One blessing for me personally since after the pandemic started almost a year ago has been the privilege of joining in a weekly zoom Bible study, which is hosted overseas in Wales. The Pastor who leads the Bible study has been a dear friend of mine since the Lord put the Christian Band, Third Day, in my path back in 2013. He was the Road Pastor for the band and would accompany the band members on their bus as they traveled about holding worship and prayer time for them. He would often also lead the concert attendees in prayer before the concerts. We started talking back then, have kept in touch, and my faith journey has been better for it. Continue reading “TIME TO BE WITH HIM”
Tag: #christianblog
THE DESERT EXPERIENCE
Our life on this earth can be considered a “desert” experience. A desert experience, a wandering in the wilderness, until we reach our true home. God has given us this desert experience to draw closer to Him, to prepare our hearts to spend eternity in the Promised Land of Heaven with Him and Jesus. He provides just what we need, when we need it, day by day.
I was reminded of that parallel thinking of the Israelites God let wander in the desert for 40 years. A synopsis of the story from the book of Numbers 13:1-13 is:
Continue reading “THE DESERT EXPERIENCE”
JESUS’ BAPTISM
This past week or so I took the time to gain more insights and grasped deeper meanings of a familiar Scripture story. Come and explore the significance of Jesus’ baptism and what it means for us.
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. –Mark 1:4-5 (ESV) Continue reading “JESUS’ BAPTISM”
TAKE MY YOKE
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” –Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)
What encouraging verses, rich in meaning, to apply to our lives.
A yoke is a type of harness that usually connects a pair of oxen. What does it mean to be yoked to Jesus? We come together with Jesus, He leads, we follow, He shares the burdens with us, and He helps us make it through.
Photo courtesy of JoLynne Martinez under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
If we visualize Jesus coming alongside us with His yoke, we realize that Jesus is calling us to…
–Connection with Him-His yoke fits perfectly and is lighter than the one we try to pull by ourselves. Jesus says, “Be with me.”
–Direction with Him-We will be going in the same direction with Jesus guiding our lives. We cannot wander off any more. Jesus says, “Follow me.”
–Cooperation with Him-We have no choice but to follow Jesus’ pace. We are joined in Kingdom work realizing everything we do has an eternal impact. Jesus says, “Work with me.” Continue reading “TAKE MY YOKE”
PREPARE THE WAY
This advent season, the opportunity to study and reflect upon John the Baptist, the forerunner and one who prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry, presented itself. It made me delve deeper into seeing the parallels between John’s and Jesus’ lives and what their purposes on this earth were all about.
John’s life purpose on earth echoes our own in my opinion. Continue reading “PREPARE THE WAY”
PAID IN FULL
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” –Matthew 1:21 (NIV)
Jesus is the greatest gift of all time. I am grateful for a different kind of Christmas gift I received this past week.
Continue reading “PAID IN FULL”
CHILDLIKE FAITH
Advent provides the perfect opportunity to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the greatest gift of all time, the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who came to earth for us.
I have a challenge for you this week. Are you ready?
Try to view the Advent and Christmas season through the lens of childlike faith! Continue reading “CHILDLIKE FAITH”
THE GIFT OF SIGHT
This week come along as we go on another journey. You get to participate by becoming a main character in the story.
Imagine you are living back in the day when Jesus was walking this earth during His three years of public ministry.
You are blind. One particular day you are sitting on the side of the road, and you hear the footsteps of a crowd walking by. There is so much noise, but your ears perk up as you hear the crowd reacting with excitement at something. You ask those nearby what is happening. Continue reading “THE GIFT OF SIGHT”
SAYING YES
How often does God call us to step out in faith in our Christian ministry, to say yes to further His kingdom?
How often are we obedient to those little promptings the Holy Spirit gives us?
How willing are you to challenge yourself, doing something out of your comfort zone, to say yes to a new adventure in your faith journey or ministry?
I was reflecting on these questions because of two occurrences this past week. One was my book launch where I shared about the making of God’s Presence Illuminated: Treasured Thoughts to Inspire Hope and Light, and the other was from a Bible study on the book of Jonah. Continue reading “SAYING YES”
A JOURNEY OF GROWTH
A text from my youngest son, who is away at college, said, “What are you up to?” I knew this wasn’t a good sign, as it was a few hours after he was to attend a meeting. I phoned him right away, taking a deep breath first.
The first words out of his mouth were,
I replied honestly, “Well, usually strong until something “big” seems to come along. Then it seems like my faith can be easily shaken or weakened.” Continue reading “A JOURNEY OF GROWTH”