Posts by Rev. Steve Holm (Page 154)
Daily Devotions: February 28, 2019
February 28, 2019 For full passage click: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 …“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” vs. 18 Paul had come a long way from his days as a zealous Pharisee. As he reflected on the old story from Exodus where Moses had veiled his…
Daily Devotions: February 27, 2019
February 27, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 99:6-9 …“O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.” vs. 8 The psalmist had a strong appreciation for the ancient leaders of Israel; Moses, his brother Aaron, and Samuel the prophet. They were in regular communication with the Lord and often cried out to God on behalf of the people. And the Lord God answered their prayers, and sometimes there…
Daily Devotions: February 26, 2019
February 26, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 99:1-5 …“Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.” vs. 4 As homeowners, we are gratified when we are able to establish substantial equity in our property. At the very least it means that when we retire we’ll have more assets than liabilities which is generally a good thing. The psalmist uses equity in a different sense while speaking about God’s intentions. He believes…
Daily Devotions: February 25, 2019
February 25, 2019 For full passage click: Exodus 34:29-35 …“Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” vs. 29 As the Israelites sorted through the traditions of their ancestors, they were particularly drawn to the Moses narratives, the stories told about the great leader who had liberated…
Daily Devotions: February 24, 2019
February 24, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 6:32-38 …“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” vss. 35-36 Sometimes we wonder why Christians behave so despicably in light of our Lord’s clear and unmistakable instructions about how to live in the world. It’s…
Daily Devotions: February 23, 2019
February 23, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 6:27-31 …“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you… Do to others as you would have them do to you.” vs. 27, 31 In Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, Jesus gives his followers their marching orders in words that we regularly quote but seldom take to heart. It’s just too hard to love enemies and practice the golden rule. It flies in the…
Daily Devotions: February 22, 2019
February 22, 2019 For full passage click: 1 Corinthians 15:42-50 …“What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” vs. 50 Paul sums up his teaching on resurrection by saying that our physical bodies do not inherit the kingdom of God, a notion that can be disconcerting to those who believe that heaven is populated by people doing eternally the things that brought…
Daily Devotions: February 21, 2019
February 21, 2019 For full passage click: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38 …“And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.” vss. 37-38 The Corinthians had many questions about resurrection for Paul, and sometimes he gets a little testy in his answers. He thinks…
Daily Devotions: February 20, 2019
February 20, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 37:39-40 …“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble.” vs. 39 The psalmist believed that the world contained both wicked and righteous people and it was pretty easy to tell the difference between the two. Most of us have made similar observations. Even though we have theological reasons for saying that all are sinners, in our hearts we agree with the…
Daily Devotions: February 19, 2019
February 19, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 37:1-11 …“Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil.” vss. 7-8 The psalmist speaks from experience. He’s likely had a lifetime of walking in the way of the Lord and he’s learned some things about the journey. As we overhear…
Daily Devotions: February 18, 2019
February 18, 2019 For full passage click: Genesis 43:3-11, 15 …“I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.” vs. 9 Judah and his brothers had contrived to sell their father’s favorite son, Joseph, into slavery. The story of Joseph’s rise to a position of prominence in Egypt is well-known, as is…
Daily Devotions: February 17, 2019
February 17, 2019 To read full passage click: Luke 6:24-26 …“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” vs. 24 A series of warnings immediately following a list of blessings is not unusual in the Hebrew scriptures. The prophets used that tactic regularly in delivering their oracles. But Luke is the only gospel that has Jesus using this method. In his Sermon on the Plain, Jesus follows his favorable assessment of the poor with cutting…