Devotion.al

Tag: righteousness

  • Work to Death or for Life

    Acts 6:1–7, James 2:14–26 In his book, With Unveiled Faces, Kieth Drury writes, “Serious Christians get into lifesaving boats and go to sea to rescue people in need, refusing to sit in our warm lighthouses waiting for the shipwrecked to wash up on shore.” As we talk this week about connecting with God through the…

  • Power to Divide or Unite

    Matthew 5:3–12, Romans 13:1–10 Authority is an issue. Authority is not the same as power. Plenty of people have power. In fact, most of us have power. We may not be aware of it, but we have it. One of the greatest powers we have on earth is our vote. It often doesn’t seem like…

  • Sharpening and Armor

    Matthew 15:10–20, Luke 6:39–42, Ephesians 6:12–18 In our current political and cultural climate, there are plenty of sharp barbs being thrown out. If we wanted to, we could say flaming arrows, which is metaphorically accurate. It’s pretty nuts, and certainly unloving, unpeaceful, impatient (i.e, doesn’t bear), unkind, bad (i.e., not good), unfaithful, ungentle, and lacks…

  • Open and Closed

    Jeremiah 15:19–21, Mark 2:1–12, Matthew 11:20–24 “One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:10 (CSB) “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 (CSB) Confession and repentance resulting in salvation is a constant theme in the Scriptures.…

  • Just a Corner

    1 Samuel 24:1–19, Revelation 6:12–17 The tug-of-war between King Saul and King-to-be David lasted a number of years. The man who could have been Saul’s Number One and led Saul to victory over the enemies of Israel was instead hunted by Saul. In many respects, Saul felt betrayed by David and probably God. David, on…

  • By Their Sin, They Are Known

    Genesis 18:16–33, Luke 13:1–5 The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is often used as an object lesson regarding the result of select sins. In today’s passage, we don’t address those sins, for they aren’t really the subject of today’s section in Genesis. What do you think of God and Abraham in this story? God debated…

  • 6th Saturday after Easter

    Exodus 33:18-23, Exodus 34:29–35, 1 Kings 19:3–18, John 1:10–18 Have you ever hidden your face? Embarrassment. Shame. Guilt. Avoidance. The Israelites hid their faces from God. Originally it was out of fear. They only understood fearing gods, as gods were capricious and unpredictable. Now they were in the presence of a god that they were…

  • 3rd Monday after Easter

    Galatians 2:15–3:6, Philippians 1:20–26, The church in Galatia was struggling. Someone was pouring bad ideas and thoughts into them, causing them to walk away from the faith that Paul had taught them. The funny thing is that many of them probably didn’t know that they were being drawn away. It is easy, step-by-step, to be…