'Calling' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the Lord.” vs. 20 Jeremiah 15:19-21 Jeremiah did more than his share of lamenting in his short but storied career as a prophet in Jerusalem. The royals had paid no attention to his warnings and oracles and he was lucky to have avoided…
Daily Devotions
As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.” vs. 9 Jeremiah 28:7-9 Jeremiah was suspicious of the prophet Hananiah. It might well be true that Hananiah’s placating message was from the Lord–if so, they’d soon find out. But in Jeremiah’s experience the true prophets always called for repentance and change, and if our scriptures can be trusted, he was right!…
Daily Devotions
Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” vss. 5-6a Exodus 19:2-8a The ancient Hebrews had what some might call an elevated sense of their importance. They fervently believed that they had been set aside by God for a special purpose. Out of all peoples of the…
Daily Devotions
The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” vs. 8 John 3:5-9 The conversation with Jesus wasn’t going well. Nicodemus had been nurtured by a tradition that left nothing for granted. There was an ordinance or commandment for every situation–everything was black and white. So when Jesus said that it was…
Daily Devotions
Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it….” vs. 5 Isaiah 42:1-9 The prophets of Israel understood that the Creator God who had brought all things into existence had given the breath of life to all people. This breath, which could also be called “spirit,” is what animates humans…
Daily Devotions
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” vss. 1-3 Ephesians 4:1-10 Followers of Jesus from the beginning have understood themselves to be his living presence in the world. Early on they began to speak of living…
Daily Devotions
and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.’” vss. 20-21 Mark 3:20-27 According to Mark it took a while for Jesus’ family to adjust to his popularity as he began his ministry. And that’s probably to be expected. He had had what seems to have been a normal childhood and adolescence in Nazareth–there…
Daily Devotions: May 10, 2020
May 10, 2020 John 14:7-14 … “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” vs. 12 Those who put their trust in Jesus in this world shouldn’t have to spend a lot of time figuring out how they’re going to spend their lives. John’s Gospel makes it very clear that disciples will do…
Daily Devotions: January 7, 2020
January 7, 2020 For full passage click: Isaiah 42:1-9 … “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” vs. 1 Isaiah wrote these words with respect to Israel, and he presumed that the nation would be the agent of the Lord’s redemptive power. This was the “new-look-Israel” – a country focused not on tribal expansion, but on being the…
Daily Devotions: August 19, 2019
August 19, 2019 For full passage click: Jeremiah 1:4-6 … “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 did not believe that he was a prophet by chance, nor did he think he had chosen to be one. Rather, he was convinced that what he was doing in Jerusalem was his destiny. God had appointed him even before…
Daily Devotions: February 28, 2019
February 28, 2019 For full passage click: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 …“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 Paul had come a long way from his days as a zealous Pharisee. As he reflected on the old story from Exodus where Moses had veiled his…
Daily Devotions: January 28, 2019
January 28, 2019 To read full passage click: Jeremiah 1:4-7 …“But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.’” vs. 7 The story of Jeremiah’s call gives a perfect example of the special connection that some people of faith have to God. According to his own testimony, Jeremiah knew from his youth that God wanted…
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