Category: thoughts
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Giving Thanks and Other Essentials
Thanksgiving is an essential. The problem is, we don’t think of it as an essential. We think it’s important. We think it’s nice. Too often though, we act as if gratitude is an add-on rather than an essential. Consider this sobering comment from God’s man, Paul: For even though they knew God, they did not…
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Doing Good Stuff in Secret
Why do you do things? Do you do things just because it’s the loving thing to do? Can we really honestly say that is our only motivation? To be honest I kind of wonder if it is. I wonder that not because I think we’re all horrible people who have horrible motives. I wonder that…
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The Example of God
Rain. When you are a kid, it is something to have fun in. You play in it, you dance around, and you get completely covered in mud. Even though you’re covered in mud, it’s all good. As we get older, rain becomes something else to us. It becomes an inconvenience. In fact, we can come…
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Humility – Why Seek It?
I hate just listing a group of verses, but I think that this time it’s necessary. Why? I believe I need to list them because we struggle with actually believing what God has said. Sure, we nod our head and say, “Amen!” However, when it comes to doing this… I just don’t think we really understand…
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Consider the Cost of the Life You are Living
We have been talking a lot about living for Christ on Sunday mornings. Sometimes I think that as we emphasize living for Christ we can come under the false impression that such living is easy and has no cost to us. So, we are surprised when God asks something of us that has unexpected cost.…
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Treasuring New Things
Jesus said, “Wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” I have always used this verse as a test. I look at what my heart yearns for, and I discover what my treasure is. What if it can also be used as a challenge? Move your heart and your treasure will follow! What…
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A Wondrous Protection
When I think of my mistakes I have a recurring question: How can I make it right? In my quest to right the wrongs of my own making, I have discovered there is a difference between acknowledging wrongs and constantly living under the crushing weight of guilt. The difference is grace. Here’s a newsflash (not…
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Avoiding Blind Spots
Blind spots. I hate them in my cars. They cause accidents. They scare the livin’ daylights out of me. I hate them even more in my life. The problem of blind spots in life are two-fold – 1) I resist what it takes to remove them because 2) I create them! Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart…
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Living by Grace Protects Us
As a Christian, I am very familiar with being saved by grace. The question I often have, though, is, “Do I live by grace?” Have you asked that question of yourself lately? Paul says, “By grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of…
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When We Are Asked…
I have noticed that questions are effective tools for getting some one to talk. Questions (especially open ended ones) invite people to give their opinions or share their experiences. Questions also make people think. When thinking happens amazing things are the result. Matthew 16:13 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was…
Pastor John D Jakes 