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Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3   THOU SHALT NOT… For most of the world, those three words define God. When people don’t actually know Him or study His word, they rely on hearsay, skeptics, or (sadly) religion for their ideas about who He is. And for some reason, we decide…
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All Scripture is God-breathed…useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. 2 Tim. 3:16   Dr. Haynes frowned and set his instruments aside. “Have you been flossing?” he asked. James closed his mouth and sat up. “Well, not often. But I brush three times a day and use my favorite mouthwash.” Dr. Haynes lifted…
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The Lord is … patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9   If God had a Top Ten List, guess what would be at the #1 spot. We don’t have to guess because God had people write it down for us. God’s greatest…
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For you have been born again…through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23   It’s been banned, outlawed, declared contraband, and burned in heaps. It’s been smuggled in, tossed out, buried in the ground and taken to the moon. For thousands of years, it’s been challenged, maligned, ignored, and despised, but one…
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“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”  John 17:17   Imagine that you could eavesdrop on a prayer that Jesus prayed to His Father. What if that prayer was offered right before Jesus knew He would be arrested, beaten, put through a mock trial, and then crucified like a criminal? Whatever He prayed…
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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… John 1:14   The song “From a Distance” by Bette Midler describes God as “watching us from a distance.” Some people picture God as a blurry cloud, somewhere out there, squinting through the universe at this mess He made. Or they imagine a stern taskmaster, frowning…
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My life will never get better.  (Ruth 1)   Naomi had reached her breaking point. First, her husband died and then both her sons, leaving behind their destitute young widows. Naomi couldn’t even take care of herself. How in the world was she supposed to care for them too? So she packed up and moved…
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What will people think?  (Luke 1:26-38)   If anyone had the right to worry about what people might think, it was Mary. Her teenage dreams, good reputation, and dreamy fiancé faded into the background when the angel showed up and ruined everything. That’s how Mary could have looked at it. In order to say yes…
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My worth is connected to how someone else feels about me.  (Genesis 29:31-34)   Leah had always felt invisible. Maybe a bit overweight, squinty eyes, an overbite, awkward. People looked right past her to gawk at her gorgeous little sister, Rachel. Ever since high heels replaced Barbie dolls, Rachel’s social calendar had been full and…
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My past disqualifies me.  (Joshua 2:1-21, 6:25; James 2:25)   All she’d known from men was rejection and abuse. As long as she could remember, she’d been selling her soul for a few coins. Life was hard, but her heart was harder, softened only by stories of Israel’s strange God. The idols of Jericho certainly…
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