Posts from 2022 (Page 28)
Daily Devotions
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.’” vss. 20-21b Luke 6:20-26 As Luke recounts Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain we hear echoes of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, with one major difference. In Matthew Jesus’ words are directed to souls, e.g. blessed are the poor in spirit, while in Luke they are aimed…
Daily Devotions
They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.” vs. 18 Luke 6:17-19 According to Luke there was no great mystery about the crowds that followed Jesus throughout Galilee. He was a teacher, a healer, and an exorcist, and in an age with few doctors and no hospitals, people were desperate for relief of every kind. In this instance a huge multitude gathers in a level…
The Gift of Years Retreat Open to Commuters
Want to participate in Spirit’s ‘The Gift of Years’ retreat, but sleep in your own bed? Spaces are now open to locals who prefer to commute to Carefree. Participate in the program, the meals, the yoga, the camaraderie and the fun ~ everything but the overnight sleeping ~ for only $199!
Daily Devotions
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” vs. 19 1 Corinthians 15:15-20 Some of us grew up believing that the whole point of having faith in Jesus was to insure that we would have eternal life when we die. There was great joy when, on their deathbeds, people would accept Jesus as their personal savior and receive the assurance of new life with him in heaven. When such…
Daily Devotions
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?” vs. 12 1 Corinthians 15:12-14 As part of his proclamation in the early congregations Paul regularly spoke of his personal encounter with the Risen Christ. In that transformative moment he was called to become an apostle and to stop persecuting Christians. So when he ran into believers who claimed that there was no resurrection of the dead…
Daily Devotions
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” vs. 5-6 Psalm 1 When the Pharisees that Jesus encountered made distinctions between the sinners and the righteous, and encouraged strict separation, they weren’t just making stuff up. Those ideas had been around for a long time and were even embedded in their holy scriptures.…
Daily Devotions
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.” vss. 7-8a Jeremiah 17:7-10 To emphasize the importance of trusting in the Lord Jeremiah used an amazing metaphor that is as apt for us as it was for his original hearers. He says that those whose trust is in the Lord are like trees planted by water, sending out their roots…
Daily Devotions
Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.” vs. 5 Jeremiah 17:5-6 As a prophet Jeremiah believed that he had been sent to the people with a word from the Lord, so he often prefaces his comments with the words, “Thus says the Lord!” He wants his hearers to know that he’s not just sharing his opinions about life, but that God is…
Daily Devotions
But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’…Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’” vss. 8, 10b Luke 5:6-11 As Luke tells the story, when Simon saw the magnificent catch of fish, he recognized that he was in the presence of holiness, and, like Isaiah, felt an immediate and overwhelming sense of unworthiness. Evidently…
Daily Devotions
Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’” vs. 5 Luke 5:1-5 The gospels present a couple of different scenarios to describe Simon’s introduction to Jesus. Luke was evidently aware of Mark’s brief account but chose to flesh it out with some helpful detail, e.g. we discover that Simon had let Jesus use his boat as a pulpit to address the crowd that had…
Daily Devotions
For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am…” vss. 9-10a 1 Corinthians 15:6-11 Paul still had to pinch himself when he considered his calling to be an apostle–he knew he didn’t deserve it–that he was unfit because of his prior record as a persecutor of Christians. But he had no doubt about his call, and when…
Daily Devotions
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures…” vss. 3-4 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 Paul has had a lot to say to the Corinthians and the nature of their life together. He’s told them the kinds of things that they should be focusing…