Reflections
Listening to Love
by Karen Kurth The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the…
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An Interceding Spirit
by Karen Huber “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance…
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Hush, Be Still
by Doug Mitts And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. (Mark 4:39, NAS95) It surprised me. Almost ten days ago, I simply sat, listening to the Spirit through the Word of God. What sort of conversation…
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Everyday Obedience
by Fred Swartz “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25, ESV) Once when I was on a bus the Holy Spirit gave me a message for a guy that I watched get on the bus, then He said not to pursue any conversation with him…
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The Lord’s Ways
by Lena Larsen Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 25:4-5, NIV) One of my most frequent prayers is for God’s direction or guidance in some matter. But the…
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When the Exiled (or Quarantined) Lived
by Karen Huber This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so…
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Faith Lived
by Jazz Becker “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” (James 2:22, NASB) At one point while living in Hawaii, I felt that God had more for me than just the temp jobs I’d been doing for many years since graduating from college.…
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Familiarity with God
by Doug Mitts “…for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.” (Acts 11:24, NAS95) Barnabas had a lead role in both the start and expansion of the church. I think the secret of Barnabas’s lived faith has to do with…
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Faith to Bless
by Lena Larsen “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalm 103:1, ESV) A former pastor of mine often spoke of following Christ as a matter of mind, emotion and will—all three being equally important (Mathew 22:37). So, I know, in theory at least, that my…
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Children of Promise
by Fred Swartz “Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.” (Galatians 4:28, NIV) What exactly makes us, like Isaac, children of promise? It was through Isaac that Christ was going to be revealed after many generations. Likewise, every ancestor of Christ that came down through Isaac’s lineage is also a child…
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