The Tree in the Yard

Blessed are those who find wisdom those who gain understanding … She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her … She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed. Proverbs 3:13, 15, 18

When old Isaque passed away, he left his two grandsons, Miguel and Gabriel, a peculiar inheritance. To Miguel, the older, a pragmatic stockbroker, he left his stock portfolio, a solid estate accumulated over decades. To Gabriel, a history teacher with more books than money, he left the old family house and a note.

The note read: “My son, to you, I leave the greatest treasure. In the yard, you will find the tree of life. Take care of it, and it will take care of you.”

Miguel laughed when he learned of the division.

“Grandpa was always poetic,” he said, as his app was already calculating the stock dividends. “You got an old piece of land and a metaphor. I got the future.”

Gabriel, however, knew his grandfather. He knew his words were never empty. He moved into the old house, a simple place, but full of memories. In the backyard, there was a magnificent, ancient oak tree. Its roots swelled the earth, and its canopy seemed to touch the sky. Gabriel understood. That was the “tree of life.”

While Miguel plunged into the frenzy of the financial market, Gabriel immersed himself in the books and diaries he found in his grandfather’s library. They were volumes of history, philosophy, theology, and, above all, Isaque’s personal notes in his Bibles. Every book read, every one of his grandfather’s reflections deciphered, was like watering the roots of that tree. He was not seeking wealth; he was seeking wisdom.

The years passed. Miguel multiplied his assets. He became immensely wealthy, a respected name in social columns. But his life was a whirlwind. Broken marriages, self-serving friendships, a void that not even the most expensive apartment could fill. The relentless pursuit of more silver and rubies had left him anxious and lonely. His paths were those of a rich man, but not those of a man at peace.

Gabriel, in turn, flourished under the shade of the oak. The wisdom he acquired did not make him rich, but prosperous. He learned from his grandfather the art of listening, the importance of forgiveness, the value of community. He became the unofficial counselor of the neighborhood. His students adored him, not just for his history lessons, but for his life lessons. He married, had children, and his house, though simple, was always full of laughter and friends. His ways were pleasant, and his paths were full of peace.

The financial crisis of 2029 hit the market like a hurricane. Miguel, who had bet everything on high-risk investments, lost almost everything. The house of cards collapsed. Alone and broken, he drove to the only property the family still had: his grandfather’s old house.

He found Gabriel sitting under the oak tree, reading to his children. The place radiated a peace that Miguel had not felt in decades.

“You were right, Biel,” Miguel said, his voice choked with defeat. “Grandpa gave you the real treasure. I chased the wind and ended up with nothing.”

Gabriel closed the book and looked at his brother with compassion.

“You didn’t end up with nothing, Miguel. You still have us.” He pointed to the house. “There’s a guest room waiting for you. What I have, I will share with you.”

That afternoon, as he watched his nephews play, Miguel finally understood his grandfather’s note. The “tree of life” was not the oak. It was the wisdom that his grandfather had planted, and that Gabriel had cultivated. A wisdom that produced fruits money could not buy: contentment, solid relationships, peace of mind, and, above all, a safe harbor for a shipwrecked brother.

He had lost his rubies, but his brother was offering him something infinitely more precious. He was being invited to rest in the shade of the true tree of life.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

https://books2read.com/u/3knogL

No Excuses

“I can’t! I don’t get it!

Everything is against me!

All the people hate me.

Nobody wants to help me.”

These words show immaturity

And are loaded with self-pity.

The person set that situation

And they believe in their imagination.

These thoughts limit their actions

These beliefs affect their decisions.

The person does not see any escape

They accepted living in a suffering way.

This unhappy situation must change immediately

The person must alter their mind and vocabulary.

They need to seek to become successful,

They must fight for all their dreams to come true.

It is the time to take responsibility

It is the only way to change reality.

There is no point in standing still and complaining

There is no success for those who live down in spirit.

The person must stop with any excuse

They must get up and bravely fight.

This is the only way to development

It is the only way to get new achievements.

Some help will be necessary during the fight

Someone will be needed to protect their life.

There is only one able to face everything

There is only one able to keep them advancing.

Only the Lord God can help them

Only the Lord can strengthen them.

With God’s help, everything will be overpowered

A victorious character will be forged.

Never again will depressive words be said

That will be dead; it will seem like another life instead.

There will be trust and protection from the Lord

Even if there are struggles, there will be His favor.

This poem is part of the book Words of Faith.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/meLvPr

The Sins of Israel

The nation of Israel sinned for a long time,

They forgot the Lord and lived a sinful life.

Against God, they did many wrong things,

New altars were built on every side.

 

The people built all kinds of statues,

They burned incense in all forests.

