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Daily Devotions
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.” vss. 19-20 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Believers have always been fans of Valentine’s Day. Way back in the third century there was a St. Valentine who performed works of love and service in the area of Rome. As the years passed, stories and myths…
Daily Devotions
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.” vss. 4-6 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a Having presented love as the more excellent way, Paul now proceeds, in one succinct sentence, to define it. We’re familiar with his definition because we’ve heard it read at countless wedding ceremonies as encapsulating…
Daily Devotions
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” vs. 1 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Paul concluded his lesson on spiritual gifts for the Corinthians by introducing what he called “a more excellent way,” the passage we have come to know as the “Love Chapter” of the bible. He begins with a critique of the practice that had begun to divide the congregation. Some in…
Daily Devotions
And Nehemiah…and Ezra the priest and scribe,… said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.” vs. 9 Nehemiah 8:8-10 When the words of the long-forgotten law were read to the Jews of Jerusalem their initial reaction was one of deep sadness—and they began to weep. We can only guess that their sadness came with the recognition…
Daily Devotions
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” vs. 7 1 Corinthians 11:7-11 From the beginning it has been enormously difficult for humans to recognize that life is communal, particularly when the culture has been taken captive by the curse of individualism. Some actually begin to believe that everything is up to them, and that any talk of the common good is misguided. Our spiritual ancestors would have found such notions ridiculous. For them it…
Daily Devotions
Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.” vs. 4 Isaiah 43:4-7 Even though the people of Israel had regularly engaged in idolatry and their kings had been inept, in their captivity the prophet brought them words of encouragement and hope. In their brokenness he tells them they are precious in the sight of the Lord and that they are loved. That…
Daily Devotions
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” vs. 1 Isaiah 43:1-7 Through the centuries Israelites had come to believe that they had a special relationship with God. They weren’t just a scattered group of people, free to do as they pleased with life, they actually belonged to God. They were God’s own…
Daily Devotions
When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.” vss. 9-10 Matthew 2:1-12 In Luke’s gospel an angel appears to shepherds outside of Bethlehem to announce the birth of the Messiah, but in Matthew’ gospel it’s a star that gets central billing.…
Daily Devotions
No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” vs. 18 John 1:15-18 From the beginning humans have engaged in speculation about the nature of God, with many religious leaders claiming to have special insights or inside information. Sometimes their descriptions have been compelling enough to gain massive numbers of adherents for their movements. But ultimately, John is right! No one has even seen God!…
Daily Devotions
He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,” vss. 11-12 John 1:10-14 Sometimes we wonder why people are reluctant to acknowledge Jesus as the Incarnate Word of God, particularly when those persons are members of our own families. Yet that’s how it is—and that’s how it’s been from the moment that Jesus began his…
Daily Devotions
In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;” vs. 13 Ephesians 1:11-14 Paul recognized that as people came to faith in Christ there would be a two step process. First they would hear the word of truth, what he called the gospel of salvation. And then, having heard, they would respond by believing; they would trust…
Daily Devotions
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.” vss. 3-4 Ephesians 1:3-10 Early Christians continued to use the language of election to describe their relationship to God, but now, instead of linking it to Abraham, as the Jews had done, they…