Daily Bible Devotions
Archive page 16 of 27.
James 5:20
Lord, Keep My Speech in Accordance With Your Word
The Pharisees were always trying to trap Jesus. First they complain that the disciples picked grain to eat on the Sabbath; then that they didn't wash their hands before eating. They complained that he
Reviewed December 20, 2024
2 Kings 12:3
Fill Us With Courage and Compassion
Jesus warned the people that false prophets would arise and now Paul is doing the same thing. It is important for us to heed this warning as well. The devil works in ways that always seem reasonable.
Reviewed December 20, 2024
James 5:1
We Have Been Called "Blessed" by Jesus
This passage from Luke is similar to the reading we had the other day about John the Baptist and Jesus saying that the least in the kingdom of God was greater than him. Jesus is certainly not saying t
Reviewed December 19, 2024
Jeremiah 6:15
Dear God, Help Us To Seek You and Serve You
Ah, freedom! Everyone wants to be free! The question is: freedom to do what? For youth, it can be freedom from the rules of their parents, or being able to earn money, or being able to drink legally.
Reviewed December 19, 2024
Deuteronomy 5:13
We Have Been Given An Awesome Task: To Protect Your World
Psalm 8 is one of my favorite psalms. Look at the love and confidence God shows us. We know from the Book of Genesis and the first creation story, that after God created human beings, he gave them "d
Reviewed December 17, 2024
Judges 7:4
Nothing Can Separate Us From the Love of Christ!
When I am going through a difficult time, and God feels far away, I remember this passage from Paul's letter to the Romans. Nothing, nothing can separate me from the love of Christ! Those are the day
Reviewed December 17, 2024
1 Kings 11:4
We Are Not Alone
There are times in everyone's life when we feel alone. Teenagers often feel alone thinking that their parents don't understand them, they don't fit in with the popular crowd in school, or they're not
Reviewed December 17, 2024
Joel 3:4
Forgive Me When I Forget to Trust You
Elizabeth and Zacharias were childless when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and told him that they would have a very special son who would be "Elijah" and prepare the way for the coming Messia
Reviewed December 16, 2024
1 Kings 11:4
The Strength of Our Life
I cannot read this psalm without singing it in my head. When things are at my lowest, this is the psalm I turn to. I have even chosen it for my funeral because I want my children to hear that they, to
Reviewed December 16, 2024
James 5:1
May All My Actions Praise You!
This psalm is very short! However, it is powerful. God is to be praised everywhere by everyone. How is this going to happen if people don't know how good God is? This is our task. We read in Matthe
Reviewed December 14, 2024
Genesis 1:1
Jesus has Saved us All!
Paul is letting both the Jewish and Gentile converts to Christianity know that they are equally saved by Jesus. He is also telling us that no matter who we are or where we're from we are all equally h
Reviewed December 14, 2024
Jeremiah 6:15
Glorify God's Name
How well are we doing loving one another? I'm going to start with the family! If your family is anything like mine, you will have at least one person who doesn't speak to another person. Sometimes th
Reviewed December 14, 2024
Malachi 4:6
Lord, Cure My Blindness
This is the story of the man born blind. The Pharisees wanted to know who had sinned that he was blind, him or his parents. Of course, the answer is that no one had sinned. Then they were upset that
Reviewed December 13, 2024
2 Kings 12:3
We are Called to Work for Justice
Psalm 146 echoes Isaiah in the need for justice: feed the hungry, free prisoners, give sight to the blind, raises up those who are bowed down, helping the vulnerable such as the orphan and the widow.
Reviewed December 13, 2024
1 Kings 11:4
Turn Sorrow Into Joy
In these last few hours before Jesus is handed over to the soldiers, he is still trying to prepare his apostles for what is coming. His death will be a shock to them even though he told them it was go
Reviewed December 13, 2024
2 Peter 3:3
Lord, I Commit Myself to You
If we read carefully through the New Testament, we won't find it said that the commandments don't count any more. Jesus even says that he has come to fulfill the law not to do away with it and goes ev
Reviewed December 11, 2024
Acts 28:31
May We Be Rich in the Lord
We are probably more familiar with Matthew's Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes than we are with the "woes." But Luke's version of this sermon gives us something a little different to think about.
