Christian Living on Desire

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Jesus, our Great Physician, our sins

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 5:21-43, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:31, Matthew 9:12, Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 147:3, 1 Peter 2:24

Jesus, our Great Physician, our sins have brought wounds on ourselves and others. Heal our hearts first, that we would no longer desire the sins that have only brought us and others pain. Go on to hea...

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Satisfied Only With God's Word

Author

Charles Spurgeon

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 19:7-10, Psalm 42:1-2, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 5:6, 1 Peter 2:2

Take a toy from a child and give him another — he will be satisfied. But if the child is hungry, giving him a toy won’t help. Just like babies, true believers desire the milk of the word of God — the ...

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O Lord, We marvel that you would take

Author

Barbara Duguid

Scripture

Colossians 3:12-14, Romans 12:2, 1 John 1:9, Ephesians 2:14-16, Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 2:24

O Lord, We marvel that you would take on flesh and blood in order to be crucified, killed, and buried for us. You humbled yourself and submitted to the hatred of sinful men, accepting the thorns, the ...

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Life’s Greatest Trap

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:9-10, Romans 8:31-32, Psalm 139:1-4, Ephesians 2:10, John 21:15-19, Ephesians 3:17-19

Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation...

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Gracious God, You have called us out of

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:9, Colossians 1:13-14, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 4:22-24, Matthew 16:24, Philippians 3:20-21, John 8:36

Gracious God, You have called us out of darkness and into the light of Your love. You have redeemed us and made us whole in order to set us free from bondage. The challenge You place before us is to d...

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Christian Love: The Antithesis of Envy

Author

Robert C. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:1, Galatians 5:26, 1 Corinthians 13:4, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Philippians 2:3-4

The Christian’s self-understanding is that she is precious before God—however much a sinner, however much a failure (or success) she may be by the standards of worldly comparisons—and that every other...

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Donne, Undone

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 5:31-33, Matthew 19:4-6, Romans 8:28, Proverbs 22:1, 1 Timothy 3:7, Titus 2:7-8, Philippians 2:15, 1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 6:4-5, Daniel 1:17-21

While movies and novels often present stories of a budding love interest willing to give up everything for “true love” (Romeo and Juliet, for example), the renowned poet, and later clergyman, John Don...

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A Biblical Understanding of Sin

Author

Richard Plass

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:17, 1 Peter 2:25, Romans 8:7, James 4:4, Ephesians 2:1-2, Isaiah 59:2, 1 John 3:4

In the New Testament sin is not merely an individual, privatized transgression of a moral standard (sins is typically used for specific transgressions). It is far more radical than that. Sin is a mist...

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Author

Kevin DeYoung

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:9, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Ephesians 4:22-24, 1 Thessalonians 4:7, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 1:15-16

The hole in our holiness is that we don’t really care much about it. Passionate exhortation to pursue gospel-driven holiness is barely heard in most of our churches. It’s not that we don’t talk about ...

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Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 13:16, Matthew 25:40, 1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 5:13, Matthew 5:16, James 2:17, James 4:17

We fixate on sins of commission far too much. We practice holiness by subtraction-don't do this, don't do that, and you're okay. The problem with that is this: you can do nothing wrong and...

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Author

Billy Graham

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 15:39, Philippians 2:6-8, 1 John 4:10, Luke 23:34, Ephesians 1:7, 1 Peter 2:24, Luke 15:11-32

The motive of grace is the infinite, compassionate love of a merciful God, but the work of grace was the death of Christ on the cross.

Quote

Author

Henry Law

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:5-8, John 1:14, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 8:3, Matthew 20:28

What self denial! What self abasement! What self emptying! He, whom no infinitudes can hold, is contained within infant’s age, and infant’s form. Can it be, that the great ‘I AM THAT I AM’ shrinks int...

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Contempt, a Prayer of Confession

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 5:44, Colossians 3:12-13, James 4:11, 1 Peter 2:1, Romans 12:10

Contempt is so painful To be dismissed, disregarded Questioning instead of dignity Accusation instead of personhood I have felt its sting and hollowness As have you, my Jesus Help me hear the needed m...

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Your torture puts hostility to

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:14, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Galatians 3:28, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 5:8

Your torture puts hostility to death Your broken body breaks down every dividing wall Your blood makes us blood What wondrous truth What dazzling grace Bring us near again, Jesus Help us remember an...

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Salt Left in the Shaker?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:null, 1 Peter 2:9, Galatians 5:22-23, James 2:17, Romans 12:1, Mark 4:21, Philippians 2:15

Jesus describes his followers as being “salt” and “light” in the world in Matthew 5. When you think about salt, it doesn’t really have a whole lot of value when it’s just sitting in a salt shaker. Si...

