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In: Bible and Theology, Faith, God's promises, Guest posts

By Adam Elijah Graham During Christmastime, the prophecy of Isaiah of the Virgin Birth from Isaiah 7:14 is often called to mind. However, this past week, I was struck by the context of the verse. It was delivered to King Ahaz of Judah. The Bible tells us that Ahaz was a wicked king, but in the first part of Isaiah 7, Ahaz was promised that Judah would be delivered from the hand of the invading Syrian Army. (Isaiah 7:1-9). God even offered Ahaz a rare opportunity which Ahaz declined: Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the Lord your[f] God; let itRead More →

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In: Faith, Family and Friends, God's promises, Lament, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

November 27, 2014 is Thanksgiving in the US. It is a day when Americans gather around a big turkey feast, thus it is also known as Turkey Day to those who forget this day is about more than food and football. It is about remembering the first settlers’ difficult fight to survive a harsh winter, one many of them lost. The first settlers managed to bring in a successful harvest the following autumn and celebrated this by holding a traditional English harvest festival. It is that event which the Thanksgiving feast commemorates. The original community who gave thanks to God for their life-saving harvest had buried over half ofRead More →

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In: Devotional Writings, Faith, Fear and Anxiety, God's promises, Suffering

Some fear Ebola. Some fear nuclear attacks on or our own governments attacking their own people. Some fear disasters like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Some are so afraid, they ignore that in Mathew 24 Jesus said such phenomena are not signs of the end, implying they’re instead the status quo on the way to the end. It seems to be getting worse since we get reports from further away, faster than ever. If these are “birth pangs,” the earth has been already having contractions for millennia, and we haven’t been measuring long enough, widely enough, to really have any idea how far apart the contractionsRead More →

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In: Addictions, Fear and Anxiety, God's promises, Gospel, Sin and Holiness, Suffering

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 1:6 Sometimes, when God has began a good work in us,  it seems to take forever, especially with emotional healing and overcoming all sorts of life challenges. We want an instant miracle, not a painful spiritual growth process that can have such a slow pace that it makes rush hour traffic look like its racing on a NASCAR track. We may feel like we’re getting no where and wonder if we’ve misunderstood what God wanted to do in our lives, or ifRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Faith, God's Character, God's promises, Sin and Holiness, Suffering

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Whether Faith and Doubt are in mortal combat depends on what definitions of both words we have in mind. Faith, according to M-W.com, means: 1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyaltyb (1) : fidelity to one’s promises (2) : sincerity of intentions 2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religionb (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust 3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction;especially: a system of religious beliefs <the Protestantfaith> Doubt, according to m-w.com, means: a : uncertainty of belief or opinion that often interferes with decision-makingb : a deliberateRead More →