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Be Ever Watchful |
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By Shauna Leis on
1/6/2009 5:56 AM
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Back in ancient times, especially those with knights and castles, there was always a guard on the top of the wall or the tower. The job of the guard was to stand ready and watch for whoever might be approaching the castle. Guards stood watch all day and all night, taking turns throughout the hours so they would not grow weary of watching and miss someone approaching. If the person approaching was a friend, or even better the master of the castle, the guard would immediately relay a message to open the gates and welcome the traveler home.
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All About Love |
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By Shauna Leis on
1/5/2009 7:00 AM
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The apostle Paul has had this particular chapter in his letter to the Corinthians affectionately named, “the love chapter.” There are four different types of love expressed in the Greek language. Only two of these types of love, though, are actually mentioned in the New Testament. However, in English speaking societies, we have sadly reduced all forms of “love” to be described by the one single word, love. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from the Greeks in their expressiveness and clarity over language.
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Hope in Hopeless Times |
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By Shauna Leis on
1/2/2009 4:28 AM
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My heart could not take anymore of their stories. It was breaking. Tears were flowing out of my eyes and streaming down my cheeks like a leaky faucet that could not be turned off. The stories were being told at a breakout session led by Pat Layton at the Women’s Ministry Leadership Forum at Lifeway. She was speaking about women in crisis. She gave out four rolls of yarn to four different women in different areas of the room.
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In the World, Not of It |
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By Shauna Leis on
1/2/2009 4:28 AM
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As we approach the New Year, we must start to prepare our hearts and minds for another year of serving God. One of the ways that we prepare our hearts is by meditating on the verse above. God created us from the beginning to be in this world but not of it. He does not want us to conform to the pattern of what is in the world. The Greek word for “conform” is suschematizesthe, which means “shaped by, living after the pattern of.”
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Heaven's View |
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By Shauna Leis on
12/31/2008 4:53 AM
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There is something about the holidays that touches the very depths of our soul. The time between Christmas and New Year’s and the day’s leading up to them stir within us feelings of some kind. For some it is feelings of joy, hope, love and looking ahead. For others it is feelings of despair, loss, loneliness and a time of looking back.
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The Desires Battle |
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By Shauna Leis on
12/30/2008 11:08 AM
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For the past few days, God has been speaking to me about the effect of desires. I am not quarreling with anyone, but God called me to check my desires and to examine any desires battle in my mind. In today’s Scriptures, James is saying that fights and quarrels are the result of the desires that battle inside of us. Inside of our minds, desires are fighting for their position. Desires live inside of us. God created us with a soul and gave us desires. We can desire many good things. However, we can twist a “good” thing into a harmful desire.
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Our Story |
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By Shauna Leis on
12/29/2008 4:44 AM
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Have you ever noticed that you have to read the whole story to understand what is actually happening in the story? The characters tend to build on each other throughout the length of the book. If you were to skip to the end of the story, you would know what happened, but you would not understand a lot about why the ending happened the way that it did, especially if it was a surprise ending.
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The Christmas Light |
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By Shauna Leis on
12/26/2008 7:46 AM
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As we head through the Christmas season, one of the things that we love to do as a family is to drive around neighborhoods and look at all of the Christmas lights. There is something very special about the houses that have the greenery, red bows, and a single candle burning in each of their windows. It has such a classy look and feel. Then there are some houses with animated reindeer and icicles.
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The Best Gift |
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By Shauna Leis on
12/25/2008 5:30 PM
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Christmas, my absolute favorite time of year, is approaching and with it all of the joys that the season will bring…A time of baking sweet treats…A time of fellowship with friends and families…Parties galore…And of course, the presents that we all long to unwrap! If we could just enjoy the presents without having to do all of the shopping beforehand, now that would be my idea of a perfect holiday!
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It's All Just Stuff |
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By Shauna Leis on
12/24/2008 4:47 AM
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Every year, my husband and I battle against society to ensure that our children know the real meaning of Christmas. We have specific traditions to remind us all that Jesus is the reason for the season. We limit the number of toys that they receive for Christmas as they have so many already they do not play with. And I am one of those crazy people that goes out on the Friday after Thanksgiving to do shopping to save us money on the gifts that we do purchase so we can adopt other families that are in need.
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