Lately God has been nudging me about giving people second changes. In general, I think, we don’t want to give people second changes. We want to cut them out of our radar if they have not been trustworthy. But God is all about second changes, forgiving and loving people time after time. What about us? There is a saying “the first time some one hurts you, it’s their fault; the second time they hurt you the same way, it is…
Have you experienced Flow? I have to confess that when I am writing I can burn all the cooking even if I am just 10 feet away! The writing process is so exhilarating that I can’t help it. My husband knows this and he calls me on my cell to wake me up from Flow when I need to tend to some everyday stuff in the midst of my writing time. According to Wikipedia “Flow is the mental state of…
Have you experienced the power of prayer? Have you earnestly cried out your concerns to God and received peace, healing, grace? Prayer is for sure one of the most amazing gifts God has given us. If you haven’t experienced the power of prayer, don’t waist one more minute! Why? E.M. Bounds guides us “Four things let us keep ever in mind: God hears prayer, God heeds prayer, God answers prayer, and God delivers by prayer.” Watchman Nee has said “Our…
You never know when an Aha moment arrives. I was reading a Christian chick-lit book “Queen Esther & the Second Graders of Doom” by Allie Pleiter (Steeple Hill, 2006) for entertainment purposes only and unexpectedly came across with a thought-provoking analysis. Pastor Mark in the story said after a church disagreement: “I am just happy to get them to care at all. Opinion is not my enemy, apathy is.” Indeed!! Opinion is not my enemy, apathy is! I’ve always struggled…
When I was a student at the University of Helsinki a German tourist stopped me on the street. First he asked me if I spoke any German and all I could mutter was ‘JA’. Then he asked where the cruise ship possibly would be and all I could do was point and say ‘DA’ (there in German). He thanked and was on his way. First I was embarrassed how little I had been able to speak German. At least I…
Last week I attended a women’s conference with my mom. We got there at the last minute and the only available seats were at the back. Not the ideal place to see and hear everything but it had to do. After the presentations the buffet was surprisingly opened right behind us and suddenly the first were last and the last were first. It was such a powerful first hand experience of “The last will be first, and the first will…
Nobody wants to be empty, right? Empty means poor, sad, lonely. Empty means cold, old, dead. We don’t want to be associated with those things. We don’t want to be empty. We try to fix it. But we mess up. “God gives His gifts where He finds the vessel empty enough to receive them” writes C. S. Lewis in Williams and the Arthuriad. We are not called to be empty. But we are called to be empty enough. God wants…
“Most Christians understand the principle when it comes to salvation but lose sight of it in living Christian life. Then He was our Redeemer; now He is to be our Life” writes Hannah Whitall Smith in her book The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life. What does it take to live out Christian faith? We need and we want salvation. But how Christ can be our Life? First of all, we need to remember that faith is a gift from…
Have you ever wondered what’s God’s particular calling for you? Of course, you have. Once we have learned to know God and his love for us we naturally want to response to his calling to share his love with others. We start praying for clear wisdom to see what God has intended us to do. Just too often we think too little of ourselves or God. Have you done that? We think that we are not capable of doing great…
How would you answer these questions? Here are my ponderings. What is joy?Joy is an essential spice in life. Without joie de vivre life would be boring. Joy is the spark in the eye, the belly-laugh, the worriless well-being. Joy is contentment through hardships, hope when there is no visible reason for it. Who is Christ?Christ is the risen son of God who wants to re-connect us with our Creator and has made it possible through dying on the cross…
