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“Most people carry scars that others can’t see or understand.” Those deeply honest words came from Major League Baseball player Andrelton Simmons, who opted out of the end of the 2020 regular season due to mental health struggles. Reflecting on his decision, Simmons felt he needed to share his story to encourage others facing similar challenges and to remind others to show compassion.

Invisible scars are those deep hurts and wounds that can’t be seen but still cause very real pain and suffering. In Psalm 6, David wrote of his own deep struggle—penning painfully raw and honest words. He was “in agony” (v. 2) and “deep anguish” (v. 3). He was “worn out” from groaning, and his bed was drenched with tears (v. 6). While David doesn’t share the cause of his suffering, many of us can relate to his pain.

We can also be encouraged by the way David responded to his pain. In the midst of his overwhelming suffering, he cried out to God. Honestly pouring out his heart, he prayed for healing (v. 2), rescue (v. 4), and mercy (v. 9). Even with the question “How long?” (v. 3) lingering over his situation, David remained confident that God “heard [his] cry for mercy” (v. 9) and would act in His time (v. 10).

Because of who our God is, there is always hope.

—Lisa M. Samra

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Confessions, Augustine.

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Jeremiah 29:12-14

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."

(ESV)

#christian blog #jesusdaily #christianity #god's word #faith #daily devotions #jesuschrist #daily scripture #word of god #book of jeremiah #seek god

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Ephesians 2:10

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

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Life is but a Weaving

“My life is but a weaving Between my God and me. I cannot choose the colors He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow; And I in foolish pride Forget He sees the upper And I the underside.

Not ’til the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly Will God unroll the canvas And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful In the weaver’s skillful hand As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares; Nothing this truth can dim. He gives the very best to those Who leave the choice to Him.”

― Corrie ten Boom

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Luke 24: 1-9

And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. ⁸And they remembered his words, ⁹and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

Artwork: J. SCHEIER

#eastersunday #holy week #book of luke #jesusdaily #heisrisen #passion of christ #john 3:16 #faith #salvation #christian art #god's word #christianity #christian blog

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Psalms 62:1-2

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. For God alone, my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

(ESV)

One of the most crucial qualities in this life is to welcome defeat in the same way you'd welcome success - fully surrendering with the possibility of either falling down and picking yourself up or soaring...but even more importantly so, to not let it take away even an ounce of your hope... Let your hope be indomitable at all times, relying on the one who is unchanging even in the face of changing circumstances, - even when your inside feels like you swallowed the storms of a thousand seas know that your rock remains among the clashing waves. ~ 

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Ephesians 3:17(b)-19

"...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

#bookofEphesians #jesusdaily #god's word #christianity #daily scripture #dailyverse #devotions #christian blog #memory verse #godsloveneverfails #jesuslovesme

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The stories that we most need to hear are not those of perfection, but those of redemption…

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I find no better portrayal between man & God on the day of encounter than the falling on one's knees and with both the hands covering a face soaked with tears, only that those tears can't be classified, whether it is of excessive joy or of gratitude or of heart breaking remorse, or one infused with love. Tears will be there, in plenty, that's for sure, quite uncontrollable, and your hands will be covering your face, I wouldn't ever know for what. And the mighty generous Lord will be right there in front of you and all you would do is kneel in absolute surrender...

Random Xpressions

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“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
Isaiah 53:3
 oil on canvas 16″x 24″

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Contentment is a choice. Through drawing near to God.

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Psalms 139:16 (ESV)

" Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. "

Artwork by: http://bluecapsicum.tumblr.com

#jesusdaily #god's word #daily devotions #jesuschrist #daily scripture #christianity #christian blog #word of god #book of psalms

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💛🧡❤

Random Xpressions

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#full moon #moon breaking #christian blog #moonlight #moonshine #in love with the moon #letters to the moon #fly me to the moon #poetry #photooftheday #photoart #digital art #christianity #christian art #jesusdaily

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Oh how much we wail and speak of our heart breaks and yet not for once we have paused to think how many times God must have experienced a heart break on account of us - every single time He was not recollected, every single time we forgot to thank Him, every single time we preferred something above Him, every single time we turned our backs on Him - while He kept watching us, waiting for our return - with a broken heart...

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