Lately God has been waking me up (literally) to see my sinfulness. God has reminded me of some choices I have made in my life and led me to repent for them. Even though during that time of my life I did not even think they had been questionable. I did not know any better then. Selfishness does not produce good fruit. Selfishness paves the way to destruction whether we realize it or not. Go home and wash up. Clean…
One of the dangers of any relationship is taking the other person for granted. Then we fail to appreciate the value of the person. Then we assume certain amenities for granted. It is bad enough when we do that with our friends of family. But sadly we also do this with Christ and the amazing grace. Lord, have mercy. Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace…
Are you tired, weary, exhausted? Are you asking what’s the point of all this? Are you feeling just terrible? The psalmist is right with you. Here’s a scripture prayer – a mighty energy drink – for all the weary pilgrims: I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse! Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember? When I told my story, you responded; train me well in your deep wisdom. Help me understand these things inside and out so I…
The secret of starting your day right is not about getting the right hot drink just as you prefer it. The secret of starting your day right is in practicing surrender in slippers. What? The most important act in the morning is to surrender your whole life to God. If we try to carry all the burdens on our own shoulders, the day will not get the right start and will not get any better either. But if we lay…
This image of making ourselves at home in God’s love just captured my heart today. Just think about it! God’s love is perfect. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes. God’s love never fails. And we are invited to make ourselves at home in God’s love! There’s nothing better on this earth that being at home in God’s love. “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my…
How is your salvation-garden doing? I never thought of it this way before but reading the first chapter of James in the Message got me thinking. What if our lives really were meant to be salvation-gardens cultivated by God? Are we hindering God’s work? Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled…
Do you have difficulties trusting that God really loves you? Don’t let that kind of doubts eat you up. Take God and his promises seriously. Because he is really serious about loving and caring for you. When you doubt God, you diminish God in your life. And when we diminish him, we diminish ourselves at the same time. Because in Him we find our true selves. Be everything God created you to be, exceptional in every sense! So cut off…
Don’t let the world define you. You are a child of God. Your value derives directly from God. As a heir of Almighty God your value is beyond measure. It doesn’t matter whether you’re single or divorced. It doesn’t matter if you’re jobless or homeless. it doesn’t matter if you’re sick or handicapped. Don’t let those things define you. Let God take over your life and step into freedom in Christ! And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or…
Why on earth would we need spiritual strength-training? The Merriam-Webster dictionary tells us that few definitions of strength are capacity for exertion or endurance, power to resist force, and power of resisting attack. These are all qualities needed in spiritual life! God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the…
All children of God are called to bear spiritual fruit, to cultivate a spiritual crop. What this means for each of us is a little different. We’ve been gifted and wired special and peculiar ways. God has created us unique and also our callings will be unique. Hence we are not to compare ourselves with each other. We are to do the creative best we can with our own life and help others along the way. The main goal for…
