Norman Nagel wisdom for Lent

So come to His table, listening only to His words and receiving what He gives.  All your doing doesn't count against you anymore.  There is none of you, none of your doing outside of Jesus forgiveness.  Nothing can separate you from Him, for He has borne it all and answered for it in your place.  The Lord invites you to His table, family and fellowship to share all His happy good.  This is how much He loves you.  And by this Meal the Lord brings you on your way to that glad feast that is the feast of the Lamb with all His saints.

Saints - that is you and me and all His disciples, the many accounted righteous, whose iniquities He bore, whose chastisement He took, those whom He makes whole by what He did as the sacrifice for sin and by what He gives us to share together at His table.  Amen.

Selected Sermons of Normal Nagel - page 112

TGW for 4/11-16!

 April 11-15, 2022

Monday, April 11, 2022 Read: Psalm 5:1-6  Read verse three again.  As you begin another week, what prayer requests do you wish to make?  Each morning the psalmist offers his petitions and then waits to see what the Lord will do.  How about you?  Pray: O Lord, since You have invited me to have this quiet time with You, here are some of the things that are on my heart…

Tuesday, April 12, 2022  Read: Psalm 5:7-12  How do you see your house of worship?  The psalmist saw God’s house as a refuge, a place where God’s protection and help becomes our defense against those threaten our faith and life.  Pray: Gracious God, guard us from unbelievers and skeptics who would have us doubt the life we have in You.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022  Read: Psalm 6  This is the first of what are known as the penitential psalms (the others are 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143).  David is sorry for his sin.  He pleads for God’s mercy.  Look at verse nine again – God’s mercy is granted to David.  The Lord has heard David’s plea.  Pray: O Lord, like the psalmist I am in need of your mercy.  Forgive me for…

Thursday, April 14, 2022  Read: Psalm 7:1-9  Have you ever been frustrated by someone who seems like they are out to get you?  Ever have to work with someone who seemed determined to tear you apart? David shows you how and what to pray in Psalm 7.  He expresses a confident faith that God will protect and vindicate him against his unjust enemies.  Pray: Dear Father in heaven, protect me from those who seek to harm me.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Friday, April 15, 2022  Read: Psalm 7:10-17  The psalmist is so confident that God will deliver him from his enemies that he thanks the Lord in advance for His help and justice.  Pray: God Most High, my shield, grant me the same trusting and confident faith as the psalmist.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Saturday, April 16, 2022  Read: Psalm 8  This is the second Messianic psalm you have read and it points to Christ.  Verse five reminds of Jesus’ humiliation; the next verse speaks of Christ’s exaltation and His dominion over all things.  Pray: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth

Be like Father Tim

            All of us have people in our lives that have influenced us or made a lasting impression on us in some way.  Because of their faith in us or love they’ve shown to us, we consider such people our heroes.  We look up to them.  We admire the example they set for us.  We want to be like them.

            One of my heroes is Father Tim.  I’ve never met him in person.  In fact, he doesn’t exist – except in the pages of the Mitford series of books by author Jan Karon.

            Father Tim is the pastor of the Lord’s Chapel in the fictional town of Mitford, North Carolina.  Each of the Mitford books follows the life of the humble and devoted pastor as he cares for the people of his little community.  I appreciate the fact that Father Tim knows what people need the most – the Word of God.  And he uses the Psalms very effectively in his ministry.

            For example, as Father Tim sought to minister to a young man who had been abandoned by his mother, he prayed Psalm 32:8b: I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

            When searching for encouragement, Father Tim remembered Psalm 68:19: Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

            To the individual near death, the first verse of Psalm 27 was Father Tim’s prayer:The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid.

            I pray that you, like Father Tim, will find verses and chapters that give you comfort in troubled times and peace when your heart is troubled.  Let God speak to you as you read His Holy Word.

Why do we sin?

We aren't sinners because we sin.  We sin because we are sinners.

From "Reading Romans with Luther," page 25

This week's TGW!

 

April 4-10, 2022

Monday, April 4, 2022 Read: Psalm 1:1-3  Today’s reading tells us that there are three blessings for those who delight in reading and meditating upon God’s Word.  Did you catch them?  Such people resist sin…love God’s Word…produce fruit of faith.  Pray: Help me, O Lord, to be a person who loves to read and pray your Word back to You.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Tuesday, April 5, 2022  Read: Psalm 1:4-6  Today’s reading causes us to think of the separation of the sheep and the goats – believers and unbelievers – as taught by Christ Jesus in Matthew 25:31-33.  Pray: Lord Jesus, righteous King, help me to be armed with Your Word so that I might resist the devil and be counted as one of Your precious sheep on the Last Day.  Amen.

Wednesday, April 6, 2022  Read: Psalm 2:1-6  This is the first of a number of Messianic Psalms you will read this year.  This particular Psalm describes the invincibility of the Lord’s Anointed – Christ Jesus.  The first three verses speak of rebellion against God; verses four through six explain just how foolish it is to think that mere man can thwart God’s plans.  Pray: Gracious God, help me to live in faithful obedience to You and Your holy Word.  Amen.

Thursday, April 7, 2022  Read: Psalm 2:7-12  Does verse seven sound familiar?  Three New Testament texts quote this verse as proof that Jesus is the Son of God (see Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5 & 5:5).  Pray: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your gracious rule over my life in Your Kingdom of Grace.  Amen.

Friday, April 9, 2022  Read: Psalm 3  Psalms 3-6 all refer to suffering or affliction caused by enemies.  Some believe that David wrote these Psalms when being persecuted by his son, Absalom.  If you were to underline just one verse from today’s reading, what would it be? Pray: Lord, protect me from the wicked plans of evil men and women.  In Christ’s name.  Amen.

Saturday, April 10, 2022 Read: Psalm 4  Reread verse eight.  In what way do the words of the Psalmist increase your confidence in your Savior’s love?  Pray: Gracious God, You are so good to hear and answer my prayers.  Here are my concerns for you today….

Fleeing to the Word of God

 Psalm 12:6

And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.

            The above verse is from a song that David composed to remind God’s people that we can be certain of the Lord’s protection and comfort.  Where do we flee to receive such help?  The Word of God!

Lord, Your words are water living

When my thirsting spirit pleads.

Lord, Your words are bread life giving

On Your words my spirit feeds

Lord, Your words will be my light

Through death’s cold and dreary night

Yes, they are my sword prevailing

And my cup of joy unfailing!

 

            As you read, pray and meditate upon this week’s Psalms, you might also pray the following collect that they church has prayed for centuries:

 

            Blessed Lord, since You have caused all Holy Scripture to be written for our learning, grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

 

            God bless your time spent in His flawless, pure and perfect Word!

            

What is greed?

Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.

Erich Fromm, quoted in "Free of Me," page 86