What kind of excuses have you given to God? How do you rationalize your refusal to obey? This week I learned there is something Kurt Bubna, Moses and I have in common when it comes to choosing either the route of obedience or excuses. How about you? Kurt Bubna writes in his new book Epic Grace, Chronicles of Recovering Idiot that he did not want to become a pastor because he was terrified of public speaking, had no desire to…
Being different is not a goal itself but a co-product of being a faithful servant of God. When we do God’s will, we will stand out from the crowd. We will be different but God has a way to bring the best out of us. We will be blessed beyond measure. God wants us to become more and more Christ-like. We are not holy by nature. And we don’t become holy by accident either. We need God’s grace to both…
What do you think? Does it really matter what you choose today? The world is big, you are small…does it really matter what you choose today? I dare to say yes. It does matter what we do each day. It does matter what we choose. Why? Because each choice we make changes us into one direction or another. Yes, you can’t see or feel the difference today but in five years time you can already see or feel it. It…
Spiritual disciplines are nothing more than ways to connect with God in such ways that increase spiritual growth. They are ways that help us to get to know God deeper and deeper. They are ways that get us refocused on God. They are also ways that prepare us for service and mission. The deeper we abide in Christ, the more God can use us in his service. That’s why Christians have used spiritual disciplines from the beginning. Just like Jesus….
Do you remember the story of Naaman? He was general of the army under the king Aram. His master valued him because it was by him that God has given victory to Aram. But he had leprosy in its early stages. His wife’s maid was a captive from Israel. She could have been silent but she chose to represent God and tell them about prophet Elisha in Israel. Elisha listened to the servant girl’s advice and went off with silver…
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,…
Yesterday we talked about Solomon who chose wisdom over wealth and how he was richly blessed. So inspiring! But this is unfortunately not how his life ended. But before his wisdom waned his reputation as a sage was widely known. Even the queen of Sheba came to test him with hard questions and she found all the reports of Solomon’s wisdom true. What happened to Solomon? His success was too much for him. He felt entitled to break the law…
Our enemy is pretty good in selling lies to us. Unfortunately, we buy them. We are especially weak when the lie informs us that ‘we rule’. We want to believe it. We buy the lie because it makes us feel good, confident and powerful. I was reading this morning the last words of David in 1 Kings 2. David is instructing his successor Solomon. He is first giving very sage advice. Just like you’re expecting him to do. But then…
What’s your goal in life? Mine is to become a woman after God’s own heart. I can’t do it. But God can. In order to become a woman after God’s own heart I need to seek God’s heart. I need to abide in God’s presence and let the Holy Spirit mold me. The Bible tells tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14, CEB). David was not perfect by all means but his heart…
It is fun to see how children learn Bible stories and act them out in their play, like our son yelling “I am strong like Samson!” in the triumphant superman pose. Samson’s life story is indeed colorful but, all in all, rather sad, don’t you think? He was wasting his gifts! Lord, have mercy! Samson had everything going for him. He had godly parents and he knew he was specially chosen and gifted. But he ended up misusing his gifts…
