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…
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…
Accepting help is sometimes very hard. We are supposed to be independent and manage on our own, right? Hence it is terrifying to admit that we do need help, at least, once in awhile. We would like to be perfect and self-sufficient. Maybe that’s pride talking because we were created to live together. That’s why practicing giving and receiving help creates community and it paves a way for Christ to enter our hearts and minds. Asking forgiveness is sometimes very…
Today, I am honored to be guest-blogging at Janet Harllee’s wonderful blog Just a Closer Stumble with Thee. Thanks for this opportunity, Janet! God bless you! I can’t live without prayer. I know some people rarely pray. They might even intellectually believe in the power of prayer but they don’t really practice it. Or they go through the motions of prayer but they don’t really believe in the power of prayer anyway. Somehow they can live without prayer just fine….
God does not play hide and seek, he wants to be found. God does not play any games. But it does not mean that he would not have a terrific sense of humor. For example, my friends were praying that God would give them a car. Few days later there was a raffle with a chance to win a red sports car. They bought a ticket….and they did get a car….a real beauty but it was only 2 inches long….
Peter stated it very clear: “Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one [Jesus].” (Acts 4:12, MSG) When we have come to know the saving knowledge of Jesus and when we believe it by grace we have been set free. But what do we do with this knowledge, this joy, this freedom? How big is our heart? We are called to accept Jesus…
Throughout this season of Lent I’ve been trying to ready myself for Easter joy by praying, fasting, and listening to God. Today I will share the biggest repentance trigger of my Bible readings this Lent. Does this speak to you as loud as it did for me? Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he…
How long has it been that you’ve been embraced by God? How long has it been that you’ve been read by the Word? How long has it been that you’ve been home to God? God misses you. God is dying to see you. God is waiting for you to return to him! Do you remember the parables in Luke 15? 99 sheep and 1 lost and how the shepherd did everything to find the lost one? And how he rejoiced…
Do you feel that you are buried alive? Do you feel that you’re facing a lot of dirt? Do you feel everything is dark around you? It is all right. Don’t be afraid. It might be that you’ve been (re)planted. A seed needs time to grow before it will see the light. The replanted one needs time to grow its roots deep in the new soil. It all happens in quiet invisibility but we might feel terrible growing pains. But…
