Food for Thought (Spiritually Speaking)
Sorry Not Sorry
Have you wondered if you are sorry enough for your sins? There are many reasons we might be sorry, and not all of them are perfect. I'm sorry because I got caught. I'm sorry because of the consequences. I'm sorry because I need something. How can we know that the sorrow for our sins is sufficient for God's mercy?
Never Not Working
I Am Zacchaeus
There is a passage in scripture about Zacchaeus, a wealthy, very short man, and a tax collector. Jesus seeks out Zacchaeus and tells him that He will be staying at his house that day. Then, of course, the Jewish leaders begin complaining that Jesus is eating with sinners and tax collectors. Zacchaeus was rejected by the leaders because of his past: the mistakes he had made, the sins he had committed, his treatment of the people whose taxes he collected. But he didn't run away from his past, he acknowledged it and transformed his future. We can do the same.
Courage for the Cowardly Christian
What is courage? Does it mean the person is not afraid? No. They may be very afraid. Courage is doing the right thing even when we are afraid. It is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When do we need the supernatural courage of God? How can we overcome our human fears?
Mission from God
In the original Blues Brothers movie, Jake and Elwood Blues were convinced that they were on a mission from God and they were going to do what it took to achieve that mission. What if I told you that you, too, have a mission from God? You and I are the laborers in His vineyard. How is that going for you?
Glory to God!
“Glory to God!” is a phrase we have heard and said a lot, but what does it mean? Glory to God in the highest! The angels sang it when Jesus was born. It’s in the Psalms. It’s in the Gospels. It’s in the letters of Paul. How can I glorify God? Am I doing it? Can I do it better?
Everywhere a Sign
In the Gospels, the Pharisees often ask Jesus for a sign to prove that He was the Messiah. Of course, he had already given many signs - they just didn't want to see them. Are we sometimes like that? Signs from God are all around us but sometimes we are blind to them. How can we recognize the Divine signs of God in our lives?
God Woos
God is always wooing us, trying to gain our love so that we can be married to Him. And why would he want us to be married to him? Because that would be the best thing for us and he loves us enough to desire our good. Jesus is our spouse and he woos us so that we can benefit from all that he has prepared for us – both in this life and the next.