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Daily Devotions: December 16, 2018
December 16, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 3: 15-18 …“His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” vs. 17 John’s words about the work of the coming Messiah sound ominous. It seems that he’s looking toward a great separation in which the righteous will be saved and sinners burned with unquenchable fire. It’s more likely however, that…
Daily Devotions: November 28, 2018
November 28, 2018 To read full passage click: Psalm 25:5-10 “Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!” vs. 7 All of us have a backstory! And as we meet new people in the course of our lives, we often will fill them in on what has gone before. It’s an important and helpful step in building a relationship. Some parts of that story are…
Daily Devotions: October 28, 2018
October 28, 2018 John 8:34-36 …“Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin…So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.’” vss. 34, 36 There’s not a lot of talk about sin in our day. It’s almost as though it has ceased to be a factor in our daily living. Oh, we still acknowledge mistakes and know that sometimes we do dumb stuff, but in general, we don’t…
Daily Devotions: October 6, 2018
October 6, 2018 Mark 10:2-12 …“He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’” vss. 11-12 When this text is read in our worship services it often triggers feelings of guilt. Many followers of Jesus have been divorced and struggle to align their experience with his teachings. Even those who were in abusive relationships wonder if they should have simply endured. Others…
Daily Devotions: June 4, 2018
June 4, 2018 Genesis 3:8-10…“They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” vs. 8 These stories from the Genesis 2 and 3 are amazing for the breadth of their understanding of human nature. In them, we see a down-to-earth God who forms and shapes the man from clay…
Daily Devotions: April 25, 2018
April 25, 2018 Psalm 22:25-31…“Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.” vss. 30-31 It’s not unusual in these days of rapid technological advancement to read about the future benefits of artificial intelligence, robotics, cancer vaccines, immunotherapy–the list goes on and on. But rarely is there ever any mention of God in such articles. The message seems to be that future…
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: April 12, 2018
April 12, 2018 1 John 3:1-3…“And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” vs. 3 John is happy to tell his readers that God loves them and that they are God’s children. He writes, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” What a powerful affirmation! This really is the core of the good news. Just think of it,…