Topic > Christian Beliefs > God >
How God goes before a crisis
When cancer strikes, most people feel overwhelmed, incapable of coping. Yet for those who turn to God they often find He’s already gone ahead and prepared the way, easing their burden. Let’s discuss how sometimes it takes a crisis for us to look back and see how God has orchestrated certain events for His purposes and our spiritual growth.
Love Comes First
One evening my friend showed me one of the three decorative plaques that would be part of a wall arrangement in her living room. “See, I’ve already got Love,” she said, holding up the plaque with the word written on it. “Faith and Hope are on order.”
So Love comes first, I thought. Faith and Hope soon follow!
Love did come first. In fact, it originated with God. First John 4:19 reminds us that “We love [God] because he first loved us.” God’s love, described in 1 Corinthians 13 (known as the “love chapter”), explains a characteristic of real love when it says, “Love never…
The Forgiveness Of God
Without the assurance of forgiveness, feelings of guilt and regret can weigh you down. In this booklet, Mart De Haan helps you discover how God’s forgiveness can lift the burden of guilt and shame to give you freedom and peace to move forward in life. Gain a better understanding of God’s love and mercy, as you explore the elements of His forgiveness.
Why Jesus sees us as Beautiful
Hello Beautiful! If someone said that to you, would you look behind you to see who they were really talking to? Since 96 percent of women surveyed don’t see themselves as beautiful, this would be a common reaction. We’ll make the case that “beautiful” is the way God made us to be. We may feel ugly, but Jesus sees us as beautiful. Do you believe that?
The Song of Our Lives
Everyone touched by a piece of music hears it differently. The composer hears it in the chamber of his imagination. The audience hears it with their senses and emotions. The members of the orchestra hear most clearly the sound of the instruments closest to them.
In a sense, we are the members of God’s orchestra. Often we hear only the music closest to us. Because we don’t hear a balanced work, we are like Job who cried as he suffered: “Now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them” (Job 30:9).
Job recalled how princes and…
How Does Jesus Redeem Our Scars?
Most of us have scars. Some are physical, easily seen. Others are emotional, often hidden deep within. Let’s discuss how many people believe that their painful past disqualifies them from having a part in the kingdom. Be part of today’s conversation as we talk about how Jesus can redeem our scars through His scars.
How to Trust God in the Season of Job-hunting
I spent six months of my life as a couch potato. By the time I started my new job, I knew which online channels you could surf for the latest television series.
Using your Gifts to Bring God Glory
Someone once said, “Vocation does not come from a voice ‘out there’ calling me to be something I’m not. It comes from a voice in here, calling me to be the person I was born to be.” Let’s talk about what it really means to use our specific creative gifts to bring God glory and bring us fulfillment as well.
You are an Expression of God’s Glory
Growing up, many of us were taught lies about ourselves, lies that in some ways can make us feel almost invisible and insignificant. Let’s talk about why it’s important to ask God, “How do you see me?” Because each of us is created with our own voice to be a unique expression of God’s glory. You have a role to play in His kingdom, one that no one else can fill.
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
We read in Psalm 139 that we’re “fearfully and wonderfully” made. Let’s continue the series, “Beauty Full Beings.” God fashioned our bodies to reflect His nature and to fully experience the joys of His creation. Our bodies are not enemies to be conquered, they’re a sacred place, a temple of the Holy Spirit.
What Do You Know For Sure?
“What do you know for sure?” This was the question American talk show host Oprah Winfrey would often ask her guests at the end of each interview on her wildly popular talk show.
How our fears can keep us from intimacy with Jesus
Our fears take many forms. Often it’s a fear of being “found out” for who we really are; or we fear the loss of relationships with others because of circumstances that are out of our control. Like the demon-possessed man in the Bible, we’re afraid of what will happen to us if Jesus gets too close.
We Have Fruit!
The young mother sighed as she scraped together lunch for her 3-year-old daughter. Spying the empty fruit basket on the table in their tiny kitchen, she sighed and said aloud, “If we just had a basket of fruit, I would feel rich!” Her little girl overheard her.
Weeks passed. God sustained the small family. Still, the struggling mom worried. Then one day her little girl bounded into the kitchen. “Look, Mommy, we’re rich!” she exclaimed, pointing at the full fruit basket on the table. Nothing had changed except that the family had purchased a bag of apples.
When Joshua, the leader of…
Our inadequacies often distort our view of God
We live in a culture of comparison. Beneath our feelings that we don’t measure up to “so and so” is the fear that we don’t have what it takes. Do you feel uncomfortable when you’re told that “you’re beautiful in God’s eyes” because deep down you don’t really believe it?
