The Two Heirs

A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother. Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death … Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son … The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor. The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death … The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it … As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them. Proverbs 10:1-2, 4-5, 15-16, 22, 26

The death of Mário Medeiros left his sons, Tomás and Vicente, with more than just grief: it left them “Medeiros Woodwork,” a company with fifty years of history, sawdust in the air, and a reputation as solid as the oak they sold. On his deathbed, Mário made one last request to his wife, Ester: “Make sure they honor our name.” Ester, now the silent matriarch of the family, felt the weight of that promise.

Tomás, the older son, was the son who brought shame. Not out of malice, but out of a chronic laziness, an aversion to work that was a direct affront to his father’s memory. He saw the woodwork company not as a legacy, but as an ATM. He was the one who slept during the harvest, arriving late, delegating his responsibilities, and spending more time at long “networking” lunches than in the yard with the employees. His hand was negligent, and under his brief management, orders began to be delayed and quality to decline. He was his mother’s sorrow, a constant reminder of her husband’s absence.

Vicente, the younger son, was the wise son. He had his father’s fire in his eyes and a love for wood in his hands. To him, every plank of mahogany, every beam of peroba, was a story to be told. His hand was diligent. He was the first to arrive and the last to leave. He spent his days on the factory floor, alongside the employees, with the smell of sawdust ingrained in his clothes. He was the one who gathered in the summer, closing new contracts, optimizing inventory, ensuring that the name “Medeiros” continued to be synonymous with quality. He was his mother’s joy, a living reflection of the man she had loved so much.

The tension between the brothers was palpable. Tomás, feeling diminished by Vicente’s work ethic, began to look for shortcuts.

“We need fast money, Vicente! To modernize, to expand!” he would argue.

The “fast money” came in the form of a dubious supplier who offered illegally sourced wood at a price far below the market rate. These were the treasures of wickedness.

“No one will know. It is our chance to take a leap forward,” Tomás insisted.

Vicente was adamant.

“Dad never worked with people like that. Our name is worth more than an easy profit. Honest labor gives us a quiet life, Tomás. What you are proposing will lead us to crime and ruin.”

The argument culminated in their separation. With Ester’s mediation, the company was divided. Tomás got the main yard and the newer machinery, changing the name to “Medeiros Prime.” Vicente got an old warehouse and some old machines, founding “Medeiros Legacy.”

In the first few years, Tomás’s path seemed to triumph. Using cheap wood and aggressive business practices, he secured contracts with large construction companies, flooding the market with low prices. He bought a luxury car, a beachside apartment. His wealth became his stronghold, a fortress of arrogance from which he mocked his brother. Tomás’s riches, however, did not come without sorrow. The anxiety of being discovered, the sleepless nights, the constant threats from his business “partners.”

Vicente, for his part, faced hard times. The ruin of the poor is their poverty, and he had to fight to get back on his feet. But he had something Tomás’s money could not buy: a spotless reputation and the loyalty of his employees, who followed him out of admiration, not necessity. He focused on a niche market: high-quality furniture, certified wood, personalized service. His wealth grew slowly, but it was solid, built on the blessing of the Lord, and it did not bring with it the sorrows of illegality.

The storm came, as it always does. A major police operation against illegal logging swept through the sector. The name “Medeiros Prime” was at the center of the scandal. Tomás’s accounts were frozen, the yard was closed, the machinery was seized. His “treasures of wickedness” profited him nothing. On the contrary, they became his ruin. The stronghold he had built was a castle of sand, and the tide of justice washed it away in a single night.

Desperate and penniless, Tomás sought out his brother. He found Vicente in the warehouse, now renovated and bustling, supervising the delivery of a large order. The smell of honest wood filled Tomás’s lungs, and it was a scent he had not smelled in a long time.

Vicente did not greet him with an “I told you so.” He greeted him with the sorrow of a brother.

“I’ve lost everything,” Tomás said, his voice choked.

“No,” Vicente replied, looking around his prosperous, though modest, company. “You lost what was not yours to begin with. What is built in righteousness… that delivers from loss and destruction.”

There was no financial bailout. But Vicente offered Tomás a job. A new beginning. A place to work with his hands and, perhaps, rebuild not his fortune, but his honor. That afternoon, Ester visited the warehouse and saw her two sons working side by side for the first time in years. One who had brought her sorrow, and one, joy. And in her mother’s heart, she felt the hope that the blessing of the Lord, which brings wealth and adds no sorrow, could, finally, reach her entire family.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

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

The End

Lord, my hour is arriving.

