Alan Kraft

“Two paths with very worthy objectives, but only one results in pleasing God; ironically, it is not the Pleasing God path! When we choose the path of Pleasing God, we end up neither pleasing Him nor learning to live by faith. Our spiritual lives are dependent upon our ability to follow. But when we choose the Trusting God path, continually admitting our brokenness and humbly embracing the sufficiency of Christ, we experience both trusting God and pleasing God. Our spiritual lives are not motivated by guilt, fear, and shame but by love, desire, and gratitude. Two paths … very different results. In the powerful words of Robert Frost, “I chose the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference.” This choice truly does make all the difference in our lives.”
― Alan Kraft, Good News for Those Trying Harder

“The Bible introduces us to a group of sincere, devout people whose primary objective in life was to be good. In their passionate desire to please God, they committed themselves to earnestly seeking how to best follow God’s commands. They were people of prayer, giving, and devotion to God’s Word. Models of spiritual maturity, they set an example for others to follow in their zeal to obey God. Jesus often interacted with these folks, otherwise known as the Pharisees, and had some very choice words to describe their approach to the spiritual life: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. (Matt. 23:25–26)”
― Alan Kraft, Good News for Those Trying Harder