Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 239)

1 Corinthians 12: 8-13 “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” vs. 12 Paul used the human body with all of its parts as a metaphor for the Body of Christ. It’s a great image. A well-functioning body is beautiful to behold and capable of amazing feats. Well maintained, it can service our needs for many decades. But our…

1 Corinthians 12:3b-7 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” vss. 4-5, 7 All who are baptized into Christ Jesus are the Body of Christ in the world. As the old song puts it, “We are the Church!” We have been called by the Holy Spirit and gathered into one community of faith, and…

Psalm 104:30-34 “When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” vs. 30 Even though Pentecost has been set aside to celebrate God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, we should not imagine that the Spirit was not active before the day described in the book of Acts. Quite obviously, Jesus was guided and led by the indwelling Spirit all through his ministry…and when Genesis 1 speaks of the wind from God brooding…

Psalm 104:24-29 “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” vs. 24 When we take a good hard look at the world around us we can’t help but be overwhelmed by the natural beauty and wonder of it all. And if we then add the incredible variety and diversity of its creatures, the delight only increases. No wonder the psalmist was so lavish in his words of…

Acts 2:14-21 “No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘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 visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’” vss. 17-18 As the disciples lived through the excitement and turmoil of those first Spirit-filled days, their familiarity with the words of Joel convinced them that the…

Acts 2:1-13 “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” vss. 3-4 It’s hard to know what to do with Pentecost. Christmas and Easter are easy–crowds of folks come out for worship–and the message is pretty much always the same. But Pentecost is tougher. Some years it gets stuck on…

John 17:6-11 “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 As he neared the end of his time on earth Jesus prayed fervently for his followers, not only that they would know his words had come from God, but that they would be…

John 17:1-5 “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” vs. 3 Despite the fact that eternal life is pretty much beyond our understanding, we have a tendency to engage in mostly fruitless speculation and debate about what it may be like. One basic mistake is to picture eternity as “endless time” and imagine that it stretches on and on, one year after another, with no ending…

1 Peter 5:6-11 “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.” vs. 8 The fact that the words “discipline” and “disciple” come from the same Latin root word, gives us some important clues about the nature of discipleship. Those who want to be disciples or followers of Jesus aren’t merely signing up to learn, but should expect to be disciplined in their approach to living. In this little verse…

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 The little communities of Christians that popped up in the Roman Empire were regularly subjected to intense persecution that depended more or less on the whim of the ruling authorities. The ordeals had almost become a way of life, something they could expect at any moment, and there really…

Psalm 68:32-35 “Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel; and whose power is in the skies.” vs. 34 There’s no doubt that when Israelites saw thunder and lightning, they marveled at the raw energy and strength of their awesome God. Regularly they sang praises to the dynamism exhibited in nature and gave thanks that such a God was the Lord of Israel. In our time, most would dismiss such notions as being pre-scientific and no longer see the…

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. Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” vss. 4-5 The ancient Canaanites worshipped a storm god who rode upon the clouds, showing his strength and power with periodic displays of thunder and lightning. The Israelites were familiar with this god and incorporated his attributes into…