Tag: Christian life

Series: Decor-Eclectic Style

Myrnaly

The second style of decoration that we will study is eclectic. It is a style that has the impression of being easy to decor, but it is the opposite.

The meaning of eclectic is “deriving ideas, styles, and tastes from a wide variety of sources.”

It is also said that we can apply the definition to describe a type of person: “it is a person who derives ideas, styles, and tastes from a wide variety of sources.”

Based on that, eclecticism is spoken of as a philosophy of life. It is said to denote membership in a class of ancient philosophers who did not belong to or were founded under any recognized school of thought but to collect doctrines from various schools of thought.

All that philosophy sounds great because it draws the best ideas from different sources. In our case, Christians are going against the tide of the diversity of this world because our foundations, doctrines, and principles are based on the Scriptures and they do not expire or go out of date. The one who wrote the scriptures is eternal and knows all times. God knows the times that we have not yet lived. With such knowledge in his omniscience and wisdom, he is the only one who can give a word that applies to all the times that human lives.

The color palette in the eclectic style is very varied since it is about including variety in the style. It is not only about mixing a variety of colors, but a variety of textures, ethnic elements from different countries, and decoration materials are used.

It may seem very easy to create this style and many people lead the concept to a misperception since the difficult thing about achieving a successful style is being able to create a harmony that can bring together all those colors that collide with each other, those different styles and those. textures that are superimposed on each other, to achieve a beautiful room in its cohesion of elements that could be on the cover of a decoration magazine.

This leads me to reflect on how God creates the church of sinful people with different cultures, social classes, ages, levels of education who come to Him repentant through faith in Jesus Christ, whom He places as the head of this body made up of different parts. And not only that, we have people with different temperaments and personalities, different childhood backgrounds and experiences, hurts, grudges, and battles that through God’s love can coexist in perfect harmony and reflect beauty and light.

It is through the head, which is Christ, that the body can function cohesively since the rest of the body has the struggles of emotions, desires, and impulses. In a style where such diverse parts must come together, each part cannot seek to shine by itself but must flow in search of the whole picture.

As a result of the great diversity that exists in people, God in his wisdom gave us different gifts to exercise together. To meet different needs, different gifts are required, all guided with the same purpose. God has thought of everything! I must delight in the grace that he has showered on me that leads me to serve him in specific tasks, necessary for the edification of the church, and to carry the message of the Cross to those who should listen to it.

The eclectic style is one of the most difficult but when it is worked with skill, it is a true work of art. Each piece of decoration is not seen as isolated, but rather contributing to the room that holds them.

Let’s learn to appreciate and love our differences by seeing it as one work, the work of Christ in this world. From that perspective, we can only surrender so that it is God who places us in the place where we will be best seen, and we make the decorator shine and not each individual piece.

Let us pray to the Lord giving thanks that his wonderful work includes us, uses us for his glory, and makes us part of his family and his church. May it guide us to know our gifts and the use that we must give them so that we do not clash with our brothers in the faith, but on the contrary, we work together with the same goal, and others can admire and praise the Creator.

Series: Decor-Hygge style

Myrnaly

I begin the series with the style in decoration that is “trending” or very fashionable. Hygge or as pronounced in English, Hoogah.

The word “hygge” is a Danish word that means “coziness”. Rather, it expresses a feeling meaning much more than a word. It is part of a ritual of enjoying the simple pleasures of life and looking for meaning, beauty and something special in ordinary things.

The hygge style tries to take us in the midst of the stress created by this world and its rushing, to a state of relaxation, comfort, and enjoyment of the pleasures of life. That is why in its manifesto expresses that relationships, relaxing smells, food, and comfortable clothes are encouraged, to make us feel curled up in the middle of the chaos in which we live.

As Christians, I don’t need that style to feel comfortable, peaceful, and content. Jesus Christ has given me life, joy, and peace. He not only restores and mends my exterior, but transforms and heals my interior, my heart, to lead me to enjoy an abundant life, backed by his power, grace, and mercy. But even knowing him, I can get to feel overwhelmed at times. It is then that I must get closer to Him to live in His rest.

I can seek and enjoy the pleasures in life that will bring me a momentary distraction from what I am living. But I can aspire to a higher state of life where I feel complete in Christ and a joy that remains. In Christ, I find fullness and true comfort. But I can insert the ideas of this type of decoration in my home, and complement it very well with the Word of God.

