Author: Scott

Luke 21:3,4 I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. I have always considered myself to be somewhat generous with money.  My wife and I grew up…
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Luke 18:22,23 “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor… and come, follow me.”  But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. I sometimes think that all those with wealth are evil.  The cutoff for how much money makes one evil is above me, of course.  I…
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Luke 18:11-13 The Pharisee prayed… “God, I thank you that I am not like other men… like this tax collector.”… But the tax collector beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I love the tax collector’s prayer.  It was the honest prayer of a humble man who knew exactly what he…
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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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