Are you expecting divine fireworks to experience God in your life? Just like Moses on Sinai got to experience God in exciting ways? Sometimes it happens that way. But most often it does not. I am not saying that God does not move mightily in today’s world (because he does). I am saying God did not move always that way thousands of years ago either. Let’s see, for example, how Elijah experienced God’s presence. “Go out and stand before me…
Often I am asked how to be faithful in the Christian walk. People think there is some sort of magical formula that you need to know. But, no, there isn’t. The Christian walk is far easier than that. It’s about abiding in the Holy Spirit all day long. It’s about waking up in the morning and greeting God with “Good morning, Daddy! What do you want me to do today?” and ending our day with “Thank you, Jesus!”. The Christian…
The first letter to Thessalonians starts the way I would like to be described and remembered. Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3, MSG’*) I would like to be a person recalled by my work of faith, my…
Sometimes we think God or faith is out of our reach but they aren’t. God wants to be found. God wants to pour out grace upon grace on us. God gives us as much faith as we want, he just leaves the choice to us. We can either receive or reject his gifts. Faith is not out of our reach. Faith is for everyone who loves God with heart and soul. But only if you listen obediently to God, your…
As you probably know, there’s no false advertising in the Bible. The Bible promises us difficulties, right? But that’s not the end of the story. The Bible also promises us (among other things) that God will always be with us. Awesome, you say. Just remember this does not mean that we could live however we please. In order to be strong in and through upcoming difficulties, we need to be built up in the Lord. Only when we abide in…
Why should we remember Jesus? Because he brought us life upon life. Because he frees us from (unvisible) chains. Because he has the words of eternal life. Why should we read the word of God? Because it brings us the good news. Because it frees us from the chains of the merely visible world. Because it testifies and reminds us of eternal life. The saying is sure and worthy of confidence: If we have died with Him, we shall also live…
Change is inevitable. Change happens all the time, sometimes we are able to notice it, sometimes not. Yet it happens all the time, it’s part of life whether we like it or not. Change can be overwhelming and frightful because we can’t control it. And that seems to be the root of all fear. We don’t want to lose control. What to do then? Paradoxically, the way to cope with change is to surrender all control to Jesus. When we…
Do you know what we are supposed to do until Jesus comes back? Are we just going to hang around? Or does it matter how we spend our time here on earth? Yes, it does matter. We are called to follow Christ, introduce our friends and family to Jesus and do as much good as possible. We are called to be Christ to the world. Aim at and pursue righteousness (right standing with God and true goodness), godliness (which is…
How knowledgeable are you about grace? Grace is not complicated. Grace is simple yet powerful. There are four essential things you need to know about grace. Here’s grace 101 for you. First of all, we are saved by grace through faith. God’s grace is a free gift to us. All we need to do is to turn to God in repentance and ask to receive grace upon grace. Everything is ready for us. There’s nothing for us to do but…
‘Go tell it to the mountains’ was the first thing that went through my mind when I learned this week’s Five minute Friday prompt was ‘tell’. We are indeed commanded to go and tell everyone that Jesus has come for each of us. But are we really living out this command? How does is show in our everyday life? Ouch. “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this…