This style returns to the natural, minimalist, without great complications. With a color palette that evokes trees, sand, soil, organic fabrics.

We can reflect on nature, God’s creation for our delight and sustenance. Remember that the color palettes come from the landscape that God has given us. This is the color palette for hygge.

The hygge style leads us to appreciate the simple things in life. We have even greater power in the Word when it tells us by the example of the Apostle Paul that we can be content in all circumstances, whether in abundance or in scarcity. We can do everything in Christ who strengthens us. It is not an effort from us. It only requires surrender on our part. It is to enjoy every day of his presence in our lives, to raise praise to him, and to delight ourselves in the adoration of the one who deserves it. I should not wrap myself in earthly pleasures to fill myself. I wrap myself in the delight of surrendering to Him, of worshiping and serving Him, and that brings joy, gives me rest, renews my strength like the eagle, and makes me feel loved.

God loves us and teaches us great principles using everything we see and know, as Jesus Christ did when he spoke to them in parables applying the culture and customs of the time. We can learn by talking about this style of decoration to be happy with the minimum. We do not need great wealth or luxury to feel identified or complete.

There are decorating styles for all tastes and personalities. We all look for what identifies us. I like this style because it reminds me of purity, holiness because white is used a lot, and the joy that I feel since God came into my life. It changes your life! You find beauty in everything you see. You are grateful for everything you have.

May your life be reflected in everything you decorate. What you adorn externally does not change your interior. I pray that God leads you to appreciate and be grateful for what you have, that even if you think it is little, it is enough and your greatest wealth is found in your inheritance in heaven.

Let us pray to the Lord giving thanks and exalting his name because he has given us life, and abundant life full of joy and peace. May we be content with all that we have and are. May we reflect on others the character of Christ so that their lives may be filled by his grace. We ask the Lord to keep us from trading our kingdom priorities for the pleasures and vanity of this world.

Series: Decor-Introduction

Myrnaly

I love to talk about home decor. I watch programs, I read, I look for ideas, and I try to apply all that to my home aesthetic.

Decorating is the “placement and combination of functional and ornamental elements in a place or a space to beautify it, adorn it, or create a certain effect”.

In simple words, you take a space and change it to give it beauty, but not only that, you want it to be functional.

In this series, we will see the different styles of decoration, or at least the major categories because there are many variants.

But the interesting thing about this whole series is that we will learn from the Word as we talk about these topics.

From the old testament in the Bible, we can see different illustrations about the decorations in those times. And if you think a bit, did you know that the color combinations used in the decoration palettes are taken from the combinations that exist in nature?

God supplied us with that master color palette. God made everything beautiful and varied as well.

We can be amazed by the variety of species of flowers, plants, trees that we see while new species and new colors are still being discovered. We can relax by observing the different blue tones of the sea. Sunsets are full of stunning sparkle combinations, and each season of the year gives us a feeling of freshness by completely changing the colors we see every day.

And it says in Romans 1:20 “For the invisible things of him, his eternal power and deity, are made clearly visible from the creation of the world, being understood through the things made, so that they are without excuse.” Through what we see in creation we can see the glory, greatness, and power of God. And every day we continue to discover new things.


But he created man and woman in his image and likeness. Initially, he made us perfect, to be eternal. Sin brought our spiritual death and the need for a savior for our souls.

Sin no longer allows us to be functional. It fills us with attitudes and feelings that are neither beautiful nor perfect. But God, in His grace and mercy, through faith in Jesus Christ, gives us life, cleanses our life, and, guided by his Holy Spirit, transforms us. Through this transformation, God calls us saints “separated for Him”, he changes us, and now we are light to shine in this world.

He made everything beautiful, including us. The best decoration and remodeling is that of our soul, which brings us to life, and to an abundant life of joy and peace, even in the midst of life’s circumstances.

In the next blog I will start with the decorating styles, but now, let’s pray: Lord, thank you for coming into my life to make it new. If I haven’t taken that step yet, may you guide me in order to start there. Thank you because you have given purpose and functionality to my life and every day you continue to renew us until we reach perfection until you come. May we be that light that the world needs reflecting your glory. Amen.

