Category: Daily Devotions

“No one can serve two masters.”
Luke 16:13

My God

Daily Devotion – October 18, 2019

Devotion based on Luke 16:13

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Fifteen years ago, an author by the name of David Foster Wallace agreed to speak at a college graduation. Wallace was a secular man, wary of any kind of organized religion. And yet in this speech he surprised a lot of people. He said that in the trenches of everyday life, there really is no such thing as atheism because everyone worships something. It’s just a question of what. Then he gave some warnings. He said that if you worship money, you will never have enough. If you worship beauty and good looks, you will always feel ugly. Furthermore, as you grow older and beauty fades, you will die a million deaths before you actually die. If you worship power, he said, you will always feel weak. And if you worship intellect, then you will always feel stupid, and you will always feel afraid you’re going to be found out.

In addition, Wallace included this chilling caution. Be careful what you worship. Because nearly everything that one can worship will, in the end, eat you alive.

And so let’s put the question out on the table. Who—or what—do you worship?

More often than we care to admit, you and I have slipped into putting our best time, our best energy, our best passion into something or someone other than our relationship with God and his will for our lives. As a result, we have often skewed our priorities and hurt other people. For this, we deserve God’s abandonment.

But God has not abandoned us. Instead, Jesus came. In our place, he always put his heavenly Father first. At the cross, he washed away the sin of our every misguided priority. Through faith in Jesus, all is now forgiven. All is well between us and our God. This reality empowers us to follow the One who matters most.

David Foster Wallace warned that nearly everything one can worship will eat you alive in the end. But not the one, true God who is worthy of your worship. He will not eat you alive. Through Jesus He will keep you alive…eternally.

Prayer:
Lord, I love you with all my heart. May all that I say and do this day demonstrate my love for you. 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.

Godliness with contentment is great gain.
1 Timothy 6:6

Contentment

Daily Devotion – October 17, 2019

Devotion based on 1 Timothy 6:6

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Ruth Whippman is an accomplished writer, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. She is also someone who has devoted time and thought to the concept of contentment in our twenty-first century. What she’s written makes for a good read. For instance, did you know that in the United States alone, people spend $10 billion per year on books, programs, and techniques that promise to deliver contentment?

This financial pursuit has become so pronounced that marketers have designated a new category for it. They call it Spiritual Spending. “The idea,” writes Whippman, “is that if you just put in enough emotional elbow grease, slog out enough hours of positive thinking, mindful coloring, gratitude-journal keeping, and self-help book reading, you will ultimately be rewarded.”

But then she delivered the bad news. Spiritual Spending has not delivered as promised. Studies reveal that, if anything, people are more anxious and disappointed than ever. And while she does not claim to have all the answers, Whippman does suggest where the problem lies. Increasingly, she says, people are “looking inward into their own souls, rather than outward…” In addition, she notes that “many recent happiness trends, from self-help books to meditation, are designed to be carried out completely alone.”

All of this echoes a foundational Christian truth: I will not find the answer by looking inward because the answer is not in me.

The answer is in a relationship with the one who created us. An early Christian by the name of Augustine once prayed, “Lord, you made me for yourself. Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in you.” God could see how restless and lost our own sinfulness had made us. And so he sent his Son. On our behalf, Jesus sought and found perfect contentment in his relationship with his heavenly Father. Then, in love, he carried our failures to the cross. There he endured the abandonment we deserved. Through faith in him, we not only have full forgiveness, we have him. He is with us each and every day, no matter where our lives take us. Knowing that he has taken care of our greatest need, we can be sure that he will take care of our every need. And we can be content.

Prayer:
Lord, I know that you are with me this day. No matter what it brings, may this make me content. 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.

God our Savior . . . wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth . . . Christ Jesus . . . gave himself as a ransom for all people.
1 Timothy 2:3-6

Bond

Daily Devotion – October 16, 2019

Devotion based on 1 Timothy 2:3-6

See series: Devotions

He was an army captain, flew a helicopter, and was offered a teaching position at West Point. But he loved songwriting. So, he left the army and moved to Nashville. He showed people his songs, but no one seemed interested. Meanwhile, he worked as a janitor at a recording studio. One night at the studio he opened a letter from his mother. It was a bombshell. She was disowning him. She was ashamed of him, she said. She told him not to come home anymore because his presence would humiliate her in front of her friends.

