'devotions' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.” vs. 14 Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14 Hebrew people, and its writer, self-described as Koholoth or Teacher, takes on the persona of Solomon, a man described in the first book of Kings as the wisest person in the world. He says that he “applied (his) mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.” What…
Daily Devotions
For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” vs. 10 Luke 11:5-13 Jesus doesn’t seem to have any problems with what we might call “unanswered prayer.” In his estimation, that’s virtually unthinkable. Oh, he’s certainly aware of what it’s like to imagine that somehow God has abandoned us or gone on vacation. He knows what those feelings are like. But he knows something about God that we sometimes…
Daily Devotions
At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay.” vs. 33 Acts 16:25-34 There’s a freedom that flows through Luke’s account of the acts of the Apostle’s. The principal actors haven’t been trained in mission development, and they don’t seem to know the rituals that are so significant in our congregations. Paul doesn’t distinguish between infant and adult baptisms, and he fails to give basic…
Daily Devotions
And in the spirit, he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.” vs. 10 Revelation 21:10, 22-27 The city of Jerusalem has had enormous significance through the centuries, ever since David made it the capital of Israel over 3000 years ago. It’s been besieged, destroyed, and rebuilt dozens of times and even today is regarded as holy by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Its streets are…
Daily Devotions
The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us. May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.” vss. 6-7 Psalm 67 As the psalmist surveyed the world from his perch on the mountains of Judah, he could not help but see all the benefits that had been showered upon the land. Not only were fields and vineyards producing an abundance, riches and goods from the ends of the earth were…
Daily Devotions
“…they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” vss. 3b-4 Revelation 21:1-6 As John comes to the close of his vision, he leaves us with words that resonate with every person who has ever walked the face of the earth. In the new creation, he boldly asserts,…
Daily Devotions
“Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds! Young men and women alike, old and young together! Let them praise the name of the Lord…” vss. 9, 10, 12, 13a Psalm 148:7-14 Having covered the heavens, the psalmist still wasn’t done! Echoing Genesis 1 he credits the Lord with all that has been brought forth upon the earth, and nothing is excluded. Even snowstorms, mountains, sea monsters, creeping things…
Daily Devotions
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.” vss. 1-4 Hebrews 1:1-4 After Jesus’ death and resurrection, it took a couple of generations for his followers to sort out their differences and arrive at some sort of common understanding of his significance. Initially the greatest conflict…
Daily Devotions
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” vs. 34 Mark 8:34-38 Jesus certainly didn’t try to lure people into becoming his disciples by offering them promises of financial gain or material success. Instead he tells them that the way to new life was through self-denial. In order to save their lives, they would have to lose them.…
Daily Devotions
Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” vs. 15 Joshua 24:15-18 It was crunch time for the Israelites. They were in the Promised Land and now Joshua wanted to know who they intended to serve. There hadn’t been many options in the barren waste of the wilderness, but now they were living in a land where there were a…
Daily Devotions
And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” vs. 41 Mark 4:39-41 Mark concludes this little story of the stormy sea with a question and his intention in using it is clear. Centuries before in Psalm 107 the psalmist had written, “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress; he made the storm be…
Daily Devotions
The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon… In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap…” vss. 12, 14 Psalm 92:11-15 This psalmist had seen firsthand that the righteous flourish in the community of faith. Their obedience and reverence for the Lord brought encouragement to all the believers. In their presence good works were obvious and they never stopped growing, but more than that, and this is…