Category: Daily Devotions

For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7

Live by Faith

Daily Devotion – June 24, 2021

Devotion based on 2 Corinthians 5:7

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Was it any wonder that Pontius Pilate found it hard to believe that Jesus was truly a king? That was the “crime” that Jesus was being accused of by his enemies—a rebel and an upstart who was trying to set up his own kingdom. But who could believe that to look at him? Isaiah described him this way: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). What few disciples Jesus had had all fled, abandoning their rabbi when he was arrested. Now he stood alone before the Roman governor, “despised and rejected by men.” You can hear the incredulity in Pilate’s voice as he asks, “Are you a king?”

We may have the same doubts about those who are followers of this king. Christians around the world are often harassed and persecuted for their faith in the Nazarene Jesus, who was crucified as a criminal. Their lives are full of the same suffering and pain as those around them, despite their allegiance to the God who they believe created the universe. They say that God is their Father and that he loves them, but Christians also get sick and die, just like everyone else.

But Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. And his followers live by faith, not by sight. They know God’s promises are true because they know that he is truthful. They put their faith in him because he is faithful. God kept his promise to send his Son as Savior of mankind, so he will also keep his promise to love us as his dear children for the sake of Jesus. And finally, God will keep his last promises when he comes to take us to live with him forever in heaven. These bodies we live in may be fragile, and the world we live in full of peril, but we live by faith, not by sight. Our king, the Lord Jesus Christ, will never disappoint us.

Prayer:
Lord God, I pray that you would increase my faith to trust your word even when my eyes tell me there is reason to doubt. Keep my faith focused on Jesus, who rose from the dead and who will give me eternal life by his side. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.
Colossians 1:6

Growth Through the Gospel

Daily Devotion – June 23, 2021

Devotion based on Colossians 1:6

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Many missionaries were unable to travel during the worldwide pandemic. Sometimes that meant staying in the mission field for longer than they had planned, putting off trips to visit family back stateside for another year. Others were stuck outside of their field of labor for months at a time while borders were closed to international travel. All of them were grateful for modern technology that allowed them to communicate with people on the other side of the world almost instantaneously. It was only last century that missionaries usually had to wait weeks or even months for correspondence to be delivered either way.

Of course, even today, there are places where Christian missionaries do not always have Internet access. But those sent overseas in the name of Christ know they do not depend primarily on modern communication technology. Their confidence lies not in the speed of the Internet but the power of the gospel. Whether the good news of Jesus is preached over a loudspeaker, hand-written in a letter, shared quietly around a village campfire, or sent as bytes and bits through cyberspace, it has the same power of God to transform human hearts.

This message is for all people everywhere. The Bible tells us, “There is no difference … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24). And all around the world, this gospel message has been bearing fruit and growing, as people of all nations come to know and believe that Jesus Christ has died for the sins of the whole world.

And you are no different. The gospel is also for you and your family. You can read it in a book (or an emailed devotion!), listen to it live at church or a streamed broadcast, or hear it from a friend or a friendly missionary. But no matter the method, the message of forgiveness through Christ is powerful to save.

Prayer:
Lord God, thank you for sending your gospel into the world. May it also remain with me. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

[Jesus] said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Mark 4:26-29

Thy Kingdom Come

Daily Devotion – June 22, 2021

Devotion based on Mark 4:26-29

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In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come.” But what is God’s kingdom? And how does it come? In his Small Catechism, Martin Luther explained it this way: “God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives his Holy Spirit so that by his grace we believe his holy Word and lead a godly life now on earth and forever in heaven.”

Has God answered your prayer? Has his kingdom come to you and others, as you’ve requested every time you’ve prayed the Lord’s Prayer? Perhaps it doesn’t seem so. I know I don’t always live in a way that shows that God is the king of my heart. And while I do believe that Jesus died for me and that my sins are forgiven because of him, I don’t know that I would compare my struggling faith in him to a “kingdom.” In fact, all too often, I’ve become frustrated with not seeing enough evidence of spiritual growth—either in my life or the lives of other Christians.

