CHRISTianer.org, Stare Miasto (2026)

17/05/2026

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Last week, we read another parable Jesus gave about the moment of His return. Just to remind you, a week before we read the story from Matthew 7, when Jesus said that even people who are “faith titans” (prophesied in His name, cast out daemons, performed miracles) will be rejected from heaven (Matthew 7:22-23). If we combine that with the comparison Jesus made about bearing fruit (Matthew 7:19) or the crop we discussed one week before (Mark 4:20), we could say that those “faith titans” produced big and juicy fruit; however, apparently, this was not what Jesus wanted, therefore, instead of admitting them to the heavens, He cast them away.

So it is a perfect introduction to ask: what does He want? Apparently not miracles performed in His name – I mean, most Christians “dream” of becoming “titans of faith” who could do all the things described in that passage. But Jesus dreams about something else. So what is that?

Matthew 25:31-40: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

If you read our posts, you might have noticed that we discussed this fragment at the beginning of this year. However, we then focused on seeing Jesus in the people around us, and now I want you to think about Jesus’ desire for the fruit in His disciples' lives.

The fragment I quoted is self-explanatory – Jesus appreciated the gestures when people offered help to others. Even if it seemed like nothing important, He seems to appreciate it more than expected. Let’s put it in contrast to the fragment from Matthew 7 I mentioned above. Whom would you consider closer to God’s will? Someone who performs miracles in Jesus’ name, or someone who makes small gestures of compassion? Or in other words: if someone were to come to your Church, who would make you more excited: someone who prophesies, heals, casts out demons, or someone who offers food to the hungry, or visits sick people in hospitals? We, people, seem to appreciate more those “big believers”, but taking the two fragments from Matthew we discuss here, is this the same as Jesus’ perspective?

Trying to understand, I tried to think from the perspective of a father having more than one child. It is great when your children are smart, win competitions, bring home awards, do complex stuff, and make you proud. But when you see that one of your children did something motivated by love for another child, that moves the heart even more.

Just imagine that your (let’s say 5-year-old) kid said, “I will not play right now, because my brother is sick, so I will go to his room to cheer him up”. Or, “I didn’t eat my sandwich at school because I saw that my sister lost her lunch, so I shared mine with her”. You see, I am not talking about anything difficult, a gesture any kid could do. Yet, those gestures would move father’s heart more than a PhD with honors obtained by his child. And why is that? Because father loves all his children, and if they are able to show love to one another, it is really moving.

And this is my conclusion from those two fragments. Jesus wants us to have strong faith. He also said that we will be able to perform great works (greater than His own, when He was on Earth). However, His heart is moved when we act on love for His children. And if we offer a glass of water to someone who needs it, He never forgets it or diminishes it (even if other people do).

So I want you to remember two things from that: first and most important one – you have everything you need to do Jesus' will, to bear the fruit of His love in you, to touch Jesus’ heart in the most heartwarming way. Furthermore, those things you are able to do are more to Him than any miracle that may happen (when you think about it, miracles don’t impress Jesus). It is not about other people’s praise, but His heart. He is love. He gave His life because of love. Therefore, the fruit of His transformation of you is the fruit of love for others.

The second thought is that there are many ways that you may bear fruit for Jesus and His Kingdom. We are not all called to give the same type of fruit. Although they are all the fruit of love, they may have a different form, so the question is: what is the intended fruit of your life? The answer is: ask Him. Beware that, although the fruit of “faith titans” in Matthew 7 was big and juicy, it didn’t please Jesus. So don’t be misled by others' opinions – they may be wrong and encourage you to go in a direction that impresses others, not Jesus. Ask Him, and be faithful to what He tells you.

10/05/2026

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Have you ever met someone who is a false prophet? A wolf in the sheep’s skin hurting a church? Someone bringing gossip, envy, discouragement, etc. Or someone who explains the word of God or acts in such a way that opposes the nature of the Gospel, but the real reason behind it is greed, immorality, lust for power, etc. Yeah, it is difficult to find someone who hasn’t met such persons.

And it is not that surprising, because Jesus foresaw that in later times (in our times) there would be many like that. Matthew 7:15-20:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Just a confirmation of what I wrote above, so what is to be discussed here? Ok, let’s leave the false prophets aside and ask yourself: how do you know that you are not the one whom Jesus speaks about…

I mean, most Christians see that the fruit of their life is not as good as they believe it should be. Let me ask you personally: are you happy with the fruit of your life? Nothing to improve? Nothing to fix? Oh yes, now you see it. And I know, you have the explanation for what went wrong – you cannot read more Bible because you don’t have enough time, or are too tired after work. You cannot engage in more Christian activities because your calendar is full of other stuff. Etc. But are those reasons much different from the weeds that choke seeds (from the parable of four-fold soil we discussed a week before)?

