'Holy Spirit' 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
You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” vs. 56 Luke 12:54-56 The people in the crowds who gathered to hear Jesus teach were adept at making weather forecasts. Years of agricultural living had made them experts on interpreting the skies and the winds. They were much more capable than we are when it comes to reading the book of nature. But Jesus…
Daily Devotions
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.” vss. 9-10 Colossians 3:9-11 It’s true, lying is not one of the Ten Commandments, yet there’s probably nothing more destructive to human relationships! And it comes so naturally to us. It’s one of the first things children learn how to do–and…
Daily Devotions
For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” vs. 10 Luke 11:5-13 Jesus doesn’t seem to have any problems with what we might call “unanswered prayer.” In his estimation, that’s virtually unthinkable. Oh, he’s certainly aware of what it’s like to imagine that somehow God has abandoned us or gone on vacation. He knows what those feelings are like. But he knows something about God that we sometimes…
Daily Devotions
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” vss. 6-7 Colossians 2:6-12 The saints in the little congregation at Colossae had heard the gospel and had begun to trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord. There was nothing more for them to hear or learn, all that the Apostle asked was that they…
Daily Devotions
He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” vss. 13-14 Colossians 1:9-13 It’s obvious that we live in a creation that is both good and broken. That’s true whether we are followers of Jesus or on the path of self-indulgence. But there are differences in the way we experience the world, with some being caught up in the powers of…
Daily Devotions
But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’” vss. 10-11 Luke 10:8-11 As we grow older it’s not unusual for us to become more confident in the basic truths of the universe. It’s not that we get smarter or that we…
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” vs. 14 Romans 8:14-17 When we read Paul’s letter to the Romans it’s not easy to understand his carefully reasoned arguments and admonitions. Even when we engage in serious study there are some things that we miss–the words he uses are not familiar to us and we may not even care much about the things he’s passionate about. In general, what he wanted his readers to…
Daily Devotions
In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” vs. 17 Acts 2:14-21 Luke decided that the best way to describe the explosion of Holy Spirit power that had occurred in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection was to go back to the Hebrew scriptures and the words of the…
Daily Devotions
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” vss. 1-2 Acts 2:1-13 It’s not surprising that John and Luke would describe the coming of the Holy Spirit in different ways. If accounts of such a mysterious and wondrous event written down decades apart were identical, we’d likely be suspicious.…