Christian Living on Adversity

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What Would You Erase?

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John 16:33, Genesis 50:20, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Psalm 119:71, Isaiah 43:2

Recently I read about an experiment done by psychologist Jonathan Haidt. He came up with a fascinating hypothetical exercise, which went something like this: Participants were handed a summary of a p...

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Author

Catherine Booth

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Scripture

Psalm 18:16-19, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Isaiah 43:2

The waters are rising, but so am I. I am not going under, but over.

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The Love of God Wrapped About Him

Author

Thomas Kelly

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Psalm 4:1-3, Psalm 30:5, Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 43:2, Psalm 23:4, Job 1:, Job 2:, Job 42:, 2 Samuel 11:, 2 Samuel 12:, Genesis 37:12-36, 1 Kings 17:8-24, Daniel 6:, Psalm 34:18

The sense of Presence! I have spoken of it as stealing on one unawares. It is recorded of John Wilhelm Rowntree that as he left a great physician’s office, where he had just been told that his advanci...

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Author

Abraham J. Heschel

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Scripture

Isaiah 43:2, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Job 23:10

Faith like Job’s cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken.

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You’ll Get Through This

Author

Max Lucado

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Scripture

Exodus 14:22, Deuteronomy 29:5, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 77:19, Isaiah 43:2, Daniel 6:22, Acts 12:7

You fear you won’t. We all do. We fear that the depression will never lift, the yelling will never stop, the pain will never leave…We wonder: Will this gray sky ever brighten ? This load ever lighten...

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Author

Eugene Peterson

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2 Samuel 11:12, Exodus 2:23-25, Jonah 1:4, Isaiah 43:25, Micah 7:18-19

When we sin and mess up our lives, we find that God doesn't go off and leave us- he enters into our trouble and saves us.

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Author

Nancy Ortberg

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Faith

Scripture

Isaiah 43:2, Hebrews 12:11, Psalm 46:1, 2 Timothy 1:7-8, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Romans 5:3-5, 1 Peter 1:6-7

Someone once said that faith is not a personal possession until you have suffered. That person understood that the very nature of faith requires the grit and courage to be in the dark so you can event...

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Holding on to Everything

Author

W. Tamra Chandler

Keywords

Baggage

Scripture

Psalm 55:22, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 43:18-19, Ephesians 4:31-32, 1 Peter 5:7

Poet Donald Hall told the story of a hermit in New Hampshire, a man who passed away leaving behind sheds full of hoarded stuff. In one of the sheds was a box labeled, “string too short to be saved.” ...

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Almighty God, you have surprised us

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 13:44, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 139:7-10, 1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Luke 2:1-20, John 4:7-26, John 21:1-14, Luke 24:13-35, Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 2:25-38, Luke 1:35-38, Hebrews 13:2, Isaiah 43:19

Almighty God, you have surprised us with your presence in unexpected ways. In the expectations of our routine, we have missed the treasure that you place before us. We come to worship you in community...

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How we Deal with the Desert

Author

Bianca Juarez Olthoff

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Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Hosea 2:14, Isaiah 43:19, Psalm 63:1, Matthew 4:1, Deuteronomy 8:2

We all go through desert seasons and have the opportunity to determine how we will respond. The cyclical frustrations I faced in regard to my desire for control, fear, and the longing to feel chosen w...

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Author

Rainer Maria Rilke

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Scripture

Psalm 23:4, Philippians 3:13-14, Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 43:2, 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, Psalm 30:5, Romans 5:3-5

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.

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Out of the depths of darkness and

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Psalm 130:null, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Acts 3:19, 1 John 2:12, Hebrews 10:17-18, Isaiah 43:25, Colossians 1:13-14

Out of the depths of darkness and despair we have cried out for your mercy, O God. Instead of marking our iniquities with the just weight of our condemnation, you have forgiven us, breathed new life i...

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Inspired from Isaiah 43

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Scripture

Isaiah 43:null

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk th...

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Author

Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

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Scripture

Isaiah 43:19, Song of Solomon 4:7, Philippians 4:8, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Psalm 147:3, Isaiah 61:3

If the too obvious, too straight branches of Truth and Good are crushed or amputated and cannot reach the light—yet perhaps the . . . unexpected branches of Beauty will make their way through and soar...

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Author

Brittany Burgunder

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Scripture

Philippians 1:6, Psalm 147:3, Hebrews 12:11, 1 Peter 5:10, Isaiah 43:2, Romans 8:28, James 1:2-4

Sometimes the process of growth looks a lot like destruction and pain. But you’ll realize with time that you’re not breaking; you’re healing.