Just thinking I know it all

Myrnaly

Everything in this world is changeable. Everything goes out of style and everything comes back again. The values and morals of this world are as changeable as the swaying of the waves of the sea.

We have advanced in knowledge, and we have regressed in principles. The principle of wisdom is the fear of Jehovah, as the Word tells us, but today the one who fears Jehovah is considered ignorant.

They will call what is bad good and what is good they will call bad.

It is easier to go with the current because swimming against it requires a lot of effort.

Our tolerance will always be minimal towards men, but we are changing as to who we want to tolerate.

Before, as a teenager and young adult, I thought I knew everything better than my parents. Today I think that at that time I did not know anything, but today my children think how I thought.

Nothing in this world is constant. For that reason, there is nothing that I can hold onto. Nothing constitutes a security, because today it is and tomorrow who knows.

But God is eternal. I cannot speak of its beginning and I cannot set an end to it.

God does not change. His words, his law and his advice apply to all times because he is the only one who knows all times.

God knows everything, including the heart of man and its ups and downs. We change our way of thinking in a matter of minutes. What God says remains forever.

Do I tremble at the word of God? Is my life run based on it?

Do you ever stop to meditate on what it says there? Not only in his promises, which by God’s grace we have received. Do you meditate in prayer on the holiness of God? Do I have that reverent fear before God and his work? Do I tremble at his word?

Very little do we take the scriptures before what is convenient for us and before the appearance that we want to have before others. Every day identifying yourself as a Christian will create a bad concept about you in society. Am I willing to keep talking about the gospel? While there are missionaries laying down their lives for the gospel, do I worry about my reputation? Am I so worried about what they say about me? Or my priority is to proclaim the truths of the gospel, exalt the glory of God and be able to be an instrument so that other lives can be saved through faith.

To tremble at his word I must first know him.

It is time to go deeper, to go before God in humility, so that my purpose as Son of God may be fulfilled. God is looking for worshipers, people who love Him with all their might, and people who recognize His holiness.

Religious who only fulfill tasks that are visible, such as going to church, or serving in a ministry as a simple routine, is not going to impact the world. Those who humbly prostrate themselves before the Lord so that his’s will be done in their lives will impact the world and see themselves as servants and not as lords.

Let us pray to the Lord, and if it is necessary to be silent, so be it. Let’s just come before Him recognizing that He made us and not ourselves. May he reveal to us a little of his greatness and holiness so that our lives may be transformed for his glory.

Living on a diet

Myrnaly

Diets are famous at the beginning of the year, as part of the resolutions and new goals that we want to achieve. They start out in high spirits because we’ve just gotten out of the holidays and hearty Christmas holiday meals, but as time goes on they get boring and harder to keep. The dishes that are left out of the diet seem to be more attractive and appetizing than what we are eating. For that reason, the most successful diets include days or servings to “cheat” and eat foods that could make us go off the diet altogether if we stop consuming them altogether. Still, not everyone has the discipline to make dieting their lifestyle.

Not only our body is fed, in the same way, but our soul and spirit are also fed. But in this spiritual area, the food we eat can go unnoticed. However, the effects of what we consume remain in our system for a long time.

Everything we read, see, and hear feeds us without realizing it. We have spent a lifetime filling ourselves with everything the world has to offer through cinema, television, magazines, and now, social networks. What do I eat the most? What am I filling myself with? We need to fill ourselves with the Word of God and what quenches our thirst. Am I feeding my fears, anxieties, and discouragement? Or, on the contrary, am I feeding my spirit with knowledge of God, his plans, his will, his attributes and contribute to compare me to his holiness and produce changes in my life?

Like the dieter, you do not have to say it because others notice how healthy and fit you look when we are feeding spiritually, those around us know from the words that come out of our mouth, our attitudes, our decisions, and our approach to other people that we are different and the goal is to reflect Christ so that others give glory to his name by seeing living testimony in us.

Our way of thinking and seeing the situations that come our way in life will be determined by what we have learned and treasured. In times of crisis, what we believe is what we will do first, without thinking, it comes naturally. We must start each day praying and filling ourselves with the Word of God so that during the day that Word is the one that acts on all the decisions we make and leads us to enjoy that abundant life that Christ conquered for us on the cross.

As in diets, what is not healthy catches our attention because it is what we have been eating for years, but it is of no use to us. It is a daily decision and Spirit-led discipline to feed ourselves on what is right.

