Tag Archives: Expository Teaching

Spiritual Nuggets 1/05/2024

Truth and Honesty Can Be Painful A commitment to honesty and truth often puts us in unexpected spiritual situations—something David experiences in 2 Samuel 7. David thinks he will build God a great house—a temple—but instead God plans to build … Continue reading

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Spiritual Discernment and Paul – 4

Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 3:18 The Nature of This Spiritual Discernment – Continued B. “ ‘We All’ . . . With Unveiled Face” It seems that Paul thinks of Moses as God’s prophet went up to the mount. He thinks … Continue reading

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Spiritual Nuggets 1/04/2024

Serving the Glory of God When we avoid community, we may develop an inflated opinion of our own character. It’s easy to think we’re kind people when we’re not held accountable to others. It’s easy to think we’re always right … Continue reading

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Spiritual Discernment and Paul – 3

Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 3:18 The Nature of This Spiritual Discernment A. New Testament Versus Old Testament Believers The nature of the spiritual discernment of which Paul speaks appears first and foremost in the fact that it is the direct … Continue reading

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Spiritual Nuggets 1/03/2024

Vengeance versus Blessing Comparing the passages of 2 Samuel 3:1-4:12 and 1 Peter 3:8-22 teaches us that all Scripture can be used for instruction: Some passages provide wisdom on how to become more like Christ, while others are best regarded … Continue reading

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Spiritual Discernment and Paul – 2

Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 3:18 The Apostle Paul determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). He did not request a place for his God in the Greek Parthenon; in essence, he was … Continue reading

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Spiritual Nuggets 1/02/2024

When Kings Mourn No one can tell you how to mourn. You have to mourn as you see fit, making sure you don’t introduce sin into the grieving process. Several people who were dear to my heart have died. Each … Continue reading

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Spiritual Discernment and Paul – 1

Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the … Continue reading

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Spiritual Nuggets 1/01/2024

Emotion versus Logic Reacting is easy. What’s difficult is overcoming emotions in a time of adversity. Although emotions are not bad, they can lead us astray. At the same time, when we stray too far in the other direction and … Continue reading

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The Star of Christmas – 5

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12 Light in the Darkness – Continued The story is told of a young Jewish girl in a Warsaw ghetto who managed to escape over the wall and hide in a cave. She died there shortly before … Continue reading

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Faith From The Beginning 12/30/2023

Hindrance, Not an Aid to Faith NOW, of course, I hear objection made constantly to this sort of reasoning by people who say that pictures, images, icons and all the rest, are an aid to our faith. They help us … Continue reading

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The Star of Christmas – 4

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12 Light in the Darkness – Continued The light that shone in Jesus still shines on, and the darkness has not been able to overcome it, put it out, quench it, or extinguish it. Now this does … Continue reading

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Spiritual Nuggets 12/29/2023

Jack-in-the-Box Pride It’s dangerous to become too confident in the maturity of our own faith. Our pride is like the spring of a jack-in-the-box: Just when we think it’s broken or that we’ve gotten the lid on tight, it springs … Continue reading

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The Star of Christmas – 3

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12 Guiding Light Jesus Christ, to whom the star led, also leads us somewhere. He leads us in two directions, to God and to our brother. These are the two poles of great religion. The God to … Continue reading

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Spiritual Nuggets 12/28/2023

Reframe It “ ‘Too often they have attacked me from my youth.’ Let Israel say, ‘Too often they have attacked me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me’ “ (Psalm 129:1-2). As these verses show, sometimes problems can be … Continue reading

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The Star of Christmas – 2

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12 The Light – Continued The Bible says in effect: When you have peeled away layer after layer of things as they appear, you come to the heart of things as they are and you can call … Continue reading

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Spiritual Nuggets 12/27/2023

Surprise Redemption We often fail to be amazed at redemption. Perhaps we’re only dimly aware of our own failings, or (worse) we are blind to how amazing it is that God has shown us grace at all. In Psalm 126 … Continue reading

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The Star of Christmas – 1

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12 Matthew in his beautiful story of the birth of Jesus makes much use of a star. He tells how wise men came from the East to Jerusalem, having followed the light of a star. They asked: … Continue reading

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Spiritual Nuggets 12/26/2023

Unity in Adversity Distress can unite people. In difficult moments, in shared pain, we discover our true friends. When David fled from King Saul, his divided family was suddenly supportive of him, as was every man in the region who … Continue reading

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When God Made Himself Little – 5

Scripture References: John 1:1-18 Full of Truth Not only is Jesus full of grace, He is also full of truth. Truth is one of the watchwords of John’s Gospel, occurring over thirty times. Jesus embodied truth. He said once, “I … Continue reading

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