Jesus puts this very strictly and very brutally: a good tree cannot bear bad fruit. If you believe you are a good tree, this is very easy to prove: check the fruit of your life. Not the reasons you don’t have the fruit… But the fruit itself.

Just imagine that you have a tree in your garden which is supposed to produce apples. But when you come there, you find only pine cones. And just before you start to think that this is not an apple tree, the tree gets the voice and starts to convince you: “Oh, there was a strong winter, and the family of squirrels had nothing to eat, so I grew pine cones to help them, but I am indeed an apple tree”. Ok, the tree was very convincing, so you believed. But when you come back next year you find pine cones instead of apples again. This time, the tree gives you a very convincing story about two wizards playing with charms in the garden, and one of the spells hit the tree, and all the apples, almost ready to be ripe, were turned into pine cones. You believed again, but the same happens in the third year, and you learn another reason. How long will it take you to conclude that it is not about the explanations, reasons – it does not matter what the tree believes, but what matters is what the tree actually produces.

This is exactly what Jesus said: it does not matter if you think of yourself as a Christian, that you gave your life to Christ, or that others praise you for being a good church member. The only thing that distinguishes a good tree from a bad tree is the fruit. So if you don’t see the fruit of your life the way you'd like it to be, then… stop trying to explain this state and start praying for a change. Jesus is the one who can change your nature from within – He may change you into a fruitful tree that produces the fruit you should.

The following verses of the same chapter contain a warning – Matthew 7:21-23:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

If you are the one who calls himself a Christian, you go to Church and call Jesus your Lord, this is about yourself. The people mentioned here have the same state of mind – they are sure that they are saved. Even more, they appear to be a faith titans. They prophesize, cast out demons, and do wonders. I have to admit that I cannot say this about myself, so I kind of envy their “powers” – I would love to think that I am such a “big-believer”. Those people are such a pattern to follow, right… That is how we look at each other in churches.

But it only reveals that Jesus looks at it completely differently. He rejects those faith titans, telling them that what they did does not interest Him. Jesus is not interested in the biggest and juiciest pine cones they produced. These are their works, not His. And what He wants from all of us is to produce the kind of fruit He desires. So don’t envy such big believers. Ask Jesus to change your life to bring the fruit He wants. And be sure that you see that fruit, otherwise you may be assessed as not a good tree. And every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

03/05/2026

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Last week, we read the parable of the Sower from Mark 4:1-29. This parable is one of Jesus' well-known stories, and we even talked about it a couple of times on the bus. One observation was that most people who consider themselves Christians think of themselves as the best type of soil… regardless of the fruit of their lives.

Let’s start from the beginning – Jesus used the parable of the Sower because, in those times, everybody knew more or less how agriculture works and the principles behind it. Nowadays, maybe He’d rather make parables about traffic jams or high utility bills, but that is not the point. Klara made an interesting comment: why didn’t the Sower be more careful not to “waste” seeds and throw them on the road or on rocky terrain? I think that when someone sows, they are more interested in being sure that every usable inch of soil receives enough seeds, rather than wasting any of it. What do you think? For me, this reveals an interesting hint for those who want to be Sowers spreading the Word of God.

Anyway, in Jesus story, there were four types of soil: a road – people who hear, but instantly forget. Obviously, it is not you, right? Do you remember what the topic of last week’s sermon in your church was? Are you sure that you are not the one who hears and forgets?

The second type is a rocky terrain – those who eagerly and happily receive, and even act on what they hear. So if you do remember last week's sermon from your church, you think it was good and decided to change something in your life, then indeed you may not be the first type of soil. But look what happens here – despite the enthusiasm, these decisions and resolutions fade away quite quickly. So, how long does it take you to forget decisions you make that you want to change in your life? A month? Two?

Now, the other two soil types are rich and potentially ready to produce crops. So, unlike the first type, these people listen and remember, and unlike the second type, they make resolutions about changes in their lives that do not fade over time. Be sure to be such a person before you put yourself in one of those two fertile groups.

