How was your Easter weekend? Does the resurrection of Jesus have any effect on you today? I hope so. Because it changed everything. The new normal invites us deeper into hope and joy. How do you respond? That is the question, my friend. Day in, day out. Resurrection joy and power are real and at our service as God’s children. Nothing is the same anymore. Does it matter to us that Jesus is alive and well? Do we let God…
Wednesday night I was teaching a class about how faith can help us in tough times. While I was teaching I realized how much we really miss out if we keep on making excuses for why we are not getting to know God better. God can be everything we ever need and more. Yet, we prefer to struggle on our own. Why is that? It’s our loss for sure. But, also, living that way does not prepare us to heaven…
Sometimes you hear someone mention they’ll return to God when they get their act together. That makes me sad because they’ve misunderstood the process so badly. It’s not our job to put our act together on our own. We need Jesus for that. But Jesus is more than happy to help us out. Anytime. Anywhere. With the words of Oswald Chambers “If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He does not ask you to put…
Do you hinder God’s work for you, in you, through you? I was confronted with this question when I read this Bible story yesterday: Now there is in Jerusalem a pool near the Sheep Gate. This pool in the Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porches (alcoves, colonnades, doorways). In these lay a great number of sick folk—some blind, some crippled, and some paralyzed (shriveled up)—waiting for the bubbling up of the water. For an angel of the Lord went…
Do you choose your own comfort over following Christ? What’s your excuse to not to surrender everything to God? Tough questions. But these were the questions that the Holy Spirit asked me while reading these verses from Luke: On the road someone asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said. Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.” Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” He said,…
Everything starts with God. It’s always God first. He comes to us. He pours out his love and grace. He calls us. The LORD’s word came to me: “Before I created you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart; I made you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5, CEB What will you do when God calls YOU out? Because he does have a plan also for you. “Ah, LORD God,” I said,…
