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Posts by Dave Magelssen

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An Unexpected Call

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During my first years of employment, I worked with a guy who had a personality like mine. We probably did not get a lot of work accomplished, but we sure enjoyed working together. He and his wife had marriage issues, so Diana and I were praying we could be used to help them resolve their differences. They had little to no interest in coming to know Jesus. They eventually d...

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Pride Check

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"But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Indeed! I thought 'He would at least come out to [see] me and stand and call on the name of the Lordhis God, and wave his hand over the place [of leprosy] and heal the leper.' " II Kings 5:11 Naaman really stuck out to me in my reading this week. He was highly regarded by his King. He was a successful supreme commander of t...

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Take Possession

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"So Joshua said to the sons of Israel, "How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?" Joshua 18:3 In verse 3 Joshua was asking the tribes why they were putting off their instruction to go possess the land. Instead of fulfilling God's command to destroy the Canaanites, who by this time were weaken...

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Desperate for Prayer

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"Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he has done harm to this people and you have not delivered at all." (Ex 5:23) This is a prayer of a man who is desperate to pray. As you know God sent Moses on a mission to free the Israelites from Pharaoh's grip. God told Moses "I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel out of Egyp...

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Pray Specifically

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I am sure that you are all aware of the many references to prayer in the Bible. For instance, the Bible says that prayer is commanded (Is. 55:6, Matt 7:7, Phil 4:6), and that there are incentives to pray (Is. 65:24, Amos 5:4, Luke 11:9-10). Beyond this, there are postures in prayer like standing (I Kings 8:22), bowing down (Psalm 95:6), kneeling (2 Chron 6:13) , spreading ...

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The Name of Jesus

Word of the Day

"And they took offense at Him." Mark 6:3 "they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." Acts 5:42 Have you ever had a conversation about God with an unbeliever in which the discussion wasn't confrontational? The dialogue was actually cordial and comfortable and as long as the subject was God; the emotional aspect of the discussion was fairly civil. Howe...

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It's a Heart Issue

"When Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table." Matthew 26:6-7 Mary was identified in John 12:3 as the woman who poured the costly perfume on Jesus. The word costly doesn't seem to explain the significance of the perfume's value becaus...

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It's a Heart Issue

"whose heart stirred him" Ex 35:21 "whose heart moved them" Ex 35:22 "whose heart stirred" Ex 35:26 "whose heart moved them" Ex 35:29 I am sure you have heard the statement, "It's a heart issue" many times. I know when I have hear that statement it usually centered in obedience. Ex 35, is a good example for what it looks like when people are moved to obedience by their h...

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Satisfied with Life

Rejoice

"And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content." I Timothy 6: 8 In Matthew 21:33-39, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who planted a vineyard. He rented it out to vine-growers who were thought to be reliable. The vine-growers agreed to pay a percentage of the proceeds to the landowner as rent. The remaining proceeds would be theirs for all their work ...

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Heart of Prayer

Word of the Day

"And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai." Genesis 16:2 Genesis 16:2 says "Sarai, Abram's wife had born him no children" Sarai had been childless for 10 years and since it was a custom of the day, she could get a child by using her own maid servant. So, "Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife," Gen 16:3. Scripture does not ...

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Revive Me According to Your Word

Walk with Jesus

"Redeem me from the oppression of man that I may keep your precepts." Psalm 119:134 I feel there needs to be a disclaimer on my blog with all that's happening in the news the last few days. This is not a political statement at all. This is something God put on my heart several weeks ago. Since retiring, Diana and I spent a lot of time in the car while traveling. We found...

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Boldness to Speak

Pray

"as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God" 1 Thessalonians 2:2 Every week, my wife meets with an accountability group. As they were studying/sharing last week, a friend that hadn't attended before joined the group. She was unsure of her relationship with God but wanted to know more. As you might expect, the group, shared the good news ...

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Marriage 5

Word of the Day

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 Guys: I'm sure everyone knows these verses.we as followers of Jesus are called to p...

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Marriage 6

Word of the Day

"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three s...

