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December 31, 2003
I heard about one man who made some New Year's resolutions. In 2001 he said, "I will not get upset when Sam and Charlie make jokes about my baldness." In 2002 it was, "I won't get annoyed when Charlie and Sam kid me about my hairpiece." Then in 2003, "...
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December 30, 2003
Christmas is a time of giving, and I've found it to be true that it is more blessed to give than to receive. If you are like me, you can't wait to give your gifts. When you get something for someone, you want to see the joy he or she has in receiving it...
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December 29, 2003
In first-century track competitions, each runner would be assigned to a lane on the track. Each was expected to stay in his assigned lane. In the same way, as you and I run the race of life, our competition is not with other believers. Rather, our comp...
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December 26, 2003
Today I want to look at one of the unsung heroes of the Bible. His name was Caleb, and he never lost his edge spiritually. In his own words, he said, "I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as we...
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December 25, 2003
When King Herod heard that one had been born King of the Jews, he summoned the chief priests and scribes to inquire where the Christ was to be born (see Matthew 2:4). They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet . . .' " (...
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December 24, 2003
The wise men who came from the East were men of great importance, VIPs. If they came to our country today, they would arrive with an entourage amid high levels of security. These were important people who came to Jerusalem and announced that it had been...
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December 23, 2003
I read a newspaper article about a man who was having a little trouble with Christmas and was shooting off some steam. For this man, however, it resulted in a trip to jail. It all started when he went to put up Christmas lights outside, only to discover...
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December 22, 2003
I heard about a great concert violinist who was asked about the secret to her great performances. She answered, "Planned neglect. Anything that would keep me from practicing and playing well must be neglected."
I think that some of us could u...
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December 19, 2003
When you go to a place like Disneyland with your children, you know where they are. You don't leave the park and forget them, because you protect what you love.
In the same way, God never forgets what He loves. Writing to first-century believ...
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December 18, 2003
When an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, he was not only telling him that Mary had not been unfaithful as he had thought, but that she was the virgin spoken of by the prophet Isaiah: "The Lord Himself will give you a sign: 'Behold, the vir...
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December 17, 2003
I heard the story of a little boy who was frightened one night during a big thunderstorm. Terrified, he called out from his room, "Daddy, I am scared!"
His father, not wanting to get out of bed, called back, "Don't worry, Son. God loves you and...
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December 16, 2003
Imagine for a moment that it's your birthday and your friends and family have decided to throw you party. It isn't just any party. It's a mega party. Everyone that you know is there. There are gifts galore and the largest cake you have ever seen. You...
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December 15, 2003
It is difficult for us to understand, 2,000 years later, the significance of the angel Gabriel's appearance to Mary in Nazareth. After all, he could have found the future mother of the Messiah in Rome, the capital of the greatest power on earth at the ti...
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December 12, 2003
When we think of Christmas, we think of the arrival of Jesus: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given" (Isaiah 9:6). In reality, it was also a departure. For us, a Child was born. But for God the Father, a Son was given.
In heav...
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December 11, 2003
Some of the most precious gifts tend not to attract our attention at first. We take a hurried glance and see nothing of significance. But if we go back and take another look, we begin to discover the glory and the wonder of that gift.
So it w...
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December 10, 2003
When people give Christmas gifts to each other, they usually think a great deal about it beforehand. A gift tells us quite a bit about the giver, doesn't it? You can estimate, more or less, what people think of you by the gifts they give you. On the ot...
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December 9, 2003
One of the first things I remember taking place when I committed my life to Jesus Christ was the erosion of bitterness and anger and the growth of a love I had not known before. Years of bitterness and anger that had been building up just began to dissol...
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December 8, 2003
A flock of wild geese was flying south for the winter when one goose looked down and noticed a group of domestic geese by a little pond near a farm. He noticed they had plenty of grain to eat. Life seemed relatively nice for them. So, he flew down and ...
