Posts by SFNAZ Devotional Team (Page 2)

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Wes preached on Luke 5:1-10, the story of the miraculous catch of fish.  It is the story of a once in a lifetime catch of fish, that happened as a miracle of Jesus.  It is even more the story of the conversion of three fishermen.  It is easy to get caught up in the miracle of verses 1-10 and miss the greater miracle in verse 11.  I have added Luke 5:11 to my list…

How many times have you been reading the scripture that you have read multiple times and all of the sudden a particular verse jumps out at you? As I was reading in 1 Corinthians the third chapter, all of a sudden, the 16th and 17th verses caught my attention.  What does it mean we are the temple of God? I have read this passage many times over the years and never thought much about it, but this time it grabbed…

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Very few places in scripture says what or who God is and yet the Apostle John writes in 1 John that God is light and then a few chapters later says that God is Love. Recently I read a book…

The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:16–17 I’m sure we all know someone whose life circumstances just don’t seem fair.  We might say, “they’re such a good person.  Why do things like this happen to such good people?”  Even within our own congregation, I can think of…

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of participating in my mother-in-law’s memorial service.  As is true of most funerals, several people shared stories from her past.  It was great to remember fun shared times together.  I chose to spend my time looking to the future. I was thinking about the parable of the talents the other day.  I thought about how the master gave varying talents of money to his servants.  At the end of the parable the…

Ephesians 4:17, So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. Galatians 2:14, When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it then, that you force Gentiles…

Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father  who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn’t change like  the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon.   James 1:17       Think back to the weeks leading up to Christmas when you were a little child. The anticipation grew each time a new present appeared under the tree.  For me, I’d sort, shake, try to peak and take wild guesses at…

Give thanks to the Lord for He is Good Psalm 107:1; 136:1  This Thursday we take time to offer prayers of thanksgiving, before diving into a feast of turkey with all the fixings and a day of football.  The next day we begin the hunt for presents that most people don’t need and exercise our bargain hunting license looking for those extreme deals.  When we were growing up, we always got one toy for Christmas, and you hoped that you…

Love your Neighbor After months of the house next door being vacant, we finally got new neighbors.  Only… except… well, to be honest it has been quite a struggle adjusting to them. They brought a lot of clutter with a boat, construction trailer, and multiple trucks and cars that block the sidewalk.  They have many friends/co-workers who spend much of their time on the back deck while they smoke, which we smell in our back yard. Oh, and they love…

When [Jesus] heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. JOHN 11:6 In today’s fast paced world of drive through dining, same-day Amazon delivery and online grocery shopping, we’ve lost the art of waiting. If you ask any child, they rank the words not yet as nearly the most awful in the English language, second only to the word no. Children don’t like to hear the answer, “Not yet.” When our wise, loving heavenly Father deems it best to say,…

Have you ever struggled with knowing who you are? We live in a world where people struggle with identity. Some of which is caused by broken families and troubled childhoods.  Some of which is caused by careless friends and negative people in our lives.  But I believe that who we are is determined by “whose” we are. Where did I come from and who do I belong to? The answers to these questions shape our identity. Psalm 139:13-14 says “For…

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to…