Let us pray to the Lord giving thanks because he has given us life and abundant life. Let us ask him to guide us through the day and to help us fill ourselves more and more with him each day so that we can please him and enjoy the peace that by his grace he gives us.

Need for light in the dark night

Myrnaly

I think we all agree that these times of pandemic have changed all of our plans and our routines. The physical distancing has made it difficult for us to do some tasks, to be able to share quality time with those we love and we see how the churches have also been affected.

Meditating on the Lord about these times, it came to my mind the times when the apostle Paul was locked up, in jail, and isolated from the plans he had about his missionary trips. But did Paul put his ministry on pause because he was isolated? Definitely not.

From prison, he influenced people, continued to cultivate his relationship with God, and wrote letters that are part of the Bible as we know it today. The power of God and his work does not stop at four walls. It only took a man called by God, who in complete humility and disposition placed himself in the hands of God.

We read verses like the ones I shared in the beginning and we often raise praise to God telling him to use us, to do his will, but do I make myself available? I am willing? When they call for volunteers for an assignment, do I volunteer?

The world is full of people who go with the flow. The world needs people who remember that they are the church of God and that the church is not made up of a building or a meeting place. Can those who see me say that they understand what the church is? Do you see the character of God in us? How have the lives around me been impacted on a daily basis?

These times call for creative, special measures. All we can accomplish is by the grace of God. What prevents me from serving? What prevents me from saying “here I am”?
Our ministries don’t stop. If I have stopped my ministry and am not doing anything, I must present myself in complete humility and transparency before God and ask him to help me and direct me to act according to his will. What we lack is probably direction, because training is always from God. All the good we can do comes from Him.

In times of greater darkness, the stronger the church must shine, reflecting the light of Christ. It is at night that the moon shines the brightest. The moon has no light of its own, it reflects sunlight. Although we can see it during the day, in the presence of the sun it doesn’t make much difference. It is in difficult times that the church must consecrate itself and be a reflection of God and not the world. If my drawback from serving is my job, my entertainment, my economic situation, that I hope others will do it or that I do not feel qualified, the root of everything is the status of my relationship with God.

Let us pray to the Lord to help us to be the church that the world needs and not people who get confused with the current of this world. May we make ourselves available before waiting for others to come and we can understand the privilege of being used by the Lord to carry his message. May we recognize that there is nothing in us that enables us to produce spiritual fruit except the Holy Spirit who indwells us and convicts and directs us according to God’s Word and his will. May we finally surrender to the Lord and say: “Here I am.”

Looking upright

Myrnaly

I have an infection in my left ear that urgently needed a doctor. Yesterday I finally got an appointment and the doctor prescribed treatment in ear drops and antibiotic pills.

For the drops, he instructed me to put 7 drops in the affected ear, and for several minutes to be with my head inclined so that the drops would stay there. After three minutes or so, I had to turn my head to the other side to remove the excess fluid from the ear.

For that purpose, I lay down on the sofa in the living room to be comfortable. While I was waiting lying on my side, I began to observe the house. Everything looked different from that perspective. I was staring at the ceiling, which I didn’t normally see while walking.

I was thinking about how when we are young children, we see everything from another perspective and everything changes as we grow up. Likewise, when we are spiritual children, recently converted to the gospel, we see everything differently.

I remember that time when I did look up a lot because I longed to follow God’s will in everything. I wanted to have that communion every day, to pray frequently, to read the Bible with that thirst for knowledge. But as we walk, we lower our gaze to what is in front of us. Circumstances, problems, changes in life occupy all our attention and we stop looking “upwards” where we can find in God all the answers we need, the forces that will support our weaknesses and the peace to be able to bear the trials.

Many times we are overwhelmed and we only have to look to God, who sees us as his children and wants to guide us. We must set our sights on enjoying the presence of God in our lives and giving glory to God in the midst of all circumstances.

Let us pray to the Lord presenting every situation that overwhelms our minds. Let us humbly acknowledge that we depend on Him and cannot carry everything ourselves. May his Holy Spirit guide us and we seek to cultivate that communion with Him.

Knowing true justice

Myrnaly

My husband and I were talking last night about a young man who passed away at an early age and how his mother would feel, who was praying for a miracle.

