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Posted by David Carroll
Proverbs 23:12 (NIV)Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.This admonition is found all through the proverbs. It is vitally important for a person to be docile and open to instruction. Applying the heart means putting your mind seriously to the task of learning how to live a godly way of life. Applying the ears means listening very carefully. Nothing about this says that it is easy. It takes diligence, effort. And it takes application; as the book of James admonishes, "be doers of the word and not hearers only".There is a reward:2 Timothy 3:15b (NIV)You
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Posted by David Carroll
Isaiah 14:12-15 (NKJV)How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!For you have said in your heart: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High."Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.Here we have an incredible documentary
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Posted by David Carroll
Psalm 56:3-4 (NIV)
When I am afraid, I will trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?
Fear comes, what do you do?
Trust in the Lord. Read his word. Give Him praise.
Now what happens?
You affirm, "I will not be afraid" because you have just figured out that compared to fearing God, what can man do to you?
Posted by David Carroll
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV)To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.God used Paul in a mighty way, perhaps more so than any other person we know of in the
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Posted by David Carroll
Isaiah 6:1-5 (NIV)In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke."Woe to me!" I cried. "I am
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Posted by David Carroll
Isaiah 5:20-22 (NIV)Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,When a politician is confronted with a potentially embarrassing attack from his opponent, a typical strategy to fend off the attack is to spin the talk into just the opposite. Sometimes it is simply saying the exact opposite of what the opponent is
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Posted by David Carroll
Isaiah 1:18-20 (NIV)"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.If there were grievous differences between us, such that we were about to take our case into a courtroom before a judge, we might say something like, "Come now, let's talk about
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Posted by David Carroll
Psalm 51:15-17 (NKJV)O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart--These, O God, You will not despise.Sacrifice is a part of worship to God. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, not only were sacrifices were a foreshadowing of how God's justice is satisfied. The Bible speaks of our sin as a debt owed to God—not as in money but as in a transgression which
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Posted by David Carroll
Song of Solomon 1:1-4a (NIV)Solomon's Song of Songs. Beloved Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth--for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you!Take me away with you--let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.What a treat it is to read the Song of Songs. In it we find beautiful graphic descriptions of erotic love. I have this delightful blushing reaction of good emotions that come over me as I read this book. What makes
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Posted by David Carroll
Ecclesiastes 12:8,13-14 (NKJV)"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "All is vanity."Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.The whole book of Ecclesiastes is this philosophical look at life as this empty, meaningless, and perplexing pursuit of satisfaction which is never achieved. Solomon documents all of his own personal pursuits and is left empty on all counts. This is from the perspective of a natural man "under the sun" who figures that we
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Posted by David Carroll
2 Corinthians 7:10 (NKJV)For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.Paul speaks of two kinds of sorrow, two kinds of results. One result is salvation the other is death. We've all felt sorrow, the worldly kind. Something bad happens to us and we feel wronged, bitter or angry. Or we cause something bad to happen in which case we are embarrassed, ashamed, or even horrified. But these worldly sorrows are about us or they may even about others. What is Godly sorrow then? What ever it is, it
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Posted by David Carroll
I was doing some database maintenance trying to copy over some new stored procedures and I inadvertently copied over an old data table of all my blog entries and I lost about two weeks of entries between 7/24/03 and 8/10/03. I was able to get back a few from Goggle's cache of my pages and from my RSS aggregator cache. Also I was able to find all the titles from feedster's cache.All I can say is Praise the Lord! I get to go back and try to recreate those! Maybe God has something for me in those scriptures that
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Posted by David Carroll
Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 (NIV)Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him--for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God.God is good. He has created a beautiful world for us to live in and to enjoy. Work is a dignified endeavor. Work is not the curse as
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Posted by David Carroll
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher and mathematician once said "Within each one of us there is a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill." That is to say, only God can truly satisfy the deep longings and needs of man. God has wired us this way. Don Richardson, who wrote the book of the same name as the title of this post, shows that there is remnant
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Posted by David Carroll
Job 42:1-6 (NIV)Then Job replied to the Lord: "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.'My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.God finally has Job where he wants him. The righteously indignant young
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Posted by David Carroll
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NKJV)Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.I can personally testify to it: our bodies are wearing out. I can also say however
