Month: August 2015

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Growing Our Bodies to Fit The Head

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

We are continually growing in Christ who is our head.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ,
who is the head. From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together
through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part,
the body grows in love.”  
Ephesians 4:15-16 New English Translation
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

No, these are not some strange breed of cattle grazing the mountains of Colorado (though they are cows). I was playing hooky from our pastors conference in Estes Park, Colorado and ended up hanging out with these ladies in a picnic area of Rocky Mountain National Park.

What amazes me about these cow elk is how skinny their legs are. Some of these ladies were about ready to give birth and they were quite large yet their skinny legs held them upright.

When it comes to the Christian church, the body of Christ, we also seem to be out of proportion.

Though the legs of these elk look out of proportion to the rest of their bodies, they are beautiful. The body of Christ is beautiful though we might look out proportion to the Head of this body.

We are continually growing into Christ. Our God feeds and nourishes us in his Word, and through this Word we stay connected to the Head. Our connection to the Head is seen by our growth in love for each other.

Like these elk, may others see us grazing together on that food which God provides as we continually grow into Christ our Head.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

All the Trees (and Chrisitans) Clap Their Hands

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

God grants us joy and peace on our journey home.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
Isaiah 55:12 English Standard Version
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

When I pray with people who are dying and their families I ask God for two gifts. I ask that God would give them both joy and peace that surpass understanding.

The promise of joy and peace was God’s gift to the nation of Israel.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God promises his people that they will come out of exile for their sin, and, with the gifts of joy and peace leading them, make their journey back to the Promised Land. The nation of Israel would experience death when taken into captivity in Babylon, yet joy and peace will lead them home.

From the moment of our conception to the day we die we’re on a journey home. On this journey God desires that we experience joy and peace, a joy and a peace that surpass understanding.

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God gives you his gift of joy and peace now. The road on which you walk is difficult, isn’t it? There are days when you’re cruising alone and the road of life seems level and smooth, but there are other days when the road is filled with boulders and you want to give up.

More than likely there were difficult days when Israel made the trip from Babylon to Jerusalem. Their joy and peace on the journey was rooted in the vision of returning home.

This is also your joy and peace on this journey of life. God has given you a vision of your home, that place prepared for you.

With this vision you and I join the trees in clapping our hands in spite of the boulders we experience.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

Building Our Lives on the Solid Foundation

Cedar Mountain, Colorado

A life that stands is one that is built on Christ’s Word.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners.
You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people.
You are members of God’s family.
Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.”
Ephesians 2:19-20 New Living Translation
Cedar Mountain, Colorado
Cedar Mountain, Colorado

This rock cairn is one of many cairns that play a significant role for people climbing Cedar Mountain.

Cedar Mountain is a popular hike for those staying at Lutheran Valley Retreat (more affectionately known as LVR). Though not a tall mountain by any stretch of the imagination, it is a fairly steep climb to a vista that looks out over the retreat as well as the 2002 Hayman Fire and the Rampart Range Mountains.

These cairns guide the way to the summit. They withstand gale force winds, rain and snow. From year to year they stand and lead people to an experience they might otherwise miss.

The foundation of the prophets and the apostles has withstood the challenges of history. This foundation continues to point people to the chief cornerstone, to Jesus Christ. Long before we entered history and long after we join the church triumphant this foundation will last. It will stand until Jesus returns.

That foundation of the apostles and prophets is the Word that is read and explored in the context of  God’s community. It forms our community and it commission this community. Without this foundation we’ll lose our way and never experience the life that God intends for us to live.

God’s Word can be trusted to lead us to Jesus.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner