It’s getting dark very early these days. Even the days seem gloomy. We yearn to have more light. We try to get rid of darkness by putting up Christmas lights. But no amount of Christmas lighting can take away darkness of our lives. Only God can do that. Psalm 36 verse 9 has been giving me comfort and perspective as it gets darker and darker around us: For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see….
One of the most famous Bible verses is Psalm 119:105 (AMP): Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. There are songs about it and almost everybody – it seems like it – knows it by heart. I’ve always loved it too but today I read it in the Message paraphrase and saw it very differently afterwards. By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path….
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…
Have you turned to God today? Or are you going on your own way? These questions right here defines your faith. Do you have a sunflower faith? A heart that follows God’s light all the time? Or are you focused on yourself and your problems? And then wonder why God feels so distant? There really is no other way to live abundantly than starting each and every day by turning to God. When we are focused on God, everything else…
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 remember when Jesus called Peter to follow him? Jesus asked him to let down his nets after a night without any success. When Peter did what Jesus asked him to do, they had a huge haul of fish. Peter was awestruck. And he asked Jesus to leave him alone because he could not handle that much holiness. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m…
I know many of us are in great need of physical healing (Right now I have several people on my prayer list). But let’s not forget the even greater need for spiritual healing. Because through spiritual healing we are not given just life in this world but also life after death. If we don’t have spiritual cleansing from inside out, it does not matter how healthy we otherwise are. Because then we are walking in the land of death. We…
Traveling light is one of the tricks to endure on any journey. This is especially important to Christian pilgrims wanting to make it all the way home one day. The journey itself is hard enough, no extra baggage needed to drag us down. Especially when the help is near and readily available for anyone. Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw…
Do you know how you can have your sins washed away? It’s one of the most important things to know, don’t you think? Of course, you need to first acknowledge that you are a sinner. But aren’t we all? I, at least, don’t know any one person who would be so perfect and holy that there would not be any trace of sin in him/her. If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners],…
Why should we remember Jesus? Because he brought us life upon life. Because he frees us from (unvisible) chains. Because he has the words of eternal life. Why should we read the word of God? Because it brings us the good news. Because it frees us from the chains of the merely visible world. Because it testifies and reminds us of eternal life. The saying is sure and worthy of confidence: If we have died with Him, we shall also live…