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December 5, 2003
Whose slave are you? Maybe you believe that you are your own person, the master of your own destiny. But in reality, each of us yields or gives ourselves to someone or something. We are all slaves of someone or something.
I want to be a slav...
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December 4, 2003
A farmer who was known for his frugality owned a cow that gave birth to two calves. He said to his wife, "I am going to dedicate one of these calves to the Lord." Knowing his miserly ways, she was very surprised and asked which one he was planning to gi...
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December 3, 2003
I don't know about you, but when Christmas rolls around, it seems there is always someone for whom I feel obligated to buy a gift. Although I don't really enjoy the process, I do it out of duty. On the other hand, it is exciting to buy a gift for someon...
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December 2, 2003
Sometimes we say, "We all have our crosses to bear. My cross is my supervisor at work," or "My cross is this health problem," or "My cross is this relative." But I think we have lost the meaning of the cross. If you were living in first-century Jerusal...
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December 1, 2003
I heard a true story about a man who operated a drawbridge. At a certain time every afternoon, he raised the bridge for a ferryboat to go by, and then lowered it in time for a passenger train to cross over. He performed this task precisely, according to t...
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November 28, 2003
When the Lord walked this earth, He had no place to call home (Matthew 8:20). But there was something He liked about a home in Bethany where a man named Lazarus lived with his two sisters, Mary and Martha. Maybe Martha was a great cook. Maybe they were wo...
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November 27, 2003
In the Old Testament we find an interesting story of how King Jehoshaphat took an uncommon approach when his enemies waged war against him. Instead of sending in his army first, he sent in the choir and musicians. Imagine the scene: "All right, guys, he...
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November 26, 2003
As a little boy, I lived with my grandmother for a few years. I would thumb through her big family Bible and look at the pictures of Jesus. She also had a picture of Jesus hanging on the wall. I would stare at it and think, "I wish I could have known t...
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November 25, 2003
It has been said that it takes a steady hand to hold a full cup.
God was planning to give a full cup to the apostle Paul. So He took Paul away and put him into obscurity in the desert of Arabia for a time. We are not told what happened there, b...
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November 24, 2003
Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, faced a dilemma. His enemies greatly outnumbered him. To make matters worse, his enemies had joined forces with the other enemies of Israel and were coming to destroy him. One day, someone came to King Jehoshaphat and warned hi...
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November 20, 2003
In first-century track competitions, each runner would be assigned to a lane on the track. Each was expected to stay in his assigned lane. In the same way, as you and I run the race of life, our competition is not with other believers. Rather, our competi...
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November 19, 2003
I remember reading a story about one of the battles between General Lee and General Grant during the Civil War. General Lee was, of course, the head of the Confederate forces and was known for his brilliant tactics in doing a lot with a little. He did not...
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November 18, 2003
When I was a kid, I collected snakes. I thought they were just great, and I had them in all shapes and sizes. I met a man who collected venomous snakes and had worked in some type of zoo. I really admired him. He had been bitten by a tiger snake, whic...
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November 17, 2003
It is clear that we are living in the last days. All around us, we see signs being fulfilled before our very eyes that Jesus and the prophets told us to look for. The Bible warns that in the last days things would go from bad to worse (see 2 Timothy 3:1...
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November 14, 2003
Right after I became a Christian, other believers warned me, "Greg, watch out. There is a devil who will tempt you."
I said, "Right. A devil." I thought of the red figure with the pitchfork and horns.
They said, "No, the devil is ...
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November 13, 2003
Why does God bring tests into our lives? Is it because He wants to give us a hard time or embarrass us? No. It is because God wants us to learn. He wants us to mature spiritually. God wants us to learn to trust Him even when we don't understand Him. ...
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November 12, 2003
What kind of people does God want to use? We find the same pattern throughout Scripture: the people God used were faithful in what He had placed before them. The people that God used for big things were people who were faithful in the little things. Pe...
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November 11, 2003
Some years ago, there was a story in the news about a man who had a tree fall on his leg. With no one around to come to his rescue, he took out a pocketknife and proceeded to amputate his leg. Then he made his way up the road and someone picked him up a...
