Blog (Page 208)
Daily Devotions: October 5, 2017
Philippians 3: 4b-7 “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:” vs. 4b Paul had a ton of reasons to be confident in the presence of God. He was a well-educated Jew, a proud member of the tribe of Benjamin, and had been zealous for the law. He called himself blameless…he’d done everything right in his life! Some people are like that. They’re intelligent, genetically gifted, and have consistently made good decisions in the…
Daily Devotions: October 4, 2017
Isaiah 5:5-7 “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!” vs. 7 Isaiah had been called to proclaim the truth to the people of Judah and the message he was given was not a pleasant one. They could no longer bask in their presumed role as God’s chosen ones and enjoy the benefits of their…
Daily Devotions: October 3, 2017
Psalm 80:7-15 “The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.” vs. 13 When Pope Leo X finally moved against Martin Luther in 1520, he issued the bull Exsurge Domini in which he quoted this verse from Psalm 80 as support for his condemnation of Luther’s teachings. According to his understanding the Church was the vineyard of the Lord, established by Jesus and given over to the successors of Peter for safekeeping.…
Daily Devotions: October 2, 2017
Isaiah 5:1-4 “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?” vs. 4 Isaiah believed that the Lord had great love and high expectations for Israel. The love had been vividly demonstrated in the release from the bondage of Egypt and the gift of a productive new land. But Israel had failed to follow through…rather than being a light for…
Daily Devotions: October 1, 2017
Matthew 21:28-32 “‘Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.’” vs. 31 Jesus wants his followers to know that the kingdom of God is full of surprises, and that sometimes outsiders have a better grasp of the gospel than insiders. That same truth is regularly played out in our own…
Daily Devotions: September 30, 2017
Matthew 21:23-27 “When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’” vs. 23 The question of authority was huge for the chief priests and the elders and they had a right to grill Jesus about his credentials. He was speaking boldly about the kingdom of God and they were wondering whether his…
Daily Devotions: September 29, 2017
Philippians 2:9-13 “Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” vs. 12 Much has been made of the phrase, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” and theologians have had a field day trying to figure out just what this means. Is Paul tossing out grace and telling the good folks at Philippi that salvation…
Daily Devotions: September 28, 2017
Philippians 2:1-8 “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” vs. 5 Paul’s deepest desire is that the faith community in Philippi be of one mind and in full accord…but even more than that, he wants their one mind to be the mind of Christ Jesus. It’s an amazing vision…and one that we struggle to live up to. But just imagine what it would be like if that aspiration became a reality! It would mean that…
Daily Devotions: September 27, 2017
Psalm 25:1-9 “Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!” vs. 7 Like the psalmist, most of us can remember youthful escapades that we would just as soon forget. It’s a time when we’re breaking away from parental constraints and perhaps experimenting with alternative lifestyles. As John Ylvisaker’s song, Borning Cry, puts it, “we wander off to see where demons dwell.” Later on, as…
Daily Devotions: September 26, 2017
Ezekiel 18:25-32 “When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die.” vs. 26 There is a compelling logic to Ezekiel’s argument as he debates with the leaders of Judah about the reasons for the destruction of their country. God is not to blame for their captivity…it’s their own fault! When the righteous sin, they will die for it…they don’t wear a cloak of…
Daily Devotions: September 25, 2017
Ezekiel 18:1-4 “Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.” vs. 4 Within the pages of our scripture there is an underlying debate about whether children are punished for the sins of their parents. Verses can be found to support either position: Exodus says that God is jealous and punishes children to the third and fourth generation…
Daily Devotions: September 24, 2017
Matthew 20:11-16 “‘Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” vss. 15-16 The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard seems designed to provoke lifelong believers. The story Jesus tells is, by our standards, profoundly unfair. It undercuts all of our convictions about equal pay for equal work and would be bound to destroy…