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Craig L's Blog

Commonplace Holiness

Tag: devotion

  • Characterizing the Walk With God – Psalm 15:3-5

    So, the question Psalm 15 raises for us is this: Lord God, what is it like to be the kind of person who is fit to live in Your Presence from day to day?

    We are invited into a life in the presence of God. And, by the grace of God we are enabled to live lives pleasing to God. What are we told about this kind of life? It is a life of wholehearted devotion and a life of inner integrity.

    I am reminded of a verse from the New Testament: “…if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7 NRSV). Walking with God means continually walking in the light of God. There is a kind of honesty and openness and transparency to it. Our hearts are open to God and to others — insofar as that is possible for us. Now, notice the qualities of the person who walks with God in this wholehearted devotion.

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  • A Radical Call – Matthew 4:12-23

    A Radical Call – Matthew 4:12-23

    A story can be told in more than one way. Two witnesses may see events in a significantly different way. I think sometimes preachers, commentators, and theologians give in too easily to the temptation to get behind the story of Jesus rather than reading it for what it is . The way the story is told cues us to the meaning the gospel writers saw in the story. It is story-telling that we encounter in the Gospels, not some kind of scientific history writing. The story has a point. That’s why the gospel writers tell it. In addition, people often too quickly attempt to harmonize and explain. And, I think the temptation is strong in this passage.

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