Bible
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Want To Know How To Pray For Real Results?
A few weeks ago I experienced a breakthrough in my faith walk. Breakthroughs are amazing but I find in my life they usually follow a difficult season. This was true once again for me. However, the result of persevering in faith through the challenges is astonishing. So my friends, if you are in the darkest…
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Dealing with Disappointment
Photo courtesy of taoty/FreeDigitalPhotos.net You know when you’re in church listening to the sermon and you feel the pastor is speaking specifically to you and only to you? Well I had that experience a week ago. The message was all about disappointment. But I also sensed the Lord wanted me to share some of it…
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Part Four: The Promised Provision
My friends, are you ready for more of God’s amazing truth and love? Are you ready to have your thinking transformed a bit today? Let’s go back to the book of Jeremiah and take another look at King Zedekiah’s story. Let’s look at the first five verses of Jeremiah 34, because this is where things…
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Part Three: When Things Don’t Make Sense
Recently, I sat in a big room with about 50 people worshiping God in their own way, creating one big mass of noise. But when I closed my eyes, Holy Spirit tuned my ears to hear each individual sound-instruments, voices singing and praying. Each one was distinct and clear. Then I opened my eyes and…
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A Past and Present Story
Hello, SUM family. I'm with Lynn in wondering how this month has gone by so fast! Here I thought I'd run out of stories only to find I needed to pick and choose the best ones, because there are so many. And I will say they are truly God's stories-the evidence of His love and…
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The Goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living
On Tuesday I wrote about God’s promises and asked you to choose one promise you are standing for right now, write it on an idea card and as a prophetic act, stand on it and speak this promise over yourself, your family, or whatever the situation this promise is for. I want to back up…
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God Keeps His Promises
My friends, I want to take our theme of standing for Jesus and move to standing on His promises. What does that mean? How do we identify a promise in the Bible? How do we pray and stand upon them, especially when what we see happening in our lives or those we love or in…
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We Stand for Jesus
A week ago I shared in my post the things I am standing for. I sensed then Holy Spirit might be leading me to share a story that began in 2013 that had to do with the word and command in the Bible, to “stand.” Jesus presented it to me as a question, but its…
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Reflections on the Apostle Paul and Life
Hello, my SUM family. I'm writing to you while on the road. An asphalt ribbon stretches before us as my hubby drives us across the United States. The U-haul attached to our trusty VW wagon holds the remainder of our possessions-at least all that we could fit. And in the backseat our 18 year old…
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How do you “hear God? (part 3)
My friends, in light of some of the questions generated by my post yesterday, Lynn and I swapped days so I can address some of those today, specifically the mention of fortune cookies. First, I want you to know that my heart is for every one of you to walk in deep intimacy with God…
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Recovering the WOW!
Photo courtesy of Chaiwat/FreeDigitalPhotos.net As December progressed I began to meditate upon a word for 2016. Last year, my word was ADORATION. I’ve loved taking a few moments at the beginning of a day reflecting on a characteristic of God.1 Over the past couple of years I’ve felt the Lord calling me to want more…
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The Promise of His Covenant
SUMites, I pray this week of fasting has brought you encouragement and strength this week. I wish I could have fasted more, but my pain medication only allowed me to fast a couple mornings. I am encouraged however that even in the midst of this recovery, which has made focusing on God very challenging, I…
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From the Archives: Feasting on God’s Word
On Saturdays we continue to post from our archives. Last year starting in April I did a series about the transformed mind. I'm feeling led to rerun that series over the next fews week, my friends, and I pray it gives you more encouragement and inspiration to let the Holy Spirit transform you with the Word…
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Guest Post: Abiding…Not Just Visiting by Ian Acheson
Dear friends, our very own Ian Acheson has a wonderful post for us today about how we spend time with God. This is such a good reminder of how much our God loves just spending time with us and for us to be be in His presence. And the importance of reading and knowing God's…
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Joseph: Fruitful in Challenging Places (part 2)
Yesterday we stopped right at the point in Joseph's story where things looked pretty good. God's favor had blessed Potiphar's house greatly, but then things took a turn to the worst. Joseph was falsely accused of trying to rape Potiphar's wife and Joseph wound up in prison. What happened to God's favor? But the Lord…
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I Am A Bummer Lamb
Every year as I read my way through my daily Bible, I arrive in the book of John and read the passage about Jesus, The Good Shepherd. Each time I read John 10 my heart and mind goes to a story I once heard about sheep. It overwhelms my heart every year. Today I want…
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Keys and Power
On Friday we asked the question; Do we as modern day believers have access to Resurrection power? Here is the short answer: -Ephesians 1:15-23 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance…
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A Big Word for a Little Man
Dear friends, I've finished reading the book of Luke and have one final story to share. Again I thought this was two stories, two nuggets but the Holy Spirit impressed upon me the bigger picture AND how they are linked together to my previous post about the the Kingdom of God Within Us. I just…
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Keys To The Kingdom – Part I
SUMites: I have a thing about keys. Last week I believe the Lord poured out revelation upon me regarding keys and their significance in the Kingdom. I also believe that the revelation was not only specific to myself but also to others. Way back in 2009 I penciled together an idea for a book. That…
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The Kingdom of God Within Us
My friends, the Holy Spirit is still walking me through the book of Luke and showing me specific things. And now I have a confession to make. No longer will I make the statement, “God shows up.” Why? Because I’m learning more fully the depths of His kingdom already present in us. It’s astounding, for…
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No More Chains
My friends, my post today is a kind of merging of two stories. You see, I thought they were separate, yet as I prayed for Abba's clear leading on what to write, He impressed upon my heart that they are indeed connected. The first story is one we are very familiar with. The prodigal son.…