Today I’ve been touched by two, very short Bible passages. They affirm my dedication to seek God and all the good things in life. This life style does not leave me short-changed. This life style leads into the real life. And not just any kind of life – but glorious life! Whoever goes hunting for what is right and kind finds life itself—glorious life! (Proverbs 21:21, MSG,*) We are to build ourselves up in Christ and by doing so we…
When was the last time you shout for joy? Do you know what it means to be truly happy? Don’t go through life without finding the source of happiness and true joy. Because that’s where you find not just happiness but yourself and your calling. You made me so happy, God. I saw your work and I shouted for joy. How magnificent your work, God! How profound your thoughts! (Psalm 92: 4-5, MSG) When we start seeing the things God…
Fully grasping the depth of God’s love is most likely out of our reach. I think God’s love is so endless that we just don’t have the capacity to fully know it. Or, at least, it is a life-long process. Everything in God’s time. But even just getting a small glimpse of God’s love leaves us awestruck. God so loved the world, each and everyone of us, that he gave his only son that no one would perish. Jesus paid…
It feels awful when you are not heard. It undermines your core being and it does not feel good. At all. But even though other people don’t value us or listen to us we have someone who always does. And that is Jesus. If he is our rock, no one can erode our foundation. Sometimes we complain that even God does not hear us. But he always does even when we feel that he doesn’t hear us. We are always…
Is receiving the grace of Christ an amazing race or amazing grace? It is a relief to know it does not require to be the winner of the amazing race to receive the grace of Christ. There is nothing we can do to earn the grace of Christ. It is the amazing gift from God; it is amazing grace. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when…
Do you know how to be dressed in readiness? Then I want to hear from you. My word for the year 2015 is ‘readiness’ and I am trying to figure out what readiness means for me and how I could practice it more fully. Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. (Luke 12:35, NASB,*) We are all called to be ready for Jesus. But readiness for Jesus means more than ‘just’ being saved. And that’s what I will be…
Are you looking for happiness? Most people are. My heart cries out for all the people who are looking for happiness in all the wrong places. How people are so lost and don’t have any idea where to find what they’ve been looking for all their lives. This is nothing new under the sun though. When you read through the Bible you realize people were acting exactly the same way thousands of years ago than they do now. People are…
I love joy. So anytime someone is writing a book on joy I am most likely to check it out. But when I heard Margaret Feinberg was writing a book on joy after battling cancer during the last year and half, I could hardly wait to get my hands on the book. Because this book was going to be war-tested and genuine book on real joy. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith…
Yesterday at church a senior men’s choir sang a beautiful hymn at the end. It was so touching. I am sure I was not the only one with misty eyes in the audience. Not because of the words of the song. Not because the performance would have been somehow extraordinary. But because these older men were standing there and praising God with their song. After decades of hard life and difficult circumstances, they were still praising God. What a testimony….
One of the most famous Bible verses is Psalm 119:105 (AMP): Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. There are songs about it and almost everybody – it seems like it – knows it by heart. I’ve always loved it too but today I read it in the Message paraphrase and saw it very differently afterwards. By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path….