Reviewed December 11, 2024
James 5:20
Ascension Day
Jesus ascends into the heavens leaving the apostles gazing up at the sky. I wonder what they thought when the two men in white told that he will return one day in the same way they saw him go. The ap
Reviewed December 11, 2024
Song of Solomon 8:1
To Whom Do I Listen?
Jesus let the chief priests and Pharisees understand that he was speaking about himself, and them. God gave the promise to the Israelites, and they rebelled at every turn. He had given them the Law so
Reviewed December 10, 2024
2 Kings 12:3
We Each Have a Role to Play
I love the line in this passage, "For we are God's fellow workers." Do you think of yourself as God's fellow worker? As disciples, we are called to spread the Good News and go make disciples of other
Reviewed December 10, 2024
2 Peter 3:6
No Place for Devil
Paul gives good advice to those who are newly converted to Christianity. He asks them to put away their old way of life and embrace the new. Don't lie, don't steal, don't stay angry, are familiar to u
Reviewed December 10, 2024
2 Peter 3:10
May We Never Forget
When we read the whole of the last words to the Israelites before he dies and they enter Canaan, we hear him reminding them of how good God has been to them, as well as rebuking them for turning to th
Reviewed December 8, 2024
2 Kings 12:3
Giving and Receiving
Paul is about to set sail for Jerusalem and has a message for the people he is leaving behind. He reminds them of the Good News he has brought to them and prays for them, entrusting them to the grace
Reviewed December 8, 2024
Judges 7:15
Predestined, Called, Justified and Glorified
There are those who believe that this "predestination" means that only some have been called or justified, but, in reality, all of us have been predestined from our birth to be called, justified and g
Reviewed December 7, 2024
Genesis 1:5
Righteousness and Wickedness
We are told not to judge others and yet, the practice of judging people by their family connections is probably as old as humanity. It obviously true during the Babylonian exile; it was prevalent in J
Reviewed December 7, 2024
Deuteronomy 5:3
Do We Look For A Sign
John the Baptist had appeared and called the people to repent. Now Jesus was calling the people to repent and go back to following the laws of Moses but they didn't repent and even more than not repen
Reviewed December 7, 2024
James 5:1
Blessed Are We Who Dwell in the World You Have Made
We hope that one day we will dwell in the house of the Lord! This is the promise and this is our goal. We can also consider that the world we live in, the place that God created is also God's house.
Reviewed December 5, 2024
Deuteronomy 5:13
Sanctify God in Our Hearts
Some people claim a religious persuasion because it is the religion of their parents. When questioned, they can't give a reason for their beliefs. Without knowing why they follow a particular path, th
Reviewed December 5, 2024
Deuteronomy 5:13
Moses' Warning
To whom do we give the glory? Do we really believe that we succeed on our own merits? Yes, we work hard, but who gave us the ability and the opportunities? Moses was warning the Israelites not to bec
Reviewed December 5, 2024
1 Chronicles 13:5
Thank You For Calling Us Back When We Stray
In these chapters, Jeremiah is letting the Israelites know that God has not abandoned them and in the end will redeem them. In the short run, Cyrus will defeat the Babylonians and will allow those in
Reviewed December 4, 2024
James 5:14
Behold And Wait For the Lord
Perhaps this will make more sense to us if we substitute the word "baptized" for the word "circumcised." Does Baptism make a Christian any more than circumcision made a Jew if the person does not foll
Reviewed December 4, 2024
1 Kings 11:4
Let Us Remember the Joy of Our Youth
Throughout my years in ministry, I worked with many men and women who had chosen to become Christians. I watched their faces shining with joy as they came up out of the pool. I saw their fervor as the
Reviewed December 2, 2024
Judges 7:4
Be A Patient Servant
Zeal – Fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor. The psalmist is in trouble. He is suffering from exhaustion, alienation and persecution because
Reviewed December 2, 2024
Genesis 1:4
The Spiritual Food
This reading is very familiar to us. Jesus has just been baptized by John and now goes into the wilderness to prepare himself by prayer and fasting for his public ministry. Enter the devil! Today, Je
Reviewed December 2, 2024
Genesis 1:19
God Will Always Be There For Us
We too have been chosen to be disciples of God, to spread the Good News concerning the coming of the Kingdom. Although we might be afraid that we are not up to the task, much as Jeremiah was God promi
Reviewed December 1, 2024
Deuteronomy 5:4
The Outward Sign of Salvation
What are the hoops that some people make others jump through to become Christians? Different churches have different traditions around Baptism. Some require a declaration of faith in Jesus as their p
Reviewed December 1, 2024
Joshua 6:8
Follow Me, Leave Everything, and Judge Not
Judge not, lest you be judged! We tell our children not to associate with those who might lead them into trouble. Yet, here we have Jesus eating and drinking with people that were judged to be sinne
Reviewed December 1, 2024
Genesis 1:6
Pray Always!
