'love' Tagged Posts (Page 19)
Daily Devotions
Jeremiah 15:15-21 … “I did not sit in the company of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice; under the weight of your hand I sat alone, for you had filled me with indignation.” vs. 17 When the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah he had been filled with joy and gladness. He was thrilled to be called by the name of the Lord and gladly began his prophetic ministry among the people. But his work did not bring him joy;…
Daily Devotions: June 10, 2020
June 10, 2020 Psalm 100 … “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” vs. 5 It’s easy to be distracted when we’re fed a mind-numbing stream of images, tweets, videos, and memes from every direction nearly every day. We get caught up in the charges and countercharges and are overwhelmed by the sense that evil is ruling in our world and that humanity is doomed. We can’t seem to shake the…
Daily Devotions: May 16, 2020
May 16, 2020 John 14:15-17 … “This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” vs. 17 Spirit-talk is almost always mysterious; it’s the language we use when we try to describe the everyday nearness of God, and that’s close to an impossible task. Some people, many people maybe, never seem to get what we’re saying…
Daily Devotions: April 9, 2020
April 9, 2020 John 13:1-17, 31b-35 … “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” vs. 34 Maundy Thursday gets its name from a derivation of the Latin word mandatum, which means commandment. It’s a day set aside in the church, not to remember the origins of Holy Communion, but to remind us of the new commandment that Jesus gave his disciples at their last…
Daily Devotions: February 29, 2020
February 29, 2020 Romans 5:12-19 … “Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.” vs. 18 In Paul’s estimation, the Gospel can be understood logically. Just as Adam’s sin led to condemnation for all, so Jesus’ righteous act leads to life for all! In his mind, it’s as simple as that! Now we might find good reasons to argue with Paul’s syllogism, but there’s a…
Daily Devotions: February 17, 2020
February 17, 2020 For full passage click: Exodus 24:12-18 … “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’” vs. 12 According to the Exodus tradition, the law and the commandment came directly from the Lord, with Moses as an intermediary. Those tablets of stone became the focus of community life for…
Daily Devotions: February 11, 2020
February 11, 2020 For full passage click: Psalm 119:1-4 … “Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.” vs. 1 Psalm 119 is a carefully composed poem of 22 stanzas, each of which begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Its 176 verses are intended to glorify the law and encourage readers to obey its commandments and ordinances. The Psalmist begins by observing that the reward for blamelessly walking in…
Daily Devotions: December 6, 2019
December 6, 2019 For full passage click: Romans 15:7-13 … “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” vs. 13 Paul’s life had changed in amazing ways and we can imagine that at times he found it hard to believe that he, a devout Jew, would be writing a powerful Epistle of inclusion to Gentiles. At one point, he had…
Daily Devotions: November 25, 2019
November 25, 2019 For full passage click: Isaiah 2:1-5“ … He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” vs. 4 Isaiah believed that one day Jerusalem would be established as the hub of God’s rule. From there, God would establish order and justice among the nations and there…
Daily Devotions: August 12, 2019
August 12, 2019 For full passage click: Isaiah 5:1-3 … “Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.” vs. 1 As Isaiah began his work in Jerusalem, he took pains to remind the people of the special love relationship that existed between them and the Lord. It wasn’t just an accident that things had worked so well for them in their long history as a nation. They…
Daily Devotions: June 29, 2019
June 29, 2019 For full passage click: Luke 9:51-56 …“When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’” vs. 54 James and John had been with Jesus from the beginning. They’d seen him preach, teach, and heal the sick. They likely were confident that he was the Messiah, the one sent by God for the sake of Israel. But they still hadn’t grasped…
Daily Devotions: June 17, 2019
June 17, 2019 For full passage click: Isaiah 65:1-9 …“I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that did not call on my name.” vs. 1 Long after the nobility of Judah had been hauled off into exile, the prophet recounts their complete rejection of the Lord. They had completely turned their backs on…