#storychanging
Read that verse again. We’d like to skip over the middle part but that’s where the meat is. We understand persevering. We understand receiving God’s promises. But that middle part, that’s where it gets tough. “…when you have done the will of God…” The writer of Hebrews has just listed many of the trials his…
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“When will this end,” grumbled Tonya. “I’m so tired of doing life alone. Everyone else seems to find the right person, but I’m stuck going home to an empty house. Every Prince Charming I date ends up being a frog after all.” Her mentor Eloise laid a gnarled hand on Tonya’s shoulder. “I know, honey.…
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Levi doubled over, leaning on his knees while trying to catch his breath. “Okay…tell me again…why we’re doing this. You’re trying to kill me.” Coach Will slapped him on the back and laughed. “I thought you were a runner, you told me you were in shape!” Levi slumped against the wall and took a long…
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Pure joy. Seriously? Cutoff notices? Breakup texts? Divorce papers? We’re supposed to greet them with joy? That’s impossible. Before we become too cynical toward James for writing this, we need to remember his original audience. First century Christians could teach us a thing or two about trials. They faced actual trials for simply following Jesus.…
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“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows my sorrows…” We may not have sung it out loud, but we’ve all had times when we crooned those words better than Louis Armstrong. When we’re in a difficult season, we feel like we’re hurting worse than anyone else has ever hurt. When the hurricane force of…
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The guy didn’t get it. He’d heard the sermons, seen the miracles, felt a stirring in his heart, and wanted what this Teacher was offering. But he was clueless and Jesus knew that. This guy was uber rich, a member of Who’s Who, and a generally nice guy. But he would not be willing to…
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“You’re a Jezebel!” “Well, you’re a false prophet!” “How can you people believe in a rapture? It’s unscriptural!” “At least we don’t baptize babies!” Imagine a person trying to learn about Jesus but encountering heated fights like that. It’s no wonder some seekers inch toward Christianity and then scurry away to safety. Who would want…
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We can paraphrase it this way: “Live in such a way that if you were to be accused of evil, no one would believe it.” We cannot do this if there is a separation between our public and our private lives. Some people are so comfortable with self-deception that they scarcely notice the discrepancy. “My…
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–Your new office policy states that no religious literature can be visible on anyone’s desk. Violation of this policy will result in immediate termination, but you’ve always read your Bible on your breaks while you continued to work. What do you do now? –The language at your workplace has grown increasingly foul, and you’ve watched…
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Elijah had HAD it with the Israelites. They wanted the Lord, but their other gods too. They liked Yahweh with His promises and blessings, but those pagan gods were so cool! Those other gods let them do whatever they wanted and some of the required worship was downright pornographic. Who wouldn’t sign up for that?…
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