Christian Living on Journeys

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Faith Like a Journey

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Scripture

Isaiah 40:31, Acts 20:24, Hebrews 12:1-2, James 1:2-4, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:23-24, Philippians 3:13-14

While global flights and online booking have made travel easier in many ways, other aspects, often related to safety and security, still create challenges. As often as I fly, I could tell you plenty o...

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When Success looks like Failure

Author

Donna Barber

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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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The Treasure of a Lifetime

Author

Randy Alcorn

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Scripture

Matthew 13:44, Hebrews 14:26, Colossians 2:2-3, Philippians 3:8, Luke 12:33-34

A first-century Hebrew walks alone on a hot afternoon, staff in hand. His shoulders are stooped, his tunic stained with sweat. But he doesn’t stop to rest. He has pressing business in the city. He vee...

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Grace Upon Grace

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Scripture

Exodus 3:1–12 , 1 Kings 8:10–11, Isaiah 55:6–9 , John 1:16, Philippians 3:10–14, Psalm 84:5–7

A number of mature Christians have described the Christian journey as one in which the follower of Jesus experiences different levels of grace. Let us imagine . . . that there are many rooms in t...

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Suffering is Walking in Jesus' Path

Author

Elizabeth Elliott

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Scripture

1 Peter 2:21, Luke 9:23, Philippians 3:10, 2 Timothy 2:11-12, Matthew 16:24-25

Amy Carmichael was a passionate missionary to India. She gave her life for the sake of those who had suffered the consequences of an unyielding caste system. She also had her suffering, due to physica...

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Author

Chuck DeGroat

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Scripture

Philippians 3:7-11

When I teach on the dynamics of real change and maturation, I often describe a “furnace of transformation” each of us must pass through for the sake of growth and refinement. I’ve never seen real grow...

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Tides and Currents

Author

Russ Metcalfe

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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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Living From the Center

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

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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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Homecoming & The Hope of Resurrection

Author

Jen Pollock Michel

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Scripture

Revelation 21:1-4, John 14:2-3, Hebrews 13:14, Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13, Philippians 3:20-21

In her book Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home, Jen Pollock Michel reflects on the nature of home in a transient age. In this short excerpt, Michel describes the central longing in both...

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Rolling the Stone Away

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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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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Living in Two Worlds

Author

Ruth Chou Simons

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1-3, Exodus 3:7-10 , Isaiah 40:28-31, John 1:4-5, Romans 8:18-25, Philippians 3:20-21

We all live between two worlds. We are planted here on earth while our hope is in heaven. We are given work to do in temporary soil that, we’re told, has the potential to spring up into unending fruit...

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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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Dirty Boots

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Proverbs 13:4, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Matthew 25:14-30, Philippians 3:13-14, James 1:22-25, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16

Pope John Paul I recounted a story about Jonathan Swift and his servant. One morning at an inn, Swift asked his servant why his boots hadn’t been cleaned. The servant replied, “I didn’t see the point,...

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Chapter One of the Great Story

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 21:1-8, Acts 3:19-21, John 14:2-3, John 14:2-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Corinthians 13:12

In the epic conclusion to the Narnia Chronicles, C.S. Lewis attempts to express the absolute joy that will come as our earthly lives come to an end and we are reunited with our God for all of eternity...

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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

Thomas à Kempis

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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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Gaining Scholars but Losing Jesus

Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 18:15 , Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 11:1–4, John 14:6–9 , Philippians 3:8–10, Psalm 34:8

A friend of mine, lecturing in a theological college in Kenya, introduced his students to “The Quest for the Historical Jesus.” This, he said, was a movement of thought and scholarship that in its ear...

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Author

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Keywords

Scripture

John 14:2-3, Revelation 21:4, Revelation 22:1-2, Matthew 25:34, 1 Corinthians 2:9, Philippians 3:20-21

No sign that ever was given To faithful or faithless eyes Showed ever beyond clouds riven So clear a paradise. Earth’s creeds may be seventy times seven And blood have defiled each creed But if such b...

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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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Author

Richard Sibbes

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:2, Philippians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Romans 12:2, Hebrews 11:13-16, Matthew 6:19-21, 1 John 2:15-16, Luke 12:33-34, Luke 18:22, Matthew 19:21

The life of a Christian is wondrously ruled in this world, by the consideration and meditation of the life of another world.

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Author

D. A. Carson

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Luke 18:29-30, Mark 10:28-30, Matthew 19:29, Philippians 3:8, Luke 14:33, Matthew 13:44

The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it.

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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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Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, Genesis 22:, Acts 9:1-19, Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 19:16-22, Philippians 3:7-8, Romans 6:22

Grace is costly because it compels a person to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

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The Blue Pill or the Red Pill

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:14, John 20:29, James 1:5-6, Romans 10:17, Matthew 17:20, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6

There is an iconic scene in the cult classic The Matrix that makes for a great metaphor. Morpheus gives Neo a choice between two pills: You can take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake up in y...

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Adapted from Philippians 3:7-8, 10

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:7-8, Philippians 3:10

"But whatever gain we had We count as loss for the sake of Christ. We consider everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord." For his sake we will...

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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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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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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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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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Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

James 1:5, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18, Philippians 3:6-7, Matthew 6:31-33

Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us on, help us stand; We’re tired, we’re weak, we’re worn; Thru the storm, thru the night, Lead us on to the light, Take our hand, precious Lord, Lead us home. The o...

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