Tag: devotional
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Armageddon: The Iranian Conflict and End Times
Well. I finally saw the word used in association with events currently at play in the Middle East. In her post, Coston claimed that, in the last battle, the nations wouldn’t necessarily fight against Israel but against Christ. I have to say, I have never actually seen such a narrative in the text of Scripture.…
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Life, Our Most Treasured Possession
Reflecting on John 1:3-5 John doesn’t claim any certain method. He doesn’t give us a timeline of origins. He simply claims that all things came into being through Him, the Word, and apart from Him nothing that exists came into being. Consider, again, the Genesis 1 account. In the beginning God created the heavens and…
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Let Me Introduce You to This Jesus
John 1:1-2 Have you ever wondered what came first? I mean, something had to come first, right? Many stories have been told about the origins of all that exists in what we perceive as a very material, raw, and observable universe. Perhaps it was a chance universe with chance physical laws amid many other chance…
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Follow the Money; John 2:13-22
Jesus was not opposed to violence. He was opposed to injustice. It is unjust for any church or clergyman to interest themselves in making money because they will end up using people instead of ministering to them. Like the pyramids were built on the backs of slaves, so Saint Peter’s Basilica was built on the…
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Jesus, The Supplier of our Faith; Devo, John 2:1-12
The turning of water to wine at Cana is a popular story. Many people take many details from the text to expound on them, but I think it is important to keep ourselves from saying what the text does not say. After all, we want to speak God’s explicit words and not our own. There…
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Jesus Sees Us; Devo, John 1:43-51
Philip and Nathaniel follow Jesus. I don’t know why Nathaniel was under the fig tree, but Jesus’s divine knowledge of the occasion was enough to persuade Nathaniel that He was indeed the Son of God. Jesus promised Nathaniel he would see much greater things, including angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man—Jesus’s favorite…
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What do You Seek? Devo, John 1:35-42
John the Baptizer introduces two of his disciples to Jesus—Andrew and Simon Peter. We don’t often think about these two having first been disciples of John the Baptizer. After John introduced them to Jesus and upon hearing Jesus teach, the two men started following Jesus. Jesus asked them a question we should all consider, “What…
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Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Daily Devo, John 1:29-34
When I read this passage at face-value, it seems as though John the Baptizer does not know his cousin is the messiah until the Holy Spirit descends in this moment. This was not a premeditated rouse to capture followers for a new religion or cult. Jesus didn’t tell John. John was prepared to testify to…
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I’m No Prophet or Messiah: Daily Devo, John 1:19-34
John the Baptizer begins his public ministry, comprising mostly preaching Old Testament messianic passages and baptizing Jews who come to him. Some leading Jews come out from Jerusalem to question John, but John was not trying to be the next public teaching figure. Unlike others, he was not claiming to be the literal resurrection of…
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No One Can See God at Any Time: Daily Devo, John 1:14-18
The Word, Jesus, became flesh. I don’t understand this to mean that the divine transformed into flesh but rather assumed human flesh, such that the human flesh and nature was added to the divine nature without losing the divine nature in any degree or respect. In this incarnation, we were finally able to behold God—full…