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Posted by David Carroll
2 Corinthians 4:7-11 (NKJV)But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.Our modern society
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Posted by David Carroll
2 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NIV)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.Perhaps you have been asked before to write a letter of recommendation for someone looking for some position of responsibility. Most of the time I
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Posted by David Carroll
2 Corinthians 2:15-16a (NIV)For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.I like to talk about Jesus Christ and I like to hear others talk about him too. For me, there is a sense of well-being that comes in such an environment. It was not always like that. I remember when I felt quite uncomfortable whenever someone talked about Christ. At times, I was repulsed by it. What is the difference? Why would
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Posted by David Carroll
2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (NIV)For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.My pastor says that as we read the Bible, we should ask these questions: what did it mean then?, how does it apply today?, and what should I do in
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Posted by David Carroll
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.I have troubles. God comforts me, perhaps through his word or through another Christian. You have troubles, I comfort you. The comfort I give to you comes from God who gave it to me. Now my troubles have purpose, meaning. They teach me deep dependence on God even in the
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Posted by David Carroll
Job 19:25-27 (NIV)I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!Here is the oldest book of the Bible, and in it we find not only speaking about a New Testament style Redeemer but also a very clear reference to the idea of a physical return of the Redeemer who will stand upon the earth but also that of the
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Posted by David Carroll
1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NIV)Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. We all love a good mystery story. Here is a good one. I have heard my pastor say that those who are once born will die twice and those who are twice born will only die once. The
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Posted by David Carroll
Job 9:32-35 (NIV)"He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot. Job looks at his situation and feels he needs someone to speak for him to God. This is a fascinating insight on Job's part. God is not like
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Posted by David Carroll
1 Corinthians 14:23 (NKJV)Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 1 Corinthians 14:26b (NKJV)Let all things be done for edification. 1 Corinthians 14:40 (NKJV)Let all things be done decently and in order. I don't have the gift of tongues. I've tried it but all that comes out is mumbo jumbo, didn't get a blessing out of it. I guess I should have tried it around someone who could interpret. I know
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Posted by David Carroll
Job 1:20-21 (NKJV)Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said:"Naked I came from my mother's womb,And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job had a really bad day. He went from being the richest man in the East with a very large household to loosing all his possessions and all his children in a matter of moments. Look at his reaction; yes, he was full of grief as evidenced by his very Jewish
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Posted by David Carroll
Psalm 37:4 (NIV)Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. If I offer you a dessert after dinner, I might say "Delight yourself in this." What do I mean? You may never have tasted this dessert before, but I say to you that you will enjoy it. How do I know this? Because I have tasted it myself. Now suppose I only gave you one bite. You'd be wanting more, that would be the desire of your heart. Because of my not wanting to deny you your pleasure, I would give you more.Once
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Posted by David Carroll
Esther 4:14 (NKJV)For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" What delightful a tale of a villain and a heroine which grips and delights with irony. Esther is the beautiful Jewish girl who becomes Queen of Persia during after the exile of the Jews. In her position, she risks destruction herself as she saves the Jews from annihilation by a wicked man named Haman.I
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Posted by David Carroll
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 (NIV)Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.This verse is misunderstood by some. They think that to partake of the Lord's Supper unworthily means that you must be worthy to partake. If not, they think, some terrible thing will happen
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Posted by David Carroll
1 Corinthians 11:7-10 (NIV)A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head. Paul makes an argument here, appealing to the order of creation, that man is the head of the woman. This is not a popular verse. It ruffles some feathers. But it
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Posted by David Carroll
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NKJV)All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. We all live in a world where there are more things to do than what we have time for. How do you decide what's best?A couple of days ago I talked about how a Christian is no longer under the Old Testament Law but actually under a higher law, a seemingly more difficult law, the law of Love. Although I may be
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Posted by David Carroll
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV)No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. God knows everything. God allows everything. God is in total control. Now, knowing this, do you think God has allowed a temptation in your life that he knows you cannot possibly bear? You may think you cannot but if you are in it then you can know with certainty
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