Tag: hope
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Naomi’s Pain
19So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went away full, and…
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More Than a Good Person
8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the…
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The Worthy Life
27Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28and not frightened in anything…
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Faith Blessings
17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.–Ephesians…
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God’s Choice
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons…
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In Due Season
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 served as the solo pastor of a small church for about ten years. After years of youth ministry, it was my first time in a primary leadership position. And year after…
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Freed and Adopted
1I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4But when…
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Your Greatest Weapon
5…take every thought captive to obey Christ…–2 Corinthians 10 Paul was describing the inner war that Christians wage against the enemy. His context seems to indicate spiritual warfare, not physical people. He mentioned destroying arguments on the one hand and one’s own behavior on the other. This implies that the enemy was tempting the Corinthians…
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Two Kinds of Grief
10For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.–2 Corinthians 7 Paul had written the Corinthian Christians a previous letter that included pastoral admonishment and much correction. And he had just received word from Titus that the letter was received as intended. The church was grieving and…