Blog (Page 165)
Daily Devotions: December 16, 2018
December 16, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 3: 15-18 …“His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” vs. 17 John’s words about the work of the coming Messiah sound ominous. It seems that he’s looking toward a great separation in which the righteous will be saved and sinners burned with unquenchable fire. It’s more likely however, that…
Daily Devotions: December 15, 2018
December 15, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 3:7-14 …“In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’” vs. 11 The crowds were shaken by John’s pointed words. He wasn’t impressed by piety and good intentions and preached that true repentance required fruits. And when the people asked him what he thought they should do, he told them plainly. And it wasn’t rocket science!…
Daily Devotions: December 14, 2018
December 14, 2018 To read full passage click: Philippians 4:6-7 …“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” vs. 7 Peace is one of those multi-faceted words that is used in a multitude of ways in scripture. Sometimes it’s simply a greeting, a shalom extended to a friend. Often, peace refers to an absence of warfare, a time when humans put away weapons and live together in harmony. Here…
Daily Devotions: December 13, 2018
December 13, 2018 To read full passage click: Philippians 4:4-5 …“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” vs. 4 Most of us believe that rejoicing is something we do when wonderful things happen in our lives. Our team wins the big game, a long awaited child is born, we get the raise we’ve been waiting for–the list could go on. There are many occasions for pure joy in the course of a lifetime. But Paul told the…
Daily Devotions: December 12, 2018
December 12, 2018 To read full passage click: Isaiah 12:4-6 …“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth.” vs. 5 During the weeks before Christmas we are subjected to a constant stream of holiday music nearly everywhere we turn. Every community chorus has a concert as do most schools and churches. Malls feature strolling singers and pipe in familiar carols to accentuate the shopping spirit and spur on the buying…
Daily Devotions: December 11, 2018
December 11, 2018 To read full passage click: Isaiah 12:2-3 …“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.” vs. 2 Sometimes we get tentative when we think and talk about our salvation, and almost give the impression that it somehow depends upon what we have said or done. Of course, such a notion is pure foolishness and has nothing to…
Daily Devotions: December 10, 2018
December 10, 2018 To read full passage click: Zephaniah 3:14-20 …“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” vs. 14 For once, something had gone well in Israel and the prophet encourages the people to sing for joy with all of their heart. Because they had acted against corruption and injustice they could be confident of the Lord’s presence among them. Zephaniah even says that the Lord will join their…
Daily Devotions: December 9, 2018
December 9, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 3:4-6 …“as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” vs. 4 As the people of Israel prepared to return to Jerusalem from the years of captivity in Babylon, the prophet Isaiah believed they would be led by the Lord in triumph. Every obstacle would be eliminated,…
Daily Devotions: December 8, 2018
December 8, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 3:1-3 …“during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” vs. 2 John wasn’t ordained. He wasn’t even a licensed preacher. He had no credentials or standing to set him apart. He didn’t even live in Jerusalem! He may have belonged to the mysterious party of renegades who had set up shop at Qumran, no one knows for sure.…
Daily Devotions: December 7, 2018
December 7, 2018 To read full passage click: Philippians 1:9-11 …“And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,” vss. 9-10 Contrary to what we might expect, the road to holiness does not consist of daily obedience to the revealed commandments of God. Paul rejects that kind of rigid legalism…
Daily Devotions: December 6, 2018
December 6, 2018 To read full passage click: Philippians 1:3-8 …“I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” vs. 6 Paul was so proud of the congregation in Philippi. He hadn’t spent much time there, but he’d obviously been effective in proclaiming the gospel, and the people had taken it to heart. Everything that he heard was positive and his letter to…
Daily Devotions: December 5, 2018
December 5, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 1:76-79 …“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” vss. 78-79 Jesus regularly arose early in the morning and went out to pray. And there on the hills that surround the Sea of Galilee, he would watch the sun…