We can waste so much time on regretting things or wishing things were different. Or we might live in continual shame that incapacitates us, keeps us from becoming what we were meant to be. So if you’ve ever heard of God being merciful for his children, it’s time to put grace in practice. And if you haven’t heard about grace, it’s about time somebody tells you the good news of Jesus Christ. You see, grace is not a dogma to believe…
Often we have big why questions when horrible things happen. But that question does not help us to deal with disasters. Because we can’t understand why certain things happen. Some of the evil things are caused by humans, directly or indirectly. But there are a lot of mysterious, inexplicable suffering in the world too. Whatever the cause of the current suffering is, taking it all in is taxing. Then it’s just time to lean on God, trust Him for seeing…
Sometimes we forget how big of a gift and privilege grace really is. We easily take it granted because it was given freely to us. And we forget how amazing it is that God – who is holy and almighty – does everything to make it possible for sinners to come to him. It’s grace from start to finish. It’s his idea and it’s his power that makes it happen. But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave…
Sometimes you hear people saying there’s no way of knowing that we really need Jesus for eternal life. They don’t believe that whoever has Jesus has life because it does not make sense to them. But to me, it does not make sense to refuse Jesus. If you’re one of these people or know someone who could benefit from knowing the answer to this dilemma, may I suggest reading a few verses from the first letter of John? According to John,…
The core element of faith is surrender. Some people don’t think so but Jesus told his disciples that all who want to come after him must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. That is what faith is all about: surrender. And not just once but daily. Because there’s always something new to surrender. As A.W. Tozer has said, “Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.”…
Too often I meet Christians who have not embraced fully the freedom Christ offers to us. Lovely Christian people who are paralyzed by fear of possibly doing something that would keep them away from heaven. Like God’s grace would not be powerful enough to cover them if they are not perfect Christians. Why have they not been told it’s not about their religiosity? It’s about the power of God. We can’t save ourselves no matter how hard we try. Thank…
As this year is almost over, our thoughts start to swirl around new beginnings. That’s good. But often we forget that finishing well is a skill that helps us to start well and live well. But, you see, if we don’t finish well, we can’t move on. At least, not well. And that’s what we want. We want to embrace the new with gusto. But that won’t happen if we don’t finish well. Okay, you say, how can we accomplish…
Christmas is not a day for Santa to bring gifts to well-behaved kids. It’s a day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Actually, the birth of Jesus has such a huge impact on our lives that we celebrate it for 12 days. So, Happy Second Day of Christmas, all! Jesus is better than Santa in so many ways. For the starters, Christmas without Christ is just a big mess. Not something we want to celebrate for days for sure. But…
Are you ready for Christmas? Or are you secretly hoping for an extra week? Thankfully, Christmas does not depend on our mindset or feelings or how perfectly prepared we are. The journey to Christmas joy starts slowly and it is more than okay to come as you are. No preparations needed. Just come and meet Jesus. You can walk to the stable at your own pace. There are no requirements. You can come empty-handed and heavy-hearted. Yet you don’t ever…
Sometimes we overlook things that we are familiar with. We are more excited about things that seem to be exotic. Like Christianity might feel boring to you if you’ve grown up with it. You look into mindfulness to look for peace and you forget that the prince of peace is Jesus himself. You forget that he gave his all that we could have all. That’s the best bargain of all. You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich…
