Acts 20:25-38 New International Version (NIV) 25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to […]

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Farewell from an Old Warrior

Joshua 23:1-3, 6-8, 14-16 Joshua’s Farewell to the Leaders 1 After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. 3 You yourselves […]

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Freedom

Mark 1:21-28 New International Version (NIV) Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit 21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. […]

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Word Leads to Wisdom, Worship and Joy

Nehemiah 8:1-12 New International Version (NIV) 8 1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. 2 So on the first day of the […]

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The Lord Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23 A psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, […]

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God Always Remembers His Covenant

Psalm 111 1 Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly. 2 Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. 3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. 4 […]

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Training the Heart

Psalm 14 For the director of music. Of David. 1 The fool[a] says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek […]

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The Gibeonite Deception

Joshua 9:1-16 New International Version (NIV) The Gibeonite Deception 9 Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things—the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and […]

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Sin – Never secret. Never private.

Joshua 7:1-6 New International Version (NIV) Achan’s Sin 7 But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things[a]; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri,[b] the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. 2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho […]

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Action Steps in Executing God’s Plan

Nehemiah 2 New International Version (NIV) Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem 2 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, […]

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