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November 10, 2003
During the Korean War, a unit known as Baker Company was separated from the regiment, and enemy forces were advancing on them. For several hours, no word came from Baker Company. Finally, radio contact was made, and when asked for a report of their situ...
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November 7, 2003
Not only does God speak to us through His Word, and not only does He speak to us through people and circumstances, but God also speaks to us through His peace. Colossians says, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in o...
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November 6, 2003
Not only does God speak to us through His Word and not only will He never contradict His Word, but God also speaks through circumstances. Although I'm not one to base major life decisions on circumstances alone, clearly there have been times when I have ...
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November 5, 2003
There are a lot of people today who say they hear the voice of God telling them to do thus and so. But what we must remember is that God will never contradict His Word. He will always lead us according to what the Bible says.
Some people come...
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November 4, 2003
Have you ever wished you could do a miracle for friends or family members who weren't believers? You think, "If this happened, then they would believe." We think we need something dramatic or earthshaking. But so many times, God works in simple ways to...
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November 3, 2003
The Old Testament Book of Esther is a wonderful love story—a story of what God did in the life of a woman to literally save a nation. Esther was a Jew who was plucked out of obscurity through an unusual chain of events and was made queen over the k...
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October 31, 2003
So often when something is going wrong in our country, we want to organize a boycott or want to protest. But did you know that as believers, we have something more powerful than boycotts? It is called prayer, and the Bible tells us to devote ourselves t...
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October 30, 2003
The great English preacher, John Wesley, once said, "Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I do not care if they be clergymen or laymen. Such men alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven...
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October 29, 2003
If the rapture happened today, would you be ready to go? The Bible says that Christ is coming for those who are watching and waiting. Does the thought that Jesus could come back today make your heart leap? Or does it make your heart sink?
An...
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October 28, 2003
Often after great victories, the greatest challenges and temptations of the Christian life will come. I have found that after great blessings in my life, after God works in a powerful way, the devil will be there to challenge it.
Think about i...
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October 27, 2003
It is hard for a lot of Christians to understand how suddenly their friends and family can turn against them. People they have been close to for years suddenly become hostile, simply because they have said they were now following Jesus Christ.
...
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October 24, 2003
I have a German shepherd that was a former guide dog for the blind. Because he had slight hip dysplasia, he was put up for adoption. When we got him, he was perfectly trained. We could take him anywhere. He was happy to sit next to us. Another dog wo...
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October 23, 2003
Milk is great cold. There's nothing quite like a cold glass of milk with couple of cookies. Milk is also good hot. With a little OvaltineŽ, it's great. But lukewarm milk? The thought of it is sickening. It just doesn't cut it.
In Revelati...
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October 22, 2003
Have you ever had one of those indecisive days? I am usually decisive. But I get in those moods where I just can't decide. I can be at the window of a take-out place and suddenly be stricken with indecision. That's not so tragic at a take-out window. ...
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October 21, 2003
During the 40 days from His resurrection to His ascension to heaven, Jesus was constantly appearing and vanishing before the disciples. I think He was getting the disciples accustomed to the fact that, even when He was not visible physically, He still wo...
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October 20, 2003
The Bible mentions a category of Christians who are described as carnal. These are people in an arrested state of spiritual development. They have never really grown up. They're caught between two worlds: they have too much of the Lord to be happy in t...
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October 17, 2003
A true story was reported about a couple that was visiting a jewelry store. As the jeweler showed them various crosses, the woman commented, "I like these, but do you have any without this little man on them?"
That is what so many people want ...
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October 16, 2003
When the Bible says that ravens brought Elijah food, it doesn't mean they took his order, flew through the local fast food restaurant, and then delivered his meal. Ravens are scavengers. They brought little bits of meat and bread to Elijah. What's more...
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October 15, 2003
Of the twelve disciples, we envision Judas Iscariot as the one with shifty eyes, lurking in the shadows. While the other disciples wore white, Judas would have worn black. He was the one you would have immediately recognized as the bad guy.