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Marriage 4

Word of the Day

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20 Guys: This section of James is referring to being a Doer of the Word, "Know the Word Do the Word". It's so easy to read and understand with our minds, but the ap...

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Marriage 3

Word of the Day

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;" Philippians 2:3 Guys: as you know Paul is writing to the Philippians and he desperately desires them to experience a unity that is deep, binding and fills their hearts. So, it makes sense that he begins with "selfish ambition". It's impossible to...

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Marriage 2

Word of the Day

"Do everything without complaining and arguing." Philippians 2:14a Guys: There is a question that I am a bit hesitant to ask Diana because I am afraid her answer would be yes. My reluctant question is "Diana, do you think I complain too much?" The reason I am afraid she would say yes is there never seems to be a shortage of things for me to grumble about. Important things...

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Marriage

Word of the Day

"It's better to live alone in the desert than with a nagging wife." Proverbs 21:19 Guys, if you're like me, I automatically associate nagging as a "quality" related only to the wife. However, some of the definitions in the dictionary define nagging as "continual scolding, fault finding or complaining" and the dictionary does not exclusively mention it as a female characte...

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Listening

Pray

"He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him." Proverbs 18:13 Communications in a marriage relationship is listed as one of the top reasons for divorce. Whenever we ask the Young Marrieds class what topics they would like to study, the answer usually includes communication. I realize there is much said and written about this topic, so I really don...

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Impatience

Word of the Day

"this Moses..we do not know what has become of him." Exodus 32:1 When Moses hadn't returned from the mountain after being with God, the people were becoming fearful and concerned something had happened to him. They wanted Aaron to have God do something. Once again they weren't trusting God and became impatient; they wanted something done now! Impatience can cause us to do...

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Children Marked by Obedience

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"By those who come near Me, I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored." Leviticus 10: 3 This verse follows the incident when Aaron sons disobeyed God and " died before the Lord." (Leviticus 10:2) My first response as a dad would be to say, "But that's not fair!" However, we must realize that his sons were Priests and they knew what had been co...

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The Best Influence

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"They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me" Exodus 23:33 In Exodus 23 God warned the Israelites not to intermix or make a covenant with the Hivites, Canaanites or Hittites because the people "will make you sin against Me." What has been the most influence in your life? Whatever it is, have you ever stopped to evaluate its relevance regard...

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Faith

Word of the Day

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 There is nothing more I can add to what already has been written about and what has been said about Hebrews 11 which is known as the Hall of Faith chapter. It's really hard to imagine some of the difficulties; actually they were pretty much down right impossible situations, w...

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Win Their Trust

Pray

I came to the exiles ..and I sat there seven days where they were living." Ezekiel 3:15 Sometimes there are opportunities, situations or downright uncomfortable experiences in which the Lord ordains in our lives. Ezekiel had one of those opportunities as the Lord directed him to prophesy among his people who cared very little about anything from God. Ezekiel's ultimate go...

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Speak to Them

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Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says,' whether they listen or fail to listen." Ezekiel 3:11 There are many people that touch our lives that don't know Jesus. They might be family members, co-workers, close friends and neighbors that clearly show no interest in spiritual things or Biblical conversations. If yo...

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Word of the Day: 1 Corinthians 2:2

Word of the Day

"For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:2 In Acts 18, Paul arrives in Corinth a political and commercial center of Greece which had a reputation for wickedness and immorality. It's in Corinth that Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla who had just been expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius's decree against Jews. They ...

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Word of the Day: 2 Kings 5:10

Word of the Day

"And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." 2 Kings 5:10 I really enjoyed reading this account of Naaman's way to God. It's good to be reminded of the many ways that God works! We already talked about who Naaman was a little bit. MacArthur explains him so well. "He was a b...

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Word of the Day: 2 Kings 5:2-3

Word of the Day

"Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 2 Kings 5:2-3 In reading 2 Kings 5, verse 2 it mentions a little girl who was taken captive. Her family lived ...

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Word of the Day: 2 Kings 5:2

Word of the Day

"Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife." 2 Kings 5:2 In 2 Kings 5 w...