But Jesus helps us to understand the way that God answers our prayer for his kingdom to come. Just as a seed grows after it has been planted, so God’s kingdom comes slowly but surely, almost imperceptibly at times. Just as God works through the laws of nature that he established to give life and maturity to a growing plant, so the Holy Spirit works faith in us through the gospel of Jesus so that over time we produce its fruits in the form of love and good deeds.

So have patience with yourself and have confidence in the power of God’s word. Even at this moment, it is quietly at work within you.

Prayer:
Dear Father, your kingdom comes even without my asking. But I pray that it comes to me and my loved ones also. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
Mark 4:30-32

Kingdom Aspirations

Daily Devotion – June 21, 2021

Devotion based on Mark 4:30-32

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“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Adults sometimes chuckle when they hear the four-year-old claim that he wants to be a ninja firefighter or even when the second-grader asserts that she will be the first person to walk on Mars. The children’s heart-felt aspirations can seem far-fetched to the practically-minded—and all the more so when the “future astronaut” stands before you, currently missing her two front teeth!

Might the disciples have been tempted to chuckle at Jesus’ suggestion that his kingdom, his church, would grow to the point of including followers from “all nations”? How could a dozen insignificant men following a homeless and harassed prophet ever dream that their movement would one day number in the billions of souls? How could these Aramaic-speaking apostles begin to understand that the letters and gospels they would write in Greek would eventually be translated into thousands of different languages? How could their humble teacher, once crucified and publicly shamed as a criminal, one day be glorified and worshipped by believers on every continent?

How? Only by Jesus’ power and blessing. By his power and blessing, he established a kingdom of grace, earned by his death on a cross and established by his resurrection from the dead. The purpose of this kingdom is to rescue sinners from their otherwise inevitable destruction in hell, and its goal is to bring people of every nation, tribe, and language out of darkness and into the light of his forgiving love.

As Jesus went to the cross, his hope for the future was for you to join him in paradise. His aspiration was to be your Savior. No matter how large his church grows, Jesus’ eye is always on every individual soul, and his ear is tuned in to their every prayer.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I am grateful that there is room in your kingdom for me. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Corinthians 5:1

An Eternal House

Daily Devotion – June 20, 2021

Devotion based on 2 Corinthians 5:1

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My father would sometimes take me camping while I was growing up. We went often enough that I don’t remember every camping trip. But there is one I will likely never forget.

We borrowed a tent from a friend. When we arrived at the campsite and began to set up, we realized that some of the tent poles were missing. So my father grabbed some rope from the trunk of the car and used it to tie parts of the tent to tree branches to hold it up. We finished setting up the tent just in time for dinner, which is when we were attacked by hungry seagulls dive-bombing at our hotdogs. Evening finally came, which is when a thunderstorm rolled in and revealed two things: we hadn’t tied down the tent as securely as we had thought, and the tent wasn’t as waterproof as the packaging had promised. By midnight that evening, our camping trip was done, and we were back home resting comfortably in our own beds.

In today’s Bible verse, the apostle Paul compares our human bodies to a tent. Like the tent on our camping trip, they’re not entirely immune to destruction. We get sick, suffer injuries, get attacked by cancer, or some other debilitating diseases that dive-bomb into our lives. As healthy as we might eat, as often as we might exercise, we get to a point where our bodies don’t operate as quickly and pain-free as they did when we were young. And then, of course, every funeral is another reminder that one day death will roll in like a powerful thunderstorm and completely overwhelm our fragile bodies.

But Paul also tells us that our bodies are simply tents. As long as we’re in them, we’re never really at home. But one day, we will be. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, our heavenly Father forgave our sin and gave us the right to look forward to our eventual arrival at an eternal house in heaven, where we will finally rest comfortably.

Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven, when I am reminded of how fragile my body really is, keep my faith focused on the eternal and perfect home you have prepared for me through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
Genesis 3:15

A Joy Story

Daily Devotion – June 19, 2021

Devotion based on Genesis 3:15

See series: Devotions

When Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin against God, they deliberately disobeyed God and justly deserved the divine sentence of eternal death on themselves and the whole human race. But God demonstrated his great love not only for Adam and Eve but also for all their descendants. He made a promise! He would send a Savior to suffer the punishment for the sins of all people!

God explained his eternal plan for the salvation of sinners. One born of the woman—that’s Jesus—would “crush [Satan’s] head.” Yes, Satan would “strike his heel”—Jesus would suffer and die—but by his death and resurrection, Jesus would rescue all humanity from the power of the devil and free them from the curse of sin.

This promise of God revealed God’s eternal plan of salvation. It was a promise that, like a flower not yet seen on the plant from which it will grow, is nevertheless coming into bud. It would be fulfilled! The promise would one day flower and flourish. This was the hope of the people in the Old Testament.

Finally, God fulfilled his promise, and in his love for all people, sent Jesus into the world to save us. Our gracious God took the sad story of man’s fall and changed the outcome into good news for us. The devil’s horrifying deed was overcome by the power of God’s sweet promise. Now that’s a true story that fills our life with real joy!

Prayer:
Lord God, thank you for your great love that moved you to promise and send your Son to rescue me from the power of Satan. Fill my heart with the joy of knowing Jesus as my Savior from sin and death. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18

Focus

Daily Devotion – June 18, 2021

Devotion based on 2 Corinthians 4:18

See series: Devotions

Where are your eyes fixed these days? Are they fixed on debt as you keep going over the financial statements wondering how you are going to make it? Maybe your eyes are focused on deadlines, as you worry and stress about whether you will be able to get everything done for everyone who has expectations of you. Perhaps your eyes keep staring at your phone, waiting for the doctor to call with the results from a recent test. So often, our eyes are focused on things that fill us with stress and anxiety. We pace the halls. We fill our minds with what-ifs and worst-case scenarios. And, of course, we have little or no control over any of it. These situations are temporary as our Bible reading today reminds us, but certainly, a new set of temporary troubles will come our way whenever the old ones are resolved.

There is a solution to this problem. That is, to fix our eyes on what is unseen. Namely, on Jesus and the heavenly home that he has waiting for us. Everything we face on earth is by nature temporary. But spiritual blessings in Christ are eternal. Because Jesus died on the cross in our place and rose from the dead, we have been given eternal life which far outweighs anything this life can throw at us.

But it is always easier to focus on the here and now than it is on things unseen. God invites and encourages us to lift our eyes to things above. To always have Jesus and his Word in our thoughts and our hearts. To think about and look forward to our heavenly home. To eagerly anticipate eternity with Jesus and all believers in heaven—a place where we will not pace the halls with worry or anxiety, but a place where we will live stress-free in perfect peace and joy. Fix your eyes on that!

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for the heavenly home you have prepared for me. Help me to fix my eyes on things eternal. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
2 Corinthians 4:17

Earthly Troubles

Daily Devotion – June 17, 2021

Devotion based on 2 Corinthians 4:17

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Cancer. Alzheimer’s. Broken relationships. Job loss. Depression. Persecution. Life in this world is not short of troubles. We all have them. It is just a question of which troubles we have at any given time. So many things we experience weigh us down, and we are so often under pressure. So much so that these things can often seem unbearable.

So, who does the author of this verse think he is to call such troubles “light or momentary”? In a world that seems to care little or nothing for what we are going through, it is important to understand that God is not insensitive to what we are experiencing. Nor should we assume that he does not care about us or love us. It can be an easy thing for us to get angry with God or assume that he does not love us or is not there for us. God has not forgotten us!

But God does want us to see things from his perspective. Our heavenly Father sees all eternity and knows that our life span is but a tiny blip on the eternal timeline. He knows that if we stay the course and trust in Jesus, we have an eternal future waiting for us. When we leave this world, we have a place waiting for us, where we will experience perfect joy that will never end. This is all through Jesus, who endured his own momentary troubles for us. Because of his troubles on that day, Jesus has opened eternal life for us all.

