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Daily Devotions: October 27, 2019
October 27, 2019 For full passage click: John 8:33-36 … “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” vs. 36 In 1945 the State of New Hampshire adopted the motto “Live Free or Die,” a slogan with roots dating back to the French Revolution. Some feel that it’s the perfect summation of the revolutionary principles that guided American patriots to declare independence in 1776. Like Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death,” its words…
Daily Devotions: October 25, 2019
October 25, 2019 For full passage click: Romans 3:22b-28 … “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 Through the centuries, as believers have read Paul’s letter to the Romans, they’ve taken verse 23 of chapter 3 to heart, and have used it as the great leveler. Yes, indeed, all of…
Daily Devotions: October 21, 2019
October 21, 2019 For full passage click: Jeremiah 31:31-34 … “No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” vs. 34 Jeremiah prophesied during one of the most dismal periods of Israel’s history and watched as Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and the ruling…
Daily Devotions: September 13, 2019
September 13, 2019 For full passage click: 1 Timothy 1:15-17 … “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.” vs. 15 During his ministry, the Gospels report that Jesus had a passion for sinners, those people who had been systematically excluded from full participation in religious activities. He regularly ate with them and didn’t hesitate to offer them healing and hope. Sometimes he told…
Daily Devotions: September 10, 2019
September 10, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 51:1-5 … “Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.” vs. 5 According to Hebrew tradition, this psalm was David’s response when Nathan, the prophet, confronted him after his dalliance with Bathsheba. Even if the writer wasn’t David, it was surely a person struggling with deep and profound feelings of shame and guilt. Many of us know what that’s like. For one reason or another we manage to…
Daily Devotions: July 19, 2019
July 19, 2019 For full passage click: Colossians 1:21-23 …And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—” vss. 21-22 The Church has done a good job of proclaiming the death of Jesus as the means of our reconciliation to God. We’ve heard that story year after year in our worship. It’s the core…
Daily Devotions: March 26, 2019
March 26, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 32:1-5 …“Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” vs 5 The psalmist had been engaged in a great cover-up and his conscience had been nagging at him. We don’t know what had happened but it doesn’t seem to have been a public matter. Only he knew what…
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…