No Shame About It

Hello everyone, 

Today I want to share a message that it was preached this morning at church. It was very strong and it can be apply to all our lives regardless of what title you may hold.. 

The message was about sharing your faith regardless of what people might say or think. It was showed to us through the story of Zacchaeus. (Luke 19)

"Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way." 

Now after reading these verses, we can see that Zacchaeus was a very important man. He definitely had a reputation to hold, after all he was the chief tax collector and very rich. However what is very interesting was that he wanted to see Jesus. He wanted to know who He was. So he ran up a tree( because he was short)  so he could see Jesus. He didn't care what people might say or think about his action. He wanted to see Jesus! Many people often want to please people so they never admit who they are. They live indecisively because they act as "Christians" at church but when it comes to share their faith with others... they feel shameful and they can't stand up for their beliefs. 

⁵ When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

So Jesus saw Zacchaeus' desire to know who He was. As always, there are the people who will talk about others and criticize. Often enough, those people criticize others because they want to hide their faults by pointing out the faults in others. Zacchaeus didn't care and I imagine he was extremely happy because Jesus was going to his house. Gladly, Zacchaeus wasn't influenced by what those people said. 

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The verses above are my favorite from this story because Zacchaeus rendered his life to Jesus right away. Regardless of who he was, a rich important man, he broke down his pride and he recognized that how he was living his life was wrong. Zacchaeus was humble and God was able to do His work in his heart. Zacchaeus was saved because he wasn't ASHAMED to accept God and change his ways. 

There will always be people who will criticize your faith and beliefs...but it is up to you to either be proud and hide it or have NO SHAME ABOUT IT.

God Bless,

Bianca

Forgive or Not Forgive? Pt.3

Continuation...

"We're done" Alice said as we walked out the door. For the rest of my 6th grade year we didn't talk. We hated Ellen and Ellen hated us.

Grudges become a baggage that you carry with you for a long time. My hatred became a burden and it was eating me alive. I hated her even more. It's interesting how humans rather hold onto hatred then to forgive...

It took time but I finally realized that I needed to change. Ellen probably had forgotten about it but I held onto the feelings as if it had happened yesterday. I couldn't do it anymore.

"Ellen, I know we haven't spoken since 6th grade but I wanted to tell you that I am sorry. I'm sorry for the harsh words, rolled eyes, back talk and everything else. I just wanted to clear this up so I can move on. Good luck in high school."

She never apologized or said a word. I guess she didn't feel the need to apologize and I really didn't care anymore. I felt free from this dark shadow over me. It was over.

Grudges drag you down into a pit of hate. For as long as you hate somebody you won't be able to love. I guess we are so stubborn that we don't like to admit we are wrong. Guess what? We all make mistakes so it really is not our right to hate anybody for their faults.

Many times we'll have to ask ourselves this question "Forgive or not forgive?" Just know one thing...those that forgive are forgiven as well.

God Bless,
Bi

Forgive or Not Forgive? Pt.2

Continuation from yesterday.....

Ellen told Mrs.B the whole story... well her side of course. She cried and to be honest we felt no pity for her. We were called into her office so we could "talk" about it.

"So what is going on, what happened at Six Flags?" she asked. I told her that Ellen had placed her money bag in my bag and we left our things by some trees so we could go into a ride. (I know... not very smart...) When we came back my sunglasses, Sally's shirt, Alice's shoes and somehow Ellen's money were all gone! The strangest thing was that I had money as well but I guess the thief didn't look into my bag very well. I had my money and she didn't. We looked all over the park until we gave up. It wasn't our fault but we felt  bad. We bought her lunch, candy for the rest of the day.

When you are angry and upset, you tend to cry like I did. You try to connect the dots but you can't. They hurt you and you hate them. You ask yourself many times "Can I forgive her?" and you know the answer is No.

"Now she comes up with this story that we stole her money. I don't care if your mom thinks that of us Ellen, but you know it's a lie!" I said and Ellen started to cry again.

I hated her so much. I never thought I could hate someone but there I was. I don't know why she used this story to start drama. "How does your story even makes sense? We all left for the ride together! You're just a liar and to be honest we wasted our money on you" I said again.

It felt good telling her the truth but deep inside I felt horrible as well. Grudges make you say things that you know you'll regret.

To be continued....

God Bless,
Bi

Forgive or Not Forgive? Pt.1

Hello everyone... wow looks like there are spider webs in this blog... LOL! I do recognize that I barely wrote in 2012 but many things happened in my life that I can write about it now.. so I am back :D To kick off 2013, I wanted to share a story from my 6th year that I wrote about it in my freshmen year. It's a story and at the same time it's suppose to make people realize about the importance of FORGIVENESS.

So here is Part 1... Enjoy :)


Have you ever felt a strong dislike towards someone? Did they hurt you? Well you're not alone because I've been there too. The constant dirty looks, ignoring, gossiping are all symptoms of grudges. However no one will tell you that you are the most affected when you hate someone.

"She is telling everybody we stole her money. Is it our fault that it was stolen?" I told my friends as we walked into the choir room. The calm mood of the room only seemed to irritate me.

