Scripture: Romans 14:21 (the Message) When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love. Thought for the Day: There are times in scripture when the
Scripture: Luke 6:39 Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? Thought for the Day: There is a lot of talk about how people’s personal lives should make no difference as long as they get the job done in their professional lives. I don’t wish to enter a debate within this devotional on whether, for
Scripture: Proverbs 22:16 Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss. Thought for the Day: On this day in 1645, William Laud (Archbishop of Canterbury) was beheaded because he supported the state instead of the people during the English Civil War. That’s a bit of an oversimplification, but too often Christianity has sided with the powerful instead
Scripture: Luke 6:24-26 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. Thought for the Day: As compared to
Scripture: Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. Thought for the Day: Back in 1998, I participated in a 36-hour fasting and prayer retreat. Now fifteen years later, I don’t know if I could do another 36 hours of silence and fasting…without sleep. It takes a toll on the body and spirit, though our
Scripture: Matthew 2:19-20 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” Thought for the Day: I don’t want to sound too callous, but occasionally there are some good deaths. Herod’s death allowed
Scripture: Roman 8:6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Thought for the Day: Flesh is evil and the spirit is good! That’s often the over simplification of passages like this one which can lead to some rather unhealthy theology and practices. People have practiced flogging (self-flagellation) to beat down the ways of the
Scripture: Romans 11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. Thought for the Day: We live in a world where we give a lot of lip service to tolerance, but just how respectful are we of those on the other side of… (fill in the blank). God does
Scripture: 1st Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. Thought for the Day: My friend (and author of numerous books), Jim Mulholland, said the following, [I am] “amazed at how often my perception of others is simply a projection
Scripture: Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. Thought for the Day: In the book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Quirrell (a teacher whose body plays host to the Dark Lord, Voldemort) says to Harry, “Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it…” These