Category: Bible
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The Question from Prison (Refiner’s Fire Pt 2)
NOTE: “Refiner’s Fire” is a mini-series within my overall series on the gospel of Matthew. It deals with the story of John the Baptist as a vehicle for navigating our own struggles with doubt, disappointment, and crisis of faith. I’m working on it daily and will release the whole thing as a book once it’s…
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The Refiner’s Fire: The Struggle and Triumph of John the Baptist (Introduction)
REFINER’S FIRE: AN INTRODUCTION Sometimes life, and writing, takes an unexpected turn. As I wound down the end of my study of Matthew 10, I looked ahead to chapter 11 with the intention of skipping fairly quickly over the interaction between Jesus and John the Baptist. That would allow me to get back to the…
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Who Is Jesus to You? (Guest Post)
WHO IS JESUS TO YOU? by Mercy Hope Excerpt from Sacred Space: Cultivating Your Personal Eden in a Fallen World Thirteen years ago, I was at a conference where Judy Jacobs was ministering. I have a special place in my heart for that woman of God! Through a prophetic word and personal prayer, she imparted something…
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We Are the Little Ones: Persecution, Promise, and the Tender Affection of God
And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple — I assure you: He will never lose his reward! (Matthew 10:42) Here at the very end of Matthew 10, we step back and survey how far we have come. This has been a chapter…
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It Matters Who Your Friends Are: Alignment, Allegiance, and Welcoming the Kingdom of God
The one who welcomes you welcomes Me, and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he’s righteous will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives just a cup…
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Receiving One Another: How the Act of Welcome Changes the World
The one who welcomes you welcomes Me, and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. (Matthew 10:40) This statement comes at the very end of Matthew 10 and its long discussion of the costs and communion of following Jesus. It’s a promise of Jesus’s presence and identity with us, and it gives…
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Radical Identification and the Kingdom of God: Finding God in One Other
The one who welcomes you welcomes Me, and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. (Matthew 10:40) Up until this point in Matthew 10, we’ve seen Jesus call over and over for radical identification with himself and his mission. But the tables are turned here — this is where Jesus promises to…
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Losing to Find: How Surrender to Jesus Helps Us Discover Ourselves
Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it. (Matthew 10:39) Like Jesus’s prior statement that he is to be loved above anyone or anything else, including our own lives, this is not the statement of an ordinary human being or teacher. It’s an extraordinary claim.…
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Rise Up and Follow: Loving Jesus for All He Is Worth
The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. (Matthew 10:37-38) With these words, the commissioning of Matthew 10…
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Peace, Betrayal, and the Faithful Love of a Loyal God
Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. (Matthew 10:34-36) This…