The breakthrough.

9.3.2014 20:35
Yesterday it finally hit me. All of a sudden I got it. Why I've been so down and uninspired. It's the process of getting adjusted to a place.  Culture shock. Honeymoon is followed by a less pleasant phase. For some time I felt like I had lost the flow. Like I'd stepped out of the holy spirit. It scared me a little bit, not only because nothing seemed to go my way, but most of all because I had no clue what to do to find my way back. And quite frankly I didn't have the energy to do very much.
This morning I was going through some worship songs and these words hit me and cleared all fog.
If my heart has grown cold / there your love will unfold / When I'm blind to my way / there your spirit will pray
In a split second I felt so freed. Again I was reminded how there is nothing I need to do. How there is nothing I can do. Because Jesus does it all. Funny how true it is that the truth sets us free. Suddenly I was free to pray with a fervor I've been lacking the last few months. I felt life in me. And I prayed with ease for people that hurt me. And I prayed in my spirit all the way to church. And i relized my need to worship. To focus my attention on what is true.
Taggar: grace talk

The Ugly Duckling.

13.11.2013 13:35
You know the story. The famous Danish tale. The little duckling who is so ugly and of whom is made fun of by his siblings. Who is grey and clumsy. And one day he grows up. And he sees himself - gracious and beautiful and so much more majestic than he thought. Not at all what he sees around him or what those around him tell him, but his true self.
...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received ... become mature ... attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ ... to become in every respect the mature body of him ... (Eph. 4:1, 13, 15)
Mature in Christ means knowing who we are in him, that the fulness of him dwells within us. No more an ugly duckling, but a majestic swan, sailing the seas and soaring on high.
Taggar: grace talk

On perfection.

11.11.2013 13:23
I love it. Yesterday in our service the pastor was preaching on the holy communion. This is always the time I'm afraid that I'll be encouraged to remember my sin, but not so with this awesome man, whom I get to call my co-worker. No, this man always brings us back to in Jesus. And so he reads from Hebrews 10.
For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy. (Verse 14.)
Hah. There is not much arguing with "forever completely". Pretty strong words. And so he asks us, "Do you know how glorious you are?" And I see how uncomfortable it is to some, but I know this is the truth that sets people free to live a better, worthier kind of life. I know this is the truth that sets people free from the desire to visit our neighbors (the brothels). I know this is the truth that will help the people without a home upgrade their lives. I know this is the truth that will make people treat each other better - like kings and queens.
Not what we have thought of ourselves, but our true identity. I am perfect and glorious.
Taggar: grace talk

The vision and the challenge.

9.11.2013 9:27
I WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR LOVING THE HELL OUT OF PEOPLE!
Eric Johnson
Taggar: grace talk

Simple.

22.9.2013 20:52
Someone wrote about me that I believe in the simplicities of the gospel.
And I'm like, the gospel is simplicity! There is nothing complicated about what Paul calls "my gospel".
That's the whole deal about the gospel. That it is simple. Or foolishness, as some had it.
Taggar: grace talk

The driving force.

20.9.2013 12:08
He had compassion on them.
The beginning of this year was the heaviest time period I have ever been through. (Enough time has past now to talk about it.) It wasn't like I was suicidal, but I would end class 7 minutes early because I forgot how to breath. Or I would walk down the corridor and think about my next breath, feeling like it would be easier to just lay down on the floor and stop breathing. It is weird to think back at it. And the worst thing was when people told me "God is with you". Like they were mocking me. What difference did it make that he was with me when he couldn't take away my pain? When he couldn't give me a glimpse of a better future? The only thing that held me up was having a class to teach.
The beginning of the change was a devotion I read with the word: And he had compassion on them. (Matt 9:36; 14:14 among others) Jesus had compassion on people. He has. And that's what motivates him to act on behalf of people.
Lately I have been thinking about this. What drives Christian ministries? Is it our motive to build the church? Start new churches? Start a new ministry? Realize ourselves? Have our name on something so that people can applaud our efforts to improve the world?
Or is it our compassion for a hurting world that motivates.
What do we know about the people we say we want to help? Do we know their stories? Have we seen a glimpse of their pain? Are we interested in them?
He had compassion on them, and he healed them.
Taggar: grace talk

Eternal life. Heaven.

18.9.2013 17:57
It happens more often than not that I go to a normal church and feel totally out of place. Like I belong to a completely different religion. (I probably shouldn't be saying this, taken that I'm an official missionary sent out by a trad church.) It is mainly stuff like sin and heaven that makes me wonder if I belong to the same thing. Trivial things like that. Or I think to myself, "Wait, does the Bible actually say that?"
Hear this. Now this is eternal life. Oh, wait, what does Jesus actually say? THIS is eternal life: that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
Not a word about streets of gold, worshipping God all day long, sitting on a cloud or even a  place we go to when we die. Eternal life according to Jesus is to know himself.
I guess Paul would have it as knowing that in him we live, move and have our being. (Acts 17:24-28)
Makes me once more wonder where the notion that salvation is about heaven and hell came from. Or that heaven is most and foremost a place. I don't know.
For in Himself He reconciled the whole earth.
Taggar: grace talk

What made me happy today.

22.8.2013 20:50
Some days even amazon.com gives you a pleasant surprise. This morning was one of those. And so it was, that I downloaded a sample to my Kindle called The Logic of His Love. Yup, it is Francois du Toit. What made me smile was this:
Eph 4:5 These is only one faith! Not what we believe about God, but what God believes about us!
And there it is again: the foolishness of the cross turning everything upside down once again! It's not that we are wrong per se, just that we are out of focus. Christianity is not about whether homosexuality is wrong or not (which has been in focus a lot lately). And on a personal note, it's not about whether I believe God is faithful or not. It is all about: I AM LOVED!!
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view ... This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! ~ 2 Co. 5:16-17
Taggar: grace talk

What happened to love?

23.7.2012 12:27
Seriously. With all the talk about the world being in a financial crisis (NB - "the world" = Europe and Northern America) I am wondering whatever happened to God's love. In particular when Christians talk about this, of course. When are we going to stop talking about God judging the world and instead preach The Gospel? That Jesus did not come to judge the world but to save the world - for God so loved the world.
God's love fills the earth. There is nothing to fear.
Taggar: grace talk

Glory revealed.

4.6.2012 10:36
I'm busy enjoying. Some people may call it hormones, foolishness... Today as I went to church Jesus spoke to me saying that loving Him is also loving people. Being satisfied. Enjoying everything life throws my way. And I do. I was thinking about what I've heard being preached in the past about how you need to put God first, then your spouse, then your children, then your ministry. But Jesus was saying there is no such distinction. His glory fills the earth and his glory is revealed when we enjoy life, each other, work and ministry.
Taggar: grace talk


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Dr. Nanna Rosengård

. stolt finlandssvensk . missionär tidigare stationerad i Sydafrika, nu i Aten . älskar att möta människor hjärta-mot-hjärta . fascinerad av språk, kultur och identitet . intresserad av en hälsosam livsstil . gräver gärna i rabatter om tillfälle ges . extrem-exalterad över att Jesus har befriat oss för att leva i frihet (t.ex. från fördömelse, förväntningar och synd) . ogillar att stå inför stora grupper men sjunger ändå emellanåt (mindre nu än förr) . doktor i teologi/judaistik . känner skaparglädje tillsammans med min Canon 7D .

Jag lever för att andra ska få känna mer liv. Jag önskar vara mer medveten om Jesus närvaro överallt och i alla och hjälpa andra att erfara Hans befriande närvaro och nåd.

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