'Jesus' Tagged Posts (Page 5)
Daily Devotions
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.” vs. 2 Micah 5:2-3 Micah lived near Jerusalem during the time Judah was being threatened by the massive Assyrian Empire. Their armies had already ravaged the northern kingdom of Israel and thousands of refugees had fled south. As a prophet Micah not…
Daily Devotions
Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you Iwait all day long.” vs. 5 Psalm 25:1-10 The psalmist didn’t have the convenience of artificial intelligence or social media, so when he wanted to know the truth he turned to the Lord. The question is, if we wanted to do the same thing, where would we go and what would we do? Would we pore over scripture? Since many of us…
Daily Devotions
He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.” vs. 41 Mark 12:41-44 It’s fascinating to read in Mark that while he was in Jerusalem Jesus took time away from his teaching to sit down by the treasury and watch people give. He knew that there is no better way to gauge what is in a person’s heart than to observe their giving habits. That’s one of…
Daily Devotions
Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.’” vs. 39 John 11:38-44 Ever the pragmatist Martha objected when Jesus ordered the stone to be rolled away. She knew how long Lazarus had been dead, and she knew that his body would have begun to decompose. The stench would have been overwhelming. That’s how it was with death and Martha…
Daily Devotions
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” vs. 32 John 11:32-37 Mary’s words should not surprise us. They reflect a desire to assess blame in the face of death or some other calamity. Some of us have done the same thing. When things don’t go our way, the first impulse is to find a reason, and we…
Daily Devotions
He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more…” vss. 3b-4 Revelation 21: 3-6a Many people wonder about their loved ones when death occurs, and questions abound. We would love to have concrete answers but the best we can do is speculate. Some are comforted by accounts reported by folks…
Daily Devotions
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’” vs. 25 Mark 10:23-31 In some ways the world that Jesus lived in was not that much different from our own. There were huge disparities between the rich and the poor, people complained about taxes, and the wealthy controlled everything. And to the amazement of his disciples, Jesus never had anything good to say…
Daily Devotions
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’” vs. 21 Mark 10:17-22 Jesus had been teaching about the cost of discipleship, and now the question of the good rich man gave him a vivid real life illustration. When the man heard Jesus’ words, Mark says, he was shocked and went away grieving. And…
Daily Devotions
Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.” vs. 16 Psalm 90:4-7 The psalmist is praying that the wondrous work of God would be manifest to all the congregation. There really is nothing better than to be a part of a community that recognizes the goodness of the world, and who are working together to bring healing and restoration to its brokenness. So we like it when our friends can see the fingerprints…
Daily Devotions
People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them.” vs. 13 Mark 10:2-12 It’s hard to know what the disciples were thinking. We do know that Jesus was heavily involved in teaching and perhaps they considered the children to be a distraction. Perhaps they were like ushers in our worship services who advise mothers to take their crying babies to the nursery so the preacher’s every word can…
Daily Devotions
Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” vs. 9 Mark 10:2-12 The Pharisees regularly accused Jesus of being lax about matters of the law, but Jesus wasn’t really lax about anything. Of course he thought their rules about healing on the sabbath were malarkey, but he maintained that the law itself was corrupt. In the case of marriage Deuteronomy allowed a man to divorce his wife if he found something objectionable about her. Jesus told the Pharisees…
Daily Devotions
It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” vs. 10 Hebrews 2:5-12 The many references to suffering in our scriptures reflects its universal presence in the human community. Every generation has struggled with both personal and communal encounters with violence, injustice, oppression, and torture, and those concerns are lifted up in all parts of the bible. The writers were…