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Narrowed Ways
What if, when Jesus speaks about the narrow gates and hard roads, he was transitioning from treating others as you’d have them treat you to looking out for false prophets? The narrow gate and the hard road become transformed.
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Our Blindings
When Jesus is asked who is saved, Jesus speaks about the narrow way. What if the narrow way is not about what we think it is?
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People Past
Read: Psalm 25; Isaiah 25:6-9; Philippians 3:20-21; John 6:37-40 ???? Focus “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” John 6:40 (NRSVue) Those who have died, that have been a direct
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Walking With Saints
Read: Psalm 34:1–10, 22; 1 John 3:1-3; Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 5:1-12 ???? Focus After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
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Greater or Lesser Than Evils
Read: Psalm 119:41–48, Deuteronomy 10:10–22, James 2:14–26 ???? Focus No one ever accomplishes good by means of evil, because they are themselves conquered by the evil. On the contrary, evil is corrected by good. St. Barsanuphius the Great You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. James 2:19 (NRSVue)
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Happiness and Joy…or Not
Psalm 44; Isaiah 22:8b–14; James 4:4–10 ???? Focus Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? James 4:4 NRSVue …you did not look at the One who did it, nor did you see the One who planned it… Isaiah 22:11 NRSVue We don’t like pain or suffering. We often do
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Successfully Unsuccessful
Psalm 144; Song of Solomon 8:5–14; John 11:45–57 ISV ⁜Focus⁜ A great deal of water cannot extinguish love,rivers cannot put it out.If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love,he would surely be viewed with contempt. Song of Solomon 8:7 ISV “…You don’t realize that it is better for you
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Reconciling Fruit
Psalm 144; Isaiah 27:1–6; 2 Corinthians 5:17–21 (ISV) In times to come, Jacob will take root, and Israel will blossom, sprout shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit. Isaiah 27:6 ISV All of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through the Messiah and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 2 Corinthians
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Perspective and Significance
Psalm 144; Ezekiel 19:10–14; 1 Peter 2:4–10 (ISV) In the fictional universe housing the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams), there is a machine called the Total Perspective Vortex. Originally built (per the fictional universe) to provide beings a comparison of themselves to the infinity of creation, it became a torture device