'Message' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.” vs. 27 Matthew 10:24-28 When Jesus sent his disciples on their mission to bring healing and good news to the helpless and the harassed, he knew that there would be difficulties for them. They could expect rejection and even persecution–not everyone would be excited to receive them. It would be easy for them to become timid and adopt risk-averse…
Daily Devotions
For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, ‘Violence and destruction!’ For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.” vs. 8 Jeremiah 20:7-13 For the most part it’s wonderful to be a follower of Jesus, walk in the Way of Love, and share the good news with sad and lonely people. It does our heart good to see folks respond with thanksgiving to our message of mercy and…
Daily Devotions
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh.” vss. 2-3a 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 Dr. Paul has a dietary diagnosis for symptoms being experienced by the folks in Corinth–he says they’re not ready for the meat of the gospel. In fact, he’s not even sure they’ve been able to handle the pablum he’s been so carefully doling out. They’ve…
Daily Devotions
Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.” vss.6-7 1 Corinthians 2:6-12 Even though Paul did not use lofty terms and eloquent language in talking with the Corinthians, he was a learned man and nobody’s fool. But he wasn’t interested in the…
Daily Devotions
Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’” vss. 34-35 Acts 10:34-43 The early followers of Jesus were almost exclusively Jewish and had continued to practice their faith according to the commandments laid out in the Law. Peter was one of their leaders and carried the message of the Risen Christ to the scattered villages of…
Daily Devotions
Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” vs. 11 Matthew 11:7-11 Jesus had to be careful in talking about John the Baptist. He was a well-known radical preacher who had gained enormous popularity by speaking truth to power. Large numbers of people had become his disciples, and they had been deeply upset by his arrest and imprisonment.…
Daily Devotions
Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” vss. 42-43 Luke 23:39-43 It’s possible to get completely sidetracked by this little exchange between two dying men in Luke’s gospel. Because we wonder about the nature of life beyond death, we look here for clues that can help us construct some sort of timetable for what happens once we draw our last breath.…
Daily Devotions
For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires…” vs. 5 2 Timothy 4:1-5 Paul, looking back on decades of ministry, has some sound advice for the young preacher and teacher. “Proclaim the message,” he says, “be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage,” and have patience. What Paul advises is not easy in these…
Daily Devotions
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.” vss. 16-17a Luke 4:14-16 Synagogues began to be built in the towns of Galilee and Judea just prior to the time that Jesus began his ministry. They were places of prayer and study and for the reading and exposition of…
Daily Devotions: October 11, 2019
October 11, 2019 For full passage click: 2 Timothy 2:14-15 … “Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.” vs. 14 The letters of First and Second Timothy, together with Titus, are often known as pastoral epistles because they address concerns being experienced by the leaders of the early Christian community. The Gospel, as preached by Paul and others, had…