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Turn, Turn, Turn
- by: Charis Brown
- September 5, 2024
“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” -James 4:14 When I turned 10 years old, my parents took me to a really nice restaurant for my birthday. It was called the Sundial, located in the
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Following Directions
- by: Charis Brown
- September 4, 2024
“Because you Levites did not carry the Ark the first time, the anger of the Lord our God burst out against us. We failed to ask God how to move it properly.” -1 Chronicles 15:12, 13 Have you ever had to follow directions? We have to follow directions all of the time in order to
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Build and Fight
- by: Charis Brown
- September 3, 2024
“The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. All the builders had a sword belted to their side.” -Nehemiah 4:17&18 Sometimes life requires that we do two things at the same time. Nehemiah was burdened for the city of Jerusalem, and he wanted to rebuild
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Increased Capacity
- by: Charis Brown
- September 2, 2024
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.” -Mark 2:22 If you’ve ever been running, you’ll know that the body takes an extraordinary amount of energy and
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Fill My Cup
- by: Charis Brown
- September 1, 2024
“You prepare a table before Me in the presence of My enemies. You anoint My head with oil; My cup overflows.” -Psalm 23:5 The word “cup” is mentioned many times in the Bible, mainly as a reference to drinking and eating, but also many times it is spiritually significant. A “cup” implied what filled your
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Worship Before Battle
- by: Charis Brown
- August 31, 2024
“Then the LORD said to Joshua, ‘See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march
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Trusting in God
- by: Charis Brown
- August 30, 2024
“Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.” -1 Chronicles 21:1 In the Old Testament, David instructed Joab, the commander of the army, to take a census. This may not ordinarily have been a noteworthy event, except for the fact that David suffered enormous consequences by
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New Things
- by: Charis Brown
- August 29, 2024
“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” -Isaiah 43:19 Has God recently done something new in your life? Often when we’re going through the drudgery of life, in
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The Religious Spirit and Our Calling
- by: Charis Brown
- August 28, 2024
“What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” -Luke 11:52 Jesus was very popular among the religious leaders of his day. However, it was not a positive popularity. The Pharisees, because their power
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No Fluff
- by: Charis Brown
- August 27, 2024
“Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?” -1 Corinthians 5:6 Have you ever gotten involved in something only to realize a lot of it was hype? Marketing, promotion, and a lot of people believing in something (even
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Don’t Sell Your Birthright!
- by: Charis Brown
- August 26, 2024
“But Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’ So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.” -Genesis 25:33-34 What is a birthright? According to WordNet online dictionary,
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Drawn by His Goodness
- by: Charis Brown
- August 25, 2024
“What shall I return to the LORD for all his goodness to me?” -Psalm 116:12 Recently I went downtown to my school for the beginning of the semester’s classes. Students were everywhere, hurrying to class and hanging out in the student courtyard. As I was walking to the bookstore to buy some of my books,
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Washing Others’ Feet
- by: Charis Brown
- August 24, 2024
“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord,’”and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you
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The Law of Promotion
- by: Charis Brown
- August 23, 2024
“Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager,’These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.’” -Matthew 20:11&12 Have you ever been passed up for a promotion? Has anyone ever received something you thought you deserved? Have you
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Glimpses of Heaven
- by: Charis Brown
- August 22, 2024
“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative – that is, the Holy Spirit – He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot
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Critical Honesty
- by: Charis Brown
- August 21, 2024
“Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people.” -Proverbs 11:3 How important is honesty in a Christian’s life? Is every Christian called to honesty? Two professors, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, have surveyed leaders for more than 25 years in every time of organization. They asked the question to more than 75,000 people on 6
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Putting Our Plans Before God
- by: Charis Brown
- August 21, 2024
“So David asked God, ‘Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?’ The Lord replied, ‘Yes, go ahead. I will hand them over to you.’” -1 Chronicle 14:10 Do you know the best way to plan for the future? Is there any way to ensure we’re making the
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We Either Are or We Aren’t
- by: Charis Brown
- August 20, 2024
“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” -Matthew 12:30 There is a great movie that came out called Grace Unplugged. The story is about a girl named Grace who wants to pursue her dream to become a singer, and moves away from home
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Born This Way
- by: Charis Brown
- August 20, 2024
“For I was born a sinner – yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.” -Psalm 51:5 Have you ever thought about how much we are born the way we are? …or are we really “born this way”? There is often debate about the “nature” vs. “nurture” perspective of the way each of us turns
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As Joy Is My Witness
- by: Charis Brown
- August 19, 2024
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” -Galatians 5:22-23 When I was working in a secular environment, people used to ask me why I seemed so happy. “I want whatever drug you’re taking!” they would say. I would
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Peace in the Midst
- by: Charis Brown
- August 18, 2024
“God makes His people strong. God gives His people peace.” – Psalm 29:11 Recently I was preparing to read the Bible when I asked God what I should read. Immediately I heard Psalm 29, so I jumped over to that chapter on my Bible app. “God’s thunder sets the oak trees dancing – A wild
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Resting in God
- by: Charis Brown
- August 17, 2024
“But Godliness with contentment is great gain.” -1 Timothy 6:6 The drudgery of life can sometimes get to us. Bills that need paying, a job that’s less than ideal, goals yet to be reached; we want to be thankful but find ourselves feeling more and more discontent. “Doesn’t God have anything better for me?” we
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Why Judgment?
- by: Charis Brown
- August 16, 2024
“I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty.” -Exodus 34:7 All throughout the Old Testament it seems like the Israelites are being judged. They are good for a while, then they get a bad king, and he leads them into idol worship.
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Plant the Seeds
- by: Charis Brown
- August 15, 2024
“When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.” -1 Corinthians 15:37 & 38 Do you have any dreams or
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Identificational Repentance
- by: Charis Brown
- August 14, 2024
“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.” -Luke 23:34 There was a lady who felt very called to prayer who experienced something unusual one day. All of a sudden, she began to feel very depressed and hopeless, and felt
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Unless Your Faith is Firm
- by: Charis Brown
- August 13, 2024
“Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.” – Isaiah 7:9 There are so many “unless…” verses in the Bible. It seems that a walk of faith doesn’t just encompass God’s movement
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Drawing the Line
- by: Charis Brown
- August 12, 2024
“I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” -Matthew 18:18 “You… shall… not… PASS!!!” – Gandolf, The Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Rings A pastor came into town to speak at our church for our annual summer
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Love One Another
- by: Charis Brown
- August 11, 2024
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” -John 13:34&35 Life can get stressful at times. The bills need paying, the job is insane or isn’t quite what
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Are You In Tune?
- by: Charis Brown
- August 10, 2024
“Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.” -Psalm 33:3 Did you know that God made us like instruments? He is always singing a song over our lives (Zephaniah 3:17). He made us as “instruments” of His glory, to dispense His “music” (His nature & life) into the world. We don’t
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Fighting with Love
- by: Charis Brown
- August 9, 2024
“For you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?” -1 Corinthians 3:3 Have you ever been short or ill-tempered with somebody? I know I have, and
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What the World Needs Now
- by: Charis Brown
- August 8, 2024
“For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” -John 3:16 What does the world need now? We could brainstorm all day about what we think the world needs- less war, more peace, less poverty and certainly less