Posts from June 2022
Daily Devotions
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” vss. 7-8 Galatians 6:7-10 Paul’s words to the Galatians were not rocket science. They are exactly the sort of thing that parents have been saying to their children from the beginning. We reap whatever we sow! This…
Daily Devotions
Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.” vss. 8-9 Psalm 66:1-9 From a practical or realistic standpoint, Israel’s survival as a people didn’t make much sense to the psalmist. They weren’t a powerful nation and had somehow managed to survive through the succeeding reigns of a series of superpowers. For him there was only one logical answer: their God had…
Daily Devotions
As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” vs. 13 Isaiah 66:13-14 When we get older and start learning new things in school, it’s not unusual to do an assessment of what we’ve been learning in Sunday School. And sometimes the old familiar stories don’t stand up to our scrutiny. We reject entire portions of scripture as being archaic and unscientific, and decide that we are no longer believers. Usually that…
Daily Devotions
Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her—that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast…” vss. 10-11a Isaiah 66:10-12 When Israel returned from captivity, Jerusalem was a mess–the walls were destroyed and the temple was a wreck. And the people who greeted them, those who had remained in the land, were not at all friendly. The prophet, instead of lamenting, tells…
Daily Devotions
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’” vs. 57 Luke 9:57-62 As the preaching and healing ministry of Jesus gained momentum, occasionally he would ask people to follow him, and sometimes there were even volunteers. Some folks were wanting to jump on the bandwagon, but Luke tells us that Jesus wasn’t very welcoming. He told one man to let the dead bury their own dead, and another that he…
Daily Devotions
When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’” vs. 54 Luke 9:51-55 When the Samaritan villagers refused to receive Jesus as he made his way to Jerusalem, James and John were filled with indignation. They wanted to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them–they wanted to kill them all. Jesus of course rebuked them and simply went on to…
Daily Devotions
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” vs. 22 Galatians 5:18-25 Paul’s picture of kingdom living is timeless and seems too good to be true. How is it possible to live in community and experience such extraordinary fruits in ourselves and in others? He makes it sound so easy–all we need to do is become love-slaves of Christ, and the Spirit will…
Daily Devotions
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.” vs. 13 Galatians 5:1, 13-18 The freedom that Paul was talking about to the Galatians had little to do with the ordinances and rules of the Jewish Law. And for us it has nothing to do with escaping the strict moral and ethical codes of a pietistic upbringing. Our experience of freedom…
Daily Devotions
You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.” vs. 11 Psalm 16:7-11 We wouldn’t know it from the television and streaming programs we watch in our leisure time, but there is a good and decent way to live, and it is possible to find joy and pleasure in daily living. We don’t have to have one crisis after another and be so afraid that we…
Daily Devotions
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.” vs. 6 Psalm 16:1-6 This psalmist has no complaints about his life and is seriously grateful for the serenity that accompanies his days. And it isn’t because he thinks he’s more clever than anyone else or that the Lord loves him more. It’s just the way life has worked out for him–he knows that what he has is a gift. He lives in a good…
Daily Devotions
He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.” vs. 21 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 Elijah was the first of the prophets to appear in the ancient stories that were so cherished by the Israelites. People loved to read about his exploits as a defender of…
Daily Devotions
Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.” vs. 37 Luke 8:30-37 When the people saw that the demonic had been healed, initially they were stunned. They’d gotten used to dealing with his periodic outbursts, and they knew what to do in response. But as they came from their city and the surrounding countryside and saw him…