What does it mean that God protects us?

Psalm 91 contains some of the strongest promises of God’s protection in the Bible. God is described as our refuge and fortress. Then the psalmist gives us a wonderfully tender picture:

“He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge.”

It’s the picture of a mother bird gathering her young beneath her wings when danger comes. That sounds comforting. But it can also raise some difficult questions.

• If God protects His people, why do Christians still get cancer?
• Why are they injured in accidents?
• Why are Christians sometimes victims of violence?
• Why do God’s people suffer and die?

Does Psalm 91 promise that if we trust God enough, those things won’t happen to us?

Interestingly, the devil tried to use this very psalm that way. When he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he quoted from Psalm 91. He told Jesus to throw Himself from the temple because God had promised that His angels would protect Him.

Jesus refused.

Trusting God’s protection doesn’t mean putting God to the test or assuming He has promised that nothing painful will ever happen to us.

Jesus Himself proves that.

No one ever trusted the Father more perfectly than Jesus did, yet He suffered. He was betrayed, beaten, crucified, and killed.

And still, the Father had not abandoned Him.

Jesus’ suffering wasn’t evidence that God’s promises had failed. It was actually the means by which God was fulfilling His greatest promise. Through the cross, Jesus defeated sin. Through His resurrection, He defeated death.

That helps us understand what it means to take refuge under God’s wings.

God hasn’t promised that Christians will never suffer. He has promised something even greater: nothing can ultimately take us away from Him.

• Illness can’t.
• Suffering can’t.
• Not even death can.

We don’t always know why God allows a particular hardship into our lives. Sometimes He delivers us from danger in remarkable ways. Other times He carries us through suffering rather than around it. Sometimes He teaches us through the hardship and other times He works good for us and/or others.

But our safety with God doesn’t depend on having a trouble-free life. It depends on Jesus. The one who overcame death.

For now, we live in a sin-corrupted world. So, there will be suffering. One day, we will live in the new heaven and new earth where is no more sin and so there is no more suffering. Yet, even now, Jesus strengthens, gathers, and protects His people.

When Jesus approached Jerusalem shortly before His death, He used an image very similar to Psalm 91. He described His desire to gather Jerusalem’s children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.

That’s the heart of our Savior. He gathers sinners to Himself and gives them refuge in His mercy.

So when trouble comes, we don’t have to pretend it isn’t frightening or difficult. We don’t have to understand why it’s happening.

We can run to the One who has already passed through suffering and death for us.

Under His wings, we are safe.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for being my refuge and fortress. When I face danger, suffering, or uncertainty, keep me from doubting Your love. Help me to trust Your promises even when I don’t understand what You are doing. Keep me safely in Christ, knowing that because He has risen from the dead, nothing can separate me from Your love.

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.

What do you look for in a friend?

A good friend doesn’t always tell you what you want to hear.

Imagine you’re about to make a decision that a close friend thinks is a terrible idea. They know you’ll probably be upset if they say it’s a bad idea. Staying quiet would certainly be easier. Others might think to themselves, “It’s really none of my business.”

But because this good friend cares about you, they speak up.

And you don’t like it.

Proverbs describes that uncomfortable experience with a surprising phrase:

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend.”

Usually, we try not to wound our friends. Yet, there are times when love requires saying something that hurts.

• Maybe a friend notices that your drinking has started getting out of control.
• Maybe you’ve been treating your spouse poorly, and everyone else has been too uncomfortable to say anything.
• Maybe bitterness toward someone has been growing for months, and you’ve become so accustomed to it that you no longer recognize what it’s doing to you.
• Maybe it’s not a matter of sin. It’s just a bad idea that won’t work out.

I had a friend once who had a body odor problem. I told him he either needed to start wearing deodorant or change deodorants or something. He was irritated at first, but later he thanked me.

A faithful friend may say, “I’m worried about you.” or “You might want to reconsider what you’re doing.”

Those words can sting.

Our first reaction may be to defend ourselves. We explain why they don’t understand the situation or point out that they have faults too. We may even become angry with the person who cared enough to speak.

Proverbs asks us to consider another possibility: What if they’re right?

That doesn’t mean every criticism should be accepted as truth. People can misunderstand us, give bad advice, or criticize for selfish reasons. Wisdom considers both the words and the person speaking them.

That’s part of the contrast in this proverb. An enemy may shower you with compliments because telling you what you want to hear serves their purposes. A true friend cares more about your good than about keeping every interaction comfortable.

