How well do you know yourself?

Most of us would probably say we know ourselves pretty well. We know our likes and dislikes, our strengths and weaknesses, and the things that make us happy or upset.

But have you ever done something and then wondered,

“Why did I do that?”

Maybe you said something hurtful in a moment of frustration or reacted defensively to a harmless question. Perhaps you made a decision that seemed perfectly reasonable at the time, only to realize later that pride or selfishness had influenced your thinking.

I’ve heard several celebrities who got caught doing something wrong say, “That isn’t who I am.” Not saying they didn’t doing it, but saying that isn’t something that fits in their normal character and behaviors. I think of lot of the time, they are just trying to avoid responsibility, but there can be some truth behind that statement.

Sometimes our own thoughts and motivations surprise us.

They never surprise God.

Psalm 139 begins with David acknowledging just how completely God knows him.

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!”

David goes on to describe how God knows when he sits down and when he rises. God knows his thoughts before he speaks them. There is nowhere David can go to escape God’s presence or knowledge.

At first, that might sound a little unsettling.

After all, there are things about ourselves we’d rather other people didn’t know. We carefully choose what we share with others and may even try to convince ourselves that our motives are better than they really are.

But God sees everything.

He knows the sins we commit openly and the ones we keep hidden. He knows the resentment we hold onto, the pride we struggle to recognize, and the selfish desires we sometimes disguise as good intentions.

We might be able to fool other people. We might even fool ourselves, but we can’t fool God.

I think it ‘s good to sit with that for a moment and even let that thought remain with us. Sin is serious and we tend to not be so bold to sin when people are watching…Well, God is always watching. Perhaps if we remember that, we’ll avoid some traps and dangers.

Yet David doesn’t respond to God’s complete knowledge by trying to hide. Instead, at the end of the psalm, he invites God to examine him even more closely.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart!”

Why would David ask God to reveal what is wrong in his heart?

Because David knows something else about God. He knows God’s mercy. The God who knows David completely is also the God who has promised to forgive him and remain faithful to him.

We have an even clearer picture of that mercy in Jesus Christ. Jesus knows (and knew) everything about us, including the sins we would be ashamed to admit to anyone else. Yet He willingly went to the cross to bear those very sins.

Think about that.

God knows you better than you know yourself, and He sent His Son to save you.

That’s why Christians don’t need to be afraid of honestly examining their lives in the light of God’s Word. When His Law reveals our sins, we can confess them rather than hide them. It’s the devil who tries to tell us we need to run from God and hide. Don’t listen to Him. Listen to God who tells you to come. Know that through Jesus, forgiveness is yours.

And God doesn’t simply forgive us and leave us unchanged. Through His Word and Spirit, He continues to work in us, turning us away from sin and leading us in His ways.

That’s what David asks for when he prays,

“See if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

It’s a good prayer for us, too.

Lord, show me where I’m wrong. Forgive me for Jesus’ sake. And lead me in Your ways.

Hmmm…That sounds a bit like a prayer we pray every Sunday morning at the beginning of the worship service. 😉

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

You know me completely, even better than I know myself. Search my heart and reveal the sins and attitudes that I fail to recognize. Give me humility to confess my sins and faith to trust in the forgiveness Jesus has won for me. By Your Holy Spirit, continue to shape my thoughts, words, and actions according to Your Word, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

Have you ever walked through an unfamiliar place in the dark?

Maybe you’ve been camping and had to find your way back to your tent after sunset. Or perhaps you’ve walked through your house during a power outage, trying to remember exactly where the furniture is.

I remember a fellow pastor telling me about a time that he took some youth on a mission trip. They stayed in cabins at a camp in the evenings and the first night he got all the kids into the cabins and then walked down to the showers as it was getting dark. He said he came out of the showers and realized he’s left his flashlight in the cabin and now it was dark and there was no moon. He tried to find his way back to the cabin, but eventually gave up and slept in the church bus that had been parked near the showers.

Walking in darkness is hard and dangerous. You move slowly because you can’t see what’s ahead. Even if you think you know where you’re going, it’s easy to stumble over something you didn’t expect.

Now imagine that same walk as the sun begins to rise. At first, you can only make out the shapes of things around you. But as the sky grows brighter, the path becomes clearer. You can see where you’re going and recognize obstacles well before you reach them.

Proverbs uses that contrast to describe two ways of life.

