I love how God comes to us. It’s always God coming to us. Just think of what happened after Adam & Eve had eaten the apple. The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9, CEB) God is always looking for us. And when nothing else worked, he sent his only son to us. It’s always God first. Always God coming to us. Always God loving us first. Pouring out his grace enabling…
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…
Prayer should not be regarded “as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.” E.M. Bounds Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our…
Don’t you ever wish you’d receive every morning a fax from heaven telling you what you need to accomplish that particular day? That thought is a bit tempting when life is chaotic. But if we think of it a bit further we realize that would be terribly boring. Even if we feel that life is out of control, we can rest assured on these facts: A) God has promised to guide us. I will instruct you and teach you about…
Would you like to dance in grace? Or is that too wild? Would you rather sit out? Or is that too tame? “To what will I compare this generation? It is like a child sitting in the marketplaces calling out to others, ‘We played the flute for you and you didn’t dance. We sang a funeral song and you didn’t mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ Yet the Human One came…
How do you define a full life? Is it about success, happiness, wealth? Or something different all together? A full life in Jesus gives us a few surprises. God’s blessings are not material ones or self-centered happiness in general. God wants to give us a full life even in parched places. But it doesn’t happen without change. When we come to Jesus, the old life needs to go. Because God desires holiness. God desires justice. God desires love. Just as…
Do you need grace? Don’t worry! There’s plenty available for repenting sinners. Actually, as much as you need. As much as anybody needs. All because of Jesus! How do we know this? The Bible tells us so. Let’s look at the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20 (CEB). Jesus explains: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After he agreed with the…
