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The Shadow Over Christmas is the Cross
Christmas, for many, is colored with twinkling lights, the sound of singing, bright colored packages topped with elegant bows, cookies, candy, parties and laughter. But for others, Christmas is colored with the stark reality of roaring fires that ravage neighborhoods, hospital rooms, funeral homes, broken relationships, drunken relatives, or memories of those whose faces are missing from their lives. As we teach our children about Jesus, God’s greatest gift to the world, we must not forget to teach them that the manger was shadowed by a cross. The Messiah in the manger was destined to be a man of sorrows acquainted with all our grief, bearing all our sin and…
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God so loves
“What is God’s primary desire for you, Amy Leigh?” he asked. As my inner fourth grader worked to fill in the blank without the help of a word bank, I stumbled through something about being loved in biblical community, to which he responded, “Sure, God desires that for you, of course.” Just as I started to mentally scribble an A+ over his pop quiz, my Spiritual Director added, “But, what God primarily desires for you is to give himself to you…to give his own love…in himself…to you.” I’ve continued pondering these words, especially mindful of a key aspect in which God’s primary desire directly opposes mine: For he so loved,…
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Confidence Rightly Placed
Recently, I came to the end of my backpacking skills. As I faced terrain that was new and difficult, I found myself desperately depending on the Lord for everything. My fear of slipping, tripping, falling, and even collapsing hurled me at the feet of Jesus. Praying to, singing about, and reflecting on Him enabled me to endure the physical, emotional, and mental challenges. “And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places” (Hab 3:19) pounded through my mind and heart multiple times. I wasn’t hiking Mount Everest, but this trail was my high place! Fear is common to humans. Fear can come…
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Seven Church Conditions during the Times of the Gentiles – The Persecuted Congregation
As we study the prophetic messages to the seven congregations in this series, we will quickly see that they follow the same well-defined structure. The Lord begins each message with a greeting that relates back to John’s vision of Jesus, the Son of Man, in the heavenly scene in the first chapter of the Revelation. In other words, Jesus greets each congregation with an aspect of His person or His title that relates who He is to their particular circumstance. Jesus then commends the congregation for the good things He can say to them. Jesus then exhorted the congregations to take the appropriate action with a promise of blessings for…
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Knowing Your Father God
What is God like? How does anyone get to know the true God, not all the substitute gods out there, but the God of the Bible? The God of the Bible is the one who declared, I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. (Isaiah 45:5) Our God is the one true God. God Wants You to Know Him Jesus declared to his disciples and to us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do…
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The Thanks Giving Key
A few years ago I was invited to go on an overseas mission trip. This journey was to a country on the other side of the world with a foreign culture and language, and would take almost 24 hours to get there. No doubt many of you readers have done the same, and know the planning, anticipation and excitement of such a trip. Still, it’s not unusual to have a little nagging insecurity regarding the unknowns, and that was how I was feeling. I would be traveling alone on a long leg of the trip, navigating an unfamiliar airport with a tight connection and felt a little uneasy about it.…
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Advent FAQ
What is Advent? The first day of Advent marks New Year’s Day in the church year for many Christians. (Happy New Year!) The word “advent” means coming. The term is derived from “ad” meaning “to” as well as from “vent,” a form of a Latin word meaning “coming” (think of the first word in: veni vidi vici—I came, I saw, I conquered). So in short, Advent is the name of a season of the liturgical year that most Christian denominations observe as a time of waiting expectantly and preparing for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming, which could happen at any time. When…
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Blessed: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means
Ever since I studied the life of Mary of Nazareth, Jesus’s mother, and wrote a 31-day devotional study, I choose my words with care around the concept of blessing. I think twice now before using the phrase “I am blessed” or the hashtag “blessed.” In the western world, blessings typically refer to our good fortune or whatever makes our lives comfortable. We feel blessed when a new countertop graces our cabinetry, the trip goes without delay, our children make us look good, or the Wi-Fi is strong. However, problems arise when we equate material blessing with God’s favor. If we are blessed because we possess physical comforts and live in…
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Thanksgiving…Serving Others
Our nation is reeling with higher prices, longer lines, and delayed products arriving at our doorstep. We have become accustomed to instant gratification only to find that old demon of frustration creeping into our lives, and Black Friday adds to that frustration. We have allowed the retail industry to follow Thanksgiving by a day that promotes greed, selfishness, unkindness, and dissatisfaction. Could the enemy be any less pleased? What are we teaching our children about life and godliness when we rise early to spend much? Do we teach our children to say please and thank you only to show by our actions that we are greedy and demanding? If…
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Thankfulness As Our Purpose
As the calendar winds down on another unprecedented year, we gladly enter this joyful season of giving and thanksgiving. Many of us feel a gentle nudge toward understanding God’s call to purposeful daily life. Have you ever asked God about His will for your life?
