Monthly Archives: September 2014

When You Can’t Hold Back

Have you ever been tempted to think of Jesus as one who was so spiritual that He didn’t need to pray?

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Surely He had a special connection with God, an influence because He was God’s son. Right?

Here’s what the Bible has to say about that:

In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:7-8 NASB).

We have a glimpse of the depth of Christ’s heart as He prayed.

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The Me I Long To Be (Ironing Not Required)

 

I have a confession I would like to share with you today. I have a hard time with the domestic side of life my life. OK, I’ll just say it. I really Stink, with a capital S at the whole domestic side of life. I am convinced my mother has a gene that just did not get passed down to me. It’s the one that rejoices in ironing. I am not joking. The woman finds ironing therapeutic. Meanwhile my husband knows that asking me to iron would require us both to be in therapy. OK, that is a bit dramatic but you get the point.

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Committed to a Golden Rule Life

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We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life. ~Edwin Markham, American Poet

We memorized the words as children:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Have you ever wondered about the origin of those words?

They were spoken by Jesus as part of the “Sermon on the Mount.”

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12 (You can read the whole sermon in Matthew chapters five through seven.)

We know the words, but have we committed to live them?

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City of Light

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Our small town lights shine at the end of the dark country road, letting me know home is just ahead. We don’t have an airport or supercenter; the brightest lights in town shine over the football field. Yet in the distance porch lights and streetlights are enough to light up the night.

Jesus said that we are the light of the world; “a city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 6:14). I’ve often read this passage and thought of it in individual terms. I have my light and you have yours, and we all shine.

But I don’t think that’s exactly how Jesus meant it.

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Be who you are…

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At a time when just being a young black man in America is enough to get you killed—you know what I’m talking about, you’ve read the headlines—I wonder what the other mommies tell their sons. All mommies worry about their sons, don’t they? All mommies tell their sons to be careful, to be respectful, to stand up for themselves, walking in the Truth of God in whose image they are made, right? Are other mommies afraid for their sons?

Here is what I know of fear. I am sufficiently realistic to acknowledge that I will never be free from them. However, I declare that they are not the boss of me, and will never paralyze me to the point of immobility.

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The Trouble With Circumstances

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Today, I fought discouragement
Because I looked at me instead of God
I looked at circumstances
Instead of Him

But then, I fixed my gaze on Him
And by the time evening fell
Discouragement had also fallen away

Looking at our difficult circumstances can often get us into trouble. When we examine what is going on around us, it is easy to think this is bad, this is messed up, and there is no way this can be resolved. It is easy to fall into the trap of even saying to ourselves, I don’t see how God can work through this, or fix this.

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A Message Not Just For Christmas

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Christmas is not to far in the distance anymore so I thought this would be a great message to share. After reading Luke 1 and 2 I found myself marveling at the differences in the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah. It’s pretty remarkable to see how God wanted John’s arrival to be revealed at the center of the Jewish nation, but he picked for Jesus to be born in a manger. Another interesting point revealed to me – John was the son of Zechariah, a priest and his mother was also highly looked up to. Jesus’s parents, Mary and Joseph, were just average Jewish people.

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Meet Me At The Edge Of The Cliff

I originally wrote this a couple of years ago for my personal blog. I’ve been praying for the right season to share it here. I hope it will bless and encourage your heart today.

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She stood at the edge of the cliff. With the sun beating down on her face, she could feel the cool breeze as it brushed against her checks. The smell of evergreen filled her senses as she took a deep breath. She stared ahead of her, eyes fixed on the other side. Her heart filled with passion, longing and desire. Yet she stood, at what seemed like the edge of all things.

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