Christian Living on Calling

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Rolling the Stone Away

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 16:25, Luke 9:62, Philippians 3:7-8, Acts 20:13-36, Matthew 10:16-42, James 1:2-4, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

The renowned scholar and musician Albert Schweitzer’s life was turned upside down one summer morning in 1896 while reading his Bible. He came upon Matthew 16:25: “For whosoever will save his life shal...

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Gracious God, we desire to follow when

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 4:19, Luke 9:23, Isaiah 30:21, John 10:27, James 1:22, Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 4:1, 2 Timothy 1:9

Gracious God, we desire to follow when you call. We long to live according to the ways of Jesus, yet we find ourselves stumbling. Forgive us for the times we have ignored your call to follow you in th...

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Listen to your Life

Author

Frederick Buechner

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 118:24, Colossians 3:17, Matthew 6:34, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Proverbs 3:6, James 1:17

Listen to your life. All moments are key moments. I discovered that if you really keep your eye peeled to it and your ears open, if you really pay attention to it…Taking your children to school and ki...

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The Crucial Thing

Author

Søren Kierkegaard

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:37-39, 1 Corinthians 8:1-3, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Colossians 1:9-10, Philippians 3:10-14, James 1:22, John 14:21

In a journal entry by the Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, the great existentialist philosopher describes the importance not simply of grasping the truth of the Christian faith, but having the tr...

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The Spirit & Temptation

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 4:1, Matthew 4:3, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 5:3-5, Mark 1:12-13, 1 Kings 19:4-8, James 1:2-4

In their excellent book Invitation to a Journey , M. Robert Mulholland and Ruth Haley Barton discuss the poignant insight that it is the Spirit that leads Jesus into the Wildnerness. What does this...

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Doing the Work Before the Work

Author

Stephen W. Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 24:27, James 1:5, Matthew 7:24-25, Proverbs 21:5, Colossians 3:16-17, Isaiah 40:3-4

In his highly insightful work, Inside Job , Stephen W. Smith provides an important analogy about the importance of spiritually preparing ourselves for the adversity and challenges that come with su...

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Author

Fred Craddock

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:25-37, Luke 10:38-42, James 1:19-25, Mark 1:35-38, Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is a time to go and do; there is a time to listen and reflect. Knowing which is a matter of spiritual discernment. If we were to ask Jesus which example applies to us, the Samaritan or Mary, his...

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Being Careful Not to Commit

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:38, James 1:6-8, Matthew 6:24, Romans 7:19, 1 John 2:15-17, Psalm 139:23-24, Luke 9:62

I say my prayers, I read a book of devotion, I prepare for, or receive, the Sacrament. But while I do these things there is, so to speak, a voice inside me that urges caution. It tells me to be carefu...

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Father God, you come to us in the

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22-25, Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 2:1, Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 7:24-25, Romans 10:17, 1 Samuel 3:, Isaiah 55:3, Matthew 11:15, Acts 16:14

Father God, you come to us in the everyday. You give us your Word and your Spirit that we might hear your voice, and follow your ways. We confess that we have neglected your words to us and pretended ...

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Struggling with Charity

Author

Kent Annan

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 13:16, Micah 6:8, Luke 6:38, Proverbs 19:17, James 1:27

On the fifteenth of each month, Alicia has thirty dollars withdrawn from her checking account to sponsor Belyse, a beautiful, brown-eyed girl from Kenya, who then gets school and a hot meal each day. ...

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A Call to Prayer

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 104:24-25, Matthew 6:25-34, Job 38:41, James 1:5, Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1-4, Job 12:7-10

O Great Spirit, whose breath gives life to the world, and whose voice is heard in the soft breeze; We need your strength and wisdom. Cause us to walk in beauty. Give us the eyes ever to behold the red...

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The Plane Is Coming

Author

Emily Hunter McGowin

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:16, James 1:17, Matthew 2:11, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Romans 12:10, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Ephesians 5:2

In rural Msinga, a municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, the highlight of Christmas Day festivities is when men, newly returned home from work in the big cities, gather to sing a...

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The Principle to Persuasive Christian Communication

Author

Willowbank Report

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 10:1, Ephesians 4:2-3, Romans 12:3, Colossians 4:6, Matthew 23:11-12, Proverbs 11:2, James 1:19

In a statement created by Christian leaders across the world, the Lausanne Willowbank Report calls for church leaders to return to the humility and servanthood that Jesus manifested in His earthly min...

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What Do You Need Most?

Author

Jim Reapsome

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 21:13, Matthew 25:40, Luke 4:18, James 1:27

Teenage prostitutes, during interviews in a San Francisco study, were asked: “Is there anything you needed most and couldn’t get?” Their response, invariably preceded by sadness and tears was unanimou...

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Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 25:5, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:25-26, James 1:2-4, Matthew 11:15, Romans 5:3-5, Isaiah 30:18

Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.

