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Don’t Despise Small Beginnings
- by: Charis Brown
- April 27, 2024
“Who despises the day of small things?” -Zechariah 4:10 Have you ever had an idea for something? Perhaps, if you’ve had an idea for a business, you’ve envisioned a beautiful tall skyscraper with shiny blue windows and your company’s name on the side. You envision 500 of your perfect smiling employees working away within the
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God Is Picky
- by: Charis Brown
- April 26, 2024
“At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.” -Exodus 4:24 There is a random verse in Exodus as Moses is on his way to Egypt to free the Israelites from slavery that is quite surprising. Moses and his wife Zipporah are staying at a lodging place.
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The Darkroom of Calling
- by: Charis Brown
- April 25, 2024
“Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him…” -Genesis 39:20-21 Do you know what a darkroom is? Darkrooms were used as one of the first methods of developing film. Wikipedia says of darkrooms:
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Bug Lights
- by: Charis Brown
- April 24, 2024
“For the LORD your God is a consuming fire…” -Deuteronomy 4:24 We were at the worship concert, singing and worshipping God. The Spirit was very alive in the meeting, and I could feel the “fire” of God all around us. I felt consumed with the power and presence of God. Then I had this thought:
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Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
- by: Charis Brown
- April 23, 2024
“Then He asked them, ‘But who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.’” -Matthew 16:15-17 How
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Developing An Attitude of Boldness
- by: Charis Brown
- April 22, 2024
“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” -Philippians 1:20 I love how God empowers us in the Bible. It says in Proverbs
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The Washing of the Word
- by: Charis Brown
- April 21, 2024
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light unto my path.” -Psalm 119:105 “I don’t know how people do it,” said my friend. “I don’t know how people do it without the word of God to sustain them. It’s my lifeline.” My friend had recently taken on a job in a large accounting
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Risky Business
- by: Charis Brown
- April 20, 2024
His master replied, “I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I
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Absolute Truth
- by: Charis Brown
- April 19, 2024
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’”. -John 14:6 Sometimes I have a difficult time talking to friends who question God’s goodness because they believe in something other than, or in addition to, the gospel. “Why would God send good people
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God Speaks to Us Where We Are
- by: Charis Brown
- April 18, 2024
“When Jesus came by, He looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. ‘Zacchaeus!’ He said. ‘Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.’” -Luke 19:5 Has God ever spoken to you right where you are? I heard a funny joke one time that a pastor shared. “Do you think
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Daily Bread
- by: Charis Brown
- April 17, 2024
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” -Matthew 4:4 What does the phrase mean, “our daily bread?” When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan after 40 days of fasting, he replied, “Man shall not live on bread
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Dumbing Down Sin
- by: Charis Brown
- April 16, 2024
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of
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When Things Don’t Go As Planned
- by: Charis Brown
- April 15, 2024
“In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.” -Proverbs 3:6 Often when we find ourselves struggling in the area of vision, we find it hard to believe that God could do the extraordinary with our lives. We think things will turn out a certain way, and it turns out, they don’t.
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Praying God’s Will
- by: Charis Brown
- April 14, 2024
“…Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” -Matthew 6:10 Often we hear of people’s answered prayer. Then again, there are many other prayers that seem as of yet unanswered. We think of prayer like a phone call to God, with God on the receiving end. We are happy
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Working in Rest
- by: Charis Brown
- April 13, 2024
“‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.’” -Leviticus 23:3 Our world is crazy. Literally, crazy. We wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, go
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The Good Life
- by: Charis Brown
- April 12, 2024
“Be vigilant, listen obediently to these words that I command you so that you’ll have a good life, you and your children, for a long, long time, doing what is good and right in the eyes of God, your God.” -Deuteronomy 12:28 What is the good life? It seems in our culture that a good
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Planted Like A Tree
- by: Charis Brown
- April 11, 2024
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” -Psalm 1:3 I was in the gym with my husband when Flyleaf’s song All Around Me came on. As I started to hum the tune under my breath I
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Faith vs. Feelings
- by: Charis Brown
- April 10, 2024
“Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.” -Luke 22:3&4 Each of us struggles with emotions – emotions are a part of life. But, what do we do with emotions
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Arriving vs. Abiding
- by: Charis Brown
- April 9, 2024
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” -John 15:7 Do you ever just feel like you want to “get there”? Are you always feeling tension between where you are now and where you feel called to be? I
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Secret Identities
- by: Charis Brown
- April 8, 2024
“When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Him eating with the ‘sinners’ and tax collectors, they asked His disciples: ‘Why does He eat with tax collectors and “sinners”?’ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to
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Places of Influence
- by: Charis Brown
- April 7, 2024
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” -Matthew 25:21 “Argh! Church people suck!” said my fellow server one Sunday afternoon. We all looked at him as he took the tract
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God Is My Source
- by: Charis Brown
- April 6, 2024
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.” -Psalm 24:1 I was offered an opportunity at a global company known for excellence in advertising. They had won many awards, and were highly respected in the industry. The position I was applying for would not have
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The Cost of the Cross
- by: Charis Brown
- April 5, 2024
“Then He said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.’” -Luke 9:23 Have you ever paid a lot for something you really wanted? When I was a teenager, I saved up enough money to buy 50% of my first car. I
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Blaming God
- by: Charis Brown
- April 4, 2024
“People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.” -Proverbs 19:3 Do you know people who think God hates them, or that He causes or allows bad things to happen in their lives in order to “teach them a lesson”? Because we live in a fallen world, each of
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Random Acts of Kindness
- by: Charis Hillman Brown
- April 3, 2024
“Then you will say, ‘And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me – you did it to Me.’” -Matthew 25:39&40 Have you ever
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Understanding Covenant
- by: Charis Brown
- March 26, 2024
“David asked the men standing near him, ‘…Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?’” -1 Samuel 17:26 Most of us are probably familiar with the incredible story of David and Goliath. But, we might not be as familiar with why David could be so bold in his
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God’s Refining Fire
- by: Charis Brown
- March 25, 2024
“Then I will purify them and put them to the test, just as gold and silver are purified and tested. They will pray in my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘You are my people,’ and they will reply, ‘You, LORD, are our God!’” -Zechariah 13:9 Did you know that God tests
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Begin Again
- by: Charis Brown
- March 24, 2024
“But though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.” -Proverbs 24:16 Have people ever let you down? If you’re dealing with human beings, in ministry or in business, or anywhere for that matter, its likely they will! But what do we do when people mess
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Casting Out Fear
- by: Charis Brown
- March 23, 2024
“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.” -1 John 4:18 Once at our Toastmaster’s meeting, there was a man who was the Toastmaster (or host for the meeting), who ended the meeting very unusually. He said, “Along with our theme of ‘out with the old, in with the new’, I want you
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The Kingdom of God
- by: Charis Brown
- March 22, 2024
“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” because the kingdom of God is within you.’” -Luke 17:20 & 21 Dr. Myles
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The Cost of the Call
- by: Charis Brown
- March 21, 2024
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” -Philippians 2:3&4 When asked by a rich man how to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus replied, “You must sell all you own