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Refusing To Wait
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.(Psalm 27:14)
Self-sufficiency moves us outside of the Lord’s will. The right thing done at the wrong time may leave us vulnerable to Satan’s schemes and can delay or even derail blessings God has planned for us. Acting on our own timetable can also bring …
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Spiritual Fixer-Upper
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13, NIV).
While my family was searching for our first house, we always said “no fixer-uppers”. We want the perfect house. We didn’t want anything that had to be remodeled, repaired, or renovated. Of course we end up with a fixer-upper, but that made me think. What if God was the same way? What if He didn’t want a Christian that was perfect?
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There’s Hope Ahead
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
Sometimes, we may not believe this is true. Troubles swirl around us, pressures feel too great, life seems hard. We might even feel like God has forgotten us and left us facing the struggles all alone.
Yet in the background of this great verse, we’re reminded that God spoke these words to His people, not when times were easy, but …
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Remember Your Roots
Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:2-3 ESV)
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Change From Old To New
Ephesians 4:22b-24 says, “Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and … put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (NIV).
Notice that there’s a putting off and a putting on. Your health really comes down to stopping some stuff you need to stop doing and starting some stuff you need to start doing. Stop putting negative, hurtful things in your body, and start putting in …
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Stay on the Path
A story is told about a sailor hundreds of years ago who was given charge of …
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Seeing Yourself as God Sees You
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17).
For many years after I became a Christian, I operated under a false sense of who I really was. I had no idea the change that occurred in me the moment I accepted Christ. I did not see myself as God saw me. I had a grid system, insecurity, and inadequacy over my mind. When I processed information about my world and about myself, it had to first filter through that negative grid sy …
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When God is Doing Something New
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Is. 43:18-19
Sometimes…God is wanting to do something “new” and yet we’re still stuck in the “old.” It’s hard at times. To let go. Of what’s familiar, and what we know. It seems easier to stay “comfortable,” to just keep going with the flow, not to mess anything up. But then “new” happens, and often se …
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Making Changes
It’s important to remember that God accepts you unconditionally, as is. The mercy and forgiveness of Christ washes over you even though you don’t deserve it. Grace is 100% God’s doing. But having brought you to faith, implanting his Holy Spirit in you, and lighting your mind with the Word, God refuses to settle for your past lifestyle. What needs to change?
The new year typically is a time when we make new commitments, plan new activities like working out more, spending more time with t …
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God Fearing Man
What man is he that feareth the LORD? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.” (Psalm 25:12-13)
There was a time not too many years ago when a believer was described simply as a “God-fearing man.” That was before modern thought struck upon the idea that it was dishonoring to the mercy and goodness of God to fear Him, and the shallow “God loves everybody all the time anyway” mentality began. The Bible tea …
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