'faith' Tagged Posts (Page 2)
Daily Devotions
On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.” vs. 1 Luke 14:1, 7-11 Jesus interacted with a variety of people, and he often accepted dinner invitations from his opponents. On this occasion he was in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and Luke notes that they were watching him closely. They knew that he was unpredictable and that…
Daily Devotions
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” vs. 16 Hebrews 13:15-16 For generations the faith life of the Jewish people had revolved around the sacrificial system, and when some of them had become Christian there was a question about whether those sacrifices were still appropriate. Of course, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans this became a moot point. But there was still within the people a…
Daily Devotions
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’” vs. 5 Hebrews 13:1-8 As the writer to the Hebrews concludes his letter to the Jews who had become Christians, he has some directions for how they shall live their lives. After mentioning the mutual love which binds them together, he advises hospitality toward strangers, a concern for those in prison and…
Daily Devotions
If you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; then you shall take delight in the Lord,” vss. 13b-14a Isaiah 58:13b-14 Those who have spent a lifetime worshipping on a weekly basis probably do so for a variety of reasons. For some it’s simply a habit and they don’t really think too much about it. But…
Daily Devotions
I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” vss. 50-51 Luke 12:49-53 Often, we imagine that Jesus was a man of infinite patience and deep serenity. Today’s text presents a different picture, one that may surprise us. Jesus told his disciples that he was having enormous stress as he…
Daily Devotions
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises…” vss. 32-33 Hebrews 11:29-40 The writer of Hebrews believed that all the heroes and heroines of Israel had lived by faith, just as had the ancestors of them all, Abraham and Sarah. It was a proud history. Yet even though those people had been commended for their…
Daily Devotions
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.” vs. 8 Hebrews 11:8-16 Since Abraham and Sarah are mentioned first among the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Hebrew people, it’s not strange that the writer of Hebrew makes them prime models of faithfulness for his readers. In fact, they get top billing! But as he refers to…
Daily Devotions
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.” vs. 3 Hebrews 11:1-3 Most ancient peoples have wild and convoluted stories about the creation of the world. In these tales’ gods and goddesses engaged in mythic struggles for power and position and in the process all things now seen came into existence. By contrast the Hebrew creation stories seem tame and orderly.…
Daily Devotions
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” vs. 22 Psalm 33:17-22 There is a lot of talk about love among people of faith. After all Jesus commanded his disciples to love both God and neighbor, and from the beginning his followers have done their best to do just that. And even John Lennon jumped on the bandwagon with his hit single, “All We Need Is Love.” There’s probably not a sermon that…
Daily Devotions
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.” vs. 12 Psalm 33:12-17 The psalmist believed that the children of Israel were God’s chosen people. This sentiment appears regularly in the Hebrew scriptures and has continued to be the foundation of Judaism. Even today the nation of Israel sees itself as having that special relationship to the Lord, and there is a credible scriptural basis for that belief. Of course, those…
Daily Devotions
And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” vs. 6 Genesis 15:1-6 It’s just a single verse from one of the ancestral stories in Genesis, yet these few words have had an outsized importance as believers have put together their story of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. Paul used them as the linchpin of his letter to the Romans in his attempt to show that our salvation doesn’t depend on our obedience to works…
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…