'Divine Mystery' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.” vss. 9-10 Matthew 2:1-12 In Luke’s gospel an angel appears to shepherds outside of Bethlehem to announce the birth of the Messiah, but in Matthew’ gospel it’s a star that gets central billing.…
Daily Devotions
No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” vs. 18 John 1:15-18 From the beginning humans have engaged in speculation about the nature of God, with many religious leaders claiming to have special insights or inside information. Sometimes their descriptions have been compelling enough to gain massive numbers of adherents for their movements. But ultimately, John is right! No one has even seen God!…
Daily Devotions
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” vs. 9 Isaiah 55:6-9 Even though the prophet regularly refers to God as the Lord, it’s likely from what he says that he would also be comfortable with “Divine Mystery” as a way to think of God. The Israelites had been struggling for hundreds of years to get a handle on God but times kept changing and…
Daily Devotions
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” vs. 12 1 Corinthians 13:7-13 Gifted futurists can make a good living with their projections about the direction of life on earth and in the universe. After all, no one can prove them wrong, and their computer modeling is often compelling. We won’t really know if…
Daily Devotions
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” vss. 4b-5 Revelation 1:4b-6 There is a line in the hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,” that is particularly fun for children to sing. Even adults love the sounds of the…
Daily Devotions
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?’” vss. 1-2 Job 38:1-3 The book of Job represents our faith ancestors’ best effort to deal with the injustice of human suffering. It’s a powerful story, one that has been told and retold hundreds of times by succeeding generations. Again and again in the story Job’s friends tell him to acknowledge his guilt, something he refuses to do. For chapter after…
Daily Devotions
When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…” vss. 16-17a Romans 8:15-17 The “Our Father” has been around from the beginning days of the Church. Paul makes reference to it as he writes to the Romans with assurances of God’s love. God is our Father, he tells them, maybe even our “Daddy,” and each…
Daily Devotions
And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’” vs. 3 Isaiah 6: 1-4 Next Sunday is Trinity Sunday in many congregations, and if in-person worship now includes singing, there’s a good chance one of the hymns will be some variation of “Holy, Holy, Holy.” It’s an old standard for many and includes lyrics from the seraph, one of the six-winged creatures from Isaiah’s temple vision.…
Daily Devotions: August 3, 2020
August 3, 2020 1 Kings 19:9-18 … “and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.” vss. 11b-12 Elijah had fled for his life and was hiding in a cave when the word came to him that the Lord was about to pay a visit. He leaves his shelter and endures in…