Category: discipleship
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Conversations
I would like to (anonymously) share conversations that I recently had with fellow believers about sharing the truth with others so that we can use this opportunity to examine what the Bible says about the matter. Both of these instances included women who have absolutely beautiful hearts for God—they are saved and show it by…
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Our Conduct
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to…
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Beautiful
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by
in be ready, born again, bride of Christ, children of God, Christ’s return, deception-delusion-discernment, discipleship, faithful-steadfast, free will, freedom, gifts, Holy Spirit, hope, idolatry, Jesus-Messiah-the Christ, kingdom of God, last days-end times, love, lukewarm Christians, mark of the beast, repentance, salvation-redemption, sanctification, sexual immorality, sovereignty, temple of God, thanksgiving-grateful, the Church, tribulation-persecution-trials-testing, walk in the Spirit, wisdom-truth, worship-praise-honorThis devotional was originally written by me in December, 2014, but not published anywhere until 2016, and then updated in July, 2018 (and deleted the parts of it which had been split up into 20 posts). I have updated it again in December, 2022. The entire article can be downloaded as plain text pdf with…
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But Not to Quarrel Over Opinions
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. Romans 14:1 kit: Miss Dottie and Mr. Brad at the Zoo by Kits 4 Kids Below is the context of the entire chapter. The key word of the above verse is “opinions.” Paul is not contradicting himself when…
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We Will Go
And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.” Joshua 1:16 quickpage: Little Traveler collab by After Five Designers (store closed) Remember, Joshua (a “type” of Jesus, whose name is almost identical–but Jesus is Greek and Joshua/Yeshua is Hebrew) leading the Jews into…
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Press On
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from…
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Joy Full (These Things)
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:11 Quickpage: Color Me Crazy by Kristmess Designs Needless to say, in order to appreciate what Jesus said above, we need to know what “these things” are. As members of His Body, what gives…
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Salty and Lit
Today, I ran across this short speech from last year by Elizabeth Johnson (“Activist Mommy”) where she said that the young people are now referring to positive things as “lit” (formerly “cool” or “neat”) and negative things as “salty.” I didn’t know those words had been hijacked along with many other words, such as “gay”…
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Wheat or Tares?
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares [weeds] among the wheat and went away. Matthew 13:24-25 A similar idea to that conveyed in the above passage…
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Eating with Egyptians
(This article has been updated as of August 8, 2018.) I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am…
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Never Turn Back (from Following Jesus)
For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. 2 Peter 2:21 The sign on the banner being flown in the layout above says “return to God,” which is to get…
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True Reformation (and True Transformation)
On this date (October 31, 2017) when everyone is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the reformation, I have some observations to share. The reformation was all about removing false teachings taught by the Roman Catholic church. However, there are still many such teachings lingering to some degree or another. If we don’t understand what they…
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Make Disciples
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 paper and scatter clusters by…
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All Fall Short
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24 kit by KimB (Feb. 2013 Color Challenge participation gift) I can’t help but point out in these dangerous days of “mega-church madness” that even though we…
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Who’s Your Daddy?
A word of encouragement to be ready when Jesus returns: Please don’t buy it if the devil tries to sell you the lie that children of God can enjoy their sins just as much as the rest of the world. Our old nature loves to hear it, because its just plain easier to go along…
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The Eclipse
These are dangerous times we’re living in. Not because we’ll be harmed by today’s total eclipse (August 21, 2017), but because of the risk we take when we let anything obscure the Light of the world from our view. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me…
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Set Free
When I felt this message beginning in my heart a few days ago and began to write it down, I didn’t have an idea yet what I would call it or when I would finish it, but God did. So here we are celebrating Independence Day in the United States once again and here is…
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The Way is Hard
Question: If it’s so EASY to get into heaven that all we have to do is claim to believe in Jesus, then why did He say that the way is EASY that leads to destruction and HARD that leads to eternal life? It almost seems like there’s more to this, doesn’t it? What is hard…
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Be Angry and Do Not Sin
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27 People prefer to only remember Jesus by how mild mannered and loving He was, but there were times when He did get angry. Can you name the two times that…
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Robots
I always say that if God wanted robots, He would have made them–but He didn’t. He gave us free will–which we LOVE when we are getting our way and HATE when others are getting their way that negatively affects us. But another thought about robots is this: How could a robot possibly be made in…
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Question for You
Question: Has God become less worthy of your love now that almost 2000 years have passed since He gave His only Son to save you? Or has He become less powerful than He was, so that there is no longer any need to have a healthy respect for Him that you should obey? Is society…
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True Reformer (Possessing Everything)
We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech,…
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His Anointing
I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as He has taught you,…
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Diligence in Love
These days as we see society moving farther and farther away from God, there is almost a sense of desperation in some ministries to do something about it. Sometimes they want results so badly that they are willing to settle for much less than God intended and call it “success.” I wrote about this topic…
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Bad Company
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Come to your senses and stop sinning, for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:33-34 As we hopefully know by now, these words were written by Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, to believers at Corinth. The majority…