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Heavenly Father, we confess that we too often

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:1, 1 Peter 2:9, Matthew 25:31-46, Isaiah 6:1-8

Heavenly Father, we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are Yours. At times, we live our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being who You created us to be. We have lived fo...

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The Lion in the Marble

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29, Philippians 2:12-13, James 1:22-25, Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 4:22-24, 1 Peter 2:2-3, Hebrews 12:11

There was once a sculptor who worked hard with hammer and chisel on a large block of marble. A little child who was watching him saw nothing more than large and small pieces of stone falling away left...

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Reflecting on Shusaku Endo’s Novel and Film, Silence

Author

Nikki Toyama-Szeto

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 3:26-28, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, John 13:34-35, Acts 2:42-47, Matthew 28:19-20, James 2:17-18

In Silence, Shusaku Endo writes of the journey of Portuguese Jesuits journeying to Japan. It is a conversation about those who intend to take the path of Jesus, only to find they are on the path of Ju...

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Author

Brian Zahnd

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:20, Ephesians 2:10, John 12:32, 1 Peter 2:24, Philippians 1:6

Every cross adorning a church is in itself a sermon—a sermon proclaiming that if Christ can transform the Roman instrument of execution into a thing of beauty, there is hope that in Christ all things ...

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Living up to the Name "Christian"

Author

Scott Bowerman

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, 1 Peter 2:2, James 1:4, Galatians 5:22-23, Colossians 2:6-7, Romans 12:2

Some years back, on the Today Show, Maya Angelou was asked, with all that she had accomplished, could there be any more objectives, unfulfilled wishes, for her to pursue? Angelou said, “Oh, my, yes. I...

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O God, you are the sure foundation and

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 62:6, 1 Peter 2:4-6, 2 Timothy 2:19, Psalm 18:2, Ephesians 2:19-20, Isaiah 28:16, 1 Corinthians 3:11

O God, you are the sure foundation and the certain cornerstone. Building on you brings life, yet we often turn away and try to find hope by building on other foundations. Self-esteem, money, career, f...

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Leader: Arise! Shine! Christ’s Church

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 60:1, Matthew 5:14-16, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 2:19-22, Galatians 6:2, 1 Peter 2:9

Leader: Arise! Shine! Christ’s Church has assembled. People: We are one body, with Christ as our head. Leader: What kind of body is this? People: The Body of Christ, brought together not by huma...

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Author

V. Raymond Edman

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:12, 1 Peter 2:9, James 1:17, Psalm 27:1, 2 Corinthians 4:6

Never doubt in the dark what God showed you in the light

Quote

Author

Elisabeth Elliot

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:18-20, 1 Peter 2:21, Romans 5:3-4, Mark 15:16-24, 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, James 1:2-4

If we do anything to further the kingdom of God, we may expect to find what Christ found on that road - abuse, indifference, injustice, misunderstanding, trouble of some kind. Take it. Why not? To tha...

Quote

Author

Martin Luther

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8, Luke 2:7, Matthew 1:23, 1 Peter 2:24

The Son of God did not want to be seen and found in heaven. Therefore he descended from heaven into this humility and came to us in our flesh, laid himself into the womb of his mother and into the man...

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Repentance for the Religious

Author

John W. Rilling

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:25, Hebrews 9:28, Matthew 4:1-2, 1 Peter 2:24, Psalm 51:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:21

Written almost a hundred years ago, this excerpt from the Reverend John W. Rilling points out one of the main reasons we continue to observe Lent, a period of repentance and discipline for many who ca...

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Imitating the Master

Author

John Koessler

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 5:1-2, Philippians 2:12-13, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Corinthians 11:1, 1 Peter 2:21-23, John 13:15

My father was an artist. He had a black leather sketchbook filled with cartoons and doodles. As a boy I was enthralled by his drawings and wondered how I could learn to draw like him. I began by traci...

liturgy

Father–Father of the Lord Jesus and our

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:9, James 5:14-15, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Matthew 9:37-38, Galatians 6:9-10, Romans 12:5, 1 John 3:1

Father–Father of the Lord Jesus and our Father: You’ve blessed us beyond imagination. You redeem us, forgive us and lavish Your gifts on us: Thank You. You choose us, when we wouldn’t choose ourselves...

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Which Comes First, Identity or Behavior?

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:9-10, Ephesians 2:19-22, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:1-3, Romans 6:11-13

I am not perfect, and I will struggle with the “old Jim,” who was and is influenced by American culture, narratives and values. But the key is that identity comes before behavior. We almost always do ...

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God the Artist: Crafted to Make a Statement

Author

JR Woodward

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 64:8, 1 Peter 2:9, 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, John 17:18

When I think of masterpieces, I think of art. But what is art? I like the way that Thomas Hoving, who was the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, put it: “Art happens when anyon...

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