blessings ⁽³¹⁾

‌Read: Psalm 25; Isaiah 25:6-9; Philippians 3:20-21; John 6:37-40 ‌“This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” John 6:40 (NRSVue) Those…

Psalm 126; Isaiah 40:1-11; Romans 8:22-25 Have you realized that Advent is weird? I love Advent, don't get me wrong. However, the world has done a successful job of retraining us on what Advent is all about. Partially, I think, this is because of the…

Psalm 85:8–13; Amos 3:1–12; Colossians 4:2–18 The Psalm speaks of the land of Israel having God’s blessings. It needed it. God’s blessing was both a protection and a source of bounty. The gist is that if Israel's people were being blessed by the land, including…

Psalm 20; Numbers 6:22–27; Mark 4:21–25 You may know the song, “Count your blessings, one by one…” The “Aaronic” blessing outlined in Numbers is one of my favorites. As a pastor, I will default to it at appropriate times (such as the end of a…

Psalm 115; Exodus 28:29–38; Philippians 1:3–11 The Holy Spirit as gift can often lead us to wonder if the Israelites ever had the Holy Spirit or spiritual gifts of any sort. The answer is some did and some didn’t. The Urim and Thummim were used…