Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 68)
Daily Devotions
because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” vs. 9 Romans 10:8b-13 In his effort to help the Romans understand that salvation is by God’s grace Paul describes what happens as a person comes to faith. It’s really simple, a matter of confession and belief–nothing more is required. And everyone is included, there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles. Unfortunately…
Daily Devotions
Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.” vss. 6-7 Deuteronomy 6:1-11 For Jews the heart of the Law was found in these verses from Deuteronomy, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and…
Daily devotions
Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” vs.1 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Religions were developed by humans for some good reasons. They provided a way for people to worship and discern the Divine Presence in the creation. Through the centuries, worship practices were developed to give expression to faith, codes of ethics for community living took shape, and eventually particular writings and stories…
Daily Devotions
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.” vs. 1 Psalm 51:1-17 There are likely few people who believe they never do anything wrong. Aside from the narcissists scattered among us most of us are deeply aware of our own sins and transgressions. We know that we have injured ourselves and others with hurtful words and deeds and are often troubled with feelings of guilt and remorse. Certainly…
Daily Devotions
If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.” vss. 9b-10 Isaiah 58:1-12 For centuries the church has prepared for the season of Lent by indulging in one last festival of excess. Believers have reasoned that it’s the last chance for them…
Daily Devotions
Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’” vs 35 Luke 9:32-36 In the church calendar the Transfiguration has been situated on the threshold of Lent as a foretaste of what will be coming at Easter. In Luke’s recounting of the mountaintop vision there is a mixture of light, glory, and fear that anticipates the wonder of resurrection. But there is even more than that. Luke chooses words that echo…
Daily Devotions
Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.” vs. 32 Luke 9:28-32 Luke doesn’t say anything about what the transfiguration meant to Jesus. While he does report that the two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking to Jesus about his departure, there is no reference to details. It could even have been the sort of thing Jesus experienced regularly in…
Daily Devotions
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” vs. 18 2 Corinthians 3:17-4:2 Sometimes amazing truths are hiding in obscure passages of scripture that we may not even have read before. Who would have thought that Paul, writing about the veiled face of Moses, would pass on…
Daily Devotions
Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” vss. 15-16 2 Corinthians 3:12-16 As a well-educated Jewish scholar Paul knew the scriptures well and had committed many sections to memory. In his letter to the Corinthians he refers to a mysterious passage from Exodus and, like any good preacher, interprets it in a way that gives insight to what they have experienced.…
Daily Devotions
Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them…O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.” vss. 6, 8 Psalm 99:6-9 Moses, Aaron, and Samuel were great heroes of Israel. Through them this wandering people, freshly removed from Egypt, had become a nation founded on the Law of God, a country…
Daily Devotions
Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.” vs. 4 Psalm 99:1-5 While the word “equity” occurs many times in scripture, it often goes unnoticed or is presumed to be a synonym for “equality.” In reality it is more related to the idea of justice, and could be thought of as being the spirit of the law, rather than the letter. Equality implies that all people should be treated exactly the…
Daily Devotions
When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.” vs. 30 Exodus 34:29-35 The Aaronic benediction is dear to the hearts of believers. Those who worship hear it at the close of the service as a blessing from their pastor. The words are familiar and come to us from thousands of years ago. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to…