As we begin a new year, many people have pulled out their strategic plan, their marketing plan, or their financial plan for the year. How many businesses, however, have ever considered developing a ministry plan?  If you’re sincere about your faith, wouldn’t it be helpful to have a plan as to your ministry goals and ...

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As we start a new year, a theme that King Solomon highlights in Ecclesiastes is that the best we can hope for in this life is to find joy in our work.  In Ecclesiastes 8:15, Solomon wrote, “And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, ...

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King Josiah discovered the Word of God. It had been lost in the temple for years. After studying the scrolls Josiah was grieved at how far his people had strayed. It was time for a new beginning. In 2 Kings 23:3 we read, “The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the ...

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Imagine if there were no years. Day after day, life continued without an opportunity to hit reset.  Not every culture celebrates January 1st as the new year. Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, is typically around September or October.   According to Jewish tradition, in the days following creation God was yet to ...

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In a moment of frustration, Jennie made a derogatory comment to a coworker about another colleague. As soon as Jennie said it, she regretted it, but hoped that it would be quickly forgotten.  But when meeting later with the supervisor of the employee Jennie had criticized, the supervisor asked for the back story. The conversation ...

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Jeff had a challenging habit: He tended to talk about himself. A lot.  His penchant to steer any conversation to a monologue about his activities, interests, and opinions became company folklore.   Unfortunately, Jeff’s ability to make himself the center of every conversation also caused coworkers to work hard to avoid him.  Proverbs 27:2 challenges us: ...

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It was just another night of tending sheep when the shepherds experienced an angel entering their presence, shining with God’s radiant glory. Imagine their likely wonder, doubt, skepticism, and curiosity as they traveled to discover if what the angel told them was true.  That evening those shepherd boys experienced the unexpected gift of gazing upon ...

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On Christmas Eve 1968 our nation was reeling from a very bad year. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated, and the Vietnam War raged on. But a bright spot surfaced as three brave astronauts orbited the moon. As the world observed Apollo 8, Astronaut Bill Anders read from the Bible. "In ...

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When I was at a low point in my job, I prayed intensely to God for either a dramatic change in my work or a new start. I cried out because I couldn’t imagine continuing the current situation. God answered my prayers with a new job that I gladly did for another 15 years.   But ...

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In a devotion from several years ago, Dr. Richard Bouch contemplated the conversion of Saul to Paul. Saul, as a Pharisee, was educated and energetic in persecuting the followers of Jesus. He needed a supernatural encounter with Jesus to recognize that his perspective was wrong.  Bouch notes that before this conversion, Paul was convinced he ...

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