Posts from May 2026
Daily Devotions
1 Corinthians 12:3b-11…“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” vs. 7 Paul’s words to the Corinthians undermine one of the basic assumptions of contemporary Christianity, namely, that we engage in spiritual practices for the sake of strengthening our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That sounds good and it speaks to our love of individualism as a national creed. But it wasn’t Paul’s vision of the Church. His phrase “for the common good” implies that…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b…“O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures…When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” vss. 24, 30 The psalmist couldn’t contain himself! He was full of praise and exultation. Everywhere he looked he saw the hand of God. God was the creator and the sustainer of the universe and everything that it contains. There couldn’t…
Daily Devotions
Acts 2:14-21…“In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” vs. 17 Luke understood the Day of Pentecost as being a great Spirit-filled revival with Peter as the principle preacher. Peter, in addressing this diverse crowd of Jews, used a passage from the prophet Joel to describe what…
Daily Devotions
Acts 2:1-13…“All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’” vss. 12-13 For sheer dramatic effect there is probably no event more compelling than Luke’s account of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Think of it! There had been a gathering of Jews from around the Diaspora for the annual festival of Shavuot or Feast of Weeks and suddenly Galileans, the followers of…
Daily Devotions
John 17:6-11…“And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” vs. 11 For the people of Norway this is Syttende Mai or Constitution Day, their national day of celebration. It’s a big day, the Norwegian equivalent of the Fourth of July, and many Americans of Norwegian…
Daily Devotions
John 17:1-5…“I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.” vs. 4 In John’s gospel, Jesus concludes his ministry by gathering his disciples in an upper room for final instructions and a closing prayer. In that prayer he indicates deep satisfaction with the way his life has unfolded. He believed that he had successfully concluded all the work that he had been given to do. That conviction is borne out the next day by…
Daily Devotions
1 Peter 5:6-11…”Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.” vs. 8 We can’t be sure if the disciple Peter was really the person who wrote the epistle bearing his name. But if it was, he certainly knew what he was talking about. He probably never forgot the day in Galilee, when Jesus, just after calling him the Rock, humbled him in front of his peers by saying, “Get…
Daily Devotions
1 Peter 4:12-14…“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” It’s good for us to get a glimpse of what life was like for Christians in the beginning years of the Church. While they were fired up by the good news of the gospel there were also fiery ordeals for them to endure. Peter refers to those occasions as being times of…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 68:32-35…“Awesome is God in his sanctuary, the God of Israel; he gives power and strength to his people.” vs. 35 In our enthusiasm we are likely to describe most any sort of experience, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, as being “awesome.” But sometimes we use it so frequently that its impact gets watered down. After all, the more things we add to the “awesome” category, the less awesome any of them become. For the psalmist however, it’s…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 68:1-10…But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy. Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds—his name is the LORD— be exultant before him vss. 3-4 There is a contemporary popular worship song by Robin Mark called “Days of Elijah.” The chorus has an upbeat tempo and its lyrics could well have been written by this psalmist: “Behold he…
Daily Devotions
Acts 1:6-14…“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” vs. 8 The disciples were hoping for a quick fix after the resurrection. Not having a clue about what lay ahead they were still looking backward and thinking that now might be the time when the fabled Kingdom of Israel might be restored. But the resurrected…
Daily Devotions
John 14:18-21…“They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” vs. 21 At first this may seem like a tough standard. Jesus says those that love him are those who have his commandments and keep them, and we immediately question just what those commandments are. It turns out he isn’t talking about the Ten Commandments,…
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