The path of the righteous is like the growing light of dawn. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness.

Throughout Proverbs, we’re presented with a choice between wisdom and foolishness, righteousness and wickedness. These aren’t simply two different approaches to life that lead to equally good destinations. They are paths that lead in very different directions.

One leads toward life. The other leads toward destruction.

What’s especially interesting is how Proverbs describes those walking in darkness:

“They do not know over what they stumble.”

Sometimes foolishness is obvious. We recognize a decision as wrong, but we make it anyway because we want what it promises.

Other times, we’re so accustomed to our way of thinking that we don’t recognize the problem. We convince ourselves that our bitterness is justified, our dishonesty is harmless, or our selfishness is simply looking out for ourselves.

We may even wonder why our relationships keep suffering or why the same problems keep appearing in our lives.

We don’t always recognize what’s causing us to stumble.

That’s one reason we need God’s Word. It reveals things we might otherwise overlook. It exposes our sin, challenges our assumptions, and teaches us to see our lives from God’s perspective.

But notice something else about the path of the righteous. It’s compared to the dawn, not the noonday sun.

The light grows brighter.

Christians don’t suddenly possess perfect wisdom the moment they come to faith. We still make foolish decisions. We struggle with old habits and sinful desires. Sometimes we recognize our mistakes only after we’ve experienced their consequences.

God continues to teach us throughout our lives, correcting us through His Word and leading us in His ways.

And this isn’t just head-knowledge. We grow in wisdom not just when we read something new, but when we put it into practice and discover through experience how wise it truly is.

Yet we need to be careful not to misunderstand this proverb. This isn’t speaking of our righteousness before God. The Bible is clear, our righteousness comes through Jesus Christ. Jesus called Himself the Light of the World. He came into a world darkened by sin, not merely to show us a better way to live, but to rescue us from the darkness. Through His death and resurrection, He has forgiven our sins, brought us into His kingdom, and given us His righteousness.

This proverb is speaking about the path of righteousness. In other words, it’s speaking of following God’s ways.

There will still be times when the path ahead is difficult to see. We won’t always understand what God is doing or why certain things are happening in our lives. And our earthly circumstances won’t necessarily become easier or brighter with each passing year.

But the destination is certain.

The path of the righteous leads to the fullness of life with Christ, where the darkness of sin, suffering, and death will finally be gone.

Until then, we walk by faith, listening to His Word, receiving His forgiveness, and trusting Him to lead us.

The light is growing brighter.

And one day, we will see our Savior face to face.

Let’s pray…

Lord Jesus,

You are the Light of the World. Thank You for rescuing me from the darkness of sin and bringing me into Your light. Forgive me for the times I have followed my own desires instead of Your Word, especially when I have failed to recognize my own foolishness. Continue to teach me through Your Word, correct me when I wander, and guide me in the way of wisdom. When the path ahead seems uncertain, help me trust Your promises. Keep me in Your grace until the day when I see You face to face and live forever in Your light.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

Table of Duties

What does a faithful Christian life look like?

Perhaps you picture someone reading their Bible every morning, praying regularly, attending worship, and serving at church. Those are certainly good things. I absolutely encourage you do those things…But what about the rest of life?

What about changing diapers, answering emails, doing laundry, mowing the lawn, or going to work?

Are those things part of living out your Christian faith?

Martin Luther would answer with an enthusiastic yes.

Near the end of the Small Catechism, Luther includes something called the Table of Duties. It’s a collection of Bible passages that describe how Christians are called to live in their various relationships and responsibilities. There are passages for pastors and congregations, husbands and wives, parents and children, workers and employers, citizens and government leaders, and others.

At first, this might seem like an odd addition to a book that has spent so much time teaching us about God’s grace, forgiveness, and salvation. But there’s an important connection.

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from our works. Yet the faith that receives God’s gifts also produces love for our neighbor.

And where do we find our neighbors? Usually, they’re right in front of us. They’re the people who live in our homes, work alongside us, attend our schools, and share our communities.

We often use the word vocation to describe the callings God gives us in these different areas of life. Sometimes, in today’s language, we think of vocations as our jobs, what we do to earn a living, but here vocation refers to any role or calling we have in our lives, be it an employee or a parent or a child or a neighbor or a citizen, etc. And he taught that God works through ordinary people fulfilling ordinary responsibilities to care for His creation.

