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A Few Thoughts on My Grandma

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(I wrote this at the end of a long day, the day of the funeral for my Grandma, March 5th, 2020.) Today was hard. My family and I laid to rest the body of my Grandma. It was both a sad and a joyful time. I’m so sad that she is no longer with us, but I’m joyful that she is finally home and truly in complete peace and rest. As we passed by the casket for the last time I paused for only a short time. I looked on the face that I knew as my Grandma’s. But I only looked for a moment. This wasn’t her. She was gone. As she was in the hands of our Father and our Savior Jesus Christ here on earth, she is now embraced in the arms of our God. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. — 2 Corinthians 5:4 This verse has been running around in my head over the past few days, after I got to read this passage (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10 spe...
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The Power of Jesus over Sin and Sickness

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And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And he got up and went home. But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. — Matthew 9:2-8 (NASB) I’ve been reading through Matthew on an unofficial read-through of the New Testament this year. Since I haven’t read the Gospels in a while, I decided to start with them. So Matthew it was.  The Background As I’ve been reading it, I’ve been trying to see the main point that Matthew is...
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No Condemnation in Christ Jesus

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Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. — Romans 8:1 “No condemnation.” What life-giving words to us. Right up front it tells us that we were under condemnation at one point, but now, there is no condemnation for us. Not one single ounce of it remains for us. There is no caveat to this news. But the question remains, how did we get here? How are we now under no condemnation?  The key lies in the words, “in Christ Jesus”. As with many questions we have, much more this one, the answer is Christ. Probably most importantly this one. For without Christ we stand condemned.  Before Christ we all served the law of sin. Our desire was for sin and we hated God with all our being (Romans 8:7). We were ruled by our flesh and our desire was for our own pleasure. The message of the Cross that is found in Scripture was foolishness to us as Paul says in another place (1 Corinthians 1:18).  Condemnation What is this condemnation w...
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