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There are always layers to understanding God’s action. When I was six, understanding God was about being amazed at God’s power in the story. As I got older, I started understanding deeper lessons based on the greater historical context. As an adult, I have the opportunity to apply
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God loves us deeply and wants us to grow in His truth. Sometimes growth is exciting and fun. Sometimes growth comes with failure and critique. While Jesus is patient with His disciples on the boat, He is also critical of them. Jesus doesn’t pull punches with His critique in
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God is far more patient and understanding than we generally deserve. It’s simple, but true. I’ve lived on this earth for several decades and am still learning lessons and not getting everything right. The bad news is I’ll still be learning and still making mistakes even after
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Jesus doesn’t have to win the argument. All along Jesus’ ministry, he has been happy to converse with anyone, but we’ve seen Him frequently turn aside and leave. He’s left crowds to head into the wilderness. He’s left arguments with Pharisees to head into Gentile land.
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God’s ways are always deeper than we can fathom. I have lost count of the times I think I’ve figured out God’s lesson only to be surprised. I’ve lost count of how often I read the Bible and see something I’ve never noticed before. God’
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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
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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.