Now the only difference between the last two types of soil is weeds: on one type of soil, weeds suffocate the seeds and do not produce any crop, while on the other, the crop is great. The weeds are the sorrows or deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering. When I was a kid, I almost thought that it was a matter of luck if you had those weeds in your soil. But after some discussions with one farmer, I understood something: weeds are everywhere. It is not that the fourth type of soil didn’t have any weeds – the key is what grows faster. If you allow weeds to grow fast, they will suffocate crops, but if you allow good seeds to grow faster, they will suffocate weeds. So, taking this to Jesus’ parable, we may conclude that it all depends on how fast you want to grow closer and closer to Jesus – if you want to grow in Him, the problems or desires will not affect your life, but if you are slow in getting closer to God, then those “weeds” will eventually prevent you from having fruit in your life.

One more thing I learned from that farmer was that if you want crops, you first prepare the soil. Usually, they do things to reduce the number of weeds, thereby decreasing the probability that weeds outgrow seeds. That’s also a nice parable – if you seriously think about getting seeds into your life, you should prepare yourself – turn away from desires or riches, reduce your emotions related to problems, etc. I know that it may sound easy, but it is not. Anyway, even if we are not able to prepare our hearts, Jesus is. So my advice is: ask Him to prepare your life for His seed.

Now, when the seed is sown, the main thing is to grow fast. The weeds will always, till end of your life, try to grow faster and stronger. You will always be exposed to problems or desires. But if you don’t want them to suffocate Jesus’ word in your life, then you must stay focused on Him. If the crop gets all the sun, it grows fast, and the weeds are left in the shadows, unable to keep up.

So the last thought is – in our reality, we are not able to assess the soil we see. Even our own lives. But Jesus is the one who may change the type of soil. With His grace. Regardless of which type of soil you are today, or what kind of soils were represented by people with whom you have shared His word, Jesus is the one who may switch the type of soil to the rich and weed-free one. Just ask Him to do that!

26/04/2026

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What is the very nature of sin? Last week, we discussed taking the fragment where Jesus spoke about marriage and divorce as the introduction. What does marriage and divorce have to do with understanding the nature of sin? Let’s find out.

Matthew 19:3-9: The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

This fragment does not seem to have any hidden meaning, does it? Let’s try to understand the basics: when people get married, they are supposed to be faithful to one another until they die. This is what they vow to each other. And if one of them cheats on another, this is regarded as breaking the vow, the trespassing of marriage. I think that, till this point, there is nothing you haven’t heard about.

Now, let’s think about the mechanics of divorce: for simplicity, we may assume that some people want to divorce their current spouse because they want to start a relationship with someone else. Some are already in the middle of an affair, some simply have a crush on another person, and the only thing standing in the way is the current marriage.

And this is the main thing to be understood here: if someone is committing adultery in their hearts (daydreaming of a new spouse), they are committing adultery, no matter if they “do the paperwork” related to finishing the current marriage, or not. God is not interested in our reasons, paperwork, sin-washing – He looks at our intents, and we cannot fool Him (even if we can fool ourselves).

Let me explain this with the following example: imagine you have a wife (or husband) who is very devoted to you. She does everything the way you like. For example, every day at 8:00 AM, she washes the living room windows… she does it for a long time because, at that exact moment, your handsome neighbor is doing push-ups in the garden… Topless. She washes these windows and sighs quietly… She will never decide to cheat on you – life with you is too safe and too comfortable, so she would never risk losing it. But anyway, she sighs, washing these windows.

How would you assess it? Is the wife from my example cheating or not? She does nothing wrong, except daydreaming about doing it. So the only reason she does not move her dreams into actions is a fear (not love for you). Would you be ok with that?

Jesus explains exactly the same thing – if you dream about switching your spouse, and you even have the candidate (more attractive?), you cannot just fill out all the formalities and expect God to accept it. But does Jesus speak about only this particular sin?

Let’s read 1 John 3:15: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him”. Do you see the same thought? If you hate someone, you daydream about hurting them… it does not matter that you will never act on these desires (because you are afraid of the consequences) – your desires are enough to conclude that you are doing something wrong. It does not matter if you dream about robbing a bank, treating someone in an unjust way, breaking your oath, or whatever else. If the only thing that stops you is the fear of consequences, it does not matter to God – you commit the sin anyway.

Romans 8:5-8: For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

This is therefore the mechanics of the sin – it does not matter what you do. The thing that matters is why (what for) you do something. If you set your mind to flesh things or pleasures, daydream about taking advantage of others, hurting them, breaking the law, etc., it does not matter if you do this or not. It also does not matter if you plan to do something evil and the result would be positive – God is still interested in your intentions, because He is the master of the results (there are many examples in the Bible that someone had ungodly intentions, but God turned this to be a good thing, the executor did not get the credit for the outcome).

