Tag: suffering
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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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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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That God is Sovereign Matters
What does it mean to you to say that God is in control? Is that something that gives you confidence, or is it something that makes you confused? In God’s Word the sovereignty of God is the underlying assumption of every act of faith. With the exception of extreme suffering, the faithful saw God’s sovereignty…
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God is Dependable – What does that Mean?
When you think about trust, who is it that you truly trust? Yes, sometimes we have to lean on people who will disappoint us, but we don’t trust them, do we? It is necessity, not trust, that makes us lean on those people. Who do we trust? We trust those we can count on! When…
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Walking With Each Other Toward Christ
Commiserate. This word comes to us from two Latin words. It means to “lament with”. Commiserating happens when we walk with each other through our struggles. Have we really thought about how important walking together through struggles is? Paul shares with the church in Corinth that – “We had the sentence of death within ourselves…
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Walking in the Valley
We crave the mountain top and dread the valley. Yet, just like the new believers in the book of Acts, we learn much in those valleys. Isn’t that where the true test of faithfulness lies? It lies in the valley…
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Faith, Love, and God
There’s as song from the 20th century that asks this question: “What’s love got to do with it?” When we think about the things we believe and put our faith in, we usually think about its truth. However, over and over in the Word of God we are told that our faith is placed in…
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Fear & Hope
Fear is all around us. We watch scary movies. We are afraid because of terrorists, diseases, and natural disasters. We are afraid for our children, our parents, ourselves. So when we read in the Scriptures to not be afraid, it can appear to be a pipe dream. What is this power that God seems to…
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The Gift of Hope
This happens to us every Christmas. Invariably we accidentally leave a present unopened under the tree. It is behind the trunk. The rug we put down to catch the needles is partially covering it. How fun it is to find the gift hours after the official opening time! We say it is the Christmas that…
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4 questions that check the reality of our faith (part 2)
Consider an athlete. No athlete can become an athlete without exertion and pain. They have to train. They have to stretch those muscles in new ways. They have to work through pain to get to the next level of performance. Why do they do it?
Pastor John D Jakes 