Digging in Deeper: Luke 2:7

“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter

Have you ever had anything not go the way you were expecting? Perhaps the better question is whether or not you’ve had that happen yet today. We regularly make plans only to have to throw those plans in the trash when they bump up against the walls of reality. The real question we need to face here is not whether or not we’ve faced this disruption of intent, but what we did about it when it happened. 

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Digging in Deeper: Matthew 1:18

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter

When was the last time you had plans for your life and they were suddenly wrecked by something over which you had zero control? That’s never a fun place to be. Even the most free-wheeling, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants person still occasionally makes plans and isn’t all that much a fan of seeing them interrupted. Joseph feels your pain. 

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 5:1

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter

Have you ever been in a place of turmoil? Of course you have. We all have. We’ve all been there multiple times. Sometimes turmoil is an almost daily affair. And in these times when life is topsy-turvy what is it that we most want? Peace. We long for peace. We need peace. We want life to feel like a scene from a Bob Ross painting. How do we get this? 

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Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 24:24

“The king answered Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for twenty ounces of silver.”  (CSB – Read the chapter)‬‬

Sometimes a verse of Scripture means something obvious in its context, but at the same time points forward toward a broader, deeper truth that is foundational to a life of successfully following after Jesus. This is one of those verses. 

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