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Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Author

Max Lucado

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Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:1, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 37:23-24, Isaiah 43:2-3

Bill Irwin was not the first person ever to walk the Appalachian Trail. He was not the only individual to begin in Springer Mountain, Georgia, and conclude on Mount Katahdin, Maine. Other adventuresom...

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Author

Marc Lewis

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Scripture

Jeremiah 29:11, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 32:5, Romans 8:1, Isaiah 43:18-19

I see my past drinking as a behavioral problem, a learned response to dealing (or not dealing) with emotional pain and stress. Once I achieved the excavation of my wounds, I no longer lived with the s...

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Farewell to the Known and Dear

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Romans 10:14-15, 2 Timothy 1:7, Isaiah 43:2, Joshua 1:9, Acts 13:2-3

St. Columba was an Irish monk and abbot, who is largely responsible for the evangelization of Scotland. He founded the monastery at Iona, which became a training ground and launching point for further...

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Heavenly Father, we confess that we too often

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

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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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Author

Mary Jane Moffat

Keywords

Healing

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22-23, Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:28, Isaiah 43:18-19, James 1:2-4, Philippians 1:6

Recovery is not a process we can will, but consists of experiencing many small deaths, the passing of significant anniversaries, until our identity is solid and natural in the pronoun “I.”

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God of the Impossible – Father, Son and

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Jeremiah 32:17, Luke 1:37, Isaiah 43:25, Romans 8:38-39, Psalm 139:7-10

God of the Impossible – Father, Son and Holy Spirit: There’s nothing too hard for you to do, Nothing too complex for You to understand, No place we go that You’re not there, No sin too heinous tha...

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Leader: God "makes a way in the sea, a

Author

Chip Hardwick

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Scripture

Isaiah 43:16, Matthew 19:26

Leader: God "makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters." (Is 43:16, ESV) People: Jesus reminds us that "with God all things are possible." (Mt 19:26, ESV) Leader: By t...

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Author

Catherine the Great

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Scripture

Romans 8:1, Isaiah 43:25, Colossians 1:13-14, Ephesians 1:7, Micah 7:18-19, 1 John 1:9

Dieu pardonerra; c’est son métier; God forgives you — it’s his thing. *for contrast

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The grace of Christ is never deserved

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

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Scripture

John 21:15-19, Luke 22:54-62, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Judges 6:7, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Luke 19:1-10, Isaiah 43:1

The grace of Christ is never deserved but always intentional. Receive this grace, intended for you and me—it has our names on it–this all-sufficient grace that turns our weakness, which has our names ...

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Gracious and faithful God – our

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:1, John 14:16-17, Proverbs 3:5-6, Exodus 13:21-22, Isaiah 43:16-19, Matthew 19:26, Acts 17:26-27

Gracious and faithful God – our Creator, Redeemer and Comforter: When we don’t know the way – You show us the way; and When we can’t find a way – You make a way. Thank you! Thank you for Your gif...

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Heavenly Father, forgive us when we try

Author

Allen Thompson

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Scripture

Isaiah 64:8, Romans 8:28, John 15:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Isaiah 43:18-19, Jeremiah 29:11

Heavenly Father, forgive us when we try to go our own way and end up running from you. Forgive us when we shy away from the work that you want to do in our lives. Help us to be willing to go through y...

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God of the common and of the uncommon.

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:17, Matthew 5:16, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 43:18-19, James 5:14-15

God of the common and of the uncommon. You meet us in the ordinary routines of life–when we play and when we rest, while we work and while we worship. And You reveal yourself in the extraordinary, too...

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Christ Walks My Path

Author

Columba of Iona

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 28:20, Isaiah 30:21, John 14:27, Exodus 33:14, Isaiah 43:2

The path I walk, Christ walks it. May the land in which I am be without sorrow. May the Trinity protect me wherever I stay, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Bright angels walk with me-dear presence-in...

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Plus Ultra: There is more Beyond

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 2:9, John 10:10, Hebrews 11:8-10, Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 3:20-21, Isaiah 43:18-19, Psalm 16:11, 2 Corinthians 5:17

Before Columbus crossed the Atlantic, many believed the world ended somewhere beyond Gibraltar, reflected in Spain’s royal motto: “Ne Plus Ultra,” meaning, “there is no more beyond.” But when Columb...

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Prayer of Adoration Good and Gracious

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 4:16, 2 Samuel 12:1-14, Isaiah 43:25, 1 John 1:8-9, Romans 8:28, Psalm 139:1-4

Prayer of Adoration Good and Gracious Lord, You hold us in the palm of Your strong hand, working all things for our good and to Your glory. There is no place we can go that escapes your notice and i...

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