THOUGHT INSPECTION

"For our Passover lamb was slaughtered for us: Christ" (1. Cor. 5,7). We do not want to pass by nor overlook the great event that occurred in Egypt nearly 4000 years ago when God set Israel free from slavery. Ten plagues in 2. Moses, were necessary to shake Pharaoh in his stubbornness, arrogance and in his haughty resistance to God. The Passover was the final and definitive plague ...

There is a prominent verse in the New Testament in which the apostle Paul speaks of the cross of Christ as a foolishness to the Greeks and an offense to the Jews (1 Cor 1,23). It is easy to see why he makes this statement. After all, in the view of the Greeks, sophistication, philosophy, and education were a sublime pursuit. How could a crucified one convey knowledge at all? To the Jewish mind it was a scream and ...

It's not fair!" – If we paid a fee every time we heard someone say this or say it ourselves, we would probably get rich. Justice has been a rare commodity since the beginning of human history. As early as kindergarten, most of us had the painful experience that life is not always fair. So, no matter how much we resent it, we adapt, deceived, lied to, cheated on...

“It is actually pure grace that you are saved. There is nothing you can do for yourself except to trust what God gives you. You did not deserve it by doing anything; for God does not want anyone to be able to refer to his own achievements before him ”(Ephesians 2,8-9 GN). Paul wrote: «Love does no harm to one's neighbor; so love is the fulfillment of the law ”(Rom. 13,10 Zurich Bible). It is interesting that we from ...

It is very surprising that in a letter to his friend Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther admonishes him: "Be a sinner and let sin be mighty, but more powerful than sin be your trust in Christ and rejoice in Christ, that he is the sin, has overcome death and the world. At first glance, the call seems unbelievable. To understand Luther's reminder, we need to take a closer look at the context. Luther does not designate sinners ...

Recall when God brought Jeremiah's attention to the potter's disk (Jer. 1 Dec.8,2-6)? God used the image of the potter and the clay to teach us a powerful lesson. Similar messages using the image of the potter and the clay are found in Isaiah 45,9 and 64,7 as well as in Romans 9,20-21. One of my favorite cups, which I often use for tea in the office, has a picture of my family on it. While I'm watching her ...

During his earthly life, Jesus attracted the attention of many important people. One of the most remembered people was Nicodemus. He was a member of the High Council, a group of leading scholars who had Jesus crucified with the participation of the Romans. Nicodemus had a very different relationship with our Savior-a relationship that completely changed him. When he met Jesus for the first time, he insisted ...

It is actually pure grace that you are saved. There is nothing you can do for yourself except to trust what God gives you. You did not deserve it by doing anything; for God does not want anyone to be able to refer to his own achievements before him (Ephesians 2,8–9GN). How wonderful when we Christians come to understand grace! This understanding takes away the pressure and stress we often put on ourselves. It makes us...

Have you felt the gentle pulsing of an obstacle in your life and have you therefore been restricted, held back or slowed down in your project? I have often recognized myself as a prisoner of the weather when unpredictable weather thwarts my departure for a new adventure. Urban journeys become mazes through the web of roadworks. Some may be put off by the presence of a spider in the bathroom from otherwise…

Washing clothes is one of the things that you know you need to do, unless you can get someone else to do it for you! The clothes have to be sorted - dark colors separated from the white and lighter ones. Some garments need to be washed with a gentle program and a special detergent. It is possible to learn this the hard way I experienced it in college. I put my new ...

A disruptive teacher was murdered on a cross on a rotten hill outside Jerusalem. He wasn't alone. He wasn't the only troublemaker in Jerusalem that spring day. “I was crucified with Christ,” wrote the apostle Paul (Gal 2,20), but Paul wasn't the only one. “You died with Christ” he said to other Christians (Col. 2,20). “We are buried with him” he wrote to the Romans (Rom 6,4). What's going on here…

As a child, I spent some time with my cousins ​​on Grandma's farm. We went down to the pond and looked for something exciting. What did we have there for fun, we caught frogs, waded in the mud and discovered some slimy inhabitants. The adults were not surprised when we came home smeared with natural grime, unlike what we had left. Ponds are often places full of mud, algae, small critters and ...

Do you know that many Christians live every day and are not sure that God still loves them? They are worried that God might reject them, and worse, that he has already rejected them. Maybe you are the same scared. Why do you think Christians are so worried? The answer is simply that they are honest with themselves. They know that they are sinners. They are aware of their failure, their ...

