Christian Living on Direction

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God our Father, Lord our Shepherd,

Author

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 9:8, Romans 8:28, Psalm 34:8, Matthew 6:25-26, Isaiah 41:10, Philippians 4:19

God our Father, Lord our Shepherd, Spirit of the Living God, One in Three … and Three in One: We praise You our Creator, Savior, and Provider. By Your grace, we lack nothing. You feed us in body...

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How Good to Center Down!

Author

Howard Thurman

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 46:10, Psalm 62:1, Isaiah 30:15, Psalm 25:4-5, Lamentations 3:40, Matthew 6:19-21

How good it is to center down! To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by! The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic; Our spirits resound with clashing, with noisy silences, While some...

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Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:1

The Christian who cares only for God’s approval lives free of the tyranny of conformist pressures, relaxed under the steady direction of the God who loves us and gives himself for us. Those who try to...

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The Legend of La Befana

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:41-42, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Matthew 2:1-2, Isaiah 60:3, Matthew 6:33, Jeremiah 29:13, Luke 2:8-20

If we’re ever concerned with being wrapped up in Christmas busyness, it may be worth considering the Italian legend of La Befana. The elderly Befana was in her home when suddenly she was visited by th...

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Contentment Defined

Author

Richard Swenson

Keywords

Contentment

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Timothy 6:6-8, Philippians 4:11-13, Psalm 23:1

Contentment is when we tell the Shepherd that His provision is enough for all our physical and material needs. If our old car gimps down the road, that is fine. If we get a shiny newer auto with less ...

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Living From the Center

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Philippians 3:13-14, Deuteronomy 6:5, Luke 10:41-42

In my home country, the Netherlands, you still see many large wagon wheels, not on wagons, but as decorations at the entrances of farms or on the walls of restaurants. I have always been fascinated by...

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LORD, too often we live for ourselves

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:13, Micah 6:8, Ephesians 4:22-24, Isaiah 55:7, Psalm 51:10-12, Matthew 6:33, Romans 12:2

LORD, too often we live for ourselves instead of how You have called us. Please forgive us for the times when we don’t strive to bring about Your kingdom here and now. Forgive us for the lack of imagi...

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Author

Henry David Thoreau

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 6:6-8 , Haggai 1:5-7 , Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 , Luke 10:38-42 , Matthew 6:19-21 , Psalm 127:1-2

It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?

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Author

Dallas Willard

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Luke 17:20-21, Romans 14:17, Daniel 2:44, Matthew 6:10, John 3:3-5, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Colossians 1:13, 1 Corinthians 4:20

Living in the kingdom of God is a matter of living with God's action in our lives.

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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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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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Heavenly Father, forgive us when we

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:31-46, Ephesians 4:29, Matthew 6:33, Luke 10:38-42, Ephesians 5:15-17, Haggai 1:5-9, 1 Corinthians 10:31

Heavenly Father, forgive us when we become so consumed with the details of life that we do not see the opportunities that you have placed before us. Open our eyes to your call to extend love, by commu...

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Control Issues

Author

M. Robert Mulholland Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 16:9, Jeremiah 29:11, John 15:1-27, Proverbs 3:5-6, Galatians 2:20, Matthew 6:25-34

In their excellent book Invitation to a Journey , M. Robert Mulholland and Ruth Haley Barton describe the foundation of life as being spiritual in nature. This means we are constantly be “formed” s...

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Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21

God has nothing against treasure; his concern is about its location.

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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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Can Anyone Hear Me?

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:7, Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 6:25-27, Psalm 37:5, Psalm 46:1, 1 John 1:

When I think of the way God allows His servants to suffer, I can’t help but remember the classic story of poor Jack, who was out jogging. As he passed a cliff, he got a little too close to the edge, a...

liturgy

Adapted from “A Cry for Deliverance” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9, 1 Corinthians 10:13, James 4:7, Matthew 6:13, Romans 12:2, 1 Peter 1:15-16, Galatians 2:20

Pastor: Heavenly Father, save me from sin! I know I am righteous only through Jesus’ righteousness, but I greatly desire to be more like him! I am your child, so help me to resist the temptation to si...

