Month: May 2017

Luke 17:21 Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. I doubt that I was ever taught this, but as a child, I understood that the Christian life meant choosing misery here on Earth so that I would be happy in the afterlife.  My cross to bear, was surrendering happiness and joy…
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Luke 17:15-17 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God… giving him thanks…  Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” Some days, my arrogance has arrogance.  The other day, as I was in line at the gas station, the patron ahead of me bought a…
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Luke 17:14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. In the height of my addiction, I hated what I was doing and I hated who I was.  I daily begged God to take my addiction from me and I was…
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Luke 17:3,4 If your brother sins… and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.  Though I have been forgiven much in my life, I still find it hard some days to simply forgive…
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Luke 17:3 If your brother sins, rebuke him… I am confident that my natural response to the sin or destructive behavior of others is almost always defective.  I either get angry and judgmental (act aggressively), I ignore it (act passively) or I find indirect ways to express my displeasure (act passive aggressively). Jesus, in this…
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Luke 17:1,2 Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea… Last night, I dreamt that I displayed inappropriate photos of women on my blog.  I was…
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Luke 16:19,20 There was a rich man who… feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus… who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Years ago, I saw a movie in which the main character, blind to his progressively destructive behavior, has an…
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Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. I like to think that my greatest defects are things of the past.  Perhaps I just had the…
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Luke 15:25,28 Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing…  But he was angry and refused to go in. I love Jesus’ story of the Prodigal Son.  I of course, am the wandering son who repented from his destructive ways to…
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Luke 15:20 He arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. I clearly remember the despair in realizing the depth of my own destruction.  Like the Prodigal Son, I had pursued self and…
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