Billy Graham has often used a phrase to encourage people to accept the salvation we have in Jesus: He said, "Just come as you are!" It is a reminder that God sees everything: our best and worst and he still loves us. The call "just to come as you are" is a reflection of the words of the apostle Paul: "For Christ was dead to us wicked even at the time when we were still weak. Now…

"I kept taking him in my arms. But the people of Israel did not realize that all the good things that happened to them came from me "(Hosea 11: 3 HFA). As I rummaged in my toolbox, I came across an old cigarette pack, probably from the 60 years. It had been cut open so that the largest possible area was created. On it were a drawing of a three-point plug and a manual how to wire it. Who…

"Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, look to the apostle and high priest whom we confess, Jesus Christ" (Hebrews 3: 1). Most people take it for granted that Christmas has become an exuberant, commercial festival - with Jesus mostly being completely forgotten. Value is placed on food, wine, gifts and celebrations; but what is celebrated? As Christians, we should think about why God is ...

Most who are over 50 years old will remember Nikita Khrushchev. He was a colorful, stormy character who, as a leader of the former Soviet Union, slammed his shoe on the lectern when speaking to the United Nations General Assembly. He was also known for his explanation that the first man in space, the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, "flew into space, but saw no god there." As for Gagarin himself, ...

Jesus has risen! We can well understand the excitement of the assembled disciples of Jesus and the believers. He is risen! Death could not hold him; the grave had to release him. More than 2000 years later, we still greet each other with these enthusiastic words on Easter morning. "Jesus is risen indeed!" Jesus' resurrection sparked a movement that continues to this day - it began with a few dozen Jewish men and women who…

Christ is the vine, we are the branches! Grapes have been harvested to make wine for thousands of years. This is an elaborate process because it requires an experienced cellar master, good soil and perfect timing. The vineyard pruners and cleans the vines and observes the ripening of the grapes to determine the exact time of harvest. There is hard work behind it, but if everything fits together, it was the ...

Jesus said to remember Him every time we come to the Lord's table. In earlier years, the sacrament was a quiet, serious occasion for me. I had an uneasy feeling talking to other people before or after the ceremony because I was striving to maintain the solemnity. Although we remember Jesus, who died shortly after sharing a last supper with his friends, this occasion should not be treated like a…

Social scientists use interesting words to describe the time in which we live. You probably heard the words "pre-modern", "modern" or "postmodern". In fact, some call the time we live now a postmodern world. Social scientists also suggest different techniques for effective communication for each generation, be it the Builders, the Boomers, the Busters, the X-ers, the Y-ers, Z-ers. ...

Do you know that most people who believe in God have a hard time believing that God loves them? People find it easy to imagine God as Creator and Judge, but terribly hard to see God as the One who loves them and cares deeply about them. But the truth is that our infinitely loving, creative, and perfect God creates nothing that opposes him, which is in opposition to himself. Everything, what ...

Have you ever been in a huge crowd where you felt small and insignificant? Or did you sit in a plane and notice that the people on the ground were small like vermin? Sometimes I think that in God's eyes we look like locusts leaping around in the dirt. In Isaiah 40,22-24, God says: He sits enthroned above the earth's circle, and those who dwell on it are like locusts; he spans the sky like ...

Every time it comes to discussions about the question of faith, I wonder why it seems that believers feel at a disadvantage. The believers apparently assume that the atheists have somehow gained the proof, unless the faithful manage to refute it. The fact is, on the other hand, atheists are unable to prove that God does not exist. Just because believers do not convince atheists of the existence of God ...

“But there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and a new tomb in the garden, in which no one had ever been laid” John 19: 41. Many of the defining moments in Biblical history took place in locations that seem to reflect the nature of the events. The first such moment took place in a beautiful garden where God had placed Adam and Eve. Of course, the Garden of Eden was something special because it was God's ...

When I started taking a cure for mild skin disease, I was told that three out of ten patients did not respond to the drug. I never thought that medication could be taken in vain and hoped to be one of the lucky seven. I would have preferred the doctor never to explain it to me because it bothered me that I could waste my time and money and I had unpleasant side effects ...

“Again and again, even before our time, God spoke to our ancestors in many different ways through the prophets. But now, in this last time, God spoke to us through his Son. Through him God created heaven and earth, and he also made him an inheritance over everything. In the Son the divine glory of his Father is shown, for he is entirely God's image »(Letter to the Hebrews 1,1-3 HFA). Social scientists use words like ...

