'consequences' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.” vs. 6 Numbers 21:4-9 It’s not uncommon for people to wonder why awful things are happening in their lives. And for people of faith the wondering is often accompanied by the question, “Why is God doing this to me?” Behind the question lurks the popular assumption that when we sin, God will arrange for our punishment, maybe not with poisonous snakes,…
Daily Devotions
After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.” vs. 19 Matthew 25:14-19 Most of us have at least a passing familiarity with what is known as the Parable of the Talents. It’s the story of a rich man going on a journey who entrusts his property to his slaves. One gets five talents, another two, and the third receives just one. When the master returned, he summoned his slaves and settled accounts with…
Daily Devotions
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’” vss. 1-2 John 9:1-7 It was natural for the disciples to have questions about the blind man. In their world, a person blind from birth would be an anomaly, and they wanted to know how and why things like this occurred. There had to be a cause, and they strongly believed that…
Daily Devotions
For forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.’ Therefore in my anger I swore, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” vss. 10-11 Psalm 95 The psalmist was a person of faith and had a profound sense of God’s glory and majesty. He gladly proclaimed that God was the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all that is seen and unseen. He called…
Daily Devotions
Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.” vss. 8-9 Psalm 98:8-9 Many have been waiting for this day for weeks. They’re tired of looking at all the campaign signs and being besieged by unwelcome television ads and unsolicited text messages on their phones. It’s a relief that the…
Daily Devotions
But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.” vs. 2a Malachi 4:1-2a Malachi, like other prophets in Judah, spoke of the coming Day of the Lord, a time in which God would rain down fire and destruction on evil-doers, while also preserving the righteous from any harm. We see that same prophetic discourse in these latter days as we look forward to a future that many believe is fraught with…
Daily Devotions
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live…” vs. 19 Deuteronomy 30:19-20 Those who have drunk deeply from the gospel of grace sometimes don’t quite know what to do with the emphasis on choice that is found in Deuteronomy. We imagine that since salvation is in Christ and not dependent on our works it really doesn’t…
Daily Devotions
He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?’” vs. 2 Luke 13:1-9 Occasionally we catch a glimpse of everyday events in scripture, a little window into what kind of things happened perhaps on a daily basis. In this little fragment saved by Luke we find out that there had been some deaths in the city of Jerusalem, several caused by an act of terror by Pilate,…
Daily Devotions
Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them…O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.” vss. 6, 8 Psalm 99:6-9 Moses, Aaron, and Samuel were great heroes of Israel. Through them this wandering people, freshly removed from Egypt, had become a nation founded on the Law of God, a country…
Daily Devotions
And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb line.’ Then the Lord said, ‘See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;’” vs. 8 Amos 7:7-9 With the aid of a plumb line a worker can always find the true vertical and will know in an instant if a wall is crooked or straight. The prophet Amos uses it as…
Daily Devotions
Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen…’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.” vss. 24, 26 Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 When the disciples wanted to add a person to their ranks to replace Judas, they had two candidates, each with the necessary credentials, so they cast lots, the first century equivalent of flipping a…