'Elijah' Tagged Posts

'Elijah' Tagged Posts

Daily Devotions

As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.” vs. 11 2 Kings 2:9-12 Some have suggested that this little story from the Hebrew scriptures is an ancient account of an alien abduction, that the chariot of fire was a spacecraft of some sort, and that Elijah was carried off to some unknown planet in a faraway galaxy. While that claim is…

Daily Devotions

and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.” vss. 12-13a 1 Kings 19:11-21 Huddled in his cave, Elijah waited for the Lord to make an appearance. First came a great wind, then an earthquake, and finally a great fire, but the Lord was…

Daily Devotions

At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” vs. 9     1 Kings 19:9-10 Elijah was on the run. Queen Jezebel and the prophets of Baal had forced him to flee for his life and he’d gone south into the desert mountains of the Sinai Peninsula. There in a cave, isolated from his country and kindred, he spent the night,…

Daily Devotions

He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.” vs. 21 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 Elijah was the first of the prophets to appear in the ancient stories that were so cherished by the Israelites. People loved to read about his exploits as a defender of…

Daily Devotions

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’” vs. 4 1 Kings 19:4-8 Elijah had been quite successful in battling with the prophets of Baal in Israel, but Queen Jezebel was a formidable foe and he fled for his life. He was done! Alone…

Daily Devotions

Psalm 25:1-9 … “Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters.” vss. 2-3 There are some who say that this psalm reflects a quite primitive view of God, a throwback to a Thor-like god who throws his hammer to produce the lightning and thunder of a summer storm. And it’s true that our ancestors,…

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…

Daily Devotions: March 11, 2018

March 11, 2018 John 3:19-21 … “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” vs. 19 The contrast between light and darkness was an important one in the gospel of John. In his prologue he describes the Word as the light of the world, a light which darkness was not able to overcome. In this section, he tells his readers that even though…

Daily Devotions: March 10, 2018

March 10, 2018 John 3:14-18 …“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” vss. 14-15 We can wonder a lot about the writers of the gospels, who they were and why they were motivated to write. Obviously they never guessed that the simple stories they put together would face the unrelenting scrutiny of Greek scholars around the world. But…

Daily Devotions: March 9, 2018

March 9, 2018            Ephesians 2:6-10 … “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” vs. 10  God hasn’t given us all of these amazing gifts of grace as an exercise in generosity; but—because God is madly in love with us, and there’s a method to God’s madness. In Christ Jesus, specifically in his resurrection, there’s been a new creation in which we were…

Daily Devotions: March 8, 2018

March 8, 2018            Ephesians 2:1-5 … “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” vss. 4-5  All humans are pretty much the same. We all have strong passions, what the writer of Ephesians calls the desires of the flesh. And those passions aren’t intrinsically good or bad, that’s just the way we’re…

Daily Devotions: March 7, 2018

March 7, 2018 Psalm 107:17-22 … “Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.” vss. 17-18 The psalmist was a realist. As he looked at his people’s history and saw the way so many suffered, it was obvious that they were reaping the consequences of their careless decisions. That continues to be the way it is for so many.…