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Seek, Pray, and Trust

Walk with Jesus

"David inquired again of God, and God said to him, "You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. It shall be when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines." 1 Chronicles 14:14-15 In ...

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Growing

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"Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way, He leads the humble in justice, He teaches the humble His way." Psalm 25:8-9 It was so easy to quickly read these words this morning during my time with the Lord. However, reading it again, I was particularly impressed by the words "instructs leads teaches." It reminds me there is a process as I gro...

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A Faithful Servant

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Numbers 12: 7 "Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My Household." 'He is faithful" John MacArthur says this is "a reference to Moses loyal performance of his role as covenant mediator between the Lord and Israel." God watched the faithful heart of Moses demonstrated in over 40 years of his life, as he walked a life of righteousness and purity and humblene...

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Changed Lives

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Mark 5:18 "As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him." Do you ever remember an instance when God made it clear to you that the answer to your prayer request was no? Well, sometimes it's clear and sometimes it isn't so clear. In the event with the demon-possessed man, Jesus answer was clear. The man ...

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Giving My Best

Walk with Jesus

Numbers 4: 2-3 "Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their Fathers households, from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting." It is easy for me to sometimes skim while reading and not always consider the meaning. In these verses God is instruc...

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Eternal Life

Word of the Day

Mark 3:35 "For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother." John 6:40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life" A question; do you consider yourself to be a mother/brother/sister of Jesus? The only way for this relationship to occur is for you to come to Christ in repentance...

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True Friends and True Faith

LoveGodLoveOthers

Mark 2:3 "And they came bringing to Him a paralytic carried by four men." There are 2 characteristics about a friend that stand out to me in this event of the paralytic being healed: 1. They demonstrated true love for a friend. They did everything they could to get their friend to Jesus. It would have been very easy for them to give up when they saw all the people blocki...

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A Heart to Listen

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Leviticus 25:18 " So you shall thus observe my status and keep my judgment's so as to carry them out that you may live securely on the land." Wow! The book of Leviticus is sure full of laws, rules, regulations and stuff, isn't it? However, when I think like that I wonder if I'm focusing incorrectly. According to verse 18 God is looking for people who have listening hearts...

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Follower of Jesus

Pray

Mark 1:17 "And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." Whenever I read verses 16-20 of Mark 1, I have a tendency to make my walk with Jesus so complicated. I think if only I could become more knowledgeable about the Bible, I would be so much more helpful to Him. You notice in this section of scripture Jesus doesn't ask us to learn more B...

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Prayer In Marriage

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"and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered." 1 Peter 3:7c We have looked at praying when we don't know, praying when we are stressed, and praying with the Body of Believers. Today I want to look at prayer in marriage and specifically the condition which has been placed on the husband's prayer life. The condition is...

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Pray With And For The Church (Body Of Believers)

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"Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of so...

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Pray When You Are Stressed

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O God of my praise, Do not be silent! For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without cause. In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer. Psalm 109:1-4 Are you experiencing a lot of stress in your life? Str...

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Pray When You Don't Know

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"So Moses brought their case before the Lord." Numbers 27: 5 In Numbers 27:1-4, Zelophehad's daughters went to Moses with a question. They wanted to know who would assume the inheritance of their father, who had recently died. The reason they asked Moses is because it was the Jewish custom that upon death of the father the land inheritance was to pass to his son, however,...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 27:7, 8; 86:7; Isaiah 55:6; Matthew 7:7; 18:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Word of the Day

"What wings are to a bird, and sails to a ship, so is prayer to the soul. " Corrie Ten Boom "...when we love God, we naturally run to Him-frequently and zealously. Jesus didn't command that we have a regular time with Him each day. Rather, He tells us to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' He called this the 'first a...

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Word of the Day: Numbers 14: 6-9; 32:11, 12

Walk with Jesus

Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land."If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to usa land which flows with milk and h...

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Word of the Day: Deuteronomy 1:6-8

Word of the Day

"The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, 'You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and set your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negev and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. S...

