St. Johns News

[Jesus said] “The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Matthew 13:23

God Revives Dead Dirt

Daily Devotion – July 17, 2023

Devotion based on Matthew 13:23

See series: Devotions

In the novel The Martian, an astronaut named Mark Watney is stranded on Mars all by himself. To survive until help can arrive, he has to find a way to grow food for himself. The problem is nothing can grow in the dead Martian soil. But Watney engineers a way to revive the dead Martian dirt and turn it into soil rich enough for growing potatoes. The potatoes he grows sustain him long enough for help to arrive. Remarkably, Watney was able to provide a climate in his greenhouse so that even the dead dirt of Mars could be cultivated into life-sustaining soil.

Jesus once told a story to illustrate God’s ability to do something even more remarkable. God is able to make unbelieving, sinful hearts trust in him. We are all essentially a pile of dead dirt, spiritually speaking, until God gets a hold of us. God uses his Word to make the seed of faith grow even in hearts that are dead in sin. God has the power to take the dead dirt of our hearts and revive it to life by the message of Christ. He never gives up on us, even when we look hopeless.

The faith that God causes to grow in us supports and nourishes us our whole lives. God alone gives us faith to get through the rocky and thorny times of our lives when our faith is threatened. We thank the Lord that he has allowed us to hear his word and understand it.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for reviving my heart to live by the power of your Word. Grow me daily in the greenhouse of your Word. 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 planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
1 Corinthians 3:6,7

Plant the Word

Daily Devotion – July 16, 2023

Devotion based on 1 Corinthians 3:6,7

See series: Devotions

Did you ever plant something but didn’t get to see whether it grew or not? Several years ago, I planted a garden. Then I moved to another city. I never found out whether the new residents kept up the garden, whether they watered and weeded the tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, and melons.

Do you ever wonder whether your witnessing for Jesus bears fruit? What happened with that neighbor who came to church a few times before moving away? Did she look up the name of the church you gave her? Did she follow through on her promise to take the pastor’s instruction class? There are many times in life when we don’t get to see the results of our witness about the good news of salvation.

That fact shouldn’t bother us though. It didn’t bother Paul. He had come to Corinth on his second missionary journey to preach the gospel. Luke tells us that he stayed for eighteen months, and many were brought to faith. After he left, a man named Apollos became the leader of the church. But the congregation split into factions. Some favored Paul. Others said they were followers of Apollos. Paul attempted to bring those groups together. He pointed out that Apollos and he were merely servants of God. Both were doing the same work. Both were spreading the seed of the gospel—one planting, the other watering. Any and all blessings were strictly God’s. He alone was responsible for people coming to faith.

So it is in our witnessing. We talk to our friends and coworkers. We take them to a Bible class offered at church. We bring them to worship. That’s planting the seed. That’s letting the Word have a chance to take root in their hearts. Someone else may water the seed by teaching that new Christian. Finally, we pray that God will cause the seed to grow.

Prayer:
Dearest Jesus, give me eyes and ears of faith to trust that your Word is at work creating a harvest 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.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:24,25

Prisoner of War

Daily Devotion – July 15, 2023

Devotion based on Romans 7:24,25

See series: Devotions

The stories of prisoners of war who survived are fascinating. The accounts of the brutal and inhumane treatment by the enemy are horrific. The extreme emotions felt by the prisoners are breathtaking: the terror of being completely controlled by the enemy, the hopelessness of recognizing that escape is impossible, and the desperation of knowing that if not rescued or released soon, death is right around the corner.

Fortunately, the stories of those prisoners of war don’t end there. They include rescue or release and the emotions that go along with it. The relief, joy, and gratitude that are described by these former prisoners make their stories enjoyable.

The apostle Paul shared his prisoner of war story. It’s a story that is fascinating not just because it has a happy ending, but also because it is a story that each believer in Jesus shares.

We are all held prisoner by our sinful flesh. We know that the sins we commit deserve eternal death, yet we keep sinning. That’s all that our sinful flesh can do. If our story ended there, we would be filled with fear, hopelessness, and eternal despair.

The story does not end there. We have a Savior who rescues us. Jesus frees us from the bonds of sin. Jesus takes the condemnation to hell we deserve and sets us free. “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Our prisoner of war story is certainly a heartwarming one. Our freedom has been guaranteed by Jesus. Praise to our Savior because of the freedom he has won for us, for you!

Prayer:
Thank you, Jesus, for being my rescuer, my eternal Savior. Thank you for setting me free from sin and death and giving me an eternal future with you. Give me strength in my daily struggle against my sinful nature so that I may live for your glory in everything I do. 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 I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. . . . What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:18,19,24,25

Delivered Through Christ

Daily Devotion – July 14, 2023

Devotion based on Romans 7:18,19,24,25

See series: Devotions

Maybe you’ve heard some people describe the Christian life as “victorious.” But when the apostle Paul describes the Christian life here, it doesn’t sound victorious. It sounds like a struggle. And what Paul says here about himself applies to every Christian.

