Stirred Toward Wholesome Thinking

2 Peter 3:1-2 (NIV) Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

The Word of God is a lot about reminders. After your initial salvation experience and your starting journey into the scriptures, you learn that you are never done learning and you are nev

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A Birth That Changed the World

Luke 2:4-7a (NIV) So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.

The Word of God tells the story of the birth of the Messiah, but it does so in an unspectacular way

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The Light of the World

Matthew 4:13-16 (NIV) Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Darkness is not conducive to safety and it certainly does not he

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Fruit from Dry Ground

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV) “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

I just recently had the privilege of visiting Israel and one of the things that I noticed was that a lot of it is dry ground. Almost two-thirds of it is desert.

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The Right Kind of Love That Wins

Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV) And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

When it comes to love, most people in the world have a warped view of it. Everyone defines love in their own terms. Many people, even many who identify

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Saying No the Right Way

Titus 2:11-12 (NIV) For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age...

If there is one word that you do not need to teach little children, it's the word "no." Once they start to be aware of things around them, they learn that defiant little word very quickly. Saying no is easy and comes naturally. Children have an inb

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What God Decrees Will Come to Pass

1 Kings 13:2 (NIV) By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’”

People misunderstand who God is and how He works. Many think that they can get away with doing evil because usually, nothing bad happens to them immediately. But the Word of God is c

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Meaningful Sacrifice

2 Samuel 24:23-24 (NIV) “Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.” 24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

David was feeling good about himself after having conquered just about every nation around him an

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The Disowning of Jesus

John 13:38 (NIV) Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

One of the many tragic events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus was when all of the disciples ran and abandoned Him when He was arrested. Even sadder was the fact that Peter, arguably Jesus’ most outspoken and devoted disciple, disowned Jesus three times. He was questioned three separate times about whether

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He Is Good!

Psalm 139:1 (NKJV) Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

There are obviously many, many reasons to give thanks to our God, but there is one that the Word of God speaks about that perhaps we don’t give enough thought to, and that’s in the scripture verse above. Have you ever thanked God just because He is good?

Many people thank the Lord for things that He has done for them but if there is nothing currently that He has given them, they do

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He Finds a Way

2 Samuel 14:14 (NIV) Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.

There is no one like our God...no one! He withholds the punishment that we deserve (that’s mercy) to lavish unmerited favor (that’s grace) on us that we don’t deserve. When we repent of our sins and turn our hearts to Him, He meets us where we are and showers u

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Doing Earthly Good

Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

There is a popular saying about Christians who, in some people’s opinion, tend to focus so much on their relationship with Jesus that they are of no use to the people around them. Of these Christians it is said that they are so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly g

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The god of Loneliness

1 John 5:21 (NIV) Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

When we read warnings from the scriptures about idols, we think of ugly statues and monuments that people make with their hands. These idols and false gods were a huge problem for the Israelites in the Old Testament and they continue to be prominent among a vast number of people in the world today. But did you know that there are idols that we worship that are not seen? These are especially dangerous because you c

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Letting Peace Rule

Colossians 3:15 (NIV) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Everyone wants to experience peace. Many people talk about their desire to see world peace. That is a lofty desire that I can confidently say we will never experience, at least not in this world. There will be absolute and complete peace one day, but it will be experienced when we are in eternity in heaven with the Lord Jesus. But can we

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The Folly of Thinking to Yourself

1 Samuel 27:1 (NIV) But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

David had been running from Saul for a long time. He spent a lot of time in the wilderness and hiding in caves from King Saul. He had quite a few close calls, but the Lord always delivered him from King Sa

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