Are you trying to be holier than Jesus? A shocking question, isn’t it? But – Lord, have mercy – unfortunately a valid one. With the words of Brennan Manning “Christians have an unfortunate tendency to be preoccupied with the trivial”. When we occupy our time with being just right with every little trivial thing, we are trying to be holier than Jesus. But that is never possible. And Jesus did not have a condemning attitude. He oozed love and grace….
What do you think? Does God care what you do on your free time? Are there consequences for your actions? We would like to think that our body, soul, and mind are ours to do what we please. But the Bible tells us differently. If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us…
Do you know how grace in action looks like? It’s when someone who feels unworthy gets a glimpse of God’s love through a random spiritual act of kindness. It’s when someone for the first time, or for the 100th time, feels the grace of God because someone practiced what they believed. Grace is in action when someone forgives, loves, serves or offers grace. Grace is in action when our heart opens to receive God’s love and grace. Grace is in…
What kind of excuses have you given to God? How do you rationalize your refusal to obey? This week I learned there is something Kurt Bubna, Moses and I have in common when it comes to choosing either the route of obedience or excuses. How about you? Kurt Bubna writes in his new book Epic Grace, Chronicles of Recovering Idiot that he did not want to become a pastor because he was terrified of public speaking, had no desire to…
There’s never too much grace. I love grace and I breath grace. It’s what sustains me and keeps me going. We should never take God’s grace granted and get too used to it. That’s why we need reminders of God’s abundant and amazing grace along the way. That’s why I was thrilled by the title of Kurt Bubna‘s book Epic Grace. Isn’t that true? Grace is not just amazing; it is truly epic. I’ve been waiting to get my hands…
Do you always want to have the last word in arguments? Why is it so difficult to not to be the one who knows best? Why does it seem to be so harmful to be weak and lowly? Probably because we think it is about us. Because we think we could solve the problems, that we should have power. But it is not about us. And we can’t solve the problems. And we don’t have anything lasting. If we don’t…
Spiritual blindness seems quite an extreme idea. Somehow we are quick to toss away that idea. If we know God, we are not spiritually blind, right? Not so fast. Look again. This is not an either/or matter. We are not either spiritually blind or have a 20/20 vision. We can also be spiritually shortsighted. What to do then? How can we ensure that we are not spiritually shortsighted? First of all we need to remember that it’s not about us…
Are you feeling the effects of Monday? Are you in need of a fresh supply of hope and encouragement? If yes, let’s turn our eyes on God. That’s where our help comes, day after day. God will never let us down. I’m homesick—longing for your salvation; I’m waiting for your word of hope. My eyes grow heavy watching for some sign of your promise; how long must I wait for your comfort? There’s smoke in my eyes—they burn and water,…
Do you walk with God? Do you know how to walk with God? You know, walking with God should be the most natural state of being for a Christian. Just as walking comes naturally to human beings. But what could walking with God entail? How would you describe walking with God? When we are reconciled to God by grace through faith, our Christian walk begins. Walking with God means that we have an on-going communion with God, we abide in…
Have you erected barriers against God in your life? Maybe not knowingly. But sometimes we act out of fear without thinking. We might think we are not good enough for blessings and turn away. We might look at our own resources and shy away from service. Hence we don’t dare to dream God-size dreams. Instead we bar God further away from our lives. That’s why we need this quote from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis to wake us up from…
