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Speak Truth in Your Heart
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart… Psalm 15:1-2 I was hiding behind the chair the cat liked to sleep in. My grandmother’s cat was mean, and I dared not get too close. She would rather scratch your eyes out than look at you, my grandmother loved to say. And it was true. So today, I curled my preschool body up into a tidy squat and tried to stay out of her way. But I needed to be close enough to hear because my mom and my grandmother were having a serious conversation. And it was about me. My mother was telling a… Read More
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The Practice of It is Written Prayer
The crescendo of the Cross was composed in the wilderness. Jesus settled it long before the sound of the nails fixing His hands to a wooden cross, the cleansing last breath as He committed His spirit to the Father, or the quiet authority of the angelic herald’s words to Mary, He is not here, He has risen! Before Jesus’ earthly ministry began, Satan tempted Him in the wilderness. Each confrontation was both a challenge to Jesus’ identity and a distortion of the truth. Every one of Jesus’ responses began with the words, it is written… The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on… Read More
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unLoveable
It is a truth universally acknowledged that humanity often finds lies easier to believe than truth. -Audrey Frank This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). Ratna hummed to herself as she washed the dishes. The kitchen was small and sparse, but it was bright with sunshine today and it was hers. Recently married to a kind, gentle man, Ratna was the mistress of her own home. Her heart swelled with joy as she daydreamed about a little baby boy with dark curly hair like his daddy’s. Crack! The glass she was scrubbing slipped out of her soapy hands, glancing off the edge of the… Read More