Posts from 2020 (Page 30)
Daily Devotions: January 27, 2020
January 27, 2020 For full passage click: Micah 6:1-8 … “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” vs. 8 The people of Israel believed that God had brought them out of Egypt and established them in the land of Canaan. Micah reminds them of that special call and their failure to live according to God’s…
Daily Devotions: January 26, 2020
January 26, 2020 For full passage click: Matthew 4:18-23 … “And he said to them, ’Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” vss. 19-20 Matthew’s brief account of the call of Jesus’ first four disciples implies that Simon and Andrew didn’t know Jesus when they made the decision to follow him. In reality, that was likely not the case. In fact the Gospel of John tells us that the…
Daily Devotions: January 25, 2020
January 25, 2020 For full passage click: Matthew 4:12-17 … “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” vs. 17 Soon after Jesus’ time in the wilderness, John the Baptist was arrested and imprisoned in Herod’s fortress at Machaerus, just east of the Dead Sea. When Jesus got word of John’s arrest he went north, back to Galilee where he’d come from, and he began his ministry. Initially, his message was identical…
Daily Devotions: January 24, 2020
January 24, 2020 For full passage click: 1 Corinthians 1:14-18 … “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.” vs. 17 The essence of the Gospel is not related to personality or powerful preaching. In fact, one of the greatest threats to the Good News has been the tendency of gifted speakers to claim it as their…
Daily Devotions: January 23, 2020
January 23, 2020 For full passage click: 1 Corinthians 1:10-16 … For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.” vs. 11 Paul evidently knew Chloe from the time when he had lived in Corinth. Now he’s been in contact with some of her associates, and he’s been informed of the quarrels that have caused divisions in the congregation he started there. We can still hear the disappointment in…
Daily Devotions: January 22, 2020
January 22, 2020 For full passage click: Psalm 27:6-9 … Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!” vs. 9 The Psalmist had been basking in the glorious goodness of the Lord and celebrating the wonderful feeling of peace and security. But now another feeling has crept into his prayer. For some reason…
Daily Devotions: January 21, 2020
January 21, 2020 For full passage click: Psalm 27:1, 4-5 … “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” vs. 1 The Psalmist was feeling it! He wasn’t putting his trust in any king or president, he was trusting the Lord alone! In the Lord there was light and salvation, in the Lord there was security and hope! He was talking about…
Daily Devotions: January 20, 2020
January 20, 2020 For full passage click: Isaiah 9:1-4 … “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.” vs. 2 Light and darkness are familiar metaphors in Scripture! In this instance, Isaiah is using them to describe the hope that has filled the hearts of the people of Judah with the coronation of a new king. Darkness, in the form of the Assyrian…
Daily Devotions: January 19, 2020
January 19, 2020 For full passage click: John 1:37-42 … “He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.” vs. 39 The two men wanted to know where Jesus was staying and he gives them a simple invitation, “Come and see.” And so they did. They came and saw and stayed for an afternoon of conversation, and it changed…
Daily Devotions: January 18, 2020
January 18, 2020 For full passage click: John 1:29-36 … “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” vs. 29 In John’s Gospel, John the Baptist was the first witness and was sent to bear testimony to the Word who had become flesh in Jesus. Accordingly, when he saw Jesus in the neighborhood after his baptism, he declared him to be the Lamb…
Daily Devotions: January 17, 2020
January 17, 2020 For full passage click: 1 Corinthians 1:6-9 … “God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” vs. 9 When we think about the Church, it has become second nature to think of it in terms of denominations–we tend to identify as Baptists, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, etc., or maybe generically as Evangelicals. Paul wouldn’t have known what we were talking about! In those days there was no common…
Daily Devotions: January 16, 2020
January 16, 2020 For full passage click: 1 Corinthians 1:1-5 … “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him…” vs. 4 Paul stayed in Corinth for about a year and a half on his second missionary journey, and was likely quite familiar with those who were a part of the little congregation that he started…