Blog (Page 203)
Daily Devotions: September 20, 2017
Psalm 145:1-8 “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.” vs. 5 Some people have an amazing ability to capture the beauty and the majesty of creation with their cameras. They have an eye for lighting and perspective and their photographs, whether of plants, animals, or landscapes, are breathtaking. And it’s more than having skill with a camera or knowing the proper speeds and settings. The artists who produce such pictures will have…
Daily Devotions: September 19, 2017
Jonah 4:5-11 “And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” vs. 11 Jonah was an angry man, angry that the Lord had spared Nineveh, angry that the bush sheltering him from the sun had suddenly died, angry because he was having to sit in the sun with no shade. And the…
Daily Devotions: September 18, 2017
Jonah 3:10-4:4 “And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’” vs. 4 This section of the Jonah story gets at an essential truth about human nature with both precision and humor. Jonah reluctantly does as the Lord has commanded him. He goes to Nineveh, Israel’s enemy, and preaches that people should repent or be destroyed…and they do! His mission is successful and the Lord calls off the planned destruction…which seems the proper thing to do. But…
Daily Devotions: September 17, 2017
Matthew 18:31-35 “Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?” vs. 32 Some of Jesus’ parables need explanations…they can be difficult and obscure. That’s not the case with the “Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.” It’s obvious to anyone hearing the story that this servant is about as insensitive and cruel as anyone could possibly be. His actions following forgiveness are reprehensible and he deserved the torture that was his punishment. And Jesus’…
Daily Devotions: September 16, 2017
Matthew 18:21-30 “Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.’” vss. 21-22 When Peter suggested that he might be willing to forgive a brother or sister as many as seven times, he likely thought that he was being generous, perhaps even going beyond what the law demanded. But…
Daily Devotions: September 15, 2017
Romans 14:7-12 “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” vs. 8 Living together in harmony with our brothers and sisters in the community of faith is harder than we might expect…and Paul knew this from experience. Wherever he went he was embroiled in controversy for one reason or another. But he couldn’t simply say “that’s just the…
Daily Devotions: September 14, 2017
Romans 14:1-6 “Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.” vs. 2 While it may appear that Paul is weighing in on the side of carnivores against vegetarians with these words, he’s actually not speaking about proper diet at all. Instead, he has in mind those for whom eating and drinking has a spiritual significance…and he’s reminding the Romans that quarreling about such things can be bad for the community. Many of us have seen the effects…
Daily Devotions: September 13, 2017
Psalm 103:8-13 “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” vs. 10 Israel’s justice system could be quite precise in laying out prescribed punishments for particular crimes…”an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” comes to mind. But the psalmist finds little consolation in that retributive prescription and says instead, that God operates by another standard. He says that God is merciful and gracious and does not repay…
Daily Devotions: September 12, 2017
Genesis 50:19-21 “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” vs. 20 It’s doubtful that God caused Joseph’s brothers to abuse him and sell him into slavery…God is not the agent of sin. But is true that because of God’s goodness, that whole sorry event turned out to be a blessing for the entire family of Jacob. Sometimes, not all the time,…
Daily Devotions: September 11, 2017
Genesis 50:15-18 “Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, ‘What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?’” vs. 15 Quite against all odds, the brothers of Joseph, the ones who had sold him into slavery, found themselves living in Egypt under his dominion. While their father, Jacob, was alive, Joseph had treated them kindly and had made gracious provision for their families.…
Daily Devotions: September 10, 2017
Matthew 18:18-20 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” vs. 18 From the beginning, followers of Jesus formed faith communities and began to understand themselves as the visible presence of Christ in the world. It was almost immediately apparent that they would have to establish a means for discipline within the Body. These verses from Matthew became for them the “power of…
Daily Devotions: September 9, 2017
Matthew 18:15-17 “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.” vs. 15 From the beginning of the church, broken relationships have been a part of life in community. Harsh words are spoken, feelings are hurt, and before long members are at odds with one another…and sometimes it can get pretty ugly. It’s not surprising then,…