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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.

The Sacrament of Holy Baptism (Part 2)

Do you remember your baptism?

Your Baptism may have happened years ago. Perhaps you were an infant and don’t remember it at all.

So what does an event from the past have to do with your life today?

Everything.

The catechism asks what Baptism with water indicates for our daily lives. The answer is that the old sinful nature in us should, through daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new person should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

In other words, Baptism isn’t something we leave behind. We live in it.

Previously, we saw that Baptism joins us to Jesus’ death and resurrection. His death becomes ours. His resurrection becomes ours. Today, the catechism shows us what that means for an ordinary Wednesday morning.

Every day, the old sinful nature wants to take control again.

• We become selfish.
• We lose our temper.
• We envy someone else’s life.
• We put ourselves first.
• We trust ourselves instead of God.

This is our reality as Christians who are, at the same time, sinners and saints. The Christian response isn’t to pretend those sins aren’t there or that we don’t have a sinful nature.

We repent…daily.

Repentance means turning away from sin and returning to God’s promise of forgiveness. We acknowledge what we’ve done rather than excuse it, and then we return to Christ.

That is what Luther means by returning to our Baptism.

We don’t need to be baptized again every time we sin. God’s promise hasn’t expired. Your baptism is always effective. Instead, we return again and again to what God has already given us there.

There is great freedom in that.

You don’t have to wake up each morning and wonder about your status with God or create a new identity for yourself. Your successes don’t make you more valuable to God, and yesterday’s failures don’t get the final word about who you are.

You belong to Christ.

Paul says that those who have been baptized into Christ have

“put on Christ.”

So when God looks at you, He sees someone who’s sins have been forgiven, and who is clothed with Christ and His righteousness.

That doesn’t make sin unimportant. It makes repentance possible.

You can admit the truth about yourself because your salvation doesn’t depend on pretending you’re better than you are. You can confess your sin because Christ has already died for it.

And then you can get up and begin again, living in the new life you have in Christ.

Once again, you can get out of bed and love your neighbor. You can forgive people who wrong you, follow the guidance of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit, and live in the joy of your salvation. This is the rhythm of the Christian life: dying and rising.

Repentance and forgiveness.

The old sinner drowned, and the new person arising to live in Christ.

Not just once.

Every day.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for joining me to Christ in Baptism. Forgive the sins I have commited and lead me each day to repentance. Drown the old sinful nature in me, and by Your Holy Spirit raise me to live in the new life You have given me through Jesus Christ. When I fail, remind me that Your promise remains sure: I belong to 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.

Have you ever felt like you were just done with it all?

Elijah had just experienced one of the most dramatic victories in the Old Testament.

On Mount Carmel, he had stood against the prophets of Baal while God answered his prayer with fire from heaven. The people fell on their faces and confessed that the Lord is God. It was the kind of moment that seems like it should have left Elijah overflowing with confidence.

Instead, shortly afterward, Elijah was exhausted, afraid, and running for his life.

Queen Jezebel had threatened to kill him, and Elijah fled into the wilderness, sat under a tree, and asked God to let him die. God didn’t kill him. In fact, God told Elijah He would meet him. Elijah made his way to Mount Horeb, where God told him to stand before the Lord.

Then came the wind.

It was so powerful that it tore into the mountains and shattered rocks. But the Lord was not in the wind.

Then came an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake.

Then came fire. But the Lord was not in the fire.

Finally came what the ESV describes as

“the sound of a low whisper.”

Elijah covered his face and went out to meet the Lord.

Perhaps Elijah expected God to act in the same dramatic way He had acted on Mount Carmel. After all, fire from heaven certainly gets people’s attention. Yet God showed Elijah that He was not limited to the spectacular.

We can easily make the same mistake.

We may look for God primarily in dramatic experiences, sudden answers to prayer, extraordinary signs, or moments when we can clearly see Him changing our circumstances. When those things don’t happen, especially during a difficult season, we may begin to wonder where He is.

But God’s apparent quietness does not mean His absence.

This is especially important when we are weary. Exhaustion has a way of narrowing our perspective. Problems seem larger, hope seems farther away, and God’s work can become harder to recognize.

Elijah’s story reminds us that God was still there.

He had not abandoned His prophet, and He was not finished with him. God spoke to Elijah, gave him direction, and assured him that he was not as alone as he thought.

God still comes to weary people through means that can seem remarkably ordinary. We open a Bible and hear His Word. We gather with other Christians and hear the Gospel proclaimed. We receive bread and wine, and Christ gives us His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins.

None of these may look as impressive as fire falling from heaven. Yet God has promised to meet us there.

Jesus Himself came this way. The Son of God entered the world not with the spectacle people might have expected, but as an infant laid in a manger. He accomplished our salvation through what looked like weakness and defeat on a cross.

Jesus is not done with you nor will He leave you or forsake you.

