God and Suffering God and Suffering. It dawned on me on New Year’s Eve that not everyone was celebrating. I think it happened sometime between the New Year’s fireworks displays in Sydney, Australia and Hong Kong and the ball drop in Times Square. Underneath the veneer of the night’s merriment lay a morass of […]
Steadfast Love
Devotions on Psalm 146:1-10
Devotions on Psalm 146:1-10 June 29 – July 5, 2015 Monday, June 29, 2015 “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord O my Soul” (Psalm 146:1)! Antonio was experiencing a great amount of stress at work. Organizational charts were changing in order to be more efficient with lower costs. There was increased pressure to produce […]
Devotions on Matthew 2:13-23
Devotional Thoughts – Matthew 2:13-23 December 29, 2014 – January 4, 2015 Monday, December 29, 2014 “Now after they [the wise men] had left an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,’” (Matthew 2:13). The small family of Mary, Joseph […]
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 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 […]
Devotions on Joshua 24:1-15
October 6-12, 2014 Joshua 24:1-15 Monday, October 6, 2014 “I took your father Abraham” (Joshua 24:3a). A new day is about to begin, but before it does Joshua gathers the people and in a prophetic voice calls them to remember what God has done in their lives and in the lives of their ancestors. God’s […]
Devotional Thoughts Genesis 39:1-23
Monday, September 15, 2014 “The Lord was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:2a). His fall from grace was tumultuous. At the beginning of the day he was a favored son and a cocky kid and by the end of the day Joseph was sold as a slave and on his way to Egypt. There are times when […]