Are you a sinner? Do you need grace? I am and I most certainly do. We’d like to skip the reality that we are sinners. We’d like to escape from all the ugly stuff in life and live in a la-la land. But it doesn’t work. There is no way around it: we are all sinners! And only the blood of Jesus can save us! So, yes, we do need Jesus. Our lives depend on God’s grace! Lord, have mercy!…
The only way to Heaven is prayer; a prayer of the heart, which every one is capable of, and not of reasonings which are the fruits of study, or exercise of the imagination, which, in filling the mind with wandering objects, rarely settle it; instead of warming the heart with love to God, they leave it cold & languishing. ~Jeanne Guyon Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God…
It’s great that we trust God. But we are also called to follow Christ. We can’t omit the cross and Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer states “Christianity without discipleship is Christianity without Christ.” As followers of Jesus we can’t dictate our own terms or decide what we are willing to do. We can’t write our own program to suit our whims and wants. We can’t limit our following to our comprehension. In the Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer shares the timeless advice…
Why do Christians want to extend peace to each other? What’s the big deal with peace? Those are interesting questions. Everybody thinks peace is nice but God’s robust peace is much more than nice! Let’s find out why. The Amplified Bible provides a neat definition for this heavenly peace: And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot…
Spiritual amnesia is one of the great dangers on our faith journeys. Forgetfulness of God’s goodness pushes us easily into a downward spiral towards spiritual emptiness. This happened time and time again for the Israelites on the wilderness. And it happens to us if we forget God’s graceful ways, either in biblical history or in our personal history. How could we avoid this spiritual amnesia? Spiritual disciplines have always been ways of keeping spiritual amnesia away. The most common ones…
Ignoring God leads to an empty life. We can try to fill our lives with different things. But because we were created to God’s image we long to be with God. That’s why we can’t find happiness outside of God. Like Blaise Pascal has said “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” The stronger the dissonance between…
A new week is here. Are you ready? Are you filled with enthusiasm and fresh courage? Don’t worry if you are not. If you’re dealing with pain or wandering in desert: It is all right. The main thing is to be authentic, to not deny your suffering. There are no quick fixes. But even when we are out of enthusiasm and fresh courage we are not out of mercy. Even when we are out of energy and clear guidance we…
When something odd and new comes around we are suspicious. When something unexpected happens in our lives we tend to cling to the old and familiar. Even if we are unhappy with the old. Because it is, at least, something we know. Too often we pass by good things because we don’t dare to taste, touch or try something new out. That almost happened to the people of Israel when God sent them bread from heaven, manna (Exodus 16). In…
Do you wholeheartedly believe that God Almighty loves you dearly? If you have any doubt of God’s amazing love for you or if you just want to be reaffirmed of the glorious fact devour this passage from Zephaniah: The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival. (Zephaniah…
We all think Abraham is a great hero of faith. But even he did some stupid things. He bought the thought that he needs to help God to give him and Sarah a child! How often we do something for God because we think that’s a great idea instead of waiting for God? We would like to prove ourselves for God but that’s not the way it goes. Human connivance never achieve things God’s way. Tell me now, you who…
