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Showing posts from August, 2011

Blessings from the unlikely sources.

Romans 8:32 NIV “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Genesis 17:15-22 15-16 God continued speaking to Abraham, "And Sarai your wife: Don't call her Sarai any longer; call her Sarah. I'll bless her—yes! I'll give you a son by her! Oh, how I'll bless her! Nations will come from her; kings of nations will come from her." 17 Abraham fell flat on his face. And then he laughed, thinking, "Can a hundred-year-old man father a son? And can Sarah, at ninety years, have a baby?" 18 Recovering, Abraham said to God, "Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!" 19 But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever. 20-21 "And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I'll als

Personal Responsibility/Going to those who offend you.

Been a little bit since God shared some new insight with me... I have been on a mini vacation, enjoying the beauty of the Oregon Coast with my VERY pregnant wife. One thing that has struck me is how easily people are willing to sow negative talk into our families and into our own lives. Lately, God has been taking me on a journey through my life, but from a different perspective. Now, going back through your life can be hard, but reflection is necessary to see where you have been and see clearly what choices lead you there. While I believe the link from choice to consequence can often be clouded in complexity, I also believe that if you trace the consequences back far enough, you will find 1 choice that was made. As I think back through my life and some of the decisions I made, I realized that the decisions I made were based solely on how I was raised. Many of them were conditioned from years of being trained. Many of them were good, like the choices to be responsible and to work h