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Word of the Day: Acts 26: 1, 29

Armor of God

Agrippa said to Paul, "You are permitted to speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense: . And Paul said, "I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains." Acts 26: 1, 29 The scene in Acts 26 is the courtroom of King A...

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Word of the Day: Zechariah 7:5

Walk with Jesus

"So to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for me that you fasted?" Zechariah 7:5 When I read Zechariah 7, I think about Sunday morning service and meditate on why is it that I worship. If you were asked the question, why do you worship, what would be your answer? ...

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Word of the Day: John 4:28

Word of the Day

So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men.. John 4:28 "I need to attend more Bible studies so I learn more scripture which will help me to be prepared to go out and share Jesus with people." Have you ever felt like that? If you are struggling with that issue I would like you to consider reading John chapter 4 about the woman at the well. I...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 107:5-6, 12-13, 18-19, 27-28

Walk with Jesus

They were hungry and thirsty; Their soul fainted within them. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses. Psalm 107:5-6 Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; They stumbled and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. Psalm 107:12-13 And they dre...

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Word of the Day: Acts 18: 9-10

Walk with Jesus

And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city." Acts 18: 9-10 Paul was in the synagogue in Corinth testifying about Jesus. He had just previously been in Athens and had come away a little depre...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 71: 4, 6, 14

Word of the Day

Psalm 71 Verse 3 Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. Verse 6 "My praise is continually of You..." Verse 14 But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. Bible theologians believe the Psalmist who wrote Psalm 71 is probably in his older...

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Word of the Day: Exodus 20:14

Walk with Jesus

"Do not commit adultery."Exodus 20:14 Today I celebrate the 39th year that Diana has been my bride. She not only is my bride, she is my girlfriend, my partner and my "bestest" friend. In fact, I REALLY like her! Anyway, as I was reading Exodus 20, where God lists the 10 Commandments, I was impressed with verse 14 more than at any other time that I can remember. Maybe it's...

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Word of the Day: John 13:5

Word of the Day

Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples feet " John 13:5 If you have ever wondered what a servant's heart should look like, I believe the example of Jesus in John 13 will provide the answer. This is the scene called the Last Supper in which Jesus is with His disciples. It is extremely difficult to grasp the emotions of Jesus at this time, sinc...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 55:1; 56: 3; 57: 9

Word of the Day

"Give ear to my Prayer, O God; and do not hide yourself from my supplication." Psalm 55:1 "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You." Psalm 56: 3 "I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations." Psalm 57: 9 These 3 chapters, as in most of the Psalms which were written by David, are a distinct glimpse into David's ...

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Word of the Day: Luke 8:39

Word of the Day

"Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." Luke 8:39 What a great scene that must have been in Luke 8 when Jesus was confronted by a man who was possessed with demons. Luke 8:27 says the man "was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time and was not living in a house, but in tombs." So he didn't even know w...

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Word of the Day: 1 Peter 4:10

Word of the Day

"As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1 Peter 4:10 As Peter begins to wind down his letter to the Christians, who were scattered throughout the area (1:1), he mentions a very simple phrase. It's one of those phrases which is very easy to read and very easy to understand, but sometimes har...

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Word of the Day: Colossians 1:9

Walk with Jesus

9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. 11 We...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 79:5a

Word of the Day

Psalm 79 "How long, O LORD....? Psalm 79:5a God's people have probably watched the destruction of Jerusalem and God's holy temple and are experiencing a deep sense of depression. They had a sincere desire for God to get involved and they are waiting for some action from Him. They prayed in vs 9, "Help us; O God of our salvation for the glory of Your name; And deliver us ...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 71

Walk with Jesus

Psalm 71 Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. Psalm 71:3 By You I have been sustained from my birth; You are He who took me from my mother's womb; My praise is continually of You. Psalm 71:6 But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. ...

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Word of the Day: Proverbs 14:31

Word of the Day

"He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him." Proverbs 14:31 God has created everyone in His image and it doesn't matter what ones status is economically, culturally, politically or whatever; God has created everyone. It is interesting that He especially shows concern for the treatment of the poor. Matthew Henry says: "we d...