This is one reason Christian community matters. We need people who will encourage us, pray with us, celebrate with us, and…sometimes…lovingly correct us.

And we need the humility to listen.

God Himself loves us this way. His Word doesn’t flatter us. It tells the truth about our sin, even when that truth hurts. God’s Law exposes things in us that we would often prefer to excuse or ignore.

But He doesn’t wound us simply to leave us wounded.

Like a doctor who tells us the diagnosis so we will take the cure, God brings our sin into the light so that He can bring us again to Christ, where there is forgiveness. The same God who tells us the uncomfortable truth about ourselves also tells us the wonderful truth about our Savior: Jesus bore that sin on the cross, and in Him we are forgiven.

So when someone who loves you offers a difficult word, resist the urge to immediately defend yourself.

Listen.

There may be a faithful wound in their words, and God may be using a good friend to give you exactly what you need.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the people who care enough about me to speak truth into my life. Give me humility to listen when correction is difficult to hear and wisdom to recognize faithful counsel. Forgive me for the times pride makes me defensive or unwilling to admit that I am wrong. Help me also to be a faithful friend who speaks truth with gentleness and love. Above all, thank You for Your Word, which exposes my sin but also points me to Jesus, where I find forgiveness, mercy, and new life.

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.

The Sacrament of the Altar (Part 1)

What’s the most meaningful meal you’ve ever had?

Imagine sitting at the table with Jesus on the night before His crucifixion.

The disciples don’t yet understand everything that is about to happen. Within hours, Jesus will be arrested. By the next afternoon, He will be dead.

But before He goes to the cross, He gives His disciples a meal.

He takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to them.

“This is My body.”

Then He takes the cup.

“This is My blood.”

Those words are at the heart of what Christians call the Lord’s Supper…or it’s also called Holy Communion, the Eucharist, or, as Luther calls it in the catechism, the Sacrament of the Altar.

As Christians we take Jesus’ words seriously.

He explains that the Sacrament is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for Christians to eat and drink.

The bread is there. The wine is there. And because Jesus says so, His body and blood are truly there.

We don’t have to figure out how that can be. After all, God created the whole universe by speaking. Jesus doesn’t explain the mechanics of it. He gives a promise.

“This is My body.”

“This is My blood.”

Faith receives Christ at His word.

Again and again throughout the Scriptures, we see that our relationship with God is not built on our efforts to reach God. Throughout God’s Word, the direction has been the opposite.

God comes to us.

The Son of God took on human flesh and came into our world. He went to the cross and gave His body and shed His blood for our salvation. And now He continues to come to His people with the fruits of that cross.

In this meal, Jesus gives us more than an idea to remember or merely a symbol to contemplate.

He gives Himself.

That is why the Lord’s Supper is such a precious gift for Christians. Jesus knows how easily our faith can become focused on what is happening inside us.

• Do I believe strongly enough?
• Am I sorry enough?
• Have I changed enough?

The Lord’s Supper directs our attention outside ourselves. Once again, our attention is put on Christ. When we start to wonder whether we’re really forgiven, whether we’re really saved. Jesus says, here is My body, given for you. Here is My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.

The same Savior who hung on the cross comes to His people at His table.

Next time, we’ll look more closely at what He gives us there and how we receive this Sacrament worthily. But today, simply hear Jesus’ words.

He comes to you and He gives Himself for you.

Let’s pray…

Lord Jesus Christ,

Thank You for giving Your body and shedding Your blood for my salvation. Thank You for instituting the Sacrament of the Altar and continuing to come to Your people with Your gifts. Give me faith to take You at Your Word and to receive with gratitude what You have promised.

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.

What difference can a promise make in a seemingly hopeless situation?

When Isaiah spoke these words, God’s people needed hope.

The kingdom of Judah faced powerful enemies and the consequences of its own unfaithfulness. The future did not look especially bright. Yet into that uncertainty, God gave His people a promise.

A child would be born. A son would be given.

And this would be no ordinary child. Isaiah describes Him with extraordinary names:

“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

He would reign on David’s throne, and His kingdom would have no end.

Imagine hearing that promise when everything around you seemed unstable.

Kings came and went. Nations rose and fell. Armies conquered cities and redrew borders. Even the descendants of David often proved unfaithful. Yet God promised a King whose reign would be different.

