Posts from 2022 (Page 17)
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…
Daily Devotions
As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.” vs. 27 Luke 8:26-31 Many of the homeless who can be seen in the streets of our cities suffer with various forms of mental illness. Some find refuge in shelters but many simply wander, looking for food and begging, and often being a…
Daily Devotions
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” vs. 29 Galatians 3:27-29 Guided by the Spirit, Paul had developed a magnificent vision of unity in the Church that aligned perfectly with the desires of Jesus for his followers. He knew that the congregations of Galatia were a mixture of Jews and Greeks, slave and free, and men and…
Daily Devotions
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.” vs. 23 Galatians 3:23-26 Looking back, Paul now sees that his life before Christ, under the law, was like a rigid imprisonment. Strict adherence to the commandments and the ordinances kept him on the straight and narrow, but at a cost. He never experienced the freedom that comes with faith and grace. In this letter to the Galatians, he explores that new life…
Daily Devotions
For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.” vs. 24 Psalm 22:19-28 While being a follower of Jesus includes being a part of a community, most of us probably relate to God from the perspective of an individual. We might have a sense of what is going on for others, rejoicing and grieving with them in our life together, but we…
Daily Devotions
Thus says the Lord: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all.” Isaiah 65:8-9 As the prophet considered the nation’s behavior following their return from Babylon, he was stunned at the way they rejected the Lord and adopted pagan practices. If he had been their God he would have washed his hands of…