Month: May 2025

Psalm 119:1 – Joyful are people of integrity,
who follow the instructions of the Lord.
² Joyful are those who obey his laws
and search for him with all their hearts.
³ They do not compromise with evil,
and they walk only in his paths.
⁴ You have charged us
to keep your commandments carefully.
⁵ Oh, that my actions would consistently
reflect your decrees!
⁶ Then I will not be ashamed
when I compare my life with your commands.
⁷ As I learn your righteous regulations,
I will thank you by living as I should!
⁸ I will obey your decrees.
Please don’t give up on me!

⁹ How can a young person stay pure?
By obeying your word.
¹⁰ I have tried hard to find you—
don’t let me wander from your commands.
¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
¹² I praise you, O Lord;
teach me your decrees.
¹³ I have recited aloud
all the regulations you have given us.
¹⁴ I have rejoiced in your laws
as much as in riches.
¹⁵ I will study your commandments
and reflect on your ways.
¹⁶ I will delight in your decrees
and not forget your word.

¹⁷ Be good to your servant,
that I may live and obey your word.
¹⁸ Open my eyes to see
the wonderful truths in your instructions.
¹⁹ I am only a foreigner in the land.
Don’t hide your commands from me!
²⁰ I am always overwhelmed
with a desire for your regulations.
²¹ You rebuke the arrogant;
those who wander from your commands are cursed.
²² Don’t let them scorn and insult me,
for I have obeyed your laws.
²³ Even princes sit and speak against me,
but I will meditate on your decrees.
²⁴ Your laws please me;
they give me wise advice. (NLT)

Psalm 119 is a lengthy psalm, as it is an acrostic.  It is divided into twenty-two parts, or stanzas.  In Hebrew, stanza one begins with the first letter of the alphabet, and each following stanza begins with the next letter.  In the twenty-four verses of this reading, we work our way through the first three stanzas. 

It’s been said that integrity is doing what is right when no one is looking.  For a Christian, integrity is staying in the will of God even when no one would know otherwise.  The Word of God tells us that this will bring joy into our lives (verse 1).  Verse three tells us that the godly do not compromise with evil.  For a Christian, evil is best defined as anything outside of the will of God.  Even seemingly harmless things can be evil.  If God’s will is for us to be involved in a certain activity, but we choose to involve ourselves in something else, we are outside of the will of God.  True joy comes from staying on the path that God has set before us. 

All three stanzas of today’s reading speak of living a life of integrity.  Note in verse nineteen the psalmist writes that he is only a foreigner in the land, and so he asks God not to hide God’s commands.  Our true home is with God, and the Word of God is our map as we travel through this foreign land.  Without our map we would end up hopelessly lost, with our map we stay on course.  The psalmist knew the joy of being on track because he knew the pain of being of course.  He wrote in verse twenty that he was always overwhelmed with a desire for God’s regulations.  What a picture of life – life lived to the full!

Today, let the desire for God’s Word be overwhelming in you!  Let the joy of the Lord be your strength this day! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Genesis 37:29 –  Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief. ³⁰ Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I do now?”

³¹ Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. ³² They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”

³³ Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time. ³⁵ His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.

³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard. (NLT)

Several years ago I preached a sermon series on dysfunctional families from the Book of Genesis.  Jacob and his father Isaac were two of the main characters in this series.  While today’s passage seems to be just a tragic story of unruly brothers secretly selling their brother into slavery, we must realize the family dysfunction that precedes this story.

Jacob had a dysfunctional relationship with his sons.  He favored Joseph over his other sons.  Genesis 37:3 – Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. (NLT) A careful reading of Genesis 37 clearly shows that Jacob showed his favoritism with special gifts to Joseph, while Joseph spent his time reporting to his father on the behavior of his brothers.  This set up a very unhealthy family dynamic.  When we consider the childhood of Jacob, it is easy to see why he behaved in such a way, for his own parents showed their favoritism to different children.  Genesis 25:27 – As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home. ²⁸ Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob. (NLT)

Whether it is with our families, or with anyone else, showing favoritism creates dysfunction.  We may look at these ancient stories and tell ourselves that we do not behave in such a way with our own children, but the spiritual application compels us to ask ourselves: “Do we favor certain types of people over others?”  It is a fact of life that some people are more likeable than others, but it goes against God’s design when we treat certain people with less favor because we find them less likeable.  Consider James 2:1 – My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? (NLT)

This is a bold statement, but then it is God’s Word!  Our faith in Jesus Christ must be displayed by modeling our lives after the life of Jesus.  Jesus loved all, and he was willing to even embrace those that society cast aside.  Certainly, this is something that we all battle, but is something in which we must continually seek strength from the Holy Spirit so that we may overcome the temptation.

