Be Strong and Courageous

A test was once conducted where 10 high school students were placed in one room and shown three lines of varying lengths. The students were told to raise their hands when the instructor pointed to the longest line. In reality, only one student was being tested. Nine of the students...

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Courage in Our Strange World

Proverbs 7 is a chapter about an unwise guy who wanders into trouble. It’s a scene that takes place in the twilight. A foolish young man has allowed himself to be led into temptation. And the results are not good. He falls into the trap set for him. It is...

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The Captain and Our Holy Ground

Joshua fit the battle of Jericho. And the walls came a tumbling down. That song composed long ago by Southern slaves became a rallying cry for freedom. The walls of bondage would fall – that’s what the singers of it believed. In another time and place, Jericho walls did fall...

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Sweet Smell

We have received grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ (Ephesians 4:7). By faith we have access into this “gift of Christ” wherein we stand (Romans 5:2(. This “gift of Christ,” in us,  equals the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). The life that we now live in...

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Making Do with Donkeys

There are a couple stories about donkeys in the Bible. One of them was given a voice; another one gave Jesus a lift into Jerusalem. In the book of Numbers, we read of the talking donkey. There, we are told the story of the king of Moab who sought out...

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“Lift Up Your Eyes”

In these perilous, frightening times it's easy to fasten our focus on people and events around us, both close by and far away. But such a lateral focus will cause fretting, which causes harm. Instead we receive Grace to lift up our heads and our eyes and focus rather on...

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Foxes, They Spoil the Vine

“The voice of my beloved! lo, this—he is coming, Leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills”  (Song of Solomon 2:8) When last had we leapt or jumped or even skipped? Buoyant as a bird or gazelle comes a jumping someone, in our allegorical sense it’s the Christ, resurrected from...

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