'grace' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
For this reason, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” vs. 6 2 Timothy 1:6-14 This verse will remind many believers of their confirmation day, that ritual in which confirmands receive the laying on of hands as they affirm their baptisms. The pastor places both…
Daily Devotions
Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’” vss. 3a, 4 Luke 16:1-9 Money talks! We all know it. Jesus knew it too. In this parable he shows how the dishonest steward used the power of money to secure his uncertain future. Even if he got…
Daily Devotions
This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” vss. 3-4 1 Timothy 2:3-7 The early Christians had no problem praying for the leaders of the Empire because they believed that God desired everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. There were no exceptions! Sometimes in our efforts to combat the brokenness of this world we…
Daily Devotions
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’” vs. 6 Luke 15:3-10 Because the parable of the lost sheep is so familiar we sometimes don’t even question the lunacy of the shepherd. Even in those pastoral times it’s doubtful that any shepherd would leave ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness and then go searching for one who had gone missing. It doesn’t…
Daily Devotions
I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence.” vss. 12-13a 1 Timothy 1:12-14 Because the Pastoral Epistles (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) differ in both style and substance from other Pauline letters, some have presumed that they come from an anonymous hand later in the first century. While it’s impossible…
Daily Devotions
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before your life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live…” vs. 19 Deuteronomy 30:17-20 Deuteronomy tells us that obedience for the Israelites was a binary choice: there were only two options regarding the Law. The people could either obey or not obey. Obedience would bring them life and disobedience meant death. Now it’s certainly true that choices are…
Daily Devotions
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.” vss. 10-11 Luke 13:10-14 When Jesus saw the bent woman in the synagogue crowd as he was teaching on the sabbath, he couldn’t contain himself. Even though he knew there was a law against healing on the sabbath, he…
Daily Devotions
If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness.” vss. 9b-10 Isaiah 58:9b-12 In recent weeks we have seen multiple photos and videos from occupied Gaza that show the radical effects of hunger and starvation. Hundreds have died and many more hundreds have died in their efforts to reach…
Daily Devotions
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” vs. 22 Psalm 33:17-22 There is a lot of talk about love among people of faith. After all Jesus commanded his disciples to love both God and neighbor, and from the beginning his followers have done their best to do just that. And even John Lennon jumped on the bandwagon with his hit single, “All We Need Is Love.” There’s probably not a sermon that…
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
God made you alive together with (Christ), when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.” vss. 13b-14 Colossians 2:13-15 Paul assures the Colossians that everything necessary for their salvation has already taken place in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That statement alone has provided great consolation for believers through the centuries. It’s so good to know that there isn’t…
Daily Devotions
But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’” vss. 41-42 Luke 10:41-42 Jesus’ repetition of Martha’s name is an indication of his affection for her. This is how reproving words are prefaced when addressed to someone we loved. “Martha, Martha,” he said, “you are such a caring person and concerned about many…