Tag: faith
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Belief vs. faith
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many…
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Keep the faith
Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. (Psalm 69:6) David is surrounded by enemies who would love to see him fall. They are actively seeking his destruction and…
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Watching (for) God
O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress. (Psalm 59:9) In this psalm, David is under hostile surveillance. King Saul has sent men to watch David, to spy out an opportunity to kill him. He describes these men as evil, bloodthirsty, and fierce. This is no idle threat…
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Joy in Trusting, Not Taking
Restore to me the joy of your salvation (Psalm 51:12) This is one of my favorite psalms. David wrote it after being confronted, and convicted, by the prophet Nathan. Nathan fingered David as “the man” in a plot that would make Hollywood drool. A king, a beautiful girl who happens to be another man’s wife,…
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Acts 3:11-26
God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness. (Acts 3:26) Peter and John were “going up to the temple”. As they entered the temple, they saw a lame man begging for money. The lame beggar was situated next to the…
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by faith
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11.1 KJV) This is the opening verse of the great faith chapter of the Bible. You could think of this chapter as a hall of faith for the Old Testament saints. However, we shouldn’t take verse one as a complete definition…
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storehouses of the heart
But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) Like Mary, every believer has a storehouse of treasured memories and experiences that remind us of the miraculous and faithful God we serve. Mary had recently been visited by an angel herself, yet she is deeply moved by the angelic message…