The million dollar question in today’s chaotic lifestyle is how you can have peace and quiet despite all odds. How about you? Do you know how to have peace beyond understanding? If you do, you are blessed beyond measure. Here are two Bible verses to lead you in the right direction: And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7, NIV,*) The fruit of that righteousness will be…
Sometimes you hear someone mention they’ll return to God when they get their act together. That makes me sad because they’ve misunderstood the process so badly. It’s not our job to put our act together on our own. We need Jesus for that. But Jesus is more than happy to help us out. Anytime. Anywhere. With the words of Oswald Chambers “If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He does not ask you to put…
Are you striving to perfect your faith? I have news for you. That’s not your job. That’s the job for Jesus. He is the author and perfecter of faith, not you. Sure, there are still things for you to do: You are called to run with endurance and active persistence. Your task is to abide fully in Jesus, not to strive to perfect your faith on your own. You are called to focus on Jesus and let him deal with…
Do you honor Jesus? If yes, how do you honor him? I am asking these questions because today we are celebrating the twelfth day of Christmas. Epiphany means ‘to make known’, ‘to show’, or ‘to reveal’. The kings revealed Jesus as the Lord and King to the world. But they also showed us how to approach him. Let’s find out what we can learn from the wise men. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during…
Merry Christmas, dear friend of flowing faith! This is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. How blessed we are that God became a man to save us and form personal relationships with each of us. Lots of reasons to celebrate! Lots of reasons to have a merry Christmas. Lots of reasons to be thankful for. In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. 2 This first enrollment occurred when…
What do you think? Does Christmas matter? Does it really matter that Jesus was born? Let’s see. It’s true that whenever a baby is born, it changes the lives of the parents. But one baby changed the whole history and the future of the humankind. That’s why Christmas matters, Jesus changed everything. The miracle of Christmas is earth-chattering. The wonder of Christmas is life-changing. The Holy Night indeed changed the course of history. Before Jesus we did not have any…
This Advent season I hope you’re not running around like crazy. You know, abundant life is not found in shopping extravaganzas or perfect decorations. Spending money will not bring your peace or happiness. You get bankruptcy and hollowness instead. Because you become what you embrace. If you go after false idols, you become false. They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and the warnings which he gave them. They went after false idols, and…
As I was doing a Biblegateway search for verses that include both faith and power, I found out today that the Amplified Bible explains faith as “trust and confidence in the power of God”. That’s what it is, isn’t it? If we don’t trust God and the power of God, our faith is more of a theory than a way of life. If we truly believe, we put our whole lives on the hands of Jesus. Because we trust God…
Today I fell in love with the Christmas stories told by the kids of St Paul’s Church, Auckland, New Zealand. See yourself, they are the cutest thing ever. Which one is your favorite? I love them all but maybe the middle one is my favorite. I especially love how God’s love for all of us shines through all the videos. It was good to be reminded how wise God was to send his son as a new born baby without…
Tables are wonderful gathering places, aren’t they? Especially the Lord’s table. I was searching the Bible and found this verse where “the Lord’s table” is mentioned the first time. It took me by surprise. Like I had never read it before (and I am sure I have). You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. (1 Cor. 10:21,…
