“May the LORD give you increase, you and your children!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭115:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We can and should pray for God’s blessing on our children. But that blessing is promised. We must also raise our children to worship and obey the One True God. That is where the blessing comes from.

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“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭31:30‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The world promotes a standard of womanhood that is impossible to meet and fleeting at best. But Biblical womanhood looks past the external an celebrates Godly character.

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“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2:20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Our standing before God is not about race or religion. Family status or church affiliation won’t bring us into the Kingdom of God. Only dying with Christ and being reborn as a New Covenant people will bring us into the Kingdom.

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“...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Life is a marathon. It is difficult. We will want to quit. But hold on. Keep running. Look to Jesus. He’s waiting with the heroes of the faith to cheer you on and declare, “Well done! Good and faithful servant!”

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“While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭24:51‬ ‭ESV‬‬

First, this is a weird verse of the day. Second, you might think this episode is even weirder. Could our understanding of Heaven and Earth be unbiblical?

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“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51:1-2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Modern Christianity emphasizes the need for a sacrifice to take the punishment for our sins. While this is definitely important, it is incomplete. Sacrifice in the Bible is about much more than that. It’s about the removal of our sin so that we can be free to enter into the presence of the One God.

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“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭48:17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God’s favor and blessing are not without condition. Just as God promised Israel that they would profit from obedience to Him as He led them in the way they should go, our success and blessing is dependent on our obedience to Him as He leads us.

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“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
‭‭John‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

What does it mean to “believe” that Jesus is the only Son of God? In the ancient world, this meant swearing allegiance to the King of Kong’s and Lord of Lords. It meant treason against the rulers of this world.

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“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34:18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We make a mistake to think that he heroes of the faith like King David or the Apostle Paul lived charmed lives. The truth is, from the moment they were called by God, they struggled. We shouldn’t expect anything different in our lives.

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“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Discipline is a word that most of us view negatively. But we shouldn’t. Discipline is about training for the purpose we’ve been called to.

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