'blessings' Tagged Posts (Page 5)
Daily Devotions: November 16, 2019
November 16, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 21:5-9 … “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” vs. 6 When Jesus visited the temple during his lifetime, most of the restoration work begun by Herod the Great would have been completed. His builders had completely remodeled and redone the temple built by the returning exiles from Babylon. Modeled after Roman buildings, it…
Daily Devotions: November 12, 2019
November 12, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 98:1-5 … “O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.” vs. 1 The people of Israel regularly offered praise and thanksgiving to the Lord as they traveled to worship in the temple. Special songs were composed by the Levites and if the country had been enjoying success on the battlefield, the rituals were particularly festive.…
Daily Devotions: June 18, 2019
June 18, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 22:19-23 …“I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:” vs. 22 Many of us are reluctant to do much faith sharing with our friends, and we wouldn’t think of doing it with strangers. It could be our introverted personalities, or maybe we’ve been turned off by encounters with rabid evangelicals of one stripe or another. Whatever the reason, we…
Daily Devotions: February 23, 2019
February 23, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 6:27-31 …“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you… Do to others as you would have them do to you.” vs. 27, 31 In Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, Jesus gives his followers their marching orders in words that we regularly quote but seldom take to heart. It’s just too hard to love enemies and practice the golden rule. It flies in the…
Daily Devotions: February 11, 2019
February 11, 2019 To read full passage click: Jeremiah 17:5-10 …“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.” vss. 7-8a Jeremiah understood that faith is trust and more particularly, trust in the Lord. He based his declaration on his observation of the people he was encountering in his ministry. Those whose trust was in the Lord and not…
Daily Devotions: November 13, 2018
November 13, 2018 For full reading click on Scripture: Psalm 16:1-6 …“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.” vs. 6 As the psalmist reflects on his relationship with the Lord, he recognizes that his life is very good. He has a good family and productive land. His boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places. None of these gifts have come as a result of his own labor. He was simply born in…
Daily Devotions: October 8, 2018
October 8, 2018 Amos 5:6-7, 10-12…“Seek the Lord and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.” vs. 6 King Jeroboam II, of the tribe of Ephraim, one of Joseph’s sons, was riding high. The country of Israel was enjoying a period of unprecedented prosperity and the wealthy were getting even richer. They were hard-pressed to think of what to spend their money on…
Daily Devotions: September 20, 2018
September 20, 2018 James 3:13-18 …“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” vs. 17 The early Christian community embraced this definition of divine wisdom and made it the cornerstone of their life together. It remains for us a perfect description of our highest aspirations as followers of Jesus. Some might consider its sentiments as an ideal, a way of life…
Daily Devotions: May 1, 2018
May 1, 2018 Psalm 98:1-4…”O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.” vs. 1 Periodically, in the context of sharing news about the latest happenings in their lives, people will say “God is good.” By that, they generally mean that life is going well, that there has been healing or reconciliation. Maybe they’ve gotten a good job or gotten an unexpected financial windfall.…