Posts from September 2025 (Page 2)
Daily Devotions
Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.” vs. 1 Psalm 113:1-4 Occasionally believers who are members of what are known as liturgical churches will find themselves at a “praise” service in a non-denominational congregation. While some will enjoy the experience, there are others who are quite dismayed by the non-traditional setting. They don’t like standing up and singing multiple praise songs and chorus to begin the worship. Often there is a band…
Daily Devotions
Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances,” vss. 4, 5a, c Amos 8:3-7 While little is said in the book of Second Kings about the reign of Israel’s king, Jeroboam II, it is noted that he reigned for 41 years…
Daily Devotions
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’” vs. 6 Luke 15:3-10 Because the parable of the lost sheep is so familiar we sometimes don’t even question the lunacy of the shepherd. Even in those pastoral times it’s doubtful that any shepherd would leave ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness and then go searching for one who had gone missing. It doesn’t…
Daily Devotions
Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” vss. 1-2 Luke 15:1-2 The message that Jesus was proclaiming was of particular interest to the broken and the hurting, and when he came to the villages, those folks came out in large numbers to listen to him. He told them stories of a loving and merciful God and…
Daily Devotions
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.” vs. 15 1 Timothy 1:15-17 One of the ways that we can tell a saint from a hypocrite is that the saint will make no pretense of being anything but a sinner. If we marvel at the words of St. Paul about his own miserable and broken life, our jaws will drop wide open when we…
Daily Devotions
I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence.” vss. 12-13a 1 Timothy 1:12-14 Because the Pastoral Epistles (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) differ in both style and substance from other Pauline letters, some have presumed that they come from an anonymous hand later in the first century. While it’s impossible…
Daily Devotions
And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.” vs. 14 Exodus 32:11-14 According to this story recounted in Exodus, Moses was able to convince the Lord to change his mind and abandon his plan to destroy the Hebrews at Mount Sinai. All it took was a reminder that such an action would diminish the Lord’s reputation among the Egyptians. People have wondered about these verses through the centuries. Is it true…
Daily Devotions
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.” vs. 1 Psalm 51:1-10 As the various psalms were collected and made available for temple and liturgical use, Psalm 51 became known as a psalm of David, and it’s not hard to understand why. The scriptural accounts of David’s life paint a picture of a man with powerful passions. Not only did he lead the rebellion against King Saul, Israel’s…
Daily Devotions
they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it” vs. 8 Exodus 32:7-10 We’re perhaps familiar with Go Down Moses, a song sung by slaves in the Deep South comparing their slavery to that of the Hebrew people in Egypt. It was a powerful anthem and was banned by slaveowners on their plantations, before becoming a rallying…
Daily Devotions
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?” vs. 28 Luke 14:28-33 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the martyred German theologian, published a book called The Cost of Discipleship in 1937, and following his death it became perhaps the best known of his writings. In his estimation the gospel had been undermined by what he called “cheap grace,” which he defined as the preaching…
Daily Devotions
Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” vs. 26 Luke 14:25-33 There are times when reading gospels can be confusing. It seems strange for instance that Jesus would tell his disciples that following him would mean they would have to hate their biological families. We can only begin to understand when we realize that he’s talking about the cost of discipleship.…
Daily Devotions
So, if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.” vss. 17-18 Philemon 17-24 What a gift this letter is for us! It’s likely the only piece of personal correspondence to make it into scripture, and its inclusion gives us a glimpse of Paul’s everyday life. He has grown to love Onesimus and considers him a brother in Christ,…