Our first step (part 1) towards making Jesus Christ the center of our lives was focusing on God instead of ourselves. The second step (part 2) was repentance. From there we move on to confessing our sins and asking for Christ to cleanse us inside out because If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins…
At the moment the cock crowed for the second time. The Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. (Mark 14:72) Once again Peter shows us how to walk in faith. When we have sinned, we need to break down and weep. We need to repent. We need to stop living for ourselves and start living for God. We need to turn around…
Peter is one of my favorite Bible characters. I idenitify with him because he was passionate and very human. But, most of all, I admire his willingness to grow in grace and let the Holy Spirit transform him to a mature man of God. Let’s see how Peter can help us to take the first steps towards (re)making Jesus Christ the center of our lives.During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake….
Lately God has been nudging me about giving people second changes. In general, I think, we don’t want to give people second changes. We want to cut them out of our radar if they have not been trustworthy. But God is all about second changes, forgiving and loving people time after time. What about us? There is a saying “the first time some one hurts you, it’s their fault; the second time they hurt you the same way, it is…
You never know when an Aha moment arrives. I was reading a Christian chick-lit book “Queen Esther & the Second Graders of Doom” by Allie Pleiter (Steeple Hill, 2006) for entertainment purposes only and unexpectedly came across with a thought-provoking analysis. Pastor Mark in the story said after a church disagreement: “I am just happy to get them to care at all. Opinion is not my enemy, apathy is.” Indeed!! Opinion is not my enemy, apathy is! I’ve always struggled…
Don’t you just love the word of God, the Bible? I love reading it, studying it, talking about it. The more I read, the more fascinating it becomes. The more I let the word work in me, the more awesome it becomes. And yet, there are times when other things take time from this. How has your Bible reading been lately? I strongly recommend to (re)start taking regularly some quiet time before the Lord. Each time keep reading the Bible…
I have always loved words. The power of painting pictures, describing feelings and atmospheres just by a word or two seems like a miracle to me. Being able to share thoughts and ideas with people around me is a way to understand life and its meaning. Isn’t that one purpose of life itself? Anyhow, words truly are magically powerful. According to Simon Peter (John 6:68, NIV) it is Jesus Christ who has the most powerful words, words of eternal life….
