Holy Week – Monday
[Note: This week I will be chronicling the events of Holy Week with a short devotion each day.] Yesterday launched the holiest week on the church calendar. We call it Holy Week, the last week of Jesus’ mortal life. It began yesterday with Palm Sunday, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There were shouts of praise […]
The King of Glory
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” (Psalm 24:1–2) That’s how Psalm 24 begins. It ends with the arrival of the King of Glory to Jerusalem. As the people shout acclamation, the […]
Divine Glue
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:15–16) There is an inevitability to […]
The Threefold Cord
“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts… A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 12) A few years ago, I was challenged to “sum up” New Life Church. Like most organizations, we have a vision statement, a mission statement, and a purpose statement. But […]
The Company We Keep
“And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple…” (1 Peter 2:5, NLT). For the last two weeks, we’ve been discussing the church. I’ve locked onto Peter’s description of the church: God is in the process of building this spiritual temple, and we are the building blocks. The church isn’t just […]
Another Pandemic
“My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the House of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the […]
Better Together
“And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24–25) William Blake famously said, “A bird, a nest; the spider, a web; […]
Living Stones
“And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.” (1 Peter 2:5, NLT) We live in a world of 7.9 billion people; yet we’ve never been lonelier. We’ve never felt so […]
Do You Want to Get Well?
“One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” (John 5:5–6) Over the past few weeks, we’ve diligently studied the Scriptures together in order to […]
Where is He?
“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2) That’s the question the magi asked King Herod following their 900 mile trip from Persia to Bethlehem. Here’s the thing. Every one of us knows that things aren’t […]
Am I in the Place of God?
“When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I’ll die!’ Jacob became angry with her and said, ‘Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?’” (Genesis 30:1-2) Essentially, Jacob came to […]
Where is the Lamb?
“Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, ‘My father.’ And he replied, ‘Here I am, my son.’ Isaac said, ‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’” (Genesis 22:7) That haunting question was asked atop Mount Moriah 4,000 years ago. Little did ten-year-old Isaac know […]