So when you are weary and wondering where God is, you don’t need to wait for something spectacular.

Return to where He has promised to be. He will meet you there.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

When I am tired, discouraged, or afraid, I can easily wonder where You are. Help me not to measure Your presence by how dramatic my circumstances seem. Draw me again to Your Word and Your promises, and strengthen me through the gifts You have given Your Church. Thank You that in Jesus You have come near to me and will not abandon 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.

As Jesus and His disciples leave the temple, one of them marvels at the magnificent buildings. The temple must have seemed permanent, almost untouchable. It was made a huge stones no person could budge.

Jesus tells them that it will all come down.

That prediction leads to a long conversation about what lies ahead. Jesus warns His disciples about false teachers, wars, earthquakes, persecution, and suffering. Some of what He describes points toward Jerusalem’s coming destruction in 70 AD. His words also look beyond it toward His return at the end of the age.

Jesus does not give His disciples a timetable to decode.

He tells them how to live while they wait.

One command appears repeatedly:

“Stay awake.”

Jesus knows that mankind has trouble waiting. We’re easily distracted. He also knows that life between His first and second coming will not always be easy. His followers will experience suffering and opposition. The world will remain broken. False teachers will arise, and frightening events will happen. 

But none of this means Jesus has lost control.

He tells His disciples about these things beforehand precisely so they will not lose hope when they happen. History is moving toward a destination. The Son of Man will return…

“with great power and glory,”

gather His people, and make all things right.

So Christians do not need to panic every time the world seems unstable. Nor do we need to calculate dates or search every news story for hidden prophetic clues. In fact, Jesus warns us not to fall for people who claim to be Him or know the God’s timing.

There are many things around us that appear permanent. Yet, it will all fall. Yes, Jesus spoke about the temple falling, but He also spoke about the stars in sky and mountains around us. None of it is permanent. Only God is eternal…and those who trust in Him.

We know what we need to know. Jesus is coming again. Until then, He calls us to remain faithful.

We listen to His Word. We trust His promises. We carry out the work He has given us to do, loving and serving the people around us while we wait for our King.

We don’t know when He will return.

But we know who is returning.

It is the same Jesus who is about to give His life for us.

And that makes His return something His people can await not merely with watchfulness, but with hope.

Let’s pray…

Lord Jesus,

Keep me faithful as I wait for Your return. When the world around me seems frightening or uncertain, remind me that You remain Lord over all things. Keep me awake in faith, trusting Your promises and looking forward with hope to the day You come again.

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 is something you need to hear over and over again?

Parents repeat things to their children because they’re important. Teachers review lessons because we forget. Even as adults, we set reminders on our phones because knowing something once doesn’t mean we’ll remember it when we need it.

Psalm 136 repeats the same words twenty-six times:

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

After every single statement about what God has done, the people respond with that same refrain.

God created the heavens.

His steadfast love endures forever.

He rescued Israel from Egypt.

His steadfast love endures forever.

He led His people through the wilderness.

His steadfast love endures forever.

He remembered them when they were brought low.

His steadfast love endures forever.

Twenty-six times might seem excessive. We understood the point after the first few, right?

But perhaps that’s exactly why the repetition is there.

We forget.

When life is going well, God’s love can seem obvious. Yet, even then, we can forget it’s coming from God. But when something goes wrong, a prayer isn’t answered the way we hoped, someone we love suffers, or we make a mess of things through our own sin, suddenly, what seemed so certain doesn’t feel certain anymore.

So God gives His people a refrain to come back to.

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

Notice that the psalm doesn’t base God’s love on our circumstances or our faithfulness. It looks at what God has done.

That’s where Christians look too. We look to Jesus. We look to the cross.

If you ever wonder whether God loves you, you don’t have to search your feelings for the answer. How well you think your life is going isn’t a good measure either. You don’t even have to ask whether you’ve been a good enough Christian lately.

Look at Jesus.

God sent His Son for sinners. Jesus took our guilt upon Himself and suffered the judgment we deserved. Then, He rose from the dead, defeating death and securing eternal life for everyone who trusts in Him.

That’s what God’s steadfast love looks like.

There will be days when you feel close to God and days when you don’t. There will be days filled with joy and others filled with disappointment. Your circumstances will change.

Your circumstances and emotions will change. God’s promise does not.

Maybe that’s why we need to hear it twenty-six times.

His steadfast love endures forever.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your steadfast love that never comes to an end. When my circumstances or feelings cause me to doubt Your love, turn my eyes again to Jesus and the cross. Help me remember all that You have done for me and trust Your promises in every season of 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.

What are you carrying today?

Some burdens are invisible.

You can go to work, make dinner, have a conversation, and carry on with your normal routine while your mind is somewhere else entirely.

• A problem at work keeps running through your thoughts.
• You’re waiting for test results.
• You’re worried about one of your children.
• You’re looking at the bills and wondering how everything will work out.