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Considering His Wonderful Goodness Towards Us

Author

John Calvin

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:26, Acts 17:24-25, Job 12:10, Matthew 10:29-31, James 1:17

We ought in the very order of things [in creation] diligently to contemplate God’s fatherly love . . . [for as] a foreseeing and diligent father of the family he shows his wonderful goodness toward us...

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This-Sidedness and Other-Sidedness

Author

Thomas Kelly

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:2, Isaiah 58:10, John 6:27, James 2:15-17, Matthew 6:33

In his excellent little book, A Testament of Devotion , written almost a hundred years ago, Thomas Kelly describes the tension that all ministries must live in; the focus on this world or the wor...

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Author

Augustine of Hippo

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:24, 1 Kings 3:1-15, Luke 10:38-42, Philippians 3:7-8, Colossians 3:2, 1 John 2:15-17

For though [something] be good, it may be loved with an evil as well as with a good love: it is loved rightly when it is loved ordinately; evilly, when inordinately.

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Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Keywords

Forgiveness

Scripture

Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 6:37, Mark 11:25, Proverbs 19:11

Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.

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Ask, Seek, Knock

Author

Jenny Child

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 5:14, James 4:3, Matthew 13:45-46, Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 7:7-8, Romans 8:15-16, Mark 10:46-52

May we ask according to your will, not according to our desires, for you will give us what is right for us. May we seek you as the pearl of great price, not half-heartedly but with our whole being, fo...

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The Significant Reminder at the Milan Cathedral

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

James 4:14, Habakkuk 2:14, Matthew 6:19-21, John 9:2, 1 John 2:17

Over the triple doorways of the Cathedral of Milan, there are carvings. One features a beautiful wreath of roses, accompanied by the inscription: “All that pleases is but for a moment.” Another displa...

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Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 33:11, Romans 12:2, Matthew 6:10, Jeremiah 29:11, 1 John 5:14, Romans 8:28

Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.

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The Sharpshooter

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Philippians 3:13-14, Isaiah 49:1-2, 1 Corinthians 9:26, Proverbs 12:2

Some years ago an army sharpshooter was visiting a small town. He was surprised to find bull’s-eyes with bullet holes in the exact center all throughout the village. “Someone or some one’s here must b...

liturgy

Lord, our King, we confess our tendency

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 3:11, Romans 11:36, James 4:13-15, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 6:33

Lord, our King, we confess our tendency to build homes and kingdoms that are more for us than they are for you. We confess the pride we take in our own security and ability to protect and to preserve....

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Author

Thomas à Kempis

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:15, Colossians 3:1-2, Romans 12:1, John 15:4-5, Philippians 3:7-8, Galatians 2:20, Matthew 6:33

Let this be thy whole Endeavour, this thy prayer, this thy desire, that thou mayest be stripped of all selfishness, and with entire simplicity follow Jesus only.

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Author

John Stott

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, James 2:13, Micah 6:8, Luke 6:36-37, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:12-13

If I withhold mercy, I have lost touch with the gospel. I have lost touch with God’s undeserved kindness and pardon.

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Following Jesus Requires Real Commitment

Author

Bradley Long

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-8, Matthew 22:37, Romans 12:1-2, Luke 14:26-27, Deuteronomy 6:5, Luke 16:13, Mark 12:30, John 14:15, Matthew 16:24-26, Luke 9:59-62, Matthew 6:24, Hebrews 11:13-16, Hebrews 10:38-39, Matthew 6:33-34, Matthew 10:37-39

What are you willing to do for love? An instructor for the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course shared with a class the major hang-up he had to get over before asking his wife to ma...

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Knowing God’s Will Will Pack the House

Author

Dallas Willard

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 26:36-39, Acts 16:6-10, 1 Kings 3:5-14, Isaiah 6:1-8, Matthew 6:9-13

Within the Christian community this leads to a prominence of teaching on the will of God and how to know it. Russ Johnston draws upon his own wide experience to remark how this continues to be one of ...

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