Today let us think of all the ways we pray. Let us take a few moments just to rejoice in the presence of the Lord. Praise him just because he is worthy of praise. We thank him for life, for all the b
Reviewed November 29, 2024
2 Peter 3:14
Peace and Blessings
Peace. What is peace? We talk of a time of war and peace time. What do we call peace, then? Is peace just a time when there is no war? In my experience, when there is no overt war, there is just the
Reviewed November 29, 2024
2 Peter 3:3
The Cross is Our Sign
I'm sure that the scribes and Pharisees had no idea what Jesus was saying to them. By the time Matthew was writing his Gospel, the symbolism was obvious. Do we want a sign from God that we should fol
Reviewed November 28, 2024
2 Peter 3:3
God Opened the Gate of Everlasting Life
Lamentations is not a book of the Bible that I read often. When I read this passage, I thought of how I have felt when things go wrong and I know it's my fault. This is especially true if I haven't li
Reviewed November 28, 2024
Joshua 6:13
Our Living Hope
Let us to consider these words from the First Letter of St. Peter. In his letter, he asks us to rejoice because in his great love for us, we have been promised an inheritance that is imperishable, und
Reviewed November 28, 2024
Ecclesiastes 12:2
God Sees the Heart
I had to look up "darnel seeds" to better understand this parable. Darnel seeds, also called "tares," look so much like wheat seeds, that this is known as false wheat. As the plant grows, it looks so
Reviewed November 26, 2024
Joshua 6:5
Pleasing God, Not Man
Paul didn't preach for his own gain. He wasn't trying to win friends. Actually, he made many enemies because of his preaching. The Jews weren't happy that he preached Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah
Reviewed November 26, 2024
2 Peter 3:3
Do Not Take Vengeance
Let's look at this passage. Verse 18 is the center of the Torah. Leviticus is the third book of the Bible and verse 18 is the center verse. It is so well known that we sometimes don't think about its
Reviewed November 26, 2024
Genesis 1:6
Lord, Help Me to See Your Face
We may wonder where God is in today's world, and this psalm may well be our prayer as well. Just as wickedness prevailed in the days of the psalmist, it appears to prevail today. The weak are still hu
Reviewed November 25, 2024
1 Chronicles 13:5
Magnify God with Thanksgiving
Paul is now in Athens. The Greeks were very careful with their worship of the gods, and didn't want to offend a god they didn't know, and so they had built the altar that Paul had noticed. He tell th
Reviewed November 25, 2024
James 5:20
The Sabbath is Holy to the Lord
This question about healing on the Sabbath, or eating grain from the fields on the Sabbath, comes up in the Gospels more than once from the Pharisees who keep trying to test Jesus, or to find somethin
Reviewed November 23, 2024
Zechariah 14:1
Jesus Christ, Our Faithful Shepherd
Paul and Barnabas have come to Antioch in Pisidia and were invited to preach in the synagogue on the Sabbath. After the readings from the law and the prophets, Paul proceeded to recount salvation hist
Reviewed November 23, 2024
2 Kings 12:3
Take the Good Work That We Have Done on Earth
We have all heard it said, "You can't take it with you!" And listening to the words of Jesus and those of James these past couple of days, we certainly know that this is true. But here, we see what we
Reviewed November 23, 2024