Are you a control freak? Or an occasional control freak? You are not alone. It is hard to live carefree. It would be nice to be able to control things, wouldn’t it? But that’s not how life works. Control freaks ultimate desire is to feel safe. That’s the reason why they want to be in control. So that everything would be fine in their lives. They try to achieve this peace on their own. But control freaks are looking for…
As you probably have noticed, I like to end my posts with a prayer. I do that because I believe that all change begins in prayer. I believe that all the good things start with God. My calling is to bring others to Jesus. And in prayer people can meet Jesus firsthand. Today I wrote the prayer before writing the post itself. And I pray God will answer that prayer in this post. (Maybe this is too random but we…
Do you know how wide, how long, how high, and how deep God’s love is? I hope you, at least, have had a glimpse of it. Even a glimpse of God’s love will knock your socks off. There’s nothing like it. And there’s nothing better. Don’t take my word for it. Read what David wrote in one of his psalms: 3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! 4 I will praise you as long as I…
Have you recently experienced a power outage? It sure changes perspective on things. We are too dependent on always having electrical power in our modern culture. But how would it feel to live without God’s power? If you have never experienced God’s power you don’t know what you are missing. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1:18, NIV)…
I experienced grace this morning. I go to a group gym every Monday and Friday. This time I had forgotten to reserve my place. There I was ready to exercise and my name was not on the list. Somehow I had not even realized I had forgotten it. Needless to say I felt frustrated and stupid. But the trainer extended me grace and allowed me in without reservation. It felt very, very good. It was undeserved grace, pure and simple….
Do you know how to live carefree? Would you like to live carefree? I think we all do. Stress-free living would be lovely, don’t you think? But most often we think carefree living is meant for children only. That’s not true. At least, if we think of childhood as a stage of life. But it is true for God’s children who learn to trust God’s care. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you. (1 Peter 5:7, MSG,*) Trusting…
Last week I read an online article about how we should not do things we love every day. Like if you love ice cream, you should not eat it every day if you don’t want it to become just an emotionless habit. But there’s one exception to this rule, I think. The rule does not apply to Bible-reading. Because ….the more we read the Bible, the more we desire to read it. The more we digest the Word of God,…
I know many of us are in great need of physical healing (Right now I have several people on my prayer list). But let’s not forget the even greater need for spiritual healing. Because through spiritual healing we are not given just life in this world but also life after death. If we don’t have spiritual cleansing from inside out, it does not matter how healthy we otherwise are. Because then we are walking in the land of death. We…
When I was a child, there was a TV ad for oat meal declaring “truth is found in oatmeal”. Since then I have been on the quest for truth. I’ve learned that truth is not found in oatmeal after all. No matter how much more nutritious it is compared to corn flakes. But I’ve learned pursuing truth is in itself valuable. Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor. (Proverbs 21:21, NRSV,*) In the process of pursuing truth…
Few years ago I read an interview with a retiring bishop. He was asked what he would like to be remembered by. He said that it’s not important that he would be remembered. But he hopes people would remember that God is good. Amen to that! It’s not really about us, it’s about God! Because God is good – all the time! God is all mercy and grace— not quick to anger, is rich in love. God is good to…
