'believers' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints–” vss. 3-4 2 Corinthians 8:3-6 A part of Paul’s work as a missionary in the early church included what we might call “advocacy.” A famine was causing severe hardship for the believers in and around Jerusalem, and Paul believed that the congregations in Greece had a responsibility to provide…
Daily Devotions
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” vs. 25 Romans 8:22-25 Hope is a big part of the believer’s journey! Because life is not like a novel there’s no way we can look ahead to the last page and see how the story is going to end, and some days that just drives us crazy. It’s not that we haven’t been told what the future will be like–all kinds of scenarios…
Daily Devotions
Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’” vss. 24-25 Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 Judas had been one of the disciples and later was commissioned by Jesus as one of the twelve apostles. During Jesus’ ministry these Twelve were sent to towns and villages as missionaries, bringing the good…
Daily Devotions
And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.” vss. 17-18 Acts 3:16-19 By the time Luke wrote his gospel and the book of Acts, the community of believers had figured things out. Initially the disciples had been puzzled by the crucifixion of Jesus. Since they had believed him to be the messiah, they didn’t understand…
Daily Devotions
When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?’” vs. 12 Acts 3:12-16 Many believers have a mixed attitude toward miracles. We will gladly pray for healing whenever asked, but then when healings actually occur we are reluctant to call them miraculous. That wasn’t the case among the apostles in Jerusalem during the…
Daily Devotions
Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.” vs. 38 Luke 1:34-38 Mary has come to be revered for many different reasons all around the world. For the Easter Orthodox she is the Theotokos or Mother of God. For some Roman Catholics she is Co-Redemptrix, the redeemer together with Christ of all peoples. For the indigenous people of South America, she is…
Daily Devotions
for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” vss. 35-36 Matthew 25:31-46 Matthew concludes his account of the teaching ministry of Jesus with a parable depicting the last judgment. All nations are gathered before the throne…
Daily Devotions
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” vs. 13 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15 Paul seems to have believed in the imminent return of Jesus, (it’s a common theme of his early letters), and that he would not die before that happened. But as the years passed, people in the congregations he had started began to die, and their…
Daily Devotions
For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” vs. 28 Romans 3:25-28 Paul is clear that all are made righteous by grace, the free gift of God in Christ Jesus, but he also wrote that each person is made righteous by faith, and sometimes this confuses us. We’re forever trying to remember if justification is by grace through faith or by faith through grace. It’s hard to keep it straight, and…
Daily Devotions
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.” vss. 1-2 Philippians 4:1-5 For centuries Pauline scholars have wondered what it was that Euodia and Syntyche had been up to that caused Paul to mention them in his letter to the Philippians. Evidently both were equally culpable, but…
Daily Devotions
Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.” vss. 28-29 Matthew 14:27-33 One of our favorite tricks as believers is to test the reality of Jesus by asking to be able to do something we’ve never done before. Now sometimes when we ask such things, we’re amazed to discover that we are…
Daily Devotions
He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’” vs. 33 Matthew 13:31-33 Jesus was not only familiar with the ways of farmers; he evidently knew his way around the kitchen too. At least he knows the properties of yeast and uses this simple single-celled micro-organism to teach an important lesson about the kingdom of heaven. So often as the…