'God' Tagged Posts (Page 3)
Daily Devotions
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.” vss. 1-2 Psalm 67:1-3 The psalmist hoped that when other nations saw how God had graciously blessed Israel they too would come to know the Lord as a source of saving power. These words remind us of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light so…
Daily Devotions
for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.” vss. 7b-8 Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 As the prophet revisited God’s plans for Israel after the return from exile in Babylon, he realized that the old exclusive vision had to be revamped. Israel’s God had been too small. Now the prophet looked toward a new Israel that…
Daily Devotions
because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” vs. 9 Romans 10:5-11 Paul taught that the righteousness of God comes as a gift through faith, and not through obedience to the law. To make this clear, he describes the content of faith as confession of Jesus as Lord and belief in the resurrection. Those who have faith, as thus defined, will…
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
The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.” vs. 9 Psalm 145:8-9 These few words from the psalmist contain all the truth that we humans will ever need to hear, and it’s undoubtedly the best news ever, yet we find it enormously hard to believe in our hearts. Oh, we don’t mind hearing that the Lord is good to us, and that God’s compassion includes us. We actually welcome that good news,…
Daily Devotions
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” vs. 13 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 It would be another 300 years or so before church leaders would get together to formalize a primitive notion of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. And some would argue that we’d be better off if those ecumenical creeds had not been formulated. After all, in their attempt to compose one statement…
Daily Devotions
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” vss. 1-2 Genesis 1:1-24 Many of those who take the words of the bible literally believe that the earth is only about 6,000 years old, and that it was created in six days in exactly the way described in Genesis 1. They hang…
Daily Devotions
And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” vs. 46 Matthew 27:33-54 For some people, this saying of Jesus’ from the cross is arguably the most reassuring and hopeful thing that he ever said. For in these few words, Matthew lets us know that Jesus was fully human and at the tortuous end of his life felt totally alienated from God. He felt…
Daily Devotions
And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” vs. 6 Galatians 4:6-7 It’s possible to live without any sense of being in relationship with God. In fact, it’s likely that millions of folks could be put into that category. Some of these have deliberately chosen that way of life; they don’t even pretend to believe in God. Others never give the matter a second thought. They focus entirely on…
Daily Devotions
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” vss. 4-5 Psalm 96 Human beings seem to have a god gene as part of their DNA that drives them to set aside time and energy for worship as a regular activity. Sometimes the object of that worship was found in nature, perhaps a particular mountain or…
Daily Devotions
Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.” vss. 18-19 Psalm 80: 17-19 As we look over the shoulder of the psalmist, we see the prayer that he put in the mouths of worshipers for a time of crisis. It’s not much different from the kind of prayer that many of us might use…
Daily Devotions
Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together. To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.” vss.3-4 Psalm 122 The ancient Israelites were convinced that God was responsible for their existence as a nation, and enshrined regular festivals of thanksgiving in their law codes. And the people were grateful! Ordinary folks recognized their dependence upon a benevolent God for survival and sustenance,…