Last week I read an online article about how we should not do things we love every day. Like if you love ice cream, you should not eat it every day if you don’t want it to become just an emotionless habit. But there’s one exception to this rule, I think. The rule does not apply to Bible-reading. Because ….the more we read the Bible, the more we desire to read it. The more we digest the Word of God,…
I wasn’t planning on writing a post on Hebrews 10:19-36 but these verses kept coming back to me over and over again so I finally succumbed to the challenge. This passage gives us (at least) five tips for Christian life. So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body. (Hebrews…
Do you keep God at arm’s length? Is your relationship with God a long-distance one? Or do you have an intimate and close relationship with God? Is knowing God really possible? Yes, because of Jesus it is. Because of Jesus we can be made right with God. But the adventure of faith does not end there, it’s just a beginning. The real adventure is in getting to know God. Yada is a Hebrew word that means “to know” but it…
As you probably know, there’s no false advertising in the Bible. The Bible promises us difficulties, right? But that’s not the end of the story. The Bible also promises us (among other things) that God will always be with us. Awesome, you say. Just remember this does not mean that we could live however we please. In order to be strong in and through upcoming difficulties, we need to be built up in the Lord. Only when we abide in…
It’s time for new beginnings but it’s also time to evaluate the old ways. Am I living the way God wants me to live? That’s the question of the day for me. I am praying that God would show me what needs to go in order to serve him better. We are to give our lives as living sacrifices to God. We are to place all areas of our lives before God. I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg…
Do you have Jesus in your heart? Good for you. But do you have inside out faith? Does your faith get an outside expression too? Does the workings of Jesus in your heart get you also work out your faith? These are fundamental questions. When our faith becomes an inside out faith, we are truly experiencing the joy of salvation. Sure, we are saved only by grace through faith in Jesus. But that is not the end of it. We…
What do you think? What is spiritual formation all about? I think it is simply becoming what God has meant you to be. It is the process of becoming Christ-like. It is growing in con-FORM-ity to Christ. How does it happen? Only by letting God work in and through us. We can facilitate the process of spiritual formation but it’s always God’s work, not ours. Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in…
The parable of the prodigal son is powerful in so many ways and it speaks to us in so many levels. How about you? Do you identify more with the prodigal son or with the elder brother? I just realized that the brothers had something in common after all. They were both unhappy with their father. They were both unable to understand their father’s goodness. The younger son decided to find his happiness elsewhere – with no success. The older…
Do you ever feel that you are not doing enough or accomplishing enough? Even in the realm of faith? It is time to step back and look at the big picture. Then hopefully you will be able to relax and rest in God’s grace. Because all is well. So then [God’s gift] is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God’s mercy. [It depends not on one’s own willingness nor on his strenuous exertion as in…
Are you feeling lost in your life? A bit overwhelmed and disoriented? Then take a pause. Get away for a few days. Or take an evening stroll somewhere. Seek silence or solitude. But know that the main thing is to know that even though you feel lost….you are not lost from God. God’s love is meteoric, his loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, his verdicts oceanic. Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through…
