When we are low, we don’t need lectures. There’s no need to point out the obvious. Instead, we need help and, especially, hope. And that’s what God provides us no matter how badly we have messed up. With God, there’s always hope. And then some. God gives hope upon hope. We can’t say the same about our enemy. Because his goal is to kill and destroy. When we’ve messed up, our enemy is more than happy to tell us just…
Being confident is something we all would like to be, right? Then there’d be no room for hesitancy or doubt, those invisible enemies of our happiness. But confidence in ourselves is a house build on sand. Only the house built on God will survive. Hence we don’t need to be confident in our own abilities. Confidence in grace suffices. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in…
When everything goes smoothly, it is easy to be happy. But when storms rage in the sea of life, we wail with the winds, right? What if it’d be possible to live calmly even in the middle of a tornado? What if endurance, encouragement, and hope were always up for crabs? For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have…
My heart is full of all the things I want to share with you. In short: do not go about your day without marveling and embracing the grace of God. It’s amazing and it’s been brought to you by the blood of Christ. So do not put it in vain without accepting and receiving it. Not only for your salvation but for your everyday enjoyment and encouragement. Because you are meant to live to the praise of his grace and…
Why is Christmas a season of joy? Is it only because people have collectively decided it’s time to be merry? Or could there be a deeper meaning behind it? Why do we commemorate a manger scene 2000 years ago? What’s the meaning behind Christmas joy? And what has Christmas joy got to do with us? Indeed. What’s the point of all this? The point is very simple and sometimes we overlook it. The same way that we might overlook the…
Ecclesiastes advises us not to be too righteous (Ecc.7:16). What do you make out of that? Righteousness is a good thing, isn’t it? Of course, it is. Righteousness by God’s grace is the best thing ever. But this verse doesn’t talk about that kind of righteousness but unhealthy kind. Yes, there is such a thing. Self-righteousness is ugly. Be not [morbidly exacting and externally] righteous overmuch, neither strive to make yourself [pretentiously appear] overwise—why should you [get puffed up and] destroy yourself [with presumptuous…
God did not send Jesus to the world so good people could be rewarded. He sent Jesus so everyone – also hopeless has-beens – could be saved by grace. None of us deserves any grace. It is not given for good people but for desperate people in need of salvation who want to receive grace upon grace. First grace to be saved and then grace to do good. Augustinus has said, “For grace is given not because we have done…
Thankfulness might seem like a waste of time but it’s not. Quite the opposite, actually. Thankfulness blesses us more than we can imagine. How do I know this, you ask. I know by experience. Also, the Bible tells us so. Thankfulness welcomes God into our life. And when that happens, everything changes. Because the power of God is more than we can imagine. And this is the power that is not forceful. Instead, when invited, it brings peace and joy. And…
Pain is inevitable in life. There’s just no way around it. So we have to deal with it. How do you do it? What’s your coping mechanism? Some people become bitter when life throws a hardball at them. That is one way to go. But there’s another option, a much better one. I highly recommend it: cast your pain on Jesus. This is why he came into the world: to save us and carry our burdens. Cast your burden on the Lord [release…
Do you love to see a play or a movie after you’ve read the book? I do. It’s like comparing notes with another reader. Sometimes I feel like the production team has unearthed the characters according to my notes and it makes me feel a bit giddy. Of course, I might be a bit annoyed if they have not fully understood the complexity of the characters as I did. This week I got another kind of giddy reaction. I ran…
