Month: July 2017

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PWTE Daily Devotion

At The End of Your Rope

Crying to the Lord in Your Time of Sadness.

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

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice.  Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.”
Psalm 130:1-2

When I saw this woebegone orangutan at the Forest Park Zoo, my heart went out to him for he looked so sad.  And why should he not be sad?  He was captive in a zoo far from his natural habitat, subject to thousands of spectators pointing and gawking at him each day.

Sure, he was well fed and cared for otherwise, but he was not free.  He was a prisoner and pretty down about it.

Do you feel that way today also?  Sure your daily needs are met, but you feel captive to the sadness that comes from your all too familiar sinful condition.  You are a prisoner to those habits and forces that control you and keep you prisoner as surely as if you were behind bars.  Perhaps like this little fellow at Forest Park, you feel at the end of your rope with nowhere to turn.

Then I encourage you to cry out to the Lord in your sadness.  Out of the depths of despair and captivity, make your petition known to your Heavenly Father.  For He is merciful and attentive to your cry, and He will not abandon you to sin and death.  Instead, He has sent His Son, the Redeemer, the Savior from our sin.  This Savior is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, He knows your sadness, your forsakenness, your hopelessness.

In Him there is hope and forgiveness and life.  In Him there is One who never leaves you.  In Him there is freedom forevermore.

Dear Lord, sometimes I am sad and weary and at the end of my rope.  I feel there is nowhere to turn in my sinfulness and hopelessness.  Thank you that You hear me and have mercy on me, for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

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PWTE Daily Devotion

The Junk Yard

God’s Recycling Plan.

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

“But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life.” 1 Timothy 1:16

Going past this scrap yard I remembered the old saying, “God doesn’t make junk.”  However, that is exactly how you and I feel when we look at the sin in our hearts, like garbage ready to be discarded on the  junk pile of life.  Our sin has blemished every part of our life and there seems to be nothing that can be useful there.

That is not how God looks at you.  God looks at your sinful self and says, “Aha, a recycling project!” The Lord is in the business of recycling old discarded sinners to be made new in the blood of Jesus.  He takes the worst of sinners and makes them the greatest of saints!  No dumping tarnished and blemished people in God’s salvage yard! He takes the worst and makes them the best.  He takes the chief of sinners, redeems him and gives him eternal life, and uses him as an encouraging example for all who will follow after him on God’s plan of salvation.

No, God doesn’t make junk.  He redeems junky sinful people, and makes them something wonderful and new in the image of His Son.  Hallelujah for God’s great eternal recycling plan!

“Chief of sinners though I be,
Jesus shed His blood for me. 
Died that I might live on high,
lives that I might never die. 
As the branch is to the vine,
I am His, and He is mine.”

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

In the Shadow of the Giants

The Great Cloud.

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

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Hebrews 12:1

In this picture, my wife, Margaret, is standing beneath a larger than life size statue of Martin Luther at Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis.  Does standing in the shadow of great men and women of faith intimidate you, making you feel small and useless?

The writer of Hebrews has a different take on the heroes of the faith that have come before us.  After listing many heroes of the Old Testament in chapter 11, he states, “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off … sin, and run… the race marked out for us.”

Standing beneath the shadow of the heroes of faith like Doctor Luther, the Apostle Paul, or the prophet Elijah is not meant to intimidate us, but to encourage us.  Gaining hope from their example of faith, we too can throw off sin and run the race marked for us.  These heroes were heroes not because they were without weakness and temptation, but because they called on the Lord of Hosts, the Redeemer of Israel, the King of Kings, the Almighty God.  They were heroes not because of their own strength, but because they relied on the strength of Jesus Christ and gloried in His name.

You and I do stand in the shadow of the giants of faith, and because we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we shall throw off sin and run the race marked out for us.  Since we are not alone, we shall fight the good fight, run the race, and keep the faith.

Lord, thank you for all the saints that have gone before me.  Give me faith in Your Word and perseverance by Your great might.  I am weak but You are strong.  Jesus keep me all day long. Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado