Is your faith an abstract collection of doctrines or do you have a resurrection faith? That kind of faith that drives any trace of fear out? That kind of faith that laughs in the front of death? That kind of faith that boldly declares like Paul: If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s (Romans 14:8, NRSV,*? When…
Some people assume that God tries to take our freedom and restrict our joy. But they’ve bought the lies of the devil and they could not be further from the truth. Because God made us free. But we have been abusing the freedom by making bad choices from the start. Like Philip Yancey has said “God’s terrible insistence on human freedom is so absolute that he granted us the power to live as though He did not exist, to spit…
Do you live in Me-Me land? Are you only looking for self-fulfillment in this life? Or are you living for something bigger? This world around us tries to teach us to solely look after ourselves and seek self-gratification. Like that would bring us happiness and fulfillment in the long run. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will…
Do you ever feel that you are not doing enough or accomplishing enough? Even in the realm of faith? It is time to step back and look at the big picture. Then hopefully you will be able to relax and rest in God’s grace. Because all is well. So then [God’s gift] is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God’s mercy. [It depends not on one’s own willingness nor on his strenuous exertion as in…
Do you know how to get to know God? Do you know how to take care of yourself? How does these two questions tie together? In a very organic way. We can’t know ourselves without knowing God first. We can’t be well if we are not made right with God. We are not flourishing if we do not know God’s will in our life. With the words of J.I Packer: “What were we made for? To know God. What aim…
Today – being Friday the 13th and all – I want to remind you to take up the shield of faith. Above all, carry the shield of faith so that you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. (Eph. 6:16, CEB) We are saved by grace through faith. But so often we forget that through faith we also receive God’s protection. God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you— Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from…
If Christmas means ‘God with us’ and Easter spells out ‘God for us’, then Pentecost must be ‘God in and through us’. Okay, you say, but what does it mean? First God sent Jesus to die for us and make us right with God. Then he sent the Holy Spirit to live in his children: to guide, to protect, to inspire, to enable, to empower them to be all God wants them to be. The Holy Spirit really lives and…
This weekend Christians around the world are celebrating Pentecost. What does it mean? On Pentecost God sent the Holy Spirit for our aid. The Holy Spirit empowers us to experience the resurrection power daily in our lives. We just need to let the Holy Spirit work in us and through us. With the words of David Wilkerson “When you strip it of everything else, Pentecost stands for power and life. That’s what came into the church when the Holy Spirit…
God is everything and he offers everything for us. Are we ready to fully embrace God and his promises like David Livingstone stating “Without Christ, not one step; with Him, anywhere!” Because God’s love should make us bold. Nothing can separate us from God. Not even death. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the…
Do you ever wonder why God has created the world and you particularly? Why did God go to great lengths to ensure you’d have a way out of your sins? Simply out of the great love of his. We can understand loving lovable persons. But God loved us out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were unlovable and dead because of our sins. That is amazing. That is so out of our radar. But…
