Tag: Christian Living
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Can You Hear God?
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27,28). In the olden days, before refrigerators, people used what were called icehouses to preserve their food. An icehouse had thick walls,…
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Jesus, Remember Me
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43) A pastor once told me that he preferred preaching for a funeral rather than a wedding. Does that surprise you? If given the choice, I think most people would…
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How to Keep God’s Mercy From Feeling Routine
“Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” (Psalm 98:1). The psalm quoted above reminds me so much of an answer to the questions in King David’s heartfelt psalm: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How…
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No More Curse and No More Tears
“No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads.” (Revelation 22:3-4) The awful effects of sin have been present since humankind’s fall in the Garden…
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Should I Expect Persecution as a Christian?
Should I expect to be persecuted as a Christian? The honest answer that God gives in his Word is yes. God doesn’t hide that blunt answer in the Bible with fine print or invisible ink. He doesn’t bury it in the proverbial terms and conditions of being a Christian, hoping that his followers will just…
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What Must I Do to Be Saved?
What must I do to be saved? That question in its various forms has plagued people ever since the fall into sin. If the all-important answer can be found in keeping God’s commands or staying on his good side by being a good person, we haven’t done that. We can’t. We want to do something…
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Does God Really Care About Me?
Sometimes I forget who God is. I momentarily lose sight of who God is because I’m so fearfully fixated by some problem I’m facing in life. And to my shame, I wonder: Does God really care about me? That problem—whatever it may be—seems mountainous. It looms impossibly large, occupying my thoughts, my time, and my…
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What Does It Mean to Extol the Lord?
“Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly” (Psalm 111:1). If you’re like me, extol is not a word you use every day (or maybe ever). When I came across it in the verse from Psalm 111 (quoted above), curiosity got…