January 30: Genesis 18:14 Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.

Abraham and Sarah, in their nineties and early hundreds (!) doubt that a son of their own is possible. God had promised them Isaac, and sure enough He kept his word in that very next year. What are the possibilities that we imagine are out of God’s control?

January 29: John 6:9 There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?

The disciples of Jesus could only see the crowd of very hungry people, their need and the scarcity of available resources. They had yet to understand what Jesus could do with what we offer him, even if it is only a few loaves and fish. We only have to offer it.

January 27: Psalm 119:54 Your statutes have been my songs, wherever I make my home.

My thoughts have turned, today, to the many men and women who serve in the armed forces all over the world. Also, I remember missionaries and teachers who are called to serve and preach in the very remotest of places. Wherever they make their home on this day, and during this night to come, may they sing the songs of the Living God and feel His love and presence surrounding them. Wherever they make their home, He is with them.

January 26: John 5:5 One man was there who had been ill for 38 years

This guy is two things at once: He is a real man with a real illness, and he is a symbol of all people in every generation who can’t quite make it into the pool for healing. Jesus asks him, and all the rest of us, if we really want to be healed? And Jesus tells us to go on ahead and pick up our mat. Start walking. The guy by the pool did just that, and so have many more after him, who have encountered the Lord Jesus in his story.

January 25: Genesis 14:18 And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High

This mysterious figure encountered Abraham during a journey of victory. He was both King and Priest, and he came along two generations before the sons of Jacob were even born. One of the sons of Jacob, Levi, would become the ancestor of all priests and temple servants on down the line to the days of Jesus. Jesus, also Priest and King, was not a Levite. He comes to us shrouded in mystery, much like the shadowy figure of Melchizidek.

January 24: Mark 7:37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the ...

... mute to speak.”

Before it was all over, Jesus would do a million things well! His earthly ministry would so amaze and confound the people who loved in his time and place, that they could hardly describe what they had seen. Thank God they DID describe it, as best they could, so that when that part was over and the church part began we would know the Good News of salvation in his name.

January 23: Hebrews 7:26 For it was fitting that we should have such a High Priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, ...

... and exalted above the heavens.

The old system of sacrifice, with its many animals slaughtered and it many human priests, did not effectively reconcile God and his people. Sin was still there in between them, including the sin of the priests themselves. Jesus offers himself as the one sacrifice, and becomes the one High Priest who is above and beyond all others. He is the reconciler God sends to us, who is without sin himself and who takes upon himself all sin. Holiness himself becomes the bridge.

January 22: John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

We are not a people who worship statues or idols or any other concrete object. For a time, God became a solid human in order that humans could understand him better, but he warned us that we would experience him in Spirit. For that reason, the sacraments of the church are so crucial to us. They are the concrete sign of the spirit life that we breath in as we worship

January 21: Hebrews 6:15 And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise.

Over and over, the writers of the New Testament comment on and interpret the life of Abraham—hero of the Old Testament. He believed what God had promised, and he followed the way that God had laid out for him and for his family. Abraham is the example of faith and covenant, the patriarch who was well known to the Lord Jesus and to his earthly family and teachers. Imagine the day when Jesus boldly proclaims, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

January 20: Psalm 119:36 Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.

Left to our own devices and desires, “selfish gain” wins out most all of the time! It seems to be our human nature at its purest to most always seek what benefits me and mine. The psalmist desires more than that kind of life, and in fact he asks directly for the tools he needs to leave that self-serving life behind—the decrees of the LORD. Turn our hearts in that new direction, we pray to you O Lord.

January 19: John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but ...

... may have eternal life.

This passage of Scripture has been called the Gospel in Miniature, because it sums up the Good News in a very concise few words. All over the world, in many languages, this one sentence helps non-believers come to understand the gift of life that Jesus offers. The gift is eternal, and it is available to all who accept it, and it comes from the only Son of God.

January 18: Genesis 8:10 Then Noah waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more.

Imagine the whole earth, brand new and clean. The dove, as she flew over water and dry land, had the very best view ever. As soon as the rest of the ark emptied out, and all of the creatures began to live and move about again, our ancestors also began to sin again. It would be many generations until the human family would once again catch the vision of a new earth. Jesus would be there, and it would also include a new heaven. Come, Lord Jesus.

January 17: Ephesians 4:5 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, ...

... one faith, one baptism,one God and father of all.

These are called the seven signs of unity—the seven things that Paul says are “One”—body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God, father. We recall them every time we baptize somebody in the name of Jesus, and we are committed again the to the One. There can never be a substitute for these particular seven signs of our life in the faith.

January 16: Hebrews 4:13 And before God no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the One to whom we must ...

... render an account.”

“Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid….” As we begin every celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we are reminded of this truth from the Letter to the Hebrews. There are no hidden plans or sins or intentions or good deeds. And one day, we will each make an accounting of it all to our Lord and God.

January 15: Psalm 16:5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot.