They did everything that God had forbidden,

All kinds of gods and idols were adored by them.

 

That entire people, the Lord has warned,

But prophets’ advice, nobody has heard.

They continued doing as the other nations,

Living the entire time practicing abominations.

 

The people made too many carved images,

They burned their sons, practicing abomination.

They believed in omen and divination.

Putting big sins in their hearts and the nation.

 

Even the tribe of Judah also sinned,

The Lord got very angry and moved away from them,

The whole people of Israel went into captivity,

Paying for the great sins they committed.

This poem is part of the book Christian Poetry Volume IV.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/bpMr16

The Necessary Detour

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Proverbs 3:11-12

André had a plan. A perfect plan, meticulously designed in his mind and on his spreadsheets. He would graduate with honors in architecture, secure a position at the renowned firm “Souza & Pires,” marry his girlfriend, Júlia, and, by the age of thirty, have his own firm and a comfortable life. It was a good plan. And, as a dedicated Christian, he presented it to God in his prayers, not as a request, but almost as a statement.

The first “correction” came in the form of an email. The position at Souza & Pires, his dream job, for which he was the most qualified candidate, was given to someone else. André was shocked, then furious.

“Lord, this makes no sense!” he prayed, his frustration overflowing. “I did everything right!” He rejected the closed door, seeing it not as a redirection, but as a divine mistake.

Disheartened, he accepted a position at a small, without prestigious firm that worked mainly on renovation projects for low-income communities. He felt like a failure; a talent wasted on “minor” projects.

The second “rebuke” was even more painful. After their engagement, Júlia began to distance herself. Conversations about the future became tense. She loved him, she said, but she did not share his faith.

“André, I can’t be the woman who leads a couples’ group at your church,” she finally confessed. “I don’t see myself in your future.” The breakup left him devastated. He felt abandoned, by her and by God.

His plan was in ruins. The life he had so carefully designed had been demolished. He was filled with bitterness, feeling like a son treated unjustly by a Father who would not listen to him.

It was his own father, a man of few words and much wisdom, who gave him a new perspective.

“Son,” he said one Sunday afternoon, “sometimes we ask God to guide us, but we only accept the guidance if it leads us to the destination we have already chosen. A father’s love is not about giving his son everything he wants. Sometimes, the greatest act of love is to say ‘no’ to protect him from a path he cannot see is dangerous.”

The words took root in André’s wounded heart. He began to look at his frustrations not as rejections, but perhaps as… discipline.

In his “minor” job, he discovered a passion he did not know he had. Designing functional and dignified spaces for people who could never afford an architect brought him a sense of purpose that no glass skyscraper ever could. He learned to listen to people, to understand their real needs. He was becoming a better architect and a better man.

Months later, at his church, he met Patrícia. She was a volunteer on the same community project he was working on. The connection was instant, built on a foundation of shared faith and a genuine love for serving. With Patrícia, he did not have to explain his faith; he lived it alongside her.

One evening, years later, André was at home, helping his son assemble a puzzle. He owned a socially conscious architecture firm, was married to Patrícia, and was happier than he had ever imagined possible.

That day, he learned that Souza & Pires had filed for bankruptcy, embroiled in a major corruption scandal. He also learned that Júlia had married, but that her marriage was going through serious difficulties.

He looked at his life. It was not the perfect plan he had designed. It was something infinitely better. Every closed door, every painful “no,” every unexpected detour had been, in fact, the hand of a loving Father correcting him, rebuking him, protecting him.

He finally understood. The discipline of the Lord was not a punishment; it was a rescue. And he, as a son whom God delighted in, was loved enough to have his path radically altered, to be guided not to the life he wanted, but to the life he needed.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

https://books2read.com/u/3knogL

Abomination in Israel

Some of Israel’s kings led the nation to sin,

Their abominable idols, they were adoring.

They did not remember Israel’s God,

They did not remember the true Heavenly God.

 

Everyone sacrificed and burned incense,

Idolatry was a consensus in that land.

It began since from the house of the king,

The king was the first one to do bad things.

 

That was a time of big tribulation,

All the people around invaded the nation.

Many ancient treasures were stolen,

The holy places were profaned.

 

All this evil was allowed by the Lord,

Against his people rose the wrath of God.

Each one walked in his own way,

Each one sought to adore his idol.

 

The people sent by God were discredited,

Sinful people tried to kill every new prophet.

Virtually nobody wanted to come back to the Lord,

Everyone preferred those loveless gods.

This poem is part of the book Christian Poetry Volume IV.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/bpMr16

Opportunity for Forgiveness

The Lord always gives an opportunity for salvation,

When they sin, his envoy will call their attention.