Think about the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, where we ask God to give us our daily bread.

How does He answer that prayer?

Often through farmers who grow food, truck drivers who transport it, grocery store workers who sell it, and parents who prepare it.

God provides through people doing their jobs.

The same is true in countless other ways. God cares for children through parents and teachers. He protects people through police officers and other public servants. He heals through doctors and nurses. He encourages the lonely through friends and neighbors.

And He works through you.

And these are not secondary ways of living out your faith, as though church workers are somehow better. I’m paraphrasing here, but Luther once said,

“The works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they may be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but that all works are measured before God by faith alone.”

You don’t have to become a pastor or missionary to serve God. Your daily responsibilities are already opportunities to love the people He has placed in your life.

That doesn’t mean every responsibility is easy or that we always fulfill our callings faithfully.

We don’t.

We become impatient with our families, resentful toward coworkers, or careless about our responsibilities. Sometimes we pursue our own interests while neglecting the people who depend on us.

The Table of Duties reminds us that loving our neighbor is not merely a feeling or a good intention. It involves faithfully serving others in the responsibilities God has given us. Faith always comes with works as God works in us to will and do the good deeds He has prepared for us.

And when we fail, we return to Christ.

Jesus fulfilled His calling perfectly. He honored His earthly parents, loved His neighbors, served those in need, and obeyed His heavenly Father even to the point of death on a cross.

He did all of this for us.

Because of Him, our failures are forgiven, and through His Spirit, we are renewed to love and serve others. In other words, we don’t have to keep looking over our shoulder wondering if we’ve done enough for God, Jesus has made us right with God, so we are now free to love our neighbor with joy and fervor.

We don’t serve our neighbors to earn God’s love. We serve them because God has already loved us in Christ.

So as you go about your day, consider the people God has placed in your life.

• Your family.
• Your coworkers.
• Your neighbors.
• The people who depend on you.

You may never do anything the world considers extraordinary. But through your ordinary acts of love and service, God is at work caring for the people around you.

And that gives even the most ordinary activity, even changing a diaper, extraordinary purpose.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the many ways You provide for me through the work and service of others. Forgive me for the times I have neglected my responsibilities or failed to love the people You have placed in my life. Help me to recognize my daily callings as opportunities to serve my neighbors. Give me patience, faithfulness, and love in all that I do, trusting that You are at work even through ordinary tasks. Through Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

Have you ever wished you could change something about yourself?

Perhaps you’d rather be taller or thinner or maybe you’d wish you were blonde or brunette…or had hair. Maybe there’s a bad habit you’ve struggled to break, a tendency to lose your temper, or a pattern of thinking that keeps leading you in the wrong direction. You know what you should do, and you genuinely want to do it, but somehow you keep falling back into the same old patterns.

It’s frustrating when our actions don’t match our intentions.

The people of Israel had a much deeper problem. Throughout their history, God had repeatedly called them to turn away from their idols and live according to His Word. He had delivered them from Egypt, given them His Law, and sent prophets to warn them when they wandered away.

Yet they continued to rebel.

By the time Ezekiel was prophesying, many of God’s people had been carried into exile in Babylon. They had lost their homes, their land, and the temple where they had worshiped. Their unfaithfulness had brought devastating consequences.

But God wasn’t finished with them.

Through Ezekiel, God promised something remarkable. He would cleanse His people from their uncleanness and idolatry. He would remove their hearts of stone and give them hearts of flesh. He would put His own Spirit within them and cause them to walk in His ways.

Notice who is doing the work.

God doesn’t tell the Israelites He’ll give them another shot and this time they need to try harder until they become worthy of returning to Him. No, He promises to do for them what they cannot do for themselves.

That is the heart of the Gospel.

Our problem with sin isn’t simply that we occasionally make bad decisions. Sin reaches much deeper. By nature, our hearts are turned away from God. We may recognize that His ways are good, but we cannot, by our own reason or strength, create the faith and love for God that He desires.

We need more than better habits. We need new hearts. And that is exactly what God promises to give.

Jesus came to fulfill that promise. Through His death and resurrection, He won forgiveness for our sins. Through the Gospel, the Holy Spirit creates faith in our hearts. In Baptism, God washes us clean and joins us to Christ, giving us new life in Him, giving us a new heart.

The change begins with God’s action, not ours.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Christians suddenly stop struggling with sin. We still experience the conflict between our sinful nature and the new life God has given us.

