'Sinners' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” vs. 36 Romans 8:34-36 Jesus had a sense that people weren’t nearly so free as they thought they were. Not all prisons have bars, and we can be captive in a whole variety of ways. He said it plainly, “Anyone who commits sin is a slave to sin,” and that includes pretty much all of us. Like Paul said some years later, “All have sinned and fall short…
Daily Devotions
For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by Romans 3:21-28 One of the great universal truths is that the world is both good and broken, and every human experiences this through their entire lives. Paul described this brokenness as sin, a falling short of the glory of sin, and he told the Romans that all people are sinners. This is one teaching of Paul that we…
Daily Devotions
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” Luke 15:1-2 It wasn’t that Jesus was ghosting the Pharisees and the scribes. He appreciated their devotion to the law, and periodically he’d join them for meals in their homes. We can imagine that there were some fine conversations over the fine points of scriptural interpretation. They may…
Daily Devotions
For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.” vs. 2 James 3:1-6 In a moment of candid reflection our old friend James hints that perhaps even he makes mistakes in the course of living a Christ-centered life. His problem, as with so many of us, seems to have been his mouth, but his own struggle with his tongue doesn’t keep him…
Daily Devotions
O LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart;” vss. 1-2 Psalm 15 The question asked by the psalmist was enormously important for the religious leaders in Jerusalem. They revered the Law of Moses and believed wholeheartedly that only those who were perfectly obedient were welcome in the temple of the Lord. The righteous were those who walked…
Daily Devotions
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 Ephesians 2:4-10 Even though we are sinners, by grace, God has already raised us up and given us new life in Christ. And when we trust that this is true, we can put away our old selves and devote ourselves to a lifetime of good works. It doesn’t make any difference how we…
Daily Devotions
They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.” vss. 27-28 Mark 1:25-28 The gospels all report that the casting out of demons was a part of Jesus’ healing ministry. In fact, encounters like the one Mark describes here caught people’s attention and boosted his reputation. We don’t…
Daily Devotions
The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.’” vss. 30-31 Luke 1:26-33 So how was it that Mary had found favor with God? She was likely quite young, maybe even a teenager, but no one knows much about her. Our scriptures say nothing–only that she had found favor with God. Of course that…
Daily Devotions
“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.’” vs. 31b Matthew 21:28-32 It must have been hard for the chief priests and the elders to hear these words of Jesus. They had understood his parable about the two sons asked to work in the vineyard – they knew which son had done the father’s will. But they likely didn’t realize the story was about…
Daily Devotions
If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.” vs. 15 Matthew 18:15-17 Because life in our world is both good and broken, humans have had to deal with the matter of forgiveness from the beginning. Certainly it was at the center of Jesus’ ministry and he regularly offered unconditional forgiveness to the sinners that crowded…
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
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” vs. 8 Romans 5:6-8 It’s easy to slide into believing that God’s love is conditional, mostly because that’s generally the nature of human love. Even the best of us will ultimately run out of patience when friends and family let us down. As we’re quick to tell one another, “Forgiveness has its limits!” It’s just too hard to keep on letting…