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Being Called a Sinner Can Be Comforting

Being Called a Sinner Can Be Comforting

Last week I shared that even Mary the God-bearer needed a Savior. We all do. But I get it that being called a sinner might not sound very uplifting. It might make you feel doomed. Well, according to the Bible you are doomed without a Savior. You’d be doomed without Christmas, without Jesus coming to rescue us. But because he did, being called a sinner can be comforting. What??? In the words of Martin Luther “When Satan tells me I…

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Grace Makes You Fruitful

Grace Makes You Fruitful

Sometimes you hear people saying they don’t need to do anything because of grace. Sure, you don’t need to earn your salvation. Yes, it is all grace. But why would grace want to make you passive? Grace invites you into a loving relationship with your Savior, and living with Jesus does not make you inactive. Instead, grace makes you fruitful. I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much…

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How Not to Waste Your Life

How Not to Waste Your Life

Nobody wants to waste his or her life, don’t you think? We all know life is precious because it is so short and fragile. So we are to embrace it and make every moment count, right? If you ask different people how not to waste your life, you get varied answers depending on their values. How would you answer? I would probably have said something along the lines of Jesus “If you try to hang on to your life, you…

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Prayer to Know God’s Will

Prayer to Know God’s Will

Do you ever wonder what God wants you to do? We might think God’s will must be something complicated so that’s why we don’t even try. That’s sad, isn’t it? Because then we miss our purpose as well. For a long time, I’ve been trying to figure out the simplest way to know God’s will for me. And, yes, it’s prayer, of course. But what kind of prayer, right? Let’s find out. And then, just the other day, I came…

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Peace and Joy Are Byproducts of Obedience and Faithfulness

Peace and Joy Are Byproducts of Obedience and Faithfulness

It seems everyone is seeking peace and joy for themselves. And they are good things. But they are byproducts of obedience and faithfulness and not something we can reach on our own. How then can we go about them then? Simply put, when we seek Christ and keep him in our lives center, we are blessed with peace and joy. Paul Tripp has said, “Putting yourself in the center and making life all about you never leads to peace and…

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Holiness Is Christ in You

Holiness Is Christ in You

As I am preparing to teach Christian Ethics starting next week, I have been thinking of holiness a lot. We are called to be holy like our God is holy, right? It is a tall order for human beings but there is no way around it. No one is excused from pursuing perfect holiness. The Bible clearly tells us to be holy over and over. My life experience tells me it’s undoable on my own. I need help. Thankfully, God…

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God Is Gracious

God Is Gracious

John the Baptist was born as a miracle to elderly parents six months before Jesus. He was not named after his father because an angel visited him and told him he was to be called John instead (Luke 1:13). So there must then be a deep meaning to this name, right? So what does the name John mean? And what does that have to do with us? The English name John is the transliteration of the Greek name Ioannes, and the Greek…

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Faith Gives You Strength, Peace, and Joy

Faith Gives You Strength, Peace, and Joy

When you walk with Jesus, you can’t hide your inner joy even though the world around you might not recognize the source of your strength, peace, and joy. If people are happy with superficial living, and just splashing on the surface, they will never find the treasures of deep grace diving. That’s a shame, don’t you think? Mainly because they can never find the pearl of deep-sea, Jesus. If you keep my commands, you will live in my love, just…

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How to Receive Grace

How to Receive Grace

Do you feel that God’s grace is not for you? That somehow you don’t qualify to receive it? The only way you don’t qualify is that you’re absolutely sinless and hence don’t need it. But there is not a person alive who is sinless. And Jesus pre-approved you personally on the cross. You’re all set to receive grace upon grace. God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! (Titus 2:11, MSG) Okay, so God’s grace is…

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Live Like an Heir

Live Like an Heir

Our God is an amazing God. So generous, so loving, so kind. Yet, somehow, we live many times like orphans. Like we’d be left all alone in this world to get by the best we can. But that is not so. The Bible tells us so. Jesus lives in us. The Holy Spirit is always with us. So we are to live like beloved children, not like orphans. It’s time to live like an heir! How do we do that?…

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