Posts Categorized: Devotional

Ask for Mercy

Posted December 30, 2019 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Psalm 28:3-5 NLT

If we truly believe that God is just, then this prayer of the psalmist should set our knees to knocking and our hearts to trembling. The psalmist calls down a curse on his adversaries. He asks God to punish them for their wickedness, but would he ask for God’s same justice on himself? The psalmist distinguishes himself from those who practice hypocrisy, who advance themselves at the expense of others and dismiss God from their lives, but is that fair? Who among us has never been guilty of these same crimes at one time or another?

Continue reading >>

Share
Comment

He Named Him Jesus

Posted December 23, 2019 | Judith Ingram

Matthew 1:18-21, 24-25 NRSV

We know little of Joseph apart from Matthew’s introductory passage. Yet in these few sentences, we see the character of the man who would become the primary moral teacher for God’s Son as he was growing up. Matthew’s Gospel describes Joseph as “a righteous man.” For a Jew, this meant a man who lived in obedience to God’s law. Following the Jewish customs of his day, Joseph betrothed himself to Mary, which meant binding himself to her—and her to him—in a legal contract that required sexual fidelity.

Continue reading >>

Share
Comment

Three Rules of Relationship

Posted December 16, 2019 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Psalm 34:11-14 NLT

Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the LORD. Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

Consider

Psalm 34 is one of the wisdom psalms. Like proverbs but in poetic form, wisdom psalms teach us how to live good and wise lives by following the ways of God rather than the ways of the wicked. The advice is practical and even intuitive.

Continue reading >>

Share
Comment

The Light That Overcomes

Posted December 9, 2019 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

John 1:3-5 NRSV

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Consider

In this Prologue to his Gospel (vv. 1-18), John tries to capture for us the power, authority, magnificence, and divine mission of God the Son—Jesus, whose birth we celebrate this season. John uses the metaphor of light to explain the sovereignty of all that is God over all that is opposed to God.

Continue reading >>

Share
Comment

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Forgiveness Fix

Posted November 25, 2019 | Judith Ingram

I am so excited to have my story published in the newly released book Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Forgiveness Fix. The book is now available for purchase and includes 101 true stories from people like me whose lives have been graced by the gift of forgiveness.

My story, “A Last Look,” describes my recent experience of visiting the street where I grew up and realizing that in the richness of love and friendships God has given me over the years, I could afford to forgive my abusive and unrepentant parents, now long deceased but still very much on my heart.

Continue reading >>

Share
Comment

Subscribe!

Want my free resource,  “Ten Do’s and Don’ts for Healthy Relationships,” plus my latest posts, delivered to your email inbox?

Judith’s Books