When Jesus came to set captives free, he came for you and me, not just the people who were staring out through prison bars. Does a prisoner always know what...
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Believe and your dreams will come true. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if positive thinking worked all the time? What should we do if it doesn’t? Keep on believing. Keeping the...
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On Christmas Eve, Johnny found the latest edition of the Montgomery Ward catalog, which was thick and heavy enough to use as a door stop. He passed the black-and-white newsprint...
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Our society believes in vision. I must set lofty goals. Plan my work and work my plan, they say. Will that guarantee my success? Believing isn’t enough. Last year, hundreds...
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René Descarte is known for saying, “I think. Therefore, I am.” What we think defines the reality of our environment. We believe what we see with our minds. But is...
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Does God always keep his promises? If he does, people might have reason to fear. God’s blessings have conditions. These days, I seldom hear a preacher talk about God’s promises...
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I do many things on impulse, without thinking. Can I overthink a situation? Maybe my first thought is correct. On the other hand, what if my belief is wrong? Our...
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Just believe. That’s all I need for the magic to happen. Those words from the great encouragers sounded so good when I was a kid. Were they right? If a...
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I’ve heard people say, “God never talks to me.” Is that because God isn’t talking? Or is it because they have a hearing problem? Hearing is different from listening. My...
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At two years old, I loved putting together picture puzzles. If only the puzzles of life would fit together so easily. At first, the puzzles were simple. I quickly learned...
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When I was young and thought I was smart, I prayed to be a miracle. I wanted God’s glory to be revealed in my life. Then I realized how dangerous...
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Daredevils take risks that can be fatal, but playing safe all the time is a boring way to live. If we discover the best path to walk, we can get...
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Many jokes have been written about what is required to pass the pearly gates and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. If there really is a condition for admission, and I...
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Five dollars and reciting the “sinner’s prayer” will buy a cup of coffee. It won’t buy salvation, so I’m bothered when preachers say, “If you said those simple words, you’ve...
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As a child, I was given blank pages with a scattering of numbered dots. I drew a line from one dot to the next until I could see the mystery...
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When searching, do I know what I’m looking for? If so, where do I look? Will I recognize it when I see it? I could be looking for diamonds and...
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I’ve learned the hard way. Before I sign a contract, I must be sure I know what I’m agreeing to. Even a comma can change the meaning, so I must...
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When Susie was a toddler, she didn’t understand relationships and kept calling her grandfather, “Unkly Chili.” Ever since, no matter what the relationship was, people always called him Uncle Charlie.
We fall down the stairs by focusing on the goal and miscalculating the next step. So which is more important, the goal or the next step? Careful, don’t fall. I’ve...
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Without beginning, you can’t reach the end. Garrison Keillor once said we don’t know how to tell a story until after we’ve told it a dozen times. That was saying...
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Prior to the year 2000, few people had ever heard of Jabez. But after The Prayer of Jabez book became a bestseller, almost all Christians had heard of him. Why...
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Few people have what they would call a “best” friend, someone who understands them completely and appreciates their value. Those who have such a friend may still risk being “unfriended.”...
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High-risk investments are made with the hope for a greater return. If we forgive an offense, what will we get in return? Maybe nothing. Or maybe the life we save...
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My mother used to say, “People convinced against their will are of the same opinion still.” What did she mean by that? Maybe that’s a good topic for discussion. Being...
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Some think prayer doesn’t matter, because God will do what he wants, anyway. Others pray and nothing happens, so they assume either God doesn’t care or he isn’t listening. What...
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People only tell lies when they think it’s to their advantage. We offer social courtesies because saying what we really think might get us unfriended. Doctors will sometimes slant their...
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Children naturally learn to play hide-and-seek. When they hide too well and can’t be found, the fun is lost. They want to be found. Why do adults want to hide...
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Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Is that true? Wouldn’t it be nice if everything that went wrong would actually wind up right? Joseph couldn’t conceal his brothers’ evil...
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Perfection sometimes masquerades as a noble goal when it is actually an unreachable fantasy. It strains our relationships. What should we do when we think our work isn’t good enough?...
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Our insatiable desire to be loved and appreciated can leave us dying of thirst in a desert of people who don’t really care. So how does God solve that problem?...
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Names distinguish us from everybody else so when Jason is called in from the playground, everyone else doesn’t come running. Over time, names represent our nature and behavior—who we are...
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What we don’t know can kill us, and that’s why we need help from God, who knows all things. Confident he could fix anything, an intelligent handyman crawled under the...
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Matt listened intently while Miss Julia waved her arms as if she had visited the world she described. “Adam saw the animals,” she said, “and gave them names. In the...
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We read about Zacchaeus in the Bible. People liked Zacchaeus about as much as we would be delighted to see an IRS agent for a tax audit. But was he...
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A thin line separates fame from being an object of ridicule. Is it possible to turn our reasons for embarrassment into something to be admired? I was the oldest grandchild....
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The typical recited line from The Lord’s Prayer is “lead us not into temptation.” Is God a controlling force in whether people are tempted to do evil? The difference between...
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For years at work during lunch, I played double-deck military-style pinochle with the same three men. All were strong Christians. One day, I let it slip that I was praying...
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Did Jesus say all I had to do was knock and the door would open? Supposedly, all we have to do is ask. I’d like to quote James 4:2, which...
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Story books picture David as a child when he faced Goliath. Is that fable or fact? David was the youngest of eight sons. He was too insignificant to be considered...
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Based on scientific fact, the biblical story of Jonah reads like a fairy tale. Could it possibly be true? To be thrown into the sea, Jonah had to beat the...
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When the days get really hot, why do people call them “the dog days of summer”? Perhaps this term is no longer appropriate. We don’t want to offend the dogs...
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The forecast called for temperatures in the mid-twenties and freezing rain. Most people would be smart enough to stay home. “Drive carefully. The life you save may be your own.”...
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God has a sense of humor. We should know that since we were made in his image, and we love to laugh. God has a funny way of speaking to...
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How do we decide which laws to obey and which laws to ignore? The Jewish Law includes more than The Ten Commandments. Honoring parents and having no other gods sounds...
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Sometimes I hear people say all I have to do is believe and my dreams will be fulfilled. Is that true? No amount of believing can make the impossible possible....
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