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Whine or Shine
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure… (Philippians 2:14-15 NIV, 1-20-15) Grumbling and arguing vs blameless and pure. Normally I don’t think of those pairs as being in an opposing relationship. But Paul sees them as mutually exclusive. Apparently, the first two prevent the second two. I do…
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Obey What?
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed… (Philippians 2:12 NIV, 1-19-15) Interestingly, both Paul and Jesus were big on calling for obedience. But neither was known for giving commandments or rules to obey. What they were big on was giving principles to adjust one’s life toward. Love your neighbor, be joyful, pray constantly.…
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Knees
…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11 NIV, 1-16-15) I forget that part. That every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going…
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A Smidge
Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion… (Philippians 2:1 NIV, 1-10-15) The word of the day is “any.” Do you have any? Not do you have a ton, an overflow, an abundance. Any.…
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Grace Everywhere
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. (Philippians 1:7 NIV, 1-2-15) The grace is everywhere. Some things I teach right but…
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Happy Anniversary!
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. (Acts 12:5 NIV, 11-26-14) Happy anniversary, Peter! It’s Passover, which means it’s the first anniversary of Christ’s death and resurrection. And Peter gets to celebrate in jail. It’s been quite a year. Over 5000 saved, Stephen stoned. Miracles galore,…
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The Thief
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (LUK 23:42 NIV, 11-10-14) Question. Why didn’t Matthew or Mark write about this? It’s seriously cool. My guess: They didn’t know it happened. The man’s comments would have been quiet. Not the kind of thing you broadcast in front of a hostile crowd.…
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Pray for Who?
On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” (LUK 22:40 NIV, 11-5-14) Not “Pray for me and what I am about to go through” (that whole Cross thing), or even “Pray this cup passes from me” (which he will pray for himself). Pray for yourselves and your…
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Follow Me
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. (MAT 9:9 NIV, 9-16-14) Follow me. That’s the call. Does Jesus ever say, “Accept me?” Not that I know of. It’s “Follow me. Go where…
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Sheepish?
“His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (MAT 3:12 NIV, 9-4-14) Do I have a proper image of Jesus? This is early in the book of Matthew–and the New Testament as a whole–and here…
For years, I’ve produced brief devotional videos called Jumpstarts that I published in various outlets. (You can find them here, as well as the odd podcast.) The root of those videos was daily Bible journals I’ve been doing for decades.
I recently decided to take a hiatus from the videos, and instead publish excerpts from those journals here.
As you’ll soon see, they tend to be brief, normally consisting of just one main idea. They may also be a little rough. I’m not going to do much editing. You’ll get them just the way they came out of my brain, years, days, or months ago.
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