Blog (Page 206)
Daily Devotions: August 21, 2017
Isaiah 51:1-3 “Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.” vs. 1 Even in our entertainment driven, sports crazed, celebrity worshipping culture, people will–from time to time–turn their thoughts to God and try to figure out whether there is some meaning in life beyond drugs, alcohol, and sex. In other words, they start thinking about spiritual things and…
Daily Devotions: August 20, 2017
Matthew 15:25-28 “She said, ’Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’” vs. 27 It’s clear from scripture that as Jesus continued to announce the coming kingdom of God, he was forced by his encounters with non-Jews to make some adjustments. By nature he was compassionate, and his heart went out to these Gentiles who kept coming with their requests for healing. And when he saw their deep faith he began to make…
Daily Devotions: August 19, 2017
Matthew 15:21-24 “But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’” vs. 23 Sometimes it’s hard for us to understand the words and actions of Jesus in the course of his ministry, probably because we are trying too hard to make a Christian out of him. We forget that he was thoroughly Jewish and had been steeped in the law of Moses through his…
Daily Devotions: August 18, 2017
Romans 11:29-32 “For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.” vs. 32 Many times it’s not easy to figure out what Paul is up to in his letter to the Romans, particularly because the topics that were of intense interest to him seem insignificant to us. In this chapter, for instance, he wants to show that the Jews are not out of the picture as far as God is concerned since the gifts…
Daily Devotions: August 17, 2017
Romans 11:1-2a “I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.” vs. 1 Some folks in the early church had come to the conclusion that because Jesus had been rejected by his own people, God had in return rejected them. They believed that Israel had lost its unique status and been replaced by the Church of Christ. Paul argues against such a…
Daily Devotions: August 16, 2017
Psalm 67 “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.” vss. 1-2 We typically end worship services with some sort of benediction, a prayer that God’s blessings of grace and peace would rest upon us as we go out into the world. It’s an old tradition, one that stretches back to the very beginning of our life…
Daily Devotions: August 15, 2017
Isaiah 56:6-8 “for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.” vss. 7b-8 In the prophetic vision, Israel had been set aside by God to be a gift to all nations. One day the prophet believed the doors of exclusivity in the house of God would be thrown open and people from all over the…
Daily Devotions: August 14, 2017
Isaiah 56:1 “Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.” vs. 1 Against all the odds, the nation of Judah had gotten a reboot; it was the biggest mulligan in history, and a chance to start again. Admittedly all power and influence was gone. The royal family had disappeared and folks were struggling to get temple worship going again…but it was a new beginning and this…
Daily Devotions: August 13, 2017
Matthew 14:27-33 “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’” vs. 31 Like us, Peter was one of those little-faith folks. He just couldn’t help it…doubts would creep into his mind without his bidding, not because he didn’t think Jesus was powerful and mighty, he knew Jesus could do spectacular things, but his doubts originated completely between his own ears. He didn’t believe that he could do the…
Daily Devotions: August 12, 2017
Matthew 14:22-26 “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,” vs. 23 Jesus had been trying to get away from the crowds for several days, but had been unable to escape them. When he went in a boat across the lake, the people simply followed along the shore to find him. The lake isn’t that big and folks could easily see where he was going.…
Daily Devotions: August 11, 2017
Romans 10:12-15 “And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” vs. 15 Paul had a passion for proclaiming the good news to the Gentiles, to those that were outside the boundaries of Israel. He believed that all people were included in God’s big tent of salvation and he thought it a pity that so very few knew the gift of inclusion that…
Daily Devotions: August 10, 2017
Romans 10:5-11 “because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” vs. 9 It is such good news to know that salvation comes through faith and not through works of the law. We’ve all known stories of people who have resisted the gospel through their entire lives, then on their deathbeds have confessed Jesus as Lord and have then found peace. Such…