I love joy. So anytime someone is writing a book on joy I am most likely to check it out. But when I heard Margaret Feinberg was writing a book on joy after battling cancer during the last year and half, I could hardly wait to get my hands on the book. Because this book was going to be war-tested and genuine book on real joy. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith…
The world news seem to be getting more horrific all the time. Kidnappings, massacres, wars, murders, accidents. It all feels terrible, especially in the season of love and peace. How can we be merry? How can we rejoice when the world is full of tears and heart-break? But do we then forget what is the reason of the season? Do we forget why Jesus came into the world? The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord…
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…
Do you know how to keep joy? How to be always joyful? Happiness seems to come and go. In order to be happy we want more of things that used to make us happy. More stuff, more experiences, more fun. Always more. But that thrill-seeking leads us astray. Happiness-hunting gets us into trouble. More is never enough. It is a cycle to unhappiness. Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say. “More, more.” I have God’s more-than-enough, More…
There is no way around it: Love is the most important thing in our lives. Without love we are lost, broken and lonely. But God’s love and grace can change that. Like Kurt Bubna writes in his book Epic Grace, Chronicles of a Recovering Idiot: “Let me tell you from firsthand experience what I know about the love and grace of God. It’s ludicrous. It’s scandalous. It’s crazy. It’s ridiculous. It’s healing and restoring. And it always break my heart….
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…
Being stuffed is not necessarily a bad thing. Just be aware of what fills you up. Take time to be aware of grace, peace, faith, love, hope, joy and other good things…and let the busyness, stress, commercialism, selfishness and all other bad stuff go. Be filled with awe and peace this Christmas. Be stuffed with the heavenly joy. Take time to be aware that in the very midst of our busy preparations for the celebration of Christ’s birth in ancient…
I hope you are taking some time this summer to enjoy God’s creation around you. Don’t sleep walk through your life. Don’t forget to appreciate God’s handiwork. Don’t miss the gifts God is giving you. Seize the day, look around and be amazed. And don’t forget to shout praises to God. Blessed be your glorious name, exalted above all blessing and praise! You’re the one, God, you alone; You made the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all angels; The…
Robust peace might sound a bit odd first. That’s because we’ve learned to think of peace as of lack of something. Peace is a lack of hurry or lack of pestering people. The peace the world ever is able to give is this kind of peace: a removal from busyness or a subtraction of something from our lives. But this kind of peace is not lasting and it diminishes our lives. This kind of peace is not robust peace. This…
What does help you to stay strong and steady on your Christian walk? Are you aware of the enemy’s sneaky ways to steal your joy and peace? How do you deal with joy-stealers, doubt-raisers and hope-snatchers? I’ve found that I need to turn to God as soon as I wake up in the morning. Like John Piper says in his recent sermon “every morning there is a war in the Piper household”. Well said. I think there is a battle…
