Do you think upright-living is uptight-living? Did you know that upright-living does not mean joy-less living? It means joy-filled living instead. Because upright-living is God-honoring and God is joy. But, sure, we do need to stick to Jesus with patient endurance. We do need to seize the word of God and hold on no matter of what. We do need to be sincere and honest in our beliefs until the end. Because if we don’t, we don’t mature. If we…
One of my favorite quotes is this one by William Blake: “I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me.” That’s what being a Christian means. It’s not about me or my (in)abilities. It’s about God and his abilities in and through me. People of the presence of the Holy Spirit do not need to be afraid of anything. People of the presence of the Holy Spirit does not need to bow to devil’s temptations or believe devil’s…
Who are you listening to? Who has the authority over your life? These are more important questions than we might guess first hand. But our lives are what we believe. If we love lies, we practice lies. If we love truth, we live in light.
One of the great Christian mysteries and blessings is that Christ lives in us. What does it really mean? When we have -by grace- come to believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes residence in us. Then we are not alone anymore. It’s God with us.
Last Friday I shared about my lowest point in my life and how God has wondrously healed me. But for a long time I carried around regrets. If I only could have seen it coming. If I only had not married him in the first place. If I only…. you get the picture. But then God taught me that he can use everything for his glory. Like Mary DeMuth writes in her Everything book “Jesus wastes none of our stories,…
Do you try make yourself a better person? Or do you trust God work in you to make you a person of grace? There’s a world of difference between those two ways of life. Self-strength stages an illusion. God creates life. Self-effort causes stress. Jesus provides salvation. Self-help brings exhaustion. The Holy Spirit brings peace. Why is it that stopping self-improvement projects and waiting for God to perform change in us is out of our radar? Why is is that…
Do you think you know better than God what’s good for you? Yeah, I hear you. Very often we do think so. But as you know God does know better than humans what’s good for us. Yet it is hard to let go of control. It is hard to let God do what he wants in our lives. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do…
“Don’t just do something, sit there”. A very wise piece of advice. But so is this one: “Don’t just sit there, do something!” What? Yes, we need them both. There is time to sit still and there’s time to work. The tricky part is to find the right balance between these two. Every time I write a blog post about grace, I feel I’ve left out that we are also called to do something. And every time I blog about…
Are you taking short cuts in your faith? Do you choose what you like and what you don’t like in God’s message? Has something become more important than Jesus in your life? You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience? This detour doesn’t come from the One who called you into the race in the first place. And please don’t toss this off as insignificant. It only takes a minute amount…
Are you in need of a cup of kindness? Congratulations! It’s available! Come and taste God’s goodness and kindness. It lasts from everlasting to everlasting. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:5, NASB) God has been working behind the scenes for long time to get us out of dead-end, empty-headed lives. Now everything is ready in Jesus. By grace through faith in Jesus we are transformed into new life, real…
