Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 135)
Daily Devotions: October 15, 2019
October 15, 2019 For full passage click: Genesis 22:27-31 … “So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’” vs. 30 John writes in his Gospel that no one has ever seen God, but that Jesus the Christ had made God known. Yet, in the Genesis stories we find a different perspective. Abraham had conversations with the Lord and in this passage Jacob reports seeing God face-to-face. And…
Daily Devotions: October 14, 2019
October 14, 2019 For full passage click: Genesis 32:22-26 … “Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” vs. 24 The accounts of the patriarchs and matriarchs in Genesis are rich with literary allusions and masterful symbolism. Full of vivid detail, they made for magnificent story-telling and helped to shape Jewish identity. Jacob, from whom Israel gets its name, was his mother’s favorite and a willing participant in a heart-breaking act of fraud and deceit. Forced…
Daily Devotions: October 13, 2019
October 13, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 17:15-19 … “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” vs. 18 Even though they had common ancestral roots and faith practices, Samaritans were despised by the Jews. So when the one leper who returned to thank Jesus was revealed to be a Samaritan, Jesus makes a point of it. This sort of thing happened more than once in the course of his ministry. People…
Daily Devotions: October 12, 2019
October 12, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 17:11-14 … “When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean.” vs. 14 The book of Leviticus is meticulous in laying out the ground rules for dealing with any kind of skin disease. Those who contracted the most serious of those diseases, the one known as leprosy, were ostracized from the community and forced to keep their distance.…
Daily Devotions: October 11, 2019
October 11, 2019 For full passage click: 2 Timothy 2:14-15 … “Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.” vs. 14 The letters of First and Second Timothy, together with Titus, are often known as pastoral epistles because they address concerns being experienced by the leaders of the early Christian community. The Gospel, as preached by Paul and others, had…
Daily Devotions: October 10, 2019
October 10, 2019 For full passage click: 2 Timothy 2:8-13 … “…if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” vs. 13 People in the early church firmly believed that those who die with Christ will also live with him. That phrase shows up in early hymn fragments and was probably recited at baptismal rituals. But they also believed and taught that if they were faithless, Christ would remain faithful. This simple teaching was at the core…
Daily Devotions: October 9, 2019
October 9, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 111:6-10 … “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.” vs. 10 Wisdom has been prized through all generations and many continue to pursue it. Some confuse it with knowledge and believe that if they go to school, study, and graduate with honors they’ll have it. For them, it’s connected to having all the answers. The Psalmist…
Daily Devotions: October 8, 2019
October 8, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 111:1-5 … “Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” vs. 1 The Psalmist wasn’t thanking the Lord for any answered prayer or a particular blessing that had come to him. Instead, he was reflecting on the goodness and mercy of God throughout all the generations–and he didn’t hold back! His song of thanksgiving came from the…
Daily Devotions: October 7, 2019
October 7, 2019 For full passage click: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15 … “But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’” vs. 13 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a proud man. He had been told by his wife’s servant girl, a captive from Israel,…
Daily Devotions: October 6, 2019
October 6, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 17:5-10 … “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.’” vss. 5-6 Jesus’ response to the apostles’ demand that he increase their faith is enigmatic at best. It seems that he’s telling them that faith is not quantifiable. We…
Daily Devotions: October 5, 2019
October 5, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 17:1-4 … “Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.” vs. 3 Luke had access to many sayings of Jesus, some of which weren’t connected to any particular time and place, and he chose to group those isolated sayings in sections by themselves. Some seem to have been chosen because they related to issues that were coming up in…
Daily Devotions: October 4, 2019
October 4, 2019 For full passage click: 2 Timothy 1:8-14 … “This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” vss. 9b-10 The message proclaimed by Paul was centered–not on the works of our hands–but on the grace and the power of God. What’s amazing is the conviction of…