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Name a Day and Give me a Hearing

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 2:10, Psalm 71:20-21, Philippians 3:10-14, Luke 21:16-19, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Romans 8:17-18, James 1:12

One of the great leaders of the first generation after the apostles was a man named Polycarp. Polycarp, it is believed, was discipled by the apostle John and carried out a long and fruitful ministry i...

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Loving God ~ Father, Son and Holy

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

James 1:17, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 15:13, John 14:27, Isaiah 40:31

Loving God ~ Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We are a people who are waiting: waiting to celebrate Messiah’s birth; waiting to see what this day–and every day–holds as Your blessings for us; and waiting ...

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No Further Instructions

Author

Charles Swindoll

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:12-13, James 1:19-20, Ephesians 4:31-32, Luke 6:27-28, 1 Peter 3:9

A successful Irish boxer was converted and became a preacher. He happened to be in a new town setting up his evangelistic tent when a couple of tough thugs noticed what he was doing. Knowing nothing o...

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Gracious God, as we turn to your Word

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Acts 17:10-12, Acts 8:26-40, Romans 10:17, James 1:22, Hebrews 4:12

Gracious God, as we turn to your Word for us, may the Spirit of God rest upon us. Help us to be steadfast in our hearing, in our speaking, in our believing, and in our living. Amen.

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Practice is to Judaism…

Author

Lauren F. Winner

Keywords

Actions

Scripture

Exodus 24:null, Philippians 4:9, James 1:22-23, James 1:22, Matthew 7:24

Practice is to Judaism what belief is to Christianity. That is not to say that Judaism doesn’t have dogma or doctrine. It is rather to say that for Jews, the essence of the thing is a doing, an action...

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Lord Jesus, Master of both the light

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 4:12-17, John 1:1-14, Genesis 1:3-4, John 8:12-20, James 1:1-18, Ephesians 5:8-9, 1 John 1:5-10

Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas. We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day. We who are an...

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Who Determines Your Behavior?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:1, Matthew 5:44, Proverbs 15:1, 1 Peter 3:9, Luke 6:31, Galatians 6:9, Colossians 3:12-13, 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Genesis 50:20, Philippians 2:3-4, James 1:19-20, 1 Samuel 24:17

Some years ago, the syndicated newspaper columnist Sidney J. Harris shared an interesting anecdote from one of his friends. Each evening, this friend would stop at the same newsstand to buy a newspape...

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The Art of Remembering

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:17, Ephesians 4:null

The Necessity of Memory Memory—or, more actively, remembering , plays an all-important role in our lives. Our culture likes us to focus on the now, "looking forward rather than looking back&q...

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How To Keep Your Kids From Talking All the Time (Unfortunately, Through Lying)

Author

Steve May

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 10:19, James 1:19, Matthew 12:36, Colossians 4:6, Amos 5:13, 1 Samuel 3:

My friend Joi told me that when she was growing up, her parents invented a ploy to keep her from talking all of the time. They told her that people are allowed only so many words in one lifetime, and ...

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Prayer of Confession for Transfiguration Sunday

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, Micah 6:8, Matthew 6:33, James 1:5, Philippians 2:3-4

Save us, Glorious Christ, from every false understanding and motivation Save us from the temptation to just stay on the mountain Save us from the temptation to never engage Save us from the temptation...

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What Do You Want for Christmas?

Author

Rick Warren

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 13:37, Philippians 4:4-5, James 1:17, Psalm 95:2-3, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Matthew 2:10-11

What do you want for Christmas this year? If you were to ask a typical little boy, he’d probably give you two words: video games. There’s a little boy I know named Brian. For weeks he bugged his paren...

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Draw us close, Holy Spirit, as the

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Acts 17:10-12, Romans 10:17, James 1:22, Hebrews 4:12

Draw us close, Holy Spirit, as the Scriptures are read and the Word is proclaimed. Let the word of faith be on our lips and in our hearts, and let all other words slip away. May there be one voice we ...

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Dear Heavenly Father, We are grateful

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 9:24, James 1:5-6, Psalm 34:17, Philippians 4:6-7, Jeremiah 33:3, Matthew 21:22, 1 Peter 5:7

Dear Heavenly Father, We are grateful that we can come to You at any time, about anything. We know that You listen to the earnest cries of our hearts. We know that You have great power; You are the Cr...

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God of grace and God of glory on your

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Amos 5:24, Psalm 85:6, Psalm 46:1, Isaiah 40:29, Psalm 147:3, James 1:5

God of grace and God of glory on your people pour your power...Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this hour. Lord—we need You...today, tomorrow and forever. We need you to heal those ...

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Author

Clement of Alexandria

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 11:8-10, Luke 1:38, Matthew 21:22 , Isaiah 40:31, Philippians 1:6, James 1:2-4

Faith is a voluntary anticipation.

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