"Everyone looks at you expectantly, and you give them food at the right time. You open your hand and saturate your creatures ... "(Psalm 145, 15-16 HFA). Sometimes I feel a crying hunger somewhere deep inside me. In my thoughts, I try to disrespect him and suppress him for a while. But all of a sudden he comes back to light. I'm talking about the desire, the desire in us to better understand the depth, the cry ...

"Because he himself said:" I certainly do not want to pull my hand from you and certainly do not want to leave you "(Heb 13, 5 ZUB). What do we do if we cannot see our way? It is probably not possible to go through life without the worries and problems that life brings with it. Sometimes these are hard to bear. Life, it seems, is temporarily unjust. Why is that so? We would like to know that. Much unforeseeable ...

I will never forget the answer that my wife Susan gave when I told her that I love her very much and that she could imagine marrying me. She said yes, but she would have to ask her father's permission first. Fortunately, her father agreed with our decision. The anticipation is an emotion. She waits longingly for a future, positive event. We also waited with joy for our wedding day and for the time ...

"Hello, my name is Tammy and I am a legalist. Ten minutes ago, I condemned someone in my mind. "I would probably think so in a meeting of the" Anonymous Legalists "(AL). I would go on and describe how I started with little things; thinking I was special because I held the Mosaic Law. How then I started to look down on people who did not believe the same as ...

"Why does not God hear my prayer?", There must be a good reason for that, I always tell myself. Maybe I did not pray according to his will, which is a biblical requirement for answered prayers. Maybe I still have sins in my life that I have not regretted. I know that my prayers are likely to be answered sooner if I remain constantly in Christ and in His word. Maybe it's a doubt of faith. While praying happens ...

Most of us have been reading the Bible for a long time, often for many years. It feels good to read the familiar verses and wrap themselves in them as if they were a warm blanket. It may happen that our familiarity causes us to overlook things. When we read them with alert eyes and from a new angle, the Holy Ghost can help us recognize more and possibly also remember things that we forget ...

A psychologist named Lawrence Kolberg developed a detailed test to measure maturity in the field of moral reasoning. He came to the conclusion that good behavior to avoid punishment is the lowest form of motivation to do what is right. Are we just changing our behavior to avoid punishment? Does Christian remorse look like this? Is Christianity just one of many ways to pursue moral development? Many Christians ...

Many people who travel usually remember famous landmarks as highlights of their trip. You take photos, make photo albums or have them made. They tell their friends and relatives stories about what they have seen and experienced. My son is different. For him, the high points of the trips are the meals. He can precisely describe every course of every dinner. He really enjoys every fine meal. You can…

Did you ever think that you understood everything and realized later that you had no idea? How many try-it-yourself projects follow the old adage If everything else does not work, read the instructions? I even had trouble after reading the instructions. Sometimes I read each step carefully, execute it the way I understand it and start all over again because I'm not sure ...

Most Christians do not believe the gospel - they think that salvation can only be achieved if one earns it by faith and morally impeccable life. "You do not get anything in life." "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is not true either." These well-known facts of life are inundated by each and every one of us through personal experiences. But the Christian message is against it. The…

Have you ever had to describe someone you know and had trouble finding the right words? It has already happened to me and I know that others did as well. We all have friends or acquaintances whose description is difficult to put into words. Jesus had no problems with that. He was always clear, even when it came to answering the question "Who are you?". I especially like a job, where he works in ...

One hot afternoon I was working in the apple orchard with my grandfather as a teenager. He asked me to bring him the water jug ​​so that he could take a long sip of Adam's Ale (which means pure water). That was his flowery expression for fresh still water. Just as pure water is physically refreshing, God's Word enlivens our spirits when we are in spiritual training. Notice the words of the prophet Isaiah: «Because ...

Jeremy was born with a disfigured body, a slow mind, and a chronic, incurable disease that had slowly killed his entire young life. Nevertheless, his parents had tried to give him a normal life as far as possible and therefore sent him to a private school. At the age of 12, Jeremy was only in second grade. His teacher, Doris Miller, was often desperate with him. He slipped on his ...

"When praying you should not string together empty words like the heathen who do not know God. They think they will be heard if they say many words. Do not do it like them, because your father knows what you need, and he does before you ask him "(Mt 6,7-8 NGÜ). Someone once asked: "Why should I pray to God when He knows everything?" Jesus made the above statement as an introduction to the Lord's Prayer. God knows everything. His spirit is everywhere. ...

"And he hath put all things under his feet, and hath made him head of the church over all things, which is his body, even the fullness of him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1,22-23). Last year we also remembered those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in war to ensure our survival as a nation. Remembering is good. In fact, it seems to be one of God's favorite words because he uses it often. He reminds us...