DAY 57/366 LEARN TO DO GOOD Isaiah 1:16-17 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless,Plead for the widow. The charge from Isaiah is a call to advocacy, to rise up... Continue Reading →
WHO CAN STAND AGAINST THE LORD?
DAY 56/365 Romans 8:31b If God is for us, who can be against us? This verse qualifies to sit in a number of categories, whether as a regular or rhetorical question, a confession or declaration. The use of 'if' is rather interesting because one would have expected that God would always be for everyone all... Continue Reading →
YOU HAVE HELP
DAY 55/366 Reference text: Deuteronomy 26:16-19 We read an excerpt from the love story between God and Israel today and this scene in particular, is one where both parties take turns professing their love for each other. In verse 16, we read Israel's confession, declaring the Lord as their God and that they will walk... Continue Reading →
SPIRITUAL AMNESIA
DAY 54/366 Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Today, the righteousness of the pharisees is presented as a yardstick that must be exceed if anyone was to make it into the... Continue Reading →
ARE YOU SHEPHERDING WILLINGLY?
DAY 53/366 1 Peter 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but willingly according to God; and not for base gain but eagerly, There are those who become leaders by virtue of situations, those who are forced to become leaders and those who enter the corridors of power motivated... Continue Reading →
A SECOND CHANCE
DAY 52/366 Jonah 3:1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time... There are times we wonder why some things are recorded in scripture. We consider why certain accounts are available, why particular stories are documented the way they are with that amount of detail. The core of this reflection is Jonah's... Continue Reading →
NURTURING UNIQUENESS
DAY 50/366 Matthew 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats: This text has been playing on repeat in mind for the last day and I have been asking 'why would a shepherd separate these two animals?... Continue Reading →
SWEPT OFF YOUR FEET
DAY 49/366 Mark 1:13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. We read about the devil tempting Jesus today, and through that our minds are cast to the daily encounters that seek to also test our value systems... Continue Reading →
YOU CAN SAFELY FOLLOW
DAY 48/366 Luke 5:27, 28 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. Reading the Gospel today sent my mind back to the call of Peter and Andrew in... Continue Reading →