B...
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October 13, 2003
I think that we Christians are sometimes tempted to isolate ourselves. We want to submerge ourselves in a Christian subculture of our own making and not get too involved in the world.
But Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth." When He m...
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October 10, 2003
God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Many times when we're looking for some great superstar to come on the scene, God is developing someone in obscurity whom we haven't ever heard of. We will say, "What if so-and-so became a Christian? ...
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October 9, 2003
Has it ever seemed to you that you are out there all alone as a Christian? Sometimes it feels like you are the only one who is serving the Lord or speaking up for Him at your workplace or school. You know others who are Christians, but they are afraid t...
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October 8, 2003
Sometimes God will not come through as quickly as we want Him to. Mary and Martha, two friends of Jesus, faced this dilemma. Their brother Lazarus was sick. It was a serious illness. So they sent word to Jesus.
I think they probably believe...
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October 7, 2003
Imagine, for a moment, that we are competing in a race. When the starter pistol is fired, we take off, and I leave you in my dust. I'm running really well. Let's say we are going for 10 laps, and we are coming to the last one. I say to myself, "I am c...
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October 6, 2003
It is interesting how God came to different people in the Bible. To Abraham, God came as a traveler. Abraham was outside his tent when three messengers arrived. Two were angels, while one was God himself. We know that Jesus said, "Your ancestor Abraha...
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October 3, 2003
The Bible's first recorded prayer of Jacob's is found in Genesis 32:9–16. Up to this point, seven chapters of Genesis have been devoted Jacob's life, with no mention of prayer on his part. It makes me wonder if Jacob had ever prayed up to this poi...
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October 2, 2003
There is a story in the Bible about a man named Esau who gave up everything for a little temporal pleasure. As the firstborn, Esau had been given the family birthright, which meant that one day he would be the spiritual leader of his family and would be ...
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October 1, 2003
A successful building contractor called in one of his employees, a skilled carpenter, and told him that he was putting him in charge of the next house the company was building. He instructed the carpenter to order all of the materials and oversee the ent...
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September 30, 2003
What comes to mind when you hear the word dynamite? I automatically think of something explosive. And when something is described as dynamic, I know it is something unusual or special, something that stands out. Jesus told the disciples they would rece...
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September 29, 2003
I heard about a Christian living in first-century Rome who was about to be fed to a lion. He quickly whispered something in the lion's ear, and the lion bolted away in terror. When a guard was sent to find out what happened, he came back with this repor...
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September 26, 2003
Imagine, for a moment, that we are competing in a race. When the starter pistol is fired, we take off, and I leave you in my dust. I'm running really well. Let's say we are going for 10 laps, and we are coming to the last one. I say to myself, "I am cream...
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September 25, 2003
Someone once asked the great evangelist Charles Finney, "Do you really believe in a literal devil?"
Finney responded, "You try opposing him for awhile, and you see if he is literal or not." If you want to find out if there is a literal devil, ...
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September 24, 2003
I heard the story of a pastor who boarded a bus one Monday morning, paid his fare, and took his seat. A few minutes later, he realized that the driver had given him too much change. Some people might have put it in their pocket and said, "Lord, thank yo...
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September 23, 2003
My dog practices selective listening. When he doesn't like what I am saying, he acts as though he doesn't understand me. If he is in my room at bedtime and I tell him to leave, he looks at me as if to say, "What?" It's as though his hearing is gone. O...
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September 22, 2003
What does it mean to test God? It is the mentality that asks the question, "As a Christian, how much can I get away with and still be saved? How far can I go and still be a child of God?" In other words, "How far to the edge can I get without falling o...
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September 19, 2003
At first glance, the sins that brought the children of Israel down in the wilderness don't seem to have any rhyme or reason. But a closer examination reveals that the root problem was a lack of relationship with the true and living God. Thus, when Moses...
