Tag: adversity
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Trust: Heart Against Mind
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight” (CSB, emphases added). My small, simple soul has been wrestling with trust. Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and…
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Holding On
“My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:29, emphasis added). To the woman feeling small in her faith today, as if she is hanging on by a thread, as if things would be better if only she…
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Trading Worry for Peace
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6). Do you know what “supplication” means? It means to humbly seek…
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A Humble Mind
Lessons From Suffering Part 4 \“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8). How does suffering produce a humble mind? Recently I read Joel Muddamalle’s book The Hidden Peace. He describes humility as having a right understanding of who God is coupled…
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Sympathy from Suffering
Lessons From Suffering Part 3 “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8). How does suffering produce “sympathy, brotherly love, and a tender heart?” I always thought I was a fairly sympathetic person. Certainly not too judgmental. Then I went through…
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Unity of Mind from Suffering
Lessons From Suffering: Part 2 “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8). How does suffering create unity of mind? When I was going through a dark season, I felt as if everything was being stripped away. All the things I had…
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Lessons from Suffering
Part 1 1 Peter: 3:8: Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. It’s time to talk about suffering. Not a favorite topic, I know. But in this world, we are guaranteed to have troubles (John 16:33). Life can hurt, and sometimes it feels…
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Gratitude Changes our Heart
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love and his wondrous works for all humanity. Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices and announce his works with shouts of joy” (Psalm 107:21-22, CSB). To quote Madame Blueberry from VeggieTales, “A thankful heart is a happy heart.” I have tested this and found it to be…
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A Prayer for the One Feeling Small
Sometimes this big world makes us feel small and insignificant. But God speaks truth into the darkness: So to the one feeling small today, I am praying this scripture over you: “May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.…
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This I Call To Mind
Lamentations 3:21 says, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.” The act of “calling” something to mind implies intentional action—a conscious choice on where we focus our thoughts. When my heart grows weary, and hope feels faint, I consciously choose to remember and offer praise for what God has already done.…