March 2025
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“Our Suffering Savior” “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” -1 Peter 3:18 Jesus suffered for our sins. The one who wasn’t guilty took our punishment for our sins. He is righteous.
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“Our Promise Keeper” “So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.’” -Genesis 9:17 We tend to look for signs of things we hope will or will not happen. For instance, when I recently plugged my tire when it got a
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“Our Providing Restorer” “I will establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” –Genesis 9:11 God is a promise keeper. In Genesis 6-8, the Great Flood destroyed everything on earth at the Lord’s command. Everything
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“In the Desert” “From that time on, Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.’” –Matthew 4:17 I’ve never been lost in the desert. I’ve tried to avoid being in the desert at all. I’m not the biggest fan of the sand at the beach, and I’ve seen too many movies
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“When You Give, Pray, and Fast” “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” –Matthew 6:21 Martyn Lloyd Jones says Jesus’ commands in Matthew 6 about giving, prayer, and fasting describe our relationships with others (giving), God (prayer), and ourselves (fasting). In a way, they all apply to relationships with God, others,
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“Be Reconciled to God” “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” –2 Corinthians 5:20 Reconcile comes from two words in Latin that mean “to bring back together”. You can reconcile your checking account to make sure it’s accurate. You can
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“A Clean Heart” “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” –Psalm 51:10 If there was one phrase I often heard as a kid, it was “Clean your room”. Having a clean room was one of my mom’s most required chores. I learned “shortcuts” to finish this task faster.
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“To The Lord” “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” –Joel 2:12 If someone asked you to list the top three words associated with Easter, would repentance make the list? It is likely to not even be in the top ten. Words like Jesus, crucifixion, and resurrection
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Lent is a 40-day (47 if you count the Sundays, including Easter) religious observance that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. It is a season used to prepare our hearts, deepen worship, create reflection, encourage submission, promote self-denial, induce self-examination, invite repentance, and produce remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days
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(Read Philippians 1:7) Early in life, my mom taught me to share. Maybe I should have said “told” me to share. This usually happened after I was being selfish with something. In return for her correction, I would reluctantly share what I had with others (if you can call that sharing). Paul told the Philippians
stephen R Harrison 