The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
The living sacrifice described in Romans 12:1-5 involves our personal commitment to habitual and continuous worship of God demonstrated by the way we think and live. Each verse presents a different aspect of our daily lives permeated by God: Personal Holiness, Personal Purity, Personal Humility, Personal Collaborative Approach, and Personal Perspective of Unity in Christ. Today we will look at verse three.
3. Personal Humility – “For I say to every man that is among you, through the grace given unto…..
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Our frequent participation in the remembrance of our Lord’s broken body and shed blood for us, called the Lord’s Supper or Communion, constitutes our congregational monument to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. However, the living sacrifice described in Romans 12:1-5 involves our personal commitment to habitual and continuous worship of God demonstrated by the way we think and live. Each verse presents a different aspect of our daily lives permeated by God: Personal Holiness, Personal Purity, Personal Humility,…..
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Once we have, by faith, accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we spend the rest of our lives learning what that means. Some define this process as a developing maturity of faith, others as a progressive sanctification. Setting semantics aside, it is God’s training of His people through biblical instruction towards both foundational support for our earthly journey and preparation for eternity in Heaven. With time we develop an increasing sense of Bible-centric attitudes and actions as we experience…..
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Planted!
One of my favorite verses is Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain you: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” The New Testament version of this is found in 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.”
Websters dictionary lists at least ten synonyms for the word “move”. They include proceed, persuade, activate, drive, impel, start, stir, act, budge, and evacuate. Not all of these…..
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Another historic statue bit the dust on July 10. Along with several Confederate statues, Charlottesville, Virginia, opted to remove one of Lewis and Clark with their guide and interpreter, Sacagawea. Decades ago it was touted as an honorable representation because it included the important role of a Native American and a woman in the western expansion of the United States. I find it strange that someone would think a piece of bronze sculpted more than a hundred years ago defines…..
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“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell…..
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Years ago bank tellers were trained to recognize counterfeit money by the exclusive handling of real currency. By only knowing the feel of cash that is truly minted by the government, the counterfeit would be readily recognized because of the foreign feel of it – subtle differentiations in fabric, ink, and texture. In the same way, Christians need to know the real currency of the Word of God in order to recognize religious counterfeits and falsehood.
The writers of the…..
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Job Meets God
We are coming up on four years of our own Job experience in which we have experienced one after another personal catastrophic events, primarily medical. However, we have not lost all possessions and family, as Job did, and the winter of 2020 for us, considered a very bad year by most, gave us a short cessation of medical issues until COVID hit each of us that summer. And since then the Job experience has continued.
The main…..
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In Psalm 139:23-24, David opens his heart to God’s view in a way that reveals the deepest intent of his heart: “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” Does God need our permission to search our hearts and reveal what needs to be cleansed?
God sees all and already knows what hinders our fellowship with Him without this…..
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Dan and I frequently share a laugh with pertinent one-liners from movies and TV series. Perhaps you will recognize the movie sources of some of them:
Grandpa, they’re kissing again. He’s dead, Jim. Ricky Ricardo was Cuban. Try not. Do or do not.
These quips are, I am sure, recognizable to my generation and our kids. While we have a lot of fun with movie one-liners, I wonder if we as Christians are as good at recognizing “one-liners” from the…..