Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? I have made one New Year’s resolution. It’s always the same. No matter what others do. No matter what’s going on in the world. No matter what’s going on in my life. It’s always the same. It’s resolution for life. But me? I will hope. Always. I will add to all your praise. (Psalm 71:14, CEB) I will not give up hope in Jesus. No matter what others do. I will hope continually….
Faith is a weird thing. You can’t see it. You can’t taste it or touch it. But you can sense it. You can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. You can see with the eyes of faith and you can know the truth. Yet it is very hard to describe to others. Without having seen Him, you love Him; though you do not [even] now see Him, you believe in Him and exult and thrill with inexpressible and glorious…
Is November getting you? It is incredibly gray and foggy over here today. So some uplifting and hope-filled thoughts seem to be appropriate today, don’t you think? It always helps when we remember who is our hope. Our hope is not a sunny weather, no matter how nice that would be. Our hope is not money or a new job. Those things are just temporary things, here today – gone tomorrow. But our hope is Jesus. And that hope is…
Do you dare to hope when there’s no reason to hope? Do you dare to hope when your life as you’ve known it has been taken over by a razing storm? Do you dare to hope when life has become bitterness and poison? I hope so. I’ve been there. Everything but God was taken from me. But God was more than enough. I can testify that God is faithful. That’s why I can assure you: God will also see you…
Are you tired of the news lately? Or are you avoiding them all together? Because they are so depressing and devastating? Or do you have a powerful urge to run to the other direction and pretend the bad things don’t exist? Denial does not work. But there is another option. Because of Christ we have a change to be part of transforming the world. Because of Christ we are able to do something to make things better. Because of Christ…
I didn’t realize the word ‘hold’ is such a hope-filled and faith-saturated one. I was doing a search at Biblegateway.com and found an abundance of faith-affirming and uplifting verses that had the word ‘hold’ in them. Here are my favorites: Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands. (Matthew 10:28, MSG, emphasis added*) We…
Haven’t you heard? Christ is risen! And that changes everything. If Jesus had not risen, we would be still dead in our sin. If Jesus had not risen, we would still be without a chance for reconciliation with God. If Jesus had not risen, we would be without living hope. But because Jesus is risen, we have a living hope. Because Jesus is risen we can be made right with God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Because Jesus…
On Epiphany the wise men found what they were looking for: Jesus the Messiah. Do you remember how they reacted? They were thrilled with ecstatic joy. And that joy is not reserved only for the rich or famous. It is available for anyone who follows Jesus. When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy. And on going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then opening their…
Are you full of regrets of this year? Are you mad at yourself not doing more, achieving more or enjoying more? Are you looking for a graceful exit? How about a grace filled exit instead? You see, hindsight is always 20/20. It is easy to say what one should have done. It is clear how things should have turned out. But life is not about hindsight. Life is about leaning on God and giving our messes to Jesus.We can’t see…
Are you on the way to meet Jesus? Like the wise men? Without waiting for 100% proof? The wise men must have been on the road to pay homage to the new born king for quite some time now. They most likely had known about the prophecy of Daniel and were familiar with the astronomy. But they were on the way to meet Jesus by faith. They did not wait for 100% proof before starting their journey to Jesus. It…
