Living Faith Devotional 94
Advent 2024 – “Come, Let Us Adore Him”
Advent Week 2: Passion
12/8 – 12/14
During the first week of the Advent season we focused on Preparation and Hope. During this second week we turn our focus to Passion and Peace. Passion is contagious. It is like a roaring fire that sets whatever comes into contact with it aflame. The gospel accounts reveal that John the Baptist was a passionate messenger of God “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” to prepare the first century Jews for God’s arrival in and through Jesus (Luke 3:3 NIV). Hundreds of years before John was born and his ministry began, a prophet foretold that when the Lord arrives, “he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap” (Malachi 3:2 NIV). The sinful nature within each of us that negatively impacts our relation with God, self, others, and creation, prevents us from living in peace. Thanks be to God, Jesus came to refine and cleanse us so that relationships could be restored and we can be formed into the people God intended and created us to be. This week invite the Holy Spirit to set your heart, mind, and soul aflame for the Lord with a burning passion similar to John the Baptist. Trust the Spirit of the Prince of Peace to guide you into confessing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and living as a peacemaker this Advent and Christmas season as preparation for Jesus’ return and the new year ahead (Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 5:9). Read more…
Living Faith Devotional 93
Advent 2024
“Come, Let Us Adore Him”
Living Faith Devotional
Another Advent season has arrived. December 1st is the starting line for our 2024 Advent journey. Although December is the end of the chronological calendar year, Advent is the beginning of the church calendar year. During Advent Christians throughout the world proclaim the coming of Christ as we make preparations to celebrate his birth. We remember that Jesus comes to us continually through the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. And with hopeful expectations, we anticipate his victorious return. Read more…
Living Faith Devotional 92
11/24 – 11/30
As we conclude our reading of the Old Testament book of Job this week, his friends will continue blaming and accusing him of doing something wrong as the cause for his suffering. We will be introduced to a new character in chapter 32, Elihu. Elihu has waited silently among Job’s friends, listening to them before speaking. The conversation among them has angered Elihu. He believes that Job’s friends are wrong for what they have said to him. Elihu also believes that Job doesn’t understand God’s ways and therefore cannot fully understand our Almighty Creator. According to the younger man, Job’s statements about God have included false accusations made in ignorance. When Elihu finishes speaking to Job on behalf of our Creator, God then answers Job from a whirlwind with a humbling speech (Job 38:1). Job’s response to God is to “repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6 NRSV). Read more…
Living Faith Devotional 91
11/17 – 11/23
As human beings that cannot fathom the fulness of the thoughts and ways of our God and his creation, we sometimes want to falsely blame the bad things that happen on those who are enduring hardship, loss, or devastation (Isaiah 55:8). Like Job’s friends who assumed that bad things were happening to him because of something he had done, the Gospel of John reveals a time when Jesus’ disciples made a similar assumption. “As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned: he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him’” (John 9:1-3 NRSV). The man was then healed by Jesus and was no longer blind but able to see (John 9:6-7). Read more…
Living Faith Devotional 90
11/10 – 11/16
During the month of October, we read Proverbs. King Solomon, Israel’s wisest king, is given credit for the majority of the proverbs within that Old Testament book (1 Kings 3:1-15; Proverbs 1:1). In it Solomon teaches that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7 NRSV). To become wise a person must have a reverential fear of God. We need humility in approaching the Lord as the source of life, knowledge, and wisdom. As a young king, Solomon asked the Lord for “an understanding mind to govern” God’s people, so that he could “discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9 NRSV). The Lord gave him a “wise and discerning mind” because of his humility and faith in God (1 Kings 3:11 NRSV). As part of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us to “ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7 NIV). Humbly asking God in faith is an important part of the process for gaining wisdom and understanding. Read more…
Living Faith Devotional 89
11/3 – 11/9
This week we will continue reading and conclude our study of Ecclesiastes. According to the Bible Project video The Disturbing But Surprising Wisdom of Ecclesiastes, this Old Testament book of wisdom focuses on “the march of time,” the truth that no matter how wise or foolish, rich or poor, old or young a person may be “we are all going to die,” and that “life’s random nature” means that things don’t always turn out as portions of the book of Proverbs claim in regards to cause and effect. This random nature of life is described by a Hebrew word that is often translated in English versions of the Bible as “meaningless” or “vanity.” A better understanding of the Hebrew word used by the author of Ecclesiastes more than thirty times might be to think of it as “smoke,” “mist,” or “fog.” Although life is deeply meaningful, the author of Ecclesiastes wants us to know that fully grasping the complexity of life is like holding onto smoke, mist, or fog. It can be seen, but not fully grasped. Perhaps that is why we are reminded by “the Teacher” to enjoy the simple gifts God provides during our lifetime (Ecclesiastes 1:1; 2:24). God is our Creator, Provider, and Sustainer, so it is helpful to remember that whatever we have been given or will be given, including food to eat, liquids to drink, meaningful relationships, and satisfying work to do, are gifts from the One who is the source of life, faith, hope, love, and joy. Read more…
Living Faith Devotional 88
10/27 – 11/2
This week we will finish reading Proverbs, then begin reading another Old Testament book of wisdom, Ecclesiastes. No matter which book of the Bible we are reading, each day we have opportunities to acknowledge our source of life, salvation, and wisdom. As you finish reading Proverbs and begin reading Ecclesiastes, you are encouraged to choose the Lord’s wisdom, will, and way for your life as you daily acknowledge Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
The format of this plan is designed for you to use as much or little as you have time to use each day. Below is a guide for the daily use of this devotional:
Each Day
- Read the Psalm
- Spend a few minutes in silence as you wait in the presence of the Lord
- Listen to and/or Sing a worship song or hymn
- Watch the videos before or on Thursday
- Read The Bible verses for the day
- Pray
- Live according to your faith in Christ Jesus
Living Faith Devotional 87
10/20 – 10/26
King Solomon instructs us to “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight” (Proverbs 3:5 NRSV). We have limited capacities for knowledge and insight as human beings, but God is all-knowing. In the New Testament, James encourages Christians to ask God for wisdom. “If any of you is lacking wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you” (James 1:5 NRSV). Through the Holy Spirit, God can provide the wisdom or insight we need that can only be given by the Lord. Humbly asking God in faith is an important part of the process for gaining wisdom and understanding. As a young king, Solomon asked the Lord for “an understanding mind to govern” God’s people, so that he could “discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9 NRSV). The Lord gave him a “wise and discerning mind” because of his humility and faith in God (1 Kings 3:11 NRSV). As part of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us to “ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7 NIV). By continuing to read the book of Proverbs this week as we humbly ask the Lord, we can receive the wisdom revealed within this Old Testament book as the Holy Spirit enables us. Read more…
Living Faith Devotional 86
10/13 – 10/19
Within the book of Proverbs King Solomon, Israel’s wisest king, taught that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10 NRSV). The overall goal of this book of the Bible is to persuade the reader to choose God’s wisdom as a way of life. You are encouraged to continue reading Proverbs this week and choose the way of blessings, life, God’s will, and the Lord’s wisdom.
The format of this plan is designed for you to use as much or little as you have time to use each day. Below is a guide for the daily use of this devotional:
Each Day
– Read the Psalm
– Spend a few minutes in silence as you wait in the presence of the Lord
– Read The Bible verses for the day
– Listen to and/or Sing a worship song or hymn
– Pray
– Live according to your faith in Christ Jesus Read more…
Living Faith Devotional 85
10/6 – 10/12
Life seems to be full of choices. Some options are similar, yet there are times when two different options lead to two completely different outcomes. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were told they could eat fruit from “every tree” except one (Genesis 2:16-17). Making the choice to eat from all of the trees other than the forbidden one enabled their bodies to be fed and nourished, while enjoying healthy relationships with God, one another, and God’s creation. Yet when Eve and Adam “saw that the tree” of the knowledge of good and evil “was good for food, and that…the tree was to be desired to make one wise” they ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6 NRSV). Because of their choice human beings became sinners. The relationship of humans with God, humans with one another, and human beings with the created world suffered because of the consequences of sins. We continue seeing and experiencing those consequences today. Read more…