The secret to change your life

A persons life only changes when they change their thoughts. Everything you do and everything you have been, up to now, is a result of the thoughts you’ve had. Your decisions are influenced by your thoughts, and your reactions are guided by them.

So basically, if you want a better life, you have to improve the raw material that forms in your thoughts.

Raw material?

Yes, the raw materials which form in your thoughts include:

• Beliefs
• Culture (customs and traditions you grew up around)
• The information taken in through your eyes and ears
• Friends
• Others opinions
• Your principles and values

Some of these things are rooted in us, observed from birth. Others are around us, influencing us every minute. But all of them began on the outside, before going into our minds and forming in our thoughts.

Thanks to the “fearfully and wonderfully” way we were made (Psalms 139:14,) our brain adapts to what we feed it. That’s why the fastest way to permanently change your life is to guard what you allow into your head.

If you begin to feed it with the best of raw materials, it will be able to generate better thoughts. Better thoughts will help you take better decisions, generate better reactions to the things that happen around you, and it will give you better results.

And all of this is totally under your control.

source: www.renatocardoso.com 

Five things that make you stuck - 5th

Evil Eyes

A lot of people do not move forward because of cynicism, evil eyes.

Jesus said: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matthew 6:22

How can you move in darkness, have you tried to walk inside the house when the light is off, you will hurt yourself by bumping into things in your way.

We have free will, you can chose how you will look at certain situations, you can say this person did not mean to hurt, or he is having a bad day etc... and not look at them with cynicism because when you do even if you are right you become wrong.

God bless you.

4th Thing that make you stuck

Grudges

Someone once said keeping a grudge is like drinking poison and expect the other person to die.

No one can move forward while holding back to grudges and resentments of the past.

It is not a question of the person being right or wrong, you are not forgiving because of them or because they deserve but because God has commanded us to forgive, that is why we do it.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matthew 6:14,15

Your heart does not want to forgive but you should pray for the person, mentioning her/his name and say I forgive you.

Then go to them and ask for forgiveness, don't go to them to argue or create more problems simply ask for forgiveness.

May God give you strength to get unstuck from this grudges.

I will post the last one tomorrow. 

3rd Thing that make you stuck

Doubt

Doubts are responsible for many people failures, that feeling of uncertainty stops you from making a decision or going forward with what you intend to do.

"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6,7,8

How can you be free from doubts?

Doubt it, yes doubt your doubts, when the doubts come to tell you that you will not succeed you say i doubt it, i will succeed etc... also you should resist the doubts using the word of God like Jesus in Luke 4.

May God bless you, Be free now from all doubts.

Five things that make you stuck - 2nd Thing

Fear

We see a clear example of how fear can hold you back in the parable of the talents, the one who received one talent said:
"And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’Mt 25:25

Because he was afraid he decided to hide the talent the master gave him.



The same has been happening with many people, they are stuck in life because of their fears:

• Still single for fear of marrying, or had bad experiences in the past and are afraid to have the same again.
• Afraid of applying for a job, your immigration papers or even to start your business.
• Afraid of talking to your family or seek help about how you are inside for fear of being judged. 
• etc...

Well the list is endless but there is a solution.

Remember when you were a child and your mother or dad held your hands and you could go everywhere because they were with you, God says: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 

Face your fears, go dare and do it, for God is with you holding your hands.

God bless you.

Five Things that make you stuck

As we are preparing for the Unstuck event I would like to talk to you about five things that make you stuck and can block your growth.

1st : The Past

There is a saying in my country that those who makes a living from the past are the ones who owns a museum.

See what God has told us to do and promised to do in our life's:

“Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹ Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18,19

If you want to unblock or unstuck your life, to move forward you first must stop looking behind, move on, go forward.

God is with you.

Tomorrow I will share the second thing that keep you stuck.

Parable of the Good Samaritan

Great Things are coming

“Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you. (Habakkuk 1:5 NKJV)

I will work a work in your days that if you were told you would not believe.

Keep the Faith!

Great things are coming.

God Bless you

Building a house

God as house-builder

"Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good."

