'people of faith' Tagged Posts

'people of faith' Tagged Posts

Daily Devotions

Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.” vs. 6 Numbers 21:4-9 It’s not uncommon for people to wonder why awful things are happening in their lives. And for people of faith the wondering is often accompanied by the question, “Why is God doing this to me?” Behind the question lurks the popular assumption that when we sin, God will arrange for our punishment, maybe not with poisonous snakes,…

Daily Devotions

Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind.” vss. 1-2 Psalm 26:1-8 The psalmist was a righteous man, and he knew it! And he didn’t want anyone to confuse him with the sinners that may have hung around the temple precincts. And he was so confident in the way that he had lived that he asked…

Daily Devotions

Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” vss. 15b-16a 1 Peter 3:13-17 It’s not unusual in these days of political division and constant turmoil for our conversations to reflect despair and pessimism. We get a full dose of bad news with every news cycle, and each day brings reports of mass shootings and border turmoil. Disaster seems just…

Daily Devotions

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood…” vss. 4-5a 1 Peter 2:2-6 Travelers to Israel and Palestine often find themselves being bussed from one ancient ruin to another. While some historic sites have been partially reconstructed, most remain destroyed, maybe just a pile of rocks at the bottom of an archeological dig. Leaders…

Daily Devotions

But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” vs. 32 Matthew 5:27-37 As Jesus eliminates the loopholes that were a part of the law of Moses, he doesn’t deal with peripheral items. Instead he tackles the biggies: adultery, divorce, and truth-telling. And if those topics were important in the first century, they are at the core of the…