Tag: These Words Are Written
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Do You Believe This?
Note: The first half of this post draws directly from John 11:17-27,38-45, at times quoting it word for word. By all outward appearances, Jesus arrived too late. Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus, had succumbed to the debilitating sickness, the one that caused his sisters to send an urgent message to Jesus: “Lord, the one you…
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He Gives Us What We Really Need
“Will you give me a drink?” With that simple question, Jesus turned societal and cultural expectations upside down. Culturally, Jewish men did not talk to women they weren’t related to. It wasn’t proper or right. Nor did Jewish men ask Samaritan women for water from wells. They didn’t ask them for anything—Jews and Samaritans hated…
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Where Is Peace in an Uncertain World?
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). In his 1841 essay “Self-Reliance,” famous author Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that “nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” As the…
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Jesus Prayed for You
I can’t even begin to imagine everything Jesus was thinking about on the night he was betrayed and handed over to Roman authorities for execution by crucifixion. Let’s be clear: Jesus knew what was going to happen to him later that night and throughout the following day. He knew he would suffer unbelievable physical, emotional,…