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Worry Dethroned
I’m a natural worrier. The twist of my gut, the contortions of my mind intended to untwist the gut, the acceptance of my good plan, then the knowing there is no good plan, not really. The twist of my gut, the contortions of my mind intended . . . around and around. Minutes, sometimes hours. A few mornings ago, a truth came to me through that little portal, the one we all possess. The one where the Spirit whispers, “Look!” “W.O.R.R.Y. doesn’t work. You know it doesn’t, even when you think it does. It’s entirely backwards: Y.R.R.O.W” I jotted down the letters on a piece of paper and the acrostic…
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A Night in the Chestnut Tree, John G. Paton
Out of all our experiences on this earth, none will transform us like that of being met by Christ in the midst of our pain, our fear, our need. John G. Paton describes one such occasion he experienced while fleeing the clubs of the natives who sought to take his life: “I climbed into the tree, and was left there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there live all before me as if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent discharge of muskets, and the yells of the savages. Yet I sat there among the branches, as safe in the arms of Jesus! Never, in all…
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The Fringes of Victory, John G. Paton
Does loss haunt you? Does it cause you to be insecure about your relationship to God? John G. Paton (1824-1907) suffered losses beyond the experience of most. A month after establishing a mission station in the heart of the warring and human flesh eating people of the islands of Vanuatu, his wife died from complications of malaria. Two weeks after his wife’s death, his newborn son also died. Alone but for native helpers, Paton suffered great losses for the next three years: bouts of malaria, constant death threats, frequent native wars, a serious outbreak of measles purposely brought by a sandalwood trader to the islands to wipe out the natives,…
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Submitting to Sadness, Romans 8:28
“Real pain can alone cure us of imaginary ills.” Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
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Christian Growth, Frederick W. Robertson
“As the tree is fertilized by its own broken branches and fallen leaves, and grows out of its own decay, so men and nations are bettered and improved by trial, and refined out of broken hopes and blighted expectations.” Frederick W. Robertson
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He Won’t Relent, Song of Solomon 8:6
“God will strip away anything that you are secure in that is not of Him.” Graham Cooke “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.” Song of Solomon 8:6
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The Undriven Life—The Christian Difference, Part 7 by Carolyn Cote
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Beautiful Process: Becoming Wine, Becoming Bread
This will not be a life-is-a-beach kind of post . But if you’re in the process of becoming wine or bread you will find rest in the hope of this miraculous process. Picture the process: Individual kernels of wheat separated by protective coats of chaff swinging in the late summer sun, rattling small sounds of ripeness. Off in the distance the sound of harvesters seems nonthreatening at first but it grows louder and louder and then all at once the sharp blade cuts each head of grain from its life source. After a series of jostlings near violent, a small kernel of grain emerges only to lose all identity under…
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The Undriven Life—The Christian Difference, Part 7 by Carolyn Cote
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Another “Truth” Unlearned
“God will never give you more than you He can handle.” Unlearned the hard way, Binsey, Tree Thoughts Adminstrator
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When God Unbuilds You
I feel your bad time. I’ve been there. The there that feels ragged and gut wrenching. You feel at times like your life is over. You need comfort. May I offer some? You can only lose that which wasn’t eternal. Seems harsh, right? Seems like you will forever have to live in a world undone, washed away, blown away, stolen. What is left? When all is taken down is there anything left? Yes! Your foundation which is Christ. He is enough. Trust this for now. He IS enough. And when He becomes enough you will find He is rebuilding a new structure, a glorious one; one you never dreamed you…
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Between Two Minds: Romans 12:1-2
Are you afraid or confused or discouraged? What an excellent time to give honor to the Mind of Christ. This is not the knowledge of good and evil which brought you to your present distress. No, this is the mind which is rooted in Life Himself and only brings life to those who honor His mind’s unearthly glory and power. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you…
