Tag: devo
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Contentment or Excuses
8…give me neither poverty nor riches;feed me with the food that is needful for me,9lest I be full and deny youand say, “Who is the LORD?”or lest I be poor and stealand profane the name of my God.–Proverbs 30 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ…
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Are You Hasty?
20Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.—Proverbs 29 Hasty is other times in the Bible translated as ‘rash.’ The Apostle Peter is the obvious biblical character who struggled with this. Many times in the Gospels he seemed hasty in his words.…
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Hope for the Prodigal
7The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.–Proverbs 28 It almost seems impossible that Jesus didn’t have this proverb on his mind when he gave his famous parable about the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. Let’s use that passage to illustrate. A father had…
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Stop Rolling Stones
27Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.–Proverbs 26 In the ancient world, pits were dug to trap. It was passive warfare, yet aggressive. A village might trap a dangerous wild animal or an army enemy soldiers. It also could be used for passively…
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Don’t Give Up!
9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.—Galatians 6 I once pastored a slowly-ending small church for its final 10 years. And during some of those leaner, depressing years various people questioned why we still existed. I remember church meetings when…
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Your Branches Are God’s Display
16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if…
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A Difficult Analogy to Start Your Thanksgiving!
28Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman…
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The Curse [1-minute read]
10For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live…
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Two Questions About Justification [1-minute read]
16yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.–Galatians 2…
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Two Big Temptations [1-minute read]
6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ….10For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of…