Posts from April 2025 (Page 3)
Daily Devotions
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” vs. 8 John 12:4-8 Jesus was of course right. We always have the poor with us, and as even Judas understood, we have a responsibility to use our resources to lift them out of poverty and enable them to experience the material blessings of life in this world. Many believers have been faithful to that ministry of caring and are currently supporting relief and charity work…
Daily Devotions
Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” vs. 3 John 12:1-3 John, after telling how Lazarus received new life at the hands of Jesus, goes on to share a story about Mary and Martha that reminds us of Luke’s story of the sisters. Again, Martha is the one given to serving, and she takes charge of the…
Daily Devotions
Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” vss. 13-14 Philippians 3:9-14 Paul knew that the best was yet to come and he was determined to press forward in the Way of Christ Jesus. He uses some sports talk to illustrate…
Daily Devotions
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” vss. 7-8a Philippians 3:4b-8 Sometimes it’s interesting to look back at our lives from time to time, and if we look way back most of us can point to some achievements along the way. There may have been academic excellence or athletic awards, maybe even…
Daily Devotions
Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.” vs. 6 Psalm 126 We don’t know what was going on for the people of Israel, but the psalmist tells us that tears were flowing freely. It might have been some personal illness or tragedy or more likely some communal disaster, but prayers were being offered for restoration. The Lord had heard their pleas in the past and there were…
Daily Devotions
The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people…” vs. 20 Isaiah 43:19b-21 The Israelites lived in a land where the seasonal rains were crucial for their survival. Twice a year the heavens would open and the land would be watered and crops could be planted and harvested. But it wasn’t only the people who needed the rains – animals…