Faith is a daring adventure. It might not look like it. But that’s because we can’t see everything with our eyes. Like George Eliot has said it “Adventure is not outside man//It is within”. The biggest battles are fought within. The greatest adventures are experienced within. The hardest battle of all might be to believe that God exists and that he wants amazing things for every one. The enemy will do everything in his power to keep us from receiving…
Do you hinder God’s work for you, in you, through you? I was confronted with this question when I read this Bible story yesterday: Now there is in Jerusalem a pool near the Sheep Gate. This pool in the Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porches (alcoves, colonnades, doorways). In these lay a great number of sick folk—some blind, some crippled, and some paralyzed (shriveled up)—waiting for the bubbling up of the water. For an angel of the Lord went…
Spring seems to be late this year. Yet we hope. The same way the second coming of Jesus seems to be delayed. Yet we hope. What can we do while we are waiting? Prepare! When the spring weather will finally reach the north, it will be sudden. When Jesus finally comes back, it will also be sudden. We need to prepared. How can we do that? It’s time for spiritual spring cleaning! It’s time to approach God and let him…
Impatience seems to be the beginning of anxiety, right? Waiting for God’s guidance and timing is not easy, especially when we have all kinds of wild thoughts racing through our mind. What are the next steps God wants me to take? Should I wait or proceed? How can I be sure I am not missing God’s guidance? This morning I stumbled upon this Dietrich Bonhoeffer quote: “Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten. It wants to break…
Do you need constant renewal? I certainly do. Yesterday’s grace and peace won’t work today. I need my daily refill in order to live out of love and not out of fear. If you don’t trust my word on it, follow Jesus’ example. With the words of Andrew Murray: “While others still slept, He [Jesus] went away to pray and to renew His strength in communion with His Father. He had need of this, otherwise He would not have been…
The elements of a great life are not what people usually think. Neither a designer hand bag nor the latest technological gadget will bring happiness. And finding a spouse or having a child are not necessary elements of a great life, either. What then? The main element of a great life is God. Christ is the cornerstone of a great life. A great life is built by the Holy Spirit. Any life can be a great life if it’s lived…
Do you know how to enjoy God? Do you know how to practice the enjoyment of God? These are not trick questions, just very basic questions. (I wish I could hear all your responses right now. But, please, do comment below.) There are many ways to enjoy God but they all have one thing in common: God can only be met and enjoyed in the presence. God is the great I AM. He is not I WAS or I WILL…
Life is like cultivating a garden. A beautiful and balanced life or garden does not happen without effort. An important step in garden maintenance is to cultivate the soil. He [Jesus] said many things to them in parables: “A farmer went out to scatter seed. As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. …
What do you think? Is holiness old-fashioned? Fasting during the Lent is (for most Christians) a voluntary thing. But too often we think all the discipline and growing in grace is optional, too. Even if you are not interested in hidden blessings hidden through discipline, you are called to be holy like God is holy. Holiness is not voluntary. It is the new normal for children of God. Don’t be conformed to your former desires, those that shaped you when…
It’s Ash Wednesday. Time to remember that we are dust. Time to turn back to God and eternal things. Time to let go and let God cleanse our inner beings. Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me,…
