Christ
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When the River Runs Rough
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” — Isaiah 41:10, KJV Years ago, on Mother’s Day of all days, my oldest son, Jonathon, my youngest…
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Wisdom Without the Megaphone
Scripture Focus: “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” — James 3:13 If someone asked us to identify the wisest person in a room, I wonder what we would look for. The person who knows the most?…
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Check the Label
Scripture Focus: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” — James 3:17 I read labels. Not every label, mind you. There are only so many minutes in a human life, and I don’t…
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A Change of Raiment
Scripture Focus: “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” — Zechariah 3:4 Most of us have things hanging in the closets of our past that we would never choose to wear again. Some memories are easier to live with than others. We can…
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Beyond the Shadows
Scripture Focus: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” — Isaiah 9:2 There is a difference between walking through a dark place and living in one. If the electricity goes out for twenty minutes,…
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The Weight of Love
Scripture Focus: “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” — 1 Corinthians 13:7 We usually think of love in terms of what it gives. Time. Affection. Encouragement. Help when it is needed. Maybe the last piece of pie, although I still think that particular sacrifice deserves extra credit. But Paul…
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The Need We Never Outgrow
Scripture Focus: “We love him, because he first loved us.” — 1 John 4:19 The Beatles once sang that “All You Need Is Love.” It was catchy enough to become something of an anthem, although the 1960s had some rather questionable ideas about what love was supposed to look like. Still, buried beneath all of…
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The Gift I Could Never Afford
Scripture Focus: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” — Romans 3:24 I have discovered something rather embarrassing about myself: I am not particularly good at receiving things I cannot repay. Let somebody buy lunch, and some little accountant in my head immediately opens a ledger. All right.…
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Where Mercy Finds Us
Scripture Focus: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” — Hebrews 4:16 There are places in every life where we would much rather God meet us somewhere else. Meet us after we have gotten ourselves together. Meet us…
