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Life’s Archery Range: The Sure Shot vs The Missed Mark
At the Sure Shot Archery Tournament devotional in Phoenix, speaker Vin connects the concept of sin, or missing the mark, to archery, describing it as failing to align with God’s will. He reflects on personal growth from selfish goals to seeking God's targets, emphasizing the need for practice, scripture, prayer, and Jesus’ guidance to hit life's true mark. The message concludes with community outreach, particularly regarding addiction recovery, underscoring the spiritual and communal aspects of life's aim.
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You Don’t Know Me
How often have you heard—or even said yourself—these words: “You don’t know me! You don’t understand me! You don’t know how it is or know what it’s like to be me!” Whether a fleeting thought of inward defiance or spoken openly for all to hear, the desire to be known is strong inside each of us, especially people who are hurting (and let’s be real, we’re all hurting in one way or another). But in today’s fast-paced world where everyone wants everything quickly, with instantaneous information at our fingertips, and most people not even getting out of their car to grab a bite to eat—it is hard for anyone to…
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[s]indwelling or sin-indwelling
If we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit…. Here is an interesting verse to look at because there is so much packed inside of it—and I would like to unpack some of it: “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”Romans 7:20 ESV Paul wrote this letter to the Romans as a follower of Christ. Paul, like all Christ followers, has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So, the sin that dwells within each Christian must be sharing a dwelling with the Holy Spirit. That sounds like they could be roommates—except that they are…
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How can we resist the passionate call of sin?
In order to help any Christian develop practices that will aid in the resistance of sin, we need to start with studying scripture. The entire Bible is trying to redress the presence of sin and the story of the Bible leads us to its crescendo in the gospels where Jesus is the one that ultimately pays the price for our sins because we are unable to. Basically, the Bible itself is presented as an authority on sin and how to respond to it. The passion of sin For example, in Romans 6:11-14, it talks about the passion of sin: “So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive…
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The Box: A perspective on life and prayer
If you were in a cell—a box—whether it was for cause or no cause….because we all know you didn’t do it, and jails and prisons are full of innocent people—there would be nothing for you to do. Literally. There’s nothing to do. You can pee in the toilet since it’s right next to you. You could lay on the bunk that’s right next to the toilet. If you’re in general detention, there would be a lot of people you could talk to. It would help pass the time. It just might be a small cell with a door instead of the bars seen in movies. The bars are usually in…
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Who would abandon a baby on the side of the road?
Alcoholics Anonymous (aka, Al-Anon or AA) recognizes that having a mentor is integral to success in their program. Al-Anon mentors are called sponsors—who are typically people that have successfully abstained from alcohol for an extended amount of time. They come alongside new members to advise and help them navigate through the challenges of being sober and the struggles encountered during recovery. What does this look like in practice? Sponsors will make themselves available or get someone who can be when desires for alcohol come up. They should also be an inspiration so that others would want to be more like them. Finally, they should be a pillar of strength for…
