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“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things.”
Luke 10:41

Compassion for Worriers

An article on the website lifehack.org lists the top seven most common priorities people make in their lives. Those priorities are your life mission, physical health, quality time with family, healthy relationships, mental health, finances, and self-improvement.

The article claims you’ll cut back on busyness and stress by prioritizing these few things. But thinking about trying to prioritize even just seven things in life can make our heads spin. The priorities we set can worry us and trouble us as, time and time again, we fall short in each category, unable to juggle all these important aspects of life.

Martha had a lot of priorities that were making her worried and upset when Jesus showed up at her home. But, just like that list from LifeHack, she was forgetting the most important priority: sitting at Jesus’ feet.

Jesus didn’t harshly rebuke Martha though. He didn’t say, “Stop acting like you’re some kind of martyr to your own contrived busyness Martha!” He didn’t say, “Why don’t you be more like your sister Mary!” No, he just wanted Martha to realize she didn’t need to be so distracted and worried about serving him when his whole intent was to serve her. So, in a caring and compassionate tone he says her name twice, “Martha, Martha you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is needed.” One thing is needed. To sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to the peace he gives to anxious, worried people.

You can replace that compassionate phrase of Jesus with your own name to let it sink in. Imagine Jesus saying your name twice and then adding, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. I’m not looking for you to fill me up with your service or prove how well you keep your priorities. I just want you to have what I can give to you. Hear my Word. Hear my good news.”

Jesus has proven that you and your salvation are his greatest priority. Sitting at his feet and soaking up his compassion for us sounds like the best possible way to spend our time. It’s not work. It’s rest.

Prayer:

Dear compassionate Savior, take my worries and burdens on your shoulders. Help me to rest at your feet. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.

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Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
Luke 10:40

I’m Doing It All!

“Twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work” is a common expression. Unfortunately, that’s true in many churches. And unfortunately, sometimes those who are doing eighty percent of the work begin to view serving in God’s kingdom as a burden rather than a blessing. They feel like Martha who said to Jesus, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me! I’m doing it all!”

The best cure for an “I’m doing it all” Martha attitude is listening even more to what Jesus has done for us. We know that we can’t perfectly resist the devil’s temptations. We know that we can’t do anything to rid ourselves of our sin. We know that we can’t escape death.

But Jesus has the solution to all those problems. He is the solution. And he says, “I’m doing it all!” He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he resisted temptation every single minute of his life. He had no sin, but he became our sin and put it to death on the cross, going alone as the sacrifice for sin. Jesus experienced real death, but then he escaped the death’s clutches, rising from the dead after three days. Jesus has left no work for us to do ourselves when it comes to our salvation. He has done it all, one hundred percent, by himself for the whole world! With such a comforting message, it’s no wonder Jesus wants us to sit at his feet and listen to his Word.

Prayer:

Wonderful Savior, thank you for doing it all when it comes to winning my salvation. Let my service to you every day be a joy and not a burden. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.

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As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.
Luke 10:38-40

From Stretched to Stilled

As busy twenty-first-century Americans it’s easy to relate to Martha. She’s described as “distracted.” Do you ever feel that way, too? The Greek word for “distracted” here literally means to be pulled or stretched in every direction. Do you feel that pull, too? There are responsibilities and expectations to be met, programs your children are enrolled in, and deadlines at work. The ever-present distractions of digital media and your phone don’t help either. Do you feel like Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings when he says that he feels “thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread”?

The hard part of all this is that sometimes the things that distracts us aren’t bad. Look what Martha was doing. She was trying to serve Jesus. He was a guest in her house. She wanted him to be well taken care of, well-fed, and comfortable. That’s certainly not a bad thing. Jesus had no issue with her loving service to him. But he had an issue with what all that busy service and work was doing to her soul. What she needed most was not to serve Jesus but to be served by Jesus. She was allowing her work to distract her from what was most important—the one thing needed—hearing the words of Jesus.

Modern life pulls us in a hundred directions and distracts us. But Jesus cuts through all of it to give us the one thing we really need—himself. He’s the one thing that fills us up even as the world empties our tanks with over-filled schedules and countless concerns. The words of Jesus are the one thing needed to counteract all that. We need to be stilled, not stretched. Jesus invites us to still our troubled souls at his feet so that we can be filled with all his loving service to us.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, let your Word still my distracted hearts so I can be filled with your calming grace. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.

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We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you.
Colossians 1:3-6

Hope’s Value

There was a song in an old movie that spoke of an ant with high hopes. The song says that everyone knows “an ant can’t move a rubber tree plant.” Then comes the refrain, “But he had high hopes” The audience is then left with the picture of a hope-filled ant really moving a rubber tree plant, rather than being frustrated by an immovable object or being crushed by its weight on his back. Hope is seen overcoming the impossible.