Centuries passed before that promise was fulfilled. Then, in Bethlehem, a child was born.

Jesus did not arrive looking like the kind of king Isaiah’s words might lead someone to expect. There was no palace waiting for Him and no army standing ready to defend Him. His first bed was a manger. When He grew up, He traveled through small towns teaching, healing the sick, forgiving sinners, and announcing the kingdom of God.

Eventually, another ruler placed a sign above His head identifying Him as the King of the Jews. But it was attached to a cross.

That hardly looked like an everlasting kingdom.

Yet God’s ways are often different from ours. Jesus established His kingdom not by crushing His enemies with military power, but by bearing the judgment of God for sinners. He conquered through His death and resurrection.

And He reigns even now.

Maybe you’ve experienced times when your own world felt unstable. Governments change. Economies rise and fall. Wars begin. Families face unexpected crises. Things we assumed would remain dependable can suddenly change. Maybe that’s how it feels now.

Christ does not change and His Kingdom will have no end.

His kingdom is not hanging by a thread. His authority does not depend upon favorable circumstances or human approval. The Child Isaiah promised is the risen Lord who reigns at the right hand of the Father for all eternity.

That doesn’t mean Christians are spared from the uncertainty and suffering of this world. Isaiah’s original hearers weren’t. But it does mean that uncertainty never has the final word. Jesus does.

God kept His promise.

The Son was given. The King has come. He has come for you. And His kingdom will have no end.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

When the world around me feels uncertain, remind me that Jesus still reigns. Thank You for keeping Your promise and sending Your Son to be my Savior and King. Forgive me when I place my hope in things that cannot last, and give me peace as I trust in Christ and His everlasting kingdom.

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.

The cross is now only hours away.

The religious leaders have been plotting to kill Jesus. Now, Judas agrees to betray Him. The disciples still don’t understand what is about to happen. Yet through it all, Jesus knows exactly where He is going.

In the middle of these events, a woman comes to Jesus carrying an alabaster flask of expensive perfume. She breaks it and pours the perfume over His head.

Some are outraged. What a waste! The perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor.

But Jesus sees her action differently.

“She has anointed my body beforehand for burial.”

Whether she understands everything that is about to happen or not, her act points toward Jesus’ approaching death. Jesus is being prepared for His sacrificial death. While others are plotting, betraying, and misunderstanding, she gives extravagantly to Jesus.

Later, Jesus gathers with His disciples to celebrate the Passover.

For generations, God’s people had remembered how He rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. A lamb was killed, its blood marked their homes, and God’s judgment passed over them.

Now Jesus takes the bread and says,

“This is my body.”

Then He takes the cup and says,

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

The Passover had always pointed beyond itself. Now, simple bread and wine become Jesus body and blood. God’s Word accomplishes what it says.

Jesus is the greater deliverance.

He is about to give His own body and shed His own blood to rescue sinners, not merely from earthly slavery, but from sin and death. And He gives His disciples this meal so that His saving gifts will continue to be given to His people.

What makes this even more remarkable is that Jesus knows exactly who is sitting at the table.

• One disciple will betray Him.
• Another will deny Him.
• The rest will abandon Him.

Jesus knows their weakness better than they do, and He still gives Himself for them.

That is the heart of the Gospel. Jesus does not wait for His disciples to become worthy of His sacrifice. He goes to the cross for sinners who desperately need what only He can give. He is the greater Passover lamb that takes away the sin of the world.

That includes us.

Let’s pray…

Lord Jesus,

Thank You for willingly giving Your body and blood to save sinners like me. Forgive me for the ways I fail You, and keep my faith fixed on Your sacrifice for me. Thank You for giving Yourself completely so that I might have forgiveness, life, and salvation.

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 stopped to think about everything that has to happen for you to eat breakfast?

Someone grows the wheat for your toast. Someone else harvests it, mills it into flour, bakes the bread, transports it, and puts it on a grocery store shelf. Farmers raise chickens that produce the eggs. Someone grows and harvests the coffee beans, often thousands of miles away.

We usually just walk into the kitchen and eat.

Psalm 104 invites us to look more closely at the world around us and see God’s hand behind it.

The psalmist looks at the incredible variety of creation and says,

“O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all.”

Then he describes living creatures looking to God for their food. Of course, that doesn’t mean food simply falls from heaven.

God usually works through ordinary means.