"Ah, I know! She is such a brat! We even paid for her lunch and now she is acting like that." Alice said as she cracked her knuckles. I had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

Ellen, the girl that was really mad at us walked in the room. She rolled her eyes as she passed by. I promise that Alice was about to pull her hair if we hadn't stop her in time. We were all angry and we wanted an explanation for her little theory. The only way to do it....asking her.

Our choir teacher made us sing but we weren't feeling it. I could only think about everything I wanted to tell Ellen. She was wrong and I was going to prove it. I know, I know we sound like Mean Girls but we were hurt! Ellen had to know that it was not ok to just lie. My head was telling me to just forget about it and move on but my heart... oh the heart... was burning with anger. I wanted her to cry as much as I had. It wasn't fair!

To be continued....

God bless,
Bi

The Snake and The Firefly

There was once a firefly who liked to fly among the trees in a jungle. One day, a snake came along and looked at the firefly flying around, working, eating, and shining with its great green light. The snake didn’t have much to do, though, so he decided to chase the firefly around to eat him… First just keeping a watchful eye, then slithering softly along and lastly chasing rapidly around. The firefly flew as fast as those little wings could take him, but eventually grew tired and fell to the ground, where the snake was awaiting. Before the snake could eat him, he pleaded to ask a few questions, to which the snake replied: “Hmm… I don’t usually give this privilege to my food, but go ahead”.

The firefly then asked “Am I in your food chain?”, and the snake answered “No…”. “Are you hungry?” mumbled the defenseless little firefly. “Not really, no” said the vicious snake. “Then why do you want to eat me?” cried the firefly, to which the snake stated clearly “Because I just can’t stand to see you shine!”

Many of us go through situations where we ask:

Why is this happening, if I didn't do anything wrong or hurt anyone?

The answer is simple ...

They can't bear to see you shine! ...

When this happens, make sure to shine even more, keep doing your best! Do not let them hurt you but continue to shine ! They can't touch you ... Your light will remain intact.

Be unique although your light disturb the predators :)

Translated from: http://aromasdemulheres.blogspot.com/

God bless,

Bianca

The Prayer of a Woman of God

As Deborah give me the willingness and courage to face any spiritual, emotional or physical battles that comes my way. I want some of Eve so I can be a suitable, good mother of generations. I want to have the grace and beauty of Rebekah, Rachel and Sarah; to maintain faith and hope, even when I do not see anything. Give me the serenity, insight and wisdom that had Abigail. The intelligence of Naomi and the kind of heart that had Ruth; that even when she could seek her own welfare, she decided not to abandon her mother-in-law that had been widowed, childless and alone

Like Martha, I want to be an excellent servant, working in the household and try to be with excellence for others. And as her sister Maria, know when to prostrate myself at Your feet or sit to hear what You, Lord, has to say and what You want to teach me

I never want to be so busy that I miss the best part which is being in Your Presence. I want to be brave like Esther, though she was scared, she did not yield to intimidation. She dared to risk her life for the liberation of a people who sought to oppress and kill. And she knew how to use her grace, intelligence and beauty.

Lord, I want to love you as much as the Shunammite did as she waited patiently for her lover, and when he came he never left her. Give me the kind of spiritual vision that Elizabeth had to discern and understand beyond what others could see that Mary was pregnant, and the baby she carried would be the Savior of the world .As Dorcas want to be solidary with my neighbor.

Please, dear God, I pray, that as Mary may I find favor in Your eyes. I want to be able to face all challenges and problems with confidence and calm. Give me wisdom and a great heart, and simplicity that when people look at me they identify me as Your daughter. I want to shine Your light where I go and always bring the good news, amen!

P.S: Translated from http://aromasdemulheres.blogspot.com/2012/05/oracao-da-mulher-de-deus.html?spref=fb

Oftern our mistakes makes us wiser....

Hello everybody! I've been gone for quite awhile but now since school is over I am back!!! This post is actually a English essay I wrote awhile back. I wanted to share with you guys because it's part of my life story :) Enjoy

Growing up was a tough path for me to walk through. I was a internally troubled child, but I always had a smile on my face. It was very easy for me to put on a mask and make my parents believe everything was fine.

In middle school, specially in 6th grade I was a "two face". In reality that was my biggest mistake, because I wanted to fit in so bad that I lost my own personality. As if I re-invented myself according to whom I was with. I was a happy Bianca today, a wild Bianca tomorrow and the cycle went on... I was a follower and never a leader. In church, people always thought I was an angel but little did they know that it was all an act. My double life went on until the end of seventh grade. My choices led up to a major consequence, a unbearable life. I was empty, sad and I even had thoughts of leaving my house. However I kept it in so nobody really knew what was going on... except God.

My choices led me down into a path of disappointment and regret. I find it interesting that now I look back to 7th grade, and I wonder if I hadn't gone through that would I've be where I am today. All those decisions somehow led me to God. In those dark years, He shone His light upon me and He rescued my troubled heart. I wish I had enough words to describe how grateful I'm for having an opportunity of starting over. I ended up making the best decision of my life.

I still make mistakes because I am human but since I have Him inside of my life I know I can surpass anything and learn from it. He taught me to learn from my mistakes and grow as a person. Now I smile because I'm learning and growing ever since my Lord saved me.

Bianca Lima