'judgment' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” vs. 10 Psalm 103:8-10 Women’s gymnastics has become one of the favorite Olympic events and the semis and finals always show up on primetime television. We enjoy the grace and incredible athleticism of the gymnasts, and anxiously watch the performance of our favorites. There are always missteps and falls, sometimes there is paralyzing anxiety, and in the end only a few end up…
Daily Devotions
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” vss. 41-42 Matthew 13:36-43 The parables of Jesus were short, pithy descriptions of life in the kingdom. Generally they had one main point but were occasionally difficult to understand. In Matthew’s gospel, a few have allegorical descriptions attached…
Daily Devotions
You have heard that it was said…, ‘You shall not murder’; … But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement…” vss. 21a-22a Matthew 5:21-26 Imagine how the religious leaders of Judaism felt as word of Jesus’ teaching ministry traveled through the country. They had spent their lives defending the Law of Moses as God’s blueprint for living, and Jesus in his very first public pronouncements made a…
Daily Devotions
Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.” vs. 1 Psalm 119:1-8 The psalmist obviously believed that it was possible to walk in the way of the Lord by keeping all of the law’s ordinances and commandments. He says that such persons would be blameless and receive the gift of happiness. While there are few people among us who are concerned about keeping all the precepts of the law, there are those who…
Daily Devotions
Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples…” vss. 6-7 Psalm 149:6-9 In the psalmist’s apocalyptic vision, those heavenly choirs would do more than sing praises to God. It would be their pleasure to take two-edged swords and execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples as God’s chosen instruments of judgment. That kind of language has long had…
Daily Devotions
See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” vss. 12-13 Revelation 22:12-14 From the beginning, Christian believers realized that there was a huge discrepancy between the peaceable kingdom promised by Jesus and the actual realities of life. And while they could in their faith communities experience the joy that came with loving and serving, they…
Daily Devotions
But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed.” vs. 23 Luke 23;13-30 According to Luke, Pilate had conducted some sort of judicial examination of Jesus and had found no reason to keep him imprisoned–he was not guilty of the charges against him. But that made no difference to the crowd–they had been convinced by the lies of the religious leaders and demanded that Jesus be crucified. That’s still how it is…
Daily Devotions: December 13, 2019
December 13, 2019 For full passage click: James 5:9-10 … “Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!” vs. 9 James was fed up with the grumbling among the local followers of Jesus and he wasn’t above using scare tactics to straighten them out. He mentions that the Judge is near at hand and if they don’t want to be judged, they should stop the squabbling.…
Daily Devotions: February 12, 2019
February 12, 2019 To read full passage click: Psalm 1 …“Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” vss. 5-6 This psalmist lived in a black and white world, rigidly divided between the righteous and the wicked. It’s a way of thinking familiar to us. We love to make distinctions and, while we…
Daily Devotions: January 31, 2019
January 31, 2019 To read full passage click: 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 …“And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” vs. 2 Occasionally we meet the people who Paul describes so well. Sometimes they’re the pillars of congregations, steeped in biblical knowledge and able to answer any theological question. They’re clever and gifted people, generous in their…
Daily Devotions: June 14 , 2018
June 14, 2018 Corinthians 5:6-10…“For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.” vs. 10 As followers of Jesus pick and choose their favorite passages of scripture, they often skip over verses like this one from Paul. Those who bask in the grace freely offered by God are troubled by intimations that there might one day be a time…