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Written by Max Lucado, a contemporary pastor and author.  This is an excerpt from his book “Grace for the Moment for Moms.”

When you wonder if anyone is listening, know this: God is. Your voice matters in Heaven. He takes you very seriously. When you enter His presence, He turns to you to hear your voice. No need to fear that you will be ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God, and He listens.  He listens to the painful plea of the elderly in the rest home.  He listens to the confession of the prodigal.  When the guilty beg for mercy, when the spouse seeks guidance, when the mom steps out of the chaos and into the chapel, God listens. Intently. Carefully. God is standing on the front porch of Heaven, expectantly hoping, searching the horizon for a glimpse of His child… And the name He calls is yours.   

You will call My name. You will come to Me and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will search for Me. And when you search for Me with all your heart, you will find Me! [Jeremiah 29:12-13]

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Written by A. B. Simpson(1843-1919), a Canadian preacher, theologian, and author.

We are told that Abraham could look at his own body and consider it as good as dead without being discouraged  because he was not looking at himself but at the Almighty One. He did not stagger at the promise, but stood straight up unbending beneath his mighty load of blessing; and instead of growing weak he waxed strong in the faith, grew more robust, the more difficulties became apparent, glorifying God through His very sufficiency and being “fully persuaded” (as the Greek expresses it) “that he who had promised was,” not merely able, but as it literally means “abundantly able,” munificently able, able with an infinite surplus of resources, infinitely able “to perform.” He is the God of boundless resources. The only limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our praying are too small; our expectations are too limited. He is trying to lift us up to a higher conception and lure us on to a mightier expectation and appropriation. Oh, shall we put Him in derision? There is no limit to what we may ask and expect of our glorious El-Shaddai; and there is but one measure here given for His blessing, and that is “according to the power that worketh in us.”  

And being absolutely certain that whatever promise He is bound by, He is able to make good [Romans  4:20].

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Written by George MacDonald (1824-1905), a Scottish author, poet, and minister.  This is an excerpt from his book “Essential Poems.”.”

Too eager I must not be to understand.

How should the work the master goes about

Fit the vague sketch my compasses have planned?

I am his house—for him to go in and out.

He builds me now—and if I cannot see

At any time what he is doing with me,

’Tis that he makes the house for me too grand.

The house is not for me—it is for him.

His royal thoughts require many a stair,

Many a tower, many an outlook fair,

Of which I have no thought, and need no care.

Where I am most perplexed, it may be there

Thou mak’st a secret chamber, holy-dim,

Where thou wilt come to help my deepest prayer.

But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.  [Hebrews 3:6]

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Written by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), a British writer, literary scholar, and lay theologian. This is an excerpt from his book “Mere Christianity.”

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.  [Psalm 139:23-24]

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Written by Thomas Kelly (1893-1941), an American Quaker educator. This is an excerpt from his book “The Eternal Promise.”

The church building is not a church, the brick and mortar structure is not a church. God doesn’t live in a house with a peaked roof. God lives inside people. And if God isn’t inside you, you needn’t expect to find him in a house with a peaked roof that is outside you. God is within. And where He dwells, there is a holy place. [George] Fox was finding he had an altar inside his own soul. Inside him was a hushed and holy Presence, too sacred to be destroyed, too wonderful not to be visited continually. The holy Presence was inward. Fox found Him there, and all life was new. It was a wonderful discovery, to find that you are a temple, that you have a church inside you, where God is. There is something awful, that is awe-inspiring, down at the depths of our own soul. In hushed silence attend to it. It is a whisper of God Himself, particularizing Himself for you and in you, and speaking to the world through you.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. [1 Corinthians 1:30].

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Written by Dennis Hollinger, a contemporary professor and ethicist.

Terrorism tends to breed an emotional response of revenge. This is a natural retort wanting to hit back, get even, and take out vengeance on the evil doers. Revenge has roots in our created being, for it is the innate desire to make right the wrong. But, as fallen creatures, in us that deep impulse becomes twisted, excessive, and misguided. Revenge wants to strike back without principle or limitation on the basis of emotional outrage. Since September 11, we’ve heard the language of revenge, as people pour out contempt toward Muslims, Arabs, and people of Middle Eastern descent. Even Arab Christians in this country have had to fear for their lives. But in place of revenge, we need justice. Life in a fallen world calls for justice, even as believers are called to a spirit of forgiveness that ultimately seeks restoration. A voice for justice in a world that seeks unrestrained vengeance is a voice for fairness, not just emotional outrage. Justice seeks to limit our passions and feelings and to respond from principle not internal sentiments. It is never in personal hands but develops mechanisms to effect it. Justice is not arbitrary but is supported by evidence. It has often been symbolized by the blindfold on “lady justice” to ensure that justice, not revenge, is our response to evil. Without justice, revenge builds a history of injustice, perpetuates more acts of violence, and the spiral begins—generation after generation—a reality we know all too well throughout the world. The ultimate goal of justice is restoration and peace, for “the effect of righteousness will be peace,” Thus justice, not revenge… A sense of mystery in our understanding of and relationship to God is significant for deep spirituality.

The fruit of that righteousnesswill be peace;its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. [Isaiah 32:17]

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Written by Ray Stedman (1917-1992), an American pastor and author.

I have always been fascinated by the questions God asks of man. These four words go right to the heart of life. In them Jesus asks the most profound question in anyone’s life: “What are you looking for?” Did you ever ask yourself, “Why am I here? What do I really want out of life?” That is the most penetrating question you can ask yourself.

Jesus turned around and saw them following. He said to them, “What are you looking for?” They answered, “Teacher, where are you staying?” [John 1:38]

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Written by Lacy Finn Borgo, a contemporary author.  This is an excerpt from her book “Faith Like a Child.”

Imagination is essential to faith. We will not trust an unseen God without a little imagination, and we will not be able to catch a vision of the kingdom of God or participate in it without imagination. Imagination isn’t dabbling in what isn’t real; instead it helps us to live with what is unseen. Faith, hope, and love are all made tangible by imagination.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. [2 Corinthians 4:18]

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Written by Corie ten Boom (1892-1983 ), a Dutch watchmaker, Christian writer, and public speaker.  This is an excerpt from her book “The Hiding Place.”

It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, a former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie’s pain-blanched face. He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. ​“How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein.” He said. ​“To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!” His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I prayed, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness. As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself. 

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. [Matthew 5:43-45]

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Written by Toni Pate, a contemporary pastor. This is an excerpt from her sermon “Ongoing Easter.”

The experience of this traveler [on the road to Emmaus] may well be like your own. You may be the unnamed one. You may know a lot about Jesus. From church, from home, from the Bible, or from TV — who knows where we get our images of him. You may know a lot, and you may care a lot about Jesus and Christianity.  But do you ever feel disappointed that God is not making things happen the way you thought he would? That your life has not turned out the way you had hoped? Have you been confused about where Jesus is during difficult times? Does it sometimes seem that as much as you believe Jesus is the Son of God, his promises of lighter burdens, of peace, answered prayers, and freedom from fear are not a reality for you? Then you are right there on this long walk — needing Jesus to come alongside you and help you to recognize his presence. But it’s a process. He wants to walk you through your doubts and disappointments. He wants to take you back through the story of God’s interaction with people from the very beginning and to see how it matches your own story. He wants to be invited into your home to share your everyday life. And at some point, if you have ears that want to hear, eyes that want to see, you will know he is alive and is with you. In the simplest act — a song, a prayer, a long-forgotten Bible verse, a meal — you will know him as the one who gave himself for you.

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. [Luke 24: 13 – 14].

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