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Giving Our Best in Worship
This post was originally published for Encouragement from Women Who’ve Been There. I am currently taking a break for the Christmas holiday to be with my family. 💚 “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11 As children many of us learned about the three gifts that were brought to baby Jesus. Although the Bible does not say how much the gold, frankincense, and myrrh were worth, it is known the gifts had a very high…
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All God, All Man
Most of us would agree Christmas is an important Christian holiday. After all, it’s when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior. However, I wonder if we truly understand and think about what really transpired when Jesus was born of the young virgin, Mary. A central miracle Christianity revolves on is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God became Flesh. He laid down His divinity and took on humanity (Philippians 2:6-7). We must remember before He came to earth, He was not human, but once He took on the body of a man, He assumed that position permanently. He was still all God, but now He was also all…
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Mary, Mother of Jesus
One woman stands out among all the women mentioned in the Bible. One woman who has been admired universally for generations. One woman that was sovereignly chosen above all women ever created to carry the Messiah. She was Mary, mother of Jesus. God entrusted her to birth, nourish, teach, and care for His only Son. She is said to be “blessed among women” not because of who she was but because of Whom she was to mother (Luke 1:28). She was “favored” which translates to mean she found grace in God’s eyes (Luke 1:30). She lived a godly life (not sinless). She willingly surrendered her body, her reputation, and her…
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Tell Your Story
Our testimony is our story. It is our story of how we came to Jesus Christ – our conversion of how we acknowledged our sin and wanted to made clean in the sight of God. It’s our story of when we became a child of God (John 1:12), because before then we were a child of the devil (John 8:42-44). When we tell someone of the day we made this decision, then we are telling our story, our testimony. This past week I finished reading through the book of Acts which is written by the apostle Luke but is predominately about Paul. Once a persecutor and hater of Jesus’ followers…
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Who’s in Control?
Ah, control. We all like being in control, but so often we lose it. It could be your mouth with the words that spill out of it, your appetite with how much you keep eating, your thoughts such as giving in to worry, or your time management with how much you spend on your phone, watching TV, etc instead of other needed things. Sometimes we seem to be in control of ourselves while other times we might look like an erupting volcano. Lack of control is sin. Very often people want to blame the devil for their sin problems. While he certainly knows our weaknesses and how to tempt us…
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Daily Gratitude
At the end of October the ladies ministry at our church had a fall event with the theme, “In Everything Give Thanks.” With us entering the Thanksgiving season (for those who don’t skip it and move on to Christmas as soon as the calendar flips to November 😂), I wanted our hearts and minds to start focusing on gratitude and thanksgiving. I don’t know about you, but I love to hear my family tell me “thank you” whether it’s something I have done for them or when I cook a meal or whatever. It’s one of those things that makes my face and heart smile. Know what I mean? 💜…
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Equal in His Eyes
As Christians we aren’t supposed to judge, are we? Yet, we are human and make mistakes DAILY. In particular I have found a group of people I have judged quite a bit. You see this group on street corners holding signs. I have avoided eye contact. I don’t want them to see me reading their signs; I want to be in denial about their needs. The judging begins immediately. “Why don’t they get a job?” my mind says. “If I give them money, will they really spend it on food OR drugs and alcohol?” Several years ago a friend and I volunteered for a homeless charity in our area to…
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The Lost Fruit of Meekness
Meekness seems like weakness to most, because it goes against everything in our human nature. It is nearly a lost attribute in the world today. In our human nature, we are prideful people, full of ourselves – our self-worth, our abilities, and our potential. Today’s culture teaches it loud and clear with “believe in yourself” and “you can do anything.” It’s all about your own inner strength and power. Meekness is NOT seen as a virtue. As believers in Jesus Christ, is this a wrong way to think? Let’s see what the Bible teaches about meekness which is a fruit of the Spirit (and the eighth in our series from…
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Moral Superiority
As humans, we like to be right. It often shows in our conversations with others. Most of us like to think well of ourselves too, and in the event we do something wrong, then we usually have an excuse to justify our actions. I believe our single biggest proponent for sinning is pride. Self-righteousness is a form of pride. We believe we are thinking right, doing right, saying the right things, etc. We see ourselves as good. “Behold how idolaters disagree: one adores righteous self, and another worships sinful self; but both idols must be utterly abolished.” Charles Spurgeon We do not read the words “self-righteousness” in the Bible, yet…