Christian Living on Temper

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Not Getting the Message

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Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22-24, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Timothy 2:15, Philippians 4:9, Joshua 1:8, Matthew 7:24-25, Colossians 3:16

Reading the Bible without applying it to your life can be downright dangerous. On August 3, 1996, Melvin Hitchens, sat on his front porch and read the Bible. After his Bible reading, this 66 year old ...

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Weighing the Options

Author

Bits and Pieces

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 4:8, Romans 12:17-18, Ephesians 4:2, Matthew 7:3-4, James 1:19

Many years ago a senior executive of the then Standard Oil Company made a wrong decision that cost the company more than $2 million. John D. Rockefeller was then running the firm. On the day the news ...

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Author

Alexander Pope

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Scripture

Matthew 7:1-2, Galatians 6:2, Colossians 3:13, James 5:16, 1 John 3:17

Teach me to feel another's woe, to hide the fault I see, that mercy I to others show, that mercy show to me.

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Author

Alexander Pope

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Scripture

Philippians 2:3, Proverbs 3:5-6, Galatians 6:3, James 3:17, 1 Corinthians 4:5, Matthew 7:1-2

’Tis with our judgments as our watches, none Go just alike, yet each believes his own.

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Adapted from Psalm. 46; Matt. 7:21–29

Author

Kimberly Bracken Long

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 46:null, Matthew 7:21

God, our rock and refuge, there are plenty of things that we allow to erode our faith in you. When life gets stormy, we let our uncertainty cloud our trust in you. We think we know better and start re...

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Author

Tim Muehlhoff & Richard Langer

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 4:1-16, Micah 6:6-8, 1 Kings 19:9-18 , Romans 14:12-13, Matthew 7:3-5 , Psalm 139:23-24

The goal of our convictions is to guide our own conduct so that it is pleasing to Jesus, not to guide the conduct of others.

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Judgment and Joy Don't Go Together

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:14-16, James 5:9, Numbers 14:27, 1 Corinthians 10:10, Luke 5:30, 1 Timothy 2:8, Exodus 15:24, Luke 6:37, Matthew 7:1-5, 1 Corinthians 5:12

Judgment and joy don’t go well together – no, judgment leads to grumbling. I’m sure you’ve met people in your life who are hard to please – maybe even your parents, or your boss. People for whom n...

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The Face they Deserve

Author

Dallas Willard

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 22:8, Proverbs 26:27, Galatians 6:7, Romans 6:23, Matthew 7:16-20

The author Oscar Wilde once remarked that by the age of forty everyone has the face they deserve. This is a truly profound, if painful, truth. But it really applies to the “within” expressed by the fa...

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The Controversial Cookies

Author

Reader’s Digest

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:1-2, John 7:24, Proverbs 18:2, James 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 4:5, Proverbs 21:2, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:12-13

A traveler, between flights at an airport, went to a lounge and bought a small package of cookies. Then she sat down and began reading a newspaper. Gradually, she became aware of a rustling noise. Fro...

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Why It can be So Hard to Express Christian Convictions Civilly

Author

Tim Muehlhoff & Richard Langer

Keywords

Scripture

Daniel 3:16-18, 1 Kings 18:21, Isaiah 55:8-9 , Romans 14:5-8, Psalm 119:105, Matthew 7:15-16

First, most Christians attach their convictions to Christ personally. In other words, we form our convictions in order to please Jesus, not ourselves. Convictions do not express what we think or feel ...

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Author

Dave Harvey

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:1-2, Luke 18:9-14, Romans 2:1-3, James 4:11-12, Galatians 6:1-2, 1 Peter 4:8, Titus 3:4-5

Self-righteousness is a sense of moral superiority that appoints us as prosecutor of other people’s sinfulness. We relate to others as if we are incapable of the sins they commit. Self-righteousness w...

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The Man on the Subway

Author

Steven Covey

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:15, Proverbs 18:13, Luke 6:36-37, Colossians 3:12, Matthew 7:1-2, 1 Samuel 16:7

Best-Selling leadership author Stephen Covey tells the following story about an incident he experienced in the New York subway system, an experience that would radically alter his perception of what i...

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The Desert Monk with a Leaky Jug

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 18:21-35, John 8:1-11, Luke 18:9-14, Matthew 7:3-5, 2 Samuel 12:1-13, Galatians 6:1-3

Solitude... keeps us from making judgments about other people’s sins. In this way real forgiveness becomes possible. The following desert story offers a good illustration: A brother . . . committed...

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Gracious God, give us humble,

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Scripture

Matthew 7:24, Philippians 2:12-13, John 14:15, Isaiah 66:2, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, James 1:22, Micah 6:8

Gracious God, give us humble, teachable, and obedient hearts, that we may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded. Amen.

