Tag: joy
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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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Deep Christmas Shadows
I was thinking last week about the dark things that we sometimes miss seeing when we talk about the first Christmas. We overlook that Joseph considered letting Mary loose. We tend to not talk about the babies that were killed by Herod. We gloss over Simeon’s blessing in the temple that includes declaring that Jesus…
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The Importance of Home
Think with me for a moment about how important “home” is to us. We talk about, “going home”. Men talk about how, “his home is his castle”. We have all heard that, “home is where the heart is”. Home is important to us. Would it surprise us to know that it is important to God?…
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God Behind the Scenes
I was thinking last week about the dark things that we sometimes miss seeing when we talk about the first Christmas. We overlook that Joseph was about to abandon Mary. We tend to not talk about the babies that were killed by Harod. We gloss over Simeon’s blessing in the temple that includes declaring that…
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At Calvary – Episode 119 – Everyday Grief
Disappointments happen to us everyday. Maybe we haven’t called them “grief” before, but they are. They are the everyday griefs that we carry. Does it matter? Yes, it matters because those griefs weigh on us whether we acknowledge them or not. So, how can we acknowledge them without being weighed down or get carried away…
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We Can Worship. Will We?
We read in the Psalms, “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. 3 Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4…
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At Calvary – Episode 91 – New Year, New You
News bulletin! We have just entered a new year. Folks all around us are making New Year’s resolutions and talking about the “new me.” Have you heard of the term new creation? Paul uses it in one of his letters. It is how he describes our change in perspective as Christians. We need this change…
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At Calvary – Episode 90 – The Joy of the Lord is Jesus
Joy. We connect it so often with happiness. Happiness is temporary. Happiness is connected with our circumstances. Biblical joy is deeper. Jesus had joy when facing the cross. He offers to give us the same type of joy. Looking for more? You can always find all of the episodes right here…
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All in for Jesus
In poker there is a term that I have heard that means you are risking everything: All in. I don’t know if you use it in other games of chance (I’m not a gambler, so I am no expert), but I have heard it associated with poker. I have also heard a similar idea warned…
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God’s Value to Us
There are a couple of ways to measure what we value. The first way to measure what we value is what we are willing to pay or sacrifice to get it. The other way is how does what we value stack up to other similar items. Consider those that love Apple devices. The average iPad…
Pastor John D Jakes 