He provides through farmers and truck drivers, grocery store employees and cooks. He provides through rain, soil, sunlight, plants, animals, and the abilities He has given people.

Martin Luther sometimes described these ordinary ways God works as God’s “masks.” God is hidden behind the people and processes He uses to care for His creation.

Think about how that changes the way you see an ordinary day.

The doctor caring for you is using knowledge and abilities God has given or the person repairing a power line after a storm are serving as one of God’s instruments to care for a community. Your neighbor who brings over a meal when you’re sick may be God’s answer to your prayer for daily bread or the smile from child riding his bike by your house, God’s way of brightening your day.

God is constantly at work around us, often in ways we barely notice.

Psalm 104 goes even further. Our dependence on God isn’t limited to food and shelter. The psalmist says that when God takes away the breath of His creatures, they die, and when He sends His Spirit, life is created.

Every breath is a gift.

Stop for a moment and just breathe. That was a gift from God. Every breath is an opportunity for gratitude to God.

Yet creation as we experience it now isn’t everything God intended it to be. Sin has brought suffering, decay, and death into this world. We experience God’s good gifts every day, but we also experience a creation that is broken.

That’s why our Creator entered His creation.

This is incredible in an of itself. Jesus, the Son of God, became flesh and lived among us. He ate the food His Father provided, worked with His hands, and experienced hunger, exhaustion, pain, and finally death.

Then He rose bodily from the grave.

God’s answer to our broken world isn’t to abandon His creation. He loves His creation and nn Christ, He has begun making it new.

So take a moment today to notice God’s care.

Look at your food, your home, the people who serve you, even the breath in your lungs. Behind countless ordinary gifts stands your heavenly Father, faithfully caring for the world He made.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

You have filled Your creation with countless good gifts, many of which I receive without even noticing. Open my eyes to see Your care in the ordinary people and things around me. Thank You especially for sending Jesus into this broken creation to redeem me and for the promise that through Him You will make all things new.

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.

What does a faithful life look like?

We might picture someone who has it all together. Someone whose faith never wavers, who consistently makes wise choices, he/she can quote Bible verses, and seems to move from one victory to another.

Proverbs gives us a more realistic picture.

“The righteous falls seven times and rises again.”

In the Bible, seven often represents completeness or fullness. The point isn’t that a righteous person gets exactly seven chances. It’s that even the righteous fall. Again and again, life knocks them down, and yet they rise.

In the immediate context, this proverb seems especially concerned with adversity. The righteous person may experience trouble, suffering, opposition, or setbacks. Being faithful to God does not provide immunity from those things.

Sometimes you can do the right thing and still lose.

• You can work faithfully and still get passed over for the promotion.
• You can care deeply about a relationship and still watch it fall apart.
• You can make wise decisions and still encounter circumstances you never could have anticipated.

The Christian life isn’t a promise that everything will go smoothly.

But neither is falling the end of the story.

There’s also a broader truth here that Christians know well. Sometimes our falls aren’t things that happen to us. Sometimes they’re our own doing.

We lose our temper again or return to an old temptation. Sometimes it’s a selfish choice we knew better than to make. We resolve to do better and then discover, once again, just how deeply sin runs within us.

What do you do then?

The temptation is either to excuse the sin or to despair over it. The Gospel gives us another way:

Repent and get back up.

Not because your determination is stronger this time, but because Christ is faithful.

The righteous person in Scripture isn’t someone who has achieved a spotless record before God. Our righteousness comes from outside ourselves. Christ took our sin upon Himself at the cross and gives His righteousness to us. Through faith in Him, God declares sinners righteous.

That means failure doesn’t have the final word.

When you sin, you can confess it honestly because Christ has already paid for it. If suffering knocks you down, you can cry out to God knowing that He knows what suffering is like and has not abandoned you. Your terrible yesterdays can give way to new days when you rise to receive another day of His mercy.

The righteous fall. And by the grace of God, they rise again.

So if you’re on the ground today, it’s not over.

Look to Christ.

Receive His forgiveness, take His hand, and let Him lift you back up.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

You know the ways I have fallen, both through the troubles that have come upon me and through my own sin. When I am discouraged, keep me from giving up. When I have sinned, lead me to honest repentance rather than excuses or despair. Thank You that my righteousness does not depend on my perfect record, but on Jesus Christ and His righteousness given to me. Forgive me, strengthen me, and by Your grace help me rise again and continue walking with You.

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.