Today is a Brand New Day

Thursday April 21, 2011

"Surprise the world with a smile"

Julieta Reyes

Friend
This is the day the Lord has made for you and me, rejoice! Julieta Reyes Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3

The passion of our Christ

Love One Another (The Greatest Commands)

³⁷ Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'^[c] ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Matthew 22:37-39

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

John 15:13

³⁸ Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."³⁹ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible,

may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

Matthew 26:39

Potential Church Corner

Have you thought of baptism?

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About this email

Every day the sun comes up, whether we are ready or not. In a day we take many decisions and the time frame to evaluate each one is very short. It is my conviction that we always have enough choices but that it is more important to know what the consequences are of each action and decisions we make. Every day I write a journal entry on the topics that I personally struggle with. I share my challenges, trials, joy, sorrow and the lessons learned with my friends. Not one day goes by without praising my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his wisdom and grace. My messages are to honor my Lord and be a witness of his endless love. This love is available for all of us.

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Today I celebrate God's grace.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

All verses used in this emails are from the NIV 2010

Monday: Jesus began his ministry
Tuesday: Jesus calls his first disciples
Wednesday: Jesus teaches his disciples(us) how to pray
Thursday: Jesus shows his disciples(us)how to love

In Biblegateway I made a search in the entire Bible by word and I typed "love" and it came with 686 results. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.This verse dwells in my heart and each time I read it, it feels as if it is the first time I read it. It blows my mind. Who of us would put his only son through so much pain? Why would God do something like this for us? Reflecting on this kind of love confronts me with who I am. An ungrateful person that would love and stop loving because I get hurt. I chose to love if I know in advance that I will not be hurt. I will love if I am loved. I will love if .....

The Love that Jesus modeled for us is nothing like my kind of "love". Jesus loved regardless. He knew he was going to be betrayed and denied by his own disciples yet he did not avoid the rejection. Jesus could easily defend himself before Pilate but he humbled himself to go through the entire ordeal of the crucifixion. Jesus loved his Father in heaven and he obeyed his will for him. Jesus knew that by his sacrifice the creation of his father would be saved. Through his life and the account in the Bible of his ministry, I have learned how to love my neighbor as myself.

I learned that Love is a choice. Love will not pop up one day as a magical moment, no. Fact of an oak tree: the acorn is the nut where 1 seed of oak tree grows. The grow of the seed takes about 6 to 18 months to mature and then the seed is ready. Love is the same, you can have a crush on someone but love will always be a choice. We will love our mom less when we realize our friend's mom is much nicer, we will break up a relationship because the person is not as hot as you used to think. But true love will prevail. Easter is all about a love that prevails...Lets write all the names of the ones we love and rate our love on a scale 1-10....What are your results?..then lets make the choice to love them for real, beginning with our Lord.

Trust in the word of God, this is what the Lord said about his word in Isaiah 55:11 "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

God bless you,

Julieta Reyes Flores

Running after excellence for the Lord