Posts from 2018 (Page 16)
Daily Devotions: July 5 , 2018
July 5, 2018 2 Corinthians 12:6-9…“Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’” vss. 8-9a People have long wondered about Paul’s thorn in the flesh and have offered countless possibilities ranging from the plausible (eye issues) to the speculative (doubts or unbelief). Of course we really don’t know; Paul says only that he considered it a…
Daily Devotions: July 4 , 2018
July 4, 2018 2 Corinthians 12:2-5…“I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows…” vs. 2 Sometimes it would be nice to be able to quiz Paul about some of the things he wrote, and this is one of those moments. It’s generally accepted that he is referring here to an experience that he had some years before,…
Daily Devotions: July 3 , 2018
July 3, 2018 Psalm 123…“As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.” vs. 2 We don’t know where the psalmist fit into the social echelon of his day, but we can be pretty sure he wasn’t near the top because he’s had his fill of the scorn of those…
Daily Devotions: July 2 , 2018
July 2, 2018 Ezekiel 2:1-5…“The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’” vs. 4 Ezekiel was minding his own business when God told him to get up on his feet and go as a prophet to the people of Israel, a nation of rebels who had rebelled against God. There is no promise that anyone will listen, but at least they would have heard a…
Daily Devotions: July 1 , 2018
July 1, 2018 Mark 5:35-43…“He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum,’ which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.” vss 41-42 On the surface, this is another miracle story, the raising of a little girl from the dead. There are other instances of things like this in the gospels and sometimes they leave…
Daily Devotions: June 30 , 2018
June 30, 2018 Mark 5:21-34…“He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” vs. 34 Wherever Jesus went in his Galilean ministry he attracted crowds who had heard of his healing touch. They brought family members and friends, and came expecting that Jesus could heal them. And many times that’s exactly what happened. Our ideas about healing have changed somewhat in the last 2000 years. We’re more likely now…
Daily Devotions: June 29 , 2018
June 29, 2018 2 Corinthians 8:7-15…“And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something—now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.” vss. 10-11 Paul was not only an evangelist, he was the stewardship director in the early church. There had been a severe famine and Jewish Christians in Jerusalem…
Daily Devotions: June 28 , 2018
June 28, 2018 Psalm 30:8-12…“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?” vs. 9 Resurrection was a foreign concept to the psalmist. He believed that those who died went to Sheol, the place of the dead, and that it was a place of darkness. He would have agreed with those who say, “When you’re dead, you’re dead. That’s it!” Yet in his words…
Daily Devotions: June 27 , 2018
June 27, 2018 Psalm 30:1-7…“For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” vs. 5 The psalmist was in a good mood as he composed these words of thanksgiving and praise. There had been a crisis, perhaps an illness that had brought him to death’s door, but then he had experienced healing, and he wanted everyone to know how happy he was. He…
Daily Devotions: June 26 , 2018
June 26, 2018 Lamentations 3:27-33…“Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.” vss. 32-33 Those of us with parents who didn’t believe in sparing the rod may have heard them say these words, “This hurts me more than it hurts you.” Somehow hearing those words in that context failed to take away the sting or lessen the tears. While that mode of discipline…
Daily Devotions: June 25 , 2018
June 25, 2018 Lamentations 3:22-26…“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” vss. 22-23 The writer of Lamentations had endured the total destruction of Jerusalem and experienced first-hand the raw brutality of a powerful conqueror. The temple had been destroyed along with all the palaces and fine homes of the city. The people had experienced famine and starvation. The promised Day of the Lord…
Daily Devotions: June 24 , 2018
June 24, 2018 Mark 4:39-41…“And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” vs. 41 The answer to the disciples’ question would have been readily apparent to Mark’s first century readers. They would have recognized the connection to Psalm 107:29, “he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” It was the Lord, the God of Israel, whose power…