Are you tired, weary, exhausted? Are you asking what’s the point of all this? Are you feeling just terrible? The psalmist is right with you. Here’s a scripture prayer – a mighty energy drink – for all the weary pilgrims: I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse! Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember? When I told my story, you responded; train me well in your deep wisdom. Help me understand these things inside and out so I…
Did you know that some schools start already on Monday? Our kids won’t start until the 11th but it’s still almost here. Are you ready to get back to the grid? How are you approaching this new beginning? How could we being in such a way that would be life-giving and not just the same old, same old all over again? Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play…
Does summer for you mean living without routines? I love it. We truly need to break routines once in awhile. But the fact is living without routines can be disastrous. Also for our spiritual well-being. Routines help us stay focused on the right things. While on vacation we might forget to keep our daily date with God. For a few days it does not matter that much. God does not move anywhere. Grace is valid even when we do not…
Too often we take life granted. We forget how fragile we are. We forget that we can’t control everything. We forget that there are not guarantees in life. And most of all we focus on the earthly things and forget God. We flirt with the destructive things and wonder why we don’t feel close to God. We are in danger of becoming enemies of the cross. As I have told you many times and now say with deep sadness, many…
Some people assume that God tries to take our freedom and restrict our joy. But they’ve bought the lies of the devil and they could not be further from the truth. Because God made us free. But we have been abusing the freedom by making bad choices from the start. Like Philip Yancey has said “God’s terrible insistence on human freedom is so absolute that he granted us the power to live as though He did not exist, to spit…
Are you feeling lost in your life? A bit overwhelmed and disoriented? Then take a pause. Get away for a few days. Or take an evening stroll somewhere. Seek silence or solitude. But know that the main thing is to know that even though you feel lost….you are not lost from God. God’s love is meteoric, his loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, his verdicts oceanic. Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through…
Have you ever made huge plans and been so excited about everything? But then your plans have unexpectedly come crashing down? I’ve been there, done that. At that moment, it feels like the end of the world. But just like the scripture says: Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word (Proverbs 16: 1, MSG,*). It might sound a bit cruel but it isn’t. God’s purpose is not to crash our plans but give us something better. Let’s continue…
Do you know how to get to know God? Do you know how to take care of yourself? How does these two questions tie together? In a very organic way. We can’t know ourselves without knowing God first. We can’t be well if we are not made right with God. We are not flourishing if we do not know God’s will in our life. With the words of J.I Packer: “What were we made for? To know God. What aim…
Do you know that you were created in Christ Jesus to do good works? We tend to forget that our sole purpose is not to please ourselves and have fun while here on earth. Even as Christians we label any talk about doing good works as legalistic or pious. But the Bible is pretty clear about this. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way…
Have you any plans to travel this summer? Where are you going? What are you taking along? A big part of any journey is planning and packing. It is important to have relevant gears with you. Not too much, not too little. And it is important to know where you are going and how to get there. Hence you need a map and possibly a passport. It is so also on the great adventure called faith. The revelation of God…
