Posts from August 2024
Daily Devotions
Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.” vss. 12-13 Proverbs 9:4-6 Some psalms had their origins in the Wisdom Literature of Israel and leaders used them in worship to teach people particular insights about how to live. This psalmist says that the way we use our mouths is the key to a long and fruitful life, that in fact, all happiness depends upon our…
Daily Devotions
To those without sense she says, ‘Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.’” vss. 4-6 Proverbs 9:4-6 Every generation professes concern for succeeding generations, frequently castigating the young for their senseless and immature behaviors, even though we all know that foolishness is not the exclusive domain of that sector of the population. Folks of every age are susceptible to outrageous and childish…
Daily Devotions
Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table.” vss. 1-2 Proverbs 9:1-3 Many are familiar with the ode to the capable wife that is found in Proverbs 31 but some don’t like it very much. They claim that it perpetuates a patriarchal attitude toward women. That may be true, but it’s also true that Proverbs also implies that the source of…
Daily Devotions
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” vs. 51 Ephesians 4:25-29 There are a number of passages in scripture that tell stories about miraculous feedings. Obviously there was the experience of the Israelites with manna in the wilderness, and everyone knows about the feeding of the 5000 at the hands of Jesus. But…
Daily Devotions
They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”’?” vs. 42 Ephesians 4:25-29 The religious folks were having a tough time with Jesus. He’d come from Nazareth where he was known as the son of Joseph–his mother was Mary, a good woman who everyone knew. And now he was claiming to be the Bread of Heaven?! They just couldn’t buy it!…
Daily Devotions
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” vss. 1-2 Proverbs 9:1-3 Those who wonder how they shall relate to others in these cantankerous times have an abundance of guidance from scripture. These words from Ephesians capture perfectly the actions and attitudes that will govern our words and behavior. Paul says, “Be imitators of God…and live in love, as Christ…
Daily Devotions
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.” vs. 29 Ephesians 4:25-29 During the election cycle it’s interesting to see how many politicians clamber to paint themselves with a Christian veneer. They make campaign speeches from the pulpits of churches, talk about their love for the bible, and claim that by their policies they will return…
Daily Devotions
We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.” vs. 14 Ephesians 4:11-16 Paul didn’t know a thing about social media or political campaigns, but he was very aware of the ways people could be manipulated by crafty and deceitful arguments. The little congregations that he had started were rife with rumors and doctrinal disagreements, and always there were those who took…
Daily Devotions
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love…” vss. 1-2 Ephesians 4:1-10 Sometimes, when we break out of the protective cocoons we build for ourselves in the course of our lives, the comfortable neighborhoods and the predictable friends, we discover that there is a whole myriad of ways in which it’s possible…