Posts from 2023 (Page 6)
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…
Daily Devotions
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” vss. 16-17 Revelation 7:13-17 There are some people who don’t particularly like the book of Revelation. They’re literalists and the beautiful metaphors and images don’t touch…
Daily Devotions
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.” vs. 9 Revelation 7:9-12 Tomorrow is Halloween, or All-Hallows Eve, the evening before All Saints Day, an annual holiday set apart by the Church to remember the dead, and traditionally a time for the lighting of candles in…
Daily Devotions
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” vs. 36 John 8:34-36 We love freedom! Nothing else gets our juices flowing like the prospect of being free! It’s been the rallying cry of nearly every revolution as the masses have risen up together against tyranny. Many can remember the joy of leaving the structured living of parental homes, and for the first time realizing that they could go where they pleased and come back whenever they…
Daily Devotions
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’” vss. 31-32 John 8:31-33 From the beginning many more people have been attracted to Jesus than have actually remained with him. It was true during his Galilean ministry, and it remains true today. The most typical example can be found in the hundreds of crusades…
Daily Devotions
For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” vs. 28 Romans 3:25-28 Paul is clear that all are made righteous by grace, the free gift of God in Christ Jesus, but he also wrote that each person is made righteous by faith, and sometimes this confuses us. We’re forever trying to remember if justification is by grace through faith or by faith through grace. It’s hard to keep it straight, and…
Daily Devotions
For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” vss. 22b-24 Romans 3:19-24 For Paul it was obvious. Since we’re all sinners no person could ever be made righteous by obedience to the law. At its best all the law can do is make us aware of our sin–so if we truly want to…
Daily Devotions
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. ’Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.’” vss. 9-10 Psalm 46:8-11 Martin Luther lived most of his life in Electoral Saxony, during some of the most tumultuous times in European history. Suleiman the Magnificent, one of the greatest Muslim conquerors, had brought his…
Daily Devotions
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” vss. 6-7 Psalm 46:1-7 As the war between Israel and Hamas continues, tensions are rising throughout the Middle East, and the ripple effect is felt throughout the world. While it is true that the conflict has been replaced by more mundane concerns in the hearts of many, leaders know that we…
Daily Devotions
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” vs. 33 Jeremiah 31:31-34 The book of Jeremiah is full of laments. The prophet was no fool and he could see that the old covenant that Israel had taken so much pride in…
Daily Devotions
Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title? ‘They answered,‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’” vss. 20-21 Matthew 22:18-22 Jesus seems to imply that some things belong to the emperor and that some things belong to God. It’s a clever answer to the question asked by the Herodian’s, and they’re puzzled about how to respond to…
Daily Devotions
Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” vs. 17 Matthew 22:15-17 Taxes have always been controversial. American colonists hated it when the English levied taxes on them, particularly since they had no representation in the parliament. In fact, when the English put a tax on the tea that was to be unloaded in the Boston Harbor, the Sons of Liberty, in the dead of night and in front of hundreds…