Posts by Michele Crater

Sharing Our Grain, Grapes, and Ourselves

May 17, 2022 DAILY READING Leviticus 19:9-10 (CEB)Widows, strangers, and the poor were allowed into fields three times daily to gather the grapes and bundles of grain that farmers had dropped, ample opportunities to fill their empty baskets. Why is this important to us today? Do we have a responsibility make sure people in need or…

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Steps

DAILY READING Leviticus 19:9-10 (CEB)Thousands of years ago God gave 613 laws to Moses for the Hebrew people in order for them to have a covenant with Him. Some of those laws were not intended to be timeless, but rather were for a people living in a specific time, culture, geographical and religious context. The…

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My Way or the Highway

DAILY READING Mark 7:1-8 [Psalm 112: 1-9] The ritual being observed in this passage is a particular way of preparing to eat.  All that can really be seen are the outward trappings of religious tradition. In quoting Isaiah Jesus makes an interesting statement…it is possible to teach human ideas of observance as doctrine and still not…

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For the Love of God

DAILY READING 1 John 5:1-5 Psalm 112:1-9 I know that obeying God’s commandments helps to put me in ‘right’ relationship with him; but I had not thought specifically about how those commandments are meant to bring me into ‘right’ relationship with ‘my neighbor’.  What I do matters to those around me.  ‘Right’ relationship means to be…

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Amp-ing It Up A Little!

DAILY READING Psalm 47John 16:4-11 Today we will explore John 16 by using the Amplified Bible. “The Amplified Bible attempts to take both word meaning and context into account in order to accurately translate the original text from one language into another. The Amplified Bible does this through the use of explanatory alternate readings and amplifications to assist the…

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It’s Not Possible

DAILY READING Psalm 93Mark 16:19-20 Today’s writing time has been filled with distractions and at the same time, the interruptions have been incredibly on point.  A dear friend is in the process of dying and my mind is so full of ‘NO’. “Where are you going?  How can I find you? Will I see you again?…

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Fight the Good Fight

DAILY READING Psalm 931 Timothy 6:11-12 Fight the good fight. Take hold of eternal life.  These are big visions, big messages, big commands.  The words sound heroic, honor filled, lofty, magnificent, glorious, holy!  Realistically however, these phrases are a call to Obedience with a capital ‘O’.  And that may not mean what you think AND it might be more…

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Living and Speaking It Forward…

DAILY READING 1 Timothy 6:11-12Psalm 93 1 Timothy 6:11-12 is Paul’s advice as an elder to a young disciple, a member of the next generation to carry the message of Jesus.  Timothy was the pastor of the church in Ephesus and as such, had many ‘church’ issues to manage. He was thought to carry a special gift…

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