Words of Jesus Archives » Sondra Kraak https://sondrakraak.com/category/words-of-jesus/ Trails of Love and Grace Fri, 08 Jan 2016 14:26:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 When the New Year is More Stale than New https://sondrakraak.com/when-the-new-year-is-more-stale-than-new/ Fri, 08 Jan 2016 14:26:49 +0000 https://sondrakraak.com/?p=1691 Stale popcorn–something nobody wants to eat (except me, much to my husband’s chagrin, but forget about that since it doesn’t fit with the analogy). Stale popcorn is the epitome of food that has lost its pizzazz. It’s almost chewy (yum), and feels a bit dead in your mouth. Like all foods past their prime, stale popcorn deserves the […]

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]]> 5 Scripture Verses for Those Who Strive https://sondrakraak.com/5-scripture-verses-for-those-who-strive/ Thu, 22 Oct 2015 21:07:28 +0000 https://sondrakraak.wordpress.com/?p=1619 Is it just me, or have we made striving a virtue? We admire those who overachieve, who rise above expectations because of sweat and diligence. It seems like the harder a person pushes toward perfectionism, the more she’s admired. We call it a good work ethic. Wrong. We’ve taken a good thing–hard work–and warped it into over-work. […]

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]]> Questioning Through Mark: 8:22-26 https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-822-26/ Thu, 10 Sep 2015 17:20:33 +0000 https://sondrakraak.wordpress.com/?p=1557 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and […]

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]]> Questioning Through Mark: 8:1-21 https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-81-21/ https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-81-21/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2015 22:55:43 +0000 https://sondrakraak.wordpress.com/?p=1553 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of […]

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]]> https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-81-21/feed/ 1 The Work of Jesus: Making Oaks of Righteousness https://sondrakraak.com/the-work-of-jesus-making-oaks-of-righteousness/ https://sondrakraak.com/the-work-of-jesus-making-oaks-of-righteousness/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2015 17:03:06 +0000 https://sondrakraak.wordpress.com/?p=1448 “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of […]

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]]> https://sondrakraak.com/the-work-of-jesus-making-oaks-of-righteousness/feed/ 2 Jesus Makes Everything New https://sondrakraak.com/jesus-makes-everything-new/ Tue, 26 May 2015 15:24:27 +0000 https://sondrakraak.wordpress.com/?p=1432 For those days when life feels like a tattered old dishrag, Jesus says, “I am making everything new” (Revelation 21:5). For the moments when words escape your mouth and you want them back, “I am making everything new.” For the dark hours when old wounds raise ugly heads, and for the early dawn hours when […]

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]]> Questioning Through Mark: 6:30-44 https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-630-44/ Wed, 06 May 2015 00:41:08 +0000 https://sondrakraak.wordpress.com/?p=1419 30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.  31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”  32 So […]

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]]> Questioning Through Mark: 6:6b-13 https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-66b-13/ Tue, 21 Apr 2015 12:39:20 +0000 https://sondrakraak.wordpress.com/?p=1414 Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.  7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.  8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff– no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.  9 Wear sandals but […]

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]]> Questioning Through Mark: 5:21-43 https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-521-43/ https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-521-43/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:39:04 +0000 https://sondrakraak.wordpress.com/?p=1402 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please […]

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]]> https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-521-43/feed/ 1 Questioning Through Mark: 5:1-20 https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-51-20/ https://sondrakraak.com/questioning-through-mark-51-20/#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2015 13:18:29 +0000 https://sondrakraak.wordpress.com/?p=1397 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been […]

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