Heartbreak Etched in Sand

I was walking the beach last week and I came across a message etched in the sand that I’m still thinking about. It was one of those messages where at first you smile and say, “That’s nice.” A moment later your heart sinks as you feel the weight of the last half of the note. […]

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Sunday Praise

With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple […]

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Do you wish to get well?

When you face trials in life, what do you put your faith in? For the man in John 5:1-8 who had been ill for thirty-eight years, he put his faith in a pool of water. When Jesus asked him, “Do you wish to get well (6, NIV).” The man focused on other people preventing him […]

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Building Up, Not Tearing Down

The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? Proverbs 18:14 (NIV) How does a spirit get broken? Too often by the words and deeds of others. What we do to others can either build up their spirit or crush it. When the spirit of another is broken, it can […]

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Compassion in Grief

When we suffer loss, the grief can be overwhelming. Jesus felt that same pain when he learned that his cousin John the Baptist was beheaded by Herod. “Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself (Matthew 14:13).” It’s hard to see God’s purpose in […]

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Heal Me Now, God

There are deep longings in our heart, things we want God to do for us. Yet we don’t always know how to approach our Lord, or even what to say. The leper in Matthew 8:1-4 shows us the importance of laying our burdens before Jesus. There are three things the leper does in making his […]

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Authority Figure

He was a man of authority, a leader of many in the army. He was used to giving commands his soldiers obeyed. Yet he approached Jesus with respect, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented (Matthew 8:6, NASB).” The centurion in this passage calls Jesus, “Lord,” even though he is a Roman […]

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