Tag: faithfulness
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Household of Promise
Psalm 127, Ruth 4:9–17, Hebrews 3:1–6 If we were to judge life by Psalm 127, it would seem that God does everything, yet we know that it isn’t the case. “Unless God builds the house” is more along the lines of God building up or establishing, sustaining and encouraging, not God literally building the house.…
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Fifth Tuesday of Lent
Genesis 22:15–18, Isaiah 48:17–49:4 Promises. Promises. God is faithful and true and fulfills his Word. If someone who does not trust God nor believe that God fulfills his Word were to compare the passage in Genesis to Isaiah 48:17–19, would they come to the same conclusion? We would like to think so. From a perspective…
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Legacy of Enemies
Psalm 35:11–28, Exodus 35:1–29, Acts 10:9–23 Sometimes the greatest evidence that we are doing well is those that oppose us. Another way of perhaps saying that is that the measure of one’s success is the quality of one’s enemies. Some scholars have claimed that part of the reason why David had so many power struggles…
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Tenth Day of Christmas
Psalm 68, Genesis 28:10-22, Hebrews 11:13-22 How often do we look at the world asking, “what’s wrong with the world today?” How often do we look around ourselves asking, “what’s wrong with everyone?” How often do we look at ourselves in the mirror asking, “what’s wrong with me?” Often this question comes when we feel…
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Wednesday after Christmas
Psalm 148, Acts 7:37-53, Hebrews 2:9-13 …[Jesus’] followers began to shout and sing…”Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” [Jesus] replied, “If they kept…
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Beyond Hope
Luke:1:46b-55, James 5:7-10, Hebrews 12:1-2 Mary’s song/poem of praise is often called the Magnificat in the Protestant/Roman Catholic tradition, or the Ode of the Theotokos (Bearer of God) in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is a joy-filled response to God by Mary that appears to be a response to Elizabeth’s joy-filled pronouncement of the Sprit-filled…
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Third Sunday of Advent
Job 33:14-30, Psalm 126, Luke 1:35-45 In many respects, joy is both easy and incredibly difficult to truly understand. On one hand, we understand that joy is something much deeper than the feelings of the moment. Yet, on the other hand, we use the word joy often when we really mean happy or maybe happier…
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The Family Story
Psalm 25:1-10, Nehemiah 9:26-31, Luke 21:20-24 “All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep his covenant and decrees.” (Psalm 25:10) “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They flung your law behind their backs and killed your prophets who warned them.” (Nehemiah 9:26) “…Jerusalem will be trampled by the…