“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me”, Martin Luther said. That’s also my experience and that’s why I am hooked on reading it. Otherwise, I’d be lost. God is amazing, he does not abandon us. He cares for us and wants us to know it. Reading the Bible is a wonderful way to be reminded of these facts. At least I do need to hear it anew every morning. How about you? As soon as I pray, you answer…
What’s your take on the Bible? How do you approach it and what kind of role does it play in your life? I believe the Bible is the Word of God and that’s why I want to read it and study it. But it’s not just an old book. The Bible is alive and active even today. And that changes everything, doesn’t it? For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]….
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,…
Grace is free but not cheap. We can’t earn grace but still it is not cheap. Because cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate, states Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Grace is free but costly. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44, NRSV) “Costly grace is…
What can we learn from the temptations of Jesus? Or are they inapplicable in today’s world? But it is not just about big temptations, it’s about our daily choices. It’s about putting God first in everything. My thoughts on Matthew 4: 1-11 were inspired by Eugene H. Peterson’s sermon notes found in Conversations – the Message with its translator. The core of the temptations is to put something else first in our lives and God second. The things can be…
What do you think? Is Lent biblical? Let’s see what we can find out! Job repented in dust and ashes (Job 42: 6) but there is more to Lent than just imitating that. Jesus himself spent 40 days in desert fasting: Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. (Matt 4.1-2, MSG) The number 40 is…
I was delighted to see how enthusiastically people responded to the God’s Love Letter yesterday. People seem to crave assurance of God’s love for them. The wonderful thing is that the Bible is full of God’s unwavering love for us. Anytime you want to be assured by God’s amazing love check out some of the Bible verses that include these two little words “but God”. They’re small words but they declare God’s powerful ways to operate in this world in…
I hope you didn’t come to read this blog post in order to find a quick formula for becoming holy. Because then you will be disappointed. There is no such quick-fix formula. But we are not out of hope, either. Because God gave us the Holy Spirit to do his work in us. Through prayer we can approach God and state our willingness to be changed, to become holy like the Father God. But we have also been given another…
I’ve always wondered why it is a human tendency to try to fit God in a box. What purpose would a-god-small-enough-to-fit-in-a-box serve? Why on earth would we like to want to tame God? I guess, we would like to use God for our own purposes. We would like to say how things should be run in our own lives. We would like to be God. That’s our human sinful nature right there. Our God is wild and holy. There is…
God is calling ordinary people to do extraordinary tasks! Don’t worry! You are not supposed to do those extraordinary tasks by your own strength. God will empower you to do them. But you need to be faithful when God is urging you to step in faith. For example, let’s take two Hebrew midwifes long, long ago… The king of Egypt had a talk with the two Hebrew midwives; one was named Shiphrah and the other Puah. He said, “When you…
