Posts from 2025 (Page 16)
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…
Daily Devotions
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” vss. 18-19a Isaiah 43:16-19a Isaiah knew that Israel’s past did not define its future. What had happened in the wilderness and in their captivity was simply a part of history. Obviously their God-connection would continue but from now on everything was going to be new. In fact, if they opened their…
Daily Devotions
But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” vs. 30 Luke 15:11-32 The parable of the prodigal son is one of Jesus’ best known and most loved stories. In it God is compared to a generous, long-suffering, and compassionate father, one who welcomes his wayward son with a kiss and a hug even before the boy has a chance to speak. And to celebrate the son’s return,…
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.’” Luke 15:1-2 It wasn’t that Jesus was ghosting the Pharisees and the scribes. He appreciated their devotion to the law, and periodically he’d join them for meals in their homes. We can imagine that there were some fine conversations over the fine points of scriptural interpretation. They may…
Daily Devotions
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” vs. 18 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 It gave Paul great joy to announce the good news of the new life in Christ to the Corinthians, and he delights to write about the salvation that is ours by grace. But he then moves quickly to remind his readers that this great gift of grace is also an invitation and a call to…
Daily Devotions
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” vs. 17 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 One of the basic truths of all great world religions is that the past does not define our future, and that is most certainly true of Christianity. Paul makes that very clear in his second letter to the Corinthians when he writes that in Christ, the old has passed away and everything has become…
Daily Devotions
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you.” vss. 8-9 Psalm 32:6-11 Portions of the psalms, the hymnbook of the Bible, can also be classified as wisdom literature, and are very much like passages found in the book of Proverbs.…
Daily Devotions
Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” vs. 5 Psalm 32:1-6 Because the world is both good and broken, humans have been conscious of their need for forgiveness from the beginning. And while it should be a relatively easy matter to offer an expression of remorse to the one we have offended, and then receive a…