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What Must I Do?
Here I was again. It was Sunday; I was at church; and I knew good and well that I had been highly symptomatic as of late...
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“Write, For These Words Are True and Faithful”
Alright, I won’t deny the obvious – I’ve been gone for quite a while. It has been almost an entire year since my last interaction...
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The Tapestry of Healing
I spent approximately seven months trying to find a doctor who would believe something was wrong with me. It took ten more months for me to no longer be questioned by the medical community, and still over another year to convince the federal government that I was sick enough to be disabled. After almost three years of fighting for my health, I was finally free to rest, recover, and heal. Except I couldn’t. Not fully at least. You spend almost three years trying to convince the world that something is wrong and see how easy it is to stop. My mind had become used to a constant repeat, reciting my…
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Levi – From Cursed to Chosen
A trip through the book of Genesis reminds us that the Bible is full of way more stories than just Adam & Eve or Noah’s Ark. In reality, some stories aren’t exactly Sunday school friendly, and many will have you questioning why God would have wanted them written at all. Take Jacob for example, the grandson of mighty Abraham, Father of many nations. Jacob wrestled with God and from him came the 12 tribes of Israel. Talk about a life of worthiness. But read about Jacob’s life of deceit, lack of faith, and poor decisions, and then suddenly you start to wonder why God felt he deserved to be a…
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If You Love Me…
Whenever I’m going through something, I always try to find someone in the Bible who went through a similar experience. Job, Paul, Jonah, Ruth – there’s always someone I can relate to and learn from. This time, it’s Peter. We all know Peter. The walking-on-water, Jesus-denying, ear-slicing, ever faithful Peter. Peter was enthusiastic (to say the least) about pleasing Jesus. He wanted to make Jesus proud and offer his fully devoted service. He wanted to show just how much he believed and how faithful he was. Yet, he was always tripping up. Always failing. Always falling. But hiccups and all, he kept pursuing Jesus. One of the last conversations Jesus…
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Count It All Joy
Earlier this month, I had my second brain surgery. I’ll save the details for another post, but overall it went very well. One might even go as far as to say it was successful – I haven’t had any high pressure symptoms since. The recovery process on the other hand was a different story. While on the surface, all is technically going well, there’s still so much more to recovery that never seems to be seen or heard. Take the post-surgery depression for example. In all honesty, I don’t even want to call it that because I know how much worse it could truly be. There is just no doubt…
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Jesus Loves You – But Not Your Sin
(A Preface to “When God Brings Judgment – An Isaiah 1 Commentary”) God is many things. Most notably, we know Him as our Creator and Savior, our Healer and Redeemer. God is love. He is just. He is patient and full of grace and mercy. Yes, God is a good God. So much so that we refer to Him as Our Father. He cares for us endlessly and only wants the best for us. But like a Father, God has rules. Laws – commandments, actually. And He expects us to obey them like any parent would desire of their child. But when any parent sees their child is being disruptive…
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When God Brings Judgment – An Isaiah 1 Commentary
The following post is a commentary on Isaiah 1:2-20. Like a parent, there are times that our Father must bring judgment upon His children. But also like a parent, He only ever wants what is best for us. (Read Preface here) Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: God is calling all of creation to be a witness. Has He not give us everything? Have we not acted like rebellious children? Let the world around us bear witness to our behavior and who He is. And this is who He is: “I have nourished and brought up children, He has been a loving, providing…
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A Strange Way of Healing
Last month, I relapsed. What I thought would end as beautiful memories of the zoo and park with my family turned out to be days of pain and pressure. I overdid it, and I relapsed. You may be wondering how that can be. What happened to being healed? Trust me, I was asking God the same thing. I knew I couldn’t doubt what God had promised, but was I expected to ignore the way I was feeling? There was certainly no doubt there when it came to the stiff inflammation building in my back. There was no ignoring the pressure pushing on my eyes and tightening my neck. How could…
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Who Do I Pray To?
Opening Prayer: Father, I ask that you open my heart. Make it soft and receptive. Fill me with wisdom and discernment for Your truth. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. If you do a quick internet search, you will discover that the God of the Bible is not always considered the first god in history. You may find this surprising. How can the God who created the world not be the first god of the world? Clearly, history has become twisted. But if you believe in the God of the Bible, then you must believe in the Bible. And if you believe in the Bible, isn’t it safe to assume you believe…
