Reading: Romans 8: 1-11 Verse 9: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you”. Paul continues in today’s passage to flesh out how life with Christ is different than life without Christ. Choosing to invite and live with Jesus in our hearts, we are freed from the law and the confines of this world. In the opening verses of chapter eight Paul also reminds us that Jesus paid the price for our sin. These two things al

Reading: Song of Songs 2: 8-13 Verse 10: “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me”. The Song of Songs is about love. On the literal level it is the story of young love, of courtship, of desire. In today’s six verses we see the beloved, the young woman, being sought by her lover. Twice in today’s passage he calls out, saying, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me”. The earth itself is coming to life as spring begins. The flowers and vines are blo

Reading: Romans 6: 1b-11 Verse 8: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him”. Once we take on Christ, we die to self and are made into a new creation. There is a temporal and an eternal aspect to our new self. Yesterday we read about Christ’s defeating of sin and our call to walk in a new way. Sin is still something we struggle with from time to time, but it is no longer our way of life. In verse eight we read these words: “Now if we died with Ch

Reading: 2nd Corinthians 13: 11-13 Verse 11b: “The God of love and peace will be with you”. As we return to Paul’s closing words in his second letter to the Corinthians, we focus in on God’s love and peace. Paul promises the church in Corinth that the “God of love and peace will be with you”. This promise remains true for us today. Christianity does not have the corner on love and peace. People without faith have love in their lives. They fall in love and they feel loved. Peo

Reading: Genesis 1:1 to 2:4a Verse 25: “And God saw that it was good”. Today we read the story of creation. It is a summary of how our world was created. Within the account there is a beauty and an order. These two enduring characteristics of God leap out of his creative acts. One thing at a time is created – night and day; sky, land, and seas; vegetation and trees; sun, moon, and stars; sea and air creatures; and, land creatures. Once all the groundwork is created, God makes

Reading: Psalm 104: 24-34 and 35b Verse 30: “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth”. The Psalm speaks of God’s creative power. It reminds us that the creatures that fill the sea and that cover the land are all created, birthed, and cared for by God. Even the air they breathe is a gift from God. When the breath of God is taken away, “they die and return to dust”. We and all of humanity fit within these truths. We too gain life when Go

Reading: Psalm 68: 1-10 and 32-35 Verse 9: “You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance”. Reading the first few verses of Psalm 68, one gets a sense of God’s powers. God can scatter the enemies and can make the wicked perish before him. David has experienced these things happening and has a confidence that God remains capable. When these things have happened, the righteous have been made glad, they have rejoiced. In our own lives we experience this

Reading: 1 Peter 3: 13-22 Verse 21: “This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also… the pledge of a good conscience toward God”. Peter touches a little bit on the idea of being saved through the water in today’s passage. In verse twenty he recalls Noah and family and how they were saved through the water. They were saved but all others perished as God, in a way, started over. In the next verse Peter speaks of baptism, using the story of Noah as a metaphor for baptism.