Recent Devotions
“The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.” Leviticus 23:23-24, NIV. The Feast of Trumpets today is commonly celebrated as Rosh Hashanah. It is a time for personal and communal renewal. The Jewish civil New Year begins with the sound of the shofar (a ram’s horn) which has a loud, piercing noise that breaks through the ordinary and calls God’s people to attention. It is not a feast of celebration, like some of the other feasts, but a…
“From the day after the Sabbath… Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.” Leviticus 23:15-16. The Feast of Weeks, Shavuot in Hebrew, and later known as Pentecost in the Greek language, is 50 days…
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you and reap its harvest, you are to bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest.” Leviticus 23:10 (CSB) A Little Feast INTRODUCTION I want to give a little introduction of the first…
Readers Loved
“All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.” Hebrews 11:13 Have you ever watched an old clip of Winnie the Pooh and noticed how gloomy Eeyore is? His head is hung, his eyes are pointed toward the ground, and his mood is depressed. If he were real I imagine his body would ache from his poor posture, and his mind would be weary. Some of us have an…
According to Google, we make approximately 35,000 conscious decisions every day. Of course, many of these choices seem insignificant and finite. However, every choice we make, good or bad, will impact our lives. Simple Choices: What to wear. What to eat. What to read. What to watch on Netflix. More Complex Choices: What College to attend. Who to marry. What ministry to be involved in. Where to live. we are decision-making machines. The simple decision of our food choices can alter our health in a negative or positive way. Or, the choice of what to watch on T.V and the…
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:” Psalm 139:23 The business world often uses the week between Christmas and New Year’s day as an opportunity to take inventory. Stock on hand is counted and recorded. Reports are compiled to show what sold well the past year and should be re-ordered. Anything broken or unusable is thrown away. Surplus items are marked with a reduced-price tag and put on a sale table. Shelves are reorganized for greater efficiency. Perhaps this week would be a suitable time for each of us to take a good…
“And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.” II Samuel 5:22-24 The Bible refers to David as a man after God’s own heart. Probably one…
