Christian living Archives - Page 61 of 85

Forgiveness Means Freedom

October 22, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 8 comments

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…

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Seeing God

October 10, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 32 comments

What is true Christian living? What is true worship? Martin Luther once said “true worship is the tenth leper turning back”. His remarks were based on Luke 17:11-19 (MSG): It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Taking a good look at…

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Don’t Waste Your Life!

October 8, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 6 comments

I once posted this Eugene H. Peterson quote on the Flowing Faith Facebook page and have not been able to forget it ever since: “What a waste it would be to take these short, precious, eternity-charged years that we are given and squander them in cocktail chatter when we can be, like Jeremiah, vehemently human and passionate with God.” I think all human beings are afraid of wasting their lives. We crave for meaning and purpose in our lives. It’d…

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Beyond Spiritual Anemia

September 28, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 6 comments

Faith is meant to be robust and life-giving. But too often we let the worries of the world and the hurries of our lives to take over and we end up suffering from Spiritual Anemia. Or we get so caught up following religious rules that we forget what was the point of all of it. Somehow our lives get muddled and soon refreshing faith is just a memory. We forget that faith is about walking with the Living God!

Antidote for Anxiety

September 26, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 18 comments

Are you frustrated, anxious, angry? It’s time to spend some time with Jesus! I’ve come to experience this time after time. Whenever I find myself off-kilter, I realize I’ve not spend enough time in prayer and scripture reading. Maybe this is what had happened to Martha, too?

What Is Faith?

September 24, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 7 comments

Faith is a gift from God. When God reveals to us that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, sent to save us, our eyes are opened. When we believe this and receive God’s grace for ourselves, our whole existence gets a new meaning. The seed of faith starts growing in us and our faith journey begins. But it is only a beginning. Faith journey takes a lifetime.

Grace of Upside Down Living

September 21, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 0 Comment

Failure is something that we try to avoid at all costs. We think it will be the end of the world. Or, at least, the end of our personal world. But kingdom living IS upside down living. Failure is not the end in the kingdom of God. It is the beginning. Because when we have reached the lowest point, we are open for God in our lives. Then we are, like apostle Paul, ready to trust God and not our…

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People of the Presence of the Holy Spirit

September 17, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 5 comments

One of my favorite quotes is this one by William Blake: “I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me.” That’s what being a Christian means. It’s not about me or my (in)abilities. It’s about God and his abilities in and through me. People of the presence of the Holy Spirit do not need to be afraid of anything. People of the presence of the Holy Spirit does not need to bow to devil’s temptations or believe devil’s…

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Listen to Jesus

September 14, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 4 comments

Who are you listening to? Who has the authority over your life? These are more important questions than we might guess first hand. But our lives are what we believe. If we love lies, we practice lies. If we love truth, we live in light.

Christ in Me – What Does It Mean?

September 10, 2012 Mari-Anna Stålnacke @flowingfaith Comments 6 comments

One of the great Christian mysteries and blessings is that Christ lives in us. What does it really mean? When we have -by grace- come to believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes residence in us. Then we are not alone anymore. It’s God with us.