"2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony." Hebrews 11: 2
In the original, instead of old the word is elders, people of authority in the church, who have an experience and by faith they have a good testimony. Is it possible on this earth to have a good testimony? In Proverbs, we are exhorted to have a good name; The ancients achieved it, but it is difficult because someone will always speak ill of you; They will criticize you, no matter what you do. Therefore, do not seek the applause of the people; Otherwise, you will live under the demands and pressures of the world. The only way to get good testimony is by faith. If they never celebrate or applaud you, at the end, they have to say: That person has faith; Everything that is proposed, it does; Nothing stops him. They will have to recognize your faith, even if they do not share it, because you have done what others have not dared. That is the best testimony: That you believe God over what the world may think of you. Although with your lips they condemn you, that inside you, they will know.
bless you and adore you
in an unparalleled way
// I want to open my treasures more
prized for dartelos
to you my real god.
You're the one who wakes up at dawn
to give you glory before you just try
I open the windows of heaven with my worship ohh.
The first fruits of my life to you I want to give you
the gardens of my heart I will give you
I do not want to reserve anything
everything I want to give you
The first hours of my life
the best notes of my singing
the first rains of my full clouds
of water I want to give you
only you.//
"4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained testimony that he was righteous, God testifying of his offerings; and dead, he still speaks for her. "Hebrews 11: 4
When no one talks about your achievements by faith, God will do it. Cain kills Abel, and Abel is left without offspring; If God did not give testimony of Abel, we would not know who he was. The faith was such that even today we speak of who was the first worshiper, the first to appear before God with the best of himself, to honor him; From that faith, God gives testimony. Adam, being the first man, is not mentioned in the heroes of the faith; Because Adam did not have faith at all; Everything was given to him. It's all done and they put it there; God realizes that it was not good for Adam to be alone, and he gives Eve; Adam did not ask for it. Neither repenting had; Adam blames his wife; Even so, God forgives him for mercy; We never see Adam say: Lord, forgive me. We see Adam who made himself aprons; He covered himself to the front because he was what he saw and he was ashamed; It did not cover well. Then, God saw him in furs; He had to kill some animal to dress them. Adam is not in the heroes of faith, because he never did anything by faith; What we know about him is that God created him and that he damaged everything. And, unfortunately, of some, that is the only thing we will know; Unless you become an Abel. Because a new generation has to come.
We do not know how Cain and Abel learn to worship God. Probably, Adam or God teach them; But Genesis 4 says: If you do well, will you not be exalted? It means there was a way to do it that Cain and Abel knew. To understand the faith of Abel, we have to see the error of Cain. In fact, there is more talk about Cain than about Abel in the Bible; So there is something that God wants us to learn from Cain's error that, if we understand it, we see then what Abel was doing right.
"3 And it came to pass in time, that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. 4 And Abel brought also the firstborn of his flock, the fattest of them. And the LORD looked favorably upon Abel and his offering; 5 But he did not look favorably on Cain and his offering ... "Genesis 4: 3-5a
God looked first to Cain, then, his offering; The offering was damaged by Cain. A theory of why God does not receive the offering from Cain, is that what God accepted was blood sacrifice because it was the blood that remitted the sin; He had to burn his flesh; That is why the Bible says that we have to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. You burn your flesh when you go to church, you leave your house, your bed, work; You do not want to be there, but you tell your flesh: I'm going to force myself.
You make sacrifice, and that is what pleases God. God can find you in your home, but that is very easy; When you make an effort, you burn your flesh, you present yourself before Him, and you surrender all your mind, your soul, your heart, your being; That is acceptable sacrifice. God looks upon Abel with pleasure, and then at his offering; He looked at Cain and did not like Cain, and since he did not like Cain, he did not like his offering. God does not look at what you do, until he looks at you first. What pleases God is the condition of the heart, the attitude with which you do it. And when God is pleased with you, what you present is pleasing to Him and if He receives it, He accepts it. No one can buy God with offerings, with actions; Because none of us are saved by acts, but by grace; But grace changes the heart, puts a correct attitude in you. When we see Cain's reaction, we see that his heart was the wrong one. We all have to make decisions; A very important one is: What do you do when you are rejected? What do you do when you do not have the results you want? And Cain's problem is that of many today: They make sacrifices, but half-heartedly, pretending great results; And, when confronted with the truth, they do not make the best decision.
"5 ... And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 Then Jehovah said to Cain, Why have you been angry, and why has your countenance declined? 7 If you do well, will you not be exalted? and if you do not do well, sin is at the door; with all this, he will be his desire, and you will rule over him. "Genesis 4: 5b-7
God looked at Cain, like a child, with the face of victim and courage; Today, that story keeps repeating itself. Abel's voice keeps talking; The question is: How many are listening? There are two types of people: The Abel, and the Cain. People with the right heart, with the right attitude, and people who do not have the right heart. There are people who, with their decayed faces, show the disturbance in their hearts, their bitterness, they blame others and God for everything. God sees Cain with that attitude, and says: Let's talk; Why are you making me face? "Because you love Abel, you accepted that; He has what I want, and I do not. "Even if you do ... Why do you complain that someone else has what you want, when you are not willing to pay the price he is willing to pay?
Try to offer God the best of you; May God look at you with pleasure because your heart is the right one, because you have presented yourself before Him with your most excellent sacrifice.
The greatest joy that God has is to be able to bless his children, it is a task in which he puts all his heart. In his foresight to give this blessing, he shows such balance, that when giving instructions on the sustaining of the ministry, he repeatedly mentions his concern and his dispositions to also provide the resources, to help the needy.
Exodus chap. 35: 20-29 The people of Israel bring offerings to build the temple, but do it voluntarily, the offerings must have a useful purpose, all those who had a willing heart to bring an offering for the work as men and women brought voluntary offering to God .
All the best we have we must give to God, not the surplus, the excellent, the first fruits.
God is the one who gives us life, so when we say that 'time belongs to us', we make a mistake. God is the owner of life, of time and of our days, so we must live each day for God, but also set aside time for Him. Daily communion with God and congregation in the church are two ways to dedicate time to our Sir. King David knew of the importance and human need to spend time in the presence of God. He said: "... better is a day in your courts than a thousand outside of them ...".
Do not make the mistake of saying you do not have time for God. Remember that at any moment He can decide that we no longer dwell in this world and take us to eternity. What would you say that day? Would you dare to say: 'God, today I have many businesses to do, I do not have time to die today'? The time is of God and we must dedicate our existence and also exclusive spaces for Him every day, week, month and year.
God has given us gifts. When we use them to serve God's work, we are making an offering that He demands of us. God does not give gifts to archive them, he gives them to us to serve him.
There are those who offer the easiest and there are those who bring God a real sacrifice. King David did understand that God deserved the best. In these verses, he says that David was about to receive things that he could sacrifice to God for free. But because of his understanding of who God was, he paid what such things cost because he did not want to offer God anything that did not cost him.