We all know it would be good to read the Word of God (or….add any spiritual discipline here). But how come so many Christians go by weeks, month, even years without reading it? The enemy is good in making us believe his lies “you already know all the stories”, “you don’t have time”, it’s boring” etc. But also anything we “ought to do” gets us to rebel. We might even say “I am not legalistic” as an excuse to not…
Legalism is one of the worst enemies of grace. It tries to steal the joy of salvation. It tries to make us believe that somehow our salvation is depending on something we should do or leave undone. Legalism tries to tell us that if we follow certain set of rules we will be somehow saved. As human beings we were born sinful; there’s nothing we need to do to stand in need of salvation. There’s nothing we can do to…
My last post was about repentance, forgiveness and becoming holy by God’s grace. I still stand behind those words but God has been teaching me some more on the subject during the weekend. I don’t want anyone to think that salvation depends on anything but God’s grace. Even though the Holy Spirit brings some matters to our attention so that we could repent (and we are wise to do so) we can never be fully aware of and hence repent…
Lately God has been waking me up (literally) to see my sinfulness. God has reminded me of some choices I have made in my life and led me to repent for them. Even though during that time of my life I did not even think they had been questionable. I did not know any better then. Selfishness does not produce good fruit. Selfishness paves the way to destruction whether we realize it or not. Go home and wash up. Clean…
One of the dangers of any relationship is taking the other person for granted. Then we fail to appreciate the value of the person. Then we assume certain amenities for granted. It is bad enough when we do that with our friends of family. But sadly we also do this with Christ and the amazing grace. Lord, have mercy. Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace…
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13, NIV) God, indeed, sticthed us together in our mothers’ wombs but that is not the end of the story. God is calling us to be daily stiched with God’s grace. The first step is to surrender to God’s will. Because, as Martin Luther states it: “God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him”. ~Martin…
Are you tired, weary, exhausted? Are you asking what’s the point of all this? Are you feeling just terrible? The psalmist is right with you. Here’s a scripture prayer – a mighty energy drink – for all the weary pilgrims: I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse! Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember? When I told my story, you responded; train me well in your deep wisdom. Help me understand these things inside and out so I…
One of the many temptations in life is to forget where our blessings come from. We explain the blessings away thinking things happened by accident or it was serendibity. Or we take the credit for ourselves. But the middle verses of the Bible emphasize the importance of counting our blessings and remembering them. And giving credit where credit is due. O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name! O my soul, bless God, don’t…
Have you experienced the transformative power of prayer? The book of Psalms is full of examples of transformation that happens while praying. How David started prayers full of self-pity or anger and ended up transformed during his prayer. Just compare the first and the last 10 verses of the Psalm 77 (MSG)! 1 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. 2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night…
Many of life problems are based on the forced separation of God and love. But love is inseparable from God. There is no true love without God. Love means following his commandments, and his unifying commandment is that you conduct your lives in love. This is the first thing you heard, and nothing has changed. (2 John 6, MSG) We are called to live in love. But we are unable to do it without God and his grace. Jerry Bridges…