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Word of the Day: 1 Peter 3:7

Walk with Jesus

"Husbands, likewise, dwell with them (wives) with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of live, that our prayers may not be hindered." 1 Peter 3:7 A Godly Man's Heart. In verse 7 of I Peter 3 it says for husbands to "dwell" with their wives. David Guzik offers this commentary on the word dwell which I ...

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Word of the Day: 1 Peter 3:3-4

Word of the Day

"Your adornment must not be merely externalbraiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God." 1 Peter 3:3-4 A Godly Woman's Heart. In Peter's time as in our time, there was and is so much emphasis placed on how...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 55:1, 56: 3, 57: 9

Word of the Day

"Give ear to my Prayer, O God; and do not hide yourself from my supplication." Psalm 55:1 "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You." Psalm 56: 3 "I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations." Psalm 57: 9 These 3 chapters, as in most of the Psalms which were written by David, are a distinct glimpse into David's ...

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Word of the Day: 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7

Walk with Jesus

"You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia." 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 Does my life reflect a person who is a follower of Jesus? Have you ever asked yourself that question? It can be a little uncomfortable because t...

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Word of the Day: Jeremiah 44:16

Walk with Jesus

"As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you!" Jeremiah 44:16 This verse is a quote from the people telling Jeremiah that he was wasting his time in telling them about God's message. Obviously, these people were bold in their defiance of God. They wanted to do what they wanted to do; "we will certainly carry out...

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Word of the Day: Jeremiah 40: 2-3

Walk with Jesus

"the Lord your God promised this calamity against the place; and the Lord has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the Lord and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you." Jeremiah 40: 2-3 When you read these verses, it sounds like a prophet admonishing the Israelites, doesn't it? Well, it is not a proph...

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Word of the Day: Jeremiah 38:20

Word of the Day

"Please obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live." Jeremiah 38:20 King Zedekiah came to Jeremiah inquiring what the Lord's message was for him. He asked Jeremiah not to hold anything back. The issue at hand was whether the Babylonian king was going to wipe out him and his people. Jeremiah told him that the Lord said the only ...

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Word of the Day: Colossians 4:2

Walk with Jesus

"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;" Colossians 4:2 In this verse Paul is asking the people to devote themselves to pray boldly, fearlessly without ceasing. He also told them while praying to keep alert; stay focused on what they were praying for. Have you ever heard a person request prayer for a difficult circumstance only ...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 25:4-5

Word of the Day

"Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day." Psalm 25:4-5 Why do you read the Bible? I have heard many reasons, as I am sure you have too. They seem to range from "it's got nice things in it" all the way to "it is God's Word." When I read Psalm 25 this morning I ...

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Word of the Day: Colossians 4:12

Walk with Jesus

"Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God." Colossians 4:12 I am always impressed to read the testimonies of the great men of faith and their commitment to prayer. Some literally spent several hours a day, ...

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Word of the Day: Colossians 1:3

Word of the Day

"We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you"Colossians 1:3 During my time with the Lord I have been reading Colossians and I Thessalonians. I am particularly impressed with how Paul demonstrates the significance of his prayer life. In fact, following his greetings and salutations, one of the first things he mentions is that he is pr...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 96:4a

Word of the Day

"For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised"Psalm 96:4a I come before You with a heart of joy and Thanksgiving, O Lord, the Rock of my Salvation. You alone who is above all, for there is no ocean which is too deep, nor are there any mountains which are too high, because You have formed all things. I bow before You and I give You all my worship. You are my Lord, my Ma...

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Word of the Day: Judges 13:8

Word of the Day

Then Manoah entreated the LORD and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born."Judges 13:8 As I continue to people watch or observe Manoah and his wife in Judges 13, I notice the initial response after Manoah heard the news about the baby, was that he "entreated the Lord," whic...