No one else may see it, but you feel the weight. Proverbs understands that feeling:

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down.”

That’s a remarkably accurate description. Anxiety can feel heavy. Even when nothing has actually happened yet, the possibilities of what might happen can begin to weigh on us as though we’re carrying tomorrow’s troubles today. They exhaust you and wear you down.

Proverbs doesn’t offer a complicated solution. It simply says,

“but a good word makes him glad.”

Sometimes that good word comes through another person. Maybe a friend reminds you that you’re not facing this alone or someone who has been through something similar tells you there is a way forward. Maybe your spouse notices that something is bothering you and speaks a word of encouragement.

Don’t underestimate what a good word can do.

But for the Christian, there is an even more dependable place to hear one.

God speaks.

When anxiety tells you that everything depends on you, God’s Word reminds you that your heavenly Father knows what you need. When fear tells you that you are alone, Christ says,

“I am with you always.”

God doesn’t merely tell you to cheer up. He gives you something objective and certain: He tells you He loves you, cares for you, walks with you, and Christ died for your sins so you are forgiven and right with Him.

Those aren’t positive thoughts we use to talk ourselves out of worrying. They are promises from Someone outside of us, spoken by the God who cannot lie. We cling to them by faith.

I wish that meant every anxious feeling immediately disappears. Some may, but our minds have a way of focusing on the negative and wallowing in anxiety. Nor does it mean that the thing we were anxious about will go away. The medical results still have to come. The difficult conversation still needs to happen. The financial problem may still be there tomorrow morning.

But you don’t carry those things without a word from God. In fact, you don’t have to carry them at all. You can lay them down. You can rest knowing that God has you, He knows what you need, and He will bring you through it.

You can also ask for His peace. God’s peace is not like man’s concept of peace. His peace is beyond our understanding and greater than any situation.

Also, remember that sometimes you may be the person God uses to bring a good word to someone else.

Pay attention today. Someone around you may be carrying a burden you cannot see. A thoughtful phone call, a few minutes of listening, or a simple reminder of God’s faithfulness may mean far more than you realize.

Anxiety weighs the heart down.

A good word can help lift it.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

You know the worries I carry, including the ones I have told no one else about. When anxiety weighs down my heart, turn me toward Your promises and remind me that I am in Your care. Thank You for the people You use to encourage me, and help me notice those around me who need encouragement too. Give me a good word to share with them. Above all, keep me anchored in Your sure Word and in Jesus Christ, who has promised to be with me always.

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 Holy Baptism (Part 1)

When was the last time you saw a baptism?

Water seems like such an ordinary thing. We drink it. We wash with it. It falls from the sky and runs from the faucet.

Yet Jesus takes ordinary water and attaches an extraordinary promise to it.

That is Baptism.

Luther explains that according to the Scriptures Baptism is not just plain water. It is water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word.

Jesus gave that command after His resurrection when He sent His disciples to make disciples of all nations. He told them to do it…

“baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

So Baptism isn’t something Christians invented or just a neat way to initiate people into the church.

Jesus gave baptism to His Church. And He tells us what He does through it.

Sometimes people think of Baptism mainly as something we do for God. We make a public commitment. We show everyone that we have decided to follow Jesus. Baptism becomes our declaration of faith. But Scripture places the emphasis somewhere else.

On God’s action.

In Baptism, God is doing something for us.

In Romans, God tells us that when we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into His death. We are buried with Him and raised with Him to new life.

Think about what that means.

Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus died on a cross outside Jerusalem. He carried the sins of the world into His death and rose victorious over sin and the grave.

In Baptism, God connects you personally to what Jesus did.

• His death becomes your death.
• His resurrection becomes your life.

That is why the catechism speaks so boldly about Baptism. It gives forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe God’s promise. Or, as Got put it in 1 Peter,

“Baptism…now saves you.” 1 Peter 3:21

Not because water has some magical power, but because God’s Word and promise are there.

This is also why Christians baptize infants. Baptism isn’t primarily our testimony about what we have decided to do for God. It is God’s promise of what He does for us. Babies need the same Savior adults do, and God’s grace is not limited by their ability to understand or explain it.

None of us comes to God because we have figured everything out. He comes to us.

That is the pattern we have seen throughout the catechism.

• The Father created you.
• The Son redeemed you.
• The Holy Spirit called you through the Gospel.
• And in Baptism, God placed His name upon you and joined you to Christ.

So when doubts come, you don’t have to search inside yourself to see whether your faith feels strong enough. Look instead to what God has done.

You are baptized into Christ.

And His promise is stronger than your feelings.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for giving the gift of Baptism and joining me to the death and resurrection of Jesus. When I doubt, turn my eyes away from myself and back to Your promises. Help me to trust the forgiveness, life, and salvation Christ has won for me and that You give through Your Word and Sacraments. 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.