'Holy Spirit' Tagged Posts (Page 5)
Daily Devotions
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” vs. 4 Mark 1:1-4 When Mark wrote his gospel, very likely the first of the four we have in the New Testament, he didn’t include any stories about angels or shepherds or the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. Perhaps he hadn’t heard of such things. But he does know about John the baptizer and his ministry in the wilderness of Judea, and…
Daily Devotions
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ… may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you…” vss. 7-8a Ephesians 1:15-23 Paul doesn’t seem to have known the people that he was writing to, but he has certainly heard of their faith, and he regularly includes them in his prayers…
Daily Devotions
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” vss. 2-3 Psalm 95:1-7a Thanksgiving is on everyone’s minds today. At least the eating and drinking part! Most of us are preparing for an amazing feast, and in most of our homes we’re going to be eating pretty much the same things. It seems we all…
Daily Devotions
Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light; as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear…” vss. 18-19a Amos 5:18-20 When Amos came out of the south and into the prosperous north with a word from the Lord, he wasn’t going to a people who were unfamiliar with the traditions of Israel. There were religious leaders and active worship…
Daily Devotions
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” vs. 2 1 John 3:2-3 John leaves room for mystery in our future. We don’t yet know what we one day will be, but what we do know is that right now, today, we are God’s beloved children. For most that will…
Daily Devotions
For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” vs. 28 Romans 3:25-28 Paul is clear that all are made righteous by grace, the free gift of God in Christ Jesus, but he also wrote that each person is made righteous by faith, and sometimes this confuses us. We’re forever trying to remember if justification is by grace through faith or by faith through grace. It’s hard to keep it straight, and…
Daily Devotions
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” vs. 33 Jeremiah 31:31-34 The book of Jeremiah is full of laments. The prophet was no fool and he could see that the old covenant that Israel had taken so much pride in…
Daily Devotions
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” vss. 6-7 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10 It’s easy for congregations to begin to think of the church in narrow and parochial terms. A pastor gathers a community of believers who begin to worship and who then organize themselves in councils…
Daily Devotions
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.” vs, 7 Psalm 96:1-9 To his credit, the psalmist did not consider the Lord to be Israel’s national God. Even though there was a temple in Jerusalem, there was no statue of the Lord to be found there. The God of Israel was also the God of the nations, and the psalmist dreamed of a day when all the families of the peoples would…
Daily Devotions
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” vs. 1 Romans 12:1-2 When Paul was making his own decisions about life he used his personality and his learning to launch a crusade against Jews who believed that Jesus was the messiah. After he was confronted by the living Christ everything changed. Moved by the gospel of grace,…
Daily Devotions
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” vss.15-16 Romans 8:12-18 When we, by the grace of God, begin to lead lives that bring us joy and that are a blessing to others, it’s not because we have somehow found the strength in ourselves to…
Daily Devotions
No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.” vs. 13 Romans 6:12-16 Paul implies here that the folks in Rome had an option to present themselves either to sin as instruments of wickedness or to God as instruments of righteousness. His words resonate with our own observations of the world and our…