Posts from August 2023 (Page 2)
Daily Devotions
But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’” vs 23 Matthew 15:21-24 For the most part Jesus stayed away from the Canaanites, the original inhabitants of the land. He was a Jew, and the Jews considered these pagan persons to be unclean. He did the bulk of his teaching and healing in towns and villages that were exclusively Jewish. These were the people…
Daily Devotions
For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.” vs. 32 Romans 11:29-32 Paul knew that the Jews and Gentiles had nothing in common on the basis of their heritage or religious background. But what they did have in common was disobedience. All people are created good and are in the image of God, and all people are broken. To put it bluntly, all people are sinners! That’s what we have in common with…
Daily Devotions
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.” vs. 1 Romans 11:1-2a Paul knew his heritage and was proud of it – he could name his ancestors in a heartbeat. Some of us know what that is like. We proudly fly the national flags of our ancestors, and have spent years tracing our lineage back for hundreds of years. We gorge…
Daily Devotions
The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us. May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.” vss. 6-7 Psalm 67:4-7 The psalmist is right! God has indeed blessed humanity with this incredible planet. Even though it had been around for billions of years before we arrived, it has been a garden of delights for humans and we have been blessed as our species has spread throughout the globe. We’ve…
Daily Devotions
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.” vss. 1-2 Psalm 67:1-3 The psalmist hoped that when other nations saw how God had graciously blessed Israel they too would come to know the Lord as a source of saving power. These words remind us of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light so…
Daily Devotions
for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.” vss. 7b-8 Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 As the prophet revisited God’s plans for Israel after the return from exile in Babylon, he realized that the old exclusive vision had to be revamped. Israel’s God had been too small. Now the prophet looked toward a new Israel that…
Daily Devotions
Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.” vss. 28-29 Matthew 14:27-33 One of our favorite tricks as believers is to test the reality of Jesus by asking to be able to do something we’ve never done before. Now sometimes when we ask such things, we’re amazed to discover that we are…
Daily Devotions
And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear.” vss. 25-26 Matthew 14:22-26 This story of Jesus walking on the sea is both well-known and mystifying to believers. Thomas Jefferson found it unhelpful for the rational mind and did not include it in his cut-and-paste version of the New Testament. That inclination…
Daily Devotions
But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” vs. 14 Romans 10:12-15 Paul believed with all his heart in universal salvation, that there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles, and that God’s love extends to all. But he also feared that until people believed this, they would not…
Daily Devotions
because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” vs. 9 Romans 10:5-11 Paul taught that the righteousness of God comes as a gift through faith, and not through obedience to the law. To make this clear, he describes the content of faith as confession of Jesus as Lord and belief in the resurrection. Those who have faith, as thus defined, will…
Daily Devotions
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.” vs. 8 Psalm 85:8-13 All of the prophets felt a call to bring the word of the Lord to the people of Israel and Judah. Most of the time it came as a warning of impending doom if idolatrous behavior didn’t come to an end. Again and again the prophet would…
Daily Devotions
and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.” vss. 12-13a 1 Kings 19:11-21 Huddled in his cave, Elijah waited for the Lord to make an appearance. First came a great wind, then an earthquake, and finally a great fire, but the Lord was…