Silent Time

Even a minor wrongdoing cannot enter the kingdom of God. No human individual is perfect. So the question is: Do you receive God’s grace and forgiveness? Or not? No matter how much wrong we have done or failed to do, God’s grace is bigger than our wrongdoing and his mercy is available to everyone who humbly turns to him.

Who belongs to the Lord? It sounds as a minor or even irrelevant side note. Yet it is so important: The one who belongs to God, listens to God’s word.

Have you also experienced situations in which a group of people thinks they are better than others? There are different talents that the Lord has given, but no one shall look down on others, neither as individuals nor as societies nor as religious groups. There is one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. We all share the same bible, whether it is an older or newer translation. We have the same...

Good stewards of the good news: how can we recognize whether someone preaches and acts to the will of God? That person will take the great shepherd Jesus as an example and will not only pick out certain aspects of religion, rather will cover the entire gospel as we can find it in the bible. Such a good steward will proclaim apart from reminders to the commands of God also the good news of the Lord...

It often seems as if the selfish and evil-doers in the world are better off, while the believers seem to be at disadvantage. The conditions in the world look not fair, and it looks as if God delays his intervention. God might act later than we expect, but he acts powerfully. In his mercy, he gives to everyone time and lots of opportunities to turn back to him.

Mercy triumphs over judgement.

Are you at peace?

Have you experienced situations of life in which it feels as if God is far away? It may even seem as if God is angry. But God is not angry about our wrongdoing, rather he is full of love. As long as we trust, there is hope.

Only those, who recognize that they are sick, go to see the doctor.

Even if someone tries to live a decent life, yet nobody is perfect, everyone does wrong at least at times. But whatever we have done wrong or failed to do, his sacrifice is sufficient to overcome all that, no matter how much evil might still fill us.

With the eyes of the body we can see another person, but to recognize God we need to involve the soul. With the mouth of the body we can talk to a human father, to talk to God we need to involve the soul. With the brain of the body we can imagine the natural birth of a person, to recognize the rebirth in Christ we need to involve the soul.

What is the core message of religion for you? Many people will think of how to work off wrongdoings or overcoming a kind of karma by good deeds or about trying harder. If that was all, it would mean we all were lost. But the good news is: the decisive point is neither our own efforts nor our own accomplishments. Rather, the decisive victory is already won by the Lord and offered for free to everyo...

Do you tend to look more often upwards to the opportunities or downwards to the difficulties of life? There are indeed a lot of challenges in life, yet we are invited to “raise up our heads”.

It sounds not realistic to have no trouble, obviously there are a lot of needs on hand. Yet there is the promise that our needs will be taken care of, if we let the shepherd take care.

What is currently your biggest hope? It might be the hope to graduate in school or university or to get a better job or to recover from sickness. Or to move to another place - what do you look for the most?

Among the characteristics how God treats us - and how we are called to act towards others – is love and mercy. God forgives us, so we are also called to forgive others. God does not want anything to tear down our lives, so we, too, should not tear down others. God wants to build up our lives, so we are called to build up others’ lives as well. For example to help to get out of the troubles of life...

Is there any hope? Often there seems to be none considering the circumstances in the world. And yet there is great and true hope!

Would you call yourself meek? Hardly anyone nowadays refers to oneself as meek. Meek and humble are old words, often regarded as old-fashioned or outdated. And the meaning of the 2 words is often thought of in a negative way associated with “weak”. But often the opposite is true, the meek need to be strong in a world of pressure, temptation and persecution. While going through difficult circumstan...

On earth as in heaven.

There is a multitude of reasons that bring us into trouble, it might be our own fault or from others. Whatever the origin of the hardship is, such situations at the same time always offer chances to learn and grow. As long as we go through it we may not like it, but when looking back later on, they can be found as valuable life’s lessons.

Nobody is perfect, we all fall short of the good guidance and commends of the holy God. But there is good news: if we humbly receive the grace of the Lord, then nobody can accuse us.

Love is better than burnt offerings.

Whether we admit it or not, nobody has everything 100% under control, we may try to optimize some aspects of life, and the same time neglect other aspects. Even the most intelligent person has weaknesses. By the grace of the almighty God the highest, our lives may be blessed in those aspects which are really important and that count in the end.

It is one thing to bring prayer requests to God. Beyond that, there are many more aspects of prayer: to pray also for others in intercession, to bring our wrongdoing to God and to receive his forgiveness, to request the Lord for guidance to receive his advice, as well as to give thanks and praise to the Lord. And then we can pass on the good news to others as well, to proclaim the Lord’s mighty ac...

Have you noticed that many people do not have real hope? They only see this physical life and if they do not get what they want, they either get aggressive or they fall in despair or depression. But from the good news, we get real hope. In the Lord we can find refuge that reaches even beyond our imagination.