Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Peace and Holiness

    Ezekiel 37:24-28, Romans 12:9-18, Hebrews 12:7-15

    “I will make a covenant of peace with them…”
    Ezekiel 37:26

    “Live in harmony with one another…”
    Romans 12:16

    “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peach with everyone.”
    Romans 12:18

    “Pursue peace with everyone, and —without it no one will see the Lord.”
    Hebrews 12:14

    When God speaks to Ezekiel, the consequences of living a outside of and away from God are showing up to the Israelites, and it is not a pretty picture. Something to understand throughout Ezekiel is that while the consequences of not living life with God is bad, God promises . Especially a hope which cannot be earned. God makes the new covenant of peace.

    We, too, have a covenant with peace to live out. It is the covenant of peace with . In Romans 12, Paul is talking specifically about the peace between members of the . However, this peace is supposed to also spill out into our relationships outside of the church framily.

    The author of Hebrews, however, makes what can be chilling ties to peace with others: holiness and divine life. Mercifully, the author of Hebrews uses the “pursue.” Other translations have it as “strive for” or “chase after.” As we read yesterday, peace requires effort.

    Peace and holiness are tied by the author of the Hebrews. This is not unreasonable, as the ultimate peace is given by God who is holy. The importance of living at peace with one another—especially, but not exclusively, in the church framily—cannot be overstated. If the Children of God are not at peace with one another, what kind of peace can they with others?

    1) What does it mean to you that “no one will see the Lord” when it comes to being at peace with one another and holiness?

    2) Is being at peace with one another important to you? Why or why not?

    KD) We all struggle with being at peace with one another. Are you pursuing peace with others? What are you willing to up to have peace?

  • People Past

    People Past

    ‌Read: Psalm 25; Isaiah 25:6-9; Philippians 3:20-21; John 6:37-40 ‌‌🔎 Focus ‌“This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” John 6:40 (NRSVue) Those who have died, that have been a direct…

  • Walking With Saints

    Walking With Saints

    Read: Psalm 34:1–10, 22; 1 John 3:1-3; Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 5:1-12 ‌🔎 Focus ‌After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.…

  • Greater or Lesser Than Evils

    Greater or Lesser Than Evils

    Read: Psalm 119:41–48, Deuteronomy 10:10–22, James 2:14–26 ‌🔎 Focus ‌No one ever accomplishes good by means of evil, because they are themselves conquered by the evil. On the contrary, evil is corrected by good. St. Barsanuphius the Great You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. James 2:19 (NRSVue)…

  • Happiness and Joy…or Not

    Happiness and Joy…or Not

    Psalm 44; Isaiah 22:8b–14; James 4:4–10 ‌‌🔎 Focus ‌Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? James 4:4 NRSVue ‌…you did not look at the One who did it, nor did you see the One who planned it… Isaiah 22:11 NRSVue We don’t like pain or suffering. We often do…