Tag: the cross
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If You Want Something Done Right . . .
Hebrews 1:3 “After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “if you want something to be done right, you have to do it yourself!” I’ve heard this said (in fact I’ve been known to say it) when someone had asked or paid…
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More than a Shadow
Hebrews 10:1 “the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities” Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” One of my favorite topics of Bible study is the shadows and types that are provided for us…
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Greater than the Shadows
Ephesians 1:16-22 “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has…
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The Indescribable Giver
2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!” As Paul concludes his lengthy discourse on the subject of giving in his letter to the Corinthian church, he exults with the wonderful statement, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” Of course, that gift is the gift of His own Son, “For…
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Keeping the Law
1 Timothy 1:9 “the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient” If you obey the speed limit 99 times out of 100, do those 99 “obediences” help you when an officer pulls you over for speeding? If you’ve ever been stopped, have you ever used this defense: “Sir, I…
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Absolute Sovereignty
John 19:28-30 “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his…
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The Cost
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death. . . “ The next time you watch a sitcom on television, one that time after time makes jokes about all kinds of sin, it may be good to ask yourself, what is the cost of such sin? Indeed, is there a cost? Does it matter…
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Our Longsuffering God
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Patience: it’s something I wish I had a lot more of, and in particular patience for people, such as my own wife. Too often I have…
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A Very Great Race
Hebrews 12:1 “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” In various places in Scripture the Christian life is compared to a race. In other places it’s called a “fight.” These words call to mind a contest, one…
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Life or Death?
Philippians 1:21-25 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in…