Month: December 2018
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Guilty and Free
Psalm 103, 1 Samuel 4:1-22, Isaiah 43:14-25 Imagine being someplace you’ve never been and driving down the road only looking at the rear-view mirror. Your peripheral vision would catch some of the more dangerous things, but you would miss a lot. All too often we go through life this way. You may not have escaped…
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Foundations and Firmaments
Psalm 148, Colossians 3:12-17, Luke 2:41-52 What are your thoughts when reading Psalm 149? Do you ever think of all of Creation praising God, the Creator? If you haven’t seen Louie Giglio’s Stars and Whales (link below), I strongly recommend it. To think that it is not just us (human beings) that are called and…
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Holy Path of Doing
Psalm 147:12-20, 1 Chronicles 28:1-10, 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 “[God] has not this for every nation; they do not know his judgments…” Psalm 147:20 “Realize now that the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and do it.” 1 Chronicles 28:10 “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him;…
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A Child-Like Gift
Psalm 26, Matthew 18:1-4, James 4:7-12 A child-like faith. That is the greatest gift an adult could ask for. All too often, however, we get caught up in our own heads, hearts and hurts. A child can look to God in faith and trust. We are not talking naiveite or ignorance. We are talking about…
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Put Ahead
Psalm 150, Mark 11:23-25, James 3:11-4:6 “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. HALLELUJAH!” Psalm 150:6 (NIV) “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.” Mark 11:25 (NIV) “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you…
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Stones Alive
Psalm 148, Acts 7:37-53, Hebrews 2:9-13 …[Jesus‘] followers began to shout and sing…”Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” [Jesus] replied, “If they kept…
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Through the Hurt
Psalm 97, Hebrews 1:1-2:9, Galatians 4:4-7 During this Holy Day, in the midst of gift-giving, family, loneliness, heartache, healing, hurting…look to God. Two holidays often are the most bittersweet, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The joy of gratitude (Thanksgiving) and celebration of the Savior (Christmas) can get confused with family struggles, financial struggles and family losses. These…
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Wait For It
Micah 5:2-4; Psalm 96; Luke 2:1-20 The beauty and mystery of God’s word comes alive when it comes to Jesus. Much of the prophecy that surrounds Jesus is in the middle of prophetic statements that on their own may have seemed insignificant. However, when so many words and phrases, seemingly disconnected, are fulfilled by the…