Having joy despite your suffering

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Forgiveness is a habit

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  Like any other behavioral pattern we establish, I believe that forgiveness can become a habit for us, too. Instead of our knee-jerk reaction being anger when someone harms us, we can go straight away to forgiving them. How is this possible?  Practice.  Like any other habit, we need to practice it until it becomes second nature - or better yet, first nature! Think back on how many millions of times Jesus has forgiven you your sins.  Do I exagerrate when I say millions?  Maybe.  Maybe not! And when we come to Jesus asking His forgiveness, has He ever once denied us His grace?  This is miraculous, if you ask me!  Does He "hold it over our heads" for a few days until He decides to pardon us?  Thankfully, never!  Can you even imagine?!  It would be torment to our souls if Jesus did not at once forgive and restore us!  And of all people, Jesus has the "right" and power to withhold forgiveness and instead "make us pay."  But He...
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Rising in unlikely places

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Old Testament Joseph is one of my favorite people in the Bible. Joseph was a big dreamer.  He had a dream that his brothers, and even his parents, would one day bow down to him. When God gives you a dream, He doesn’t mess around.  God knows the future.  God has a plan for your life.  God knows where He is sending you and how to get you there.  God has ways of accomplishing things that we could never imagine.   The dream wasn’t about Joseph’s “greatness.”  But that’s how his brothers misinterpreted Joseph’s dream. NOTE: not everyone will understand your God-given dreams. The dream was about how God chose Joseph for a specific role in life, and not just in his family’s life. God sees the big picture.  That is so comforting to me.  That character quality alone makes me want to worship Him.  He is omniscient.   God planted the dream inside of Joseph.  I’m guessing that Joseph might have thought about how he  was going to make ...
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Following Christ vs following your heart

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Christ lives in our hearts by faith once we receive Him as Lord of our lives.  So it would stand to reason that since He lives in our hearts, that if we "follow our hearts," we are following Him.  But that is not the case. Scripture tells us that the heart is deceitful above all else. (see Jeremiah 17:9 ) The heart is the seat of our emotions.  God gave us emotions as gifts.  But they are not to be trusted as gods or sources of truth and wisdom.  Emotions are ever-changing and unreliable.  No, we need more than our hearts to guide us. For truth and wisdom there is only one place to consult: God's Word.   We know that what our heart "tells" us can be the furthest thing from God's Word.  "But I feel  like this is the right thing to do."  "I am overwhelmed with emotion, so it must be God's will."   As women especially, our emotions run deep.  They can also be all over the place! That is why it is crucial to know and stud...
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Cha-Ching!

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Are you a member of any rewards programs?  I am.  It's fun to receive bonuses and offers simply for being a good customer.  You know the ones I mean, a discount offer, something for free, and other special perks.  Who doesn't enjoy these rewards? But did you know that Jesus offers us eternal rewards that never spoil, fade, or perish?  I want in on that program!  Of course, it is not a program at all.  But there are definitely awesome rewards.  But you need patience to wait for them, and lots of faith to know that they are waiting for you, because they won't be revealed this side of heaven.   Some of the rewards we can look forward to: Loving our enemies.  Cha-ching! Forgiving those who hurt us.  Cha-ching! Obeying God no matter what. Cha-ching! Seeking Jesus daily.  Cha-ching! Trusting God more than self.  Cha-ching! Believing in God's goodness during the hard times.  Cha-ching! Knowing God.  Cha-ching! Choo...
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Admit defeat and win!

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Admit defeat and win?! That statement doesn’t make sense! Or does it? When we surrender to God, admit that we cannot win against the spiritual principalities in our own strength, then He comes in and wins for us. That is the only way to victory in the Christian life!  But first, we must acknowledge that we are no match for the devil, the enemy of our souls, when it comes to spiritual warfare.  That is a job for Christ, for only He is the Victor. Our Lord made a spectacle of the devil when He died for us on the cross.  Satan was defeated then and there.  Alleluia! So though the devil is still active in this world (duh), think of him as always trying but never winning.  That is the great deception that he offers the world - that he can still take God’s place.  He is already defeated. But millions around the world do not know this, and that is how he gets into people’s hearts and lives, unknowingly. So when we admit that we cannot slay our Goliaths, but in the...
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