'faith' Tagged Posts (Page 4)

'faith' Tagged Posts (Page 4)

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…

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

He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom comes. Give us each day our daily bread.’” vss. 3-4 Luke 11:1-4 The disciples had observed that prayer was an important part of each day for Jesus. Most of the time he did it in private early in the morning, but sometimes they could see what he was doing–and they were curious. John had taught his disciples to pray but so far Jesus hadn’t given…

Daily Devotions

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” vss. 6-7 Colossians 2:6-12 The saints in the little congregation at Colossae had heard the gospel and had begun to trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord. There was nothing more for them to hear or learn, all that the Apostle asked was that they…

Daily Devotions

O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart;” vss. 1-2 Psalm 15 This psalmist believed that the Lord had strict standards for all who were a part of the Jewish faith community. This strictness has long been a principal teaching for followers of Christ as well. Some know what it’s like to have every word and deed…

Daily Devotions

Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.” vs. 10 Genesis 18:8-10a Once Abraham and Sarah take over the pages of Genesis her barrenness quickly becomes an issue. How could all the promises made to Abraham be fulfilled if the two of them have no son? The text implies that the problem is Sarah’s. Abraham seems to have…

Daily Devotions

In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” vs. 17 Acts 2:14-21 Luke decided that the best way to describe the explosion of Holy Spirit power that had occurred in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection was to go back to the Hebrew scriptures and the words of the…