“Is your default mode toward others judgment or grace?” asked Rick Warren on Twitter a few years ago. It got me thinking. This is crucial. Have I fully embraced grace, been changed inside out and now truly reflecting and extending God’s love and grace? And not hate, doom, and judgment? Because God is love and he wants us to live and move in grace. “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so…
Outer motivation does not work in the long run. We need inner motivation to get things done. This psychological principle is surprisingly true also in faith matters. If we are told (outer motivation) to behave or believe in certain ways, we are unlikely to meet those expectations. But if we have personally encountered Jesus (inner motivation), we follow his guidance with gladness. That’s why we should not force rules and regulations on others. We should let Jesus change people according…
One of my favorite quotes is this one by William Blake: “I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me.” That’s what being a Christian means. It’s not about me or my (in)abilities. It’s about God and his abilities in and through me. People of the presence of the Holy Spirit do not need to be afraid of anything. People of the presence of the Holy Spirit does not need to bow to devil’s temptations or believe devil’s…
Do you try make yourself a better person? Or do you trust God work in you to make you a person of grace? There’s a world of difference between those two ways of life. Self-strength stages an illusion. God creates life. Self-effort causes stress. Jesus provides salvation. Self-help brings exhaustion. The Holy Spirit brings peace. Why is it that stopping self-improvement projects and waiting for God to perform change in us is out of our radar? Why is is that…
The Bible is very clear that we are all called to be holy like God is holy. It does not happen without effort but by God’s grace it is possible. To be holy is to be transformed into the image of Christ. What bothers me is the fact that people think that holy people are boring, repressed, stiff-necked,and self-righteous. But Jesus was not at all that kind of person! What’s gone wrong here? We are called to be like Jesus,…
“We have learned to live with unholiness and have come to look upon it as the natural and expected thing.” wrote A.W. Tozer. I find this to be too true these days. Anyone who tries to lead a holy lifestyle seems to be ridiculed. But Tozer died almost 50 years ago! We tend to think this unholy living is recent history. But no. Tozer talked about this and the Bible talked about it all the time. Just think of King…
Whenever you feel small… …remind yourself that God thinks the world of you. Whenever you feel down… ….remind yourself that God things you are to die for. Literally. God sent his own son to die for your so you had a way to spend eternity with him. Joyfully. God did not save you grudgingly. He saved you in his joy. Lovingly. God loves you. He is not going to take his love back. There’s nothing you can or leave undone…
This is a wonderful time of year in Finland. Our summers are not that hot but we really do have light in abundance. You’ve probably heard of the Midnight sun when the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Those of us who love light have a hard time understanding why some people don’t share our enthusiasm for light. There are people who prefer darkness. Like Jesus said 2000 years ago: “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into…
We all know the the story of Jonah. We chuckle, we might find Jonah even endearing. We might marvel how God caught this runaway and especially how Jonah moved from being prayerless to praise-filled in the belly of the whale. Jonah experienced first-hand God’s mercy right then and there, probably for the first time in his life. Jonah knew God, we might even say that he had a relationship with God. But yet he was a stranger to grace. Suddenly…
One of the biggest reasons why people keep from truly following Christ is the belief that then life would be boring and, at least, all the fun would be cancelled. People are not ready to bury their dreams. It might seem that is what God wants us to do. But when you dig a bit deeper you find out that God wants to give us life and more life. God wants to bring our dreams into his service. That doesn’t…
