Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 155)
Daily Devotions: March 18, 2020
March 18, 2020 Ephesians 5:8-10 … “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.” vss. 8-9 The writer of Ephesians knew that it was possible for people to lead good, decent lives, and always tell the truth. It was simply a matter of behaving as we are! As Jesus once put it, “You…
Daily Devotions: March 17, 2020
March 17, 2020 Psalm 23 … “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” vs. 5 Often we think of the Lord as our place of refuge in tough times and our comforter when things get dark, and that’s appropriate, because that’s what shepherds do. And, as the children of God, we are well taken care of in every circumstance. The Psalmist knew that, but he…
Daily Devotions: March 16, 2020
Please accept our apologies. This schedule devotion did not get through our server early this morning. March 16, 2020 1 Samuel 16:1-13 … “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’” vs.1 One thing is sure! We’ve been grieving about…
Daily Devotions: March 15, 2020
March 15, 2020 John 4:27-42 … “Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.” vs. 35 When the disciples looked around it’s likely they saw little more than villages full of despised Samaritans. They hadn’t even imagined that such folks would be interested in the Gospel of grace being proclaimed by Jesus. But Jesus knew! In his eyes these weren’t Samaritans,…
Daily Devotions: March 14, 2020
March 14, 2020 John 4:14-26 … “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.’” vs. 21 During the time of Jesus’ ministry, it was inconceivable for both Jews and Samaritans that worship would take place anywhere but in Jerusalem or on Mt. Gerazim. That’s the way things had been done for centuries! But with the Roman response to the Jewish insurrection and the destruction…
Daily Devotions: March 13, 2020
March 13, 2020 John 4:5-14 … “The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)” vs. 9 As John tells the story, Jesus doesn’t mess around with the long detour around Samaria that Galileans Jews generally used on their journey to Jerusalem. He takes the direct route and at the well near Sychar, a Samaritan city, gives a Samaritan…
Daily Devotions: March 12, 2020
March 12, 2020 Romans 5:6-11 … “Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.” vs. 7 Some theologian types through the years have put forward the notion that Jesus’ death was a sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. Now they can certainly find verses in Scripture to back their position; indeed, there are many parallels that can be made between the Jewish sacrificial system and…
Daily Devotions: March 11, 2020
March 11, 2020 Romans 5:1-5 … “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand…” vss. 1-2 Paul realized that there was no point in hammering away at people with words of law and judgment. He’d had enough of that as a Pharisee and it had led him on a violent path of condemnation. He knew that even though…
Daily Devotions: March 10, 2020
March 10, 2020 Psalm 95 … “For forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.’ Therefore in my anger I swore, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” vss. 10-11 Israel’s family story had some patches of what sounds like parental abuse. As they remembered their time in the wilderness, they heard about the problems at Meribah and Rephidim when the wanderers had been directed by…
Daily Devotions: March 9, 2020
March 9, 2020 Exodus 17:1-7 … “From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.” vs. 1 We can assume that Expedia was not available for Moses as he began leading the people through the wilderness! As a result, he was forced to rely upon the Lord as travel planner, and it really didn’t work very well.…
Daily Devotions: March 8, 2020
March 8, 2020 John 3:14-17 … “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 Sometimes the Gospel of John can be a bit disconcerting. Jesus sounds different, more divine than human, and we can have a hard time getting used to the change in voice. In this third chapter, for instance, what begins as a conversation with Nicodemus…
Daily Devotions: March 7, 2020
March 7, 2020 John 3:9-13 … “Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?’” vss. 9-10 Nicodemus didn’t understand Jesus’ talk about the Spirit of God. It wasn’t that he didn’t know the Scriptures, after all he was a teacher of the law, but he didn’t get that the Spirit blows where it wills and not according to our presuppositions. People can…