Tag: christianity

Working the Mission Field

On By Naty MatosIn Articles, Inspirational ThoughtsLeave a comment

What a blessing we find in those who dedicate their lives to the work of the kingdom. In a way we are all called to the mission field. Our field may be different and that’s why we don’t consider ourselves missionaries. It is our duty as Christians to sow the seed of the Gospel in our workplace, with our family and friends, with the works of our ministries, with our neighbors and the cashier at grocery store.

With that said, I admire those who leave family and friends, move away to just work for the kingdom. Those who leave their commodities and sleep on the floor, and have very little to eat just to help needy communities and dedicate their lives to the mission field. They truly fulfill the scripture that reads Acts 6:4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” They see first hand the pain and suffering for those in need. They love with the love of Christ every single day of their live. They are an example of what Christ-like life is.

Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Let’s stay alert to what our individual mission fields are and fulfill them eagerly. Also let’s help as much as possible those who have sacrificed everything for the cause of the Kingdom.

Until then, be blessed.

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In Growth Lessons, I was reminded of this beautiful truth: Our walk with the Lord is a process of growing up into the image of Christ. P. Yates

I would recommend this book for anyone who would like some common sense and light added to their life. C. Cunningham

Great for meditations and daily devotions. N. Thames

WF: I Will Survive

On By Naty MatosIn Worship3 Comments

The great thing for those who believe in God is that there’s hope. It doesn’t matter how hard life gets or how gray the things around us look we have hope. We have the hope that not only we can survive anything that crosses our path, but also that God will use it for our good.

Romans 8:28

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

 

WF: Worship Friday

WF: The Desert Song

On By Naty MatosIn WorshipLeave a comment

In life we go through struggles and sometimes all that keeps us going is our faith.

One of my favorite passages in the bible is the exit of the Israelites out of Egypt and how God saw them through. Sometimes we are in our personal dessert and have to trust that since we serve the same God, he too will see us through.

WF: Worship Friday

 

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In Growth Lessons, I was reminded of this beautiful truth: Our walk with the Lord is a process of growing up into the image of Christ. P. Yates

I would recommend this book for anyone who would like some common sense and light added to their life. C. Cunningham

Great for meditations and daily devotions. N. Thames

FINDING YOUR WAY OUT OF A DARK ALLEY

On By Naty MatosIn Inspirational ThoughtsLeave a comment

by Lillian Duncan

James 4: 8

Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.

We humans are not necessarily the smartest of God’s creations even though we think we are! We seem to go out of our way to hurt ourselves in so many different creative ways. At one time or another most of us end up in a dark alley of our own making through our own bad choices and actions. And sometimes other people put us in those alleys or at least lead the way.

It always seems so dark and so lonely there, but God never abandons us—it only feels that way sometimes.

And that’s what I want readers to take away after reading DARK ALLEYS. No matter what we’ve done, God never stops loving us. He is always there waiting for us to ask for His help. In James 4: 8 it says, Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.”

To me that means, God is always there waiting for us to come to HIM.

One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29: 14, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity. Another way of saying draw close to God and God will draw close to you. Of course, His help may not come in the form we want or expect, but then again His ways are higher than our ways.

The important thing to remember is that God loves us and he won’t abandon us.

My latest book, DARK ALLEYS is a story about a woman who ends up homeless and alone in a dark alley on a cold winter night. She witnesses a murder while in a drunken stupor and almost becomes his second victim. She awakens in the hospital with no clear memory of how she was injured. She attempts to put her life back together but, of course, the murderer has other plans.

I wanted to write a story where the main character was the queen of underdogs and I think I succeeded. Tessa is a mess, just like the rest of us. She could give up and no one could blame her, but she doesn’t. She keeps going—putting one step in front of the other.

And some days that’s all any of us can do.

Those are the days we need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus.

And one step at a time He will lead out of that dark alley and into His light.

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ABOUT DARK ALLEYS: Being innocent and proving it are two different things, especially when a powerful politician is involved

Tessa’s life spiraled out of control after the death of her only child, and she finds herself in a dark alley on a cold wintry night. After she witnesses a murder, she almost becomes his second victim, but manages to escape—just barely.

Homeless and alone, she knows the authorities won’t believe someone like her, leaving her only one option—to run.

Lillian Duncanwrites stories of faith mingled with murder & mayhem. She writes the type of books she loves to read—suspense with a touch of romance. Whether as an educator, a writer, or a speech pathologist, she believes in the power of words to transform lives, especially God’s Word.

To learn more about Lillian and her books, visit: www.lillianduncan.net. She also has a devotional blog at: www.PowerUpWithGod.com

WF: My Own Little World

On By Naty MatosIn Worship1 Comment

How often do we really notice what goes around us? We live our little Christian lives, with our Christian friends and our Christian activities. How many times do we really live the life that Jesus called us to live.

Listen careful to this song, it will give you a lot of food for thought. This weekend while having fun and rest with our loved ones, lets think about what else we can do with the time we have available.

WF: Worship Friday

Do you want to read about real life lessons on how to do this thing called Christian Life? Pick up a copy of my devotional Growth Lessons

book2In Growth Lessons, I was reminded of this beautiful truth: Our walk with the Lord is a process of growing up into the image of Christ. P. Yates

I would recommend this book for anyone who would like some common sense and light added to their life. C. Cunningham

Great for meditations and daily devotions. N. Thames

WF: Beautiful One

On By Naty MatosIn WorshipLeave a comment

God made everything beautiful and perfect because He is beautiful and perfect. Let’s take today to appreciate our creator’s creation.