My lifetime is ending.

Furthermore, I cannot do anything,

I know this is my moment of dying.

 

I die, but I die very happily,

I know I did many good things.

In my life, it did not lack anything for me.

The Lord was always with me.

 

One day, I was lost in the world, in a bad life,

I was a better example of a vagabond, the whole time.

My acts did not bring any happiness,

I wanted to disturb others and make a mess.

 

But the Lord came to the lost ones,

He saved my life and rid me of risks.

All my sins were forgiven.

And to a decent life, I was being taken.

 

My whole behavior, the Holy Spirit has changed,

Where inhabited only wickedness, the love increased.

I never wanted to serve the sin again.

From that time on, I was a saved man.

The rest of my life, to the Lord, I dedicated,

In many works to God, I collaborated.

I went to many places, for many people, I preached,

Many souls to God, I gained.

 

Now, I say goodbye to all my beloved ones,

Do not be sad, to the beloved Father, I am coming.

The death, I am not fearing,

For me, there, God is waiting.

In the way of God, you must follow,

Then, in eternity, we will be gathered.

I see you soon, my time has already ended,

Now, receive my spirit, oh Lord!

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

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/3nG5R5

Time of Devastation

There are moments when we are devastated,

All our pillars were destroyed.

Our house seems to be destroyed.

Our structures were unsettled.

 

We were expelled from our land,

To the captivity, we were sent.

We were put under great tribulation.

We stay subdued, under heavy oppression.

 

Our eyes dismantle in crying,

We think, What did we do wrong for this happening?

In vain, we spent time questioning,

Because we already know the reason this is occurring.

 

To our Lord, we were disobeying,

We break his holy alliance.

Wickedness and abominations, we were following.

 

Before He left us in a tough situation,

He advised us because of his love and consideration.

In many ways, He tried to change us.

God always hoped we could change,

And under his law, we would back again.

The Lord delays being angry.

 

It has come to us many people in his name,

But we did not want to hear them,

We prefer fake words from people.

Now, we pay dearly for it.

 

Even with too much horror and desolation,

We have hope in the mercy of the Lord,

We hope in his forgiveness and reconciliation,

Because we know He is a God of love.

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

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/mg5w0z

Stolen Waters

Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing … Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead. Proverbs 9:13,17-18

Enzo was flourishing under the tutelage of Mrs. Eliana at the Seven Pillars Project. Carpentry had given him a craft; programming, a future. But Folly, like a loud and seductive woman, had not given up on him. She would sit at the door of his old life, on the overpass above the train tracks, and call out to him.

Her voice was that of Cadu, his old friend.

“Hey, Enzo, long time no see,” he said, approaching him at the project’s exit. “Still in that granny’s little school? Real life is happening out here.”

Cadu was the spokesman for the “foolish woman.” He was boisterous, full of promises of easy excitement and quick gains. He knew nothing about building, only about taking.

“Hang with us tonight,” Cadu invited, his voice low and conspiratorial. “There’s a new scheme. Easy money. A quick buck is so much better than sweating for it.”

The “scheme” was simple and dangerous: using a card-cloning app to make online purchases. The “stolen waters,” the money that did not belong to them, seemed sweet. The thrill of the forbidden, the adrenaline of secrecy, was what Folly offered.

Enzo felt the pull. The life of hard work, though rewarding, was slow. Cadu’s promise was a tempting shortcut, a glimpse of the consumer life he saw on social media.

He hesitated. The voice of Wisdom, the calm and firm voice of Mrs. Eliana, echoed in his mind. But the voice of Folly was louder, more urgent, more seductive.

“It’s just for one night, Enzo. No one will ever know,” Cadu insisted.

That night, Enzo found himself back in his old world, but now he was different. He saw things more clearly. He sat with Cadu and the others in a dark basement, lit only by the screens of their laptops. The air was heavy with the smell of smoke and the feverish energy of transgression.

They were laughing, bragging about the expensive products they were “buying.” But Enzo could not laugh. He looked at his friends’ faces, animated by the excitement of the moment, and he saw no life. He saw an emptiness. They were loud, but their souls were silent.

