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PWTE Daily Devotion

Keep Watch!

by Rev Steve Nickodemus

When Will He Come?

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

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”
Matthew 24:42

All eyes were on the sun as the totality of the eclipse approached at our yet unfinished house in Oregon.  All of us kept checking our watches and watching the phases of the moon beginning to cover the sun.  However, no one could have prepared any of us for the amazing, eerie, darkness that covered the valley, and the 360 degree sunset on all the mountains around us.

That is after all the careful scientific explanations of what would happen at that moment of the coming of this astronomical phenomena.  No one could have prepared any of us for the actual coming.  As one neighbor said, “I thought after all the hype that the eclipse might be no big deal.  But boy, I was so wrong!  What has God wrought?”

Do you see any parallels to Jesus’ Second Coming?  Not only will we not know when it shall happen, even with all of the careful predictions in the Scripture, nothing can prepare us for the glory, the splendor, and the magnificence of the actual coming of our Lord Jesus.  Though we as His people watch for Him and pray for His coming, the joy that is to be revealed in seeing Jesus come for us will overwhelm us.  Indeed, what has God wrought?

What eye can see, what ear can hear, what mind can comprehend the love, the mercy, and the grace of our Lord Jesus’ coming?

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!” Romans 11:33

Until that day that He comes, we watch and pray.  Come, Lord Jesus, come soon!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

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PWTE Daily Devotion

The Key to Life

by Rev. Steve Nickodemus

An Open and Shut Case.

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

“These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.  What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.”
Revelation 3:7b

When I became pastor at Trinity, one of the first things anyone did was give me a master key to every door in the building.  With it I could unlock every door, or lock every door.  That key represented a lot of authority and responsibility.  I could let people in, and I could shut people out!

Jesus, by His death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb, has been given the key of David, the keys to Death and Hades.  By His sacrifice He has paid your debt of sin, and by His rising He has flung open the prison door of sin that held you captive.  Because of the Lord Jesus, the devil cannot hold you captive and death no longer has any real fear.

With the keys of the kingdom that Jesus has been given, even the gates of hell will not prevail against Him.  He has unlocked the chains that held you, and freely invites all who would follow Him to find out what true freedom is.

He gives you and me as believers these keys of the kingdom, that we might offer freedom in our Lord Jesus Christ to all who would repent and believe on Him.  To a world held captive by sin, death, and the devil this is unbelievably good news.  We are prisoners set free by Jesus, who are constantly encouraging more prisoners to take advantage of a royal pardon!

“Vain the stone, the watch, the seal; Christ has burst the gates of hell.
Death in vain forbids His rise; Christ has opened paradise.”

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

Sail On

by Desiree Bustamante

Set sail on protected waters with the Mighty One.

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

It’s so peaceful to watch boats sail across a calm lake. They seem so oblivious to everything happening around them, just enjoying the cool breeze off the lake and the warm sun. No matter what yesterday was like, whether storms will come along later in the afternoon, or what tomorrow may bring, those who sail on this beautiful lake today are filled with joy.

“The Lord will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, that no enemy ship can sail upon.”
Isaiah 33:21 New Living Translation

When we truly rest in Christ, trusting Him in everything in life, we can have that same experience. His protection, His calmness, His joy outweighs anything that seems daunting now, or that may be on the horizon. Knowing Christ brings joy and light to the darkness of the past, the disillusionment of today, or the fear of the future.

“You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our savior. You are the hope of everyone on earth, even those who sail on distant seas.”
Psalm 65:5 New Living Translation

So praise The One who is mightier than the storm, and is our true hope.

“Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing his praises from the ends of the earth! Sing, all you who sail the seas, all you who live in distant coastlands.”
Isaiah 42:10 New Living Translation

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO