'healing' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
Matthew 18:21-27…“Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.’” vss. 21- 22 People who live by faith have come to believe that their relationship to God is totally dependent on God’s unconditional love and never-ending mercy. Even though we live in a broken world, by God’s grace we…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 103:8-13..“As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.” vs. 13 Scripture regularly uses the metaphor “father” to describe the relationship of God to humanity. And because most people have extensive experience with fathers, the metaphor is useful. Here the psalm describes God’s compassion as being like that of a father for his children, and, because we may have experienced a father’s compassion, we have a general sense of what…
Daily Devotions
Genesis 50:19-21..““Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” vs. 20 The whole cycle of the Hebrew ancestral stories comes to a warm and fuzzy end with Joseph’s words to his brothers. Not only does he offer them mercy and forgiveness, but he tells them that even the brokenness of their relationship has been used by God for good. Humans have long…
Daily Devotions
Genesis 50:15-18..“‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” vs. 17 The brothers of Joseph were convinced that once their father died, they would lose their protection, so they made up a story about Jacob’s last wishes. They told Joseph that their father had begged him to forgive the crime of his brothers.…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 15:27-28…“Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.” vs. 28 Periodically in the course of Jesus’ ministry he encountered faith in the most surprising people, and it always impressed him. This pagan woman had irritated his disciples with her loud cries for assistance, and she’d even gotten under his skin a bit, but when she followed up his put- down with a clever…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 14:13-14…“Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.” vs. 13 When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been killed, he withdrew to a deserted place where he could be alone. He needed time for reflection and prayer. But when the crowds had heard the news of John’s death, they wanted to be with Jesus,…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 10:1-8…“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” vss. 5 6a Sometimes as we read the teachings of Jesus in the gospels, seeking to learn his will for our lives, we’re surprised to discover how deeply rooted he was in his Jewish heritage. Here for instance we read that when he sent his disciples…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 9:18-26…“Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well.” vs. 22 As Jesus had traveled through Galilee’s villages and towns in the course of his ministry he had developed a reputation as a healer. When word went out that he was in the area large crowds gathered, often to hear him speak, but also for the ill to receive his healing touch. And when that…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 9:9-13…“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” vs. 9 There is a painting in the Contarelli Chapel in Rome by the Italian master, Caravaggio, called “The Calling of St Matthew.” It shows Jesus, having entered a room, standing and pointing with an outstretched arm at one of five shadowy figures sitting at a table counting money.…
Daily Devotions
Hosea 5:15-6:3…“Come, let us return to the LORD; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up.” vs. 1 Hosea was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century B.C.E. It was a time of turmoil and intrigue, with Israel having allied itself with Syria against Judah. While both Israel and Judah claimed a connection to the Lord, neither seems to have taken…
Daily Devotions
1 Corinthians 12:3b-11…“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” vs. 7 Paul’s words to the Corinthians undermine one of the basic assumptions of contemporary Christianity, namely, that we engage in spiritual practices for the sake of strengthening our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That sounds good and it speaks to our love of individualism as a national creed. But it wasn’t Paul’s vision of the Church. His phrase “for the common good” implies that…
Daily Devotions
John 9:1-12…“The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’” vss.8-9 In John’s story the people had gotten used to the blind man sitting and begging in the street. They saw him every day, and they were comfortable with his…