'hope' Tagged Posts (Page 3)
Daily Devotions
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia…” vss. 9-10a Acts 16:9-12 As Paul traveled through what we know as western Turkey he stopped in the cities where Jews had settled, preached there, and brought the latest news from Jerusalem. Because he did not feel the direction of the…
Daily Devotions
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” vs. 34 John 13:33-35 As it began to be obvious to the disciples that Jesus was going to be leaving them, there was undoubtedly anxiety in their hearts. How could they possibly get along without him? He was their glue. It was because of him that they had come together. Without him wouldn’t they separate and…
Daily Devotions
When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified;’” vs. 31 John 13:31-33 As John wrote his gospel, he treated the departure of Judas from the Passover meal as a sign that the end of Jesus’ brief ministry was near. Death was just around the corner. Jesus knows this but there is no sign of panic and no admission of failure. On the contrary Jesus speaks of this ending…
Daily Devotions
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 Revelation 22:1-5 Occasionally people will fall into an illness which brings them to the brink of death. Doctors will advise family and friends that there is nothing more that can be done, that their loved one is in a coma from which there is likely no return. And…
Daily Devotions
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.” vss. 4-6 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a Having presented love as the more excellent way, Paul now proceeds, in one succinct sentence, to define it. We’re familiar with his definition because we’ve heard it read at countless wedding ceremonies as encapsulating…
Daily Devotions
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” vs. 1 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Paul concluded his lesson on spiritual gifts for the Corinthians by introducing what he called “a more excellent way,” the passage we have come to know as the “Love Chapter” of the bible. He begins with a critique of the practice that had begun to divide the congregation. Some in…
Daily Devotions
And Nehemiah…and Ezra the priest and scribe,… said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.” vs. 9 Nehemiah 8:8-10 When the words of the long-forgotten law were read to the Jews of Jerusalem their initial reaction was one of deep sadness—and they began to weep. We can only guess that their sadness came with the recognition…
Daily Devotions
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” vs. 7 1 Corinthians 11:7-11 From the beginning it has been enormously difficult for humans to recognize that life is communal, particularly when the culture has been taken captive by the curse of individualism. Some actually begin to believe that everything is up to them, and that any talk of the common good is misguided. Our spiritual ancestors would have found such notions ridiculous. For them it…
Daily Devotions
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” vs. 1 Isaiah 43:1-7 Through the centuries Israelites had come to believe that they had a special relationship with God. They weren’t just a scattered group of people, free to do as they pleased with life, they actually belonged to God. They were God’s own…
Daily Devotions
When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.” vss. 9-10 Matthew 2:1-12 In Luke’s gospel an angel appears to shepherds outside of Bethlehem to announce the birth of the Messiah, but in Matthew’ gospel it’s a star that gets central billing.…
Daily Devotions
He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,” vss. 11-12 John 1:10-14 Sometimes we wonder why people are reluctant to acknowledge Jesus as the Incarnate Word of God, particularly when those persons are members of our own families. Yet that’s how it is—and that’s how it’s been from the moment that Jesus began his…
Daily Devotions
In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;” vs. 13 Ephesians 1:11-14 Paul recognized that as people came to faith in Christ there would be a two step process. First they would hear the word of truth, what he called the gospel of salvation. And then, having heard, they would respond by believing; they would trust…