Tag: God
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Surviving Disappointment (Part 3, the one about bitterness)

Consider the alternative… When we feel disappointment sometimes we give ourselves permission to be angry for a while. That’s actually okay. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging how someone has hurt us. In fact, it is healthy to be honest about our feelings. However, there are enough scriptures that warn us about holding onto our…
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Surviving Disappointment (part 2… The One About Thriving)

Remember what we learned a week ago: God knows disappointment. He asked Hosea the prophet to be a living example of His disappointment. We too, know disappointment. Now, what will we do about it? That’s the question, isn’t it? This is where faith intersects life in our disappointments. Faith does not always protect us from…
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Surviving Disappointment (part 1)

We have all experienced it. Maybe it was when you were little and Grandpa promised you an ice cream cone, and then you were disappointed when no ice cream cone came. Maybe it was in middle school when you experienced your first crush, and your beloved didn’t return your affection. It may have even happened…
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Grace & Forgiveness – Wow!

Words have power. They do not have the power of magic, but the meanings of words can change our lives. We see this any time we talk to someone and they say something that makes us happy or sad. We can do it for someone else as we give a word of encouragement or criticism.…
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Finding Hope When Faith is Hard

This week let’s think about walking in faith. There are times that it is easy and times that it is hard. It is easy to walk in faith in the areas that you don’t really feel threatened. For most of us, the call to come to church isn’t hard because we aren’t threatened. The same…
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Do You Trust the Love of God? (question 4)

Our final question that checks the reality of our faith is a different type of question. The first questions all dealt with our attitudes and values: Is Heaven your home? Do you want godliness or painlessness from God? Are you willing to look childish to become childlike? The last question is something about God. The…
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How Real is Our Faith? (part 1 of 4)

For we walk by faith and not by sight – 2 Corinthians 5:7 For the next several weeks I want to think together about the reality of faith in the life of a believer. Paul says that the regular life of the believer is the life of faith. He contrasts this with a life of…
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Psst… A Secret that Is Not Really a Secret

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. – John 15:15 Scholars tell us that there are over 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled during His earthly ministry. I…
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A Word to Men

I read this passage and it makes me think about what kind of man I am – You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that…
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Ready, Fire, Aim (What?)

Last time I shared a bit about seeking our purpose. Today I want to talk more about “buckshot” living. If you missed it, refer to my last post. However, to simplify things, buckshot living is the living we do and we don’t really know why we are doing it. It doesn’t really have a purpose…