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

“by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:4) Which here refers back to God’s “own glory and excellence,” which Peter referenced in verse three.  Peter emphasizes that God gives us his great promises, which ought to be more precious to us than anything, by, or because of his glory and his greatness or supremacy.  Divine nature likely references back to the divine power that we’re told granted us all things inRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Gospel, Prayer and Devotions

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17) This comes in the middle of the Lord’s prayer . . . in the garden of Gethsemane. The part most of my pastors have focused on is where he prays for unity. I’ve seen plenty of churches’ pastoral staff water down the truth and ignore doctrinal disunity in the name of unity. We seem to think being one means ‘the more the merrier!” Uh, no, it means those who are in your pews being of one mind and in one accord. We can’t have that unless everyone in the local body is functioning together,Read More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Gospel, Grace, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) It is so easy to read this verse and think about all of “those people” who don’t understand the things of God, or rather who call our own doctrinal beliefs, personal convictions, and religious practices silly or flat out wrong. But I believe the Holy Spirit today is redirecting us from “those people” to “us people.” We each have a body. We live in sinful, broken, corrupt flesh, in anRead More →

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

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28) Paul and his ministry partners declared publicly, in speech and in writing, the praises and glory of the name of Jesus Christ, but the word proclaim also can mean to show by giving an outward indication of something. In this day and age, the silent witness of how we live our lives is often as important, if not more, than the words we speak. I pray none of us are afraid to speak the name of Jesus in public, but I pray also thatRead More →

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In: Prayer and Devotions

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) This gem comes to us when God sends Samuel to anoint a son of Jesse to be king instead of Saul and doesn’t tell Samuel right away which one. Samuel sees the good, kingly looks and height of the eldest, and thinks this must be the one God has chosen to be king. We do this today.Read More →