Today I am in awe of God once again. I just realized God does not rely on me. What a relief! He knows me and my abilities…and how much I am lacking. Instead, God relies on grace. And so should I do too. Too often we try to rely on ourselves on everything, even when there’s no way we could ever deliver. We get stressed out and all the joy disappears from our life. It’s especially sad if we rely on ourselves…
As part of my morning devotions today, I was reading Isaiah 49 and loved reading how God will never ever forget us. The text said that even if our mother would forget us, he will not forsake us. You see, God has engraved each of us on the palms of his hands. That’s pretty special. There’s nothing that can separate us from God’s love. You can’t beat that. But it was much later than I realized how special it was…
What does define you? What are you made of? Not things that we’d think that often yet they matter. Who we are matters. Whose we are matters even more. Today I read a Bible verse that made me wonder of what qualities actually define me. These are the qualities I want to define me: mercy, kindness and truth. Do not let mercy and kindness and truth leave you [instead let these qualities define you]; Bind them [securely] around your neck,…
If we insist we are the makers of our own happiness, we fool ourselves. It might take decades for us to discover the truth: our happiness depends on God. As long as we deny the fact that our well-being depends on God, we are sidetracked. Often we get frustrated and stressed out when nothing makes sense and there’s no purpose to live for. But it all changes when we get to know God. Because our happiness does not depend on…
Do you have hard time believing that God does not remember the things he has forgiven you? I hear you. I’ve written a lot about our need of forgiveness, the importance of forgiveness, even what living forgiveness means. I’ve done it because I believe forgiveness is one of the most life-changing things because it brings freedom. It leads us from brokenness to wholeness. But this does not happen if we don’t truly believe forgiven means forgiven and that God forgives…
Do you think God is awesome? Good for you. You’ve found the beginning of wisdom. Sadly, the world these days does not think that God has anything to do with wisdom. But they don’t know anything about real life. They don’t know how awesome God is and where the blessings really come from. For whoever finds me (Wisdom) finds life And obtains favor and grace from theLord. (Proverbs 8:35, AMP) God is awesome God is not awesome just because the…
Did you know that you are fashioned for faith and not for fear? Sometimes we tend to think faith takes more out of you that worry or misery. Other times you hear people saying it’s not natural to have faith. How come? God created us to interact with him. His people are fashioned for faith, not for fear. That’s why I was thrilled to find this quote by E. Stanley Jones. It reflects beautifully the purposes of God. You are…
We are told to rejoice in the Bible. Many times. Why is it so important? Why should we bother? Well, being joyful is better than the alternative, isn’t it? But maybe there’s some blessings hidden in joy for all of us. Could Nehemiah be right? Could joy be strength for us? Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10, NIV,*). Joy Is Strength? If joy is strength, it changes how we see the Bible verses…
I love different Bible translations. Years ago I wrote a thanksgiving post based on the Message version of this verse and thought it was so inspiring. Today I read the same verse from the Amplified Bible and saw it in a totally different light. So here’s my this year’s thanksgiving post. Praise God for the peace of Christ. Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding…
What do you think? Do we have a capacity for faithfulness and obedience? I can still hear some people trying to assure me that it is impossible for a person to be faithful in marriage. I strongly disagree. We are called to faithfulness by God, granted a capacity for obedience by God and we are empowered by the Spirit of God. God wanted to teach this to His people and told Jeremiah (in Jeremiah 35) to invite the Recabites to a…
