'righteousness' Tagged Posts (Page 4)
Daily Devotions: April 17, 2018
April 17, 2018 Acts 4:8-12…“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” vs. 12 The disciples were ecstatic! They had such good news for their leaders…and for the entire world. Through the Holy Spirit they had come to believe that Jesus was the Christ and that through him God’s salvation had come to humanity. As they traveled about proclaiming that audacious message it seemed…
Daily Devotions: April 16, 2018
April 16, 2018 Acts 4:5-7…“When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’” vs. 7 When the religious authorities in Jerusalem heard that the disciples were preaching that Jesus had been raised from the dead and were actually healing the sick, they ordered them to be arrested. They weren’t an impressive group–just a few Galilean fishermen and some hangers-on. When the wealthy, well-educated priestly types saw…
Daily Devotions: April 15, 2018
April 15, 2018 Luke 24:44-48…“Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,” vs. 45 Being familiar with the scriptures wasn’t enough for the disciples to have a clue about what had happened in Jesus. Nowhere was there a straightforward indication that the promised messiah would suffer, be crucified as a criminal, and then die. One option would have been for them to completely abandon the Hebrew scriptures and focus on building a new faith tradition–something no one ever seriously…
Daily Devotions: April 14, 2018
April 14, 2018 Luke 24:36b-43…“While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’” vs 41 While the experience of resurrection had galvanized the disciples of Jesus, there were plenty of questions remaining. In Luke’s story, multiple appearances weren’t enough to convince them and they needed further proof that he was really alive. Two thousand years later we’re still dealing with those same feelings! It’s wonderful to be able to…
Daily Devotions: April 13, 2018
April 13, 2018 1 John 3:4-7…“No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.” vs. 6 Those who earnestly try to live by scriptural teachings can get tied in knots by what seem to be contrary messages. On the one hand we are told that all are sinners, and if we say we have no sin, we are liars. But the same writer then turns around and tells us that no…
Daily Devotions: March 11, 2018
March 11, 2018 John 3:19-21 … “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” vs. 19 The contrast between light and darkness was an important one in the gospel of John. In his prologue he describes the Word as the light of the world, a light which darkness was not able to overcome. In this section, he tells his readers that even though…
Daily Devotions: March 10, 2018
March 10, 2018 John 3:14-18 …“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” vss. 14-15 We can wonder a lot about the writers of the gospels, who they were and why they were motivated to write. Obviously they never guessed that the simple stories they put together would face the unrelenting scrutiny of Greek scholars around the world. But…
Daily Devotions: March 9, 2018
March 9, 2018 Ephesians 2:6-10 … “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” vs. 10 God hasn’t given us all of these amazing gifts of grace as an exercise in generosity; but—because God is madly in love with us, and there’s a method to God’s madness. In Christ Jesus, specifically in his resurrection, there’s been a new creation in which we were…
Daily Devotions: March 8, 2018
March 8, 2018 Ephesians 2:1-5 … “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” vss. 4-5 All humans are pretty much the same. We all have strong passions, what the writer of Ephesians calls the desires of the flesh. And those passions aren’t intrinsically good or bad, that’s just the way we’re…
Daily Devotions: March 7, 2018
March 7, 2018 Psalm 107:17-22 … “Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.” vss. 17-18 The psalmist was a realist. As he looked at his people’s history and saw the way so many suffered, it was obvious that they were reaping the consequences of their careless decisions. That continues to be the way it is for so many.…
Daily Devotions: March 6, 2018
March 6, 2018 Psalm 107:1-3 …“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” vs. 1 As we move on in the season of Lent, it’s good to see how the psalmist regarded God. We spend so much time in speculation about the Lord’s identity that it’s easy to forget the essential truth that is at the core of God’s being. Not only is God omnipotent, majestic and holy, God is good!…
Daily Devotions: March 5, 2018
March 5, 2018 Numbers 21:4-9 … “Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.” vs. 6 Sometimes the stories that the Israelites told about God reflect a very human understanding of how God operates. In this one from the book of Numbers, the people have been complaining in the wilderness—they even show contempt for the food that God has been daily providing them. So the Lord gets even. We…