Posts from January 2023
Daily Devotions
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house…?” vss. 6-7a Isaiah 58:5-9a In the last couple of weeks, authorities have been conducting homeless counts. Volunteers scatter across the Valley and seek out the people living in the streets,…
Daily Devotions
‘Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’ Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.” vs. 3 Isaiah 58:1-5 The prophet lived among people who had carefully preserved all the trappings of religiosity. They worshiped regularly and kept all of the prescribed fasts. Their external piety was beyond approach–yet God remained remote to them. So the prophet tells them in no uncertain terms…
Daily Devotions
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” vs. 11 Matthew 5:7-12 Most servants of Jesus have the expectation that they will be appreciated and loved as they walk in his way, especially if they treat others with kindness and maintain a spirit of humility in their interactions. So they wonder why he implied in this Beatitude that at least some of his followers would be…
Daily Devotions
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” vs. 3 Matthew 5:1-6 When Jesus looked over the motley crew he’d gathered as disciples during his first weeks of ministry, he knew he didn’t have the cream of the crop. He begins his teaching by describing them as poor in spirit. Not only had they been gathered from the lower classes of their society, they likely weren’t known for their spiritual riches either. They may have…
Daily Devotions
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.” vs. 17 1 Corinthians 1:14-18 Pastors who can preach with eloquence are highly prized in our congregations, and if they can throw in a dash of humor they are exalted. The best of them have their sermons live-streamed into multiple settings so that even more folks can be enthralled…
Daily Devotions
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” vs. 10 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 The news that Paul had gotten from Corinth after his departure was disheartening. Because members of the congregation had come from different cities and had come to faith through the influence…
Daily Devotions
O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart…” vss. 1-2 Psalm 15 In the psalmist’s world, there were standards that went beyond mere obedience to the law. Certainly the Torah was honored and people tried to live according to its precepts, but such behaviors didn’t even come close to what was expected of God’s holy people. It…
Daily Devotions
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” vs. 8 Micah 6:6-8 Sometimes folks act as though they’re confused about how they ought to live out their lives on this blue orb. On one hand this is understandable. There are a bunch of options out there, and it’s not always easy to choose among them. But…
Daily Devotions
O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!” vs. 3 Micah 6:1-5 The prophet Micah was very aware that Israel had not been acting in a way that was pleasing to the Lord. In this passage he imagines the Lord taking the controversy to the mountains and, in a court-like setting, presenting the case. In Micah’s vision the Lord sounds like a parent scolding beloved children. Some of us recognize the…
Daily Devotions
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.” vs. 23 Matthew 4:18-23 According to Matthew, John the Baptizer was like a one-trick pony. He preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and people came to him at the Jordan River. Jesus, on the other hand, called ordinary people as disciples and then led them through Galilee as he preached,…
Daily Devotions
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee… From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” vss. 12, 17 Matthew 4:12-17 After John had been arrested, Jesus returned to the area where he had grown up to begin his active ministry. At first his message of repentance seems to be an extension of what John had been saying, and that’s not surprising. In any age, those who…
Daily Devotions
He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” vs. 30 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Paul sensed that one of the problems in the Corinthian congregation was that some of the people had begun to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. He reminds them that when they were called to become believers they were all nobodies, and none of them was in any…