Happy Friday!

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

WF: Worship Friday

Check out my new book and see what God did on Desiree’s live.

clip_image002“Aimee is a constant positive influence in Desiree’s life, gently demonstrating God’s love and mercy. ”Mary Anne Benedetto

“Very well written. ”Emme

“I would recommend The Road Home to any romantic, any lover of books, anyone struggling with forgiveness, anyone. ”cynthia

Promoting in a Christian World

On By Naty MatosIn Writing Happenings5 Comments

I’m not sure who it was. I was listening to the radio and there was a Christian artist who was being interviewed. He said that he struggled with promoting his work because people would be looking at him and crediting him for his work and not necessarily God. He said that through prayer he realized that this was his business and that not promoting it would not be wise, but that he had to make sure of two things:

1) Keep his focus on the Lord

2) Give God the Glory for his success

I read the following scripture and it reminded me of this…

2 Corinthians 10:17-18

But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

That was the main messages that Tim Tebow tried to impart on people, that yes he had great abilities but they were given to him by God and any success he had was given by Him and him only.

I know at the beginning of my journey as an author I thought I should not place my name on anything. I should not promote anything and let God place my things where they should. Like the singer, whom I wish I could remember his name, I realized that if I hid under a rock nobody would find the message that God had entrusted in me. I would be just like the man who hid the talent that God gave him in the parable. However, although my name is there, I make sure that when people cheer me on, to tell them that it was all God. That I am just using what I was given for the Glory of the Kingdom and He who called me to proclaim His message. All the honor, glory and accolades belong to HIM.

Christian Authors, Artists, Business Owners, have you struggle with this? How have you reconciled this concept?

Until then, Be Be blessed!

In Growth Lessons, I was reminded of this beautiful truth: Our walk with the Lord is a process of growing up into the image of Christ. P. Yates

I would recommend this book for anyone who would like some common sense and light added to their life. C. Cunningham

Great for meditations and daily devotions. N. Thames

Keeping the Sabbath

On By Naty MatosIn Inspirational ThoughtsLeave a comment

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8

In the passage above we read that we are supposed to rest. Our modern life goes totally against this principle. When God created the world including humanity everything worked inside a principle of balance.

Do you remember that ecosystem science project in school? You needed certain elements for everything to function properly. The same way our lives were designed to work, to have fun but also to rest. The Word of God doesn’t call us to exhaust ourselves and wait for a week vacation once in a while to recuperate, it says that out of every seven days we need one to rest.

Society works against this principle. Our “days off” are usually the weekends, and what do we do with those? Some people work, some people spend both days running errands, doing housework. And like a good friend of mine would say, How is that working for you? How is your body functioning on little rest? How is your relationship with God when your mind is cluttered with business? How is your relationship with those around you when they don’t have down time with you?

Like I said before, everything in God’s perfect plan has an order and a purpose, so aside from obedience conserving the Sabbath is about the balance in our lives to fulfill God’s purpose.

Be blessed

If you want to read about some of my own life lessons in my walk with Christ, check out my book Growth Lessons.

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In Growth Lessons, I was reminded of this beautiful truth: Our walk with the Lord is a process of growing up into the image of Christ. P. Yates

I would recommend this book for anyone who would like some common sense and light added to their life. C. Cunningham

Great for meditations and daily devotions. N. Thames

WF: From Sunset to Sunrise

On By Naty MatosIn WorshipLeave a comment

Today during our worship time we should remember that we need God every day. That every day we have new mercies. We need to acknowledge that without Him we are nothing. Let’s keep our eyes on his glory.

WF: Worship Friday

4 and 5 Stars Reviews. A Powerful Story of Redemption

clip_image002[1]“Aimee is a constant positive influence in Desiree’s life, gently demonstrating God’s love and mercy. ”Mary Anne Benedetto

“Very well written. ”Emme

“I would recommend The Road Home to any romantic, any lover of books, anyone struggling with forgiveness, anyone. ”cynthia

Are You Weary?

On By Naty MatosIn Inspirational ThoughtsLeave a comment

Have you ever felt like you’ve given everything you have to give? Have you ever lost hope, not because you don’t think that good things can come up, but because you’ve poured out so much that you believe that you won’t have the energy to even receive the blessing?

The good news is that we serve a God whose well never runs dry. His mercies are new every morning and what is dead he can bring back to life. When all hope is gone, when our energy has been used and wasted he says to rest in him that he will give us the strength like eagles.

Do you know how strong an eagle is ?

  • It can lift a full grown Fox from the ground
  • It can fly at high altitudes.
  • It’s almost like a flying human with sharp senses and a lot more strength.

Yes, you don’t have the strength, but he’ll be strong for you. Yes, you don’t have hope, but he provides you with faith. You may feel dead inside, but just like Lazarus he can bring you back to life, and since all you need to move a mountain is a mustard seed size faith, trust in the Lord, speak to the mountain, speak to the pain that in Jesus name what’s been dead will not only come back to life, but he will make brand new.

Blessings!

If you want to read a powerful story of redemption and hope in how God can get us out of the wildest situations, pick up your copy of The Road Home today! Available for Kindle and Nook. If you want to have a chance to win a free Kindle copy enter a comment in our Topic of Discussion post. The winner will be announce this Friday 27th.