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The Right List
Dear Heavenly Father There are so many things that I want to accomplish in my life. Like many of your sons and daughters, sometimes it feels like I’m taking one step forward and two steps backwards. The demands on my time are increasing, and my resources don’t seem to be keeping pace. This can be…
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Looking for Treasures Where There Are None
When a man decides to go down on one knee and ask a woman to be his wife, it means she’s presented to him something that makes him decide to deny the pursuit of any other woman. He chooses as his wife the woman that satisfies something within him. This choice signals the world of…
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Our Great Big Wonderful God!
First you had trouble sleeping, waking up all hours of the night. Then came the backaches and headaches. The week after that, your chest felt like an elephant was sitting on top of it. Then came the sneezing and coughing, the sore throat, and the fever that wouldn’t go away even with medicine. You can’t…
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Where Do We Go from Here?
Wherever we are in our spiritual walk with the Father through Jesus Christ, He’s calling us to go further—to become more deeply rooted in Christ. God wants us to do this so that we become spiritually stronger, and so that the vision He holds for us becomes clearer. This is so important because some of…
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A New Dimension in Prayer
It should never escape the minds and hearts of any believer that prayer to God is meant to be an expression of our total lives in Christ. The habit pattern for many of us, though, is to portion off our lives into categories. We label most of it as stuff we can handle, and other…
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Deeper Gratitude and Adoration for God
Dear Heavenly Father, Isaiah 26:3(NLT) says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” There have been many days that I have allowed situations to cause my thoughts to stray away from Your Word. You warn us not to look on the prosperity of the…
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3 Questions You Must Answer
If the person you’re dating isn’t ready for a marital commitment and you are, what are you expecting to happen? Do you expect that he will change his mind? Are you assuming he’ll grow more in love with you or are you willing to simply continue with things as they are? It’s important to ask…
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Unload the Extra Weight
James 1:19-24(NLT) “19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has…
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God Will Show You What He Can Do!
Proverbs 19:21(NLT) says, “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” Making many plans is what we humans do. We’re constantly making decisions and choices that we think will lead us where we want to go. God tells us in Proverbs 19:21 that we can certainly do this, but we must always…
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Speak Life!
“I don’t ever want to be married again!” Someone said this to me, and I was stunned at her proclamation. She’s a woman of a certain age, but in my mind, she’s still too young to feel this way. Her husband died a few years ago, and with two married adult children that have children…
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Take It By Faith!
Dear Heavenly Father, In Ephesians 2:10, You call the creation of humanity Your masterpiece. You tell us that we are Your finest work, and You created us as brand new creations in Christ Jesus. You want us to do the good things that You planned for us, and You planned these good things long before…
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Show Me How to Love
As human beings, we crave love, and whether we’re willing to admit it or not, most would do almost anything to have it. Many people today are still searching for that special someone, and they hope this person will shower them with the love they’ve always wanted. It’s no secret that there are disproportionately more…
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What’s on Your Mind?
Philippians 4:8 (NLT) “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” This verse in Philippians 4:8 promotes God’s standard for how we are to steward our hearts…
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What Matters Most
Dear Heavenly Father, In 1Corinthians 12:28(NLT), You tell us, “Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those…
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I Thought I Heard from God
Genesis 1:27-28(MSG) tells us, “God created human beings; he created them godlike, reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!” God is our Creator, and He has made us in His image. 1John 4:8 affirms that love is not just what God does, LOVE is…
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Can’t Nobody Do Ya’ Like Jesus!
Charlotte called her dad a very mean dry alcoholic. When they were children, before he got sober, he would whip her and her other siblings frequently for no reason. She said when she asked him why he was punishing her, he said if he whipped one, he had to whip them all. They were terrified…
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Truly Walking in Freedom
We have big problems these days, and it’s not just on a micro level, but on a macro one. We’re seeing the enemy’s plots on a very large scale and his tactic of divisiveness and lies is more transparent than ever. But society is revealing to us that there are very few people with their…
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The Many Faces of Temptation
James 1:13-14(NLT) “13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.” There is one thing Christians must always remember, and it is…
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Get Out of Your Own Way
One of the young women that I counsel has finished college and is ready to get married. She’s bright, intelligent, attractive and loves the Lord. But often she feels like she’s not doing enough with her life to please God. She says this because of her unfulfilled desire to meet the Godly man that will…
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A Light in Dark Places
Dear Heavenly Father, There are times when I feel lost, abandoned, cheated, lied to, and underestimated. I feel sometimes You don’t hear my heart crying from confusion. I know that’s not the case, but in that moment of sadness and depression, my emotions feel more real than the reality that You’re always with me. We…
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Your Call
Dear Heavenly Father I heard a great teacher say something that was so spot on, and it spoke to my spirit in a new way. He said, “The only way God can use you is if we are willing vessels”. I know that You do not use people in a sense of usurping their free-will…
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A Marriage Ultimatum without A Foundation
There are very few more important treasures in life than wisdom and spiritual maturity. Margarite found this out the hard way. I had known her for almost ten years before she married her long-time love at 58 years old. She had gotten serious about her walk in the Lord and gave her boyfriend an ultimatum,…
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You Have to Take What You Can Get—NOT SO!
There are two things that can happen when you grow up around strong women that have survived tremendous struggle and heartache. The first is that their tenacity and grit becomes a witness of courage and faith. The second is that you become intimately acquainted with the severity of how abandonment and infidelity can impact a…
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Stay Armored Up!
1Peter 5:8-9 (NLT) cautions the believer against the tricks and tactics of the enemy. It says, “8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of…
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Like a Tree Planted by the Waters
Dear Heavenly Father, You tell us in Hebrews 4:12-13 (MSG), “God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away…
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Are You Ready for Restoration?
In the Old Testament, Isaiah 43 looks forward to the release of God’s people from their captivity, but it goes beyond their current situation of bondage in Babylon and looks even to our redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father gives them a great encouragement in Isaiah 43:19(NLT). He said, “For I am about…
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First One to the Finish Line!
Every New Year’s Day, Sandra and her family would go to the beach early in the morning. It had been their tradition for the last twelve years. Everyone would be loaded down with beach chairs, books, and blankets; but Sandra was always the first one out of the car. She would rush to the beach…
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Schedule Your Review with God
I received an invitation from my financial institution this week to come in for a review. They advised that now would be a good time to sit down and discuss my needs and new opportunities. I thought, “hmmm…what if I received a message like that from God, what would my response be?” In truth, God…
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One Touch from God
One of my most fond memories from childhood is that of my big sister singing me to sleep. I would ask her to sing to me almost every night. Seven years my senior, I’m sure she had other things she’d rather be doing than singing the same song over and over until I fell asleep,…
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Released into Your Destiny
In our younger years, many of us had dreams of who we’d be in life, what we’d be doing, and who we’d be doing it with. As we got older and more mature, we began to understand that things would not go exactly according to our plans. Some of us didn’t land the dream job,…