Are you a sinner? Do you need Jesus? I am a sinner and I most certainly do need Jesus. Often we’d like to skip the reality of being sinners. We’d like to escape from all the ugly stuff in life and live in a la-la land. But it doesn’t work. No matter how much we try to forget our sinfulness, it does not go away on its own. There really is no way around it: we are all sinners and…
Does the call to holiness intimidate you? Do you feel it’s beyond your power? Do you know what? You’ve got that right. Holiness is something we can’t attain through effort. But it is possible to obtain holiness by God’s grace. It does not happen without the Holy Spirit’s presence is our life. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. (Romans 6:22, NKJV, emphasis…
One of the biggest blessings in life is to have a family of your own. Once upon a time I was a very happy single. The least favorite things of mine was coming home to a cold house after a weekend retreat or a conference trip. My way to handle it was to put some lights on and the thermostat on high and leave right away to do some grocery shopping. As I came home the second time it was…
The funniest thing happened to me during my morning prayer. I got a vision of what a prayer should look like. And, let me tell you, it took me by surprise. It was a vision of a person wearing a bluetooth device having an ongoing dialogue with God. And I understood that our prayer life should be like that. Like a continual conversation with God. God’s there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it. (Psalm…
Do you feel spiritually empty? Are you craving for God’s presence? Congratulations, the Holy Spirit in you is reminding you of the bliss of being in God’s presence. Just open up your heart to receive all that God has for you. The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in…
Do you ever have doubts? How do you deal with them? This is crucial in your life of faith. Because we all have doubts occasionally. We just need to know what to do with them, right? Because of Christ we don’t need to give in. What to do then? The main thing is to give your doubts to Jesus. They don’t surprise him. And he has already conquered them, every single one. Give your doubts to Jesus and watch them…
Boldness, fearless confidence, and patient endurance seem to be the top qualities for a disciple of Jesus Christ. I so crave to embody all of them. I love quotes like “If God is your partner, make your plans BIG!” by D.L. Moody. God is big and nothing is impossible for him so we need to be ready to live large for Christ. But are we really doing that? Or are our plans too small after all? there’s no point to…
Today I want to talk about weaknesses. We all have them even though we don’t want to admit them. We use too much energy to cover them up. But that’s not wise. We will then miss something beautiful and profound: God’s strength in us. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my…
Do you remember to celebrate God and salvation in your every day life? Or do you take your faith and God’s blessings granted? Way too often we take the good things in our lives – spouses, friends, family, work, peace, health – granted. That ungratefulness leads us to all kinds of troubles. But how much more trouble can be created if we take God granted? We need to remember God and all he has done for us. We need to…
I love bed time stories and the time spent as a family at the end of the day. Currently we are reading through the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. I can’t really tell who is the most eager to get back into the story each night. I truly admire C.S. Lewis’ skill to write such an adventurous story. Most of all, I am in awe of his ability to weave complex faith-related concepts into the stories with such ease. After…
