239: Begging God

Understanding the finished work of Christ really takes the struggle out of faith. Faith is simply receiving what God has already provided through grace. Anything that Jesus died for is ours – and the list is long. Faith can’t make God DO anything. Faith just receives what He’s already DONE by His grace. It’s just…

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238: Freely Give

Do you know why it’s so important to receive what God has freely given? Because if we do not freely receive, we cannot freely give! “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE.” (Matthew 10:8)1 If we believe that anything stands in the way of…

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237: Healing Testimony

Healing testimony… Many years ago when my husband and I were newlyweds, he was stricken with a horrible disease that paralyzed most of his body and plagued him with many other symptoms. The prognosis was dire, and we had very little hope for a bright future. He improved somewhat over many months and was able…

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236: Fear Not

In rest there is no fear. Over and over and over in the Gospels Jesus tells people to “fear not.” “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; DO NOT BE AFRAID.’” (Matthew 14:27)1I love that! If we’re aware that He’s here with us, fear is replaced with good…

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235: A Mustard Seed of Faith

In Matthew 17, we find the story of a man bringing his son to Jesus for deliverance. The boy would have seizures and often fall into fire and water. When Jesus had first arrived on the scene, the man told Jesus that His disciples could not cure his son. Jesus then called them a “faithless…

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234: Help Me with My Unbelief

In Mark 9 we find the story of a father coming to Jesus asking Him to heal his son who was possessed by an evil spirit that would cause him to convulse, foam at the mouth, and throw himself into the water and into the fire. The man had asked Jesus’ disciples to cast the…

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233: Faith OF God

The question we might have is “How do I get faith?” The answer is that you already have it if you are in Christ because it’s actually the faith of God in you. In Galatians 2:20 Paul said this: “The life which I now live in the flesh I live BY FAITH IN THE SON…

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232: The Finished Work

In the Old Testament we see descriptions of the Promised Land that was prepared for God’s people. These were shadows of the Promised Land for us today and the provision that flows from heaven: “So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and…

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231: The Opposite of Rest Is Unbelief

Sometimes the phrase, “There remains a rest for the people of God” runs through my mind – especially on days when I don’t feel restful. That statement is from Hebrews 4 where the writer is talking about the unbelief of the Israelites in the desert. Did you know that the opposite of rest is unbelief?…

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230: More Than Conquerors

There is only ONE thing we are to fear: fear that we aren’t at rest. It seems like the very thing we’re supposed to fear is the thing we’re hanging on to. For many of us, fear is a crutch that we have leaned on. For some of us fear has even become our “friend”…

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229: Promised Land of Rest

The writer of Hebrews speaks of the great tragedy in the desert when the Israelites refused to trust the Lord: “…they could not enter in [the Promised Land] because of unbelief. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.” (Hebrews…

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228: Grasshoppers in Our Own Sight

What do you believe when you face the giants of this life? Do you see yourself as a grasshopper when opposition, depression, financial pressure, betrayal, sickness, and relational strife ambush you? Or are you well able to overtake them? In Numbers is an account of two ways to view the giants and two very different…

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