Christian Living on Acceptance

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Rejection and Acceptance

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Scripture

Jeremiah 3:13, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 8:38-39, Matthew 11:28, Isaiah 66:13, Psalm 27:10, Isaiah 49:15-16

In his book The Logic of the Spirit, James Loder talks about a woman with whom he had been in a therapeutic relationship for years. This woman’s underlying issue seemed to be a complete sense of rejec...

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Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Scripture

Romans 5:3-5, Hebrews 11:1, Psalm 42:11, Jeremiah 29:11, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Romans 8:24-25, Isaiah 40:31

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

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Author

Martin Luther

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Scripture

Matthew 17:20, Psalm 34:8, Isaiah 26:3-4, Jeremiah 17:7-8, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Romans 8:24-25, Proverbs 3:5-6

Faith is a free surrender and a joyous wager on the unseen, unknown, untested goodness of God.

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Where Does My Validation Come From?

Author

Alexandra Kuykendall

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 1:6, Romans 8:1

As Christians, we do not need to justify who we are; Jesus took care of that. We are loved and forgiven. When I’m tempted to advertise my accomplishments, qualifications, or résumés when talking with ...

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Author

Richard Lovelace

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Scripture

Romans 5:1, Romans 8:1, Galatians 2:16, Titus 3:5, 1 John 4:15, Isaiah 61:10, Hebrews 10:14

Much that we have interpreted as a defect of sanctification in church people is really an outgrowth of their loss of bearing with respect to justification. Christians who are no longer sure that God l...

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The Healing Power of Christ's Love

Author

Scott Bowerman

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 31:3, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 8:38-39, Matthew 11:28, Isaiah 66:13, Psalm 27:10

James Loder, in his book The Logic of the Spirit, talks about a woman with whom he had been in a therapeutic relationship for years. This woman’s underlying issue seemed to be a complete sense of reje...

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Sealed With the Spirit

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:30, Galatians 4:6-7, Romans 8:16-17, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Ephesians 1:13-14, 1 John 3:24

Seal. You know the verb. You twist a jar lid to seal the pickles. You lick an envelope to seal the letter. You notarize the contract to seal the deal. Sealing declares ownership and secures contents. ...

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Author

Victor Hugo

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 4:10, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 4:6, Romans 8:38-39, Luke 18:42, Isaiah 42:16, Psalm 146:8

We may remark in passing that to be blind and beloved may, in this world where nothing is perfect, be among the most strangely exquisite forms of happiness. The supreme happiness in life is the assura...

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The Value of Patience

Author

Heather Thompson Day

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:22, James 5:7-8, Romans 8:25, Habakkuk 2:3, Isaiah 40:31

A 2007 study conducted at Fuller Theological Seminary found patient people were less likely to suffer from depression. Patient people were found to be more grateful and expressed they felt more connec...

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The good news in Christ is that when we face

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Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Romans 8:1, 1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 103:12

Leader: The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey. Friends, believe the good news o...

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Author

William Stringfellow

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 23:39-43, Romans 4:18-21, Luke 15:11-32, Lamentations 3:22-24, Romans 8:24-25

Hope is reliance upon grace in the face of death: the issue is that of receiving life as a gift, not as a reward and not as a punishment; hope is living constantly, patiently, expectantly, resiliently...

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Joining the Human Race

Author

Parker J. Palmer

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 42:3, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 8:22-23, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Hebrews 4:15

As the darkness began to descend on me in my early twenties, I thought I had developed a unique and terminal case of failure. I did not realize that I had merely embarked on a journey toward joining t...

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Pushed to the Brink of Destruction

Author

James A. Knight

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 12:12-13, Psalm 147:3, Romans 8:28, Isaiah 61:1, 1 Peter 5:10

Psychiatrist James Knight describes in graphic detail the experience that members of Alcoholics Anonymous experience: These persons have had their lives laid bare and pushed to the brink of destructi...

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Gracious Father, too often we base our

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10, Romans 8:38-39, Titus 3:4-5, Isaiah 55:1, Psalm 103:10-12, John 15:9

Gracious Father, too often we base our worth on our performance. We believe if we do well, your love grows, and if we falter, your love lessens. Our God, how far this is from the truth. We confess our...

