God’s promises are not too good to be true. Jesus even promised something that some of us wish he hadn’t. Jesus told us that in the world we will have trouble, tribulation, and trials. But that’s not the end of it. Jesus also told us that he will be with us until the end. He told us that he deprived the world of power to harm our souls. Read for yourself! I have told you these things, so that in…
What makes you yield into temptation? If we know this, we are more likely not to yield into temptation. Because then we know for what to pray. And that’s the key to living well. When we invite God into our lives, we are empowered to victorious living. That’s why the chapter ten of Mary DeMuth‘s new book The Wall Around Your Heart concentrates on this very important matter. Mary gives us a new way to look at temptations. She writes…
Why should I pray? Does it really make any difference? God knows everything anyway, you might think. But prayer has been part of Christianity from the beginning. Jesus prayed and he taught us to pray. The Bible is also full of exhortation of prayer. The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. (1 Timothy 2:1, MSG) Prayer seems to be important. I personally vouch for it. I could not…
We all know people that either drains us of energy or drives us other wise nuts. How are we supposed to deal with these very draining persons? Especially as Christians? I’d rather not deal with them at all. But that’s not a very constructive attitude, is it? Certainly not very Christian anyway. What would Jesus say? “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to…
Forgiveness is hard. Living forgiveness is ever harder. But we don’t have much choice if we want to have tender hearts and live fully. And the Bible is pretty adamant about forgiving too. This is what Jesus told us: “Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. Even if it’s personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’…
Do you feel like a has-been? Are you afraid that you will forever be just a wannabe? Do you feel like a failure? I have good news for you. There’s plenty of grace for has-beens and wannabees. In God’s eyes and in the ways that really matter you always are a star and you will be cherished forever and ever. Don’t take my word on it but see what the Bible has to say about God’s love for you. Scripture…
Are you a good manager of your time and money? Is your life in good order? Do you have what it takes to navigate wholesomely your life journey? Or do you need help? Time for evaluation: “Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over. You have spent a lot of money, but you haven’t much to show for it. You keep filling your plates, but you never get filled up. You keep drinking and drinking and drinking,…
What matters in faith journey is what we do when we fall short. Do we deny our shortcomings and start pretending to be what we are not? Or do we run to Jesus? Why is this so important? Because if we keep from admitting that we are sinners, we harden our hearts. Blessedly this is not the end of the story. God can change our hearts, we just need to ask God for forgive our sins. And I will give…
The writing prompt today from Five Minutes Friday was ‘together’. My immediate association was Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s wonderful but challenging book Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community. Bonhoeffer teaches us how to be church together, how to live out faith the original way. Faith is not just an individual affair, no matter how much we would like to be independent. Faith is not just a communal affair, no matter how much we would like to keep it social….
Do you need healing balm? Lucky you, there’s plenty of it available. It’s called grace. It is meant for all people. And there are no other qualifications than sinfulness. Hence, I think, we all qualify. There’s no one without sin. Also none of us have a monopoly on grace. We are all just happy receivers and meant to pass it on with love. Because we all need it. One of the reasons why I love Kurt Bubna‘s new book is…
