Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 122)
Daily Devotions: May 26, 2020
Excuse the lateness. We have had a Microsoft update and several days of devotions are “swirling in place” instead of being delivered to you all. If you have received early June ones, the same thing–technology is great when it works, Hallelujah! May 26, 2020 Acts 2:12-21 … “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see…
Daily Devotions: May 25, 2020
May 25, 2020 Acts 2:1-11 … “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” vs. 2 The disciples had sensed that there was more coming after Jesus’ death and resurrection, but they didn’t know what it might be. Some were likely still looking for an overthrow of the oppressive occupation, but they had no clear direction; so they waited in Jerusalem and continued…
Daily Devotions: May 24, 2020
May 24, 2020 John 17:7-11 … “And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” vs. 11 According to the Gospels, there was a kind of unity among Jesus and his disciples that was of great value. He was able to send them out in his…
Daily Devotions: May 23, 2020
May 23, 2020 John 17:1-6 … “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.” vs. 4 According to John, Jesus glorified God by finishing the work that he had been given to do. It’s no accident then that in John’s Gospel, Jesus’ last words from the cross are, “It is finished!” He had completed his mission and was ready for whatever came next. This isn’t a bad model for those who desire to…
Daily Devotions: May 22, 2020
May 22, 2020 1 Peter 5:6-11 … “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.” vs. 6 The longer we live in this world the more likely it is that we will come to understand the virtues of humility. We just don’t have all the answers and we don’t have solutions to every problem. Some things are beyond the capacity of human minds to comprehend or figure out. Naturally, some…
Daily Devotions: May 21, 2020
May 21, 2020 1 Peter 4:12-14 … “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” vs 12 Believers are regularly promised in the New Testament writings that they should not be surprised when suffering came their way. Times were different and persecutions came sporadically but inevitably to people of faith. They are told by their leaders that they should regard these ordeals…
Daily Devotions: May 20, 2020
May 20, 2020 Psalm 68:32-35 … “Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; sing praises to the Lord, Selah” vs. 32 The word Selah occurs 71 times in the Psalms, always at the end of a verse, and no one knows what it means! Oh, some scholars have made guesses. Many say it is some sort of a liturgical direction that was used in temple worship, perhaps signaling a pause, but no one really knows for sure. Undoubtedly, at…
Daily Devotions: May 19, 2020
May 19, 2020 Psalm 68:1-10 … “Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds—his name is the Lord— be exultant before him.” vs. 4 When our ancient ancestors watched the clouds roll across the sky, they sometimes imagined them as chariots of the Lord—the God of the storms who had the power to vanquish hated enemies and provide relief for the oppressed. It’s an impressive image! In all of…
Daily Devotions: May 18, 2020
May 18, 2020 Acts 1:6-14 … “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” vs. 8 Many people have given up trying to understand the ascension of Jesus in a literal way. It doesn’t make any sense to their logical scientific minds. But, for Luke it has enormous significance as a transition point between the…
Daily Devotions: May 17, 2020
May 17, 2020 John 14:18-21 … “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” vs. 21 John’s powerful and affirming words of love in this portion of his Gospel have lifted the hearts of Christians for centuries. It just feels so good to know that Christ dwells in us and that love is the…
Daily Devotions: May 16, 2020
May 16, 2020 John 14:15-17 … “This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” vs. 17 Spirit-talk is almost always mysterious; it’s the language we use when we try to describe the everyday nearness of God, and that’s close to an impossible task. Some people, many people maybe, never seem to get what we’re saying…
Daily Devotions: May 15, 2020
May 15, 2020 1 Peter 3:18-22 … “in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.” vss. 19-20 Peter reminds us that in the early years of the Church, believers gravitated toward the image of the ark as a metaphor for…