I know the title gives a tall order for this post. But that know-how is necessary for spiritual growth. In order to bear fruit we need to be pruned. But we don’t like it. We don’t like to get hurt. So we resist it. But that leaves us in spiritual limbo. And that is not a desired state of being. Not from our point of view and not from God’s point of you. What to do then? Any branch in…
This post is for all who feel that God has forgotten you. Because he hasn’t. And he won’t. Rest assured that God cares for you personally. God has not forgotten you. And God is not delaying his plans for the world. He does know what he is doing and when he is doing it. God has a plan. And he is full of love for us. God’s love is meteoric, his loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, his verdicts oceanic. Yet…
This post is for all who have had disappointments, who is in limbo or waiting for new things to take root in their lives. God is not interested in your achievements; God wants you. Because he loves you and he is the author of real life. I have had two well-known but ever-powerful metaphors speaking to my soul this week. The metaphor of a grain of wheat is found in John 12: “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is…
God’s word is a mirror. We just need to dare to look at it. What do I mean? We could take, for example, any story Jesus told to his disciples. If we dare to ask the Holy Spirit to read our heart and show us what we need to know, God’s word will be a mirror for us. The picture that we see in our hearts is God’s message for us. Keep this in mind when you read the parable…
Would you like to have some tangible proof before believing? Wouldn’t it be nice? But that’s not the way of faith. We need to believe to see the glory of God. That’s how Jesus replied to Martha when Lazarus was dead: Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me, you would see the glory of God? (John 11:40, AMP) God has prepared to give us everything but we first need to…
Do you realize the fullness of Christ? Do you live it? School’s out; quit studying faith and start living it! You have received Christ; now live him. Put what you have learned in practice and live large. Do everything in him and let your living spill over into thanksgiving. My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re…
What I hope for you this summer is very simple. I hope you find some time for prayer and renewal in Christ. Very often the root cause of any stress in our lives is that we are self-centered and not God-centered. May this summer be a blessed time to become refocused on God! Only then we can see all the blessings around us and praise the Lord. For he is good all the time. Praise the Lord! Let my whole…
Once I overheard a discussion between two successful young professionals on a train. It sounded like they had graduated together from a graduate school a while back with big dreams. And they had gone and achieved them all right. A good job. A beautiful wife. Wonderful kids. A comfortable house. A fast car. Extensive travels. Yet they were asking: Is this all there is? We think we can find happiness on our own. We think we know how to find…
Are you in a place where hope is in short supply? Are you about to lose your way? Are you struggling to survive? Take a deep breath. No matter how dark your future looks like… No matter how rough the wilderness around you is… No matter how desperate you feel… There’s always grace. Even in the wilderness. You might doubt it, especially when the circumstances speak otherwise. But with God anything is possible. With God we do find grace even…
Robust peace might sound a bit odd first. That’s because we’ve learned to think of peace as of lack of something. Peace is a lack of hurry or lack of pestering people. The peace the world ever is able to give is this kind of peace: a removal from busyness or a subtraction of something from our lives. But this kind of peace is not lasting and it diminishes our lives. This kind of peace is not robust peace. This…
