Silent Time

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.

Who is the rock?

Have you gone through such serious situations where there seemed to be no more hope, asking “my God, why have you forsaken me?” Even in the most desperate times of feeling totally abandoned by other people, for example under serious persecution, God never leaves us alone. No matter where you are, no matter what the circumstances are, God does not leave you alone and listens to your personal prayer...

How much is enough? How much possessions and wealth is sufficient? Amazingly, most people will have a similar answer, whether very rich or very poor or in between, most will say “just a bit more”. But the bible has a different answer: It does not count so much how much we have. The question is more: what is your priority in life? Priority beats quantity. Proverbs 15: Better is a little with the fe...

What would you say spontaneously – is it interesting for you to talk to God? Is it a highlight to go the church service? Or is it more a kind of burdensome duty? As humans we may fall short and not live up to the covenant with God. Yet from his sides he always keeps up his offer and invitation to everyone of any background whoever humbly turns to him in faith. Praise the Lord that we do not need t...

Everything seems to be temporary. For example times of peace are always threatened by hatred, health threatened by diseases. Or a person may intend to settle in a place for good, yet one day may have to move to another place due to life’s conditions or due to external circumstances. What good remains really permanently?

What do you like to talk about? What do you like to tell to others? It might be the latest movie or game released. Or many other things and interests which can be nice and entertaining. Once someone has understood what ultimately counts eternally, the person will mainly tell on the good news to others.

People may keep their promises or they might not fulfil it. God’s promises are different: he always fulfils his promises. He may not fulfil all our wishes, he may not intervene in the ways we desire, his timing might be different to ours. Yet, the promises of God are firm assurances.

Children are lucky if they are taken care of well by the parents. The children may come with empty hands, yet good parents provide for them with love and care. But also as adults, even in the strongest years, deep down in the heart everyone has the desire to be taken care of well. Jesus explains that if we do not receive the kingdom of God like children, then we may not receive it at all.

Usually everything needs to be paid for. All goods have a price tag. But in the economics of God, it is different: more comparable to a baby crying and the parents providing for free. Though that comparison is not perfect yet is shows the economic logic of our relationship with the Lord Almighty in a much better way: he provides for free when we shout for help in our needs.

“Why have you done this to us?” Have you complained to anyone in such a way? Apart from the regular usage, let’s look at how that question is also top relevant for everyone.

To whom do you listen? From whom do you learn? Usually it is good to learn from the most successful people. However, in specific regards, we do well to learn from the good example that a poor blind beggar gave around 2000 years ago.

What kind of hierarchical structures dominate in your society? In some cultures there are nowadays hardly any vertical hierarchies anymore, in others the situation is still similar to what it used to be in the past with different levels. Take for example a hotel in the past, there used to be clear levels from the top manager down to the boy who had to clean the shoes and carry the bags. Jesus, des...

In many parts of human history there have been different kinds of pillars of scourging, where people got tortured. We may easily condemn the cruelties and those responsible.  Jesus had to suffer terribly up to the cross. We may easily condemn the cruelty and those responsible, but let’s be careful, because the son of God took upon himself the suffering on our behalf, in order to offer us the oppor...

We all would like to receive great promises from God. In fact they are available for everyone, the bible is full of such promises from God. The heavenly Father offers his love, help, forgiveness, hope, courage, strength and life in its fullness. All that and much more is available to everyone of any background, whoever humbly puts one’s trust in the Lord’s word. What can we learn from those, to wh...

Help and encouragement amongst confusion and fear: Whether we have navigated ourselves into troubling situations or whether it is imposed by others, among all kinds of confusion and fear, no matter how desparate, the Lord offers encouragement and help to everyone. Do you receive his help?