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Word of the Day: Judges 13:6a

Word of the Day

"Then the woman came and told her husband.."Judges 13:6a If you didn't know already I love being married! With that being said, whenever I read about people who are married in the Bible it stands out to me. I feel like I'm kind of people watching, just observing. In Judges 13 we are introduced to Manoah and his wife, the soon-to-be parents of Samson. Like some women in th...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 86:1

Word of the Day

"Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy."Psalm 86:1 I am sure that you have heard the phrase, "it's all about Him," at some point or another. Perhaps that phrase is not demonstrated any more than in Psalm 86. Even during the most stressful experiences of life, those times when we feel the most helpless, Psalm 86 will cause us to pause and re...

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Word of the Day: 2 Chronicles 19:2

Word of the Day

"Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?"2 Chronicles 19:2 To be admonished is to be warned or notified of a fault or to be reproved gently or kindly, but seriously. It's very easy when being admonished to become defensive and not readily be able to admit any fault. I think ...

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Word of the Day: Acts 16:30

Word of the Day

"And after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"Acts 16:30 We never know how our actions and words will be used by the Lord. I wonder if Paul or Silas thought that the jailer, who had no feeling toward prisoners, would be the one God would cause to be effected by them. The jailer threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the s...

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Word of the Day: Acts 13:52

Word of the Day

"And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."Acts 13:52 Many of us have experienced rejection of one kind or another. Whether it's being rejected by a fellow employee, a friend, a relative or even a spouse it can be very difficult to handle. Sometimes it can even cause bitterness to develop in our heart. In Acts chapter 13, Paul and Barna...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 99:6

Word of the Day

".they called upon the Lord, and He answered them."Psalm 99:6 I love to pray! In my devotions I was reminded again of the account of Peter and when he was miraculously delivered from prison. The church was fervently praying for Peter. It must have been something to be there and hear the earnest and sincere prayers of these brothers and sisters in Christ. With all the pers...

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Word of the Day: 2 Chronicles 7:14

Word of the Day

"And if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."2 Chronicles 7:14. Lord, thank you for Your Word. Thank you that You know us personally and intimately. I acknowledge that You are a Holy, Holy, Holy God and we are...

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Word of the Day: Acts 9:43

Word of the Day

"And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon."Acts 9:43 On the surface this verse doesn't seem very significant, does it? That's what I thought too until I began to look into who Simon was. Simon was a tanner, which meant he dealt with the skins of dead animals. The Jewish culture of the day would strictly forbid anyone to associate with someone with thi...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 59:11

Word of the Day

"Do not slay them, or my people will forget; Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield."Psalm 59:11 There is a small phrase in verse 11 that caught my eye; "or my people will forget." I have read a couple of interpretations from biblical scholars and this verse centers on how easy it is to quickly forget what the Lord has done in our lives. The B...

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Word of the Day: 1 Chronicles 28:3

Word of the Day

"But God said to me, 'You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood."1 Chronicles 28:3 David was very anxious to build a dwelling place for the Lord. In Ps 132 he prays for blessing upon the building and shows his excitement in vs. 4, "I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD" It...

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Word of the Day: John 20:21

Word of the Day

"Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."John 20:21 Jesus has appeared to the disciples and just prophesied Peter's martyrdom. For whatever reason, Peter asked Jesus about John and what the future held for him. Is it that Peter just wanted to know if John's life would end similar to his? Or was it concern bec...

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Word of the Day: Acts 6:14

Word of the Day

"for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us."Acts 6:14 The Bible says that Steven was "full of the Spirit and of wisdom" and "performed great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8). The men from what was called the Synagogue were interested in arguing with Steven to try and prove...

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Word of the Day: 1 Corinthians 2:2

Word of the Day

"For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."1 Corinthians 2:2 Over a week ago the Lord put this verse on my heart during my prayer time with Him. He kept reminding me that I am focusing on people and circumstances rather than on Him. It was interesting how my priorities changed by meditating on this verse. A few days ago I was aske...

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Word of the Day: 2 Kings 8:6

Word of the Day

"Restore all that was hersfrom the day that she left the land even until now."2 Kings 8:6 In this chapter Elisha advises the Shunammite woman about an impending seven year famine and directs her to "arise and go" where her and her household will be safe. When the famine was over she returned to her homeland and went to appeal to the king for her house and her field back. ...

