Tag: Matthew
Condescending Love, Pt. 1
And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. → Read more...
I Can’t Do It All, But God Can!
A little background first: My sixteen-month-old son, Caleb, has an enduring fascination with lights. Streetlights, lamps, desk lights, parking lot lights, hallway lights, you name it, he loves them all. He loves pointing them out to me and his mother. Whenever there is a light that is off and he notices, he asks us to turn it on by using the American sign language form of the word “please” that we taught him. When we turn it on, he looks at it with a look of sheer, absolute, innocent delight and then looks at us with the same look. → Read more...
The Called
God calls people. That much the Bible makes very clear. He called Noah to make an ark. He called Abraham out of his home and sent him on a journey to create an entire nation of people that would bless the entire world. He called Moses to lead this nation out of their slavery and subjugation by Egypt. He called Joshua to lead the same nation into their inherited land. I could go on through the entire Bible, pointing out more people but I think you get my point: God calls people to do amazing, crazy and wonderful things, all in His name. → Read more...
I, State Your Name
Imagine this: You get pulled over by the police. As soon as the officer arrives at your door, you suddenly realize you don’t have your wallet with you. You have no way of identifying yourself. As your heart sinks, you realize it doesn’t matter how well you know yourself and how certain you are who you say you are, the police officer can’t and won’t ascertain your identity by your verbal claims of who you are. → Read more...
Planning Our Time Now For Eternity
Everybody knows what it feels like to not have time for everything they want to do. There are so many books to read, movies to watch, places to explore, music to listen to, games to play, food to discover, not to mention all the things you need to get done at work and at home. Time feels like an enemy, always parceling out JUST enough minutes in the day or days in the week to get some things done, but not all of it. → Read more...
You Need to Be Rich to Be Poor
Sometimes when the Holy Spirit tugs, you need to listen, you know? This week it brought an article in The Washington Post to my attention. The first line of the article, in which I have paraphrased as this week’s title, hooked me in. It’s quite a lengthy read for the internet, but well, well worth your time. Here’s the link. The article goes into detail the problems that people who are in poverty face and into the harsh irony that living in the middle class or upper class is actually cheaper than living below the poverty line. → Read more...
A Growing Urgency
Ok, kids, it’s Book Club time. For Christmas, my mom gave me a book by Dr. David Jeremiah called What in the World is Going On? This book is a discussion about the end times and the return of Christ and what events might have to unfold for it to pass. It explores some of the biblical prophecies such as the one Nebuchadnezzar had in which Daniel interpreted for him (see Daniel 2). As the book talks about these prophecies, it frames them around events that are going on, such as the rapid rise of radical Islamic terrorism. → Read more...
Baggage Claim
This week I’ve been thinking about our baggage. Not the Samsonite ones that we carry with us to the airport. Not that kind. I’m talking about the things, ideas, ideals, thoughts, hurts, wounds, emotions, fantasies, and opinions that we all carry with us, sometimes consciously, but usually and oftentimes subconsciously. When you go to the airport and check in your bags to put on the plane, they ask you to put it on a scale to measure the weight of the bag. → Read more...
What Are We Giving?
Today’s word of the day: “giver.” n. One that gives: a giver of gifts. A donor or contributor. Often used in combination: almsgivers. Earlier today, I was included in a conversation that talked about what the bible verse of Matthew 10:8b means when it says, “Freely you have received, freely give.” The easy answer is the one that says in this verse, Jesus is saying whatever blessings God gives us, we ought to give out to others. → Read more...
Condescending Love, Pt. 2
January 19, 2015
Devotionals
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Matt
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” … Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” … So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. → Read more...
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