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In: Bible and Theology, Divorce, God's love, Grace, Guest posts, Legalism, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

The Pharisees confronted Jesus over divorce in Matthew 19 asking if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause. Jesus answered in part with a line that would become part of many marriage ceremonies, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:6) The Pharisees raised a reasonable legal point and asked, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” Jesus responded, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”  (Matthew 19:8) The certificate ofRead More →

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

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18) Love is a physical feeling or emotional sentiment to much of the world, and an empty action or, worse, words about action to too many in the church. Feeling and sentiment alone do no one any good. Words and promises alone do no one any good, but likewise neither does loving actions and a smile on the face while bitterness and anger linger in the heart. One of the chief reasons we struggle to consistently love is because we’ve relegated love to mere behavior. If weRead More →

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

“In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.” (Psalm 119:14) This falls towards the end of an eight verse set with a clear and simple message. Want to keep pure? Want to do right? Stay in the word, let it guard your heart, seek God with all of your being. Knowing the word, hiding it in our hearts, are the first steps to resisting the temptation of sin. The second step is stopping and recalling the word in the hour of temptation. Praying ahead of time about known issues is where we can best find the strength to standRead More →

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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, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10) This can be read backwards and forward: forwards, it says love fulfills the law, so Christians who walk in love, having nailed our sin to the cross, need not fear the commandment any longer.  Backwards, itRead More →