The psalmist talks about God, then sometimes just starts talking TO God with no warning to us at all! He does that here—telling us that out of all the choicest portions the feast of life has offer, he has chosen the Lord. He has filled his cup with God’s truth and love. Then he makes sure God knows that he understands—it is God who holds all things, all gifts, every “lot” there is.

January 14: John 1:51 And Jesus said to him, “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending ...

... upon the Son of Man.”

Wow. Jesus recalled the amazing dream/vision of Jacob’s ladder, the passageway back and forth from earth to heaven, and declared that HE was the ladder. HE himself was the way back and forth between he worlds. Nathaniel, the disciple Jesus was talking to, was in for the journey of a lifetime, a journey with very ancient and powerful roots. Nathaniel was about to see all kinds of things that he had only heard about!

January 13: Hebrews 2:18 Because Jesus himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those are being tested.

This is the heart of the doctrine of the Incarnation—the idea that God became “In-Carnate” or “In-Flesh.” He knows. He knows it all—the challenges, the sorrows, the tests, the joys, the life of all the human family. How else could he be our Savior?

January 12: Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made.

Serpents, as we see them in nature, don’t actually seem so crafty! They are pretty scary, and downright dangerous, but they are predictable and they are animals, just doing what they do. It is evil itself, temptation itself, that is “crafty.” If we begin to imagine that we are so much wiser and more immune to temptation than our earliest father and mother, we should probably think again. We need a Savior, and thank God we have one!

January 11: Psalm 3:5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.

We experience a tiny death every day, as the day comes to an end and we lose all awareness of our surroundings in sleep. We need that time of rest and release, in order to begin a new life in the morning. God wakes us up for another round—He doesn’t have to, so we might start the new day out by saying thanks!

January 10: Genesis 1:3 Then God said, ”Let there be light,” and there was light.

Later in the creation narrative we hear that God divided the light, and made the sun and moon and stars. That’s not what this verse is talking about. Here we are told it was just light. Light everywhere, light where there had been darkness and void. God spoke and the darkness vanished. His light is still the great vanquisher of all darkness, all shadow, all blackness. It can never be extinguished by something as puny as a dark night!

January 9: John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them saying, “I am the light of the world.”

Jesus is making several things clear here: He is using the ancient name of God, I AM, in reference to himself. He is also going back to the beginning of the world and claiming to be The Light. He is speaking as if he were God. No wonder it was confusing, no wonder it was a gradual process by which people came to recognize his power.

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God.

God spoke and acted in many ways through all of our history, but being invisible was a huge disadvantage, wasn’t it? Jesus started a whole new chapter in the story of God and his people when he came to us in a very visible form. God became a man, and for a while lived among us in the flesh. Amazing.

January 7: Psalm 103:2 Bless the Lord O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits.

This line of scripture always makes me think of the girl singing it in Godspell, the Broadway musical from the 1970’s. She belted it right out in such a flamboyant way that you really got to thinking about those benefits. People have been belting out those lines for 3,000 years and the power of the sung word is still a benefit of knowing God and his ways.

January 6: Revelation 21:23 And the city has no need of the sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the lamb.

The heavenly city of God is so much brighter than our cities and so far beyond our understanding that this is the best explanation John can give us. Light is everywhere, not artificial light but pure light, like the light that God spoke into existence at the creation.

January 5: John 11:23 Jesus said to Martha, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha believed that her brother would rise again at the resurrection on the last day, and she believed that if Jesus had come sooner her brother would not have died at all. She didn’t know enough to believe that her brother would be at their dinner table that night—back alive in his own body! She didn’t know enough to understand that Jesus IS the resurrection.

January 4: Jonah 2:7 As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; any my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

Forgetting the Lord happens to everyone at some time or another. Jonah was in the stomach of a whale when he came to senses and “remembered.” The whales are everywhere, the dark places filled with acid that we find ourselves in. Remember the Lord, and let your prayer come to him.

January 3: Colossians 3:12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

Paul always seems to remind us that we have a choice in many matters. He tells us here that how we clothe ourselves is one of those choices. Will we put on pride or humility? Kindness or meanness? The Apostle seems to think it’s up to us!

January 2: 1 Kings 19:8 Elijah got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the ...

... the Mount of God.

The prophet Elijah was following in the ancient footsteps of Moses, who also spent 40 days on the mountain. Many years later, the Lord Jesus would go out into the desert wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, preparing for his public ministry. We have assigned 40 days to the season of Lent. 40 seems like a number that works in the calendar of God.

January 1: Isaiah 62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like ...

... the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.

Over and over the scriptures use images of light to indicate the presence and actions of God—sunlight, starlight, lamps, torches, dawn, fire, daytime, etc., etc. Here we are captured by the image of salvation as a burning torch—something everyone can see, everyone can know and recognize from a distance. Is our salvation out there like that? Our salvation is in the name of Jesus and he is our burning torch to the world.