Everything starts with God. It’s always God first. He comes to us. He pours out his love and grace. He calls us. The LORD’s word came to me: “Before I created you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart; I made you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5, CEB What will you do when God calls YOU out? Because he does have a plan also for you. “Ah, LORD God,” I said,…
Peter is one of the Bible characters whose spiritual growth impresses me time after time. He was passionate for Jesus from early on yet he didn’t first really understand what it meant to live for Jesus. But Peter was willing to learn, first from Jesus and later on from the Holy Spirit. Peter’s story is an encouraging example of heavenly spiritual formation, what it really means to grow in grace. Just think…Peter was the one who cut off the ear…
Too often people are satisfied with spiritual comfort food. Or even worse: junk food. But as we know, we don’t stay healthy that way. Junk food of comfort food may give us great experiences for our taste buds or give us an illusion of being well fed but we stay -in long run- malnourished. Then we don’t even crave for real food anymore. There will come a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. They will collect teachers who…
Too often we just let life happen and we wander without thinking, even without praying. But then we are in danger to get where the flow takes us and not where we want to go. We need to put our faith in action. Because faith is not a sentiment, it is a call for action. We need to start our days by praying for guidance, for wisdom, for direction, for strength. Tommy Barnett explains “I’ve discovered it is not sufficient…
Many of us claim that we want to do God’s will in our lives. We aim to listen to God’s voice and seek his guidance. But do we really hear God? Do we put his wisdom in practice? Do we let God’s message transform us? Or do we edit God? Do we select what we hear? Or do we embrace God as he is? Or do we strip down God from attributes that disturb us? Do we dishonor God by…
I don’t hold a master’s degree in waiting on God, nor in patience. But I am praying that I’d be slowly molded into an artist of waiting on God. Biblical waiting means confident expectation, trusting that God will do what he has promised. That God knows best both what needs to happen and when it needs to happen. That God will be preparing us while we are waiting. That God works for the good who believe in him. There are…
Is your faith rooted in yourself or have you set your heart firmly on God? Is your faith truly grounded in God? Or do you still try to manipulate God in order to get what you want? Today God is calling us to examine our hearts and minds. Who does rule our hearts? Then Samuel said to the whole house of Israel , “If you are turning to the LORD with all your heart, then get rid of all the…
How is your lenten journey going? I have found praying on my knees being a huge blessing so far. I have been praying that God would open my eyes to see my hidden sins. Those things that are not pleasing to God but I am unable to see myself. This morning when I was searching for another book I came across Gail Godwin’s novel “Evensong”. I could not help but notice a couple sticky notes peeking out of the book…
What is the difference between a Christian and a non-believer? Not much. We breath the same air, we read the same newspapers, we pay the same unbelievable price for gas. The difference is that we know where our help comes from. I raise my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121: 1-2, CEB) Indeed, my help does not come from horoscopes, money or…
Even though the world around us is full of marks of death and dying we try to deny our own mortality. We like to live in La-La Land and pretend we are not aging and our life will go on forever. But the sooner we face the reality: we are dust and we will return to dust, the better we can embrace living fully. Like a parent feels compassion for their children— that’s how the LORD feels compassion for those…