It’s what we sometimes refer to as the “now but not yet” reality of the Gospel. God has given you new life right now, but we will experience it to the full when Christ returns. God has given us a new heart that wants to follow Him, but we still also have our sinful nature that battles against us so we do not yet have a life without sin. That sinful nature will be destroyed when Christ returns.

Sometimes that struggle can be discouraging, especially when we find ourselves confessing sins we thought we had overcome. But the answer isn’t to give up or to rely more heavily on our own determination.

It is to return to Christ.

The same God who gave you new life continues to work in you through His Word and Spirit. He calls you to repentance, forgives your sins, strengthens your faith, and produces the fruit of that faith in your life. He even, just as He promised, has put His Spirit within you. And His Spirit works in you to grow the fruit of the Spirit, to will and do the good works God has prepared for you, and convict you of your sin to lead you to repentance.

And one day, when Christ returns, the work He has begun will be complete. Sin will no longer trouble us, and we will live in perfect righteousness and holiness before Him.

Until then, we live each day by His grace, trusting not in our ability to change ourselves, but in His promise to make us new.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

I confess that my heart is often drawn away from You. Forgive my sins and the times I have trusted in my own strength to become the person I should be. Thank You for washing me clean through Christ and giving me new life through Your Holy Spirit. Continue Your work in me, strengthening my faith and shaping my desires according to Your will. Help me to live each day as Your forgiven and renewed child. In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

Who is Jesus?

We’ve asked the question before, but it’s the question we must answer.

After being mocked and beaten, Jesus is led away to be crucified.

The soldiers compel a man named Simon of Cyrene to carry His cross. They bring Jesus to Golgotha, nail Him to the cross, and divide His clothing among themselves.

Above His head hangs the charge against Him:

“The King of the Jews.”

People passing by mock Him. The religious leaders join in, saying,

“He saved others; he cannot save himself.”

They mean it as an insult, but their words contain a profound truth.

Jesus has saved others. And He is saving many others even now.

But to accomplish that salvation, He will not save Himself. At noon, darkness covers the land. Three hours later, Jesus cries out,

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

These words come from Psalm 22, a psalm that begins in anguish but ends in confidence that God will deliver. Yet Jesus’ suffering is very real. He is bearing the sins of the world, enduring the judgment we deserve, enduring hell. The Son of God has entered into the depths of human suffering and death to redeem us.

Then Jesus breathes His last.

At that moment, something remarkable happens. The curtain of the temple is torn in two, from top to bottom. For generations, that curtain had separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple. It represented the separation between a holy God and sinful humanity.

Now the curtain is torn open.

Through Jesus’ death, the barrier of sin has been dealt with. His sacrifice has accomplished what all the sacrifices of the temple could only point toward.

The way to God is open through Christ.

Standing nearby, a Roman centurion watches Jesus die and declares,

“Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Mark began his Gospel by identifying Jesus as the Son of God. Now, at the cross, a Gentile soldier recognizes that truth.

The cross reveals who Jesus truly is. He is the Son of God who loved us enough to give His life for us.

And although the chapter ends with Jesus’ body being placed in a tomb, we know that His death is not the end of the story.

Let’s pray…

Lord Jesus,

Thank You for willingly suffering and dying for my sins. You bore the judgment I deserved and opened the way for me to come to the Father. Help me never to take Your sacrifice for granted, but to live each day trusting in the forgiveness and life You have won for me.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

Have you ever noticed how music can bring back memories?

You hear a song you haven’t heard in twenty years, and suddenly you remember where you were, who you were with, and what was happening in your life. A song from your wedding might remind you of that special day or a hymn you sang as a child might bring back memories of sitting in church with your family.

Whenever I hear the song, “On Eagle’s Wings”, I can’t help but think of my father who sang that song in church many times. The song, Alleluia, reminds me of going to bed as a kid when my parents and I, and sometimes my brothers, would sing the song before going to sleep.

Music has a remarkable ability to connect what we remember with what we feel.

Psalm 98 begins with an invitation:

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things!”

Why a new song? Because God has done something worth celebrating.

Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people sang about His mighty acts of salvation. After God delivered Israel through the Red Sea, Moses and the Israelites sang a song of praise. When God delivered His people from their enemies, they responded with thanksgiving.

Their songs helped them remember what God had done.