God’s envoys warn about transgression,

God wants repentance and a change of heart’s intention.

 

The Lord wants to forgive those who sincerely repent,

God wants to receive those who seek the path of truth.

The Lord desires that many participate in salvation,

God is ready to forget the sins of any nation.

 

God has no partiality to any person,

He forgives both the bad one and the good one.

Before God, even the most perfect is pure wickedness,

By actions, no one could obtain God’s forgiveness.

 

God is most merciful to forgive his beloved children,

Even though they are not worthy, the Lord forgets them.

He brings new life where death and perdition reigned,

God grants his children the greatest grace of forgiveness.

 

After forgiving, the Lord wants his children to sin no more,

He gives them a new life to act differently from before.

The Lord hopes to have a great friendship with His children,

Being best friends, so that they can live together in eternity.

This poem is part of the book Christian Poetry Volume VI.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/4EBjBl

The Storehouses of the Heart

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10

Sérgio looked at his banking app and felt the familiar knot in his stomach. His salary had just been deposited, but the feeling was not one of relief, but of anxiety. His mind was already in defense mode, calculating every cent, dreading every unexpected expense. To him, money was synonymous with security, and security was something he never had enough of.

He and his wife, Beatriz, were Christians, but their views on finances were from different planets. Beatriz firmly believed in tithing and offering, in giving the “first part” with a cheerful heart. To Sérgio, this was mathematically illogical.

“Bia, we can’t!” he argued that morning, showing her his phone screen. “Look at the rent, the car payment, the kids’ school. After we pay for everything, there’s barely anything left. Giving ten percent right off the top is irresponsible. It’s taking from our family.”

“But the promise, Sérgio…” she replied in a gentle voice. “It’s about honoring God first. It is an act of trust, not of accounting.”

“Trust doesn’t pay the bills,” he retorted, ending the discussion.

Sérgio operated on the logic of fear. He gave God the leftovers, what remained after all his anxieties were appeased. And, invariably, there was never anything left. His financial life was a perpetually near-empty storehouse. He guarded every grain with desperation, and because of that, there was never abundance, only the constant feeling of scarcity.

That same month, the small church they attended announced a special project: to renovate the house of Mrs. Íris, an elderly widow in the community whose roof had collapsed after a heavy rain. Beatriz came home with her eyes shining.

“Sérgio, I felt it in my heart that we need to help. I thought we could donate the money we were saving to replace the television.”

Sérgio felt a wave of panic.

“The television? Bia, we have been saving for six months! It is our money, our comfort! Mrs. Íris has children, she has the city…”

“She has no one, Sérgio. And we are the church,” she said, the firmness in her voice cutting through the air. “Honoring God is not just about the tithe. It is with what we have. With our substance.”

The argument was long and painful. In the end, exhausted, Sérgio gave in, but with a heavy heart, feeling like a fool. He saw the money leaving his account not as an offering, but as a loss.

Over the weekend, he reluctantly went with Beatriz and other church members to help with the work. While he was fixing the plumbing, he saw the joy on the faces of volunteers who had much less than he did. He saw Mrs. Íris crying with gratitude as she received a basket of groceries. And he saw his wife, Beatriz, her face smudged with dust, laughing as she painted a wall, more beautiful than he had seen her in years.

Something inside him began to change. That joy, that community, that sense of purpose… that was a kind of wealth his bank statement did not show.

On Monday, he arrived at work and his boss called him in. “Sérgio, I know things are tight for everyone, but the board has approved a performance bonus for your team for last semester’s project. It’s not much, but it’s a recognition.”

The bonus amount was almost exactly the same as what he and Beatriz had donated for the renovation.

Sérgio stood frozen in front of his desk. The skeptic inside him screamed “coincidence.” But his heart, for the first time, whispered “providence.” It was not a payment, but a wink from God. An affirmation.

That night, he came home, opened his banking app, and did something he had never done before. Before paying any bills, he transferred the tithe. He gave the first part.

There was no instant financial miracle. But the knot in his stomach had disappeared. For the first time, he looked at the remaining balance and felt not fear, but peace.

In the months that followed, Sérgio and Beatriz continued to practice generosity. And different things began to happen. An unexpected promotion for him. A part-time job that fell into her lap. Expenses that seemed to decrease. The money, which was once a source of stress, seemed to stretch in ways his logic could not explain.

Their material storehouses were never overflowing like a millionaire’s. But his inner storehouse, that of his heart, was full. And their home, once tense with the anxiety of scarcity, began to overflow. Not with wine, but with something far more precious: a deep joy and peace, born from the trust of one who honors the Owner of everything, first.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

https://books2read.com/u/3knogL