Each of us, at some point this day, will be tempted to show less favor to someone less likeable.  When that moment comes, let us seek the strength we need, so that God will be glorified in our interactions with all of God’s people! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Mark 14:12 – On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

¹³ So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴ At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ ¹⁵ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” ¹⁶ So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.

¹⁷ In the evening Jesus arrived with the twelve disciples. ¹⁸ As they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here will betray me.”

¹⁹ Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one?”

²⁰ He replied, “It is one of you twelve who is eating from this bowl with me. ²¹ For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”

²² As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.”

²³ And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many. ²⁵ I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”

²⁶ Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. (NLT)

This familiar passage depicts the story of the Last Supper.  While this passage is usually reserved for Holy Week, it provides us with a powerful lesson on any day.  To understand what this passage can teach us, let us consider two revelations that Jesus shared with his disciples during the Last Supper.

First, in this passage Jesus shared that one of the twelve would betray him.  That revelation ‘greatly distressed’ the disciples, and each asked, “Am I the one?”  If we look at the other Gospel accounts of the Last Supper, we discover the second revelation that Jesus shared that night – he told Peter that he, too, would deny Jesus not once, but three times! (John 13:38, Luke 22:34).

How shocking it must have been for these disciples to know that at least two of them would deny Jesus.  They had known Jesus for several years, and followed him everywhere.  As difficult as Jesus’ revelation must have been that night, how many of us who have known Jesus for years still find that we stumble and deny Jesus?  How many times, by our actions and words (or lack of), have we denied truly knowing Jesus?

While it does sadden us to think that we have denied Jesus, we should celebrate the covenant that Jesus established at this meal.  Because of the Body and Blood of Jesus, we have peace with God.  Paul tells us in Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” Because of Jesus, we do not have to fear God when we stumble, for we have grace!

Today, let us celebrate the peace of God, which certainly exceeds anything we can understand! (Philippians 4:7). 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Psalm 148:1 – Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens!
Praise him from the skies!
² Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all the armies of heaven!
³ Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all you twinkling stars!
⁴ Praise him, skies above!
Praise him, vapors high above the clouds!
⁵ Let every created thing give praise to the Lord,
for he issued his command, and they came into being.
⁶ He set them in place forever and ever.
His decree will never be revoked.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
you creatures of the ocean depths,
⁸ fire and hail, snow and clouds,
wind and weather that obey him,
⁹ mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
¹⁰ wild animals and all livestock,
small scurrying animals and birds,
¹¹ kings of the earth and all people,
rulers and judges of the earth,
¹² young men and young women,
old men and children.

¹³ Let them all praise the name of the Lord.
For his name is very great;
his glory towers over the earth and heaven!
¹⁴ He has made his people strong,
honoring his faithful ones—
the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise the Lord! (NLT)

I can remember when I was a teenager my mother would sometimes say to me, “You better change your attitude, mister!”  She was right, of course.  I, like many teenagers, often had the wrong attitude.  Sometimes I had a rebellious attitude.  An attitude of rebellion is not unique to the young.  We often live out our rebellion in various ways.  After all, we are sinners living in a fallen world.

I believe that this psalm helps us maintain our focus, avoiding living a life of rebellion.  This psalm is one of the ‘hallelujah’ psalms.  Hallelujah means ‘praise the Lord’, and that phrase is repeated over and over again throughout this psalm.  What does ‘hallelujah’ and the having the right attitude have in common?  Praising God keeps us focused on the things of God, and focusing in the things of God helps us to continue to praise God.

There are plenty of things that would take our focus away from God.  Sometimes we can even involve ourselves in countless good things, yet still lose focus as to why we are doing what we do.  Throughout each day we must look for hallelujah moments.  We must be aware of the many opportunities we have each day to Praise the Lord!  Maybe it’s a beautiful flower garden.  Maybe it’s a kind gesture from a stranger.  I believe that we can find hallelujah moments most everywhere, we just need to stay aware.

Today, let us stay alert to the host of hallelujah moments that come our way.  Let us Praise the Lord throughout the day.  Let us stay focused, and we will in all times have the right attitude. 

Posted by Ramón Torres