I have posted a devotional to my wife’s devotional list under this same title. It includes a partial translation of the Old Testment lectionary for this week (Christ the King Sunday) and some meditations on Judgment. Read it at Jody’s Devotionals.
My wife wrote her devotional today from the lectionary texts (After Pentecost 23C). I note that the post number is 6000, and though I know that number isn’t actually the number of posts (revisions run the number up), that’s still a lot of devotionals! The conclusion: God truly pours out in great extravagance upon His…
The story in Mark 8:31-38 fascinates me because the disciples were, in one sense, so right, yet they were so wrong. What we often forget is that there was good reason for the disciples to expect the Messiah to take over the throne of David immediately, to rescue their nation from the Romans, and to…
I want to focus on just one line of text. In 1 Kings 3:5, God tells Solomon to ask God what God should give Solomon. It’s a simple enough question. Most of us remember the answer. Solomon wants wisdom. God decides to give him wisdom and lots of riches as well. As I reflect on…
Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30, especially 24-27. Partially cross-posted from Jody’s Devotionals. I’m interested in knowing just what meets God’s disapproval. We all have our ideas on this, which often involve truly despicable and perverted behavior according to our cultural standards. But sometimes the Bible will shock us and make us stop and think. This thought was…
Read: Mark 9:2-9 Reading the gospel lesson for today–and I’m writing this on Sunday morning before going to teach Sunday School–I was struck by the parallel to a question I commonly get from Bible study classes. “Why can’t God just make it clearer, unmistakable? Why all this variety and human stuff?” I can imagine the…
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-21 While I confess to be a love teacher, I am often puzzled by the way Christians speak about love as though it is the easier way. It is as though they might try following some rules, but that would be too hard, so they’ll try love instead. But a love that…
