James 4: 6 – 10 “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep....
Author: Gretchen and Mark Potma (Gretchen and Mark Potma)
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December 7 – James Quotes Jesus
Mark and Gretchen are church planters who minister in Prague, Czech Republic. Several of us at LSA know them because we went on summer mission trips in the past to assist them at a church camps. Mark and Gretchen come to LSA when they are home, and we support them in their mission work. James...
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March 18 – How Do I Study the Bible?
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks...
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March 14 – Word of God Speak
Psalm 19; 7 – 11 “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.11 Moreover, by them is your...
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March 1 – Reshaped
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For through the grace...
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July 8 – Listening
Luke 10: 25 – 41 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your...
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July 7 – Woe and Joy
Luke 10: 13 – 24 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you,...
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July 6 – Be Ready To Go
Luke 10: 1 – 12 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers...
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May 20 – GOD Cares For You
By Gretchen Potma “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32 Here is a little verse, tucked in among parables and teachings of Jesus that is easily missed, but it is full of hope and encouragement for any day and especially these days when life seems to be even...
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May 19 – Healing
By Mark Potma Luke 4:31 – 44 “And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath,32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you...
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May 18 – Jesus Announces Who He Is
By Gretchen Potma Luke 4: 14 – 30 “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue...
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May 17 – Testing
By Gretchen Potma Luke 4: 1 – 13 NLT “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.” As I was reading once again this familiar passage about...
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March 26 – Teaching Tuesday
By Gretchen Potma “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Matthew 25:13 As we walk with Jesus to the cross, we come to Tuesday, a day of confrontation and teaching. Jesus spends at least part of the day in Jerusalem at the temple, sparring back and forth in dialogue...
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March 24 – Palm Sunday: Five groups of people
By Mark Potma John 12:12-19 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out,“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”14 And Jesus...
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March 2 – Insiders and Outsiders
By Gretchen Potma Ephesians 2:11-22 (MSG) “It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a...
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February 19 – Church planting: pitching tents for the joy of all people
by Mark Potma The thought of pitching a tent can evoke wistful memories or a certain nostalgia about camping trips in the past, or perhaps excitement and adventure while preparing for an upcoming trip. Often it involves travelling to new places, getting used to different surroundings, and honing skills that are not part of our...
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February 16 – Love is Hopeful
By Gretchen Potma “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proudor rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses...
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February 1 – A Mist That Appears
James 4:13-17 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you...
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January 29 – What Did I Say?
James 4:11-12 “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save...
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January 27 – Humility
James 4: 6 – 10 “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep....
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