News of this reached a singer who was recording in the studio that day. Years earlier, the singer had had a similar experience. In his childhood, his older brother had died. One night, in a drunken stupor, his father had told him, “I wish you had died in that accident instead of your brother.” The singer and the janitor were different people. But they had things in common and it created a bond between them. The singer, Johnny Cash, went on to sing songs written by the janitor whose name was Kris Kristofferson. Thanks to Johnny Cash he went on to become one of the greatest songwriters in country music history. And it all started with a common bond.

As you go about your day look at those around you. There’s the girl at your convenience store. There’s the mechanic you’ve trusted for years. There’s the aid at the nursing home. There’s the neighbor who always waves but whose name you don’t know. All different people. But you share a bond with them. All of you know the brokenness of sin. All of you need a Savior. All of you need the forgiveness Jesus has purchased for you. And so pray for an opportunity to get just a little better acquainted. When God gives you a moment with one of these souls, take it. As you get to know that person better, look for an opportunity to tell them about the Savior you share. Because, as St. Paul wrote, God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

Prayer:
My Savior, everyone around me needs you as badly as I do. Give me the courage and conviction to tell them about you. 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 urge, then, first of all, that . . . prayers . . . be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority.”
1 Timothy 2:1,2

For Kings

Daily Devotion – October 15, 2019

Devotion based on 1 Timothy 2:1,2

See series: Devotions

The Apostle Paul was a proclaimer of the Good News of Jesus in the first century A.D. During his ministry, one of the emperors of the Roman Empire was a man by the name of Nero. Nero embodied everything decadent about the Roman Empire at that time. He was self-indulgent, violent, and cruel. He arranged for his own mother to be stabbed to death. He had his wife murdered when he wanted to marry someone else. So awful was his regime that, when Nero died by suicide, a contemporary historian reported that citizens “ran through the streets . . . as though they were freed slaves.”

Then there was the great burning of Rome. When the city caught fire, many blamed their emperor. To divert attention, Nero chose to blame Christians. Under Nero’s orders, Christians were captured, tortured, executed. Some were hung up and set on fire to provide light for one of Nero’s evening parties.

This was the government under which the Apostle Paul lived. And it was under these circumstances that the Holy Spirit moved Paul to urge us to pray “for kings and all those in authority.”

And so here we are, in our own setting, in the twenty-first century. It is easy to complain about government leaders, to be cynical about government leaders, to rage against government leaders. It does not always occur to us to pray for them.

But stop for a moment and consider what we possess as Christians. Because of the forgiveness Jesus won for us, we possess the high privilege of entering the courts of the almighty God himself. We can come into his presence and talk to him in prayer. And when we speak to him about our government leaders, he will listen. What a privileged and powerful position to be in! May we not waste the opportunity to ask the King of the universe to bless the leaders of our land.

Prayer:
Lord, I pray for my government leaders. Give them wisdom. Guide their actions for the good of our society and for the furthering of your kingdom. 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 never forget . . .”
Amos 8:7

Memory

Daily Devotion – October 14, 2019

Devotion based on Amos 8:7

See series: Devotions

There is a fascinating new documentary series entitled The Mind, Explained. Each episode explores what researchers have learned about some specific function in the human brain. The subject of the first episode is memory.

Researchers have discovered that the capacity of the human brain to commit things to memory is breathtaking. For instance, one woman featured on the show is able to memorize a random series of 500 numbers in just 10 minutes and then repeat the numbers in their proper sequence without making a mistake.

However, researchers have also found that there are many aspects of human memory that are far from reliable. Another woman recalls what she remembers from September 11, 2001. While the main arc of what she remembers is accurate enough, there are various details in her recall that are not.

All of which brings us to our Lord. Our God’s capacity to remember is perfect. It is all-encompassing. It is eternal. All by itself, this is a chilling thought. It tells me that if my plan is to stand before a perfectly good and just God one day and presume that, somehow, my failures will be small enough to have been forgotten by him, then I am the one with a faulty memory. I have forgotten that my God knows all and remembers all that I do.