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September 18, 2003
Sometimes people ask me to sign their Bibles, which is not something I like to do, because I didn't write it. But when someone insists, I usually write this inscription in his or her Bible: "Sin will keep you from this book and this book will keep you fr...
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September 17, 2003
One has to go no further than the Psalms to see the intimacy of David's relationship with God. David loved God in a dear and tender way. Yet we know that he fell into sin.
If you were to ask the average person what he or she remembers from th...
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September 16, 2003
When wildfires swept through Southern California in the fall of 1993, I noticed a photograph in the newspaper of an entire neighborhood that had been leveled by the fires. All that was left were the foundations. In the midst of all the burned, charred, ...
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September 15, 2003
When God gave the Ten Commandments, He began by saying that we should have no other gods before Him.
Idols can be a lot of things. Essentially, an idol could be defined as anyone or anything that takes the place of God in our lives. An idol i...
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September 12, 2003
It is clear that we are living in the last days. All around us, the signs that Jesus and the prophets told us to look for are taking place before our very eyes. The devil and his demons are doing their dirty work, and this should not surprise us. The B...
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September 11, 2003
Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, faced a dilemma. His enemies greatly outnumbered him. To make matters worse, his enemies had joined forces with the other enemies of Israel and were coming to destroy him. One day, someone came to King Jehoshaphat and warned...
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September 10, 2003
At first glance, you might think that Abraham and his nephew Lot both were spiritual men. But a closer examination reveals that this was not the case. You see, Abraham lived for God. Lot, on the other hand, lived for himself. Abraham walked in the Spi...
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September 9, 2003
I read a story about a communication that took place some time ago between a U.S. naval ship and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland. The Canadians warned the Americans, "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collisi...
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September 8, 2003
When my oldest son was a little boy, I would take him to Toys R Us. We would look around. I would tell him to pick out something for himself. He would look at the Star Wars figures. I would look at the X-wing fighter with the remote control, thinking ...
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September 5, 2003
When the Lord walked this earth, He had no place to call home (Matthew 8:20). But there was something He liked about a home in Bethany where a man named Lazarus lived with his two sisters, Mary and Martha. Maybe Martha was a great cook. Maybe they were...
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September 4, 2003
Can you imagine going home tonight and getting ready to go to bed, when all of a sudden, you see someone walking up to your front door and knocking? Lo and behold, it is Jesus. How would you react?
Of course, we know this isn't going to happen. The ...
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September 3, 2003
I am an artist. I like to draw and design. Sometimes when I am sketching, someone will come along, look over my shoulder, and see only a certain shape or form. I realize that all that is visible for the time being. But I am still working.
"What is ...
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September 2, 2003
When Jesus walked this earth, He blew the cover of the religious elite of the day: the Pharisees who smugly thought that if they did not commit certain sins, they were okay. But they somehow had rationalized that they could do these things in their minds...
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September 1, 2003
When he was little, my son had a habit of wandering. One day, we were in a hotel and came to an elevator. He ran ahead to push the button. I told him, "If the elevator comes, wait until Dad gets there." Just as I arrived at the elevator, the doors wer...
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August 29, 2003
Martin Luther had it right when he wrote the words of the hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God: "For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe—his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal."
If you are a C...
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August 28, 2003
Historian Will Durant, when he reached the age of 70, said, "To live forever would be the greatest curse imaginable."
Will we live forever? The answer is "yes" and "no." Will our bodies live forever? No. Will our bodies cease to exist at one point?...
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August 27, 2003
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . ." These are the opening lines to Charles Dickens' classic book, A Tale of Two Cities. He was describing France during the revolution. In many ways, you could use the same words to describe our ...
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August 26, 2003
A poll was taken not long ago that asked Americans what they thought was their main purpose in life. The responses were interesting. You would think some would maybe say, "To make a contribution to society," or "To have a meaningful life." But what mos...
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August 25, 2003
In his book, The Devaluing of America, former Secretary of Education William Bennett made this statement. "During my tenure as U. S. Secretary of Education, nothing I said seemed more unforgivable than my good words about religion. I was attacked as an ...
