Posts from April 2021 (Page 2)

Posts from April 2021 (Page 2)

Daily Devotions

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” vs. 1 Psalm 23:1-3 It’s doubtful that the psalmist thought of himself as a sheep. But there’s no doubt that he thought of the Lord as his shepherd! He’d had plenty of opportunity to watch shepherds out in the fields with their flocks. Since there were no fences, and sheep can’t care for themselves, each flock needed constant care. The shepherd went out with them from the fold in the morning,…

Daily Devotions

let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.” vs. 10 Acts 4:5-12 The early disciples were unabashed name-droppers! Whenever they were in a tough spot or needed a spiritual power boost they dropped the name of Jesus and were amazed at the results. People of faith…

Daily Devotions

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day…’” vss. 45-46 Luke 24:44-48 When Matthew and Luke wrote their gospels they weren’t just interested in compiling a narrative of Jesus’ life from beginning to end. They also wanted their readers to know that what had happened in Jesus was a fulfillment of the scriptures. His…

Daily Devotions

They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?’” vss. 37-38 Luke 24:36b-43 According to the stories that Luke had investigated, the disciples were not expecting Jesus to rise from the dead. At first they dismissed the women’s report of an empty tomb as an idle tale, but Peter’s verification of the story got them thinking. And when Jesus showed…

Daily Devotions

You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.” vss. 5-6 1 John 3:4-7 Just a few paragraphs earlier John had told his readers that anyone who said they did not sin was a liar, and we would heartily agree. That certainly fits our experience! But he doesn’t mean to imply that we should…

Daily Devotions

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” vs. 1 1 John 3:1-3 Love is the most powerful force in the universe! It’s been there from the beginning and defines the very nature of God. Love has been breathed into our lives from the moment of birth and sustains us until…

Daily Devotions

There are many who say, ‘O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!’” vs. 6 Psalm 4:5-8 Twenty-five hundred years ago there were people wandering around Jerusalem, shaking their heads in disgust at the constant stream of bad news that daily came their way. They longed for good news–and so do we! There are daily reports of political scandals, international tensions, and the continuing effects of the global COVID shutdown.…

Daily Devotions

When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent.” vs. 4 Psalm 4:1-4 The psalmist is here advising his enemies to think twice about the harm they might intend to do to him. Rather than simply acting on their feelings and saying something they will regret, he says they should take to their beds, consider options and then be silent. This is timeless wisdom! Many of us are plagued by runaway tongues and end…

Daily Devotions

And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.” vss. 17-18 Acts 3:12-19 According to Luke’s account, after the healing of the crippled beggar, a crowd gathered around Peter and John in the temple precincts. Peter uses the opportunity to confront them with their complicity in the death of Jesus, in whose name the man had…

Daily Devotions

But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” vs. 31 John 20:26-31 We don’t really know who John was. Although there has been a ton of speculation about his identity he remains shrouded in mystery. But what we do know is his reason for writing the book that bears his name–he wanted his readers to know that…

Daily Devotions

When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” vss. 22-23 John 20:19-25 The gospel writer John understood that the Holy Spirit could not be contained and said that it was like the wind. We could hear the sound of it but not know where it was coming from, or where…

Daily Devotions

All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.” vs. 24       1 John 3:23-24 We do a lot of talking about the Holy Spirit in our congregations and some people are eager to claim that they possess the Spirit, thereby implying that there are many who don’t. As a result there are folks who go through life wondering…