Blog (Page 187)
Daily Devotions: March 24, 2019
March 24, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 9:6-10 …“So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’” vs. 7 It appears that in this parable, the man’s love for his fig tree was quite conditional. He could put up with three years of fruitless living, but that was his limit. That’s the…
Daily Devotions: March 23, 2019
March 23, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 13:1-5 …“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” vs. 5 Mass tragedies were common in Jesus’ world. Not only were the dominating powers cruel and unjust, there were few if any construction standards; death was always close at hand. Of course people wondered about such things, and there was often a tendency to blame the victims, that they’d been killed because of their…
Daily Devotions: March 22, 2019
March 22, 2019 For full passage click: 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 …“No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” vs. 13 Paul was a strong advocate of the gospel of grace and he knew that our salvation was not dependent on our own good…
Daily Devotions: March 21, 2019
March 21, 2019 For full passage click: 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 …“and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.” vss. 2-4 Paul was frustrated with the folks at Corinth. They’d been baptized into Christ and were feasting on Christ’s body and blood, but their behavior was abysmal.…
Daily Devotions: March 20, 2019
March 20, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 63:1-8 …“O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” vs. 1 There are some who say that there is a “God-space” within every human and unless that space is filled our lives will seem barren and pointless. While there are some difficulties with that kind of language, the psalmist…
Daily Devotions: March 19, 2019
March 19, 2019 For full passage click: Isaiah 55:6-9 …“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” vs. 9 Most of the things that we say about God are more a reflection of ourselves than they are of God. The truth is that our little minds and inadequate vocabularies are incapable of even coming close to describing the Divine Presence. We have a sense…
Daily Devotions: March 18, 2019
March 18, 2019 Isaiah 55:1-5 “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” vs. 1 The prophet’s words are bold, robust, and invitational. As we read his words our imaginations conjure up a marketplace full of smiling faces, a place where visitors are treated as guests rather than customers, a place of extravagant generosity. As we read on we…
Daily Devotions: March 17, 2019
March 17, 2019 Luke 13:31-35 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” vs. 34 Jerusalem had enormous significance for the Jews of Jesus’ day. In addition to being their religious and political center, it was the “Holy City,” the symbolic residence of God on earth. The books…
Daily Devotions: March 16, 2019
March 16, 2019 Philippians 3:20-4:1 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” vs. 20 When Paul wrote to the Philippians he could scarcely contain his excitement as he talked about their future in Christ. He knew there was more to come and that we are moving toward transformation beyond our imagination. It’s not that he believed that life on this earth is just a training camp…
Daily Devotions: March 15, 2019
March 15, 2019 Philippians 3:17-19: “Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.” vs. 19 Not everyone bought in to the message Paul was bringing to the people of God on his missionary journeys and he doesn’t hesitate to use harsh language to describe his detractors. Like Jesus he believed that there are two basic ways to live in this world: we can either tend to…
Daily Devotions: March 14, 2019
March 14, 2019 Psalm 27:7-14: “If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up.” vs. 10 It would be wonderful if every person born in this world would be welcomed into a family that oozed with love and kindness. And wouldn’t it be terrific if all children would have parents who were slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love? Unfortunately that’s not the way it is! Too many children grow up in an atmosphere of…
Daily Devotions: March 13, 2019
March 13, 2019 Psalm 27:1-6: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” vs. 1 Fear is probably the greatest obstacle any of us face in the course of our lifetimes. It stifles our curiosity, undermines our adventures, and sabotages our good intentions. Fear paralyzes! While the benefits of healthy fear are obvious and prudential living is to be encouraged, too often fears…