'hope' 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
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.” vs. 7 Psalm 37:1-9 No matter who we are, no matter what our political stance, we are living at a time when it’s possible to be driven to distraction by what “the other side” is doing. And because there is seemingly nothing, we can do to alter the course of events, it’s possible…
Daily Devotions
The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.” vs. 9 Psalm 146:5-9 After his baptism, when Jesus was in the wilderness hammering out the terms of his call in the distracting presence of the devil, he didn’t get a new playbook from the Spirit. When he emerged from the desert, all his preaching and teaching came directly from the words of the prophets and the…
Daily Devotions
Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’” vss. 3a, 4 Luke 16:1-9 Money talks! We all know it. Jesus knew it too. In this parable he shows how the dishonest steward used the power of money to secure his uncertain future. Even if he got…
Daily Devotions
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’” vs. 6 Luke 15:3-10 Because the parable of the lost sheep is so familiar we sometimes don’t even question the lunacy of the shepherd. Even in those pastoral times it’s doubtful that any shepherd would leave ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness and then go searching for one who had gone missing. It doesn’t…
Daily Devotions
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” vs. 8 Psalm 103:1-8 The psalmist would have been surprised to learn that many Christians avoid the Hebrew scriptures as much as they can, having been brainwashed into believing that they contain nothing but tedious laws and stories of a vengeful demanding God. Of course, all we need to do for another perspective is to take time to read those scriptures. The pages of the Old…
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
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” vs. 22 Psalm 33:17-22 There is a lot of talk about love among people of faith. After all Jesus commanded his disciples to love both God and neighbor, and from the beginning his followers have done their best to do just that. And even John Lennon jumped on the bandwagon with his hit single, “All We Need Is Love.” There’s probably not a sermon that…
Daily Devotions
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?” vss. 5-6 Psalm 49:1-12 The psalmist was feeling persecuted by rich folks, those who trust in their wealth and in the abundance of their riches. We know what such people are like. Their names are always before us and we can’t escape the reports of their profligate spending and ostentatious…
Daily Devotions
Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.” vs. 10 Genesis 18:8-10a Once Abraham and Sarah take over the pages of Genesis her barrenness quickly becomes an issue. How could all the promises made to Abraham be fulfilled if the two of them have no son? The text implies that the problem is Sarah’s. Abraham seems to have…
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
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…