It’s been years since God first called me for a deeper relationship with him and I remember at the beginning of this process hearing this: “Sometimes we are ready to receive God’s wrath but not ready to receive his love”. I don’t remember who said that, but these words have been with me for a long time. And Yes! I totally resonated with that. As a perfectionist, I could never see myself good enough to achieve many things, including earning my place at God’s table as a daught

Engaging in deep study might feel overwhelming, but identifying clusters within the text and breaking them into small pieces to be explored one at a time might be beneficial for our understanding. To exemplify how this could work, in this post we are exploring some background that can help us read Galatians 4:1–7, but note that some information are not limited to this part, it can also be helpful for the reading of this letter as a whole. Among Paul's letters, Galatians is

The message of the gospel is simple, but the cultural context can sometimes feel like a puzzle. Learn how to dig underneath the text and clear away the fog using tools anyone can master.

Have you ever heard that God repented? What do you think when you hear that? Does God really recognize that he has done wrong? Or does it mean something else? Is there any hidden meaning behind that? Why word studies matter Words are symbols that convey meaning, but one thing we need to have in mind is that words can convey different meanings, depending on the context, and when we trace back to ancient languages, words used to carry many different meanings depending on the co

Sometimes we ask, “Where is God” . But could God be asking the same, “Where are you?”

One of my favorite things to do when studying Scripture is to track the use of the Old Testament within the New. Some connections are evident when the author directly cites a portion of Scripture, but others are less apparent. Studying Scripture often feels like searching for buried treasure. Pearls are always concealed within a shell. Similarly, when we discuss less apparent methods of using Scripture within Scripture, we may encounter allusions or citations, which can be di

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5–6). That's what the Lord said to the people of Israel when he graciously and powerfully delivered them from the hand of Egypt. When I look at this text, I am reminded that salvation has a purpose: we are redeemed to God so we can serve him as priests

It's winter in Maringá and the weather could not be better (of course I would wish for snow and negative temperatures, but for a place where most of the year you can fry an egg on the heat of the sidewalk, this time of the year is the best). Winter is marked by a period of rest, at least for the plants. It is when they pause their growing and the green is not as strong. But there is a tree called ypê roxo, and it reaches the peak of its beauty during this season. While all ot

When God established his covenant to Abraham, he instructs him and all the males within his household to circumcise themselves. The circumcision from that point, in Genesis, became a sign of God’s covenant. Among many regulations inscribed in Torah, Circumcision, Keeping of the Sabbath, and Dietary laws were considered boundary marks that distinguished the people of God from pagan nations. During second temple period, in general a gentile could relate to the Jewish faith in d

A Devotional Journey Through Joshua 3:15-17 “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from up the stream stopped flowing...” — Joshua 3:15-16a The Climax in the Details I have a bit of a dual personality when it comes to stories. On one hand, I can be impatient. My mind works fast, and because I can usually anticipate the conclusion before a story