'Heaven' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” vs. 19 1 Corinthians 6:16-20 Some of us who grew up in pietistic homes became accustomed to hearing that much of which we enjoyed doing and that seemed to be fun, was in fact horribly wrong. Our parents scrutinized what we ate or drank, how we behaved, what we read or…
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
And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” vs. 3 John 17:1-5 It’s not unusual for believers to think of eternal life as the new life that awaits them after death. And sometimes they then wonder what they’ll be doing with all that time on their hands. After all, singing in a great heavenly chorus could be fun for a while, but imagine doing it for all…
Daily Devotions
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” vss. 3-4 Psalm 8:1-4 Unlike us the psalmist lived in a time of dark skies; there was nothing of what we call light pollution to spoil his nighttime view of the heavens. And what he saw was astounding. Every clear night the skies would…
Daily Devotions
Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” vss. 13-14 Philippians 3:10-14 Whatever we may think of him, Paul can always be counted on to provide a unitary model for our life in Christ without falling into the trap of dualism.…
Daily Devotions
To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!” vs. 1 Psalm 123 The words of the psalmist are familiar–we’re accustomed to thinking of God as being “up there” someplace. We even talk about praying to the “Man Upstairs” and wondering if “He’s” been watching everything that we’ve been doing. While we can appreciate the psalmist’s piety and even emulate his cry for divine mercy, the imagery is unfortunate. It’s simply not true that…
Daily Devotions: November 10, 2019
November 10, 2019 For full passage: Luke 20:34-38 … “Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.” vs. 36 Like the Pharisees, Jesus believed in the resurrection. He knew that there was life after death and that it was significantly different from life in this world. As to how it is different he doesn’t have a lot to say, just that there will be no such thing as…
Daily Devotions: November 9, 2019
November 9, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 20: 27-33 … “Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, ‘…the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.’” vs. 27, 32-33 The Pharisees and Sadducees, the two major parties among the Jews, disagreed about the resurrection. For the Sadducees, since it wasn’t mentioned in the Torah, it couldn’t be true.…
Daily Devotions: September 28, 2019
September 28, 2020 For full passage click: Luke 16:19-26 … “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.’” vs. 25 This familiar story paints a stark contrast between the fate of the rich and the poor after death and satisfies a basic human desire for ultimate justice. We are reminded that both the rich and the…
Daily Devotions: May 24, 2019
May 24, 2019 For full passage click: Revelation 22:1-5 …“And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” vs. 5 It’s hard not to think of death as we look toward the future. All of us have had loved ones die, and we know that one day our time will come, too. It’s inevitable! No matter how hard we…
Daily Devotions: January 15, 2019
January 15, 2019 To read full passage click: Psalm 36:5-8 …“Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.” vs. 6 It’s not unusual for one of our pets or animal companions to die. In fact, for many children, this is their first experience with the pain, tears, and sorrow that death can bring. Sometimes in their grief they’ll ask if their beloved cat or dog has…
Daily Devotions: December 31, 2018
December 31, 2018 To read full passage click: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 …“He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” vs. 11 We’ve come to the end of another year, and many are thinking about the months that have just slipped away. Some will recall it as the best year ever, full of…