Tag: reconciled
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Grudge Walker
Genesis 33:1–9; Numbers 20:14–21; Psalm 137; Lamentations 5:1–22 How much of your extended family do you know? Second cousins, third cousins, and so on. Imagine knowing the descendants of your ancestors (approximately 20 generations gap). The brothers Jacob and Esau seemed to have been reconciled (though it was a strange one). They certainly didn’t go…
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Wholly New or Newly Whole
2 Corinthians 5:14–21; Titus 1:1–3 The “new creation” is an often-quoted phrase. Like many verses in the Scriptures, it can stand on its own. However (you knew that was coming), in context its meaning is so much more important than a mere new creation. It is a creation with a purpose. While it is accurate…
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Who Restores
Deuteronomy 30:1–5, Jonah 2:2–9, Isaiah 44:24–28 Have you ever recognized that there is an implied title and character of God that gets missed? Restorer. We use Healer, often, which is close. Another word could be Reconciler. We don’t use Restorer or Reconciler, because in most cases of their use (restore and reconcile), they are action…
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Everyday Morality
2 Peter 3:8–15, 2 Corinthians 5:16–21 Being human is not particularly easy. Our ability to think abstractly is a great gift. It is also a curse. With the ability to think abstractly, we also have gained a “higher” form of thinking…morality. From the Old Testament to Greek and Roman philosophers to the New Testament to…
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Harvest Days
Genesis 8:20–22, Haggai 1:3–6, Matthew 9:35–38 If you have been reading these devotions with any regularity, you might have noticed that I generally do not put myself into them (e.g., I, me, my). I am making an exception today. I was driving home, and passed a sign at an espresso stand that seeing, “The first…
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Isle Crossing
2 Corinthians 5:14–21 There are many things that are worshipped. Most have supplanted God with something man-made or of human origin: science, politics, identity, work, family. Even the fundamental nature of God—love—has been corrupted by humanity. We are all familiar with 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;…
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Living After
John 21:1–19, Isaiah 43:1–12 We often stop with the Resurrection of Easter. That’s the big event. It’s understandable. It wasn’t the end of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Often when we are stressed or unsure of ourselves, we return to old habits. Peter’s old habit was fishing (it was his occupation, too). It was quite…
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All To Be Reconciled
Genesis 4:1–17, Ezekiel 33:10–20 Cain is often portrayed as the human embodiment of evil. In popular media, he’s the ultimate bad guy. Which makes sense. Cain invented murder. Yet, Cain lived. Later, the rules would be set, he would be dead according to the penalties, but for this time and age, he lived. What about…
