Daily Devotionals

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 8, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 3:7-8 Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The person who practices righteousness is righteous, in the same way that Jesus is righteous. The person who practices sin belongs to the devil, because the devil has been sinning since the beginning. God’s Son appeared for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil. Thought for the Day: At

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 7, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 3:1a See what kind of love the Father has given to us in that we should be called God’s children, and that is what we are! Thought for the Day: Children of God! That is what we should be called because, according to the author, that is what we are. It doesn’t say, “…that’s what we will become” or “if

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 6, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 2:28 And now, little children, remain in relationship to Jesus, so that when he appears we can have confidence and not be ashamed in front of him when he comes. Thought for the Day: Too many people (and I have done it) read through this verse quickly and project it to some final day, when Jesus appears in ultimate glory.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 5, 2019 Scripture: 1 John 2:25 This is the promise that he himself gave us: eternal life. Thought for the Day: Many who read this simple verse are immediately transported in their minds to a heaven with angels and puffy clouds and golden streets. I’m not knocking that mental picture, but eternal life is not the life after this one. Eternal life, as I have

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 4, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 2:18-21 Little children, it is the last hour. Just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 3, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 2:12-14 Little children, I’m writing to you because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus’ name. Parents, I’m writing to you because you have known the one who has existed from the beginning. Young people, I’m writing to you because you have conquered the evil one. Little children, I write to you because you know the Father. Parents, I write

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 2, 2019 Prayer for the Week: You love me, Merciful God, you love me. There are days when those words flow with ease, when I am able to believe them and embrace them. There are days, Merciful God, when the convictions of faith do not match how I see myself. There are days when I perceive your love as freely given to others, but not

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS September 1, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 2:9-11 The one who claims to be in the light while hating a brother or sister is in the darkness even now. The person loving a brother and sister stays in the light, and there is nothing in the light that causes a person to stumble. But the person who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS August 31, 2019 Scripture: 1st John 2:3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. Thought for the Day: This is not what I hear people of faith communicating. I hear more talk about proper belief, yet a person can believe all kinds of things that have no real impact upon daily life. I believe the sky is blue, but