Browsed by
Month: December 2015

Readiness, Trust, Peace

Readiness, Trust, Peace

My word for 2015 has been readiness. I had no clue what to to expect of this year or what I would learn along the way. But the word intrigued me from the very beginning. It did bring some nice surprises along the way. For example, our family was lead to a huge trip to the other side of the world with a week’s notice. But mainly this study on readiness has taught me about what it means to be…

Read More Read More

God Is Not Like Santa (or a cosmic bellboy)

God Is Not Like Santa (or a cosmic bellboy)

Some people wish that God were like Santa. He’d give us what we want. But the problem is: we don’t know what is best for us. Some people do think God is like Santa. And when they don’t get what they want, they throw God over board. But God is not like Santa. Or a cosmic bellboy. With the words of Harry Emerson Fosdick “God is not a cosmic bellboy for whom we can press a button to get things”….

Read More Read More

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, dear friend of flowing faith! This is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. How blessed we are that God became a man to save us and form personal relationships with each of us. Lots of reasons to celebrate! Lots of reasons to have a merry Christmas. Lots of reasons to be thankful for. In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. 2 This first enrollment occurred when…

Read More Read More

Why Christmas Matters. Or Does It?

Why Christmas Matters. Or Does It?

What do you think? Does Christmas matter? Does it really matter that Jesus was born? Let’s see. It’s true that whenever a baby is born, it changes the lives of the parents. But one baby changed the whole history and the future of the humankind. That’s why Christmas matters, Jesus changed everything. The miracle of Christmas is earth-chattering. The wonder of Christmas is life-changing. The Holy Night indeed changed the course of history. Before Jesus we did not have any…

Read More Read More

Total Celebration

Total Celebration

Celebrating Christmas is great. And easy. For real. It does not require long shopping lists or empty wallets. There’s absolutely no stress involved because everything is already done for us. Don’t you believe me? Let me explain. You teach me the way of life.     In your presence is total celebration. Beautiful things are always in your right hand. (Psalm 16:11, CEB) The perfect Christmas and total celebration is only found in God’s presence. No where else. God’s arms are wide…

Read More Read More

The Deep Secret of Joy

The Deep Secret of Joy

Do you know the deep secret of joy? It has nothing to do with the entertainment industry but it has everything to do with Jesus. Because, you know, nothing but Jesus can give us freedom from all the ugliness in our lives. And that’s not even all. Jesus can save us from eternal separation from the ultimate goodness. Martin Luther explains the deep secret of joy very well: The heart overflows with gladness, and leaps and dances for the joy…

Read More Read More

The Breath of Life

The Breath of Life

This Advent season I hope you’re not running around like crazy. You know, abundant life is not found in shopping extravaganzas or perfect decorations. Spending money will not bring your peace or happiness. You get bankruptcy and hollowness instead. Because you become what you embrace. If you go after false idols, you become false. They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and the warnings which he gave them. They went after false idols, and…

Read More Read More

Faith and the Power of God

Faith and the Power of God

As I was doing a Biblegateway search for verses that include both faith and power, I found out today that the Amplified Bible explains faith as “trust and confidence in the power of God”. That’s what it is, isn’t it? If we don’t trust God and the power of God, our faith is more of a theory than a way of life. If we truly believe, we put our whole lives on the hands of Jesus. Because we trust God…

Read More Read More

Shine, Glow, Reflect

Shine, Glow, Reflect

We are called to shine. But not to attract attention to ourselves but to God. We are called to shine for God. What does it mean? How could we glow for God? We can’t make ourselves glow but because God is full of glory, all we need to do is to reflect his light to the world. The more time we spend with God, the more we shine for God. The more God exposure we have, the more we reflect…

Read More Read More

Christmas Stories

Christmas Stories

Today I fell in love with the Christmas stories told by the kids of St Paul’s Church, Auckland, New Zealand. See yourself, they are the cutest thing ever. Which one is your favorite? I love them all but maybe the middle one is my favorite. I especially love how God’s love for all of us shines through all the videos. It was good to be reminded how wise God was to send his son as a new born baby without…

Read More Read More

RSS
Follow by Email