Devotional Thoughts Matthew 2:1-12 December 22-28, 2014 Monday, December 22, 2014 “Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem” (Matthew 2:1). Faith pops up in the oddest places. Karen sat at the kitchen table surrounded by bills and trying to figure out how she was going to pay them. Tears of frustration welled up […]
God’s Grace
Devotions on Matthew 1:18-25
Devotional Thoughts on Matthew 1:18-25 December 15-21, 2014 Monday, December 15, 2014 “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place this way.” (Matthew 1:18a). My wife, Faye, and I moved to Arizona from the Mid-West. We have two granddaughters who live in Minneapolis—a fifteen hundred mile, three hour flight from us. We keep in […]
Devotions on Isaiah 42:1-9
Devotional Thoughts on Isaiah 42:1-9 December 8 – 14, 2014 Monday, December 8, 2014 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold my chosen, in whom my soul delights” (Isaiah 42:1a). It was a warm, sunny spring day. Baseball was in the air, at least for Austin’s PE class. The teacher gathered the class together and […]
Devotional Thoughts on Esther
Devotional Thoughts Esther 4:1-17 December 1-7, 2014 Monday, December 1, 2014 “Giving them orders to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews” (Esther 3:13). Injustice comes in all shapes and sizes. For Esther and Mordecai, the grave injustice that they faced was the edict to annihilate the Jews. We might face bullying at […]
Devotional Thoughts on Habukkuk
Devotional Thoughts on Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:2-4, 3:17-19 November 24-30, 2014 Monday, November 24, 2014 “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen” (Habakkuk 1:1)? Ken opened the letter. It began, “We regret to inform you …” Ken had been praying and looking for a job for months, and […]
Devotions on Jeremiah 1:4-10, 7:1-11
Devotional Thoughts – November 17-23 Jeremiah 1:4-10, 7:1-11 Monday, November 17, 2014 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:4). It was a mild night, with (mercifully) no mosquitoes nipping at any exposed area of my skin. The moon was new. The sky was black and the stars were dazzling white. […]
Thoughts on Isaiah 36:1-37:7
Devotions on Isaiah 36:1-3, 13-20, 37:1-7, 2:1-4 November 10-16, 2014 Monday, November 10, 2014 “King Sennacherib of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them” (Isaiah 36:1). What do you do when tragedy strikes? The doctor walked into the hospital room and told Mike that Mike had cancer. It wasn’t […]
Devotional Thoughts 1 Kings 3:4-18
These devotional thoughts are based on the Narrative Lectionary Reading for Sunday, October 26, 2014 1 Kings 3:4-9 (10-15) 16-28 Monday, October 20, 2014 “The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there” (1 Kings 3:4). Sacrifices come in all shapes and sizes. Sue sacrificed her time (and a good night’s sleep) chaperoning a lock-in for […]
Devotional Thoughts on Genesis 6:5-22, 8:6-12; 9:8-17
Monday, September 1, 2014–Noah and the Ark“Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). I have always enjoyed writing but I never liked those times in English class when the focus was on diagraming sentences, memorizing the rules of punctuation and conjugating verbs. Now decades later I’m beginning […]