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  This idea of ‘unfortunate things’ being passed down through family lines is nothing new to us. Have you not read or heard where there are increasing numbers of young women who are undergoing double mastectomies because they have learned that breast cancer runs in their families, and they are ‘predisposed’ to developing it as well, having certain genetic factors in place? Were you aware that many victims of sexual abuse at the hands of a parent ... later find out their abuser was a victim themselves? Surely you've heard how alcoholism or drug addiction runs through family lines? And why do adoptive children go to great efforts at times to trace down their biological parents? Usually it has to do with wanting to know the medical history of their blood family, if for no other reasons. Do you suffer from depression or anxiety attacks...with painful memories as you watched a parent go through something similar? Maybe your ‘anger issues’ were always ‘jokingly attributed’ to a pare...
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  “The apple doesn’t fall far from the apple tree.” Have you ever heard that saying before? Or perhaps it was something similar regarding how someone was a ‘chip off the old block’? Both phrases refer to someone who closely resembles their parent in character, behavior, or appearance. It highlights the idea that children inherit traits from their parents, whether they be physical features, personality traits, or talents, etc. The Bible leads us to understand that other ‘traits’ can be inherited as well, as in the ‘not so good ones’...like sin and death. (Romans 5:12) But I want to direct our attention to what is revealed in the 2nd commandment, which is first made known in Exodus 20:4, and then later in Deut. 5:9. It’s the commandment that warns God’s people to not engage with creating or carving out images or likenesses of anything that might take God’s place of rightful worship, which was the first commandment. We could obviously spend more time examining just what that might en...
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  “He who has ears to hear...let him hear...” It was a phrase Jesus used on multiple occasions which could be interpreted as a ‘call to action’. Jesus was urging His listeners to pay close attention and deeply understand the spiritual meaning behind what He was teaching. Can I just remind any and all who might be reading here today...that if there is any ‘deeper’ truths to be ‘revealed’, grasped, and understood...it will be the Holy Spirit who is doing the ‘revealing’. I would also add here that it seems to only be the ones whom Jesus has their whole hearts...that have ‘deeper enlightenments’ revealed to them. I know...sounds a tad lofty and elite, but all I can do is point you to what the Bible says – (Matt. 13:11; 16:17; Luke 24:32,45; John 5:39-40; Acts 16:14). So if you perceive to be receiving any spiritual insights from what you have been learning lately...be sure it goes to your heart, and not your head. Just saying... I have to remind myself regularly as to who my perc...
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  “Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is very hard on those who disobey, but very good to you if you continue to love and trust him. But if you don’t, you too will be cut off.” (Rom. 11:22 TLB) Yeah....that really is there in our Bible, so if you want to take a moment and go underline it, I’ll wait for you here. It has been said that you can often find ditches on ‘both sides of the road’, which speaks volumes to me when it comes to how we teach what we believe the Bible says regarding our faith and walk with Christ. If we’re not careful, we can end up in either ditch, sometimes simply because we overcompensated in trying to avoid the ditch on the left, we ended up in the one on the right; if that makes sense? So take that verse from Romans we began with here, that speaks to ‘two sides’ or two ‘natures’ of God, where He is both loving and good, but can also be ‘severe’ or harsh. If one spends an unhealthy amount of time placing emphasis on one nature or the other, you can ...
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  Picking up where I left off yesterday, (yes, that’s a hint you might want to read it first)...we are admonished to consider, to think upon, and to take in the ramifications that God Almighty is indeed, a truly loving and merciful God, whose goodness knows no bounds. But in the same breath, we are also reminded to not neglect the fact that God can also be quite ‘severe’, and to overlook this fact would be to our own peril (Romans 11:22). And when we are guilty of emphasizing one aspect of God’s nature in our teachings at the expense of neglecting the other aspect, we then falsely misrepresent Him. The reason God takes great exception to this mistake of giving a false portrayal of Him is because it tends to drive people away from Him (or to ‘other gods’)...and if there was ever a time when a lost and hurting world needed to know Him in all of His glory and goodness, and truth... that time is now. I have stated before that the gospel of Jesus Christ was delivered to us intending to...
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  One of the more challenging responsibilities we ‘believers’ have been given to fulfill, or should I say ‘live out’...is the privilege we have to represent God in a way that is pleasing to Him and brings Him honor and glory. And can I just tell you now that God does not take kindly at all to those who misrepresent Him. That might be why James cautions those who want to be ‘teachers’ to tap the brakes on rushing in to do so, given the serious consequences that come with that role (James 3:1) This became quite evident as we read how Jesus dealt with the majority of religious leaders back in the day when He walked the earth. He was constantly confronting them for their hypocrisy, accusing them of being ‘whitewashed tombs’ as they made great efforts to ‘look good on the outside’...all the while their hearts were corrupt, hard, and defiled by the evil that remained in them (Matt. 23:23-28; Mark 7:6-23). Jesus also accused them of ‘lawlessness’, which is ‘sin’ (1 John 3:4); and how i...
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  “Give no place to the devil.” (Eph. 4) It doesn’t get much more direct and to the point than that. Would you care to guess why Paul wrote those words for us to read/hear? He sure didn’t share them for us to analyze and debate; they were written for us to heed and put into practice. And here’s the reason why: We can give place to an evil, spiritual entity… who ‘comes to steal, kill, and destroy’ (John 10:10). Jesus referred to him as a ‘thief’ in that verse and would later warn how “if the owner of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.” (Matt. 24:43) Other translations use the phrase ‘don’t give him (the devil) a foothold’, or an ‘opportunity’…or an ‘open door’. If you do, you can pretty well be assured that he will take it; and when he ‘comes in…’ he tends to do so ‘like a flood’ (Isa. 59:19). I should also point out here that once that ‘opening’ is granted, we don’t always know when he will ta...
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