I’ve heard or read the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well many, many times. I’ve been mesmerized by the living water over and over again. But somehow I have never paid much attention to the latter part of the verse until now. Or that’s how it feels this time. How about you? But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water…
Do you know that you’re called to be a saint? For real. Right now and right here. How do I know? I read it in my Bible. I am currently reading through the Bible in the New Revised Standard Version. Today my attention was grabbed by Paul’s greeting to the Corinthians. Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who…
One of the most important life lessons is to learn to deal with disappointments. They are part of life and we need to learn to deal with them in order to live well. If we don’t…well, we become bitter and do not live well. When other people disappoint us, we get frustrated. When we disappoint ourselves, we get depressed. And when circumstances work against us, we get discouraged. How could we learn to stay hope-filled in the midst of disappointments?…
Are you preoccupied with concerns or stressing over ways to keep your resolutions? It’s time to remind yourself that you have a higher purpose than organizing your life. There is a deeper meaning for your life than succeeding in your pursuits (no matter how noble they are). But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you…
Now that we’ve been blessed by a fresh new year….what could we do to make it a good one? More balanced, spiritually tuned, and simply blessed? There are few disciplines that keep me connected to God and grounded in faith. These three habits for a happy new year are simple but fundamental at the same time. I hope you carve time for God this year and then watch what God is doing in your life. The revelation of God is…
Are you full of regrets of this year? Are you mad at yourself not doing more, achieving more or enjoying more? Are you looking for a graceful exit? How about a grace filled exit instead? You see, hindsight is always 20/20. It is easy to say what one should have done. It is clear how things should have turned out. But life is not about hindsight. Life is about leaning on God and giving our messes to Jesus.We can’t see…
Are you stressed out and running around like crazy trying to get everything ready? Take a pause. Sit still and be renewed in God’s presence. You never regret time spent in God’s presence. Why is sitting before the Lord so important? When we abide in God, our batteries are charged. And we can forego panic attacks by recognizing God’s powerful presence in the world. Be still, and know that I am God! (Psalm 46:10, NRSV) Why is God calling us…
We are called to be one in Christ…but we are not succeeding very well, are we? Living in unity seems like a balancing act sometimes. How can we who are so different live in harmony? How can we respect everyone and allow each other freedom in Christ? These are the questions I’ve been mulling over lately. Blessedly I learned five things about walking in love from Romans 14:13-23. 1) We need to stop criticizing at once. Everyone we meet is…
It was great to connect with a friend I have not seen for a decade or so. She told me “hope you are still celebrating”. And it got me thinking and taking a stock of my life. You see, celebrating life sums my way of living quite well. I’ve always thought life was a gift and we should love life and especially the Giver of Life. That’s my heart. That’s my soul. That’s my worship. Or, at least, it used…
God has been speaking to me lately about the importance of community. It is quite uncanny sometimes how God gets the same message to you over and over again until you take notice. On Monday I blogged about how the only way to be fully alive is to live openheartedly and in community. Today Kurt Bubna reminds us in his new book Epic Grace, Chronicles of a Recovering Idiot that we are not meant to live alone, how we need…
