Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 71)
Daily Devotions
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” vs. 1 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 No matter how many talented folks a congregation has, no matter how many ministry programs are available, unless there is a spirit of love within that congregation, everything else is pointless and worthless! Paul doesn’t mince words with the Corinthians. He spells out his most excellent way in terms that…
Daily Devotions
For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.” vss. 5-6 Psalm 71:1-6 The psalmist has lived a long and faithful life–he has trusted in the Lord from the time of his youth, even from the moment of his birth. And now, in his old age things are not going so…
Daily Devotions
Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’” vs. 6 Jeremiah 1: 6-10 When Moses had been called by the Lord to go speak to the Pharaoh about the plight of the Hebrews, he claimed that he wasn’t eloquent and couldn’t do it. His argument didn’t work–he went anyway! Jeremiah, likely aware of the Moses story, pleaded his own youth and inexperience, and got an identical response from…
Daily Devotions
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” vs. 5 Jeremiah 1:4-5 We like to believe that we are the masters of our own destinies, that we can pick and choose among a multitude of professions and careers in the course of our lives–that some could even decide to become preachers! Jeremiah would have laughed at such a notion! He believed that…
Daily Devotions
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free…” vs. 18 Luke 4:17b-21 When Jesus was handed the scroll of Isaiah he chose to read a portion of chapter 61. It was the scripture that had come to his mind as he had wrestled with ministry…
Daily Devotions
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.” vss. 16-17a Luke 4:14-16 Synagogues began to be built in the towns of Galilee and Judea just prior to the time that Jesus began his ministry. They were places of prayer and study and for the reading and exposition of…
Daily Devotions
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts.” vss. 29-31a 1 Corinthians 12:27-31a As Paul describes the Church, using the human body as a metaphor, he tells the Corinthians that together we are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it. Within that one body each one has been equipped by the Spirit for…
Daily Devotions
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” vs. 14 Psalm 19:7-14 These words from our psalmist will resonate with any faithful preacher called to proclaim the gospel to any gathered assembly, whether on Zoom or in person. The psalmist had listened to the words of creation and studied the Law with conviction, and he knew that what he had learned would have great value…
Daily Devotions
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 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 Paul believed that the human body was the perfect metaphor for the Church and took care in describing the similarities. In fact, it’s likely because of his influence that we now speak of the Church as the Body of Christ. His primary purpose in using this image…
Daily Devotions
The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.” vss. 1-2 Psalm 19:1-6 The psalmist had an advantage over most of us. In his time, there was no smog to obscure vision in the day, and no light pollution at night. No wonder he’s ecstatic about sky-watching–every time he looked up, day or night he grew in his knowledge of God. Everything he…
Daily Devotions
So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” vs. 8 Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 When the people of Jerusalem wandered back to their home after the time of exile in Babylon, it wasn’t empty. Only the upper classes and nobility had been sent away–the ordinary folks had remained, but not much had been done to repair what had been destroyed. It took many months…
Daily Devotions
Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” vs. 11 John 2:6-11 As we move through the season of Epiphany we are being treated to a passages from our scriptures that show a number of “eureka” moments in the lives of Jesus and his disciples. These are the times when, out of the blue, new and life-changing insights and revelations flash into our consciousness. Even though…