A week ago, we spoke about doing what comes to your mind and heart, and you feel it comes from God. Even if you misunderstand, God will not be upset if your motivation is to please Him and to do what you believe is His will. And what I have written in this post is the second part – if you daydream of doing things which you believe are against God’s will, it does not even matter if you do them. Therefore, I want to encourage you to assess your dreams, motivations, and intentions. Try to figure out whether you set your mind on fleshly or spiritual things, because this may reveal where you are in relation with God.

19/04/2026

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On the first Sunday after Easter, we continued to discuss a topic related to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, but this time we read a lesser-known story. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that the Pharisees went to Pilate after Jesus crucifixion and warned him about a false resurrection. Pilate gave them soldiers to seal and protect Jesus’ tomb. On Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead. The situation was clearly extraordinary: an Angel descending from heaven, Earth trembling, stone removed… But afterward:

Matthew 28:11-15: Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

I want you to think about what the Pharisees must have thought. When Jesus was walking among them, they might have thought it was a scam. If they didn’t see miracles with their own eyes, then they might have thought this was just a fraud. But here, there was an obvious proof that they were wrong – they didn’t hear about any other event like that before. Angels descending from heaven were clear proof that this was a genuine work of God. So they must have realized that Jesus was more than they had thought He was, but still they chose to keep their position.

How stupid was that? Having such evident proof, and not only did they stand by their opinion, but they also paid others to fake the reality and pretend that nothing happened (for others wouldn’t say that Pharisees were wrong). It is similar to what Jesus said about Pharisees not believing in the message of John the Baptist (Matthew 21:32): For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it [aka: you realized that his message was from God], you did not afterward relent and believe him.

Another similarity is in the parable of Lazarus and a rich man (Luke 16:19-31 – let’s read the end of that story): “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

So we have three amazing examples of people facing undeniable proof of God's intervention and still deciding not to believe. There are more examples in the Bible, even in Revelation, of people who would face God’s intervention in their lives and deny belief. We could say that this is not “just unbelief” – this is active denial and rejection of clear evidence (in some cases, it is making a decision to step into a warpath with God Almighty). Why did those people have such an attitude? And more importantly, are you also rejecting evidence or God’s message in your life?

I remember once having an important decision to make and asking God for His advice. He was replying, but I didn’t like the answer. I expected that He’d say differently, but clearly His answer was what it was. And you know what? I was almost ready to conclude that this was not His answer and ignore it. I started thinking about it and realized that we often have assumptions about who God is and what His plans are. When, in reality, He is different from what we thought, or He wants something different from what we expected Him to… instead of revising our views, we’d rather reject reality and stay with our imagination.

Another example is when the Israelis wanted to decide if, after the destruction of Jerusalem, they should flee to Egypt or stay in the land of Judah (Jeremiah 42). When they asked Jeremiah to ask God, they promised that they would dully do what He tells them. But when they received a reply, they said that this was a lie and did the opposite. Obviously, it was a mistake, and they all had to bear consequences. How easy for us all is to rationalize and pretend that what God tells us is not from Him, simply because we don’t like it?

So today, I want to challenge you to seek God and His message to you. Think about all those thoughts you had which you had first thought were from God, but afterward you decided that they weren’t (for example: to read more Bible, show more love to your enemies, do something for others, spend more time on prayer, give up on proving that you were right – I don’t know what it was, just giving you top 5 of what I can think about). Think about why you rejected those thoughts? Were you acting like Pharisees who were ready to bribe soldiers to pretend that something was not from God? So you could preserve your comfort and the same way of thinking you had. Maybe you should get back to those thoughts and ask God if it was from Him?

05/04/2026

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Christ has risen! I always start the Easter post this way, as it resembles tradition, I know – on Easter, Christians used to greet each other with this statement.

Preparing for this holiday, we had a great service last week based on John 3:16. When asked, " Who wants to experience God’s love in their lives, ALL our guests (except very few individuals) raised their hands and repeated after me the “sinners' prayer,” asking Jesus for forgiveness, and giving their lives to Him. I hope that most of them were true in their hearts, and I pray this was a turning point in their lives.

Furthermore, I shared what I had read in the morning – Matthew 28:5-6 “I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.”

Well, if you think about it, you must ask yourself how you would describe Jesus. In many churches, there is a cross with a sculpture of the crucified Jesus. I understand the idea of artists, but it is very important: “crucified Jesus” is no longer crucified. He conquered death and sin, and now He is the King of kings sitting on the right hand of God in the heavens, ruling the universe. It is the same with sculptures of the infant Jesus for Christmas – Jesus is no longer a helpless baby.

