'God' Tagged Posts (Page 5)
Daily Devotions: May 29, 2019
May 29, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 97 …“Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.” vs. 2 The psalmist didn’t wonder in his heart whether or not there was a god. For him such a notion was beyond question. But he also knew that God was cloaked in mystery and was often obscured by the clouds and darkness of our lives. We know that feeling, too. Those of us…
Daily Devotions: May 15, 2019
May 15, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 148:1-6 …“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.” vs. 5 The psalmist knew that all things in the universe have their origin in God: stars, planets, angels, sun, moon–all things! By the word of the Lord they were created, and in the name of the Lord they offer praise and thanksgiving. Our eyes have become dulled to the connection between God and the stuff…
Daily Devotions: May 3, 2019
May 3, 2019 For full passage click: Revelation 5:11-14 …“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’” vs. 13 We who pride ourselves on our rational thinking and scientific view of the universe, don’t quite know what to do with the…
Daily Devotions: April 20, 2018
April 20, 2018 1 John 3:21-24…“All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.” vs. 24 Scripture teaches us that God is…beyond that there is little that we can know. We can assign attributes based on our highest human values, but those assignments usually say more about us than about God. God is inscrutable and unknowable, a frustrating…
Daily Devotions: April 17, 2018
April 17, 2018 Acts 4:8-12…“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” vs. 12 The disciples were ecstatic! They had such good news for their leaders…and for the entire world. Through the Holy Spirit they had come to believe that Jesus was the Christ and that through him God’s salvation had come to humanity. As they traveled about proclaiming that audacious message it seemed…
Daily Devotions: April 16, 2018
April 16, 2018 Acts 4:5-7…“When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’” vs. 7 When the religious authorities in Jerusalem heard that the disciples were preaching that Jesus had been raised from the dead and were actually healing the sick, they ordered them to be arrested. They weren’t an impressive group–just a few Galilean fishermen and some hangers-on. When the wealthy, well-educated priestly types saw…
Daily Devotions: April 15, 2018
April 15, 2018 Luke 24:44-48…“Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,” vs. 45 Being familiar with the scriptures wasn’t enough for the disciples to have a clue about what had happened in Jesus. Nowhere was there a straightforward indication that the promised messiah would suffer, be crucified as a criminal, and then die. One option would have been for them to completely abandon the Hebrew scriptures and focus on building a new faith tradition–something no one ever seriously…
Daily Devotions: April 14, 2018
April 14, 2018 Luke 24:36b-43…“While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’” vs 41 While the experience of resurrection had galvanized the disciples of Jesus, there were plenty of questions remaining. In Luke’s story, multiple appearances weren’t enough to convince them and they needed further proof that he was really alive. Two thousand years later we’re still dealing with those same feelings! It’s wonderful to be able to…
Daily Devotions: April 13, 2018
April 13, 2018 1 John 3:4-7…“No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.” vs. 6 Those who earnestly try to live by scriptural teachings can get tied in knots by what seem to be contrary messages. On the one hand we are told that all are sinners, and if we say we have no sin, we are liars. But the same writer then turns around and tells us that no…
Daily Devotions: April 12, 2018
April 12, 2018 1 John 3:1-3…“And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” vs. 3 John is happy to tell his readers that God loves them and that they are God’s children. He writes, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” What a powerful affirmation! This really is the core of the good news. Just think of it,…
Daily Devotions: April 11, 2018
April 11, 2018 Psalm 4…“When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent.” Vs. 4 It’s impossible to live without becoming disturbed about some encounter or experience, and we can never predict what sort of thing might set us off. It could be some major calamity or just some small thing, a conversation or maybe a text that provokes our anxiety receptors. In these moments our minds go wild, blood pressure may increase, and…
Daily Devotions: April 10, 2018
April 10, 2018 Acts 3:15-19…“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.” vss. 17-18 Once the disciples had come to believe that the suffering messiah was a part of God’s plan for salvation, it was relatively easy for them to give the leaders of their people the benefit of the doubt. Since those leaders had…