He used to tell me that many things in life look unfair and for that reason people get upset with God.

Seeing that the designs or will of God seem unjust is a thought that frequently circles in the minds of many and that inevitably collides with the truth in Scripture.

I told my husband last night that we have been indoctrinated from a very young age by the beliefs and postulates of this world and the apparently “democratic” laws of our governments.

We have been taught that justice is that the good win and the bad suffer the consequences. However, we have given rights to criminals over victims.

We are told that equality and equity is that everyone has the same and is treated the same or we enter into discrimination. However, those who proclaim the love of God and the salvation of God free by faith to all who believe, call it a day crime against those who do not believe.

We were taught about a constitution based on faith with a straight playing field and strongly believed by all citizens. However, it was written in a time of slavery and those same governments discriminate against certain types of citizens.

Those of us who have believed the gospel and want to live by it, find ourselves in the dilemma of which of those to renew our minds as recommended by the apostle Paul in Romans 12. It is only guided by the Holy Spirit that we can discern things spiritually.

We evaluate things backwards. We want to filter the Bible through the sieve of what we have learned in the society we live in, when we must filter everything we believe and think through the Scriptures in order to live pleasing God and enjoy the peace and joy that has been given to us .

God’s justice is greater than our justice. The justice of man is of appearances and statutes that in the long run corrupt the very ones that created them. God’s justice is perfect and does not conform to anything. In his justice, the wicked pay. We are all bad, there is not just one good. God fulfilled his justice by sending Jesus Christ to pay the price of our punishment on the cross. The good, the just, pay the price for sinners. His justice is infused with love, mercy, and grace.

I prefer his justice. I prefer his law. I want him to show me my misconceptions that don’t pass the scriptural filter. May I give his commandments as justice and they are rooted in my heart so that my life is governed by them.

Everything I have learned in this world is corrupted by sin and man’s selfishness. That it is not my truth, and it remains not my creed.

Let us pray to the Lord presenting ourselves with transparency and humility so that we can receive his truth and we can live by it. May we meditate on his law day and night so that we may be like the tree planted by the waters that bears its fruit in its season and its leaf does not fall.

Someone else finished what I began

Myrnaly

I like to put decoration details around the house according to the different seasons of the year. At the moment I have decorated my dining table in a beach theme because of the summer. They are simple details but they encourage us to see different things, even if I reuse them next year.

I have many ideas, so most of the time, I buy the materials and prepare decorations myself. I bought those snails and thought they would look great in that cloth packaging. I have good ideas but sometimes in the execution, I am not so patient. So I placed the snails and as much as I accommodated them they did not look up and the packaging looked a little empty. Well! ” I don’t think it looks bad, ”I thought.

But my husband, who is a detail-oriented and perfectionist, saw that something was missing in the decoration of the snails and by the time I saw it, he had already placed a foam (polyethylene) filling so that it would not look empty and now the snails look better than when I put them on.

And so God made us. He gave each of us different gifts to be able to compliment others. We work differently and give different ideas but we serve the same Lord, we are all under his direction.

As the body of Christ, we are his instruments to carry his gospel message to the world. We will meet different types of people, different situations, different languages, different needs, so it requires different gifts and abilities to be able to minister to all people.

For example, maybe you are good at talking to people, but someone else is good at listening. Perhaps you reflect great peace and bring calm to someone, while another is the one who encourages the decayed. Perhaps you are good at serving, and another is good at administering.

Teamwork leads us to reach more lives and we are in times where the need is great and the limitations of the pandemic lead us to be creative. And you already know the saying that “two minds think more than one”. For it is the same spirit, the same love, the same burden, taking the form that can reach each person who needs it.

Your gifts and talents are necessary to be a blessing to others. It is a privilege to be used by God because we are not even worthy to be his servants and carry a message that remains so great. It is his grace that leads us by the hand when we surrender our lives to him.

Do not think that you are not necessary, or that there are already people working in the church. God created you for good works, so that his name may be exalted and glorified. It all starts when we surrender to Him so that His will be done and not ours.

Let us pray to the Lord to present ourselves willing and available for his work. May it help us to be an active part of the body, putting our gifts and talents at the service of others. It is time to carry the message with urgency and fear of the Lord. May he direct us to be a blessing to those who need it, always remembering that all the glory and the work is his.