Christian Living on Independence

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Gracious God, We build walls to protect

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 73:25-26, John 15:15, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 3:8-9, Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalm 37:5

Gracious God, We build walls to protect ourselves, but it leads to isolation. We make independence the highest value, instead of complete dependence on You. Forgive us for our inability to surrender e...

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The One Thing Going For Us

Author

Andy Crouch

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:8-9, Galatians 2:21, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 51:17, Luke 18:13-14, Isaiah 64:6, Philippians 3:9

As for Christians, well, we really have just one thing going for us. We have publicly declared… that we are desperately in need of Another to give us his righteousness, to complete us, to live in us. ...

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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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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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Author

Rainer Maria Rilke

Keywords

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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Author

David Livingstone

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Scripture

Acts 20:35, Proverbs 3:9, 2 Corinthians 9:7-8, Mark 10:21, Luke 12:33-34, Philippians 3:7-8, Matthew 13:44-46

I place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of God. If anything will advance the interests of the kingdom, it shall be given away or kept, only as by giving o...

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The Three Orientations Towards Work

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 11:39-40, Jeremiah 1:5, Philippians 3:14, Galatians 6:9, Matthew 25:21

In his landmark work, Habits of the Heart, the sociologist Robert Bellah describes thee distinct orientations people take with respect to their work. The first orientation is to see your work as a job...

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Meriting our Salvation

Author

Jen Pollock Michel

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 6:23, Philippians 3:9, Titus 3:5, Galatians 2:16, Isaiah 64:6, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9

At the core of every project of self-salvation is the staunch unwillingness to believe that God’s love and forgiveness can be unmerited. Those who would try and save themselves prefer work to rest, ef...

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Author

Leo Tolstoy

Keywords

The Kingdom of God

Scripture

Acts 20:24, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Colossians 3:1-2, Romans 14:17, Philippians 3:13-14, Matthew 6:33

The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.

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Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 16:24-25, Luke 14:27, Acts 5:29, Philippians 3:20, Matthew 28:18-20, Isaiah 9:6-7, Psalm 22:28

We would like a church that again asserts that God, not nations, rules the world, that the boundaries of God's kingdom transcend those of Caesar, and that the main political task of the church is ...

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Mandela's Choice to Be Free

Author

Justice Malala

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:13-14, Isaiah 43:18-19, Proverbs 19:11, Romans 12:17-21, Luke 6:27-28, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:31-32

After meeting Nelson Mandela, President Bill Clinton asked him how he felt as he left the prison: “Tell me the truth: when you were walking down the road that last time didn’t you hate them?” Mandela ...

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When Success looks like Failure

Author

Donna Barber

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, Matthew 16:26, Philippians 3:7-8, Proverbs 16:8, Luke 12:15, Proverbs 23:4-5, Ecclesiastes 4:7-8

Sometimes our successes can be more devastating than our failures. We fight, strain, and struggle in pursuit of something or someone that looks to be good, and after days or months or years, we obtain...

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Following a King

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:21, Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 3:8-9, Revelation 17:14, Luke 9:23, John 10:27, Matthew 16:24

The Gospel is not about choosing to follow advice, it’s about being called to follow a King. Not just someone with the power and authority to tell you what needs to be done—but someone with the power ...

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Author

Donald S. Whitney

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26-27 , Isaiah 43:1, Psalm 73:25-26, Romans 8:15-16, Philippians 3:20-21

Thus when someone is born again, the Holy Spirit gives that person new Fatherward desires, a new heavenward orientation whereby we cry, “Abba, Father!”

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New Bodies in the New Creation

Author

John Eldredge

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 2 Corinthians 5:1-2, Revelation 21:4

I love that part in The Silver Chair when old age simply vanishes from frail King Caspian, because age is the unavoidable meltdown, stripping even the bravest and most beautiful of their former glor...

