Posts from November 2023 (Page 3)
Daily Devotions
Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light; as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear…” vss. 18-19a Amos 5:18-20 When Amos came out of the south and into the prosperous north with a word from the Lord, he wasn’t going to a people who were unfamiliar with the traditions of Israel. There were religious leaders and active worship…
Daily Devotions
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” vs. 10 Matthew 5:7-12 Jesus has already mentioned that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness sake will be blessed, but sometimes we forget just who those folks are. It’s the word righteousness that throws us off. We generally think of that in moralistic terms, but really these are the people who yearn for justice. They want the poor to be lifted up, they…
Daily Devotions
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” vs. 3 Matthew 5:1-6 On this All Saints Sunday we’ll be remembering in a formal way all those we’ve been thinking about this week. Many of those loved departed ones will be mentioned during prayers–sometimes their names will be printed in the bulletin or appear on a screen. They are the saints of our hearts, and not necessarily of the stained glass variety. Of course some of…
Daily Devotions
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” vs. 2 1 John 3:2-3 John leaves room for mystery in our future. We don’t yet know what we one day will be, but what we do know is that right now, today, we are God’s beloved children. For most that will…
Daily Devotions
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” vs. 1a 1 John 3:1 We regularly hear that we are children of God, and for some that’s really old news. It’s old hat, something we take for granted. But for John, the epistle writer, it was spectacular, the supreme example of God’s abundant love. We can suspect that it meant so much to him because, in one…
Daily Devotions
O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. O fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want.” vss. 8-9 Psalm 34:1-10, 22 Today is All Saints Day, the festival set aside for remembering those who have moved from this life to the next, the ones who are said to rest from their labors. We all have memories of such persons, and sometimes our thoughts…