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 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 hope. 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 others. In Romans 12, 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 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 word “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 . 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 give up to have peace?

  • Unity of Three

    Unity of Three

    Isaiah 6:1–8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12–17; John 3:1–17 In the current age, the concept of the Trinity has been attempted to be explained by books such as “The Shack” (which acknowledges itself as an allegory and not as doctrine, a key response to those who decry it), or an egg (shell, white, yolk), water (which,…

  • Pridefully Divine

    Pridefully Divine

    Psalm 29; Isaiah 5:15–24; John 15:18–20, 15:26–27 When we read about “divine beings” we, understandably, think about angels. What, however, makes a divine being…divine? Apart from God, there is no divine being that isn’t of God. Which becomes a little daunting theologically when we recognize we have the Imago Dei in us. To be clear,…

  • Utopia Maybe

    Utopia Maybe

    Psalm 29; Isaiah 2:1–5; Romans 8:9–11 The statistics don’t seem promising. The percentage of regular church-goers has been falling generation by generation for the last four generations. While the percentage of Americans that say they are Christian is high (relatively), a very high percentage of them say religion isn’t that important to them, and all…

  • Natural Freedom

    Natural Freedom

    Psalm 29; Isaiah 1:1–4, 16–20; Romans 8:1–8 Psalm 29, without question, is a praise of God. It observes God’s power, strength, and presence. Almost the entire Psalm is about who God is. The last verse, though, is different. It is more of a plea to God about the people of Israel. A cynical person could…