Psalm 127:1 NLT

Unless the Lord builds the house

Benjamin Franklin is best known for his inventions (lightning rod) and his aphorisms ("early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"). But he was also a key figure when the thirteen colonies were giving birth to a new nation.

At the age of 81, Franklin was the oldest representative at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Weeks after the convention began, representatives were still haggling about the relative voting power of large states and small states. Then Franklin stood up and said,

"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered.…Have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men.…We have been assured, sir, that 'except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it,' and without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builde rs of Babel."

The verse from Psalm 127 had its effect. A compromise was soon worked out, and a Constitution ratified by the states the following year. 

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Psalmswith devotionals by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen (Tyndale) entry for October 27

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

The Fast of Daniel Purpose – Day 21

The Fast of Daniel Purpose – Day 21

To all of you who have persevered in this purpose, congratulations, you are

dedicated to experiencing growth in your life and really become better.

You who didn’t do some of the tasks, jumped some, failed in this or that,

don’t punish yourself (I also failed in some.) At least you persevered.

But the best news is here.

Today, instead of giving you new tasks, I ask that you do a recap of the

tasks given from the first day up to yesterday. This will be your task for

today.

Re-read them one by one, and see which ones you completed successfully.

Put a √ next to them. Congratulate yourself on the ones you did. And next

to the tasks that you didn’t do, but could still do, write an X. Re-write the

task on another sheet of paper, and in the next seven days, go and do

them all. (The tasks that don’t relate to you, you don’t have to do.)

Another thing: look over the goals that you wrote for some of the tasks.

Have them in a visible place that you can see every day. Turn these goals

into projects – in other words, break them down into smaller steps to reach

them. Reaching a goal that will take 6 months, for example, will probably

need daily actions or weekly ones. So, work with the end in mind, define

the steps required to reach the desired deadline.

Reflect and act

I hope these 21 days have brought you to some positive conclusions, and

have awoken you to take this road of greater productivity and selfdiscipline.

If you pay more attention to these five areas, which we focused

on in this purpose, and always do something about them, they will have

better results in your life. So, why stop?

I suggest you take the following steps:

1. Continue visiting this blog daily. If you prefer you can subscribe by

registering your e-mail and receive notifications in your inbox every

time that we post a new message.

2. Leave your comments at the end of this page telling us of your

experience doing the tasks in this purpose. Tell us what helped you

specifically. What was the most difficult? What opened your mind?

What challenged you? What tasks you liked to do? Which you didn’t

like? Basically give us some feedback.

3. Download these tasks to your computer.

4. Never stop improving. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting

worst. One of my objectives in this blog is to challenge you to turn

into a better person, in everything, using your spiritual intelligence.

Thanks for you constant visits. I thank everyone who has left comments as

well. You are very special to me. (Even you who don’t leave comments. I

know you’re there…)

Until our next purpose of faith, which will hopefully be soon!

Fast of

Daniel

Day 21 Done √

Task 1 

Recap tasks day 1 to 20; check off the ones

completed with a √ and those not done

mark with an X; re-write the ones not done

(which you can still do) on a piece of paper,

and start to act upon them now, until you

complete all of them

Task 2 

Keep all the goals you made during this

purpose written on a paper or agenda, put

them in a place where you can see them

daily; start to plan out steps on how you

will reach them

© renatocardoso.com

STOP AND LISTEN - christian drama - Fast of Daniel

The Fast of Daniel Purpose – Saturday Day 20

The Fast of Daniel Purpose – Saturday Day 20

Those of us who are doing the Fast have already consecrated Saturday as

the Day to Sweat! So no excuses! Put your training clothes on or any other

comfortable clothes and fulfill your duty to your body.

Have you taken a walk with God before? It’s very inspiring. You can do this

for 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour – whichever you think is best – so

take some time today, preferably in the morning, take a calm walk where

you are going to walk with God. Look at the sky now and then.

Contemplate his works. And open your heart.

