Black Friday is the craziest shopping day in the U.S.A. But no matter how many hours people spend shopping, the best deal ever can’t be bought. Because it is free yet so precious. It was shed and given on Good Friday almost 2000 years ago. It is valid every day until the end of the world. By dying on the cross for our sake Jesus gave us the best deal ever: we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus….
People who don’t know better think believing in God is just about rules, regulations, and religious behavior. If this was true, I’d be the first to quit. I am not drawn to religiousness. I am drawn to God. And not to a statue somewhere. But to the Living God: personal, relational, active. Christian faith is not about keeping alive a bunch of rituals and commemorating a fairy tale. Christian faith is celebrating the freedom we receive by grace through faith…
What does help you to stay strong and steady on your Christian walk? Are you aware of the enemy’s sneaky ways to steal your joy and peace? How do you deal with joy-stealers, doubt-raisers and hope-snatchers? I’ve found that I need to turn to God as soon as I wake up in the morning. Like John Piper says in his recent sermon “every morning there is a war in the Piper household”. Well said. I think there is a battle…
Isn’t it utterly amazing that in the midst of truly hard circumstances people still praise the Lord? How on earth do they do that? Why doesn’t everyone just quit believing in God when things get rough?
Faith is a gift from God. When God reveals to us that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, sent to save us, our eyes are opened. When we believe this and receive God’s grace for ourselves, our whole existence gets a new meaning. The seed of faith starts growing in us and our faith journey begins. But it is only a beginning. Faith journey takes a lifetime.
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…
One of the great Christian mysteries and blessings is that Christ lives in us. What does it really mean? When we have -by grace- come to believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes residence in us. Then we are not alone anymore. It’s God with us.
“Don’t just do something, sit there”. A very wise piece of advice. But so is this one: “Don’t just sit there, do something!” What? Yes, we need them both. There is time to sit still and there’s time to work. The tricky part is to find the right balance between these two. Every time I write a blog post about grace, I feel I’ve left out that we are also called to do something. And every time I blog about…
Do you ever wish you had more faith? I have good news for you. Your faith is beautiful. It is a gift from God. You don’t need more faith. What? That’s what Jesus said. The apostles came up and said to the Master, “Give us more faith.” But the Master said, “You don’t need more faith. There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could…
We can’t force holiness on people. No matter how we would like to do it. There’s no way we can dictate how people should act. That’s not how grace works. That’s law all over again. That’s living like Christ had not died for our sins. That’s like saying Christ died in vain. When we force outwardly changes on ourselves or others, we have not truly understood grace. If we could create a living relationship with God by good behavior, then…
