I belong to a large church, and we fill our sanctuary with passionate people every Sunday. Sometimes during a loud worship song, I raise my hands and call out, “Do You see me, God? I’m right here in the dark. Can You hear me? I’m singing as loud as I can. I love You!” I…
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I don’t always tuck a verse into my memory because it holds precious promises or inspires greater faith or challenges me to live up to my calling as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Sometimes I hide it away for one simple reason. I need to know it. I need to know that fiery ordeals are…
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With the creative and technical support of my husband, Steve, I launched my new website yesterday. I’m sure that’s why I thought of assigning 2 Timothy 2:15 as today’s memory verse. I approach the whole idea of putting myself out there as a Bible teacher with fear and trembling. And that’s a good thing! Even…
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What really matters to God? Living right or loving well? Mark 12:30 makes God’s priorities clear: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. If everything we do is motivated by a decision to…
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The tomb is empty so we don’t have to be. Will we remember that long after Easter Sunday? A woman once pulled me aside on a Sunday morning during communion and whispered a desperate plea. “What do you do when you’re completely empty?” I admired her courage and naked honesty, Only by God’s grace did…
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rel•e•vant adj 1. having some sensible or logical connection with something else, for example, a matter being discussed or investigated. 2. having some bearing on or importance for real-world issues, present-day events, or the current state of society1 I’m clueless about post-modern culture. I don’t watch TV. I don’t read New York Times Bestsellers. (Wait,…
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I believe with all my heart that God speaks in a variety of ways. He often communicates to me through my circumstances. I might hear a perfectly timed song on the radio that comforts or convicts me. Sometimes God will speak to me through my husband or a friend or even a stranger. He also…
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To extol is to praise with great enthusiasm, to praise with a passionate or consuming interest. What a great word. Doesn’t it sound like fun? I can almost picture the one extolling. He’s cheering loudly after his favorite team won the Super Bowl. She’s clapping madly after her child rides a bike without training wheels.…
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I bought Chuck Colson’s book Loving God because I wanted to sit down and read about how much God loves me. Instead the book challenged me to stand up and love God. Colson wrote of his goal for the book in the introduction: The greatest commandment of all, Jesus said, is “Love the Lord your…
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Have you ever prayed a prayer that would require God’s constant vigilance if He chose to respond affirmatively? I petitioned God that way more than 30 years ago. My college roommate and I had discovered a fantastic Chinese food restaurant within walking distance of our dorm. We loved the chicken chow mien and pork fried…
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