Sometimes you hear people saying they don’t need to do anything because of grace. Sure, you don’t need to earn your salvation. Yes, it is all grace. But why would grace want to make you passive? Grace invites you into a loving relationship with your Savior, and living with Jesus does not make you inactive. Instead, grace makes you fruitful. I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much…
Do you feel you’ve forgotten, that nobody will choose you? Know that those thoughts are all lies. Do not believe what others might be whispering or how you feel in this matter. Instead, trust the Bible telling you truly are worthy of God’s love. Mary DeMuth exposes ten lies and shares ten truths in her latest book Stop Living Small: Ten Truths Toward Your Significant Life. This post will tackle the seventh lie which is “You deserve to be overlooked” by…
Lately, I’ve been pondering on two stories Jesus told according to the Gospel of Luke. The first one is the parable of two builders and the second one is the parable of the sower. They’re both perfect for Lenten reflection. Jesus is asking “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46, NIV, emphasis added,*) You see, faith requires heads, hearts, and hands. Faith is not just a belief system we embrace, right? It…
We all want to blossom and flourish, right? Maybe the desire to do so is especially evident in the deep of winter. After frozen months, we’re ready to see some color, also in our own lives. How then could we blossom and flourish? What should we do to live colorful and fulfilling lives? You won’t get a detailed to-do list if that’s what you were thinking. Instead, you’re just encouraged to abiding in Christ. He will take care of the…
I was searching for Bible verses including the word ‘green’ and got a spiritual jolt while reading the Message version of Matthew 3:10. How about you? Does this jolt you into awareness of your own responsibility for blossoming life? What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire. (Matthew 3:10, MSG) Is your life green and blossoming? Or is it deadwood. Or something in between? I think we all want…
I know the title gives a tall order for this post. But that know-how is necessary for spiritual growth. In order to bear fruit we need to be pruned. But we don’t like it. We don’t like to get hurt. So we resist it. But that leaves us in spiritual limbo. And that is not a desired state of being. Not from our point of view and not from God’s point of you. What to do then? Any branch in…
The metaphor of the vine and the branches is very powerful. It emphasizes the importance of being organically connected to God. It reminds us that our aliveness is totally dependent on God’s grace. It gives us a chance to be part of God’s kingdom work here and now. “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to…
Do you think upright-living is uptight-living? Did you know that upright-living does not mean joy-less living? It means joy-filled living instead. Because upright-living is God-honoring and God is joy. But, sure, we do need to stick to Jesus with patient endurance. We do need to seize the word of God and hold on no matter of what. We do need to be sincere and honest in our beliefs until the end. Because if we don’t, we don’t mature. If we…
