Posts by Rev. Steve Holm (Page 164)
Daily Devotions: November 10, 2018
November 10, 2018 Mark 12:38-40 …“They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” vs. 40 Jesus had little regard for the scribes, the legal experts of his day. They were attentive to the details of the written law and the appearances of religion but their hearts were far from God. For them, prayers and rituals were simply a way to win favor with people and reinforce their position in…
Daily Devotions: November 9, 2018
November 9, 2018 Hebrews 9:24-28 …“And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” vss. 27-28 Many early Christians were steeped in the imagery of the sacrificial system and used that language to describe what had happened in Jesus. As the…
Daily Devotions: November 8, 2018
November 8, 2018 Psalm 146:6-10 …“The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.” vs. 9 The psalmist expresses his convictions and those of his faith community with a bold assertion, “Happy are those…whose hope is in the Lord their God!” His words have particular relevance for us in this age of political turmoil, ambiguous faith commitments, and rampant materialism. He implies that only God can…
Daily Devotions: November 7, 2018
November 7, 2018 Psalm 146:1-4 …“Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.” vss. 3-4 Well, the election is over and most people are breathing a sigh of relief and hoping that there will at least be some respite from the ugly campaigning that has been fragmenting our country. Some are happy–their people and party have won…
Daily Devotions: November 6, 2018
November 6, 2018 1 Kings 17:13-16 …“She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days.” vs. 15 It’s easy to say, “Don’t worry, God will provide,” but it’s a lot harder to live that way. We all know that sometimes people in our world starve to death. Sometimes people fall into bankruptcy and never recover. That’s just the way it is. So, while we may have some degree…
Daily Devotions: November 5, 2018
November 5, 2018 1 Kings 17:6-12 …“As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, ‘Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.’” The people of Israel had a whole series of Elijah stories that they told and then preserved in writing. They wanted their descendants to know about this incredible prophet who dared to speak truth to power in the days of Ahab and Jezebel. In one of those stories, Elijah goes to a…
Daily Devotions: November 4, 2018
November 4, 2018 John 11: 38-40 …“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’” Martha had already established that she was a believer. She knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, but she also had solid credentials as a skeptic. When they got to the tomb, she makes sure that Jesus knows that her brother was really dead, that he’d been in the tomb for…
Daily Devotions: November 3, 2018
November 3, 2018 John 11:32-37 …“But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’” vs. 37 When dread disease comes to someone in our network of acquaintances, out of love and concern, we offer prayers for the miracle of healing. And sometimes there is a cure and the joy is intense. But other times, too often it seems, there isn’t a healing. We all know what that…
Daily Devotions: November 2, 2018
November 2, 2018 Revelations 21:4-6a …“he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” vs. 4 We all know people who have, for one reason or another, absorbed more than their share of pain and sorrow in the course of their lives. Marriages fail, illness stalks, families disappoint, and one sad day is followed by another. And sometimes all this…
Daily Devotions: November 1, 2018
November 1, 2018 Revelation 21:1-3 …“And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” vs. 2 The book of Revelation speaks to the imagination of our hearts with its vivid pictures and symbols of the time to come. Never intended to be taken literally, it describes the ultimate victory of God over all the forces of sin, and promises that one day God’s kingdom will…
Daily Devotions: October 31, 2018
October 31, 2018 Psalm 24:7-10 …“Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in.” vs. 7 Those responsible for temple rituals in Jerusalem developed liturgies that could be used for special occasions and festivals. Fragments of those liturgies can be found in the psalms. They provide us windows into the worship practices of our ancestral faith community. Psalm 24 describes a kind of entrance ritual that involved a…
Daily Devotions: October 30, 2018
October 30, 2018 Psalm 24:1-6 …“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.” vss. 3-4 Election day is fast approaching and for some of us it can’t get here soon enough! We are so tired of the endless litany of accusations being tossed back and forth by rival…