Posts by Rev. Steve Holm (Page 178)
Daily Devotions: May 26, 2018
May 26, 2018 John 3:1-10…“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” vs. 8 Nicodemus was a seeker and he sought out Jesus by night to get insights about the Kingdom of God. He was hoping for some clarifying word of wisdom, but, instead hears confusing words about being born of…
Daily Devotions: May 25, 2018
May 25, 2018 Romans 8:12-17…“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” vs. 14 Paul believed that the Holy Spirit played a decisive role in the lives of those who wished to become followers of Jesus. It was by the Spirit that they would be transformed and made holy. Not only would they have faith, their entire lives would be different. Instead of having a narrow and small existence, they would produce bountiful fruits…
Daily Devotions: May 24, 2018
May 24, 2018 Psalm 29:8-15…May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!” vs. 11 The psalmist closes his hymn of praise to the majesty of the Lord with a special blessing for God’s people, namely that they be given strength and peace for daily living. Many centuries have passed since he prayed those words for the gathered community in Jerusalem, but they’re still remarkably fitting. Life–even at its best–is fraught with challenges…
Daily Devotions: May 23, 2018
May 23, 2018 Psalm 29:1-7…“Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.” vs. 1 The psalmist didn’t have to tread carefully in his hymns of praise to God. He didn’t have people with a scientific bent parsing his words and looking for inadequate and primitive descriptions of the Lord. His God was as big as he could imagine and he didn’t hesitate to use his imagination in describing God’s glory and strength. For him,…
Daily Devotions: May 22, 2018
May 22, 2018 Isaiah 6:6-8…“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’” vs. 8 When Isaiah felt the guilt erased and the burden of his sin removed, he was like an eager child waving his arm in the air even before the teacher’s question came. “I’ll do it! I’ll do it! Send me! Send me!” If he had any apprehension about…
Daily Devotions: May 21, 2018
May 21, 2018 Isaiah 6:1-5…“And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’” vs. 5 Isaiah’s vision of heaven was overwhelming, and at the center of it all was the Lord sitting on a throne with six-winged seraphs singing praises. The ground shook at their voices, the whole temple was filled with…
Daily Devotions: May 20, 2018
May 20, 2018 John 16:7-15…“Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” vs. 7 If the disciples’ fervent prayers had been granted and Jesus would have been able to escape the cross, return to Galilee, and continue his teaching and healing ministry, we would never have heard of him.…
Daily Devotions: May 19, 2018
May 19, 2018 John 15:26-27, 16:4b-6…“You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.” vs. 27 After Jesus had departed from this earth, it’s likely that the disciples were regularly questioned about his life and ministry. And, as Jesus had predicted, they had opportunity to testify about what he had said and done. It’s unlikely that any of them had been taking notes so they were forced to rely on their memory; and since they’re…
Daily Devotions: May 18, 2018
May 18, 2018 Romans 8:22-27…“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” vs. 26 Most people pray at one time or another. With some, it’s occasional and almost spontaneous, a blurting out of some deep concern in a moment of crisis. Others are more intentional in their prayer life and take time nearly every day to offer up…
Daily Devotions: May 17, 2018
May 17, 2018 Psalm 104:31-35…“I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.” vs. 33 The psalmist felt a calling to continually praise God for the wonder and majesty of creation. Everywhere he looked, from dawn to dusk, he saw the signs of God’s creative and renewing spirit. How often we miss out on the joy of that kind of living! We tend to get so immersed…
Daily Devotions: May 16, 2018
May 16, 2018 Psalm 104:24-30…“When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” vs. 30 The psalmist believed with all his heart that God had given the spark of life to all living things from leviathans to creeping, crawling things–nothing was excluded. And God wasn’t only the creator, God was the sustainer! All flesh was dependent on God for all things. Apart from the Spirit of God, there could be no existence.…
Daily Devotions: May 15, 2018
May 15, 2018 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 The disciples were living in heady times, changes were multiplying and tensions increasing. There were rumors of rebellion and insurrection. The Roman armies were flexing their muscle. And they were convinced that the…