Tag: <span>sacrifice</span>

Choose What You Think About
Published November 25, 2023

Choose What You Think About

There are many things in life over which you have no choice.

But you can choose what you think about!

For that reason the wise man urges,

“Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” Proverbs 4:23 (NCV).

Do you want to be happy tomorrow? Then sow seeds of happiness today. Count blessings. Memorize Bible verses. Pray. Sing hymns. Spend time encouraging people. Do you want to guarantee tomorrow’s misery? Then wallow in a mental mud pit of self-pity or guilt or anxiety today. Assume the worst. Beat yourself up. Rehearse your regrets. Complain to complainers.

Thoughts have consequences. Healing from anxiety requires healthy thinking. Your challenge is not your challenge. Your challenge is the way you think about your challenge! Satan wants to leave us in a swarm of anxious, negative thoughts. But you have a power he cannot defeat. You have God on your side!

By Max Lucado
From:  Anxious for Nothing
Used by permission

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To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:    
http://maxlucado.com/about/

Further Reading

• Think About – A Christian Poem by Kathy Cheek

• Don’t Think About it – by John Grant

• Wisdom of God – by Katherine Kehler

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thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Mercy over Sacrificedevotional online
Published October 29, 2023

Mercy over Sacrifice

“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13 (NIV)

He cradled the roses in his left arm like a running back carries a football. He debated with himself over which would be best: a solitary rose or a dozen roses wrapped with baby’s breath. He went for the dozen, thinking the more, the better when you’re trying to tip the scales back toward the “nice guy” side.

So he carried twelve deep-red roses just on the edge of a beautiful bloom. They’d cost him plenty, but that’s the price you have to pay when you let someone down. Today was their anniversary. There were dinner plans, a night of romance, whispered words, and tender kisses.

A wonderful, “sweet dreams are made of these” night—that he forgot.

Forgot because he was under pressure at work to complete a project; forgot because he needed to do well, not just because of ambition, but because he needed a promotion. The money was tight, and he wanted to be able to support his family in a better way.

The roses were a huge expense, but it was a necessary sacrifice to make it up to his wife and to make him feel better about his guilt. He owed her more, but this would be the start of earning his way back into her favor.

But now the image dissolves, and you see you’re the one carrying the roses and you’re bringing them to Jesus. The roses represent your “sacrifice,” those things you do to try to make up for your bad behavior, to make up for your sin.

But Jesus says he doesn’t want the roses, not if they’re delivered as a guilt offering for your sin.

By Jon Walker
Used by Permission

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Further Reading

• Misery and Mercy – A Devotional by Sue Braid

• Jesus Desires Mercy, Not Sacrifice – A Devotional by Jon Walker

• Grace, Peace and Mercy – by Daniel Forster

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thoughts by Jon Walker Thoughts by Men