We are called to have an intimate and organic relationship with Jesus. We are called to abide in the tree of life. How can we do that? Only by faith. Only by grace. We can read about the Tree of Life throughout the Bible. We are first introduced to the tree of life at the Paradise (Genesis 2:9). But the most fascinating vision is found in the book of Revelation: The Tree of Life was planted on each side of…
As nights are getting longer and darker I am reminded of the battle of darkness and light. Thankfully we know that God has won the battle on the cross. Gratefully we realize that darkness has no say over us. Blessedly we acknowledge that in Jesus there will always be light.
Are you frustrated, anxious, angry? It’s time to spend some time with Jesus! I’ve come to experience this time after time. Whenever I find myself off-kilter, I realize I’ve not spend enough time in prayer and scripture reading. Maybe this is what had happened to Martha, too?
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…
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…
What if instead of people asking ‘how are you doing?’, they asked ‘how is your prayer life?’ That would tell us much more of a person’s well-being, don’t you think? If our prayer life is robust, we are well in Christ. If our prayer life’s been hit by a dry spell, we are not doing that well.
Have you ever been so severely crushed that you thought you’re never going to recover? Have you been in such a storm that you thought you’re never going to make it? I’ve been there. But because of God’s mighty grace I made it. Most people don’t even guess I’d ever experienced anything so publicly humiliating and personally devastating. I’ve experienced God’s healing grace like Mary DeMuth writes in her new book Everything: “He [God] wants us to heal so fully…
“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…
