Posts from 2022 (Page 23)
Daily Devotions
Maundy Thursday For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you… If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” vss. 15, 17 John 13:1-17, 31b-34 According to John, Jesus used his last evening with his disciples to demonstrate how they ought to live. Since he had washed their feet they were to wash one another’s feet, not just in a literal sense, but by adopting the role…
Daily Devotions
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us…” vs. 1 Hebrews 12:1-3 Whenever calamity strikes our world, whether in the form of earthquake, fire, storm, or vicious military takeovers, we are at first numbed by the pictures and stories that emerge from the disaster. There is so much unnecessary…
Daily Devotions
Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.” vs. 9 Psalm 71:1-14 Some things never change! Even in the time of the psalmist, more than 2500 years ago, people had a fear of growing old. That fear stems not so much from the aches, pains, and muscle weakness that comes from aging, but the alienation and loneliness that can be almost more than our spirits can bear. Physical…
Daily Devotions
He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” vss. 2-3 Isaiah 42:1-9 It’s likely that the Servant spoken of in these chapters of Isaiah is a personification of the nation of Israel, the chosen people of God, the ones in whom the Spirit would work to bring light and justice…
Daily Devotions
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” vss. 44-45 Luke 23:32-49 In the prologue to his gospel John wrote, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Believers have found great comfort in this verse through the centuries, and we’re quick to recall it when times get tough and we’re…
Daily Devotions
But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed.” vs. 23 Luke 23;13-30 According to Luke, Pilate had conducted some sort of judicial examination of Jesus and had found no reason to keep him imprisoned–he was not guilty of the charges against him. But that made no difference to the crowd–they had been convinced by the lies of the religious leaders and demanded that Jesus be crucified. That’s still how it is…
Daily Devotions
They began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.’” vs. 2 Luke 23:1-12 The accusations against Jesus were baseless and contrived, and they were made by the chief religious authorities of the Jewish people in order to get the backing of the Roman governor. And they knew the charges were false–they had made them up to get rid…
Daily Devotions
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” vss. 5-7a Philippians 2:4-11 In the first creation narrative of Genesis the writer noted that humans were created in the image and likeness of God–they were wired through their DNA to be connected to…
Daily Devotions
For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.” vs. 10 Psalm 31:9-16 We don’t know what was going on with the psalmist, he doesn’t give any details about whatever it was that had been tormenting him. We can only imagine–and make some guesses based on our own periods of dismal existence as we’ve made our way from spring to winter in the course of…
Daily Devotions
The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens—wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.” vs. 4 Isaiah 50:4-9a According to Luke, after Jesus entered Jerusalem he went directly to the temple and raised a ruckus with the money-changers. He then spent his days in the temple precincts teaching the people and debating with the scribes and Pharisees.…
Daily Devotions
As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen…” vs. 37 Luke 19:28-40 It was a long trek for pilgrims to make their way from Galilee to Jerusalem, and the last leg from Jericho (far below sea level) to the Mount of Olives involves a 3500 foot change in elevation in…
Daily Devotions
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” vs. 8 John 12:4-8 Judas had weighed in on Mary’s extravagance by cynically suggesting that it would have been better to sell the perfume and give the money to the poor. But Jesus doesn’t bite. Instead he suggests that the poor will always be hanging around, but that his own time is limited. Ironically his words are often repeated by people who see no point in…