Somehow we humans want to be better than we are. We’d like to be perfect. But we are not. There’s no one without fault. “There’s not one totally good person on earth, Not one who is truly pure and sinless.” (Ecc. 7:20, MSG) God knows this. That’s why he sent Christ to the world. So we would have a way back to him. Because we could never make it on our own. Why is then that we’d like to fake…
Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins? Do you have hard time believing that you are truly forgiven? We proclaim -often without thinking- in the Apostolic Creed “I believe in the forgiveness of sins”. But do we really, really believe? Do we live in the joy of forgiveness? Because being free is what Christian living is all about. If we are still carrying the burdens ourselves, we are not truly trusting God’s grace to do its job. We have…
How do you feel about holiness? Is it something on your ‘ought to do’ list or is it something you embrace wholeheartedly? Why is it that holiness sometimes has a bad reputation? Nancy Leigh DeMoss asks us an excellent question: “Why do we make holiness out to be some austere obligation or burden to be borne, when the fact is that to be holy is to be clean, to be free from the weight and the burden of sin?” Let’s…
One of the most important questions in life is: Who is Jesus to you? The answer to that question shapes our life and destiny like no other. Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God, our Lord and Savior. There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the human Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a payment to set all people free. (1 Tim. 2: 5-6, CEB) We find freedom in Jesus. There’s nothing better in…
Are you in need of grace? Good for you, the most difficult step is to recognize your need of grace. Because God has plenty of grace to give you and he loves to pour more and more grace on you. Over and over again. There’s grace for every need and every situation. However, we can’t store up grace. We need to ask and receive grace every single day of our lives. But there’s plenty of it. God will -with gladness-…
Faith is not an abstract idea. Nor it is a passive acceptance of certain set of beliefs. Faith is not merely a matter of eternity, either. Faith is God in action within us now. Faith is God changing us inside out. And then we are sent to live out our faith in our communities. Because faith needs to be lived and shared. That way it becomes visible. It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes…
Whose side are you on? You know, there’s no middle ground. Even if we’d like it to be so. Jesus said: “Whoever isn’t with me is against me, and whoever doesn’t gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30, CEB) This verse stopped me this morning. I’m either with Jesus or I am against him. I either gather with Jesus or I scatter. No other alternatives. Jesus or no Jesus. Whose side are you on? God wants it all. God wants obedience….
A life filled with harmony, peace, and love is something we all want. And, yet, we can’t quite achieve it. Because harmony, peace, and love are by-products of living well, not things we can force to appear. But how could we live the way these things would naturally appear? How could we live in love? How could we create life full of faith, hope, and love? Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who…
Do you know how to live well? How to have a blessed life? George Herbert states “Living well is the best revenge” encouraging us to move on with our lives after disappointments and concentrate in living well. An online dictionary tells us that well-being is “The state of being healthy, happy, or prosperous; welfare”. Probably something we all want. The ways we think we can achieve it varies from person to person. Living well for me is living according to…
Is the call for simple living a chore or a privilege? Something you have to pretend or something you embrace wholeheartedly? Simple living is not the easiest task to accomplish in our hectic world. Our attention as consumers is constantly wanted. It takes a lot of practice to successfully navigate between needs and wants. It takes a lot of prayer to maintain a lifestyle that is focused on God and not on stuff. A God-loyal life keeps you on track;…
