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Ask, Seek, and Knock
“Name it, claim it!”, “Just believe!”, “Ask for whatever you want!”, “I want these circumstances to change!”, “You don’t have because you didn’t ask or have enough faith!”. These phrases circulate through our culture. Some of these phrases can seem to be supported by Scripture. But if we look closer, we can see the fallacy these phrases propose. You may or may not have fallen into the trap of asking God for whatever you wanted to make your life easier. Or maybe you have asked for things but the answer was “no” which left you angry with God, disappointed in God, or confused about God. Maybe you have doubted…
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Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down
Do you remember the popularity of what became known as the Jabez Prayer? This prayer is recorded in 1 Chronicles 4:10 “Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!’” The teaching that spread rapidly included the idea that we did not have a blessed life because we did not ask for it. People were instructed to pray this prayer repeatedly and God would shower them with blessings and freedom from pain. I recently was studying the…
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Hospitality Reset
Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Albania to participate in some medical training and hiking. During my visit, I received the precious gift of Albanian hospitality. Approximately 58% of Albanians are Muslim, 17% are Christian, and 25% are other[1]. Each group works well with the other groups and beautifully offers hospitality. I felt welcomed, accepted, and cared for. Their hospitality level left me eager to offer the same to those around me in the United States. Just as the perspective from the mountains we hiked allowed me to see and appreciate the Albanian terrain, the Albanians allowed me to see hospitality in a deeper and bigger way. The…
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Clique or Affinity Group?
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a clique and an affinity group?[1] I have. Have you ever felt excluded from a group? I have. Have you ever wondered if there were groups in the Bible? I have. Have you ever wondered how to navigate the group issue? I have. Perhaps my ponderings will encourage you (as it did me) to have a healthier view of groups. I found the definition of clique and affinity to be helpful. Affinity is “sympathy marked by community of interest” and clique is a “narrow exclusive circle or group of persons” as defined by Merriam-Webster. So, a clique is a group where…
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Church Family?
This summer I had the privilege of helping two of my adult children and their families who were blessed with newborns. Each home made me feel loved and appreciated. I served them in any way that I thought would be helpful. I left feeling valued and fulfilled. Upon returning to my home, I noticed a different attitude that I had about my church family compared to my own family. I struggled before the Lord with why my attitude was different and was it sinful. I went to the Scriptures for insight. Here are some of my findings: The church of the living God is a pillar and buttress of the…
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Some Lessons from a Forty-Year-Old Marriage
This spring my husband and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. We are grateful to God for bringing us together and for His grace in our marriage. To celebrate, we wanted to find some trails in Colorado to hike. However, after looking for several weeks, we were unable to find any trails that would work. Unbeknownst to us, God had something else planned. A missionary agency contacted my husband to inform him Albania had requested some medical training in his specialty. The planning trip would need to take place during the time we had set aside to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. We felt God would have us postpone (or…
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Counterfeit Hopes
People place their hope in various things depending on their beliefs and backgrounds. The secular world finds hope in money, success, respect, security, health, relationships, work, pleasure, science, and reason. It is easy to see these things are wrong to place our hope in. Christians find their hope in God and in particular the gospel (Jesus taking the punishment for their sins providing a way to have a relationship with God and transformed lives). However, Christians unknowingly rely on other things for their hope. These counterfeit hopes replace the true hope of the life changing-power of the gospel. I recently read a book, How People Change by Timothy S. Lane…
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Rejoicing in the Results of the Fear of the Lord
Scriptures contain over 390 verses that have to do with some sort of fear of the Lord. Obviously, it is an important subject to God. When we fear (have an awe, respect, or reverence of) the Lord, we can expect certain results that cause us to rejoice! Our attitude toward evil is affected when we fear the Lord. We will develop a hatred of evil (morally objectionable behavior) (Prov 8:13) not only in others but in ourselves. It is easy to hate evil in others, but it takes humility to see our own evilness as just as bad. We will hate evil so we will turn away (leave a set…
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Basking in the Benefits of the Fear of the Lord
The benefits of fearing the Lord are worth basking in. In my survey of the Scriptures, I identified three categories concerning the benefits of the fear of the Lord—with God, with others, and with ourselves. Some of the categories overlap, but I have assigned most to just one category for simplicity. The first beneficial category of the fear of the Lord involves our relationship with the Lord. At the top of the list, we are acceptable to God (Acts 10:35). Not only are we acceptable to God, but we have a friendship with Him (Psa 25:14). Furthermore, His eye is on those who fear Him (Psa 33:18). With His eye…
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Trembling with Delight
Over the years, I have wondered what it really means to have “fear of the Lord.” In the past several months, I took some time and examined the Scriptures to find out what it does mean. My findings have left me trembling with delight! A definition is always a good place to start. Michael Reeves explains the fear of the Lord as, “It is an ecstasy of love and joy that senses how overwhelmingly kind and magnificent, good and true God is, and that therefore leans on Him in staggered praise and faith.”[1] Reeves goes on to write, “It is not the dread of sinners before a holy Judge. It…
