THE PEARLS

The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. “Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!” Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face. “A dollar ninety-five. That’s almost $2.00. If you really want them, you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday’s only a week away and you might get another …

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A New Generation

Over the last few years, there has been offered yet another cause for what ails Christian people: “Generational curses.” It is taught that somewhere in the past, if one of our ancestors dabbled in the occult, or sinned in some terrible way, that they came under a curse that we have inherited from them. This curse is imbedded in our family – almost like it is part of our, “spiritual gene pool.” We are told that this could account for any present sickness, financial failures, emotional damage, inability to obey God, temperament problems, etc. Just about anything is blamed upon …

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Put Down The Santa, And Slowly Step Away From The Wise Men!

Dr. Mike Murphy December 16. 2016 “If you move the ‘n’ in Santa to the end, you know you get Satan!” When I heard this I knew I had heard enough!  This was the last straw in a series of outrageous statements I had heard surrounding Christmas this year.  “It is sacrilegious to place the Wise Men at the Nativity.”  “Santa is an agent for Satan that is destroying the minds of our kids.”  “I cannot believe anyone would put lights on their house, that is openly mocking the Star of Bethlehem.”  These are just a few of the statements …

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How were the Old Testament saints saved? by Matt Slick

The OT saints were saved the same way the New Testament saints were/are saved–by faith. Romans 4:3-8(KJV) 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose …

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INTIMACY WITH GOD

God has made intimacy with Him possible—so let’s commit to pursuing Him with all of our hearts John 15:12-15(KJV) 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known …

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Names of Jesus: The Vine

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) It’s important to understand that salvation is not a fruit bearing event, so in this statement Jesus was talking about our life after we’re saved. Even after we are saved, believers are not automatically fruitful. But if we yield our lives to Him, (Romans 12:1-2) and respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit He sent to guide us (John 14:26) we …

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The Only Solution for Sin

Reflections The solution for sin is not to muster up your strength and to try and try to start obeying. You cannot start obeying. That is the problem. Rather, the solution for sin is to start believing – to begin putting our reliance upon the One in whom is the power of the resurrection. Then, as God gives grace and Truth, you may start obeying by faith. There is this idea among Christians that God will somehow give us a THING called power, or give us a stronger will. God gives us Christ. We need a stronger faith in HIM. …

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The Fence :

There once was a young boy with a very bad temper. The boy’s father wanted to teach him a lesson, so he gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper he must hammer a nail into their wooden fence. On the first day of this lesson, the little boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. He was really mad! Over the course of the next few weeks, the little boy began to control his temper, so the number of nails that were hammered into the fence dramatically decreased. It wasn’t long …

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A CHRISTMAS STORY TO REMEMBER

It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn’t been enough money to buy me the rifle that I’d wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible. After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be …

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Messiah’s First Appearance Was Prophecied

Messiah’s First Appearance Was Prophecied Zechariah 9:9 9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass (ASV 1901).  This text is one of the most Messianic and significant passages in the entire Bible. Both Jewish and Christian Bible students commonly apply it this way. Judaism sees in it a basis for a royal single messianic appearance, whereas the New Testament and Christianity see a prophecy of the triumphal entry of Jesus …

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Question: “What is the conviction of sin?”

Answer: The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin (John 16:8). To help us understand what the conviction of sin is, we can look at what it is not. First, it is not simply a guilty conscience or even shame over sin. Such feelings are naturally experienced by almost everyone. But this is not true conviction of sin. Second, conviction of sin is not a sense of trepidation or a foreboding of divine punishment. These feelings, too, are commonly experienced in the hearts and minds of sinners. But, again, true conviction of sin is …

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“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9

Jesus, the great I AM, is the entrance into the true church, and the way of access to God himself. He gives to the man who comes to God by him four choice privileges. 1. He shall be saved. The fugitive manslayer passed the gate of the city of refuge, and was safe. Noah entered the door of the ark, and was secure. None can be lost who take Jesus as the door of faith to their souls. Entrance through Jesus into peace is the guarantee of entrance by the same door into heaven. Jesus is the only door, an …

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“I remember thee.” Jeremiah 2:2

Let us note that Christ delights to think upon his Church, and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returneth often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so doth the mind continually pursue the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that face which we love; we desire always to have our precious things in our sight. It is even so with our Lord Jesus. From all eternity “His delights were with the sons of men;” his thoughts rolled onward to the time when his elect should be born into the …

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