Am I good enough? Does God care about me or listen to my prayers? Am I Iiving a righteous life? How do I know if I am doing things the ‘right’ way? If you’ve ever had these types of thoughts, then you’re surely not alone. I know I personally struggled a lot with these questions and negative feelings when I was growing up, despite always making sure to put on the facade of a good, happy, Christian daughter.
Continue reading “How Can I Live a Righteous Life?”Expectation vs Reality: Jesus, the Man of Sorrows
How Do You Imagine Jesus? (Our Own Expectations)
When you think of Jesus, what comes to mind? Is it a tall, handsome, bearded man with long flowing hair, deep brown eyes, and tan skin? Or something completely different? Christians around the world all have their own ideas and expectations of what Jesus looked like, who he was, and what he did and taught. Media also depicts Jesus in various ways. His appearance and demeanor changes according to the cultures of believers around the world. For example, we’ve got Black Jesus, Jewish Jesus, White Jesus, Asian Jesus, and Hulk Jesus. Yet, no matter the culture or appearance, people usually portray him as a humble, kind, and loving man.
Continue reading “Expectation vs Reality: Jesus, the Man of Sorrows”Have You Kept Your Promises with God?
I don’t know if this event is still around, but I remember going to an event for Christian men called, “Promise Keepers” when I was a teenager with my father. At the time, I loved it because it was a good father-son bonding experience. He and I went to the event with a few of his friends from our church, and I also had a friend of mine come along.
Continue reading “Have You Kept Your Promises with God?”Do You Love God in the Way He Wants to Be Loved?
How do you show your parents that you love them? Do you put a lot of thought into it?
When we are young, we usually express our love for our parents by giving them things that we like.
“I think this is a nice picture, so Mom will be happy to have it.”
“This is my favorite toy, so Dad will like it too.”
And of course, our parents accept these miscellaneous objects as precious gifts. It’s not because they necessarily want that crayon drawing or those Lego pieces, but because they know the pure intentions of their children’s hearts.
Continue reading “Do You Love God in the Way He Wants to Be Loved?”A Faith God Considers As Righteous
Can one enter heaven just because they go to church every Sunday? Can our guilt or gratefulness for Jesus’ death on the cross for the atonement of our sins be satisfied with good and moral deeds like voluntary work, donations, etc.?
Simply, is heaven such an easy place to go to? If you just saying you believe in God with your lips alone, are you saved?
Continue reading “A Faith God Considers As Righteous”The End of the World…Or Is It?
Revelation.
Did you shiver? Does it scare you? We’ve made it into the book of destruction, the end of the world. When’s the last time you read Revelation? Take a moment, skim through it…does it seem ominous? Terrifying? With things like dragons, seven-headed ten-horned beasts, a great prostitute, and beasts coming out of the sea and earth…and of course we can’t forget…the mark of the beast…6…6…6. This book is filled with things that make for the perfect apocalyptic movie (and actually has been used for them many times).
Continue reading “The End of the World…Or Is It?”How to Have a Living Faith
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 2:14-17
Faith and Works
“I have faith in God and Jesus.” Undoubtedly, this is something that many Christians proclaim. We say that we go to church and read the Bible, but oftentimes our works (and words) don’t match up. Just saying something without action leads to an empty promise.
We all know very well those people in our lives that claim to believe or want something but then don’t act on it. Maybe you wanted to get into better shape physically, so you tell your family and friends that you’re going to start working out. And then you continue to sit on the couch.
Like this, if we claim that we follow God and Jesus, have faith, and believe in them, then do our actions reflect our belief?
Continue reading “How to Have a Living Faith”