He thought of the carpentry workshop, of the smell of wood, of the satisfaction of creating something with his own hands. That was life. He thought of the computer screen at the Seven Pillars, where he built code to help people. That was life.

What was happening in that basement… was not life. It was its opposite.

Suddenly, the basement door burst open with a crash. Two police officers, with blinding flashlights, stormed the place. Panic erupted. Cadu tried to run but was tackled. The laughter turned to screams, the excitement to terror.

Enzo, who had not actively participated, was taken along with the others. At the police station, under the cold, impersonal light, he looked at his friends. They were no longer the braggarts from the overpass. They were just scared, handcuffed kids.

One of the officers, an older man with a tired gaze, looked at Enzo. “You don’t seem like the others, kid. What were you doing there?”

Enzo could not answer. He was seeing, with a terrible clarity, the secret of Folly’s house. Her feast was a fraud. Her guests were not the clever, the cool. They were the dead. Dead in their dreams, dead in their freedom, dead in their future.

Mrs. Eliana came to pick him up the next morning. She did not scold him. She just hugged him, a hug that said, “welcome back to life.”

As he walked away from the police station, Enzo looked back. He did not know what would happen to Cadu and the others. But he knew that he had been in the depths of hell, and that, by a hair’s breadth, he had escaped. Stolen waters might seem sweet for an instant, but the aftertaste they left was that of death. And he, now, only thirsted for the fountain of life.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

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

False Gods

People insist on adoring many things,

It can be an image or another thing...

They adore uselessly because there is no power in them.

 

The images have a mouth and cannot speak,

Ears and cannot hear.

Nor one living spirit to answer.

They always stay stopped, and there is no life in them.

 

They are works of sinner men,

They do it only to multiply worshipers,

In stone, metal, or wood,

They are made to multiply what is not good.

 

Because there is only one that we have to adore:

The Lord God!

He can hear our clamor,

We have to pray only to Him.

Only the Lord Almighty can change everything.

 

Do not seek gods made by humans,

They are bad works of mundane people.

They are an abomination to the true Lord,

He desires our pure praise and love.

 

Praise only the true God,

He will never forsake us,

Only He can save you, and to eternal life, He will take us.

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

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/mg5w0z

Retribution

People practice evil and do not care about anything,

There is no payback; it is what they think.

In their hearts, evil intentions will sprout,

They live plotting evil deeds to carry out.

They execute their evil works without a doubt.

This reckless thought process is wrong,

Everybody will be repaid for what they have done.

Nothing that has been done will go unpunished,

The Lord will repay according to his truth, undiminished.

Those who were good, God will repay with good,

Those who practiced evil will receive many evils.

This is the true justice that comes from the Lord,

Of all the earth, the judge only and great lawgiver id God.

There is no escape from God’s great justice,

Wherever a person is, He will reach them, his promise.

Therefore, it is essential to practice kindness,

Otherwise, they will receive great wickedness.

Before the Lord executes his judgment,

He still gives an opportunity to each of his children.

God tells his children to repent and change their ways,

Thus, He will soften his divine justice,

Even if softened, retribution will still take place.

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

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/38l5Oa

The Reflection in the Mirror

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding … If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. Proverbs 9:10,12

Five years had passed since the day of the fateful performance review. For Adriano, they had been years of constant growth. He was now the Creative Director of the agency, occupying Maurício’s old office, who had since retired. His wisdom was not just technical; he had learned that the fear of the Lord, the humility to recognize that he did not know everything, was the true beginning of his journey. He led his team with the same openness and respect with which he had learned to receive criticism. His life was a silent testament that the wisdom he sought was for his own good, a source of peace and prosperity.

Ronan, on the other hand, had become a professional nomad. He had gone through three different agencies in five years, leaving a trail of conflicts and unfinished projects. In each place, the story repeated itself: a promising start, followed by an inability to accept criticism, the creation of a toxic environment, and finally, a bitter departure. He was the mocker and the arrogant one, and the bill for his arrogance was coming due, heavy and exclusively for him.

Their meeting happened at an industry event, one of those noisy cocktail parties where everyone wears their best smiles and business cards. Adriano was surrounded by young designers who listened to him with admiration. Ronan was leaning in a corner, alone, observing the scene with a glass of whiskey in his hand and a familiar cynicism in his eyes.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the big boss,” Ronan said, approaching, his voice laden with an irony that barely concealed his bitterness. “Climbed the ladder fast, huh, Adriano? Kissed the right ass, I imagine.”