You have a special opportunity today to forgive, ask for forgiveness, and

resume hurt relationships. You’re not obligated to – I know there are

sensitive cases where it’s best to leave it alone. But if you would like to

turn the page and stop all the hard feelings between you and the person,

take initiative and get in contact with him/her. You can erase the negative

things that stood between the two of you and start over.

Virtues are qualities of character that produce certain successes and good

results. Patience. Zeal. Hospitality. Generosity. Self-control. An excellent

spirit… the list is long. All of us have our virtues, but we lack others. Your

personal growth task for today challenges you to identify a virtue that

needs to be developed, and start to work on it.

Tomorrow will be the last day of our purpose and I hope that you’ll be here

for the last tasks.

To obey is better than sacrifice. 1 Samuel 15:22

Fast of Daniel                                    Day 20                             Done √

Spiritual 

Start the day by taking a walk

with God, in spirit of prayer

Health 

Day to sweat! Do some physical

exercise, so that you get your

shirt sweaty. It doesn’t count if

you don’t sweat – no excuses!

Relationships 

If you have some “bad blood,”

and don’t speak to a person for

whatever reason, contact this

person and propose to make

peace with them

Finances 

Consider preparing an offering of

gratitude this Sunday, at the end

of the Fast

Personal 

Growth Identify a virtue that you lack and

work to develop it

© renatocardoso.com

Do you Believe or have Assurance

Messages

Do you Believe or are you Sure?

What good is it to believe, when you are not sure?

Most people have no idea of the difference between believing and being sure.

Many have been deceived because they believe in the Bible, but they are not sure about what is written in it.

They believe in Jesus, but they are not sure of Him.

Believing and being sure sound like they are almost the same thing in our language,

But in the original texts of the New Testament, which are in Greek, the adverb to be sure means to be absolutely certain, without doubt.

When you believe, you are giving a vote of confidence to someone or something for a certain amount of time;

When you are sure, you give an everlasting vote of confidence, regardless of the circumstances.

We can say that believing is like dating without commitment.

To be sure is to be married without the right to a divorce.

In biblical terms, to be sure involves a person completely dedicating their life to the person they believe in;

It means honoring the words of commitment they professed on the Altar until death.

As I read the comments on my blog, I noticed that many people have believed in Jesus.

But they have not been sure of Him.

They are more concerned with giving than receiving;

Receiving the Holy Spirit, receiving peace, receiving joy, speaking in tongues, receiving a new life, receiving, receiving and receiving...

The same can be applied to a marriage: some people have a bigger desire to be happy, than to make their spouse happy.

Because they believe but are not sure about one another, many marriages have been a living hell;

The life of many false Christians has also been hell;

What good is it to have faith to conquer the riches of this world and not have faith to be sure and surrender your life to the Lord Jesus?

The devil takes advantage of this situation, he really goes to town in the lives of those who are fake because they use lies, deception and hypocrisy.

They want a new life, but do not want to give up their old one;

They want to receive first, but they do not want to give first;

They want to reap, but they do not want to sow;

Impossible! As long as these "Christians" do not learn to give, sacrifice and surrender, they will never learn how to receive;

If you do not have faith to be sure and obey through the sacrifice of your own life, how will you have faith to receive salvation?

The Lord Jesus was very clear:

If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John 7.37-38

Spiritual thirst is characterized by a void in the soul. In order to be satisfied you have to go to Jesus and surrender to Him 100%.

When this condition is fulfilled, the person receives the baptism with the Holy Spirit at that exact moment.

To be sure of Jesus requires you to completely surrender your life.

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Luke 9.23

This does not mean that you are going to forget about your other responsibilities and live in the Church. It means that the will of the Lord Jesus is going to be a priority in your life. Before your family, loved ones, your own life, your reputation, your name; this is, He has to be the Center of your attention.

What kind of relationship have you had with Him?

Have you believed or been sure in Him?

It’s no use to try to deceive Him, because He knows your inner most thoughts.

He knows if you just want to date, flirt or be His lover;

But He also knows those who want a commitment for all of eternity.

May the Lord Jesus be glorified in your life!