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Can You Imagine?
“Cheer up, don’t be afraid. For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will give you victory. He will rejoice over you in great gladness; he will love you and not accuse you.” Is that a joyous choir I hear? No, it is the Lord himself exulting over you in happy song.” — Zephaniah 3:16–18 Can you imagine that God’s delight in us is so genuine, so spontaneous, so spirited that he exults over us by singing happy songs? Can you imagine that he not only lives among us (within us) and promises to give us victory, but also that he rejoices…
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Epic Sadness
I recently discovered the secret to my random sad thoughts, fears and discouragement: something epic is about to happen. The other night was just one of those nights. Nothing was wrong, but I felt emotionally drained. Is there a sort of jet-lag for major life changes?! Some days I am on top of the world, and by evening I am overcome by sudden discouragement and sadness. It comes like the weather in Michigan: sporadic. One day it is 75 and sunny and the next day there is a foot of snow. But I noticed that pattern: the negative usually comes right after a positive… The next morning I got up…
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Face Your Fears…of Humility
As Christians, we are called to serve others. We are called to take up our cross and follow Christ’s humble example. Humility, however, is no excuse for complacency. Humility is not the opposite of being successful or great — that is a lie that pride sneaks into our hearts. Jesus wants us to strive to be great — he just redefined greatness. “They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first…