A couple of days earlier, we attended a funeral, and the preacher said that because of Easter, we have the most important things for Christianity: the paschal candle, the eucharist, the church, and tradition. Well, I think I couldn’t disagree more. For me, the most important aspect of Christianity is Jesus' love for us, which He proved on the cross, and the hope of future, everlasting life with Him.

Observing the world, we could even think that Easter is all about eggs, hares, flowers, Easter buckets… Nowadays, tradition seems not even to mention “crucified Jesus”, but puts food and cleaning up houses as the essential part of Easter.

So, remembering all that He came through for you, all the suffering, all the things He said to direct you, if you were to seek Him today, whom would you seek? “Crucified Jesus”? “Eternal judge”? “Lamb of God”? “King of the universe”? “The one who loves you more than anybody else does”?

Have a blessed Easter with risen Jesus!

29/03/2026

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Some time ago, I asked the question, why is it that you know what to do, but you do otherwise? This is not only your problem; I think it affects literally everyone. Sometimes it is a result of a permanent attitude (this is what we talked about previously), but sometimes it is the result of situational pressure, and this is what we talked about last week – we spoke about Peter’s denial of Jesus.

I believe you heard the story at least once: during the Last Supper, Jesus said He would be captured by the Gentiles. All Jesus disciples started to assure how much they would defend Him, and Peter (the most prominent one) seems to be leading that – he even said that he would rather die.

Let’s stop here. Most people treat Peter’s statement as bragging or as empty. But when you look closer, it wasn’t. Peter was dead serious and really committed to dying defending Jesus. How do I know? He didn’t only say that he would defend Jesus, but he actually took a sword with him (the only one – we know that there were two swords during the Last Supper, so I don’t know if Peter took both, or who took the other, but definitely Peter was armed and determined).

When the moment came, Peter was ready. Just imagine the scene – an uncountable number of people with swords, sticks, torches in the dark. Who wouldn’t be scared? All disciples just fled, but not Peter – he pulled the sword and attacked this mob. Let me emphasize this – he didn’t just wait, he was the one who attacked. So when he said that he would rather die defending Jesus, he really meant it, and he prepared for it. When the moment came, he did what he had planned.

Jesus stopped Peter, so I bet that he must have been confused. Anyways, he didn’t want to leave Jesus, so he walked behind the mob and entered the court of the high priest. And there was a young servant girl who asked (without any threat): "Oh, you were also with Jesus?" And Peter was so scared that he denied.

What happened here? Just compare the threat between those situations. In the first, it was an immediate threat to life; in the second, in the worst case, someone would snort. In the first situation, Peter was ready to die; in the second, he retreated. Why was that? And does this happen to you as well? You have an image of who you are, and then something sudden happens, and you do something you later regret.

There are some ideas for explaining this phenomenon, but I like the one that focuses on preparation.

Let’s see Peter’s preparation for both situations: for the first, he took time to think it over, even to accept his fate (being killed). He prepared, took the sword, and maybe even had a chance to remind himself of his best sword’s thrusts. And when the moment came, he did what he was prepared to do.

On the other hand, Peter didn’t prepare for the second situation at all. He was so focused on stopping Gentiles from taking Jesus that he didn’t think about how he should behave if Jesus were taken. The result was obvious: when Peter was taken by surprise, he panicked and backed up. The same man, who was brave enough to attack an unknown number of armed men, was now scared of a young servant girl.

What should you learn from this? I bet there were many times when something happened, and you did or said something you later regretted. Our guests make life-changing decisions; they are determined; they see the success of their decisions… and then an old friend (aka “young servant girl”) meets them with alcohol, asking, “Would you drink with me?” And all decisions are gone, because they are too scared to disappoint someone.

And what about you? When do you fail? Do you decide that you will tell others about Jesus, but when the moment comes, you are scared to say anything? You decide that when others plan evil, you will confront them, but when the moment comes, you remain silent (or even join them)? You decide to avoid unclean thoughts, but when the moment comes, you submit to lust? Etc.

The thing is, if you repeatedly fail at something, you should spend time preparing for the next situation. Just take Peter as an example – when he thought about the first situation, he walked it through in his head, thought about actions, resources he needed, scenarios, etc. And he behaved like he wanted.

I learned that the best way to prepare is to think through the situations that are coming and discuss them with Jesus during my morning prayer time. He is the one who knows exactly what will happen, and He is the one who knows how He wants me to react (in the first situation I described, Peter did what he wanted and proved his bravery, but didn’t do what Jesus wanted). And I want to encourage you to try this – speak with Jesus about the day, the challenges you foresee, and ask Him what He wants you to do. Even play your reactions in your head. And observe the difference.

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