Adriano turned, and the smile on his face did not waver. There was no arrogance in it, only a genuine calm.

“Hi, Ronan. Good to see you. How are you?”

The simple question disarmed Ronan. He had expected a confrontation, an exchange of barbs. But Adriano was no longer in that game.

“I’m doing great,” Ronan lied. “Starting my own agency. Got tired of working for incompetent people.”

Adriano just nodded, without judgment.

“I wish you success.” And with a polite handshake, he excused himself and returned to his conversation.

The encounter, which lasted less than a minute, was enough to shake Ronan. Adriano’s peace, his quiet confidence, was a brutal contrast to the storm that raged inside him.

Later that night, Ronan arrived at his small, messy apartment. The “own agency” was just an idea, a bluff to mask the fact that he had been fired again the previous week. He looked at himself in the large mirror in the living room, one of the few pieces of furniture left from his glory days.

And, for the first time, he did not see the misunderstood genius. He saw a forty-year-old man, tired, lonely, and afraid. He remembered that day in Maurício’s office. He remembered Adriano. All the excuses he had built over the years—bad bosses, envious colleagues, bad luck—crumbled.

The truth hit him with the force of a punch. No one had done this to him. Not Maurício, not Adriano, not the “system.” He, and he alone, had borne the weight of his own arrogance. It had been an anchor, keeping him stuck in the same place while the world around him moved on. His refusal to learn had been his sentence.

The man in the mirror stared back at him, and there was nowhere to run. The wisdom Adriano had embraced had lifted him up. The arrogance Ronan had chosen had sunk him. And, in the silence of his apartment, he finally understood the loneliest truth of all: the harvest of our choices is non-transferable.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

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

The Love of God

God’s love for us all is sensational!

He acts supernaturally in our favor, exceptional!

He loves us so much that He sacrificed his Son,

So that his love would be known by everyone

Jesus Christ came to get us closer to God,

With the Holy Spirit touching each heart.

God does everything for us to feel His love,

He wants us to recognize Him as Lord.

It is impossible to express the love of the Lord!

For it is so immense that it escapes our comprehension.

It is a love so deep that it goes straight to the heart,

The feeling is so strong that it surpasses all emotion.

No matter how much I write, it is impossible to explain,

With words, this love cannot be demonstrated.

It is a love that only a believer can understand,

A love so strong that it makes everyone feel ashamed.

Embarrassment is a sign of gratitude,

We know we do not deserve this love; it is so good.

It was God who chose each one of us to love,

We were gifted with this love by the Sovereign Lord.

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

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/38l5Oa

This poem is part of the book Life Through the Words.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/bQpQ7d

The Mirror and the Shield

Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. 9Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. Proverbs 9:8-9

The semi-annual performance review was a feared ritual at the agency. Maurício, the creative director, was known for his brutal honesty. On that day, he called two of his most promising young designers into his office: Ronan and Adriano. Both had worked on the same project, and the feedback would be about the same set of flaws.

Ronan went in first. He was talented but arrogant. He saw himself as a misunderstood genius. Maurício was direct, pointing out the inconsistencies in Ronan’s design, the lack of attention to the details of the brief, the missed deadlines.

“That’s not fair!” Ronan reacted, his defensiveness turning into aggression. “It was the brief’s fault for not being clear! And Adriano didn’t help me enough!”

He used the criticism as a shield, deflecting every point with an excuse or an accusation. He was the mocker.

“Ronan,” Maurício said, his patience already wearing thin, “I am trying to help you grow.”

“I don’t need that kind of help,” Ronan retorted. “If you can’t see the value of my work, maybe I’m in the wrong place.”

He left the room, slamming the door, leaving behind an atmosphere of hostility. Maurício sighed. He had tried to rebuke the arrogant man, and it had turned into an affront. Ronan, instead of learning, spent the rest of the day complaining to his colleagues, hating Maurício for having dared to criticize him.

Next, it was Adriano’s turn. He entered the room nervous, but with an open posture. He knew the project had not been his best work.

