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Its hard work being a disciple. Growing is tough. Training your brain to think certain ways is hard. Remembering all the good stuff you are taught without forgetting some parts is downright challenging. Lessons aren’t frequently learned the first time through. Mark 8:4 is not a typical verse
Mark
It’s amazing what a little submission to God can do. Abraham, the father of the Hebrew people, submitted to God. Moses, the leader of the exodus and the one who brought the Law to the people, submitted to God. Joshua, the leader of the conquest of the Promised Land,
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Humanity may have messed up the world, but Jesus came to overcome. I marvel at Jesus’ ability to see evidence of a fallen world everywhere He looked and still have so much love, peace, and compassion in His heart. Human beings use each other, treat each other poorly, and certainly
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Jesus’ compassion displays incredible understanding. Tying this into yesterday’s thoughts, Jesus understands how all the events of our lives tie into each other as well as impacting our feelings and our thoughts. He knows how it all comes together in our being. When Jesus comes to us, He understands
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Jesus had a plan all along. This simple statement is easily overlooked. He’s God; of course He has a plan. Yet, I am amazed at how easily Jesus maneuvers between situations and still manages to tie things together. He can maneuver through three, four, even five different interactions and
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Some decisions are too great for culture to hold them. Some lessons are so large they surpass the boundaries of culture. Some needs are so massive that even cultural expectations shouldn’t get in the way. Having told the disciples that what is on the outside does not defile us,
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What is on the inside matters. Our culture gives lip-service to this idea, but it doesn’t believe it. If it did, our advertisements would have examples of good character, not beauty. If it did, the popular and powerful kids in school would be nice kids, not mean kids. If
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The inside of a person matters. It’s a simple but poignant thought. What we do is significant, but why we do it is even more significant. Motivation matters. Speaking of motivation, Jesus’ approach to discipleship continues to work. When Jesus finds Himself alone with His disciples, they ask Him
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There is always an opportunity to impact the world around us. Sometimes this is easy. Places like church and bible studies are full of people whose lives are primed to be impacted for Christ. People who find their way into religious gatherings have already taken the first step of curiosity
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People will use any excuse to get what they want. How often do we say something like, “I really want that piece of cake,” and justify it by saying we’ll spend an extra half-hour in the gym burning off the calories? I am always amused when I have students
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What do your traditions say about you? Tradition speaks about who we are as people. Tradition shows other people what we value. Tradition allows us to stay true to core foundational values. Of course, all of this assumes that our traditions are rooted in something true to begin with. Today
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Why do you have traditions? One of my favorite jokes about tradition goes something like this. A young woman, just after getting married, wants to cook a roast for Sunday dinner. She asks her mother to teach her. The mother takes her grocery shopping, teaches her to pick out a