shape (31)

Ian

Not All Good

Lamentations 3:16–33, Job 2:11–13 James 1:9–18 Wikipedia summarizes Nathan Robinson’s take on platitudes as: “A platitude is even worse than a cliché. It’s a sanctimonious cliché, a statement that is not only old and overused but often moralistic and imperious. ... [they] have an aphoristic…

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Ian

Spirit Movement

Psalm 51, Isaiah 66:1–16, Acts 16:6–15 How the Holy Spirit moves in our lives is both a mystery and very important. The psalmist requests to be restored. Attributed to King David after being confronted in his sin regarding Bathsheba and Uriah, there is definitely some…

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Ian

Sown

Lamentations 3:25–33, Matthew 13:3–9 For there to be a harvest, there needs to be seed and sower. God’s love is both faithful and abundant. All too often, however, we treat God’s love as scarce. There is a concept called the “scarcity mentality.” This mentality is…

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Ian

Avoiding Shaping

Psalm 103, 2 Peter 1:3–11, 1 John 1:5–2:2 Have you ever whittled, shaping a piece of wood cut-by-cut, flick-by-flick, putting something into life that was only in your mind? While God does not use a knife to whittle on us, through others and life’s trials…

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Ian

Saturday after Easter

John 16:16–22, Galatians 4:8–20 How often when we know the story so well do we look down on those who don’t get it? The disciples certainly didn’t get it. Jesus often spoke in parables, and because we think we know the answer, we find it…

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