Posts by Rev. Steve Holm
Daily Devotions
Psalm 80:12-15…“Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.” vss. 12-13 After Martin Luther had published the 95 Theses in Wittenberg in October of 1517, a firestorm erupted all across Europe. There were scholarly debates and conferences as various scholars weighed in and attempted to refute Luther’s teachings. Rome was aware of…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 80:7-11..“You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.” vss. 8-9 The psalmist seems to be aware of the vineyard parable used by the prophets to describe the chosen people and doesn’t hesitate to use that same imagery in his prayer for the restoration of Israel. It is a powerful metaphor. Grapevines covered the slopes of the mountains in…
Daily Devotions
Isaiah 5:1-7.. “Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.” vs. 1 Isaiah imagines the Lord singing a love-song for the nation of Israel and it’s rather like a country western. It starts with an image of a vineyard, one planted with care on a very fertile hill, but the refrain turns dark in a hurry, “when I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 21:28-31.. “Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.’” vs. 31 When he was challenged by the chief priests and the elders in the temple Jesus told them a little parable about a father who asked his two sons to go work in the vineyard. One says that he will…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 21:23-32.. “When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’” vs. 23 In general the people who heard Jesus teach in the course of his ministry didn’t question his authority. He didn’t belong to any particular school of thought or claim to follow some famous rabbi. He spoke from the heart…
Daily Devotions
Philippians 2:5-13.. “Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” vs. 12 Paul concludes this section with what seems at first to be an ominous imperative, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Some might even infer from these words that the whole matter of our salvation is up for grabs, that it depends not…
Daily Devotions
Philippians 2:1-4… “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” vss. 3-4 Because we tend to focus on the theological writings of Paul in our scriptures we don’t appreciate the vision that he had for our life together as the followers of Jesus. These words to his friends in the congregation at Philippi, are beyond inspiring.…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 25:1-9… “Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” vss. 8-9 The psalmist has nothing but praise for the Lord. God is good, the epitome of loving kindness, and wants nothing more than for sinners to learn the way and walk on the path of righteousness. In other words, we are accompanied in our brokenness by the Lord, and not…
Daily Devotions
Ezekiel 18:25-32… “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin.” vs. 30 The prophet was speaking to the house of Israel, the nation that had come out of the wilderness and settled in the land of Canaan. What they were doing as individuals was not his primary concern. When he calls them to repentance he…
Daily Devotions
Ezekiel 18:1-4… “Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.” vs. 4 The prophet quoted a proverb that was common in Israel, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” The proverb was a way to understand why bad things were happening in a person’s life, and it reflects a view…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 20:10-16… “But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you.’” vss. 13-14 The laborers in the vineyard had not been treated unfairly. The owner had paid them the usual daily wage, exactly what had been agreed upon when they started working. They…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 20:1-9… “When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.” vss. 3-4 There really aren’t any words that are adequate to describe the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus doesn’t even try. Instead he tells parables, stories that paint a picture of what life in the kingdom is like. He’s not talking…