Psalm 98 celebrates God’s salvation and calls not only Israel, but all the earth to rejoice. The psalmist declares that God has made His salvation known and revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

For us, those words take on even greater significance because we know how God has revealed His salvation to the world.

Through Jesus Christ.

When Jesus was born, the angels praised God and announced good news of great joy for all people. “Glory to God in Highest!” When He died on the cross, He accomplished our salvation. When He rose from the dead, He secured the victory over sin and death.

That’s something worth singing about!

But here’s something interesting about Christian worship. We don’t sing only when we’re happy.

Think about the hymns Christians have sung through the centuries. Some were written during times of persecution, war, illness, and personal loss. Many of our most beloved hymns speak about suffering and sorrow while expressing confidence in God’s promises.

“It Is Well with My Soul” is a wonderful example of this. The author of the song, Horatio Spafford, had suffered a series of tragedies. He lost his son to scarlet fever. The next year he lost all his investments in the great Chicago fire. Two years later, he was going to go on a trip to Europe with his family, but last minute business kept him from traveling with his family. As his family sailed without him, their ship collided with another ship and sank. His wife survived, but all four of his daughters died. As he, then, sailed to meet his grieving wife, the captain pointed out the area where the ship had gone down. That’s when he wrote the song.

Christian singing isn’t simply an expression of how we feel. It’s also a proclamation of what God has done and what God will do.

When we sing about Christ’s resurrection, we’re reminding ourselves and one another that death has been defeated. When we sing about God’s grace, we’re proclaiming forgiveness to sinners. When we sing about heaven, we’re confessing the hope we have because of Jesus. And sometimes, when our hearts are heavy, the voices of the people around us carry the song when we can barely sing it ourselves.

That’s one of the beautiful gifts of gathering with God’s people for worship.

Of course, you don’t have to wait until Sunday to sing God’s praises. You can sing in your car, while doing chores, or simply listen to music that reminds you of His promises. Psalm 98 invites the whole earth to rejoice because God has made His salvation known.

So whether you’re having a wonderful day or a difficult one, you have a reason to sing.

The Lord has done marvelous things.

And through Jesus, He has done them for you.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the marvelous things You have done, especially for the salvation You have given me through Jesus Christ. Fill my heart with gratitude for Your mercy, and help me to remember Your promises in times of both joy and sorrow. Bless the songs of Your Church so that through them, Your Word may strengthen our faith and proclaim Your goodness to the world.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

In ancient times, when an enemy attacked a city, people would often flee to a fortified tower. With thick stone walls, a secure entrance, and a position high above the surrounding area, a strong tower offered protection when danger came.

Imagine being out in the fields when you see an enemy army approaching. You know you cannot outrun them forever, and you certainly cannot defeat them on your own. But in the distance, you see the city’s strong tower.

That’s where you run.

Proverbs uses this picture to describe the name of the Lord.

Notice that it doesn’t say the righteous person is strong enough to defeat every enemy. Sometimes we imagine that a strong Christian can stand up to everything and win every battle on His own. No, here it says to run to the Lord for safety.

There’s an important difference.

We spend a great deal of our lives trying to make ourselves secure. We save money for emergencies, buy insurance, lock our doors, and make plans to protect ourselves and the people we love. These are generally wise things to do and there are other proverbs which would commend us for doing them.

But no matter how carefully we prepare, we cannot protect ourselves from everything.

• An unexpected diagnosis can change our lives overnight.
• A relationship we thought was secure can fall apart.
• A job can disappear.
• Natural disasters happen.
• And no amount of planning or preparation can keep death away forever.

Where do you turn when you discover that you’re not as secure as you thought?

Proverbs tells us to run to the name of the Lord.

In Scripture, God’s name is more than a label. To run to God’s name is to run to Him. His name reveals who He is. When God revealed His name to Moses, He also revealed Himself as merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6).

That’s the God to whom we run.

And we know Him even more fully through Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God has come to us to rescue us from enemies we could never defeat ourselves: sin, death, and the devil.

Jesus didn’t accomplish that rescue by keeping Himself safely behind the walls of a fortress. He went to the cross, where He suffered and died for us. Then He rose from the dead, defeating death and securing eternal life for all who trust in Him. He did that to save us and create the strongest tower of all.

Because of Jesus, we have a refuge that even death cannot destroy.