But that’s why God chose to send his Son. He saw our desperate need for rescue. Jesus remembered his heavenly Father’s will and lived a life of perfect faithfulness on our behalf. He also carried our every sinful failure to the cross. There he washed them away in his blood. Now, through faith in what Jesus has done in our place, God declares that he will remember our sins no more (Jeremiah 31:34).

And here’s one more beautiful thing. Even on those days when you don’t fully remember how much God loves us in Jesus, he does.

Prayer:
Lord, thank you that because of what Jesus has done for me, you remember my sins no more. 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 LORD has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.”
Amos 8:7

Ripe Fruit

Daily Devotion – October 13, 2019

Devotion based on Amos 8:7

See series: Devotions

In the days of Amos the prophet, the LORD God of Israel showed Amos a basket of ripe fruit. The LORD told him that just as the fruit was ripe, the time was ripe for his judgment on the people of Israel. Time was up.

The LORD‘s words should have disturbed every listener in Israel. He swore to never forget the evil they had done. His patience had run out. The end had come. Assyria would soon sweep them away.

Most of the people who listened to Amos’ message did not take him seriously. They despised him as a foreigner from the southern kingdom of Judah who had come to meddle in the affairs of the northern kingdom of Israel.

Within a generation, God carried out his threat. The kingdom of Israel collapsed.

The same God speaks to the world today through his ancient prophet whose words remain true for this generation. He speaks against the sinful excess and blatant idolatry in our lives. How can the Almighty forget the evil we have done?

Yet he makes a promise that repentant sinners love to hear. The God who says, “I will never forget anything they have done” has also declared, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Through Jesus Christ, he has kept this promise. Although your God would have every right to remember your sins, he has chosen instead to put your sins on his Son who took them to the cross. For his Son’s sake, he remembers your sins no more.

Prayer:
Righteous God, forgive me, renew me, bless me, and keep me steadfast in your gracious love 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.

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy . . . The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly.
1 Timothy 1:13,14

Mercy

Daily Devotion – October 12, 2019

Devotion based on 1 Timothy 1:13,14

See series: Devotions

One of the classic tales in all of literature is Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo. The story is set in France in the early 1800s. The main character, Jean Valjean, has just gotten out of prison, and no one wants to help him in any way. Finally, he finds refuge with an elderly bishop, who happily gives him shelter and food. But Valjean’s old habits get the better of him, and during the night he fills a bag with the bishop’s silver and runs away.

The next morning, three policemen pound on the bishop’s door. They’ve caught Valjean with the bishop’s silver. They now have cause to lock him up for life. But the bishop responds in a surprising way. “So here you are!” he cries to Valjean. “I’m delighted to see you. Had you forgotten I gave you the candlesticks as well?”

The policemen are speechless. And so is Valjean. The officers have no choice but to release him and walk away. This single act of mercy spares him from a lifetime in prison. And it also changes his life.

Les Misérables, of course, is only a story. But God’s mercy for you and me in Jesus Christ is not. The apostle Paul openly confessed that, apart from Christ, he had been “a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man.” Then God’s mercy stepped in. By the power of the gospel, the Holy Spirit created within Paul the miracle of faith in Jesus as his Savior. That act of mercy spared Paul from an eternity of darkness. And it changed his whole outlook on life.

You and I can see ourselves in Jean Valjean. And we can see ourselves in Paul. Alone, we are lost. But God’s mercy has intervened. And God’s mercy is here because of what his Son has already done on our behalf to wash us clean.

The mercy of God. The pure, simple, sweet mercy of God in Jesus. Rather than make us speechless, may it make us sing his praise!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, your mercy has rescued us from a life of darkness and despair. You have done this through faith in your Son. Thank you! 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] “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:10

The Importance of One

Daily Devotion – October 11, 2019

Devotion based on Luke 15:10

See series: Devotions

Our congregation will soon be observing a Welcome Home Sunday. We hope to have all of our members come together for a festive day of worship and encouragement in God’s Word. We also hope that those who might have strayed from God’s church will come back and experience God’s love and forgiveness with us, as well as the blessing of a Christian community.

As a way of preparing for Welcome Home Sunday, we recently studied Jesus’ parables in Luke, chapter 15. A keen observation that one of our members made was the importance of one.

