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Grandma’s Gas Supply
Teach us to number our days,that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12 NIV, 10-3-12) In West Virginia, companies can buy the mineral rights to a property from the owner, who maintains ownership of the land. And sometimes the sale terms were interesting. Like the people who sold the mineral rights to the…
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Malfunctioning Gun
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we…
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Ready
“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.“Seven,” they replied. (Mark 8:5 NIV, 9-8-12) This time they were ready. The first time, when Jesus fed the 5000, the disciples were clueless. This time, when it was a crowd of 4000, the disciples recognized it as another opportunity so they had already done a quick collection…
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Everything Well
People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mark 7:37 NIV, 9-7-12) He has done everything well. Is that true of me? Or do I do some things haphazard? Fake it till I make it sometimes? Well, if I want to…
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Forced Worship
Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” (Daniel 3:6 NIV. August 13, 2012) That’s one sign of a false god. That is NOT how God chooses to do things, ever. Even with me, a self-proclaimed follower. I can choose not to worship. Choose not to spend time…
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Stand in the Gap
[Longer reading today.] Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among…
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Selfish
“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.” (Isaiah 39:8 NIV) How weird. God has just told Hezekiah that extreme judgment is coming–just not in his lifetime. Hezekiah’s response? “That’s good news. My life will be peaceful.” How selfish.…
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Permission to Be Miserable
Then I will return to my lairuntil they have borne their guiltand seek my face—in their miserythey will earnestly seek me. (Hosea 5:15 NIV, 5-30-2012) People, including me sometimes, make weird decisions. Like this one. The desire to let ourselves become miserable. Partly by obsessing over something God has under control. Partly by letting our…
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A Wonderful Plan
All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,whose plan is wonderful,whose wisdom is magnificent. (Isaiah 28:29 NIV, 5-25-12) The context for this is God replacing legalism–which Isaiah refers to as “a vow with death”–with the covenant of Christ. This is the chapter’s summary verse. And a great one it is. His plan is wonderful. And…
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Perfect Peace
You will keep in perfect peacethose whose minds are steadfast,because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3 NIV, 5-24-12) So, if my mind is not at peace, does that mean it is not set on God? Maybe a bit simplistic, but generally a true statement. [Father, give me the peace that comes from keeping my mind…
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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