Evidences of the Spirit’s Empowering

For the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17) What can we expect a Spirit-filled life to look like? What are things you and I can claim when the Spirit is in full control? When we are Spirit-filled and therefore rightly related to the […]

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Power Applied to Weakness

Because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. (2 Corinthians 12:7–8 […]

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A Few Words of Warning

We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5 NASB) When learning about the filling of the Spirit, balance is always preferred to extremes. So as I previously reminded you: Keep your balance in all things. […]

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Maturity Checklist

Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11) Look at 1 Peter 3:8–12, and you’ll find a checklist for spiritual maturity. It helps us evaluate how we’re doing on this pilgrimage from earth to heaven. To […]

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Handling Hardships

For I have learned to be content with whatever I have. (Philippians 4:10) There once lived a man who became a Christian as an adult and left the security and popularity of his former career as an official religious leader to follow Christ. The persecution that became his companion throughout the remaining years of his […]

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Godliness

I need to be very candid with you. If you are a “Sunday Christian,” you will not stand alone when outnumbered. Apart from a personal and vital faith in Jesus Christ, it is impossible to wage a winning effort against the system called “the world.” Trying to overcome the powerful magnet of the majority without help from above would be a frustrating and counterproductive effort.

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Generosity

Reflect on God’s gifts to you. In case you need a little help, read through Psalm 103. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things

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Mission Accomplished

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. —2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT) Jesus’ sixth statement on the cross was not a cry of anguish; it was a declaration of victory. He had reached the goal and was able […]

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Comparison

If I may select a well-known phrase from the cobwebs of the fourteenth century and wipe away the dust to garner your attention, it is: COMPARISONS ARE ODIOUS. Odious . . . disgusting, detestable. If you want to be a miserable mortal, then compare. You compare when you place someone beside someone else for the purpose of emphasizing the differences or showing the likenesses. This applies to places and things as well as people.

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Newborn

Two hours away from our own front door we traveled completely around the world. We didn’t miss a continent. From Paraguay to the Congo. From the Serengeti Plains of Tanzania into the tropical rain forests of Malagasy, across the Indian Ocean to mysterious Malaya. Then it was the tundra of the Arctic Circle, Scandinavia to Mesopotamia, Egypt to China, Manchuria to Siberia.

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