At the beginning of a new year, we’re all looking for direction. What should I do with my life? What paths should I take this year? Finding the right direction is especially hard if we feel we are living in a perpetual fog. What to do then? How to find direction when you’re lost? Let’s find out. As Christians, we know who is our guide: Jesus. Hence we need to turn to him for guidance. Believingly. We need to believe…
Sometimes we make simple things complicated. Unfortunately, we do that to faith too. And by doing so we create a new religion of works. But salvation is really simple. So simple that even a child can understand. It’s based on the work of Jesus, not ours. Because Jesus died for our sins, we can be saved by grace through faith in Jesus. We just need to believe. And stand by faith. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in…
When everything goes smoothly, it is easy to be happy. But when storms rage in the sea of life, we wail with the winds, right? What if it’d be possible to live calmly even in the middle of a tornado? What if endurance, encouragement, and hope were always up for crabs? For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have…
Life can be demanding. The world can be harsh. Yet I hope you choose to hope and believe no matter what. The last word is God’s. And that word is good for all who choose to hope and believe in Jesus. Hoping against hope, Abraham believed…(Romans 4:18, NRSV) Likewise we are invited to believe even when things look sad, bad or otherwise discouraging. Our hope is not in perishable things. Our hope is not set in philosophies or positive or …
Do you know it is possible to hope even when there is no hope? I was stunned by this discovery as I was once again reading the fourth chapter of the letter to Romans. That’s where Paul reminds us of Abraham as an example of faith. How Abraham did not focus on his impotence but on God’s competence. Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping (NLT). Hoping against hope, he believed (NRSV). For Abraham, human reason…
