Posts by Rev. Steve Holm (Page 56)
Daily Devotions
What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.” vss. 22-23 Ecclesiastes 2:18-23 Even people of faith are affected by the truth revealed in these heartbreaking words of wisdom from the Teacher. No matter who we are, and no matter what our occupation or profession, our…
Daily Devotions
…it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.” vss. 13b-14 Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14 The book of Ecclesiastes is known as Wisdom Literature, and found its way into the Hebrew Scriptures as a series of reflections and proverbs reflecting our human experience in the world. For the most part, the Teacher, or…
Daily Devotions
So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” vs. 9 Luke 11:5-11 Jesus, in teaching his disciples about prayer, does all that he can to assure them that God has an “open door” policy when it comes to interactions with those in need. Just as good parents can be counted on to give good things to their children, God will respond with…
Daily Devotions
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’” vs. 1 Luke 11:1-4 From the gospel record it appears that Jesus began each day with prayer, often getting up before dawn to go off by himself. Obviously his disciples noticed, and one morning when he returned to the group they asked if he would teach them to pray as John…
Daily Devotions
…God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.” vss. 13b-14 Colossians 2:13-15 There is a Cursillo retreat ritual, likely inspired by this verse, during which participants are given small sheets of white paper on which they are encouraged to privately make a list of their sins. When they have finished, they are invited to…
Daily Devotions
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.” vs. 8 Colossians 2:6-12 Humans are enormously curious and are always on the lookout for new knowledge, wherever in the universe we can find it. We take advanced courses in universities, read countless books, and subscribe to any number of podcasts, all in the hope of discovering some new…
Daily Devotions
On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.” vs. 3 Psalm 138 Sometimes we wonder what good it does to pray. We’re told to offer prayers regularly, for victims of mass shootings, for people threatened by massive forest fires, for the people of Ukraine, for those afflicted with dread disease–the list goes on and on. And so we do, some of us faithfully day after day, but often there are questions, especially when nothing…
Daily Devotions
Then he said, ‘Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.’ He answered, ‘For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.’” vs. 32 Genesis 18:23-32 The men around the fires must have chuckled at the sheer effrontery of Abraham as the old story was told, retold, and then remembered. He had dared to bargain with God to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah–and he had been…
Daily Devotions
Then the Lord said, ‘How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin!’” vs. 20 Genesis 18:20-22 For the early part of the Twentieth Century, Las Vegas was known as “Sin City,” a place where decadence and immorality were a part of the culture. The phrase “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” was coined to reflect that reputation, and is still quoted with a wink and a smile when people speak of spending…
Daily Devotions
But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’” vss. 41-42 Luke 10:41-42 Many of us can identify with Martha. Like her we are worried and distracted by many things. Even though we’re surrounded by technologies designed to make our lives easier, life seems to have increased in its complexity. Professional and relational…
Daily Devotions
But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’” vs. 40 Luke 10:38-40 Martha had been well-schooled in her culture’s practice of hospitality. Like Abraham centuries before, she knew what to do when Jesus and his disciples dropped by for a visit. She prepared bread, whipped up a vegetable salad,…
Daily Devotions
And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him…” vss. 21-22 Colossians 1:21-28 There are many people today who would just as soon eliminate the cross from the Christian faith. For them it’s bloody and gruesome, and reeks of a sacrificial theory of the atonement that they think we’d be better off without. They…