'love' Tagged Posts (Page 5)
Daily Devotions
Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.” vs. 11 1 Thessalonians 5:6-11 Paul knew that all would be well with that little congregation in Thessalonica because they understood that life is communal. We’re not on our own in this world, a bunch of singles laboring toward a celestial goal, but we are one body in Christ. The Holy Spirit has called us into a community of faith, and for better or worse, we…
Daily Devotions
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.” vs. 17 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 Some people love the image that Paul chose to describe the great reunion of the living and the dead with the Lord. When taken literally these verses call to mind stories of the rapture that we’ve read about in popular novels…
Daily Devotions
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” vs. 2 1 John 3:2-3 John leaves room for mystery in our future. We don’t yet know what we one day will be, but what we do know is that right now, today, we are God’s beloved children. For most that will…
Daily Devotions
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” vs. 1a 1 John 3:1 We regularly hear that we are children of God, and for some that’s really old news. It’s old hat, something we take for granted. But for John, the epistle writer, it was spectacular, the supreme example of God’s abundant love. We can suspect that it meant so much to him because, in one…
Daily Devotions
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” vs. 36 John 8:34-36 We love freedom! Nothing else gets our juices flowing like the prospect of being free! It’s been the rallying cry of nearly every revolution as the masses have risen up together against tyranny. Many can remember the joy of leaving the structured living of parental homes, and for the first time realizing that they could go where they pleased and come back whenever they…
Daily Devotions
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’” vss. 31-32 John 8:31-33 From the beginning many more people have been attracted to Jesus than have actually remained with him. It was true during his Galilean ministry, and it remains true today. The most typical example can be found in the hundreds of crusades…
Daily Devotions
For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” vss. 22b-24 Romans 3:19-24 For Paul it was obvious. Since we’re all sinners no person could ever be made righteous by obedience to the law. At its best all the law can do is make us aware of our sin–so if we truly want to…
Daily Devotions
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” vss. 6-7 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10 It’s easy for congregations to begin to think of the church in narrow and parochial terms. A pastor gathers a community of believers who begin to worship and who then organize themselves in councils…
Daily Devotions
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.” vs, 7 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5 Prayer is one of those great mysteries that are a part of our life in Christ. Most people, even those with minimal faith, use it at one time or another to make their requests known to God, particularly if it’s a matter of life or death. Many have it as a part of their daily routine and use it…
Daily Devotions
Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” vss. 13-14 Philippians 3:8b-14 Because Paul knew Christ Jesus he had confidence that one day he would share in the resurrection to new life. But having said that he hastened to tell the…
Daily Devotions
Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.” vs. 7 Psalm 80:3-7 When things were going bad for the people of Israel, something that happened with some frequency, it was not unusual for their prophets and psalmists to yearn for restoration. In recent years we’ve even seen that theme used as a political slogan as some have lifted up their voices to urge that America be made great again. Such persons remember a…
Daily Devotions
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” vss. 3-4 Philippians 2:1-4 From time to time we run into people who actually follow Paul’s prescription for the life of faith. They’re all around us, and many can be found in our congregations. Sometimes we don’t even know that they’re there. By nature, and conviction, they call…