Silent Time

Wealth, freedom or what counts finally?

The motivation – what motivates you, what do you essentially seek in life?

What is the heaviest weight? We may think of the weight-lifters, they can impressively lift up weights that an average person can not lift up. But the heaviest weight is something else that not even the strongest person can bear by human strength. Relevant to everyone!

In recent weeks, what has dominated your thoughts? Maybe something went wrong and you still think about it? Or positive things that you look forward to? Many things try to grab our attention, so at times we need to remind ourselves not to pay too much attention to them, if there is the risk that any such matter becomes more important in our heart than the almighty creator God, who deserves to be p...

Whoever has suffered pain for a long time of a harmful, serious disease will surely remember the day of getting healed and be thankful to the doctor who brought healing. Do you remember it?

The wild animals have their strategies to hunt and catch other animals. Some use raw violence to attack, others hide at first and wait until the prey shows signs of weakness, for example being separated from the rest of group. In the same way the enemy of God uses different strategies trying to destroy us, at times by raw violence, and many more times hiding, waiting until a person shows signs of...

Some prisoners in the world suffer pain from severe conditions or even torture. When there is news about the outlook of being set free, such prisoners may sing songs of hope, confidence and freedom. None of us humans is perfect, we all fall short of the holy God’s standards, we all are imprisoned and doomed in sin and wrongdoing, but there is the outlook of being set free, not only a vague rumour...

We have such a great news to share – the best news – the Good News about the great offer that the heavenly Father makes to everyone: the Lord has bridged the gap between us who do not deserve his grace and himself the almighty, holy, 100% just God. That offer is available to everyone of any background, no matter how much evil a person has done, anyone can humbly turn to the merciful Lord. It is su...

During Jesus’s lifetime in human form on earth, he often was not given any place. How about us nowadays? Do we give him the place in our heart that he deserves?

Military parades can be impressive. Much greater than that is the heavenly army of angles, which usually we cannot see, but sometimes is revealed, for example by that time to the shepherds. They did not bring war, curse and destruction, rather they bring peace, help and blessing. And they sing to the glory of God.

Are you sometimes astonished by special abilities of others? For example someone is able to quickly remember an unbelievable amount of names or numbers. Or about special abilities of sportspeople. Beyond the abilities of humans, God can perform even more amazing things. The special abilities of people can be explained, for example by their practice, training and exercise. God even can perform mira...

Hiking along the water – it might be a difficult path, we may have to give up some comforts, yet it can be worthwhile especially when it is nice and fresh water. God provides living water – life’s path might not be easy, we may need to give up some things, yet it is worthwhile to involve the Lord into life, to put faith fully in him and to follow his guidance all throughout life.

Do you sometimes feel as if you cannot change anything, as if being subject to fate alone? It may often feel that way considering the major topics going on in the world. Yet, that is not the case, God has given dominion and authority to each human person, no matter how little impact we seem to have. For one, we can take small steps that over time will make a surprising impact. And beyond that, eve...

Are you sometimes impressed by how much influence some people have? We typically categorize people and look at such factors: how influential someone is, how many possessions one has accumulated, how strong someone is, etc. But God does not make a distinction in such regards. He looks at another factor of each individual person: the heart’s attitude.

What is the majority of your talk over the last 1 or 2 years? Is it mainly curse or mainly blessing? Balaam did not curse the people, rather he blessed them.

In many of our human systems, the strongest and most clever typically take away the biggest benefits. But God takes special care of the lowly, despised and vulnerable.

Whom do you praise? We may recognize someone’s accomplishments. Let’s remember who deserves the highest praise!

“His heart was proud”. That is reported for example of king Hezekiah. How do you react, if a humbling factor - such as an illness - comes into your life?

What have you worried about the last couple of days, over the last year? Worries over the future can easily become overwhelming. But the almighty God commands us not to worry and rather to trust in him. His arm is not too short to help.

As humans we have a lot of abilities, we can reach many things, especially in the long term, it is often under-estimated how much we can achieve: if every day we take small steps, we can be in a totally different situation 10 years from now. Yet we have our limits. For God, there are no limits. Nothing is too hard for him. Even what seems to be totally impossible for us. And we can turn to him wit...

Do you know people who proudly think of themselves as more clever than others? They are wise in their own eyes. Which attitudes does God look for in people, which attitudes does he reject? That is highly relevant, because it is what ultimately counts in the end.

Procrastination – do you tend to postpone important things? It can be a problem both in work as well as in private life. Some people have a good time management; they start from the most important tasks to be done. Others first spend a lot of time on much less relevant matters that are more easy to do and then there might be trouble because the most important things are undone. Beyond work and oth...

Does anyone who has fallen not want to get up again? Naturally, everybody wants to get up again. Why then, God asks, do people not return to me after having fallen? The almighty God is full of grace and invites anybody of every background to return to him, even when having fallen into wrongdoing or whatever it might be.

Which goods are relevant for you? Which topics and matters are most important in your life? We all live under different circumstances. Usually we prefer if things improve over time, rather than things getting worse. Good times come and go. Difficult times come and go. Above and beyond that we can trust that through all good and bad times God has a good plan for us, because he is a good Father in h...

Do you mainly look forward in life or more often look backwards? There are different personalities; some continually want to try new things, while others more reflect on what has happened already. The decisive question is whether your view remains only with the matters of this world, or you look with priority ahead to the kingdom of God, which starts here in this life and continues in eternity.