His Love Frees

Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” (John 21) I went to Paris with my father in the winter before he passed away. We spent a weekend going to a boat show for his business and walking around Montmartre, absorbing the colourful busyness with street artists sketching beautiful drawings and paintings, and a babble…

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Luke 12:7)  I remember putting my baseball cap on and then starting off from home on my bicycle. It was a few miles to my great friend Joe’s house – a familiar route – and…

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for…

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get…

The engulfing waters threatened me,the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.To the roots of the mountains I sank down;the earth beneath barred me in forever.But you, Lord my God,brought my life up from the pit. (from Jonah 2) Are you facing engulfing waters that threaten your life? A cancer diagnosis or some…

You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. (Deuteronomy 13:4) It was nearly 30 years ago when I arrived at home one day and listened to an excited series of voice mail messages from my GP surgery…

I know that I am a Christian, saved from the widespread epidemic of evil because of what Jesus did on the day of his execution, so many years ago. But there are times as I get older that I feel haunted by my past. I look back at the brutish young man I was and…

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Cor: 12:9)  Strong men and women, as wider society sees them, don’t exist in authentic Christian…

“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:1) Worship leader John Mark Pantana has a deep, tangible understanding that God loves him. I find listening to his songs really helpful in my own times with the Lord. It’s a type of music that’s stripped back of…