'God' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.” vss. 3-4 Psalm 146:1-4 This psalmist obviously spoke from experience. He’d lived long enough to realize that princes, no matter how appealing their promises, had a limited life. They wouldn’t be around forever. Because of this reality the psalmist recommended that people put their trust in the Lord, the…
Daily Devotions
Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap…” vss. 5-6 Psalm 113:5-9 While we may not share the psalmist’s belief that God is seated at a distance from the earth, we can certainly agree that God is intimately connected to the poor and the needy. God is, and there is no…
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
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?” vss. 5-6 Psalm 49:1-12 The psalmist was feeling persecuted by rich folks, those who trust in their wealth and in the abundance of their riches. We know what such people are like. Their names are always before us and we can’t escape the reports of their profligate spending and ostentatious…
Daily Devotions
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.” vs. 6 Psalm 138 The psalmist’s insight is precious. He regards the Lord as being high, almost elevated from the plane of the earth, which would fit the notion that some have of the “Big Guy Upstairs.” But that doesn’t mean that he considers God to be somehow removed from humanity. On the contrary he teaches that the Lord is very close…
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” vss. 11-12 Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Most of us are, familiar with these verses from Psalm 91, not because we’ve read them in scripture, but because we’ve heard them sung as one of the verses in “On Eagles’ Wings.” That devotional hymn, dating back to about 1979, has…
Daily Devotions
Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” vss. 1-2 Psalm 111:1-5 From the beginning the wonders of the universe have been admired by all humans! The psalmist calls them the great works of the Lord and adds that they are studied by all who delight in them. Through the centuries…
Daily Devotions
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.” vs. 10 Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Much to Jonah’s chagrin, the people of Nineveh repented and turned from their evil ways and in response, God too repented, and did not bring calamity upon them. His story reminds us of two things, first that it is possible…
Daily Devotions
Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.” vs. 6 Psalm 139:1-6 The relationship that this psalmist had with God went beyond personal. Instead of painting a picture of a God on a throne in heavenly courts or a storm god riding on the clouds,…
Daily Devotions
After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.” vs. 19 Matthew 25:14-19 Most of us have at least a passing familiarity with what is known as the Parable of the Talents. It’s the story of a rich man going on a journey who entrusts his property to his slaves. One gets five talents, another two, and the third receives just one. When the master returned, he summoned his slaves and settled accounts with…