'grace' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” vss. 34-35 Matthew 18:23-34 Unlike some of Jesus’ other parables the story of the unmerciful slave is pretty straightforward and easy to understand. What the slave did was despicable and the anger of his master was justified. The…
Daily Devotions
But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’” Matthew 16:21-23 Matthew’s irony is unmistakable! The “Rock” on which Jesus intended to build his church had become a stumbling block to him, and the Rock’s error has been a lesson for Christians of every age, and the mistake is so clear it’s a wonder that anyone can…
Daily Devotions
But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” vs. 14 Romans 10:12-15 Paul believed with all his heart in universal salvation, that there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles, and that God’s love extends to all. But he also feared that until people believed this, they would not…
Daily Devotions
Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.” vs. 19 Matthew 14:18-21 The miracle of Jesus feeding the multitude with a few loaves of bread was a favorite of the gospel writers, appearing six times in all, twice in Matthew and Mark. And while…
Daily Devotions
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” vs. 1 Isaiah 55:1-5 No kitchen is complete without one or more plaques or posters that claim to capture the essence of life in just a few words or phrases. One saying that’s particularly memorable is this, “The best things in life…aren’t things.” It’s cleverly put, easily remembered, and captures the essence…
Daily Devotions
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” vss. 1-2 Romans 8:1-6 Even though it drove Paul crazy to keep on doing the things that he didn’t want to do, and he couldn’t stop doing them no matter how hard he tried, he did not despair. He knew that God would not…
Daily Devotions
The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” vss. 10-11 Romans 6:6-11 Paul has some large expectations for those who have been baptized into Christ and who dare to call themselves his followers. We are not to be content with muddling along in life and blindly following the ways of the world.…
Daily Devotions
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” vs. 8 Romans 5:6-8 It’s easy to slide into believing that God’s love is conditional, mostly because that’s generally the nature of human love. Even the best of us will ultimately run out of patience when friends and family let us down. As we’re quick to tell one another, “Forgiveness has its limits!” It’s just too hard to keep on letting…
Daily Devotions
For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham…” vs. 16 Romans 4:13-17 As Paul searches the scriptures in his attempt to communicate the wonder of the gospel to the Romans, he decides to use Abraham and not Moses as the model for the new life in Christ.…
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
But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” vs. 10 Romans 8:10-11 In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells them that they are both sinful and redeemed at the same time, and this side of the grave, that’s the way it’s always going to be. It’s not easy for us to get our heads around this paradox–essentially it means believing opposite things at the same time.…
Daily Devotions
Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided.” vs. 16 John 9:8-16 The blind man must have cleaned up pretty well. When he returned from washing in the pool of Siloam many of his neighbors didn’t recognize him. His newfound sight had made him a different person, and the whole neighborhood was…