Posts from 2026
Daily Devotions
Matthew 10:40-41…“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” vs. 40 In Matthew’s account Jesus’ instructions to the disciples that he sent out in mission are lengthy and precise. He emphasizes the cost of discipleship and lets them know that there will be difficult sacrifices, but he ends his little sermon with some words of reassurance and hope. As insignificant as they may feel, they have an important role, and whoever welcomes them…
Daily Devotions
Romans 6:17-23…“For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.” vs. 19b Paul tells the Romans that their choice isn’t between being a slave and being free. Not at all! The choice is between being a slave to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, or being a slave to righteousness for sanctification. No matter which way we turn, we’re…
Daily Devotions
Romans 6:12-16…“No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.” vs. 132 As we live in this good and broken world, we will have daily encounters with brokenness, both in ourselves and in the world around us. Paul describes that brokenness as sin, a cancer that infects the whole creation, and says that…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 89:15-18…“Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your countenance; they exult in your name all day long, and extol your righteousness.” vss. 15-16 Every year there are surveys of people living all around the world to determine which country is the happiest. While the results vary, the Nordic countries generally rank in the top two or three. And when the ratings come out social scientists attempt to give some…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 89:1-4…“I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens. “ vs. 2 In this world of social media influencers and ubiquitous YouTube channels we can find thousands of conflicting testimonies about the nature of God and God’s relationship to humanity. Occasionally what we see and hear in these videos sounds vaguely scriptural, like it could even conceivably be true. But most of the time the information is bogus, a kind of…
Daily Devotions
Jeremiah 28:5-9…“As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.” vs. 9 There were other prophets in Jerusalem at the time of Jeremiah, all claiming to have a word from the Lord for the people. One of them, Hananiah proclaimed that within two years the yoke of Babylon would be broken and the exiles and the temple treasures would return to…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 10:32-39…“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” vss. 37a, 38 Our country has set aside this day, the 21st of June, as Father’s Day, a time for families to formally acknowledge appreciation for “dear old dad,” perhaps with a gift, or at least a card, sometimes even one with a mushy note. If by chance worship is…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 10:24-31…“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father…So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” vss. 29-31 When Jesus sent out the newly chosen disciples to expand his mission in Galilee he didn’t pull any punches.. The religious leaders had been hostile to him and he rightly anticipated that they wouldn’t be any kinder to the Twelve. To comfort them…
Daily Devotions
Romans 6: 5-11…“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” vs. 11 Sometimes Paul comes across as a hectoring and scolding parent in his letters to the early believers in their little house churches. Like some pastors, he can turn the good news of the gospel into some new impossible commandment. We might even wonder why he makes the plain truth seem so complicated. But as he gives vent to his passions…
Daily Devotions
Romans 6:1b-4…“Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” vs. 4 Paul had all the details worked out. He could explain what happened in Jesus from a theological perspective and it all made sense to him. Jesus had died and had been raised from the dead; in baptism we are buried with…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 69:16-18…“Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.” vs. 17 This psalmist seems to have run out of patience with the Lord. His passion for the temple has gotten him a boatload of enemies, and they never tire of tormenting him. Through it all the psalmist has continued to trust in the Lord as a source of mercy and steadfast love! But at this moment he’s just not feeling it!…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 69:7-10…“It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” vs. 9 In the Gospel of John Jesus begins his ministry by cleansing the temple, and John writes that his disciples remembered this verse from Psalm 69 as they watched him chase out the sheep and cattle while overturning the tables of the moneychangers. His zeal had taken control of him, maybe even replacing his good judgment. He…