Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 124)
Daily Devotions
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” vs. 10 Psalm 51:6-12 Some of us have sung this psalm in worship for as long as we can remember…and that’s a good thing! These ancient words pretty much articulate the rhythm of life in Christ for all of God’s people. Like our hands our hearts need daily cleansing to keep them free of disease and guilt buildup. One of the positive byproducts…
Daily Devotions
Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.” vs. 4 Psalm 51: 1-5 One of seven penitential psalms this prayer has often been attributed to David after his confrontation with the prophet Nathan, and the whole sorry Bathsheba affair. While its words are appropriate to such a setting, it’s unlikely that David was the author, and more likely that…
Daily Devotions
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” vs. 33 Jeremiah 31:31-34 For hundreds of years Israel had prided itself on being a covenant people. God had chosen them out of all nations and had promised to be their God forever.…
Daily Devotions
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” vs. 19 John 3:18-21 We don’t like to talk about judgment, and some have pretty much eliminated the word from their religious vocabulary. They prefer to believe that since God is good and abounding in steadfast love, there’s no room for judgment. That would be news to the gospel writer! From his perspective there was…
Daily Devotions
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” vs. 16 John 3: 14-17 In Psalm 107 the psalmist wrote that because of the Lord’s steadfast love, he sent out his word and healed those who were suffering because of their sins. John picks up that theme in his gospel and identifies Jesus with God’s creative and redemptive word. In both instances…
Daily Devotions
For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” vs. 10 Ephesians 2:4-10 We can spend a lot of pointless time wondering about stuff as we live and work in this world. Some think there is great gain in debating the fine points of theology and learning how to articulate our creeds in ever more complex ways. A few are so skillful in such…
Daily Devotions
All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.” vs. 3 Ephesians 2:1-3 When the writer of Ephesians penned this letter he made no distinction between himself and those he was addressing. All were in the same boat, all were following the desires of their flesh and senses, and they were dead to the riches God had for…
Daily Devotions
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress” vs. 19 Psalm 107:17-22 Again and again in the psalms and other portions of scripture we read about how God reaches out to those who are in distress or any kind of trouble and offers them healing and restoration. This psalmist has in mind the occasion in the wilderness when the Hebrews were being tormented by poisonous serpents and God provided for them. It…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 107:1-3 … “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” vs. 1 Stories are often told, hopefully in jest, of crusty old husbands who are reluctant to use the language of love with their spouses because, “I said I loved her once and if I ever change my mind I’ll let her know.” In truth, such foolishness has no place in a marriage. An “I love you” never loses its power…
Daily Devotions
So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.” vs. 9 Numbers 21:4-9 Given the general distaste for snakes that exists among humans, it can be surprising to learn that the symbol used to designate medical professionals is a serpent coiled around an upright rod or stake. It’s origin is traced by scholars to the rod of Asclepius, the…
Daily Devotions
After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.” vs. 22 John 2:17-22 John tells us that the disciples didn’t understand what was going on when he wreaked havoc in the temple–it was only much later, after his resurrection that his words made sense to them. That was probably the case with much of what Jesus said and did during his ministry.…
Daily Devotions
Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.” vs. 15 John 2:12-17 According to the gospel of John, Jesus took his family and disciples to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover toward the beginning of his ministry. When he came to the temple for worship he was outraged. The whole outer courtyard had…