Maurício repeated the same critique, point by point. Adriano listened in silence, his face focused. He did not interrupt. He made no excuses. He used the feedback as a mirror, forcing himself to see the flaws that his pride tried to hide.

When Maurício finished, Adriano took a deep breath.

“Thank you, Maurício,” he said, his voice sincere. “I needed to hear that. Where do you think I could have focused more? Do you have any advice on how I can better organize my process to avoid these mistakes in the future?”

He was the wise man. The rebuke did not diminish him; it instructed him.

Maurício leaned back in his chair, surprised and impressed. What had been a confrontation with Ronan became a mentoring session with Adriano. They spent the next hour talking, drawing new strategies on a whiteboard. Adriano left the room not with anger, but with gratitude. He had been rebuked, and because of it, he came to love and respect his director even more.

In the following months, the trajectories of the two became a case study.

Ronan, embittered, isolated himself. His work became sloppy, his attitude toxic. He saw conspiracies everywhere, believing that Maurício was “picking on him.” Eventually, he resigned, blaming the “agency’s culture” for his failure.

Adriano, on the other hand, flourished. He applied every piece of advice. He became more organized, more collaborative, wiser. He began to proactively ask for feedback. He and Maurício developed a relationship of deep mutual respect. A year later, when a team leadership position opened up, the choice was obvious.

Adriano learned, in practice, that criticism is not what defines us. How we react to it does. To the arrogant, it is an insult that breeds hatred. To the wise, it is a gift that breeds love and makes them wiser still.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

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

This poem is part of the book Life Through the Words.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/bQpQ7d

The Fall of Human Being

Someone like himself, God has created,

He created the man whom He has loved.

Like his image and likeness, God has made him,

Upon the Earth, God granted him leadership.

 

The Lord did not want to see the man lonely,

He created a life mate for him.

One woman who was his own flesh,

One life mate who would support him.

 

The first couple was made.

All trees and fruits were given to them,

They could not eat only one in the garden,

If they ate, surely, they would die.

 

Even so, they preferred to disobey,

The serpent’s advice, they heeded.

Their eyes were opened, and they could see everything.

They got afraid and hid when God was coming.

 

The Lord was not pleased with this attitude,

He cursed the serpent and its life,

They were expelled from paradise.

They were thrown into the common land.

 

Now, they will have to work to get food,

They will suffer many pains in their lives.

All of it is because they did not obey God.

And they tasted what was forbidden by the Lord.

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

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/mg5w0z

The Prepared Table

Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars … Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight. Proverbs 9:1,6

The “highest point” of the city, for young people like Enzo, was the overpass above the train tracks. It was there that life happened, or rather, where life was wasted. Amidst graffiti and the noise of the train cars, they would spend their afternoons, aimless, feeding on boredom and empty dreams of easy money. Enzo, at seventeen, felt a restlessness, a desire for something more, but the inertia of the group kept him trapped. He was the “simple,” the “naive,” drifting without direction.

The invitation arrived in an unexpected way. Not from an angel, but from a “servant” in the form of a crumpled flyer he found on the bus floor. The flyer announced the opening of the “Seven Pillars Project,” an old mansion renovated by a lady everyone knew only as Mrs. Eliana.

Mrs. Eliana was Wisdom personified. A former school principal who, after retirement, invested all her time and resources to build her “house.” The “seven pillars” were the workshops she offered: academic tutoring, computer programming, music, carpentry, English, financial literacy, and vocational counseling. She had prepared her “feast,” mixed her “wine”—knowledge, dignity, hope.

“Need direction? Come on over!” the flyer said. The words seemed to speak directly to Enzo.

“Are you going to get into that, Enzo?” his friend, Cadu, scoffed when he saw the flyer. “Going to become the granny’s pet? We make our own way on the streets. It’s faster.”

Despite the mockery, a stubborn curiosity led Enzo to the mansion’s gate. He peeked through the bars. He saw young people like himself, but with a different light in their eyes, learning to fix a computer, to play the guitar. He saw the prepared table. And he felt hungry. Hungry for something the street did not offer.

With his heart pounding, he went inside.

Mrs. Eliana greeted him with a smile that was not of pity, but of expectation.

“We were waiting for you,” she said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “There is a place for you.”

Enzo started with the carpentry workshop. His hands, once used to holding spray paint cans, learned to handle the plane and the chisel. He discovered the joy of transforming a rough piece of wood into something useful and beautiful. He was eating the “bread” of creation, of purpose.

