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Jesus as Lord Deserves Our Loyalty
Loyalty is the quality of devotion or attachment to somebody or something. It’s both a feeling and an action. Some of us by nature tend to be loyal. Others of us are more skeptical, preferring instead to be mavericks out on our own. Loyalty is being tested everyday in homes and businesses and human relationships across this planet. Who demands your loyalty or has the right to it? Do they receive it from you? How good are you at remaining loyal? Loyalty affects how you approach life—God’s way or the world’s way. We can’t know all that’s ahead for us, but we can choose to declare, “Jesus, I am YOUR woman.” By that,…
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Saintly Superstitions Are Substitutes for Christ
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who demonstrated through His life and His words that He was fully God. All God’s powers and attributes are in Jesus—nothing missing. There is nothing more of God that we can get apart from Jesus. Jesus Christ is over everything. Evil is under His feet. As we sit with Him in heaven, evil is under our feet. So, when life’s challenges hit us squarely in the face, why do we turn to substitutes? What happens when you get tired of waiting for God to answer your prayer? What happens when you don’t see Him rescuing you from a tough…
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Trusting Jesus to Make Decisions
Making decisions is hard for me. And, I’m talking about simple things like choosing bathroom rugs. I go back and forth between two or three options, finally decide, then second guess myself for weeks or months. Do you do that? So, when I started studying Acts to teach at my church this fall, I ran across Acts 1:21-26 where Peter led the group to choose a replacement for Judas through casting lots. Can I get a “Casting Lots” kit from the local Christian bookstore? That would be so much easier than wondering if I made the right decision. I did what most of you would do. I searched “casting lots”…
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Adorn Yourself with Godliness
Godliness is devotion to God expressed in a life that pleases Him, that reflects Him, that represents Him well. Every Christian woman who understands God's amazing love and grace toward her will want to adorn herself with godliness.
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Two Aspects of Trusting God
Has God placed something in your heart for you to do? It could be correcting sinful behavior in your own life. It could be serving someone else. It could be speaking up in a situation where a voice with biblical principles needs to be heard. Whatever it is involves two aspects of trusting God. (1) You must trust him as you step forward and do your part. And, (2) you must trust him to do his part in the areas over which you have no control. Those two aspects of trusting God are necessary to act on what God has placed in your heart to do. Esther’s story in the…
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Want to try that again?
Christians over the years have learned that certain practices (daily devotionals, dedicated prayer, giving, etc.) help to keep the heart turned toward God. These are often called ‘spiritual disciplines’. Such disciplines may heighten your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s work in conforming your inner and outer self to look more like Jesus. 0
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4 Truths to Overcome Fear
We can learn a lot of things from our experience with the novel coronavirus and how it has affected our lives. We can learn the value of considering others as more important than ourselves as we choose to let self-sacrifice win over self-centeredness. We can learn how to be creative during our “shelter in place” time. We are learning how to love our neighbors from six feet away whenever we are able to do so. We’ve repeatedly scrubbed our hands, sprayed doorknobs and light switches with Lysol, worn gloves to go to the grocery store and wiped down every item brought into our house, and disinfected even our mail. And,…
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Release Your Expectations of Acceptable Outcomes
The headline I recently read was this, “Sinkholes leave Florida neighborhood looking like cratered wasteland.” People of a Central Florida neighborhood are stuck in a nightmare after a dozen sinkholes opened, forcing the evacuation of a bunch of homes. Residents said the holes burst open as water started exploding into what looked like a geyser shooting out of a now-empty pond. Central Florida is sinkhole alley with porous limestone resembling Swiss cheese close to the surface. The holes in the limestone existed long before the neighborhood was built. Apparently, no one called in geologists to extensively examine the underlying soil and rock before all those houses were constructed. What strikes me is…
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Seeking Happiness — Finding Joy
Picture in your mind one of the most enjoyable walks you have ever taken. What made it so enjoyable? Was it the location? Was it the weather or the time of day? Or, was it the one who was walking beside you? Throughout the Bible, our lives are referred to as a “walk” although some days you may feel like yours is a sprint. Am I right? Though you may feel like you are sprinting, your whole life experience is considered a walk. And, those who place their faith in Christ are living a “faith walk.” But, here’s the catch: a lifetime faith walk must be walked daily. Choices are made…
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Peace on Earth to Those with Whom God Is Pleased
“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” (Luke 2:14, NLT) These are the words the host of angels declared to a band of shepherds right after an angel of the Lord announced the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem—the Savior, Christ the Lord. They began with the words, “Glory to God in the highest.” Hundreds of years before this night, God promised to send the Christ, the anointed one who would be the deliverer they needed. The people lived with a sense of hope and expectation. Now, that promise is fulfilled! All heaven is giving God the glory. And, on earth—peace.…
