Do you you feel inadequate somehow? Do you wish you’d be a bit different than you are? Would you like to be a bit less imperfect? I have good news for you today. Because of Jesus God accepts you as you are. And that’s not all of the good news. It gets better: When you are in Christ, you are made perfect. Outside of Christ you are imperfect, but in Christ, you are perfect. For in Christ lives all the…
Is Jesus your life or does something else hold the central stage in your life? This question made me pause as I read Hannah Whitall Smith’s book The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life. She writes “Most Christians understand the principle when it comes to salvation but lose sight of it in living Christian life. Then He was our Redeemer; now He is to be our Life” We need and want salvation. But how Christ can be our Life? We…
Do you ever wonder what to do when you do not know what to do? Do you choose the first thing that comes along? Or do you become passive? Do you panic? Do you stress out? Life is full of times when we don’t know what to do. It’d be helpful to have a plan for those moments, don’t you think? Let’s see if we can figure out how to proceed when you’re clueless. We do not know what to…
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…
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…
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…
Today’s word prompt is ‘same’. Right away I though of God Almighty who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But I realize I’ve already written a thought-provoking post about that. So I had to think another way to approach the word ‘same’. What could it be? Then this Bible verse came into my mind: Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own…
Do you adjust your life to God? Or do you expect God to serve you? Your answers to these questions reveal who is the center of your life. People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that are related to the Spirit. 6 The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace. 7 So…
I caught myself in the middle of night asking “God, why do we need to die?” after dreaming of some people I was dearly missing. Instantly, I was reminded of what happened in my childhood. How I had turned from a sunny to sullen child after my grandmother’s death. My mother had asked me what’s wrong and I had told her ‘I hate God’. She asked me why I thought so. And I had told her ‘because he makes people…