Next, he went to the programming class. His mind, previously anesthetized by boredom, lit up with the logic and creativity of code. He was drinking the “wine” of knowledge, of possibility.

The transformation was not just external. By talking with Mrs. Eliana and the other mentors, he learned about responsibility, integrity, and a vision for the future. He was abandoning the “folly” of an aimless life.

Months later, Cadu found him at the project’s exit. Enzo was carrying a small wooden stool he had built himself, a gift for his mother.

“Still wasting your time in there, man?” Cadu asked, but his voice held less mockery and more curiosity.

Enzo looked at his own hands, now with small calluses from work. He looked at the stool, a symbol of his transformation.

“I’m not wasting time, Cadu,” he replied, with a calmness he did not possess before. “I’m gaining a life.”

He had accepted the invitation. He had sat at Wisdom’s table and, for the first time, he felt truly nourished. Life, with all its possibilities, was just beginning.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

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

The Flood

The Lord was saddened by his creation,

He saw human beings only generate devastation.

The wickedness mastered everyone.

There was no kindness in no one.

 

God decided to destroy everything,

He will send to the Earth the great flooding.

Before all this happens,

There was a servant that God desired to protect,

Noah was a man blessed by God,

God would save him and his beloved ones.

 

Build an ark. God commanded him,

And every pair of animals would come in.

So that every kind of animal will keep alive,

After the rains, they will start a new Earth and life.

 

There will not remain any human beings,

All wickedness of the Earth will be cleansed.

Until the highest mountains will be flooded.

The Earth will seem like a big lake.

 

After to happen everything,

The waters started receding.

The land could be seen again.

The hope of a new life arose in them.

 

God led them until they came out of the ark.

The promise of fidelity has been confirmed.

In gratitude, Noah sacrificed,

About that, the Lord delighted.

A new covenant with Noah was established,

Another time, this world will never be destroyed.

There will be a sign to people recognize,

How much God showed his love for their lives.

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

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/mg5w0z

Modern Christianity

The Christian religion is modernizing,

And with its modernity comes sin.

For some people, everything is right,

But this is a deception in their minds.

 

In church, worldly doctrines are placed,

The practices of the sinners are imitated.

The pretext for this is that Jesus will be preached,

They do everything to justify wrong deeds.

 

Secular music is already used in some places,

It is no longer possible to separate it from praise.

Many churches are like musical presentations,

It is not possible to notice the Lord’s adoration.

 

Some temples are secularized,

Where the customs of sinners are practiced.

There are even pastors preaching using profanities,

People suppose it is normal, it is part of the preaching.

 

There are leaders concerned about entertaining,

They allow all to happen in church without discerning.

Many of these happenings are wrong,

For a strange gospel, the people are going on.

 

All people are led to the gospel of secularization,

A gospel based on human beings and emotions.

They are totally deviated from what Jesus said,

Going through the path that humans indicated.

On this path, there is no way to salvation,

It is the way that leads the person to condemnation.

Only the Gospel of Christ can save everyone,

Only the “old” Gospel can free each person.

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

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/m0JKpA

Watching at the Door

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord. But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.” Proverbs 8:33-36

The news of the company merger landed like a meteor, and the layoff list that followed was the shockwave. On it were two names, side by side: Danilo and Gilson. Both with more than fifteen years at the company, both at the peak of their careers, both with families and mortgages. Both, in the blink of an eye, unemployed.

That night, Gilson’s house was filled with the sounds of death. Not physical death, but the death of hope.

“It’s over!” he yelled at his wife, who tried to calm him. “Years of dedication thrown in the trash! They betrayed me! I hate this company; I hate this city!”

He spent the night drinking, cursing his luck, sinking into a pit of self-pity and rage. He hated the counsel that told him to be calm, to trust. To him, wisdom was a bad joke in the face of life’s brutality.

At Danilo’s house, the silence was also heavy, but it was not the silence of despair. It was the silence of pain being processed in prayer. He hugged his wife, he cried, he allowed himself to feel the weight of the blow. But in the midst of his anguish, he made a choice. He decided to “watch daily at wisdom’s doors.”