For Christians, hope is never alone. The apostle Paul wrote, “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Try removing a leg from a three-legged stool and you’ll have nothing to stand on. So, it is with these. If you have no hope, your faith will not stand, and your love will not endure. Faith and love in the hearts of Christians springs up from the hope of heaven promised us in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The despairing gloom of sin’s dark clouds that overshadow this world in which we live is swept away to let in the light of the Son because he has given us hope. He endured the punishment for our sins. He rose victorious over death. He defeated Satan and opened heaven’s gates for us.

Now, nothing, not even death, can steal our bright future because our hope is stored up for us already in heaven.

Maybe an ant can’t move a rubber tree plant, but our Lord Jesus still does the impossible! In him, we have received the highest of hopes!

Prayer:

Dear Savior, cause my faith and love to spring up from hope in the glorious, good news of all that you have done for me on earth and have prepared for me in heaven. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.

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So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. . . But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.
Galatians 5:16,17,22

What Fuels You?

My old ’66 Ford LTD coupe with its 4-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust was a sweet car, but if it didn’t have the best mix of gas, it ran rough. Sometimes I think our spiritual lives are like that. When we get the wrong “fuel,” our Christian living runs rough. God wants us to live in love. That translates to honoring God in all we do and dealing with others with proper concern for their welfare. That doesn’t always happen in your life, does it?

Our lives often don’t accomplish what they were intended to do, nor do they give us the peace and joy that God intends. There is a conflict in our inner being. The sinful nature inside cares for nothing besides satisfying its desires. If that fuels our decisions, actions, and reactions, the negative results for our lives and others will be obvious. Life becomes rough. The apostle Paul described it as biting and devouring each other that would eventually lead to destruction.

But God promises us the Holy Spirit who works tremendous things in our live to make them run smoothly on the inside and perform beneficially on the outside. Think of the covenant of baptism he has given you to clothe you with Christ’s forgiveness and power for living. Read the Bible on a regular basis and see the transformation that goes on in you through the powerful gospel message.

The sinful nature and the Spirit—they don’t mix. Letting them exist together brings conflict. During the week drown out the sinful nature with daily repentance for sinful attitudes, and fill your days daily with the fuel of the Spirit brought through the hearing of his word for our lives.

Prayer:

Create in me a new heart, O God. And renew in me a steadfast spirit. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.

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You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
Galatians 5:13

Freed to Love

Two weeks ago, the United States celebrated its freedom proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Throughout its history, America has striven to define, declare, and defend freedom as one of its highest ideals and most valuable treasures.

Some say that the best way to celebrate your freedom is to use it. But what if my use of my freedom infringes on your freedom? When freedom is focused entirely on self, it inevitably takes away someone else’s freedom.

The Bible talks a lot about freedom, but its interest is not in earthly laws or government. Biblical freedom transcends every border and boundary that divides humanity. It seeks to restore everything—particularly the human race—to the perfect state in which it was originally created.

Even the societies that value freedom most are subject to cruel slavery, and I’m not talking about the atrocities of human trafficking or people forced into labor for other people. The Bible says that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Your heart and mine are naturally held captive by selfish thoughts and desires that oppose God’s perfect design for our lives.

But Jesus came to set us free. With his life of perfect love and his innocent death, he paid the slave price to release us from our sin and its punishment. Not only that, but he also freed us from the obligation to earn God’s favor by our obedience by keeping God’s law in our place.

So, what will we do with our freedom? Today’s verse says, “Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another in love.” Since we have been set free, we don’t want to become slaves to sin again by serving only our own interests. Instead, knowing that Jesus gave himself in selfless love for my freedom makes me want to show that love to others. I have nothing to prove and nothing to fear before God. I am loved, forgiven, and set free. Now, I can love as I have been loved—humbly, selflessly serving those whom God has put in my life.

Prayer:

Jesus, help me to use my freedom to serve others in love. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.

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“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10:36,37

Not Who, but How

Something I try to instill in my children is a good work ethic. Notice what needs to be done and do what you can without complaining. God has blessed you with gifts to serve. Use them. Besides, a task is more enjoyable when you see it as an opportunity and privilege rather than as a burden.

As much as I try to instill that attitude in my children, I don’t always live it myself. And I doubt I am the only one. It is not just children doing an assignment for school or a chore at home who only want to do the minimum that is required.

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan because someone asked, “Who is my neighbor?” This man was depending on his own actions as the basis for his worthiness before God. The law says to love your neighbor, but whom does that include? What’s the minimum requirement?

We too might ask, “To whom do I really need to show love? How much do I have to do for them? Surely, they or someone else should do some of the work!”

Those thoughts turn our relationship with God into a merit-based reward system. If I do enough, God owes me rewards. But that system doesn’t work because God requires perfection and only owes us punishment for anything less.

Jesus told this story and many others to help us recognize that truth so that our hope is not in our efforts, but in his. Jesus came to show mercy. With astounding, selfless love, he accepted the punishment God owed us for our excuses not to love and for everything else in our lives that falls short.

