Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 165)
Daily Devotions: November 13, 2018
November 13, 2018 For full reading click on Scripture: Psalm 16:1-6 …“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.” vs. 6 As the psalmist reflects on his relationship with the Lord, he recognizes that his life is very good. He has a good family and productive land. His boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places. None of these gifts have come as a result of his own labor. He was simply born in…
Daily Devotions: November 12, 2018
November 12, 2018 Daniel 12:1-3 …“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” vs. 2 Christians are an Easter people. We confess our faith in resurrection in nearly every one of our worship services. We can’t even imagine what it would be like to live without a solid confidence in life beyond death. But people haven’t always felt that way. In fact the Hebrew…
Daily Devotions: November 11, 2018
November 11, 2019 Mark 12:41-44 …“He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.” vss. 41-42 Even when we’re not shopping, it can be fun to go to malls or other crowded public places just for the people-watching! The varieties of behaviors and appearances are both amazing and instructive. We can…
Daily Devotions: November 10, 2018
November 10, 2018 Mark 12:38-40 …“They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” vs. 40 Jesus had little regard for the scribes, the legal experts of his day. They were attentive to the details of the written law and the appearances of religion but their hearts were far from God. For them, prayers and rituals were simply a way to win favor with people and reinforce their position in…
Daily Devotions: November 9, 2018
November 9, 2018 Hebrews 9:24-28 …“And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” vss. 27-28 Many early Christians were steeped in the imagery of the sacrificial system and used that language to describe what had happened in Jesus. As the…
Daily Devotions: November 8, 2018
November 8, 2018 Psalm 146:6-10 …“The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.” vs. 9 The psalmist expresses his convictions and those of his faith community with a bold assertion, “Happy are those…whose hope is in the Lord their God!” His words have particular relevance for us in this age of political turmoil, ambiguous faith commitments, and rampant materialism. He implies that only God can…
Daily Devotions: November 7, 2018
November 7, 2018 Psalm 146:1-4 …“Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.” vss. 3-4 Well, the election is over and most people are breathing a sigh of relief and hoping that there will at least be some respite from the ugly campaigning that has been fragmenting our country. Some are happy–their people and party have won…
Daily Devotions: November 6, 2018
November 6, 2018 1 Kings 17:13-16 …“She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days.” vs. 15 It’s easy to say, “Don’t worry, God will provide,” but it’s a lot harder to live that way. We all know that sometimes people in our world starve to death. Sometimes people fall into bankruptcy and never recover. That’s just the way it is. So, while we may have some degree…
Daily Devotions: November 5, 2018
November 5, 2018 1 Kings 17:6-12 …“As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, ‘Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.’” The people of Israel had a whole series of Elijah stories that they told and then preserved in writing. They wanted their descendants to know about this incredible prophet who dared to speak truth to power in the days of Ahab and Jezebel. In one of those stories, Elijah goes to a…
Daily Devotions: November 4, 2018
November 4, 2018 John 11: 38-40 …“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’” Martha had already established that she was a believer. She knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, but she also had solid credentials as a skeptic. When they got to the tomb, she makes sure that Jesus knows that her brother was really dead, that he’d been in the tomb for…
Daily Devotions: November 3, 2018
November 3, 2018 John 11:32-37 …“But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’” vs. 37 When dread disease comes to someone in our network of acquaintances, out of love and concern, we offer prayers for the miracle of healing. And sometimes there is a cure and the joy is intense. But other times, too often it seems, there isn’t a healing. We all know what that…
Daily Devotions: November 2, 2018
November 2, 2018 Revelations 21:4-6a …“he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” vs. 4 We all know people who have, for one reason or another, absorbed more than their share of pain and sorrow in the course of their lives. Marriages fail, illness stalks, families disappoint, and one sad day is followed by another. And sometimes all this…