Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 121)
Daily Devotions: June 7, 2020
June 7, 2020 Matthew 28:18-20 [The Great Commission] … “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” vs. 19 While initially there may have been some followers of Jesus who believed themselves to be the leaders of a reform movement within Judaism, it didn’t take long for the majority to understand themselves as evangelists to the world. By the end of the first…
Daily Devotions: June 6, 2020
June 6, 2020 Matthew 28:16-17 … “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” vss. 16-17 Right at the end of his Gospel, after his long account of Jesus’ teaching and ministry, having reported the resurrection and an angel visitation, Matthew says that some of the eleven had doubts. While he doesn’t mention what the doubts were, he does imply that the…
Daily Devotions: June 5, 2020
June 5, 2020 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 … “Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.” vs. 12 Paul closes his letter to the Corinthians by encouraging them to pay attention to his words and to live at peace with one another. In essence, this is his bottom line—he wants this dear little community of believers to experience the love and peace of God in their daily lives. If they do, his heart will be glad! And…
Daily Devotions: June 4, 2020
June 4, 2020 Psalm 8:5-9 … “Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.” vs. 5 Even though the Psalmist was convinced of humankind’s insignificance in the universe, he also believed that we stand out from the rest of creation in some significant ways. We’re not like dogs or cats, or any other creature, and he likely didn’t come to that conclusion from reading Genesis. For him it was a simple…
Daily Devotions: June 3, 2020
June 3, 2020 Psalm 8:1-4 … “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” vss. 3-4 The Psalmist had likely spent long hours observing the wonders of the world. We can imagine him in the Judean hills, perhaps on a mountaintop, watching the sun go down and seeing the myriads of stars…
Daily Devotions: June 2, 2020
June 2, 2020 Genesis 1:25-2:4 … “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” vs. 27 According to Genesis 1, humankind is the crown of creation; we only show up when everything else has been done, and, more than that, we’re the only ones created in the image of God. It’s not surprising that the Hebrews wrote in this way. All the ancient storytellers put themselves in…
Daily Devotions: June 1, 2020
June 1, 2020 Genesis 1:1-24 … “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” vss. 1-2 In our time, scientists have given us a second-by-second-description of our universe’s origin, and there’s no reason for us to doubt their stories about the Big Bang and the development of galaxies and black holes.…
Daily Devotions: May 31, 2020
May 31, 2020 John 20:21-23 … “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” When John wrote his Gospel he evidently didn’t have access to the stories used by Luke some years before. So he doesn’t include anything about a Pentecost outpouring of the Holy Spirit with tongues as of fire and…
Daily Devotions: May 30, 2020
May 30, 2020 John 20:19-20 … “After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” vs. 20 It’s interesting that, according to John, the wounds of Jesus were not obliterated by his resurrection. Indeed, their presence as scars on his body are proof of his identity. The disciples knew who he was for sure only when they saw the marks left by the nails and the spear. That…
Daily Devotions: May 29, 2020
May 29, 2020 1 Corinthians 12:9-13 … “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” vs. 12 For centuries the Church has acknowledged that it is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. There is little argument among Christians that these Marks, or Attributes, have a solid foundation in the teachings of the New Testament, and most theologians would agree that they…
Daily Devotions: May 28, 2020
May 28, 2020 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-8 … “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” vs. 7 It had become obvious to the Corinthians that there were differences among them, and as is the custom among sinners, they believed that those differences marked a kind of hierarchy. Some of them had greater gifts, ones that were of more value, and they would, of course, hold dominant positions in the community. In others gifts were…
Daily Devotions: May 27, 2020
May 27, 2020 Psalm 104:24-34 … “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures…When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” vss. 24, 30 Through billions of years the hand of our imaginative and inventive Creator has been molding and sustaining the amazing variety of stars, galaxies, black holes, and dark matter that provide the backdrop for our…