Blog (Page 154)
Daily Devotions: April 26, 2019
April 26, 2019 For full passage click: Revelation 1:7-8 …“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” vs. 8 John was writing to Christians struggling to maintain their identity in turbulent times. Believers had come together in congregations for loving and serving and many had suffered at the hands of the Empire. Some had been killed and were remembered as martyrs. Others were wondering about…
Daily Devotions: April 25, 2019
April 25, 2019 For full passage click: Revelation 1:4-6… “To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 5b-6 John begins his mysterious apocalypse with a dedication that glorifies the Risen Christ. In his estimation, not only had the faithful been loved and forgiven through Jesus Christ, they had been made into…
Daily Devotions: April 24, 2019
April 24, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 118:21-29 …“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” vs. 24 An increasing number of people are uncomfortable using religious language in their daily lives; some because they don’t believe in God, and others because they have abandoned religion in favor of what they call ‘spirituality.’ As a result, they are limited in their ability to express wonder at the sheer gift of life.…
Daily Devotions: April 23, 2019
April 23, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 118:14-20 …“Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.” vs. 19 The psalmist had been through some tough days, but he knew for certain that the Lord was his salvation. With confidence and boldness he now asks that the gates of righteousness would be opened to him. No longer wracked by guilt or self-doubt, he knows that he is one of…
Daily Devotions: April 22, 2019
April 22, 2019 For full passage click: Acts 5:29-32 …“But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority.’” vs. 29 Peter and the apostles didn’t hesitate when they were challenged by the high priest and told to stop ministering to the sick and teaching in the temple. They had a higher calling, their allegiance was to Jesus and not to any temporal or religious authorities. Through the centuries, the faithful have continued to model…
Daily Devotions: April 21, 2019
April 21, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 24:1-12 …“But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.” vs. 12 The disciples initially dismissed the women’s story of their visit to the tomb of Jesus, as a fanciful tale. But Peter had second thoughts and decided to check out what they had said. He was amazed to find the tomb…
Daily Devotions: April 20, 2019
April 20, 2019 For full passage click: Ezekiel 37:1-14 …“Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.”’” vs. 11 The Israelites living in Babylon had given up hope. They and their descendants would die in the land of captivity and they would never know the land of promise. The prophet Ezekiel paints another picture for them. The…
Daily Devotions: April 19, 2019
April 19, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 22 …“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?…Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” vss. 1, 3 When we get a good dose of suffering on the discipleship trail it’s not unusual to feel as though we’ve lost touch with God. We wonder why rotten things are happening in our lives and, even…
Daily Devotions: April 18, 2019
April 18, 2019 For full passage click: John 13:31b-35 …“Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’” vs. 33 Goodbyes are never easy! And the ones we say toward the close of our lives are probably the hardest of all. Sometimes we don’t know if we’ll ever see this person that we’ve loved…
Daily Devotions: April 17, 2019
April 17, 2019 For full passage click: Hebrews 12:1-3 …“Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.” vs. 3 Most of us will, at one time or another in the course of our lifetimes, discover that there are people who have it in for us. Sometimes we’ll know the reason. We’ve done or said something that has caused offense and the victims are simply getting even as best…
Daily Devotions: April 16, 2019
April 16, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 71:1-14 …‘Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you…Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.” vss. 6, 9 Not everyone comes to faith as a child. Many followers of Jesus report that their parents gave them little spiritual direction as they grew up,…
Daily Devotions: April 15, 2019
April 15, 2019 For full passage click: Isaiah 42:1-9 …“Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it.” vs. 5 The prophet knew that the Creator of the Universe had given spirit to every breathing person on the planet. That spirit is our God-connection and is humanity’s common inheritance. It…