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…

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…

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…

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?…

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…

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…

DAILY READING Psalm 23 The Twenty-third Psalm may well be the most recognized, most memorized, most “famous” passage in Scripture. How many posters, greeting cards, and cross-stitch pillows have we seen bearing its famous beginning, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”? Countless. When I was a child, I heard these words read…

DAILY READING Matthew 5:1-12 One cold November afternoon I was walking around a lake in a beautiful mountain town. I was just coming to the end of my walk around the frigid gray water when I approached an older gentleman carrying a Ziploc bag full of bird seed. He walked down to the water’s edge…

DAILY READING Matthew 15:21-28 Today’s scripture reading is, to me, one of the most difficult passages about Jesus in the Bible. At first reading, it appears that Jesus — the perfect, sinless, all-compassionate Son of God — is being unkind. In his conversation with a Canaanite woman, Jesus appears to be hard-hearted, uncaring, and dare…