'Freedom' Tagged Posts

'Freedom' Tagged Posts

Daily Devotions

Matthew 18:21-27…“Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.’” vss. 21- 22 People who live by faith have come to believe that their relationship to God is totally dependent on God’s unconditional love and never-ending mercy. Even though we live in a broken world, by God’s grace we…

Daily Devotions

Romans 14:7-12…“Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” vs. 10 Paul couldn’t understand how the faithful could harbor such hatred against other members of their community simply because they had different ways of practicing what they believed. It seemed bizarre to  him that they would expend such energy in judging others–ultimately that wasn’t even their job!…

Daily Devotions

Romans 14:1-6…“Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.” vs. 1 Congregations are full of people with varying opinions about any number of practices and beliefs. Paul had discovered that the Romans regularly got fired up about their diets. Some refused to eat meat because it came from pagan sacrifices. Others thought that was foolish. For them, eating meat wasn’t a faith…

Daily Devotions

Romans 8:12-17…“For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.” vs. 15 When Jesus spoke to his disciples after his resurrection, the first words out of his mouth were, “Do not be afraid.” In fact they’d heard that phrase regularly from him throughout his ministry. Whatever situation they were in he wanted them to know that everything was going to be okay, that all would be well.…

Daily Devotions

Romans 7:21-25a…“Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” vss. 24-25a Paul had concluded that there was absolutely nothing that he could do to help himself. No matter how hard he tried, no matter what kind of self-talk he used, no matter how many self-help books he read, there was no way he could escape his addiction to sin. It was impossible! And after a…

Daily Devotions

Zechariah 9:9-12…“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” vs. 9 When the Babylonian exiles returned to Judea, they were full of hope and anticipated that this might be the beginning of a new era for Israel, but their dreams quickly dissipated as old rivalries surfaced and the different factions began jockeying for…

Daily Devotions

Romans 6: 5-11…“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” vs. 11 Sometimes Paul comes across as a hectoring and scolding parent in his letters to the early believers in their little house churches. Like some pastors, he can turn the good news of the gospel into some new impossible commandment. We might even wonder why he makes the plain truth seem so complicated. But as he gives vent to his passions…

Daily Devotions

Exodus 19:2-4…“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” vs. 4 When the Israelites had made their way through the wilderness to the foot of Mount Sinai, Moses went up the mountain to consult with the Lord. When he returned to the people he reported that God had raised them up on eagles’ wings and brought them out of Egypt so that they might be a…

Daily Devotions

So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” vs. 36             Romans 8:34-36 Jesus had a sense that people weren’t nearly so free as they thought they were. Not all prisons have bars, and we can be captive in a whole variety of ways. He said it plainly, “Anyone who commits sin is a slave to sin,” and that includes pretty much all of us. Like Paul said some years later, “All have sinned and fall short…