Do you feel worn out? Beaten? At the end of your rope? Just know that God has reserved a place for you in his arms. I just love knowing that the downcasted will be treated with extra special care. For the weakest God has reserved a place closest to his heart. Doesn’t that comfort you? You don’t need to handle everything. You don’t have to be strong and knowledgeable. You can come as you are. God will cherish you. You…
Have you ever envied the wise men? I have. Sometimes discerning God’s will is not that easy. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a huge sign on the sky declaring heavenly guidance “This Way!” Having your own star would be helpful, don’t you think? Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in…
Christmas is gone. What to do now? Should we still sing for joy? Should we still exalt God, give him glory? Well, yes, of course. Heavens, raise the roof! Earth, wake the dead! Mountains, send up cheers! (Isaiah 49:12, MSG) What if you feel that you’ve been forgotten? What if Christmas was just an earthly happening? Shouldn’t we just pack Christmas neatly away? Not so fast. Hold on. God has comforted his people. He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down…
Are you ready for 2013? Or do you know how to become ready for a new year? The web is bursting all kinds of self-help articles of how to make the best of 2013. But they leave me empty and unsatisfied. No matter how much planning I’d do for the new year, it does not solve the problems. If I have not ended this year well, the new year will be same old, same old. So the best preparation for…
The second day of Christmas is a national holiday in Finland and many other European countries. This day is a great day to reflect what Christmas means in our everyday life. But do we have a stable influence of Christmas in our lives? It was great to celebrate baby Jesus and welcome him to the world. But what does it mean to us that Jesus was born 2000 years ago? It is time to put Christmas into practice! It is…
It does not matter how dark it gets outside. It does not matter how dark the world is. What matters is that you have Light inside of you. Jesus spoke to the people again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me won’t walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, CEB) Claim the joy of Christ to be yours today and every single day of your life. Keep your light lit no…
Life can be really hectic and even chaotic. I am not just talking about having too many hobbies or busy holiday schedule. I am talking about worries and burdens like severe illnesses, family feuds, depression, burn out, excess work load or lack of work, aging parents, and financial struggles. Sometimes we just don’t know how to make it through the day. What to do then? How do we manage when there is too much on our plate? For me there…
Too often we keep dabbling in sin because we think there’s no harm in a dab of something. But this dabbling in sin keeps us from becoming Christ-like. One dab at a time we become what we worship, either lovers or enemies of God. We don’t drift towards holiness (it’s always a choice) but, yes, we gravitate towards worldiness one dab at a time. Like D. A. Carlson has so powerfully said “We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance;…
The Bible is full of miracles and advice to stay alert for God’s wonders: Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works; be alert for signs of his presence. (Psalm 105:4, MSG) Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. (Romans 12:11, MSG) We are children of an awesome and almighty God and we are called to pray boldly and expect great things. Why don’t we then do that? Why don’t…
We all know that Jesus is our best Christmas gift ever. But do you know what to give Jesus this Christmas? Just yesterday this was a novel concept to be. It had never occurred to me that I could concretely give Jesus a birthday present until I read Ann Voskamp’s blog post where she shares how their family gives birthday gifts for Jesus by buying goats or mosquito nets. I thought it was a brilliant idea. So during the dinner…