Freed from the burden of expectations, we now get to be a neighbor to those around us, and to show mercy and compassion to those who need it, to give of ourselves in love. We are free to ask, “What can I do to love, serve, and give to those around me?”

Prayer:

Jesus, give me a joyful and willing spirit, as I serve others in love. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.

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[Jesus said] “A Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’”
Luke 10:33-35

Love Goes Above and Beyond

Many people have heard of the Good Samaritan. We describe people as good Samaritans when they step up to help someone in desperate need, often a complete stranger.

The term comes from this story that Jesus told about a Jewish man who was attacked by robbers and left for dead on the side of the road. Two people walked right past without doing anything. But then the Samaritan came along.

At the time, Jewish people detested Samaritans as immoral, unfaithful to the Lord, and unworthy of God’s love. Samaritans despised the Jewish people for treating them as low-life, worthless people. They usually wanted nothing to do with each other.

But the Samaritan in Jesus’ story did what no one would have expected. He helped the Jewish man in need. He interrupted his travel plans to bandage his wounds and took him to an inn, where he continued to take care of him. When he left the next day, he provided enough money to take care of any further needs.

The Samaritan showed love to this Jewish man that no one would have expected, required, or even asked of him. He showed love that goes above and beyond.

That’s what genuine love does. It sees someone in need and puts that person’s needs first, no matter what the cost. It goes above and beyond any requirements or expectations.

Jesus showed that kind of love for us when we desperately needed it. He paid the ultimate price for our selfish lack of love when he gave his life to heal our wounded souls and save us from death. Jesus’ love for us moves us to show genuine love to those in our lives.

Prayer:

Jesus, open my eyes and heart to see and love those in need in my life. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.

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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Galatians 5:22,23

Fruitful Living

What’s your favorite summer fruit? Do you like stone fruits like peaches, plums, or nectarines? Do you prefer berries—strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries? Or does some kind of melon hit the spot for you?

Imagine if you had a plant of your favorite fruit growing in your yard, but you never found fruit on it. You might wonder, what am I doing wrong? Is it getting the right amount of water? What about sunlight? Is there a problem with my soil? Is this the kind of plant I thought it was? You expect a fruit tree or plant to bear fruit.

Today’s Bible verse talks about fruit, but it’s not something you eat. It is the way you live and the attitude of your heart. We could talk about each thing mentioned and conclude that we need more of each kind of fruit. I could say, “Be more loving, more joyful, more kind,” but those commands wouldn’t produce the fruits any more than saying to that tree, “Make more peaches,” or to that vine, “Make bigger watermelons,” would change the fruit on that plant.

The love, peace, kindness, and gentleness that appear on the branches of our lives are the fruit of the Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit makes us who we are when he connects us to Christ through baptism and nourishes our faith through the Word of God that we hear, read, and study. The Holy Spirit produces in us those characteristics that our Bible verse describes as he shows us the same qualities in God and our Savior, Jesus.

The love he shows us in forgiving our failures to love motivates and empowers us to love others. The joy Jesus exhibited, as he kept his focus on the heaven in store for us, fills us with joy in every circumstance of life. The peace Jesus came to bring between us, and God makes us pursue peace with others in our lives. And so on.

Give thanks for the fruit you see in the lives of fellow Christians. Then stay firmly planted in God’s Word, through which the Spirit produces fruit in your life to bless others.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, by your Word, make my life fruitful as I love and serve others. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.

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Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
Ruth 1:16,17

Faithful Love

You may have heard these words read during a Christian wedding. They certainly describe the kind of commitment that God intends for marriage. But these words weren’t spoken between a bride and a groom.

A woman named Naomi, her husband, and her two sons had moved from Bethlehem in Israel to the nation of Moab when there was a famine in Israel. Naomi’s husband died there, and her sons married Moabite women. After about ten years, her sons died too. Grieving and with no one left to support her, she decided to go back to her homeland.

Naomi urged her two daughters-in-law to stay in Moab to start over with family nearby rather than move to a foreign land to start life over with her. But one of them, Ruth, refused. Instead, she spoke these words. She promised Naomi that she would go with her wherever she went; she would adopt her God and her culture; she would even die with her. What unexpected, faithful love for a woman in need!

Ruth’s faithful love reflected God’s faithful love that she came to know through Naomi and her family. God promised to leave behind the comforts of heaven to help us in our time of need. Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem as a descendant of Ruth, not only came to live with us. He made the ultimate sacrifice when he willingly died and was buried with us. But death wouldn’t separate us from him or his love. He came back to life to promise that our need for forgiveness, hope, and deliverance from death was fully met. He promises that he won’t leave us or turn back from us but will one day take us to live with him forever.

Knowing this faithful love of God moves us to show faithful and sacrificial love to those around us, just as Ruth showed to Naomi.

Prayer:

Lord, as you have loved me, move me to love others. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

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.