'Christ' Tagged Posts (Page 2)

'Christ' Tagged Posts (Page 2)

Daily Devotions

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me;’” vs. 3 Hebrews 10:5-7 After the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and its elimination as a place of worship and sacrifice, Jewish followers of Jesus scrambled to make sense of what had happened. Bit by bit, as they examined their scriptures, some of them began to understand Jesus’ death as a once for all…

Daily Devotions

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” vs. 36 John 8:31-38 In Christ we live by grace and truth and not by the law–and this is all a gift, not our own doing. Therefore, John tells us, we have been set free, and furthermore as Paul told the Galatians, since we have been set free, we should never again submit to the slavery of the law. These are important truths, ones that we learn to…

Daily Devotions

When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’” vs. 39 Mark 5:35-43 What Jesus said to the mourners at the synagogue leader’s home was crazy–and they knew it! That’s why they laughed at him! They knew the difference between death and sleep, and so do we. That’s why we mourn when someone dies–it’s the natural thing to do. Of course Jesus paid no attention, went…

Daily Devotions

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” vs. 17 John  3:9-17 We are regularly reminded by scripture that followers of Jesus are to be “in the world, but not of the world.” It’s a distinction that can be difficult to maintain as we live out our lives. The world is full of temptations and offers multiple deceptive possibilities for finding happiness and…

Daily Devotions

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” vs. 26 Romans 8:26-27 Praying isn’t always an easy thing, even for believers. Oh, we can do a pretty good job of moving through our daily prayer lists. We know what we would like for the people we love; peace, healing, joy, wisdom–and it’s not hard to just pass our…

Daily Devotions

Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” vs. 5 1 John 5:4b-6 The phrase “conquers the world” conjures up in our minds great Christian armies flying the flag of Christ traveling by land and sea to win victory over pagan peoples in order to bring them into the family of Christ. And indeed there have been times when such armies did range through Europe, Asia, Africa, and the…

Daily Devotions

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants…” vs. 16a Romans 4:13-16 Paul is taking great pains to show the Romans the distinction between the legalisms of Judaism and the freedom he had discovered in Christ. He doesn’t believe that what he is teaching is new. Rather, he tells them that the seeds of this understanding were sown in God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah…

Daily Devotions

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’” Mark 1:14-15 When it comes down to it, the message Jesus had for the Galileans wasn’t much different from that proclaimed by John. “Repent and believe the good news!” It really is pretty basic, and it’s essentially the same message that confronts us when…

Daily Devotions

Matthew 2:1-12 “When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.” vs.10 All around the world star-gazers were out in force on the night of December 21 to observe the “Great Conjunction,” which some were calling the Christmas Star. The planets Jupiter and Saturn had come close together, as close as they’d been in 400 years. Some Christians were saying that this was what the Wise Men had seen as they searched for the infant Jesus…

Daily Devotions

Ephesians 1:3-10 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.” vss. 3-4 The writer of Ephesians knew that the story of the Christ did not begin with Jesus, but in the very origins of the universe. And that’s where our story…

Daily Devotions

Psalm 147:12-20 “He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like crumbs— who can stand before his cold?” vss. 15-17 In Genesis we learn that all things came into existence by the word of God–”and God spoke, and it was good.” The psalmist picks up that theme and describes the word as the agent of creation–even the snows and frosts of winter…

Daily Devotions

John 1:1-14 “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” vs. 14 There is a sense in which the word “Christmas” is misleading. For example, the word itself could give the impression that Christ was born on Christmas, and that just isn’t the case. John tells us clearly that the Christ brought all things into existence and has been around…