In the moment of anger, consider the great mercy God extended to you.  Isaiah wrote that God pardons abundantly (Isaiah 55:7). Considering what God did for you in Christ in the moment of anger will help your response to others.  Because God has been merciful to you, you can be a merciful person.  Even if you’ve…

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Martin Luther said, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair”.   Anger will come at times in your life, so what does God’s Word have to say about handling anger properly? First, Scripture tells us to (1) “be angry, and sin not: …

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The standard definition of grace in evangelical Christianity is usually summed up with these two words:  “unmerited favor”.  This is a really good definition, but I think it needs to be fleshed out a bit further.  More specifically, grace is God asking us to be with Him, helping us grow in our walk with him.…

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James 1:15:  “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James lays out how sin develops in a person’s life: lust (sinful desire) is conceived in the heart, it gives birth to sin (it manifests itself in sinful behavior), it causes damage in their life…

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Are Christ’s Afflictions Lacking? Colossians 1:24: ” Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” In a previous post, I explained that God grants us suffering, thereby blessing us greatly.…

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The cross is ever before the believer, beckoning the us to share in the sufferings of Christ. At times, life will feature unfairness, personality differences, differences of opinion and situational miscalculation.  You, the believer, will be on the receiving end and wonder why you deserve such treatment. In this moment, the cross of Christ is…

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Thesis 14 of Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation (1518) states, “Free will, after the fall, has power to do good only in a passive capacity, but it can always do evil in an active capacity.” You don’t need God’s power to do evil.  But in order to do good, you need God’s power to overcome sin and…

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According to the WHO, 300 million people worldwide are affected by depression.  Depression comes at different levels and forms, and can come from physical illness, abuse, moving, death of a loved one and a variety of other reasons. Psalms 42 reflects the struggles of depression.  In 42:5, the Psalmist as this question:  “Why are you cast…

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