Blog (Page 4)
Daily Devotions
Matthew 21:1-1…“The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” vs. 9 All of the gospels report that Jesus entered Jerusalem on his final journey, flanked by hordes of pilgrims, and riding on a donkey. The crowd hailed him as the successor to David, Israel’s greatest king, and was looking forward to his coronation…
Daily Devotions
Philippians 2:7b-11…“And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” vss. 7b-8 How would the landscape of our country change if our leaders were infected by the mind of Christ and humbled themselves, becoming obedient to the principles of the Peaceable Kingdom? The difference would be startling. We’ve gotten so used to pretension, hypocrisy, and self-exultation on the part of politicians that some can’t even imagine any other…
Daily Devotions
Philippian 2:5-7a…“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” vs. 5 Sometimes we think of ourselves as being different from Jesus, as though he behaved and acted as he did because he had a special relationship with God, one that we do not have. Often we hear people excusing their own broken behaviors with the words, “Well, only one man was perfect and that was Jesus!” While Paul doesn’t weigh in on that issue in his…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 31:9-16…“But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand;” vss. 14-15a While it’s possible to worry about most anything in this messed up and beautiful world, we generally come to the point when it dawns on us that there are many things we can’t control. At that moment the wise believer will echo the psalmist and hand everything over to God. As the AA folks are fond of saying,…
Daily Devotions
Isaiah 50:4-9a…“The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.” vss. 3-4 This section of Isaiah and its description of Israel as the Suffering Servant had a profound impact on the life and ministry of Jesus, and beyond him, on the teachings of…
Daily Devotions
John 11:33-45…“The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.” vs. 45 John tells us that when Lazarus emerged from the tomb at the command of Jesus, he had new life, but there was a problem. His hands and feet were bound and he could not see. Here in a few words John laid out a metaphor that…
Daily Devotions
John 11:17-32…“When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” vs. 32 When Jesus came to Bethany each of the sisters, first Mary, and then Martha, greeted him in the same way, acknowledging him as Lord, but also implying that he could have kept their brother from dying. We’re familiar with such reactions, especially among those who have been…
Daily Devotions
John 11:1-16…“But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” vs. 4 As John chose stories of Jesus’ life for his gospel he deliberately picked ones that would bring glory to Jesus. He had done it with the man who had been born blind and he did the same with Lazarus’ illness. His readers, at this point, can…
Daily Devotions
Romans 8:10-11…“But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” vs. 10 The longer we dig around in the scriptures the more likely we are to strike gold in the most unlikely places. Those familiar with the bible know that there is an abundance of passages that are less than edifying. But there are also many sections of scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, that lift…
Daily Devotions
Romans 8:6-9…“To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” vs. 8 Paul recognized that mind control is essential for believers who desire peace and serenity in their lives. The problem is that it’s not easy to do, particularly in an age like ours when influencers, politicians, and liars of every stripe are doing everything possible to control our minds. Sometimes it gets so bad that we don’t…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 130…“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!” vs. 1 We live in strange and bewildering times. On the one hand our country has been involved in an attack on Iran, the consequences of which are still to be seen. And yet, aside from an uptick in gasoline prices at the pump, it’s as though nothing has happened. We see videos and…
Daily Devotions
Ezekiel 37:1-14…“Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” vs. 11 From Israel’s perspective, hunkered down in captivity in Babylon, the future was pretty dismal, and Ezekiel doesn’t pull any punches. The nation had appeared to him in a vision as a valley of dry bones, a country that had completely lost its way. While we typically…