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Scripture text for Thursday, April 29th, 2010: Philippians 4:2-4:9

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When I first agreed to write a devotional, I asked Pastor Dan to give me a passage I could work to develop while I was spending a weekend with my “bff’s.” God was certainly in control of which passage was to be assigned, Philippians 4:2-9. This passage includes the first scripture I memorized after committing my life to Jesus Christ, Phil. 4:6-7. You see, I spent the last weekend with a dear friend from Lafayette, meeting up with another dear friend who happens to be the one who led me to a relationship with Christ. This friend long ago began challenging me to memorize scripture, take all my trials to the Lord, and give thanks for all things in the name of Jesus Christ.

Scripture text for Wednesday, April 28th, 2010: Ephesians 6:10-20

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Did you know that traditional battle armor weighed between 40 and 60 pounds? Presuming you were strong enough to both hold the armor up and move . . . can you imagine how indestructible you would feel? I imagine that much armor would make someone very confident. “Come on, hit me with your best shot!”

In Ephesians 6, Paul tells the faithful how to arm themselves with God's “mighty power.” It is this armor that will enable them to “stand against the devil's schemes.”

Scripture text for Tuesday, April 27th, 2010: Galatians 5:16-6:10

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Remember those Fruit of the Loom guys….middle aged men dressed like fruit wearing Fruit of the Loom underwear? I guess I can’t imagine a worse job than a guy having to dress up like a banana but what is even worse, wearing underwear over the costume. While those guys were trying to get you to put on Fruit of the Loom’s, Today’s passage is encouraging us to display the fruit of the Spirit.

Scripture text for Monday, April 26th, 2010: Romans 8:1 – 8:39

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In Romans, chapter 7, Paul says, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:18 – 7:19). “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:24 – 7:25)

Scripture text for Friday, April 23rd, 2010: Acts 25:1-28:31

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God changes our outlook.

As Paul was a prisoner on a ship headed for Rome, a dangerous storm came and Paul proclaimed, “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” Paul was not optimistic about how his trip was going. He saw how those in control of the ship were making reckless decisions that would eventually doom everyone on board.

Scripture text for Thursday, April 22nd, 2010: Acts 16:1-20:38

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This passage is packed with meaningful application. Of course it is, it’s four chapters long! Remind me next time to check the passage length before I agree to write a devotional. There are a couple of specific things worth highlighting.

Scripture text for Wednesday, April 21st, 2010: Acts 15:1-41

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When I was in law school I had lunch with the same guy nearly every day. And every day we would debate the law, politics, theology, life, sports, and just about everything else we could think of including the best pizza in town. We rarely agreed on any of those things.