Posts from 2018
Daily Devotions: December 31, 2018
December 31, 2018 To read full passage click: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 …“He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” vs. 11 We’ve come to the end of another year, and many are thinking about the months that have just slipped away. Some will recall it as the best year ever, full of…
Daily Devotions: December 30, 2018
December 30, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 2:48-52 …“He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’” vs. 49 It appears that parenting Jesus was a challenge for Mary and Joseph. They had every right to be upset with him. He had deliberately stayed behind in Jerusalem when the group from Nazareth had begun their journey home. There’s no mention that he said a…
Daily Devotions: December 29, 2018
December 29, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 2:41-47 …“After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” vs. 46 Among his sources, Luke found a story about the 12 year-old Jesus that has become one of the best known passages in his gospel. It describes the aftermath of a family trip to Jerusalem for the Passover. Mary and Joseph somehow lost track of him on the…
Daily Devotions: December 28, 2018
December 28, 2018 To read full passage click: Colossians 3:12-17 …“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” vs. 12 Imagine what an impact Christianity could have had on the world if God’s chosen ones had actually sought to clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Suppose these had been our identifying marks rather than doctrines about the nature of Christ, or a proper understanding of the Trinity? Of…
Daily Devotions: December 27, 2018
December 27, 2018 To read full passage click: Psalm 148 …“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!” vss. 1, 7-8 The psalmist is so in love with God and the wonders of creation, that he offers a song of praise and thanksgiving that encompasses all of existence. And more…
Daily Devotions: December 26, 2018
December 26, 2017 To read full passage click: Isaiah 61:10-62:3 …“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.” vs. 1 In recent weeks we’ve been reading about the city of Jerusalem and the controversy that has erupted over whether it should be recognized as the capital of Israel, given that it is also the most important city…
Daily Devotions: December 25, 2018
December 25, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 2:8-20 …“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’” vs. 15 The shepherds in Luke’s story could have been content with hearing the good news from the angels and then going back to sleep. Instead, Luke reports that they decided…
Daily Devotions: December 24, 2018
December 24, 2018 To read passage click: Luke 2:1-14 …“Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.” vs. 4 When Luke decided to put together his account of Jesus’ life, he must have been thrilled to find this little story of the birth in Bethlehem. It really was the missing link, the piece of evidence that linked…
Daily Devotions: December 23, 2018
December 23, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 1:43-45 …“And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?” vs. 43 Elizabeth’s reaction to Mary’s visit reveals a genuine humility that is often lacking in an age of entitlement. She had been privileged by God and it blew her mind. She was an ordinary woman with no claim to fame or glory and she didn’t deserve the honor that had come to her.…
Daily Devotions: December 22, 2018
December 22, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 1:39-42 …“And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’” vss. 41b-42 The scriptures report that Mary, though initially concerned about her son’s mission, became closely associated with his disciples after his death and resurrection. It even seems that by the time Luke wrote his gospel, some had begun to recognize her special…
Daily Devotions: December 21, 2018
December 21, 2018 To read full passage click: Hebrews 10:7-10 …“And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” vs. 10 There aren’t many people who even care that much about the arguments put forward by the writer of Hebrews. From their perspective, all this talk about sanctification and sacrifice is speculative and boring and has little to do with life in the 21st century. And…
Daily Devotions: December 20, 2018
December 20, 2018 To read full passage click: Hebrews 10:5-6 …“Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.’” vss. 5-6 The sacrificial system had been the centerpiece of worship for the people of Israel for centuries. It was a way for them to deal with the guilt and the power of sin. By…