Epiphany is one of my favorite holy days. The pressure of Christmas celebrations is over, now it is time to join the wise men worshiping Jesus and bringing him the best we have to offer. This calls for some reflection and self-evaluation, don’t you think? It is also great time to plan how we want to spend this new year. How about doing it with the mind of Christ? Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose,…
Are you ready for the New Year? I am, at least, ready to say goodbye to 2020. Good riddance, right? 2020 is a year we won’t forget easily. I had such high hopes for it, yet it was nothing I had hoped for. Yet I am thankful. Because I learned a lot this year, I bet you did too. And, most of all, I am thankful because God is good all the time. The Lord is good,A strength and stronghold in the day of…
Do you know how to handle envy? Feeling jealous is not necessarily a bad thing, it can tell us what we need or want. We just need to know what to do with it. When we give our envy to God, he gets the chance to create something positive out of it. Yesterday I was envious of Moses’ friendship with God as I read about it. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. (Exodus 33:11,…
I find reading the Bible is essential for all believers because it serves as a mirror for us. Otherwise, we could easily think we’re on the right path while in reality wandering aimlessly in the wrong direction. It’s scarily easy to wander away. Best intentions do not help when we follow our own whims instead of God’s plan for us. It’s time to check your idols. Without the Bible, we’d be lost faster than we can imagine. We might think…
The message I want to share with you today is very simple yet it seems very needed: It’s OK to not be OK. You have biblical permission to be not okay. You don’t believe me? That’s okay. But please do believe Jesus. I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory…
It’s hard to accept death and dying, especially when it comes too close to home. Yet death and dying are part of life. No one will stay on earth forever. Yet somehow we still would like to pretend death and dying are not part of our lives. And when death claims one of our own, we might even be angry at God for taking our loved one. We’d like to have cake and eat it too. It’s human to not…
Today I want to talk about a Bible passage that doesn’t give warm fuzzies to most of us. It might even shake us to the core so we’re glad to move on thinking it does not speak about us. But it does and that’s why I want to talk about the passage today. It’s not enough we’re cleansed from all unrighteousness, we also need to be filled with God’s love. So fill your emptiness with Jesus and your life will…
Today I have four quotes and three Bible verses about faith and control to share with you. We all would like to have everything together, be in control so we could relax and enjoy our lives, right? But that’s not how faith or life works. Faith and control don’t mix well together. How come? If our goal is to be in control, we push faith away. The one who is in control is the god in our life whether we…
I often talk about life with God because living with God gives your life colors. Often I have struggled to convey to you how to do it in real life and then God provided a perfect teachable moment last week. My family was deeply disappointed with the canceled year in Africa as I wrote in my previous blog post. This experience allowed me to re-experience what it is to process your life with God. When your life is turned upside…
When things get tough, we are tempted to quit. But as it’s the darkest moment right before the dawn, the best things come for those who stay the course anyhow. Okay, you say. You want to do so but how on earth are you able to do so? That is the question, isn’t it? Let’s find out. The best thing to do is to stay in God’s presence. If you run, you lose. But if you stay, you win. So…