Whatever it is you are going through right now, God wants you to view your troubles in comparison to the eternal joys of heaven. Our joy and the glory in heaven will not be momentary, and whatever we endured on earth will be “light” in comparison. Keep your eyes on your heavenly home and trust the Lord to bring you through all your earthly troubles into the glories of heaven.

Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven, give me strength for the troubles of today. Help me to see things from your perspective and to keep my eyes on my heavenly home. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
Genesis 3:15

Victory

Daily Devotion – June 16, 2021

Devotion based on Genesis 3:15

See series: Devotions

Satan was victorious. Can you picture him strutting around the Garden of Eden with his hands held high over his head in victory? He had gone up against the world’s only two perfect people, and he had come out victorious. And it sure had not taken long! Satan, quite quickly it seems, had successfully led Adam and Eve away from God and into sin, and he has been winning battles ever since.

It happens all too often in your life and mine. Sometimes before we even know it, and often without much of a fight, the devil defeats us with a quick temptation, and there he stands, gloating in victory over us. Maybe it happens when we are scrolling social media, and he tempts us to click on some inappropriate content. Maybe, it happens after a long day, and conversation is strained, and he tempts us to lash out with our temper. Maybe, it happens when we are at work, and no one is looking, and he tempts us to steal from our employer.

However, it happens Satan has defeated us more times than we care to admit. And because of our dismal record in fighting against his temptations, we were doomed for all eternity. Truthfully, one sin is all it took for us to be worthy of God’s punishment.

But God did something unexpected. He made a promise. Right as Satan was on his victory lap in the Garden of Eden, God promised to send someone to crush this seemingly unstoppable enemy. And he indicated it would not be a close contest. This One to come would CRUSH Satan’s head.

The wonderful news is that God has kept his promise. Jesus came and defeated Satan through his life, death, and resurrection. Just as God promised, Christ came and went toe-to-toe with Satan and has forever crushed him. Better yet, Jesus has given you the victory! In Jesus, we are forgiven and saved, and heaven is our home. And Satan will not be able to harm us for all eternity. Praise be to God for his victory over Satan!

Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven, thank you for sending Jesus to crush my enemy. Thank you for the eternal victory you have given me. Help me always to look to Jesus in times of temptation. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” The Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”
Genesis 3:12,13

The Blame Game

Daily Devotion – June 15, 2021

Devotion based on Genesis 3:12,13

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We are all good at playing the blame game. In fact, we learned it at a young age. How often did we not shout out while pointing at a classmate or sibling: “He did it first!” or, “She made me do it!” As we have aged, we have honed our ability to duck responsibility for our actions. We may do it more subtly now, but when it comes to being confronted with our sin, we still like to deflect, dodge, or deny. We try to shift the blame or point the finger at somebody else. Just like Adam and Eve, we try to blame someone else for our sinful actions.

For example, rather than own up to our sinful habit, perhaps we shrug our shoulders and say, “Well, that is how I was raised.” Or, instead of taking responsibility for missing a deadline at work, we throw a co-worker under the bus for not getting us the information we needed on time. Or maybe instead of apologizing to our spouse for the insensitive way we spoke, we hold a grudge and blame them for starting the argument.

Thankfully, there is one who did not deflect or dodge. Jesus went to the cross and took the punishment that we deserved for our sin. He did not point the finger of blame at us. He did not try to dodge the consequences even though the sins were ours rather than his. He had every right to shift the blame to us, but he refused to play that game. Instead, he bore the burden of our sin and gave himself up in our place. His loving sacrifice for us has forever removed our sin and has given us the gift of eternal life.

Cling to Jesus and his cross. Instead of playing the blame game, humbly confess your sin and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness that only he can provide.

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for paying the penalty for my sins. Help me not to blame others, but to be honest with you about my sin and to trust in you for forgiveness. Amen.

Daily Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.