The cartoon series, “The Family Circus,” was created by self-taught artist and cartoonist, Bil Keane in 1959. Cartooning from his home office with family all around, Keane was inspired and soon began drawing “The Family Circus,” using his five children as subject matter. Keane said, “If there is a philosophy behind the feature, it is that a home filled with love and laughter is the happiest place in the world.”
July 21, 2024 |
Ephesians 3:14-21 |
family
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What’s the answer to the question, “Who dealt this mess?” We did. That’s the answer. That’s why we worry so much about it. Because we know that much of the mess, if we’re truly honest, is our own fault. Yet no matter how hard we try to have the perfect family, we’re still ending up with crazy chaotic and well, messy. And this often leaves us feeling exhausted and feeling like failures.
But what if we’re aiming at the wrong thing? What if we stop aiming at having the perfect family and instead aim at having a family that lives and even thrives under God’s blessing? What if we prayed, “God bless our mess.” In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prayed that believers would experience God’s blessing on the family.
July 14, 2024 |
Psalm 99 |
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Why is it important for us to consider God’s holiness? Indeed, the word “holy” might be taken negatively by some. If someone calls you a “Holy Joe,” or refers to you as “holier than thou,” you might take it to mean that they think you are judgmental, that you think you’re better than them or that you’re really a hypocrite. So, we have a little trouble with the word “holy.” Yet, God says to His people, “Be holy, for I am holy”
But before we try to understand what it might mean for us to be holy, we first need to get a grasp on what it means that “God Is… Holy.” In Psalm 99, the Psalmist called worshipers to praise God for His holiness. We can praise God for His holiness.
July 7, 2024 |
Psalm 107:1-3 |
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“Is God really good?” You ask. Sometimes you may have doubted God’s goodness. For if any of us has had a trauma, a bad diagnosis, lost a job, or suffered a failed relationship… then we’ve asked the age-old question: “If God is good, then why are these bad things happening to me?” Most of us affirm God’s goodness until something bad happens to us.
Perhaps it is our understanding of God and our understanding of what is truly good that is lacking. For who are we to approve of what is good or not? In Psalm 107, the Psalmist encouraged his hearers to give thanks to the LORD for His goodness. We can give thanks to the LORD for His great goodness towards us.
June 30, 2024 |
Lamentations 3:22-24 |
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In a world full of broken relationships and broken promises, don’t you wish you knew someone who was faithful? Someone dependable and reliable? Someone constant and trustworthy?
And that’s what our God is. He is faithful! In Lamentations 3, the prophet Jeremiah declared his hope in God’s faithfulness in the midst of his suffering and sorrow. We can put our hope in God’s faithfulness.
June 23, 2024 |
Hebrews 6:13-20 |
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In a world where everything is in flux and constantly changing, don’t you wish you had something or someone that you could depend on? Someone who didn’t change?
God is unchanging. That’s what we want to “know” more about God today. In Hebrews chapter 6, believers were reminded that they could hold fast to an unchanging God in an ever-changing world.
May 19, 2024 |
John 6:25-40 |
eternity, heaven
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What must we do to prepare for what comes after death? How can we prepare for the ultimate journey? It’s a journey that most of us don’t want to think about, but it’s a journey that everyone must take.
Trips take a lot of preparation, some more than others. But how much more must we prepare for the trip that everyone will face one day… the trip to our eternal home! In the gospel of John chapter 6, Jesus told His hearers what they must do to be prepared for eternity.
May 12, 2024 |
Revelation 21:1-8 |
heaven
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A new you – that’s what many promise to help you accomplish in this life. “You can live your best life now” the latest self-help books and gurus promise. That’s why we make “bucket lists.” We think, “If only I can experience all that this life offers, I will be happy and fulfilled.” We think, “I better live for myself now because we only get one life.”
But the best is yet to come. For the new heaven and new earth and new body that God has planned for His redeemed people will be the very, very, best life you can live! In the last two chapters of the book of Revelation, the Lord revealed to the apostle John what the eternal home of His redeemed people with Christ would be like.
May 5, 2024 |
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 |
heaven
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A lot of Christians get nervous about this topic of heavenly rewards. They are confused about the importance of living a life of faithful obedience to God in this life. They mistakenly claim, “My good works mean nothing to God.” It’s true that we are saved by grace apart from works. We can’t earn salvation. We can’t work and earn eternal life and heaven. We can only receive the free gift of salvation by faith. That’s true.
But in the apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he told them to take care to live faithfully for Christ for it would determine their heavenly reward. We can take care to live faithfully for Christ knowing that it determines our heavenly reward.
April 28, 2024 |
Revelation 7:9-12 |
heaven
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Through the years, when someone loses a loved one, one of the most asked questions I get when I’m
helping a family prepare for a funeral and helping them process their grief and pray with them, is this very question: “Will We Know One Another In Heaven?” Underneath this question are several others, like: “Will I still be me in heaven? Will I still have all my memories and personality? Will I look like me?” And, “Will I recognize my friends and loved ones who gone to heaven before me? Will I recognize other biblical saints? Will I know Jesus?”
In the book of Revelation, the apostle John recorded his vision of believers in heaven knowing one another. We can be confident that believers in heaven will know one another.
April 21, 2024 |
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 |
heaven
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Do you ever give any thought to what heaven is like? People who have faced death, either personally or among their friends and family, tend to think more about what heaven might be like.
What’s heaven like for the believer when they die? How can we face death and eternity with confident knowledge and expectation of heaven? In the apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he encouraged believers that they could confidently face death knowing what their heavenly home with the Lord would be like.
