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Like My Father
For my only true Father in heaven on Father's Day God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.Genesis 1:27 We all have a Father, and we were made to look like Him. When we know who He is, we will know who we are. It was almost Halloween, and my mother asked me to climb up in the attic to find the plastic jack-o-lanterns we always toted around to collect candy. I was flattered by her request. I had never been trusted to go into the attic before. My sister and I had been severely warned never to go there for fear of stepping in the wrong spot and crashing through the… Read More
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Emotional Temptation
Come down from the cross (Matthew 27:40). We don’t often think of Calvary in terms of the emotional temptation of Jesus. But if we listen closely to those insulting dagger words thrown at Jesus by the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders, we will recognize the voice of the deceiver. Just as he challenged Jesus’ lordship in the wilderness during the famous temptation recounted in Matthew 4, he can be heard in the Savior’s weakest, most exposed moment on the cross, tirelessly seeking to break Jesus’ will. W. Glyn Evans, in Daily with the King, describes it like this: “The emotional strain of the cross was staggering. The chief ingredient was abandonment. The abandonment of Jesus was complete—people, disciples, and even (though only… Read More
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Instead of Abandoned, Treasured
During the month of June, I will be writing a series of devotionals based on my upcoming book, Covered Glory: The Face of Honor and Shame in the Muslim World, published by Harvest House Publishers August 2019. You will no longer be called, “Abandoned”…Indeed, you will be called “My Delight is in Her”…For the Lord will take delight in you…As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, so your God will rejoice over you (Isaiah 62:4-5, NET). Ratna daydreamed as she washed dishes in her small, sunny kitchen. Lutfi would be home soon and she had prepared his favorite lamb stew for lunch. Recently married, Ratna and Lutfi lived in a small apartment adjacent to his father’s home. Crack! Ratna snapped to attention as a glass… Read More