Blog

 

01.02.15

What in the world are “magi”? Strong’s Concordance defines the word this way: a magus; the name given by the Babylonians (Chaldeans), Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, sorcerers etc.

It’s a pretty broad job description, isn’t it?...

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01.01.15

Know your path, the Bible teaches us. Because there's a stark contrast in the two paths we can follow in life. One is well-worn, one traveled lightly.

The destinations differ too. One leads to emptiness and destruction. No, that emptiness and destruction does...

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12.31.14

One day soon, it will happen (Revelation 22:10). We’ll ring in not just a new year, but a whole new universe (...

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12.30.14

When we go through periods of testing, when life takes us through the fire, this is a time to call on God’s name in prayer. And we can do that remembering that God uses those trials to refine our faith.

No matter how serious the trial, no matter how critical the test, God hears and answers our prayers. And Jesus walks with us in the fire...

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12.29.14

Have you ever suddenly gotten a compulsion to worship someone or something? Maybe you didn't think of it as worship. But you knew you were drawn to them and admired them--whatever (or whoever) it might be.

Whenever this occurs, we tend to sink ourselves into seeking. Or we invest major time and energy into pursuing. In John's vision in...

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12.28.14

When someone makes a claim that's going to affect me, I want to know what I'm going to do about that claim. The claims of the Bible are sometimes counterintuitive. But they are the claims of the Bible. It's important we understand them clearly.

The Bible, for instance, makes some exclusive claims for God, such as in Psalm 148, where we...

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12.27.14

The temple in Jerusalem had to be rebuilt at the end of the exile in Babylon. God called the Jewish governor, Zerubbabel, to play an important role in this rebuilding (Haggai 2:23). God instructed Zerubbabel through the prophet Zechariah that the beginning of the temple project would be all-important. It would determine success or failure....

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12.25.14

Sin divides. The separation created by our sin was painful to God.

Extremely painful.

But God had a dream for us. His desire was to see all people reunited with him. And through hundreds and hundreds of years, God never gave up on his dream that he would reunite us.

So he pursued that dream. And he shared that dream. He...

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12.24.14

Today is Christmas! And you know what that means, don't you?

Our Salvation has come! Jesus, the Chosen One—whose arrival was prophesied for millennia—has made his way into our world.

The most wonderful thing ever is God becoming man so that he could demonstrate to us the full extent of his love! Our redemption draws near!

...

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12.24.14

At what point exactly is God paying closest attention to you? Does he get revved up and focused when he sees your successes? Of course!

But interestingly, the One who counts and names the stars will focus on you most when you are brokenhearted and wounded. Our very great and powerful God, who knows everything—everything!—will hone in on...

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