Nobody wants to waste his or her life, don’t you think? We all know life is precious because it is so short and fragile. So we are to embrace it and make every moment count, right? If you ask different people how not to waste your life, you get varied answers depending on their values. How would you answer? I would probably have said something along the lines of Jesus “If you try to hang on to your life, you…
It seems everyone is seeking peace and joy for themselves. And they are good things. But they are byproducts of obedience and faithfulness and not something we can reach on our own. How then can we go about them then? Simply put, when we seek Christ and keep him in our lives center, we are blessed with peace and joy. Paul Tripp has said, “Putting yourself in the center and making life all about you never leads to peace and…
How do you live your life? Cautiously or boldly? Do you choose the most convenient way or the high road? I would like to think of being bold but, in reality, am I? I used to be bold and fearless, dreaming big and reaching for stars. And then came along the kids and cautiousness. There’s nothing wrong with taking care of your kids, of course. But they can also be our excuses for not living boldly. What is your excuse?…
Many of you know that I’ve been tweeting Christian quotes for almost a decade now. So I don’t come across a new quote every day, especially older ones. But a couple of days ago I found this Jean (John) Calvin quote that felt, first of all, new to me and, second of all, touching. Somehow, Jean Calvin summed up Christian faith only in few well-selected words, which is remarkable of course. But mostly I was in awe of its ability…
God has promised to never abandoned us. Quite a promise! Hallelujah! If God is this good to us, why then do we abandon him? We might think we are fond of God but our everyday choices speak otherwise. Somehow, God is far from our mind when we decide how we spend our days. In the western world Christians can live freely. But the enemy knows how to tempt us in this freedom. Too much of wanton pleasure shreds our integrity….
Lent is a perfect time to do some self-examination. Are you on the right track? Do you seek God with everything you’ve got? Or do you seek to fulfil your own yearnings instead? It’s too easy to believe in our head yet keep faith out of our everyday lives. Do you turn your back to God when you make decisions? It really comes down to this question: do you ignore God? The Lord says, “I was ready to respond, but…
If surrender scares you, this post is for you. One of the biggest reasons why people keep from truly following Christ and surrendering to God is the belief that then life would be boring or, at least, all the fun would be cancelled. People just are not ready to bury their dreams. It might seem that is what God wants us to do. But when you dig a bit deeper you find out that God wants to give us life…
This fall I’ve been learning about stress-free living. I have more and more speaking engagements and teaching opportunities that need a lot of preparation and prayer. Of course, I try to find time for blogging and my ministry on line. Also, I am an active member at my church for various committees and programs and so forth. On the top of all this I have a husband and two active kids who also need my attention and time. All this…
I’ve been raspberry picking this week. We have lots of wild raspberry bushes just behind our garage. Raspberries are so delicious, aren’ they? They’ve taught me something too. If you look at a raspberry bush, it doesn’t look anything special, does it? But if you humble yourself and kneel down, you find treasures you did not expect from just looking at the bush. See yourself!This made me think that this is how we should live our lives too: humbly and serving…
The world says losing is for losers. The Bible says losing is gaining. Which one do you believe? The world says you need to cumulate stuff, fame, wealth in order to be happy. The Bible says if you lose it all, you will gain everything in Christ. It sure sounds backwards. But it is the way to life everlasting. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside…
