Daily Devotions by Steve Holm (Page 89)
Daily Devotions
I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need…” vss. 13-14a 2 Corinthians 8:11-15 It seems that some people in the Corinthian congregation were reluctant to share their hard-earned money with the needy folks in Jerusalem. Such feelings are quite common, even in the family of faith. And the more material goods we’ve managed to accumulate the more…
Daily Devotions
Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.” vs. 7 2 Corinthians 8:7-11 There had been a massive famine in the area of Jerusalem and the Jewish Christians there were struggling mightily. When Paul heard he launched a massive disaster response effort in the congregations he had started. Instructions were sent out to gather a collection that could…
Daily Devotions
You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,” vs. 11 Psalm 30:6-12 The psalmist had a strong sense of having lived in the Lord’s favor through his entire life. There had been times when things had not gone well for him but he didn’t doubt that the Lord had his back. He knew that ultimately God’s underlying love would lift him up, and that hope never abandoned him when times…
Daily devotions
For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” vs. 5 Psalm 30:1-5 The psalmist was intimately aware of the Divine Presence; he knew that the Lord was connected to him in every conceivable way. There would never be a time when God was absent. It’s natural in such a relationship to have feelings of regret and sadness about words or deeds, and…
Daily Devotions
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” vss. 22-23 Lamentations 3:22-33 These are words one might expect from a lottery winner, someone who has been the beneficiary of a sudden windfall. In reality they come from a prophet who has seen and experienced the complete devastation of city and country, a person familiar with starvation and lingering death. And that’s how it has…
Daily Devotions
And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” vs. 41 Mark 4:39-41 Mark closes his little story with a question that he knew most every devout Jew should be able to answer. Who is it that even the winds and the waves obey? It was in their psalms–they sang about it regularly. It was the Lord who wielded such control over the forces…
Daily Devotions
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” vs. 38 Mark 4:35-38 Mark’s little story raises a big question for a literalist reader. How could Jesus sleep through a windstorm that was swamping the boat? Answers for our question could vary–perhaps he was an introvert and had gotten exhausted with all the extroverting involved in ministry, and had collapsed like…
Daily Devotions
We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours.” vss. 11-12 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 Even though Paul mounts a spirited defense of his ministry to the Corinthians he does not expect that their relationship will be destroyed, and there is no hint that he holds any animosity. He loves them very much and even though they’ve expressed some negativity about his teachings, it has…
Daily Devotions
We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way…” vss. 3-4 2 Corinthians 6:1-8a We can’t be sure about what was going on in Corinth–all we have is a couple of letters written by Paul to address his concerns. But from what he says we can be pretty confident that he was getting some blowback from his old friends.…
Daily Devotions
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” vs. 1 Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 As the psalmist looked at the history of his people, he saw a recurring theme. Whenever people got in any kind of trouble, whenever disaster threatened, they would cry out to the Lord and they would be delivered. That happened, the psalmist reasoned, because the Lord is good and “his steadfast love endures forever.” Because this is the nature…
Daily Devotions
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?” vss. 4-5 Job 38:4-11 The writer shows the Lord reverting to sarcasm in his response to Job’s laments, implying that Job didn’t know squat when it came to the creation of the earth. It’s an amusing section and points to the basic deficiency we humans have when it comes to…
Daily Devotions
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?’” vss. 1-2 Job 38:1-3 The book of Job represents our faith ancestors’ best effort to deal with the injustice of human suffering. It’s a powerful story, one that has been told and retold hundreds of times by succeeding generations. Again and again in the story Job’s friends tell him to acknowledge his guilt, something he refuses to do. For chapter after…