June 16th, 2021: A Forgiven Heart is Our Freedom

 

The percentage of Christians in the US is getting smaller, according to research published by Pew Research Institute in 2015. More and more adults don't want to be involved or associated with any organized religions. The decline impacts all races, educational backgrounds, and ages.


We can be depressed by reading all of that news. It is not pleasant to be viewed as irrelevant and hypocritical. We can complain and get angry. That might be why many Christians voted for a president who seemed to defend their religious views while violating many aspects of their moral conviction. How can we understand this?


We are caught in the same trap the Pharisees did during the time of Jesus. They were anticipating a different Messiah. They wanted to have their earthy power back. The need to have our faith seen as a powerful force of our society has lead us astray. Jesus prayed that He would fulfill the will of God by dying, not conquering. That is how He overcomes sin.


The Gospel is not about political power and transformation although it might have that impact eventually. It is about the change of one's heart while experiencing God's forgiveness. The question we might want to ask ourselves: "Why have we not made a bigger impact as God's people wherever we are?". Can it be true that we have treated our faith in God as if it is another commodity that we can use to take us where we want to be? We then discover that God might not be there when we get there.


I have pondered about this thought solemnly. We might have deceived ourselves by thinking that we go about fighting for our faith, yet we don't experience intimacy with God. We want to experience God's presence on earth, yet we don't know what to do with our internal turmoil. We want to be in church, but we have the feeling that it has no value. True freedom is a gift and not something that we have to fight for with others. Forgiveness from God is the gift to be received.


Ephesians 2:8 

 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."

Popular posts from this blog

Aug 31st, 2024: Confession

Image
Dealing with pain sometimes affects our ability and flexibility. A physiotherapist friend gave me a set of home exercises to help with that. They are simple yet intense at the same time. Dealing with our human brokenness sometimes affects our ability to see and hear God. Our commitment to spiritual disciplines must be at the core of our relationship with God. One of the disciplines I have been trying to embrace more fully is confession. It’s not just about recognizing where we have gone wrong; it’s about how we have chosen to live our lives independently from God. It’s about whether we truly want God to be part of our lives. The absence of meaningful confession will damage our freedom to experience intimacy with God. "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." - Proverbs 28:13
Read more

Sept 4th, 2024: Praying in Images

Image
It has been a rough few days. Living in immense pain does not allow us much energy to think about anything. I ended up praying in images, and not many words came out of my mouth. Most of the images were of people I know. God knew that I was praying for them as their faces came to my mind. I did not need to mention the circumstances or situations of their lives—He knows. My heart was at peace as I ended my days with these images. He will take care of my body, and I know this because I was able to get some sleep. Tomorrow is in His hands.
Read more

Oct 1st, 2022: Be With Those Who Suffer

Image
  Listening to a young woman who shared her experience of being raped repeatedly by a family member for over four years as a teenager made my heart ache. The man who did that was a leader of a church. He was imprisoned for seven months and released. He was her stepfather. Her mother chose to pick him over her after his release. Her life has changed forever. She had to go to a foster home. Her foster parents helped her with her restoration and her faith in God. Her supervisor at work asked me to see her because someone at work was inappropriate toward her. That triggered many emotions within her. I did not expect the story I heard from her. The meeting took longer than I thought, and it was toward the end of the day. She kept talking about her anger and the pain she felt when men treated her like a subject. I knew that the best I could do was to listen. She told me she had not been able to tell anyone as much as with me. God reminded me of the true calling of being a pas...
Read more