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Author

Alister E. McGrath

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 1:8-9, Philippians 3:20, 1 Corinthians 2:9, John 20:29, 2 Corinthians 5:7

Faith is not something that goes against the evidence, it goes beyond it. The evidence is saying to us, 'There is another country. There is something beyond mere reason'.

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Sad Will Be The Day

Author

Phillips Brooks

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:11, 2 Timothy 4:7, Hebrews 11:16, Psalm 42:1, Isaiah 6:8, Romans 12:2, Philippians 3:14

Sad will be the day for every man when he becomes absolutely contented with the life he is living, with the thoughts that he is thinking, with the deeds that he is doing, when there is not forever bea...

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Prayer of Confession for All Saints Day

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 12:1-3, Philippians 3:13-14, Isaiah 40:31, 2 Timothy 4:7-8, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Run beloved, run Lay aside every weight Every worry Every excuse Every inner critic shouting against inspiration Lay aside the sin that clings so closely Every self-serving motivation Every self-medi...

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Paul Making Decision

Author

Kevin DeYoung

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:17, Philippians 3:13-14, Acts 20:22-23, 1 Corinthians 16:5-9, Romans 15:20-21, Acts 16:6-7

You’re not getting the sense that Paul got angelic visits every other day and waited for his dreams, visions of his heart, and supernatural messages written out in the clouds to tell him what to do…Wi...

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Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Colossians 3:1-3, Philippians 3:13-14, Isaiah 43:18-19, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:8-9

When he found himself desiring to be treated as one of the pigs, he realized he was not a pig but a human being, a son of his father. This realization became the basis for his choice to live instead o...

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Author

George Bernard Shaw

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:13-14, Matthew 11:12, Galatians 1:10, Daniel 3:18, 1 Corinthians 1:27, Acts 17:6

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

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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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Leader: In Jesus Christ God has removed

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 3:5, Ephesians 2:19, Romans 8:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 3:20, John 15:15, Isaiah 43:1

Leader: In Jesus Christ God has removed our sins from us and given us a new name. People: Now we are called Forgiven. Leader: In Jesus Christ God has assured us that he could never forget us. Peopl...

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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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This Intention

Author

William Law

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, Matthew 6:33, Psalm 90:12, Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 3:13-14, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Proverbs 16:3, Revelation 2:10, Matthew 5:10-12, Philippians 1:27, Acts 2:42

It was this…intention that made the primitive Christians such eminent instances of piety, that made the goodly fellowship of the Saints and all the glorious army of martyrs and confessors. And if you ...

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Fear & Growth, Risk & Comfort

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 8:20, Philippians 3:8, Hebrews 12:11, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 5:3-4, James 1:2-4, Luke 9:23

Fear and growth go together like macaroni and cheese. It’s a package deal. The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must re...

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Heavenly Father, forgive us for the

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 3:15-16, Philippians 3:13-14, John 3:16-21, Psalm 13:5-6, Isaiah 54:10, Psalm 117:1-2, Zephaniah 1:12

Heavenly Father, forgive us for the times when we take advantage of your unfailing love. You forgive us day in and day out, you never fail us, and you’ll never leave us. As a result, we become complac...

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Tides and Currents

Author

Russ Metcalfe

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 4:25-27, Philippians 3:13-14, Romans 5:3-4, James 1:12

I found that tides and currents do not determine destination. That is what rudders and engines and sails are for. While you don’t dare ignore the tides and currents, you also never get anywhere if you...

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Faithful Response to Healing

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 5:14-20, Philippians 3:13-14, Isaiah 43:18-19, Titus 3:5, John 3:3

In the story of Jesus and the demon-possessed man in Mark 5:14-20, Jesus gives new life to that man. When the townspeople saw the result of Jesus’ healing – an entirely new man, almost unrecognizable ...

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Author

William Law

Keywords

The Kingdom of God

Scripture

James 4:4, Romans 12:2, Mark 8:36, Colossians 3:1-2, Matthew 13:44-46, Philippians 3:7-8

If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.

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