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Word of the Day: John 9:16a

Word of the Day

"Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."John 9:16a Thank you Pharisees; with this statement you have helped us indentify what it means to be religious. To be religious means to give attention to outward service or another way to say it would be, we try to make ourselves look good. If we are "religious"...

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Word of the Day: John 4:50

Word of the Day

"Jesus said to Him, Go, your son lives." The man believed the Word that Jesus spoke to him and started off".John 4:50 This real life event took place 2000 years ago as a son of a "Royal Official" was on his death bed. If you are a parent, you know that when your child is seriously ill, the seriousness of the situation seems to be multiplied 100 times. So it is easy to und...

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Word of the Day: John 4:10

Word of the Day

"Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is ..."John 4:10 Such a fascinating event takes place in the fourth chapter of John. I love this event because we read how Jesus takes a person from death to life. What's fascinating is that this is not a well known individual; in fact, I don't even know her name. All we know is that she is the woma...

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Word of the Day: 1 Kings 13:1-26

Word of the Day

1 Kings 13:1-26 Vs 19: "So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house". In this account in I Kings 13, a prophet came to King Jeroboam with a word from the Lord. This prophet was given specific words to say and specific actions to take ("You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.") The prophet obeyed God when asked by the ki...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 109:4

Word of the Day

Psalm 109:4 "In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer". Many years ago in Seattle, Diana and I participated in a quiet Christian demonstration. What it was for isn't really important and probably today we wouldn't be involved, not because it's wrong, but since then we have learned that making a statement for Christ is much more effective one on o...

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Word of the Day: Deuteronomy 33:27

Word of the Day

Deuteronomy 33:27 "The Eternal God is a dwelling place...." Moses gives his blessing to the sons of Israel in this chapter. His time is coming to an end. God has told Moses he won't be going in to the Promised Land, but does let him see it (Deuteronomy 34:4 "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have ...

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Word of the Day: Deuteronomy 31:8

Word of the Day

Deuteronomy 31:8 "The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you". In Chapter 31 the Israelites are getting ready to cross the Jordan. They were going to have to face some adversaries. They are changing leadership. Moses is giving his last counsel and has just announced that he is getting old and will not be going with...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 119:46

Word of the Day

Psalm 119:46 "I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed." I was attending a meeting with about 15 of my contemporaries from around the country. We were sitting at tables formed in the shape of a horseshoe. During one of our breaks and as everyone was talking with each other, a person from across the room asked me what my secret was for s...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 81:13

Word of the Day

Psalm 81:13 "Oh that my people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!" I see God's desire for me - listen and obey Him. It sounds so easy, and maybe it should be. Sometimes there is a fight within me between doing what I know God says to do and what my human nature wants me to do. I love the listening part - being in the Word every morning, hearing and le...

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Word of the Day: Deuteronomy 20:3-4

Word of the Day

Deuteronomy 20:3-4 "....Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you...." I can remember a few years ago, a few of us guys had gotten together to go to a shopping mall. The plan was we would divide into groups of 2 and spend the evening by sharing the gospel with whomever we could. When this was first presented to...

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Word of the Day: 1 Timothy 1:15-16

Word of the Day

1 Timothy 1:15-16 "15It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life." Have you ever spok...

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Word of the Day: 2 Peter 3:18

Word of the Day

2 Peter 3:18 "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." In this chapter Peter is warning the people not to fall prey to the schemes of false teachers. These teachers would purposely distort and twist scripture to confuse and deceive those who were undiscerning. I believe this u...

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Word of the Day: Psalm 50:14

Word of the Day

Psalm 50:14 "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving." Do I really have a thankful heart, or do I just have a "polite" heart that looks thankful on the outside? 1 Samuel 16:7 says God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. My "polite" heart might fool people around me, but this heart does not impress the Lord. I p...

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Word of the Day: Deuteronomy 8:4

Word of the Day

Deuteronomy 8:4 "Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years." Sometimes it's easy for me to forget what God has done for me in the past and what He is doing now. Instead, I focus on the difficult circumstances around me that I am currently experiencing. I ask God constantly to remove them. Vs 4 in Deuteronomy 8 reminds me that God di...

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