What I hope for you this summer is very simple. I hope you find some time for prayer and renewal in Christ. Very often the root cause of any stress in our lives is that we are self-centered and not God-centered. May this summer be a blessed time to become refocused on God! Only then we can see all the blessings around us and praise the Lord. For he is good all the time. Praise the Lord! Let my whole…
Once I overheard a discussion between two successful young professionals on a train. It sounded like they had graduated together from a graduate school a while back with big dreams. And they had gone and achieved them all right. A good job. A beautiful wife. Wonderful kids. A comfortable house. A fast car. Extensive travels. Yet they were asking: Is this all there is? We think we can find happiness on our own. We think we know how to find…
Robust peace might sound a bit odd first. That’s because we’ve learned to think of peace as of lack of something. Peace is a lack of hurry or lack of pestering people. The peace the world ever is able to give is this kind of peace: a removal from busyness or a subtraction of something from our lives. But this kind of peace is not lasting and it diminishes our lives. This kind of peace is not robust peace. This…
Today I found a Bible verse that felt brand new to me. I’ve read the Bible and especially the New Testament many times. Still I find something new all the time. It is because the Bible is the Living Word of God which means God speaks through it. When we prayerfully approach the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to open our spiritual eyes to see what needs to be seen, God will speak to us. And this does not…
Where are you? Are you ashamed, addicted, alienated? Or are you trapped, anxious or defeated? Or powerless, hopeless or frustrated? I have good news for you. You don’t have to be stuck in the mud. You can be accepted, valued and loved. You can be healed, strengthened and empowered. You can overcome. Not on your own. But by God’s grace. The only way of letting go of weaknesses is surrendering them to Jesus. Self-help does not work. Believe me, I have…
I’ve never felt comfortable writing a Mother’s Day post. And even this is mostly an unlikely one. I have a wonderful mom (love you!) and I love being a mom. But my heart goes out for anyone who would (have) like(d) to be a mom and isn’t. I don’t feel comfortable boasting about my blessings. (But we are certainly encouraged to count our blessings). The only thing I want to boast about is God’s grace. And that is the best…
Faith is a daring adventure. It might not look like it. But that’s because we can’t see everything with our eyes. Like George Eliot has said it “Adventure is not outside man//It is within”. The biggest battles are fought within. The greatest adventures are experienced within. The hardest battle of all might be to believe that God exists and that he wants amazing things for every one. The enemy will do everything in his power to keep us from receiving…
Fear is one of the most awful things in the world. When we live out of fear, life is not what it’s meant to be. Fear cripples us. Fear steals the joy of living. Fear paralyzes our inner beings. Exactly the opposite what God designed for us. Every bad decision I’ve ever made can be traced back to fear. Whenever I’ve made a decision out of fear it has led to a disaster. Whenever you say yes because you fear…
I just love how Jesus fed 5000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread. We think 5 plus 2 is 7. But God’s way of thinking is way different, way bigger, and way better. What was the secret of Jesus? Then Jesus took the bread. When he had given thanks, he distributed it to those who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, each getting as much as they wanted.When they had plenty to eat,…
Who is in charge of your life? A dead man or the living God? You see, this is a question of life and death. As long as we are in charge we are living in the world of dead. But when we surrender to Jesus, we take a giant step to the world of the living. “It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father,…
