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In: Abuse, Bible and Theology, God's love, Prayer and Devotions

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16) What is love? John tells we learn what love is at the cross. Jesus and Paul both tell us that to love god and to love others fulfills all the laws and regulations handed down to us in the scriptures.  We love, John tells us elsewhere, because Christ first loved us. To love is to sacrifice and put others needs (not their wants) before our own. Scripture places the greatest burden here upon the leaders in our communities:Read More →

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In: Bible and Theology, God's love, Prayer and Devotions

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) The immediate context is Paul’s statement to the basic effect of, “Guys, if I’m out of my mind, it’s for God. If I’m acting sane, it’s for your sake.” Christ’s love motivates us to live for something greater than ourselves and consider others’ needs, remembering Christ died for them, too. But we live ultimately forRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Forgiveness, Grace, Prayer and Devotions

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (Ephesians 1:7) In the “take your own devotions seriously” category, the day after my devotions reminded us, among other things, to pray about everything and always ask God for direction and his opinion, I let my husband talk me into going out to some marketing class on Saturday morning when I’d wanted to spend a relaxing day at home.  In a classic, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death” moment, we ran off the way that seemedRead More →

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

“ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.” (Psalm 14:1) So Bible Gateway does have a sense of humor, making this the verse of the day on April 1. I managed  to get through this day without seriously thinking about trying to deceive anyone, something God managed to convince me is wrong (read: convict me of being wrong) even for “fun.” It is foolish to say there is no God, and only growing more foolish the more we look inside the cell and see the order and structure of factory assemblyRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Prayer and Devotions

“But he was wounded for our transgressions;  he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6) So Easter is upon us and our verses of the day are turning our eyes towards the cross. Not a bad focus to have. It can be so easy in the rush and the stresses of life to focus on our problems and leave the lord out. SometimesRead More →