Tag: intentional
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Heart Transactions
3Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”–Luke 17 It’s very tempting to picture forgiveness as an unconditional matter. I will admit, it does…
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What Sinner Has Hope?
1Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”–Luke 15 The only sinner that has hope is the Prodigal. Be like him. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired…
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Necessary Fruit
7He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from…
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A Proverb and a 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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Press On!
…But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.–Philippians 3 Paul was in prison and once again pondering the scope of his life. He gave a rubric that we can use…
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A Daily, Intentional Life
27Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…–Philippians 1 Paul was in prison and was contemplating bigger, meaning-of-life-and-death matters. I think to understand this basic phrase we should work backwards. What are principles of the Gospel of Christ? So now what would describe a life worthy of those principles? As always,…
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Joseph’s Grace
1Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.3And Joseph said to his…
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Judah’s Influence
8And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back…
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An Easter Humbling
24About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!” 25As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,”…
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Hope for the Former Rascal
13And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the…
Joel M Bradshaw 