The next morning, while Gilson was still asleep, drowned in his hangover of bitterness, Danilo rose before the sun. He had no office to go to, but he created a new routine. He spent the first hour of the day reading the Bible and praying, not asking for a miraculous job, but asking for clarity, strength, and direction. He was, metaphorically, waiting at the gate for Wisdom’s entrance.

Gilson spent the following weeks immersed in his own violated soul. He rejected calls from friends, spent his days in pajamas, watching news programs that only fed his anger at the world. He became a fountain of bitterness, and his family began to distance themselves from the toxic cloud he had become. He loved the death of his own spirit.

Danilo, on the other hand, began to act. He updated his résumé. He made a list of all his skills. He called his contacts, not to complain, but to ask for advice and referrals. He enrolled in an online course to learn a new programming language. He was watching, attentive to opportunities. He did not know where help would come from, but he kept himself ready at the door.

The difference became clear in a job interview. Gilson finally got one, but his bitterness overflowed. He spoke ill of his former company, complained about the economy, and projected the energy of a victim. He did not get the job.

Danilo also faced rejections. But in every interview, he spoke of his years at the company with gratitude for what he had learned. He spoke of the future with a cautious but genuine optimism. He did not deny the difficulty of the situation, but his identity was not defined by it.

Two months later, Danilo received an offer. It was not for the same position or with the same salary as before. It was a new beginning, at a smaller company, but with a culture he admired. It was a door.

As he told his wife the news, he felt a deep joy. He had found life. Not because he had found a new job, but because, in the process, he had found a resilience he did not know he possessed. He had found peace in the midst of uncertainty. He had found the Lord’s favor, not in the form of a life without problems, but in the form of strength to get through them.

One day, he ran into Gilson at the supermarket. Gilson looked older, worn down.

“I heard about your new job,” Gilson said, with a hint of envy. “You’ve always been luckier than me.”

Danilo looked at his former colleague with compassion.

“It wasn’t luck, Gilson,” he said gently. “We were both hit by the same storm. The only difference is that, in the darkness, I decided to keep watching, waiting for the morning light. You, unfortunately, decided to close the door.”

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

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

Job’s Justification

Job was going through great affliction,

The pains were so many that his heart was dying.

Some friends came to cry with him,

For many days they did not say anything.

 

After crying and being silent, Job pronounced,

The day that he was born, he cursed.

For him, there was no sense living in that way,

He thought it was better to have his last living day.

 

Something pleasant, their friends tried to say,

They tried to justify their friend’s pains.

But they could not calm down the spirit of Job.

Job spoke that he would justify himself before God.

 

Those who were with Job tried to exhort him,

But affliction did not allow him to consider anything.

Job thought that God had come to punish him,

And there will be no end to his suffering.

 

The Lord came to speak after that argumentation,

God came to hear Job’s justification.

He said that before Him there is no vindication,

God’s designs cannot be explained.

The only thing left for humans is to accept them.

 

Job’s wisdom and knowledge, the Lord questioned,

He did not reply and humiliated himself in the powder.

Job admitted that God’s will was not clear to him,

And the plans of God were not comprehended by him.

 

God ordered them to sacrifice,

They would do atonement for their lives.

Job’s affliction was eliminated by the Lord,

The wealth that Job had was doubled by God.

After that, for many days, Job lived,

Old and full of richness, he has died.

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

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/m0JKpA

Rest and Sin

“Not today, but tomorrow I’ll do everything,

A little rest, then, I’ll be ready for this.

Don’t hurry up, you don’t need to get concerned,

Tomorrow or later, everything will be executed.”

 

There is a serious sin in these words,

They are creating gaps to escape from work.

Those sayings exude procrastination,

They poison the mind with a sweet illusion.

 

The body is assaulted by laziness,

Working in a permanent state of slowness.

The mind gets happy about this condition,

They think this is a favorable situation.

 

The procrastinator’s life is being thrown away,

They are wasting each one of their days.

Negating the great gifts they received,

Rejecting everything that God has conceded.

 

God gave them a spectacular mind,

Infinite imaginations they can find.

The Lord gave them a majestic body,

The perfect complement for their mind.

The procrastinator dishonors their Creator,

They despise the Lord's plan and effort.

This person lives without reverence,

Acting complete and utter negligence.

 

The need for change is urgent and undeniable,

The person needs to be responsible.

Fleeing from laziness and procrastination,

Hugging the effort and dedication.

