To tell the truth, I feel inadequate to write anything on the holy week. The amazing love of God shown to us during the events of the holy week leaves me in humble awe and I am questioning whether I can do justice to that. But thankfully this is not about me but about God. So I will share a couple of observations on the awesomeness of God and our deep need of Jesus to choose life over death. On…
Brokenness is something we often despise. But it brings more blessings than we can imagine. We tend to think brokenness means uselessness. But in God’s kingdom it is exactly the opposite. Brokenness is a blessing. With the words of Philip Yancey “Imperfection is the prerequisite for grace. Light only gets in through the cracks.” Through our brokenness we realize our need for Christ. Through our brokenness God can fill us with his grace. Through our brokenness we become useful in God’s…
Is sharing part of your life? Or is it something you put off for later? Or do you think sharing is overrated? If you’re a Christian, sharing is not optional. We are called to share what we’ve received with others. Whether it is the Good News of Jesus Christ or our time or some resources we have. Sharing is caring. And that’s a distinctive feature of Christian living. If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his…
It has been news to me that still, 2000 years after Jesus walked on this green earth, people don’t know the difference between religion and faith. Actually, I am shocked to realize again and again that people still think Christianity is about following rules instead of following Christ. Is this news to you? Boy, do I have good news for you! For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually…
It’s Ash Wednesday, folks! How do you feel about it? What do you think about Lent? Is it Biblical? Just this morning I was reading the ninth chapter of the gospel according to Matthew and just loved how Jesus said “…then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15). According to Jesus, there is time to feast and there is time to fast. Yesterday, on Mardi Gras, we feasted. Today, on Ash Wednesday, we begin to fast. Fasting does not get us to…
Are you planning to do some spring cleaning? How about some spiritual spring cleaning too? Before you start, I have a spiritual cleaning tip for you that will hopefully save you some time and effort. Wash me completely clean of my guilt; purify me from my sin! (Psalm 51:2, CEB) First of all, forget about any quick-fix cleaning. That does not fix the real problem, it just hides it for awhile. Instead, put the best spiritual cleaning tip into practice:…
The million dollar question in today’s chaotic lifestyle is how you can have peace and quiet despite all odds. How about you? Do you know how to have peace beyond understanding? If you do, you are blessed beyond measure. Here are two Bible verses to lead you in the right direction: And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7, NIV,*) The fruit of that righteousness will be…
I love grace. Undeserved love towards us cleansing us from all unrighteousness….what’s not to like, right? But here are three reasons why I love grace on the top of its saving quality. Because there’s no way around it: God’s grace saves sinners. There’s nothing better in my book. But there are, at least, three other qualities of grace that needs to be mentioned. Grace is so amazingly wonderful that we can’t figure it out. It is beyond reason. How can…
Sometimes you hear someone mention they’ll return to God when they get their act together. That makes me sad because they’ve misunderstood the process so badly. It’s not our job to put our act together on our own. We need Jesus for that. But Jesus is more than happy to help us out. Anytime. Anywhere. With the words of Oswald Chambers “If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He does not ask you to put…
Do you honor Jesus? If yes, how do you honor him? I am asking these questions because today we are celebrating the twelfth day of Christmas. Epiphany means ‘to make known’, ‘to show’, or ‘to reveal’. The kings revealed Jesus as the Lord and King to the world. But they also showed us how to approach him. Let’s find out what we can learn from the wise men. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during…
