“I can’t walk another step. I’m just exhausted. Totally wiped!” I’ve only hiked up one mountain in my lifetime, and I vividly recall my steps getting slower and my breathing heavier. I also recall sitting down more than once on the journey upwards.

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Okay - what is going on? I know the Lord is in control. He directs the wind. He sends the showers. I even know the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and just like the twists and turns of a river, the Lord is able to direct the heart of a mighty king. (Proverbs 21:1) But can there be any meaningful purpose in this latest development in my life?

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I've never been too swift at figuring out my family tree once it goes much beyond my immediate family. For example, I can’t tell you who my 2nd cousins once removed are – probably because I don’t have the concept straight in my mind. But I think I have this straight: when we read in Esther 2:7 about Mordecai's uncle's daughter, I think it means Esther was his cousin. If that’s not right, I am sure someone will let me know.

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How much effort do I put into discovering the greatest treasure in the universe? Thousands of people from around the world come to Oak Island in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia to search for the fabled Captain Kidd’s treasure. Since the 1600’s there have been stories that Captain William Kidd buried a hoard of treasures on an island ‘east of Boston’. People like President Franklin D. Roosevelt, John Wayne and others have been lured to this little island in pursuit of the treasure. Millions of dollars have been spent and six lives lost in the last 200 years as people have searched for the elusive treasure. They aren’t sure of the exact spot where it is buried. Maybe with the new long range directional detector, that uses the Biotronic Classifier System and locates only Gold, just maybe someone will have better success locating Captain Kidd’s gold.

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I am not sure if I have actually blatantly thought this, but maybe it has eroded my enthusiasm at times to do the little things that could be done. The thinking goes like this: "what difference would it make anyway? It is so insignificant, I can't be bothered doing it." Could a coffee with a person actually make a difference in their life? Giving a sweater to someone, well, how could that help the cause? Visiting the child with a sore throat and ear infection? "Nah, its not my thing! The kid probably could care less if I dropped by." Pretty small stuff, eh?

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It was a bad scene from beginning to end. Mother Rebekah was determined that Jacob would receive the family blessing - not his older twin Esau. The Lord had already told her the oldest twin would serve the younger, but she felt she had to take matters into her own hands to help the Lord accomplish His purposes. When it seemed that Esau the eldest son was going to get the family blessing from Patriarch Isaac, mom swung into high gear. "No way! It can't happen like this. I must come up with a plan!" She concocted a scheme for Jacob to disguise himself and to pretend that he was Esau bringing his father's favorite meal to him.

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Road rage. Horn blasting, steering wheel thumping and incomprehensible mutterings as you tail gate. The exasperation of waiting for a real person to help you over the phone as the music or company promo's annoy your ear drums. The anxiety of waiting to hear back from a job interview. The frustration of waiting for God to intervene in your life. "Why can't He just snap His fingers and make it happen? This is getting ridiculous - does He even care about my situation?!!"

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Here is a verse you can convert into a wall hanging or a 5X7 desktop text or a screen-saver. With all the techno-geeks out there, creating an impressive looking text on your computer and printing it off is a breeze these days. You don’t have to be a skilled calligrapher.

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Fear, anxiety and worry are powerful emotions that can lead to mistakes, poor judgment and a failure to act when I should have acted. Fear can cause me to retreat. Anxiety can rob me of joy. Worry can undermine my energy levels. Fear can cloud my vision of the future. Anxiety can make me difficult to live with. Worry can turn me into a constant ditherer. Fear erodes my confidence. Anxiety can bring on a cardiac arrest. Worry can isolate me from my friends.

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I just finished reading Paul’s first letter to the believers in Corinth. He tackled some huge, complex and very sensitive issues that had the potential to decimate and destroy the local church. What struck me this morning when I was reading the closing chapter was the last verse. "My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen." I checked the closing verses of Paul’s other letters and I think the most intimate and loving sign-off was 1 Corinthians 16:24. "My love...." The most common sign-off is: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you."

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Zoom! Zoom! The sound of a Porsche 911 whizzing by me as I chug along down the highway. Then a Land Rover Discovery cruises by followed by a Volvo XC90. Ummmm?? What would I have to do to end up driving a rig like that? What changes could I make in my life to eventually own a luxury vehicle or a mansion on a lake or a concert grand Steinway piano? How could I ever take a year off and travel the world and enjoy one of those exotic African Safari adventures? It all smacks of prosperity, success and a life of ease and pleasure. But is that what success looks like from a christian perspective? From the vantage point of a believer, what constitutes prosperity?

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After you finish reading this Bible Bite you will get on with your normal daily activities. What's normal for you? Throughout your day do you perform good deeds to benefit others? Or is the 'good works' thing for christians who are retired and have nothing better to do? God intends for all of us to be distinguished by good works. One of the defining marks of every believer should be their good works.

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Years ago the acronym FMS struck me as a powerful abbreviation. The three words it represents can revolutionize a Christian's life. FMS can catapult a discouraged and downtrodden christian into an energized, upbeat, on-fire believer. A daily dose of FMS thinking can make all the difference in a Christian's day - the difference between black thinking and bright thoughts; between a negative outlook and a positive perspective; between a moping, sad-hearted saint and a bundle of energetic desires for the Lord. FMS is the one critical ingredient in a Christian's life - if it is missing or becomes clouded from my view, I will faint or wallow in despair. When FMS is ringing in every chamber of my heart, then I will bounce out of bed in the morning (rather than crawl) ready to honor and serve the Lord throughout another day.

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To some it seemed like such a waste. Others looked on with amazement. They could see the towering blaze and smell the smoke - a group of people were having a huge bonfire. Mental calculators were clicking as people closely watched the bonfire grow. Another former magician arrives with his box of books and throws his favored belongings one by one into the fire. Witches and psychics arrive and add some more fuel to the fire. Finally someone estimates that the books and materials burned in the Ephesus Bonfire were worth 50,000 pieces of silver. CNN or Fox News weren't around back then, but you can imagine the headlines the next day! Former Witches, Magicians, Necromancers and Psychics Abandon Their Trade and Embrace Jesus Christ.

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In Luke 11:27, a woman can keep quiet no longer as she is wowed by the Christ. She shouts out: "Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps which thou hast sucked." As she listened to Him, she could only think: "Your mother must be the happiest woman on earth. There could be no higher honor or achievement in life than to be the vessel that brought You in to this world. What a fortunate woman Your mother is!" Jesus didn’t rebuke her, for Mary really was a chosen vessel. There could only be one Mary.

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The Apostle Peter wasn't hanging his head without eye contact with the influential members of the Great Jewish Council. He spoke with confidence and with power. He wasn't embarrassed to speak up for Christ. The powerful Sanhedrin took their positions in the room and then Peter and John were ushered in, along with the man who had been healed

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"Yeah, it's all put on. He can act like that around older christians, but when u get him with us, he's no different than the rest of the gang. In fact, he often is the ring leader. He's the one who challenges us to do some of the things we do. So yeah - the guy you see, is not quite the same as the one we know. I don't want to put him down so I'll stop there."   And the red flags go up. What you see is not always what you get.

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Have you ever grumbled and complained to the Lord about some things that are happening in your life? A road trip that you were excited about falls through. Someone else gets the promotion you expected to get. An ankle is busted in December and your snowboarding season is ruined. The transmission goes in your car. Your CD/MP3 player is stolen out of your truck. Your iPod falls and smashes. You lose your job. A deal falls through. A courtship is called off. You get pink eye and the flu the first weekend your girlfriend visits your family.

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"Gaius, I'm impressed that you are going on for the Lord and thriving spiritually. I am praying that all the other dimensions of your life will prosper to the same extent. There is nothing that makes me happier than to see christians continuing on for the Lord and walking daily in the truth. I am hearing good reports about you despite the horrible things that are going on within the local church there. That Diotrephes loves to rule the roost and grabs the spotlight whenever he can. His unfair and malicious actions and wicked words are appalling. If I drop by for a visit, I will deal with him."

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Perhaps you are in the thick of a famine right now. The leaves are withering before your eyes. The grass is turning brown. The ground is hard and cracking. The water level is at an all time low. The wind is blowing and the dry dust is swirling. It's bleak and dismal. The freshness of your spiritual life is gone. Your fruitfulness has been swallowed up by barrenness. Sweetness has been choked by bitterness. Grief has smothered happiness. Hopes and dream have been dashed. It is called a spiritual famine. I've been there. You too?? The fire that once burned in your soul is gone. As you read this, you are hoping some spark in your heart may be fanned into a flame once again.

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