Tag Archives: trials and temptations

A Big Deal

Started up in my 2022 reading plan last week, but today we return to routine. And this morning I’m hovering over Matthew’s account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into … Continue reading

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He Hears Us

I get what Job wanted. It’s how he goes about it that kind of makes me cringe. I think I understand his frustration. But it’s his impertinence that becomes cause for warning. Oh, that I had one to hear me! … Continue reading

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Armed with Smart Thinking

Back in the day, I’d always laugh when a co-worker would remind me that “paranoia is just smart thinking when everybody’s against you.” This morning, I’m reminded of another kind of smart thinking as I read in 1Peter. Since therefore … Continue reading

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Where Else Could I Go?

Devo’ing in a different time zone this morning. Chewing on the word on the shores of Maui. Will be, Lord willing, for the next few weeks. May has always been Sue’s month — her birthday today, Mother’s Day, and then our … Continue reading

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The Need for Deliverance

I have used the analogy repeatedly throughout the years — worse than being in a minefield, is not knowing you’re in a minefield. At least if you know it, you can do whatever you can to try and step carefully … Continue reading

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When God Watched Over Me

You wonder if Job’s just getting tired. Apart from the chronic pain sapping his strength, there’s the incessant drip of his miserable comforters telling him to ‘fess up and admit that what he’s going through must be because of the … Continue reading

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On Our Side

It’s another song of David. And though we don’t know the exact circumstance behind this song’s “inspiration,” we do know the outcome–they escaped. Israel dodged the bullet. The people of God were able to slip away left while their enemies … Continue reading

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Swallowed Up by Life

Said it before, will say it again. Sometimes the best way to deal with the here and now is to pause and refocus on the there and then. Paul did. Reading in 2Corinthians 4 this morning and Paul’s “afflicted in … Continue reading

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The Difference Adoption Makes

From time to time there’s the temptation to fall back. To do what you’ve stopped doing. To respond the way you used to respond. To go where you no longer want to go. Any number of things might trigger it, … Continue reading

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The Hedge

Job wants out. “I give,” he cries. Life, or what’s left of it, is just too hard. Everything he worked for, his herds and flocks, were gone. Everything he sacrificed for, his children, gone too. Everything he drew on to … Continue reading

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