No one wants hardships in life. But there’s no way we can avoid them all together. Even if we try. But the goal is not to avoid hardships but to know what to do when they arrive. As Christians we have a choice how to react to them. Do we use them as an excuse to run away from God? Or do we let the Holy Spirit draw us near to God in our tribulations? Hopefully we choose the latter….
All children of God are called to bear spiritual fruit, to cultivate a spiritual crop. What this means for each of us is a little different. We’ve been gifted and wired special and peculiar ways. God has created us unique and also our callings will be unique. Hence we are not to compare ourselves with each other. We are to do the creative best we can with our own life and help others along the way. The main goal for…
Way too often we struggle alone. Way too often we forget to turn on the Holy Spirit GPS. God gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit and we are meant to abide in him and him abide in us. It doesn’t happen if we forget its existence. It doesn’t happen if we forget to turn it on. But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at…
Oswald Chambers talks about self-consciousness versus Christ-consciousness in his book “My Utmost for His Highest” published in 1935. Nothing could be more relevant for today’s Christian navigating his/her way in today’s world. As we struggle to thrive in the midst of all the demands of our lives the only compass that we can trust to get us through everything is Jesus Christ. When we stress out we are self-centered, self-conscious. When we bring our worries to Jesus our burdens are…
Sometimes we are so stuck in the mud that we can’t even believe any more that life could be any different. Beware! That’s one of the favorite messages of our enemy. The devil wants us to believe that change is not possible, that God would not take us as we are, that everything is lost. But everything is not lost! God welcomes us just as we are! And change is possible! Not on our own. But in Christ Jesus! So…
We are children of God and God loves every one of us. God loves not just our Sunday best but every part of us. He doesn’t divide us into the loveable and the unlovable parts. He just loves us. It really does sound too good to be true. God’s love is astonishing but nonetheless true. He created us and loves what he created. There’s nothing he would not do for us. Just think of Calvary. If you ever doubt God’s…
The demands of everyday life are great. Sometimes I do wonder how we all manage to get by with all the things we are asked to do. Juggling seems to be the style of living for many of us. Yet life is meant to be enjoyed, people cherished, and God worshiped. We all want peace, love, and harmony. How do we get there? The trick here is to do something the world despises: put ourselves last. But by putting God…
We are all pilgrims on our way to God. We yearn to know how to make it. Psalm 119 provides us helpful ways to ensure progress on our pilgrimage. Let’s see what they are. 1) KEEP ON WALKING This looks too obvious. But too often we sit down and don’t keep on walking. We are on journey. This world is not our home. We are on our way to home and we need to keep on walking. Slowly but surely…
This famous quote by St. Francis of Assisi “Preach the gospel always, if necessary, use words” gives us a push to LIVE our faith. Words are important but we need to walk the talk, too. “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a washtub or shoves it under the bed. No, you set it up on a lamp stand so those who enter the room can see their way. We’re not keeping secrets; we’re telling them. We’re…
It might be Friday the 13th but This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Ps.118:24) Yes, let’s rejoice! It might be Friday the 13th but all the promises of the Bible are in effect also today. Earlier, before you knew God personally, you were enslaved to so-called gods that had nothing of the divine about them. But now that you know the real God—or rather since God knows you—how can you…