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Sometimes Easy, Sometimes Hard

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:7-8, Galatians 2:20, Romans 12:1-2, John 12:24-25, Matthew 7:14, Luke 14:27, Matthew 11:28-30

You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. He says, “Take up your Cross”—in other words, it is like going to be beaten ...

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Deciding Requires a Death

Author

Dan Allender

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 14:28, Isaiah 30:21, Psalm 25:4-5, Deuteronomy 30:19, Matthew 7:13-14, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Proverbs 16:9

To decide requires a death, a dying to a thousand options, the putting aside of a legion of possibilities in order to choose just one. De- cide . Homo- cide . Sui- cide . Patri- cide . The root word d...

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Turning from Judgment to Compassion

Author

Gregory A. Boyd

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:5, Matthew 7:1-5, Luke 6:37-42, Romans 14:10, James 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 4:5

Even for those of us who follow Jesus on a daily basis, the reality is, our sinful nature has infiltrated our minds, and we often find ourselves, either consciously or unconsciously, judging those aro...

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In the days of the early church,

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:21, Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 10:9, Philippians 2:10-11, Acts 4:12, John 14:6

In the days of the early church, believers affirmed their faith by saying, “Jesus is Lord.” We give lip-service to that same affirmation, but find it difficult to surrender control of our lives. Inste...

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We hear you knocking, O God, as you

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 3:20, Matthew 7:7-8

We hear you knocking, O God, as you stand outside the locked doors of our hearts, waiting and wanting to enter. Help us to throw open those doors, that in this time of worship you may come in as a liv...

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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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For the times when we fail to notice

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:35-40, James 2:15-17, 1 Peter 5:2-3, Galatians 6:2, Matthew 7:12, Deuteronomy 15:11, Galatians 2:10, James 1:27

For the times when we fail to notice others’ needs, we repent. For our apathy for those you’ve entrusted to us, we repent. For the amount of time we spend focused on ourselves, we repent. For fa...

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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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Author

Eduard Lohse

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:38, Matthew 7:28-29, Luke 24:27, John 3:1-21, Matthew 5:17

When Jesus is called Rabbi by His disciples and others, this shows that He conducted Himself like the Jewish scribes.

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Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:4-5, 1 John 3:18-19, Matthew 7:21, Romans 10:9-10, Hebrews 11:1, Galatians 2:20

I do not put much stock in "believing in God." The grammar of "belief" invites a far too rationalistic account of what it means to be a Christian. "Belief" implies propos...

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Author

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 16:2, 1 John 1:8, James 1:22-24, Psalm 19:12, Matthew 7:3-5

You will never make yourself feel that you are a sinner, because there is a mechanism in you as a result of sin that will always be defending you against every accusation. We are all on very good term...

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Heavenly Father, forgive us when we neglect

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:17, Philippians 4:19, Matthew 7:11, Psalm 103:2, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Isaiah 41:10, 1 Peter 4:10, Ephesians 1:3, John 15:5

Heavenly Father, forgive us when we neglect our reliance on you. We take for granted many gifts you give, but we also forget your desire to provide. Help us to receive those gifts, whether they are ph...

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One False Assumption

Author

Simon Sinek

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 32:null, 1 Timothy 4:16, 1 John 4:1-4, 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, Proverbs 3:5-6, Matthew 7:1-2, James 1:19

On a cold January day, a forty-three-year-old man was sworn in as the chief executive of his country. By his side stood his predecessor, a famous general who, fifteen years earlier, had commanded his ...

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The Curious Incident of the Fig Tree

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 1:8, Romans 6:4, Colossians 1:10, Matthew 7:16-20, Galatians 5:22-23, Luke 13:6-9

My mom studied horticulture and could make a dead stick grow leaves. I do not have her genes. So what I am telling you know comes from sources who do know about fig trees. Here’s what they tell me. Fi...

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“Remember the Signs” from The Silver Chair

Author

Casey Clark

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:24, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 119:105, Joshua 1:8, Deuteronomy 6:6-7

In C. S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair, Jill meets the lion, Aslan, high atop a mountain before her quest begins to save a prince. Aslan shares four important signs for her to remember along the way. These ...

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Shock-Proof

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:24-27, Isaiah 28:16, 1 Corinthians 3:11, Luke 6:47-49, Psalm 11:3, 2 Timothy 2:19, 1 Peter 2:4-6, Matthew 7:24

The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright was given the challenge of building the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, one of the most earthquake-prone cities in the world. Wright’s investigation showed that a solid...

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