In Jesus’ stories, one sheep out of ninety-nine was lost; one coin out of ten went missing; one son left home to disown his family and squander his wealth. But that one was worth going after. That one was worth searching for. That one was worth waiting for with eager anticipation.

Jesus tells us, “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

This means that when God leads you from unbelief to faith, from sin to repentance, from straying to returning, God and his angels rejoice over you! Your soul—as small and unimportant as it may feel at times in this big world—matters to God! Nothing brings God greater joy than to forgive your sins and welcome you home!

The importance of one also makes a difference as we think about others. In love, we want sinners to turn to the Lord in humble faith and receive his forgiveness. So we pray for them. We reach out to them. We invite them. How discouraging it can be when it seems like our work is wasted. Hours of care and prayer may show little or no outward results.

But God works in hearts through his Word. And, there is rejoicing over everyone who turns back to the Lord. So, do not lose heart. We who have been loved and found can boldly love and seek others and then rejoice over each one who comes home to their Savior.

Prayer:
Jesus, you rejoice over me. Give me your heart to rejoice over all who repent. 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 told them this parable] “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:8-10

Jesus Loves the Lost

Daily Devotion – October 10, 2019

Devotion based on Luke 15:8-10

See series: Devotions

Keys, cell phones, toys, computer files. We all lose things from time to time. How carefully we look for them may indicate how valuable they are to us. When I was eight or nine years old, my parents had recently bought me a new baseball glove. One day I couldn’t find it. I didn’t know where it was. My dad was not happy with me, mostly because I didn’t seem to care that I had lost my new glove and wasn’t too concerned about finding it. My attitude seemed to show that I didn’t value my lost glove.

A popular Christian hymn says, “I once was lost but now am found.” When Jesus told the story about a lost coin, he was comparing us to that lost coin. The disobedient hearts we inherited from our parents lead us to wander away from God. The Bible describes us as spiritually lost. Jesus could have just written us off. It was our fault, not his, that we were lost. But Jesus loved us more than that.

He went out of his way to find us. He came down from heaven “to seek and to save the lost.” He found us in our sin and saved us by taking our place under God’s judgment. And when our hearts lead us to keep running away from God and into sin, Jesus keeps seeking us.

In his Word, Jesus shows us how our sins offend God. Then, he shows us the forgiving love that brought him to earth to save us. With that two-fold message, he picks us up from the dust and draws us to himself, where he wants us to stay forever. And with his angels, he rejoices that we have been found and freed from sin and death. How much he loves us!

Prayer:
How much you love me, Lord, to seek me and find me whenever I’m lost. Thank you! 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.

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:1,2

This Man Welcomes Sinners

Daily Devotion – October 9, 2019

Devotion based on Luke 15:1,2

See series: Devotions

My oldest daughter started high school this fall. Though I am thankful that she can attend a Christian high school, I still grow concerned as a father. I know that she is a sinner like me. I know that her judgment, like mine, is not always perfectly wise. I know that the devil has his sights set on her, ready to unleash his flaming arrows. He wants to lay traps of temptation for her that, perhaps, I never faced in my youth.

One of the important pieces of advice that we parents give our children is to choose their friends carefully. Whom you will spend time with—no matter how old you are—can make a big difference in how much you leave yourself open to Satan’s attacks.

As I think about the verses in today’s text, I wonder if I would have wanted my daughter to be hanging around with Jesus and the people he spent time with. These were people who were known for immoral living. No self-respecting prophet would associate with them. No godly parent would let his children be around them.

Or would they? Jesus saw such people and loved them. He didn’t condone or encourage their immorality. He called their sin, sin. He lovingly and patiently called them to confess their wrongs, receive his forgiveness, and live a new life of faith.

By spending time with them, Jesus was showing love for their souls lost in sin, the unconditional love that we so desperately need. If Jesus only loved certain sinners, why would I think he loves me? But Jesus wants all sinners to turn from their sins and be saved. He came to love me and forgive me. And he calls me to love others, as I have been loved.

May God lead our children to choose wisely those with whom they will spend their time. And may God give to our children and to us a heart that rejoices in his boundless love and reflects that love to all people.

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, friend of sinners, as you have loved and forgiven me, lead me to love and forgive others. 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.