Tag: confession
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The Darkness of Night
1 Samuel 28:3-8 “And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired…
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The Other Guy?
Colossians 3:5-7 “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.” One of the possible tendencies when we read the Bible is to think it is speaking…
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Faithful and Just to Forgive
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Do you realize that only God can forgive sins? This was very clear to the scribes in Jesus’ day as we can see from the following exchange from Mark 2. Jesus had…
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The Secret Things
Romans 2:16 “on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” Luke 8:17 “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” Do you have any secrets? Not secrets like those about what you plan to…
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The Only True Cure for Guilt
Matthew 18:21-22 “Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” Matthew 9:6 “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Is there anything…
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True confession
Proverbs 28:13 “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” One of the clearest proofs of how sin has affected humanity is the way that it has infected our minds. So much of what we think is best for us is actually very detrimental, and vice versa. If…
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The “Shibolleth” Test
Judges 12:5-6 “And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, ‘Let me go over,’ the men of Gilead said to him, ‘Are you an Ephraimite?’ When he said, ‘No,’ they said to him, ‘Then say Shibboleth,’ and he said, ‘Sibboleth,’ for he could…
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The Amen
John 17:1 “Father, the hour has come.” What is prayer? A simple definition would be “talking to God.” But what does one talk about – to God? To hear most prayers, we would think that prayer is a matter of asking God for things – certain favors, or help of some kind – perhaps for…
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Lost sheep – a definition
Psalm 119:176 “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.“ At first blush, as we read the verse above, it seems like such a strange way to end this largest chapter in all the Bible. In Psalm 119, every single one of its 176 verses speaks about…
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Saying “Amen”
John 17:1 “Father, the hour has come.” What is prayer? A simple definition would be “talking to God.” But what does one talk about – to God? To hear most prayers, we would think that prayer is a matter of asking God for things – certain favors, or help of some kind – perhaps for…
To Encourage You 