'Spirit' Tagged Posts (Page 4)
Daily Devotions
So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.” vss. 30-31 Acts 8:26-31 The Ethiopian, evidently a descendent of Jews who had settled in Ethiopia centuries before, had come up to Jerusalem to worship at one of the festivals. And now, as he was going home, he…
Daily Devotions
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” vs. 16 John 10:16-18 The early church had an expansive view of Christ’s flock. The disciples loved the good shepherd imagery and they realized that Jesus had come for the whole world and not just his early followers. There were never any limits on the size of crowds during…
Daily Devotions
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day…’” vss. 45-46 Luke 24:44-48 When Matthew and Luke wrote their gospels they weren’t just interested in compiling a narrative of Jesus’ life from beginning to end. They also wanted their readers to know that what had happened in Jesus was a fulfillment of the scriptures. His…
Daily Devotions
When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent.” vs. 4 Psalm 4:1-4 The psalmist is here advising his enemies to think twice about the harm they might intend to do to him. Rather than simply acting on their feelings and saying something they will regret, he says they should take to their beds, consider options and then be silent. This is timeless wisdom! Many of us are plagued by runaway tongues and end…
Daily Devotions
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” vss. 22-23 John 20:19-25 The gospel writer John understood that the Holy Spirit could not be contained and said that it was like the wind. We could hear the sound of it but not know where it was coming from, or where…
Daily Devotions
For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” vs. 5 2 Corinthians 4:5-6 Sometimes we encounter people who have a bit of a glow about them, and not because they’ve been drinking. It’s the radiant look in their eyes, a light that we sense comes from deep within them, a light…
Daily Devotions
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.’ Elisha said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’” vs. 9 2 Kings 2:9-12 Elisha’s request may seem strange to us, but he was making a reference to the inheritance laws of Israel, where the first-born son, at the death of his father, was awarded a double share of the inheritance. Elisha is asking Elijah…
Daily Devotions: May 16, 2020
May 16, 2020 John 14:15-17 … “This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” vs. 17 Spirit-talk is almost always mysterious; it’s the language we use when we try to describe the everyday nearness of God, and that’s close to an impossible task. Some people, many people maybe, never seem to get what we’re saying…
Daily Devotions: March 26, 2020
March 26, 2020 Romans 8:10-11 … “But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” vs. 10 Sometimes when we read words like this in the Scripture, we long for the life which they promise, and we wonder what it might be like if Christ were actually in us. And we wish someone would tell us how we could actually make that happen. Does it take a…
Daily Devotions: June 4, 2019
June 4, 2019 For full passage click: Psalm 104:24-30 …“When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” vs. 30 According to the psalmist, all creatures of the earth and sea, great and small, including the great Leviathan, were made and are sustained by God. More than that, none of them could survive apart from the presence of God’s spirit. In other words, the universe itself has an intimate connection to God…
Daily Devotions: February 4, 2019
February 4, 2019 To read full passage click: Isaiah 6:1-4 …“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.” vs. 1 Isaiah gifts us with a description of his call to prophetic ministry and even gives us the year, somewhere around 740 BC. He was in the temple and had a vision of God’s presence. It was overwhelming and changed his life.…
Daily Devotions: January 16, 2019
January 16, 2019 To read full passage click: Psalm 36:8-9 …“For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” vs. 9 For the material-minded, life in this world can be pretty dismal. Pleasure is connected to accumulation and success is measured by financial portfolios. There’s a game to be played and massive energies are exerted to be on the winning side. Little attention is paid to compassion or service–everything depends on power and domination.…