Now, that doesn’t mean Christians are protected from every earthly hardship. The enemy still comes and attacks. Faithful believers still get sick, lose jobs, suffer injustice, and experience grief. Sometimes God allows us to go through the very troubles we pray He would spare us from.

But those troubles cannot separate us from His love. Even when our earthly security crumbles, God’s promises remain. If our God has already defeated death, we have nothing to fear.

There’s something else worth noticing about this proverb. A strong tower doesn’t do much good to someone who refuses to enter it.

We can know all about God’s promises and still spend our days relying entirely on ourselves. We can believe that God hears prayer and yet turn to Him only after exhausting every other possibility.

God invites us to come to Him. Bring Him your fears, your worries, and the situations you cannot control. Listen to His promises in His Word. Remember that through Christ, you belong to Him.

Whatever you may be facing today, you don’t have to face it on your own.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower.

Run to Him.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for being my refuge and strength. Forgive me for the times I have trusted more in my own abilities, plans, and resources than in You. When I face troubles that are beyond my control, remind me of Your promises and draw me closer to You. Thank You especially for sending Jesus to rescue me from sin and death. Help me to find my security not in the things of this world, but in Your unfailing love and the eternal life You have given me through Christ.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

Confession and Absolution

Have you ever apologized to someone but still wondered whether they had really forgiven you?

Maybe they said everything was fine, but something about the conversation left you uncertain. Perhaps they seemed distant afterward, or it’s you…you simply couldn’t stop thinking about what you had done.

Sometimes we approach God with that same uncertainty.
We know we’ve sinned. So, we confess those sins and ask for forgiveness. But then the doubts begin.

• Was I sincere enough?
• Was I sorry enough?
• What if I commit the same sin again?

God doesn’t want us to live in that uncertainty. That’s one reason He has given us the gift of Confession and Absolution.

Luther explains that confession has two parts.

1. First, we confess our sins.
2. Second, we receive absolution, or forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.

Notice that this isn’t just about admitting what we’ve done wrong. It’s also about receiving what Christ has done for us.

When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit. Then He gave them the authority to forgive sins and to withhold forgiveness.

That’s remarkable when you consider who those disciples were.

These were men who had abandoned Jesus when He was arrested. Peter had denied even knowing Him. They had failed their Lord when He needed them most.

Yet Jesus came to them with peace and entrusted them with the ministry of forgiveness.

The forgiveness they would announce wasn’t something they invented or earned the right to give. It was Christ’s forgiveness, won through His death and resurrection.

And that same forgiveness is still being proclaimed today.

When a pastor announces Christ’s forgiveness to a repentant sinner, he isn’t offering his personal opinion that God probably forgives them. He is speaking on Christ’s behalf, according to the authority Christ has given His Church.

That’s why, when we have confession and absolution (or we call it confession and forgiveness at Faith), I say, “As a called and ordained servant of the Lord, in His stead and by His command, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

This is what Lutherans call the Office of the Keys.
The Church has been entrusted with the authority to forgive the sins of repentant sinners and to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent.

That second part may sound harsh, but it serves an important purpose. God does not want us to become comfortable in our sin or imagine that we can reject His Word while continuing to receive His forgiveness. The Law calls us to repentance so that we may receive the Gospel.

And the Gospel is wonderfully clear.

Christ died for your sins. His sacrifice was sufficient. His resurrection confirms His victory over sin and death.

So when you hear the words of absolution, you don’t have to wonder whether God really means them.

He does.

You can also confess your sins directly to God, as David did in Psalm 32. And when particular sins weigh heavily on your conscience, private confession and absolution with your pastor can be a tremendous comfort. You can name the sins that trouble you and hear Christ’s forgiveness spoken personally to you.

The power isn’t in how thoroughly you confess or how deeply you feel your sorrow. The power is in Christ’s promise.

He has given His Church this gift because He knows how much we need to hear that promise. Sometimes we need more than a reminder that God forgives sinners. We need to hear that He forgives us.

And through absolution, that is exactly what Christ tells us.

Let’s pray…

Lord Jesus Christ,

Thank You for dying for my sins and rising again to give me forgiveness and life. Forgive me for the times I have tried to excuse my sins or doubted Your mercy. Give me a repentant heart and faith to trust Your promises. Thank You for giving Your Church the authority to proclaim Your forgiveness. When my conscience troubles me, help me to hear Your words of absolution with confidence, knowing that You have forgiven me.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.