 

God will forgive and reward them,

The sources of blessings will be open.

The person will live what they never imagined,

All will take place because they worked.

 

Enormous fruits will be generated,

Marvelous miracles will be collected.

There will be no room for poverty,

They will live in abundance and prosperity.

This poem is part of the book Words of Faith.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/meLvPr

The Architect of the Tides

I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion … The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old … before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth … rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind. Proverbs 8:12, 22, 26, 31

Master Francisco’s shipyard smelled of sea salt, wood, and eternity. Francisco, a man whose wrinkles seemed to map all the seas he had never sailed, spent his days in a slow, deliberate dance, transforming oak planks into the skeleton of a new fishing boat.

His only constant visitor was Toni, an eight-year-old boy with eyes full of whys. Toni was not interested in toys; he was interested in the order of things.

“Master Francisco,” Toni asked one day, as he watched the old craftsman fit a rib with millimeter precision. “Why does the boat float?”

Francisco did not stop his work.

“Because I designed it to, my little one. I know the weight of the wood, the strength of the water. I follow a plan. If I just put the pieces together any which way, it would sink.”

The boy was silent for a moment, processing.

“Is that why clouds float and rocks sink?” he asked.

Francisco smiled. He loved that boy’s mind.

“Exactly. God, the Great Builder, also had a plan. He established the heavens with an understanding we can only imagine. Everything in its proper place.”

Toni pointed to the sea, which was breaking rhythmically on the beach just a few meters away.

“And the sea? Why does it stop there? Why doesn’t it just keep going and swallow everything?”

Francisco put down his hammer and sat on a wooden stool, inviting the boy to sit beside him.

“Ah, that’s one of my favorite parts of the story,” the old man said. “When God designed the world, Wisdom was with Him. Like an architect, a master craftsman. She was there when He made the clouds firm above and established the fountains of the deep. And it was she who said to the sea: ‘You shall go no farther than this. Here is where your proud waves halt.’”

He spoke not like one reciting dogma, but like one sharing the secret of a great work of art.

“Wisdom is not just a bunch of rules, Toni. She is the balance. She is the design. She is the reason the world is not chaos. She delighted in the Builder’s presence, and their joy was so great that it overflowed and created everything we see.”

Toni looked at his own small hands, then at Francisco’s calloused ones.

“So, when you build the boat, are you using a little bit of that same Wisdom?”

Francisco’s eyes sparkled. The boy had understood.

“Yes, my son. That’s exactly it. Every time a carpenter chooses the right wood, every time a farmer plants in the right season, every time a mother teaches her child to be kind… we are all using a fragment of that same Architect who rejoiced with the Creator at the beginning of time. And our greatest delight,” he said, ruffling Toni’s hair, “is to see sons, like you, learning to admire her.”

Toni did not understand all the words, but he understood the feeling. He looked at the boat’s skeleton, at the sea, at the clouds. And, for the first time, he did not just see things. He saw a design. A magnificent plan, from the smallest shell on the sand to the largest star in the sky. And at the heart of that design, he felt the presence of an ancient joy, the same joy he now felt beside the old boat builder.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

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

Seeking Acknowledgment

We want to be recognized,

We desire to be applauded,

We long to be noticed,

We want to be valued.

 

We fight for something to happen,

We battle to get people’s acknowledgment.

We dream about that amazing occasion,

On which we will have a great reputation.

 

These wishes are natural,

Everybody wants to feel special,

To feel there is a purpose in what is done,

To feel that we are the best ones.

 

However, it seems we are invisible,

It seems we are contemptible.

Nobody gives us a piece of attention,

Nobody shows any consideration.

 

All that is done seems vainly,

This sensation is heartbreaking.

We did our best in everything,

And we only receive apathy.

The pain blinds our comprehension,

We forget who is seeing our actions.

We forget for whom we are working,

It is not for a simple human being.

 

We are working to the Lord,

He sees us with immeasurable value.

Even if nobody gives us attention,

God applauds our dedication.

 

God is a witness to all we did,

He comprehends our feelings.

The Father gives us strength to continue,

And many more things, we will execute.

 

We must calm ourselves and rest,

We know who waits our best.

Let us do our best effort to the Lord,

He will pour out upon us His abundant favor.

This poem is part of the book Words of Faith.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/meLvPr