Are you ready for 2013? Or do you know how to become ready for a new year? The web is bursting all kinds of self-help articles of how to make the best of 2013. But they leave me empty and unsatisfied. No matter how much planning I’d do for the new year, it does not solve the problems. If I have not ended this year well, the new year will be same old, same old. So the best preparation for…
The second day of Christmas is a national holiday in Finland and many other European countries. This day is a great day to reflect what Christmas means in our everyday life. But do we have a stable influence of Christmas in our lives? It was great to celebrate baby Jesus and welcome him to the world. But what does it mean to us that Jesus was born 2000 years ago? It is time to put Christmas into practice! It is…
We are fast approaching the Holy Night. The night that changed everything. It’s true that whenever a baby is born, it changes the lives of the parents. But one baby changed the whole history and the future of the humankind. The Holy Night changed everything. The miracle of Christmas is earth-chattering. The wonder of Christmas is life-changing. Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I haven’t had sexual relations with a man?” The angel replied, “The Holy…
We all know that Jesus is our best Christmas gift ever. But do you know what to give Jesus this Christmas? Just yesterday this was a novel concept to be. It had never occurred to me that I could concretely give Jesus a birthday present until I read Ann Voskamp’s blog post where she shares how their family gives birthday gifts for Jesus by buying goats or mosquito nets. I thought it was a brilliant idea. So during the dinner…
Black Friday is the craziest shopping day in the U.S.A. But no matter how many hours people spend shopping, the best deal ever can’t be bought. Because it is free yet so precious. It was shed and given on Good Friday almost 2000 years ago. It is valid every day until the end of the world. By dying on the cross for our sake Jesus gave us the best deal ever: we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus….
Are you exhausted, ready to quit? Do you feel lost or weak? Are you tired of waiting? The darker it gets outside, the harder it is to believe that there is light, there is purpose, there is God. Sometimes life seems like a desert. But no matter how we feel, God is real. No matter how things seem, there is hope. Sure, there are periods of time when God seems distant. Sure, there are periods of time when nothing happens…
People who don’t know better think believing in God is just about rules, regulations, and religious behavior. If this was true, I’d be the first to quit. I am not drawn to religiousness. I am drawn to God. And not to a statue somewhere. But to the Living God: personal, relational, active. Christian faith is not about keeping alive a bunch of rituals and commemorating a fairy tale. Christian faith is celebrating the freedom we receive by grace through faith…
“God majors in impossibility” is one of those uplifting, encouraging, and empowering facts of faith Mary DeMuth writes about in her new Everything book. Impossible is nothing to God, he is mighty powerful! Also nothing is impossible with God, he will empower us to thrive by grace. This quote encourages me to embrace life fully no matter what happens: “God’s heart…is not that we escape our lot, but that we learn to thrive in the midst of it” (Mary DeMuth)….
Forgiveness means freedom. For real. First of all, God forgives us for Christ’s sake. When we receive God’s liberating grace, we are truly free. Nothing quite like it. Suddenly there’s air in your lungs, you can breathe! Everything looks brighter and more beautiful. Life gets the meaning and there’s a new spring in your step. Priceless. But that’s not the end! We are also called to practice forgiveness. When we have experienced life-giving forgiveness ourselves, we are asked to do…
How can Jesus be our everything? That’s the key question in Mary DeMuth‘s book Everything. Mary’s answer is simple yet life-changing: “Jesus is the pathway to the Everything life. That’s why an Everything life has more to do with surrender than personal triumph.” We can’t achieve the everything life. It’s all grace. We only need Jesus for abundant life. And Jesus is God’s gracious gift to us. God gave his only son to die for our sins that we could…