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August 22, 2003
I heard a story about some fish suppliers who were having problems shipping codfish from the East Coast. By the time it reached the West, it was spoiled. They froze it, but by the time it arrived, it was mushy. So, they decided to send it alive. But i...
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August 21, 2003
When you go to a place like Disneyland with your children, you know where they are. You don't leave the park and forget them, because you protect what you love.
In the same way, God never forgets what He loves. Writing to first-century believers, Jud...
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August 20, 2003
Today I want to look at one of the unsung heroes of the Bible. His name was Caleb, and he never lost his edge spiritually. In his own words, he said, "I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as we...
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August 19, 2003
Enoch lived at a unique time in history, prior to God's judgment by the Flood. People of Enoch's day were really wicked. So wicked, in fact, that God was sorry He ever created them. Scripture tells us of that time that all their thoughts were "consiste...
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August 18, 2003
In addition to walking in harmony with God, Amos 3:3 provides another nuance of meaning. It also gives the idea of keeping an appointment. Did you know that you have an appointment with God? You do. It is there, written in eternity. In fact, God want...
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August 15, 2003
Have you ever felt like a spiritual failure? If so, then you're in good company. Even the Apostle Peter felt that way after he denied the Lord.
When Jesus told the disciples they would abandon Him in His hour of need, Peter insisted that he never wou...
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August 14, 2003
It was deja vu time for the disciples. They had been fishing all night on the Sea of Galilee and hadn't caught anything. The Lord had risen. He already had appeared to some of the disciples. There were no clear marching orders, so they thought they w...
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August 13, 2003
I find, as a Christian, that I need to be reminded of things that I sometimes forget. Have you noticed that you don't always know as much as you think you know? I have found that I often forget what I ought to remember, and I remember what I ought to fo...
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August 12, 2003
I read about a person who wrote the following to a local newspaper advice columnist: Dear Uticus, Our preacher said on Easter that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that His disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered...
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August 11, 2003
I heard a true story about a man who operated a drawbridge. At a certain time every afternoon, he raised the bridge for a ferryboat to go by, and then lowered it in time for a passenger train to cross over. He performed this task precisely, according to...
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August 8, 2003
Ever since childhood, I have always had a great admiration for the historical person known as Jesus. I had seen all of His movies. I thought very highly of Him.
As a little boy, I lived with my grandmother for a few years. I would thumb through her ...
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August 7, 2003
I heard the story of a little boy who was frightened one night during a big thunderstorm. Terrified, he called out from his room, "Daddy, I am scared!"
His father, not wanting to get out of bed, called back, "Don't worry, Son. God loves you and will ...
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August 6, 2003
Not long ago, I celebrated my 50th birthday. Getting older is not a depressing thought, because from the day I gave my life to Jesus Christ, it has been an adventure. I don't regret a single day of my life that I have spent following and serving the Lor...
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August 5, 2003
In first-century track competitions, each runner would be assigned to a lane on the track. Each was expected to stay in his assigned lane. In the same way, as you and I run the race of life, our competition is not with other believers. Rather, our comp...
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August 1, 2003
It has been said that it takes a steady hand to hold a full cup.
God was planning to give a full cup to the apostle Paul. So He took Paul away and put him into obscurity in the desert of Arabia for a time. We are not told what happened there, but we ...
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July 31, 2003
On a recent visit to North Carolina, I drove through a town named Mocksville. I should have been born there. Prior to becoming a Christian, I always loved to mock other people. So when I became a follower of Jesus, I was shocked to discover that I was ...
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July 30, 2003
One morning as Alfred Nobel was reading the newspaper, he was shocked to find his name listed in the obituary column. It was a mistake, but nonetheless, there it was. He was stunned to see that he was primarily remembered as the man who invented dynamit...
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July 29, 2003
Prior to his conversion, Saul was a leading Pharisee and possibly even a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. He presided over the death of the first martyr of the Christian church, Stephen. After his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road resulted in his...
