, French Guyana. so, I'll have to ask you to forgive me. I hope you didn't feel left aside! (because you actually were, for a short season, ha!)
So, here's a song I thought would inspire you, in case you're wondering what's the point of living a "miserable life" of mistakes and failures. Just don't feel condemned! You stumbled and fell, hey, welcome to the club! It's not the end of the world; just get up and walk! Get God's hand in yours and He'll keep you from falling as long as you hold on tight! Listen to the song and... take heed!

Oi pessoal! (Peço desculpa pela acentuação -> teclado francês)
WOW! Faz tempo, não faz? Bem, tive um novo facebook saindo, (Freedom Within) sobre o meu trabalho no presìdio feminino. Tive uma mudança andando, para uma nova casa, com novos companheiros, que veio direto do Moçambique; viajei por aqui e por ali. Agora mesmo, estou lhes escrevendo de Macapà, no extremo norte do Brasil, bem na linha do equador, indo para Caiena, na Guiana Francesa. Então, vou ter que lhes pedir de me perdoar, caso tenha se sentido deixado para tràs. (Pois estavam mesmo, a curto prazo, ha!)
Então, aqui està uma canção que pensei que poderia inspirar você, caso se pergunte qual é o ponto de viver uma "vida miseràvel" de erros e falhas. Não se condene! Você tropeçou e caiu, hey, Bemvindo no clube! Não é o fim do mundo, apenas levante e ande! Pegue a mão de Deus na sua e Ele não o deixarà cair, conquanto segura firme. Escute a canção e... tome nota!



Aqui està a letra da canção,em Português, que traduzi do Inglês para vocês.

Venha, quebrantado e cansados. Venha, batido e machucado. Meu Jesus faz tudo novo, tudo novo. Venha perdido e abandonado. Venham, você que està levado pelos ventos. Ele te trarà de volta pra casa, de volta pra casa. Levante-se, você que dorme, acorde, a luz do amanhecer està sobre você. Você, endormecido, acorde. Ele faz tudo novo.

Venha, você que està preso no gelo da vergonha,Venha, você que està ardendo com remorso. Meu Jesus te ama ainda, ainda te ama. Levante-se, você, endormecido, acorede, a luz do amanhecer està sobre você.
Levante-se, você, endormecido, acorde, Ele faz tudo novo.O mundo era bom, o mundo caiu, o mundo serà remido, então, agarre-se às promessas. As estorias são verdadeiras, que Jesus faz tudo novo. O amanhecer està sobre você. Levante-se, você que dorme, acorde, a luz do amanhecer està sobre você. Levante-se, você que dorme, acorde, Ele faz tudo novo, tudo novo.

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Now, this is an interesting writing that will also help you. Check it out! (Desculpa, não tem em Portugês! Isso pode desafià-los a fazer curso de Inglês. A grande maioria da melhor literatura cristã veio primeiramente em Inglês, até a Biblia! Com certeza, você vai ter alguém para traduzir pra você!)

“What is your favorite thing about God?”

I find myself thinking about this every now and then, or wondering how I would respond if someone asked me this question.

Then I feel like a dork, because, hey, God is perfect. It’s probably kind of foolish to try to think about or frame God’s power and creation and greatness in terms like “favorite” or “best.” What is there about God that isn’t the best, that isn’t something He does or creates or orchestrates so supremely far above and beyond anything I can conceive, it blows all comparisons out of the water?—Never mind God’s infinity and what He perfects and creates within the vast omniscience and omnipotence of His being. I don’t have the capacity to give thought or breath or utterance to all that God does, and, by virtue of His doing it, does best, in the greatest, most awe-inspiring, magnificent, simply perfect way possible.

However, I’m just human and me, and sometimes my thoughts are dumb and illogical. Like, if I was at a party for God and the host said to me, “So, tell us what you like best about God,” what would I say?

For the last few years, when I’ve thought about this question in some form or another, the first thing that comes to mind is:

He makes all things new.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV).

He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new. … Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5 ESV).

(I like how it seems that God wanted us to make a special note of this and the veracity of this promise.)

I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19 ESV).

You’ll notice that it’s not, “If you follow these steps and do these particular things, you can give yourself a clean slate, you can make yourself new, you can recreate your life, you can erase your past, you can give yourself a new heart and a new spirit—all of your own accord and willpower.”

That’s not to say that there’s nothing we can or should do or work toward when it comes to changing something in our lives, or making amends, or letting go of the past, or building a new habit, or developing a more healthy and in-harmony-with-God mindset or perspective. There is a lot of that, of course, and it’s vital to personal, spiritual, practical, emotional progress and growth.

But ultimately, it’s a metamorphosis that’s beyond us. We can only do so much and get ourselves so far. Our very best, most sincere actions and intentions will always be puny in comparison to God’s love toward us and the power that this generates. It’s His grace, His mercy that saves and changes us.

As David prayed in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” He confessed his shortcomings and his deep need for God; he wanted change, he wanted restoration. But God is the one who flips the switch and brings the power that transforms us into something new, a creation that’s more like Him.

The power of God’s ability to make something new, to effect profound change, from one moment to the next, astounds me. Who else has such power? And, what’s more, that He will deign to use this power for my benefit, to work in my heart, to change my life, buoys my hope. A mind-renewing and life-altering change might seem to be out of my reach, but it’s possible with His power. I might not always see an instant transformation or feel that that has happened, but He can do it. He has done it for you and me, and for countless many who have gone before us.

It has little or nothing to do with you or me and our own efforts. It has everything to do with Him and the new covenant, forged in His blood, that He has offered to us to partake in.

“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”1

We go to God, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation. He extends forgiveness and soul cleansing. He performs the miracle of wiping the slate clean of our past sins and mistakes.2

We fall before Him, broken and beaten by our own shortcomings and the sins of the world. He lifts us up, transforms, and recreates. He restores our soul.3

Our voice falters, our instrument goes out of tune. He puts a new song in our heart.4

I feel that this is one of the many precious, priceless gifts that God has given us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, a gift we are privileged to offer to others. I am a mess of a human being, but God can make me new. There is no limit to the spiritual renewal and cleansing that I can experience and revel in, through the power of Jesus, through partaking of the divine nature.

I don’t think I have the words to convey the deep joy and hope this puts in my soul. Even when everything on the surface feels terrible, having this knowledge as a foundation is incredibly comforting.

To me, this is one of the most joyful, triumphant, hopeful aspects of Christianity—“The new has come!”—because it’s not only something that happened once and for all, a few thousand years ago, transforming the history of the world, but it’s something that can—and does—happen again and again, on any day, at any moment. Not because of us, but because of Him—His glory and His power.

He makes all things new.

By Olivia Bauer

I hope you enjoyed this post. I'll let you chew for some time on this one! See ya!
Espero que tenha gostado deste poste. Vou deixar vocês mastigar isso por um tempinho! Até +!