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PWTE Daily Devotion

Boasting about What Matters Most

We boast in Christ crucified no matter our social status.

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

I live in a very comfortable home. Sure it “needs” new carpet and other things I might consider necessary, but I have a yard, a vegetable garden, and a fence.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

This family had nothing that I think is essential to life.

They had no yard, no garden, no carpet. They had one room with a curtain separating their sleeping quarters from their living room. I don’t remember any light fixture.

They had a creek that served as a sewer. The first floor to their apartment complex had no rooms, just trash and other unmentionables.

There was a sense of hopelessness throughout this apartment complex.

On Good Friday we remember the hopelessness of the cross for Jesus. I know, that sounds radical, but what I’m suggesting is that there was no hope for Jesus to come off his cross except through death. Yet, he had determined that he would do the will of his father.

He had nothing on his cross so that we might possess everything.

The message of Christ crucified reaches into the poverty of Tegucigulpa and into the riches of America. Whether we’re rich or poor it is Christ crucified that gives us hope.

For this reason the Apostle Paul could boast in nothing more than Christ crucified.

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Galatians 6:14 English Standard Version

This day, may we also boast in Christ’s cross.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

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PWTE Daily Devotion

The Ups and Downs of Life

Christ experienced the ups and downs of life for us.

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

So, was I moving up or down this escalator? It’s probably obvious to you that I was heading down, yet it’s hard to tell.  We’re use to seeing escalators move, and in that movement we know the direction we’re heading.

Life isn’t static, it is always moving up and down through the seasons.

March 24“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
   a time to be born, and a time to die;
   a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
   a time to kill, and a time to heal;
   a time to break down, and a time to build up;
   a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
   a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
   a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
   a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
   a time to seek, and a time to lose;
   a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
   a time to tear, and a time to sew;
   a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
   a time to love, and a time to hate;
   a time for war, and a time for peace.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 English Standard Version

Seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours and hours into days. The reality of opposites exits within this movement of time. There is time for the ups, downs, and the seasons of life. Reading the Preacher’s list, we know whether we’re heading up or down; whether we’re experiencing grief or joy, war or peace.

At the intersection of life’s escalator stands the One who traveled the ups and downs for us. He is the one who experienced all the seasons of life that he might walk with us through whatever season we’re experiencing.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Clothed in Majesty

Our strength is rooted in Jesus’ majesty.

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

The LORD is king! He is robed in majesty.
Indeed, the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength.
The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.
 

Psalm 93:1 New Living Translation

There is a regal look to this mountain goat as he stands tall on this rock. This is his territory. This is where he rules and I need to respect it or there might be serious consequences.

Blue Lakes Reservoir, Colorado
Blue Lakes Reservoir, Colorado

His shedding coat that adds to this feeling of majesty. This guy has been through wars and survived. Not only has he survived, but he has thrived because of these conflicts.

We have a tendency to make God our buddy and forget hat he is our king. He is robed in majesty. The world stands firm because of the one who has called it into existence. Our faith cannot be destroyed because he rules.

The power of his reign is seen in what the world calls defeat. He reigns because of the cross and empty tomb. It is here that God establishes his victory over your sin, your adversary, and your death.

God reigns, and he is clothed in majesty. May you find strength to live in his victory.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner