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Three Voices We Often Mistake for God
Learning how to discern God’s voice is no easy task in the life-long spiritual walk of a believer. Some voices are pretty easy to weed out of the cacophony of voices that talk at us, to us, or around us throughout our day. After all, any seasoned disciple of Christ knows to compare what a particularly persuasive voice is saying with what the Bible says. But not all voices are easy to separate from the herd, in particular, the ones that come from within ourselves. While most people would be willing to admit that God is probably larger and more powerful than we generally give Him credit for, many aren’t necessarily…
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The Religion of Appeasement: God as Idol
Generally, when we seek to appease someone, we turn them into an idol. One of the misconceptions we have about idols is the assumption that we love our idols. And we love some of them, I’m sure. The love of money is a common one. But the other common denominator in idolatry is fear. Proverbs says Appease an angry man and you will do it again. How common is it for us to get caught up in a cycle of appeasement? I think it starts in childhood in many families. If the child transgresses (a not uncommon occurrence) and parents get angry, that child quickly learns how to turn the…
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Validation: How to Love Well
Validation is the little-recognized glue than creates and mends relationships. After all, we live in our own selves all day, every day. Understanding someone else’s journey takes effort, in part because clearing the decks of our own experiences is so challenging. But the rewards of validation are great. Validation builds trust, opens previously clogged channels of communication, and creates relationship between the most unlikely pairs. The primary myth about validation is that by affirming someone else, you are signing off on their beliefs. Validation means selling out your position for the sake of peace and a couple of feel-good moments. Not true. Affirmation of a person is not ratifying their…
Healing Through Art & Words
