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In: abuse, Bible and Theology, Faith, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

“ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:3) “Don’t think too highly of yourself. The bible says so. ” We’ve probably heard that on someone’s lips at some point. It’s true, to an extent. Pride is a sin and humility is a virtue.  But that’s not the whole picture here.  For starters,  we can find ourselves guilty of  thinking very highly of ourselves for thinking very lowly of ourselves.Read More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Faith, God's promises, Prayer and Devotions

“GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. ” (Habakkuk 3:19) We’re designed to plug into God to recharge our spiritual batteries the same way our digital devices plug into a computer to recharge. Deer are known for being swift and sure-footed–and for leaping and jumping up to eight feet in the air, tying into the high places often difficult for a human to climb securely. And when we read the preceding verses, it’s hard times Habakkuk has in mind: Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produceRead More →

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In: Faith, God's promises, Post-Modernism, Prayer and Devotions

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33) Paul says this in the midst of a three or four chapter long discourse on the salvation of the Jewish people, where he struggles between God’s promise Israel is His chosen people, the surety of God’s promises, and the fact so many Jews had chosen to reject the Jewish messiah who brought us salvation. To a degree, in this verse, Paul is lifting up his hands and praising God for a plan he indicates here that he doesn’t understand. From our vantageRead More →

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In: Faith, Prayer and Devotions

“As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.” (Ecclesiastes 11:5) This verse reminds us of the mystery–we don’t know how the spirit joins to the body, as we are knit together in the womb or otherwise, and we can’t always see God at work. We often don’t know what he is doing in our lives or others’ lives. But we can trust he does have a plan for us. The question is, are we submitted vessels? Are we driving andRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Faith, Prayer and Devotions

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16) We have a “therefore” so we need to first put this in context: Pray when you’re suffering Sing praise when you’re cheerful. If you’re sick, ask your church leadership to pray over you and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord. Even if God says no to healing you here, your prayer of faith will save you because of the hope of the resurrection and because your sins are forgivenRead More →