Jesus - your friend

Jesus comes not as a guest who wants to visit but as a friend who wants to stay.  And when He does, great are the blessings that He brings for our faith.

Richard E. Lauersdorf, "Together with Jesus," January 28 

God is there is the struggle and the pain

 Meyer Minute for January 28

 

“Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18), but we won’t experience that fully until the other side. On this side of heaven everyone, God’s people included, have fears. The “Faith and Film Festival” at Concordia Seminary includes a short film, “Ten Meter Tower.” You see normal people facing the fear of jumping into a swimming pool from a ten-meter tower, almost 33 feet high. Seeing normal people, they weren’t divers, struggle with an inconsequential fear invites us to reflect. How do I wrestle with my fears?

 

The word “fear” isn’t used in Genesis 32:22-32 when Jacob wrestles with an unnamed “man,” but who wouldn’t be afraid when you’re suddenly attacked? And we are attacked by all sorts of scary things, Covid-19, harmful moods, financial problems, changes in relationships, and on and on until the final fearful thing, death. “And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day has broken.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ And he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then he said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.’”

 

God lowers Himself to engage a human being, and not engage through conversation but to pull a man into struggle. Is God in the fearful things you’re struggling with? In your struggles, are you really wrestling with God? Whether your struggle traces back to sinful mistakes you’ve made, to the devil, or to God Himself, God certainly is in your fearful struggle, God for you, not against you, with you in His suffering and finally triumphant Son (Romans 8:31-32). Whatever you’re wrestling with, hang on to God and quote Jacob repeatedly, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

 

When “we cannot understand why we have to keep on waiting, why God does not take away the pain and suffering, it is then—yes, especially then—that God’s baptismal pledge to us holds true: his promise to be with us and to go with us. His promise gives strength to hold up….” (Oswald Bayer, “In Trouble and in Good Heart,” a sermon by Oswald Bayer).

From Dr. Dale Meyer's Facebook page

I Love You, O Lord, My Strength!

It took place 21 years ago.  I remember it as if it happened yesterday.  The St. Louis Rams had just won the Super Bowl and quarterback Kurt Warner was being interviewed.  His words would be going out to a worldwide audience.  The interviewer asked, "Kurt, tell us how you felt after throwing the game-winning touchdown to Isaac Bruce?"

Warner responded, "The first thing I've got to do is praise my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!'

Wow! What an uncommon athlete.  Warner gave glory to God rather than seek glory and acclaim for himself.  That's what David does in Psalm 18.

The subscription to this Psalm gives the reason for the writing of this song.  David was hunted by his enemies with the same intensity that a rabid fan might seek an extra ticket to the Super Bowl.  King Saul, filled with jealously and rage, brought the power of the kingdom against Dave and his small group of followers.  Each time, God thwarted Saul's plans to destroy David.  The evil king could never defeat the one - David - God had chosen to lead His people.

David responds by writing a majestic song of praise to his Lord.  He points to God's grace as the reason for his many escapes and triumphs.  David takes no credit for outfoxing Saul.  He does not boast of having a superior intelligence or battle tactics.  He sings, "I love you, O Lord, my strength."  To the very end of the psalm, David keeps pointing to the grace and mercy of God as the reason for his success.

What has God surprised you with His grace? When did you experience His grace in an extraordinary way? Was it when He sustained you through a difficult experience? Was it when He removed you from a painful situation? Read Psalm 18 sometime this week.  Think about the song of praise you could sing to the Lord.  Here's the opening line to your first verse - "I love You, O Lord, my strength!" 

 

Jesus cleanses us inside and out

 We put on good outward appearances.  Even pagans usually appear to be nice people.  But the secret sins within us trouble and perplex us most.  The wicked thoughts, the unspoken jealousies, the unexpressed anger, the secret, ungodly desires.  These are the sins that gnaw away at us.  These are the sins that keep us awake at night.

 Jesus came to wash away our sins, all our sins: our sins others can see and also the sins we can only see.  Psalm 51:7 says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." Through faith in His death and resurrection, we are made clean by Jesus, inside and out.

"Portals of Prayer," Monday, January 25.

A Word of Encouragement About Brotherly Love

 Ever been on the receiving end of brotherly love? I've got a story of how I was blessed when some brothers in Christ came to my rescue and saved my back!  Find "Words of Encouragement" on the Life in Christ Lutheran Church Facebook page beginning this morning at 8 am.  Check it out!

Speak, O Lord, Your Servant Listens

 As I pray dear Jesus, heal me; Let Your Words in me take root

May Your Spirit e-er be near me, That I bear abundant fruit

 May I daily sing Your praise, From my heart glad anthems raise

Till my highest praise is given, In the endless joy of heaven.

Lutheran Service Book 589, verse 4

 

The gift of confession

 So how do we get the log our of our own eye (Luke 6:42)? One word: confession.  The word confession comes from a Greek word that means "to say the same word."  In Confession, we say the same word that God says.  God's Word says that we are sinful from birth, that we live in sin moment by moment, day by day.  That's the diagnosis, the log in our eye.  And we agree, God's judgment is true.  But God takes the log our of our eye by forgiving our sins day by day, moment by moment, for Jesus' sake, through His sacrificial death on the cross and His victorious resurrection.  The log is gone.  Through the gift of Confession, we can say with certainty and joy that we are God's forgiven children.

From "Portals of Prayer," January 18