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The Way of Worry

 “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.”   Michel de Montaigne uttered these words 500 years ago, and how true they are today! If you read them when things are going well in your circumstances it almost makes you chuckle, knowing inside that it ...

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The Eighth Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness

When I think back on the other seven fruits of the Spirit, gentleness includes love, patience, kindness, and goodness. Gentleness, however, has a special significance not given to the other fruits. The Greek meaning is along the line of “sweet reasonableness.” I Peter 3:4 in the NASV says it is ...

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The One Perfect Love

I remember when it really dawned on me how much my parents had done for us kids. There were four children living under one roof in our blended family, two teenage boys and two girls in elementary school. Mom would come home from work and start dinner, cooking meat and ...

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The Innocent Look of Sin

Dr. John Snow was determined to figure out the riddle that was Cholera, a dreaded disease that caused horrible diarrhea, quick dehydration, and a very painful death– if you came down with Cholera after breakfast you could be dead by supper time! In 1854 London, Snow went to work, believing ...

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Faithfulness: The Seventh Fruit of the Spirit

Faithfulness is often thought of as commitment to a spouse, a promise, a cause, or a goal. It is simply a decision to make good on something you have told someone you will do. Synonyms are: fidelity, loyalty, dedication, allegiance, and dependability. It is not giving up. Spiritual faithfulness can ...

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Unchanging Treasure

I had my first regular babysitting job the summer I was 12, caring for a brother and sister who lived a few doors down from my family. Saving all of my money, I would go with my mom to the bank each week to make a deposit into my passbook ...

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Goodness: The Sixth Fruit of the Spirit

How is the previous fruit of kindness different from goodness? A person who is kind does good things, and a good person does kind deeds. Since Galatians 5:22 lists each separately, I knew there had to be some distinction. In researching these words I learned that kindness is defined by ...

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KINDNESS: The Fifth Fruit of the Holy Spirit

There is a popular saying: “Do random acts of kindness” throughout your day. The vast majority of people are kind. It’s part of human nature and doesn’t, in most cases, require much effort. It can be exhibited through conversations, deeds, giving, and simply being thoughtful of others. The Bible has ...

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No Servant is Unseen

When our country was embroiled in its fight for independence, there was a small ring of spies who helped bring about victory. The Culper Ring was a real spy story set during the war and it had all the elements: brave, but nervous participants, suspicious minds, work done under cloak ...

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