A new day, a new opportunity!

None of our stories are perfect...Fortunately for us, God's story is wrapped around our own.  Jesus has fulfilled God's requirements for perfection.  Because of His sinless and sacrificial life story, we become a new creation.  Each day brings the opportunity to begin a new story, one of service to God and neighbor, one marked by honesty, health and integrity - all made possible through the grace of a forgiving and empowering God.

Kurt Senske, "The Calling - Live a Life of Significance," page 73
 

God never rejects you

God never rejects you.  Nothing will separate you from His love.  The certain words of Romans 8 underscore that God will not cast you aside - even if you feel as though He has; "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).  No loss or rejection you suffer indicates abandonment by God.  He is committed to you for the long haul.  He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deut. 8:31,36).

Michael W. Newman, "Hope When Your Heart Breaks," page 40

What God's Word can do

His Word will be that sharp-edged sword that will convict you when pride puffs you up or be that soft blanket that comforts you when pain leaves you feeling wounded.

Joni Eareckson Tada

Life. In Christ.

What is life? What is life when Christ Jesus is in the center of it? Check out my video devotion this morning.  Go to the Life in Christ Lutheran Church Facebook page at 8 am or anytime during the week.

God bless your day!

His love sends valentines

 How did God show His love to me just this past week? In the form of family members who laughed with me when I was happy and cried with me when I was sad.  In the form of strength against temptation, healing for a hurting heart, success in some venture, and guidance for some decision.  God's love flows down on me constantly.  Every day His love sends valentines.

"Together with Jesus," February 14

Fear not! No matter what!

 Fear not because you sometimes walk in darkness and have no light.  Remember that you cannot understand the mind of the Lord, not the meaning of His dealings.  But when the clouds compass you about, believe in God as Daniel did; trust in the Lord at all times; sing to Him in the dungeon, as Paul and Silas; sing to Him even in the fire, as the three Hebrew children did; be sure, be very sure, he who believes shall never be ashamed.

JC Ryle, as found in "Joni and Ken - An Untold Love Story" page 106

Why do Christians serve the weak?

 The Christian knows to serve the weak not because they deserve it but because God extended His love to us when we deserved the opposite.  Christ came down from heaven, and whenever His disciples entertained dreams of prestige and power He reminded them that the greatest is the one who serves.  The ladder of power reaches up; the ladder of grace reaches down.

Philip Yancey, "What's So Amazing About Grace?" page 266

The Christian Welcomes Death

The Christian's view of death is different from that of the great unbelieving mass of people in the world.  Christians look at it as a journey and departure out of this misery and vale of tears (where the devil is prince and god) into yonder life, where there will be inexpressible and glorious joy and eternal blessedness.  Diligently they study the art of looking at death in this way.  Daily they practice it, and earnestly they ask our dear Lord Jesus to grant them a blessed hour of departure and to comfort them in it with His Spirit, that they may commit their soul to Him with true faith, understanding and confession.  To such people death is not terrible but sincerely welcome, especially in this last, dangerous time.  For, as Scripture says, death takes them away before the calamity comes.  They enter into peace and rest in their chambers.

Martin Luther, who fell asleep in Jesus on this day in 1546.  Quote from "What Luther Says," volume one, page 382

O Lord, throughout these forty days

 O Lord, throughout these forty days, You prayed and kept the fast

Inspire repentance for our sin, And free us from our past

 You strove with Satan and You won, Your faithfulness endured

Lend us Your nerve, You skill and trust, In God's eternal Word

 Though parched and hungry, yet You prayed, And fixed Your mind above

So teach us to deny ourselves, Since we have known God's love

 Be with us through this season, Lord, And all our earthly days

That when the final Easter dawns, We join in heaven's praise

Lutheran Service Book, #418 

A Christian without prayer...

Wherever there is a Christian, there is none other than the Holy Spirit, who does nothing other but pray without ceasing...a Christian without prayer is just as impossible as a living person without a pulse.

Albrecht Peters, "The Lord's Prayer," page 29 

Share God's Word

 The Word of Good also has a missionary use.  The Word of God is to be shared with all persons who desire to know God's gracious plan to save the world in the person of the long-suffering Messiah, and His completion of that plan in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Rev. Scott Murray, "Memorial Moment." (did not note the date)

Faith plus

 For a faith without love...is not faith at all, but a counterfeit of faith.

Martin Luther, as quoted in "Lift High the Cross," page 99.

Mission is...

Mission is nothing more than the church in motion to dispense the gifts of life and salvation that are in Christ Jesus.

Harold Senkbeil, "The Care of Souls," page 228 

Where we meet God

 One Sunday, the pastor of a church in Florida gathered the children in front of the altar for a children's message.  He began by asking the question, "What does the word, 'holy,' mean?"

After a pause of a moment or two, a little girl raised her hand.  She answered, "Being holy means that you do what your mother asked you to do the first time!"

Children's messages are always fun.  You never know what priceless answer you might get to one of your questions.

But the main reason to be in God's house on Sunday is because it's the place where we encounter our gracious and merciful God.

The psalmist David wrote, "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord to seek Him in His temple."

In Psalm 84, a chorus sings, "Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere."

As the pilgrims made their way to the Temple during times of religious celebration, they would sing, "I rejoiced with those who said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord'."

Not only is the Lord present in His house, He showers His people with rich gifts of grace - His Word of forgiveness, His very body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine of the Sacrament; the rich renewal of the Holy Spirit who comes to each of us in the Gospel.

May your time spent this week in meditation and prayer lead you to exclaim on Sunday, "I love the house where You live, O Lord, the place where Your glory dwells!"

Jesus is coming!

But Jesus says He's coming.  When He does, it will not be as a judge to strike terror into my sinful heart. He'll come as the "Son of Man," a term Jesus loved to use of Himself.  That expression directs my eyes to a manger of straw, a cross of pain, a grave of victory.  He's the One who came earlier to shoulder my sins, die my death, fill my grave.  That's my Savior who's coming.

"Together with Jesus," November 26 

Words of Encouragement-Write Your Song of Praise

 Ever tried writing a song? David wrote Psalm 18 as a song of praise to God for delivering him from the clutches of Saul.  Join me this morning at 8 am on the Facebook page of Life in Christ Lutheran Church for today's Words of Encourgement.