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Loving father, you promise the most

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:38, Ephesians 1:3-6, Galatians 4:3-7

Loving father, you promise the most amazing things. You give us an inheritance, you adopt us as your sons and daughters, you say you will never leave us nor forsake us, and you say that nothing can se...

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Author

Andrew Murray

Keywords

Scripture

James 5:15, Philippians 2:12-13, Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:11, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Peter 1:2

The more we allow ourselves to personally experience sanctification by faith, the more we also experience healing by faith. These two doctrines walk together. The more the Spirit of God lives and acts...

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Triumph and Failure in the World of Faith

Author

Ben Patterson

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:31, Romans 8:28, Psalm 27:14, James 1:2-4, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 130:5-6

Triumph and failure always go together in the wait of faith. They are the head and tail of the same coin. Show me a person who has had no struggle with waiting, whose faith has known no swings between...

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On the idea that God “gave Ed Dobson ALS”

Author

Ed Dobson

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 4:11-13, Psalm 34:1, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 8:28, James 1:2-4, 1 Thessalonians 5:18

I have tried to serve God faithfully all my life. Though I have not been perfect, I have tried to passionately follow Him. And now this God whom I have been following has given me this disease because...

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The Weight of Hell Shifts to the Weight of Glory

Author

Ann Voskamp

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:2-4, Psalm 147:3, John 16:33, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 8:28, Psalm 34:18

In her book The Broken Way, Ann Voskamp shares a beautiful exchange between her and her husband (The farmer). His encouragement is for all of us: that God uses the broken things in this world for good...

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Author

John Calvin

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 5:13, Galatians 3:14, Titus 3:5-7, John 14:26, Romans 8:16

We shall now have a full definition of faith if we say that it is a firm and sure knowledge of the divine favor toward us, founded on the truth of a free promise in Christ, and revealed to our minds, ...

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Author

Michael Gerson

Keywords

Faith

Scripture

John 20:29, Romans 8:24-25, Proverbs 3:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:1

Faith, thankfully, does not preclude doubt. It consists of staking your life on the rumor of grace.

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Beloved: The Truth About Yourself

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 31:3, Psalm 139:13-14, Romans 8:38-39, Isaiah 43:1-2, Deuteronomy 31:8, 1 John 3:1, Zephaniah 3:17

Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: “These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot...

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Patience is a Hard Discipline

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:25, James 5:7-8, Isaiah 40:31, Galatians 5:22, Habakkuk 2:3

Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a co...

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Author

Mary Jane Moffat

Keywords

Healing

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22-23, Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:28, Isaiah 43:18-19, James 1:2-4, Philippians 1:6

Recovery is not a process we can will, but consists of experiencing many small deaths, the passing of significant anniversaries, until our identity is solid and natural in the pronoun “I.”

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Certainty vs. Vulnerability

Author

Austin Fischer

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:6, John 20:27, Mark 9:24, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Romans 8:24-25, James 1:5-6

In this excerpt from his book Faith in the Shadows, pastor and author Austin Fischer shares a surprising truth about the need to be vulnerable with our own faith if we are likely to have a positive im...

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Not Being Chosen

Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

Belonging

Scripture

Ephesians 1:4, Romans 8:28-30, 1 Peter 2:9

Verb two: God chose. “Just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love” (Eph.1:4) Everybody I have ever become acquainted with has a story,...

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Author

Marc Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:11, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 32:5, Romans 8:1, Isaiah 43:18-19

I see my past drinking as a behavioral problem, a learned response to dealing (or not dealing) with emotional pain and stress. Once I achieved the excavation of my wounds, I no longer lived with the s...

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Loving and gracious God, we know we do

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22-23, Jeremiah 31:3, Micah 7:18-19, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Isaiah 1:18

Loving and gracious God, we know we do not always live the life to which we are called: We turn away from You, and from our true selves. You command us to shine Your light, but we often hide it instea...

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Prayer of Adoration Father God … our

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, 1 John 1:9, Micah 7:18-19, Ephesians 1:7, Psalm 32:5, Romans 5:8

Prayer of Adoration Father God … our Abba: You seek us with relentless love – coming after us in Your Son, Jesus. When we are in the pits – You draws us up and out; When we are broken – You fix u...

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Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 4:16, John 15:12-13, Romans 8:38-39, Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, John 17:21

The vision that Jesus gives us is this: That I am unconditionally loved, that I belong to God, and that I am a person who can really trust that. When I meet another person who also is rooted in the he...

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