Living for Christ means being in a war. Every morning when you put your feet on the ground, you step onto the battlefield of temptation. This battle rages inside of you.

Within every Christian lives the sinful nature. Your sinful nature is why you question God”s Word and struggle with its teachings. Your sinful nature wants you to be in charge, not God. This is why you can continue to do the evil you do not want to do.

On this battlefield, we have all been battered and defeated. It makes you want to scream with Paul, “Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”

Jesus, that’s who. The Bible tells us that Jesus “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15). So when you are troubled by your sins and by how often you have been defeated, know this: you have been delivered by the Savior who took your place in this battle and was perfect every day of his life. More than that, he died on the cross and gave his perfect life as the once and for-all sacrifice for all your sins. So even though you are not always victorious in your battle against sin, you are always delivered through Christ.

Prayer:
Jesus Christ my Lord, deliver me when the battle against temptation rages within. 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.

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Exodus 33:18-20

Glory Concealed and Revealed

Daily Devotion – July 13, 2023

Devotion based on Exodus 33:18-20

See series: Devotions

The prophet Moses had seen many glorious things: the burning bush, the ten plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea, to name a few—but there was one thing that Moses had not seen—so he said to God, “Now show me your glory.” As if all those other things weren’t glorious enough! But Moses had something specific in mind with his request; he wanted to see God’s glorious presence in a special way.

Can you blame him? We are born with a God-shaped hole inside us and want a special connection with God. Even Christians might want to say, “Now show me your glory.”

But don’t miss God’s answer: “No one may see me and live.” Sinful people and God’s glory do not mix.

Yet God wants to show us his glory, so he reveals it by concealing it. The Lord may not have been able to show Moses his glorious face, but he did explain his glory to him. He called himself merciful and compassionate, and God is at his most glorious when his mercy and compassion prompt him to forgive us.

In the person of Jesus Christ, God became a man to do just that. He hid his glory in human flesh that was pierced and crucified for our sins.

Why? Because he doesn’t want you to melt in his glory, he wants you to see it! And that, by the way, is what heaven is: seeing God’s glory. In heaven, “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Prayer:
Merciful and compassionate Lord, forgive my sins and bring me one day to your glorious presence in heaven. 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] “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:29,30

An Easy Yoke

Daily Devotion – July 12, 2023

Devotion based on Matthew 11:29,30

See series: Devotions

In today’s Bible verse, Jesus tells you that finding rest for your soul involves taking his yoke upon yourself. If you think that sounds counterintuitive, he reassures you that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

And that, of course, makes no sense. If something is easy, it cannot be a yoke—a collar for doing hard labor. And if something is light, by definition, it is not a burden.

But this is what Jesus does: he turns things on their heads. With Christ, yokes become easy, burdens become light, death becomes life, despair becomes hope, and fear becomes faith.

So how is this not nonsense? Because Jesus does not say, “Take my yoke upon you and pull with me.” Instead, he says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”

Come to Jesus in his Word, and listen to what he tells you. He teaches you that faith is what yokes you to him. In your walk of faith, you are not alone because Jesus walks with you. This makes the burden light because Jesus bears the weight, not you. Just walk along with him; Jesus does the heavy lifting so that you will find rest for your souls.

Those who are yoked to Christ can pray—anywhere, anytime, about anything. Why wouldn’t you? He knows you better than anyone else. No worry is too small for him to snuff out or too large for him to solve. So you can rest when you prayerfully pour it all on him.

Because that is Jesus’ invitation. He knows what’s good for your soul, and in Christ alone, there is rest that cannot be found anywhere else. What’s easier than that?

Prayer:
Gentle Savior, thank you for hearing and answering my prayers. 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] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28

Burned Out

Daily Devotion – July 11, 2023

Devotion based on Matthew 11:28

See series: Devotions

Have you ever been burned out? Burnout is when the fires of stress char you emotionally and mentally. Maybe your job fries you to a crisp. You work hard all the time, but it seems like nothing you do makes a difference. Maybe you’ve been burned out on life in general and couldn’t seem to get excited about anything.

Sometimes people get burned out spiritually. They start out on fire for the Lord, but then that fire ebbs and eventually burns out. Religious burnout happens when you minimize or forget everything Jesus has done for you.

This leads to a conscience that screams at you for every poorly chosen word, to the regret that smothers you every time you lose your temper, and to the guilt that burdens you for the things that you’ve done wrong and the right things you’ve left undone.

This is why Jesus gives the beautiful invitation in today’s Bible verse. “Come to me,” he says, but he does not mean, “Work hard, fight your way to me, and I will reward you with rest.” No, to understand what Jesus means, think instead of the father who scoops up his toddler and says, “Come here!” Jesus wants to carry you, along with all your burdens and sorrows.

Because he has already carried the burden of your sin, how absurd is it for you to continue to be weighed down by it? What can you do with it that he hasn’t already done? All of that was already nailed to the cross with him. So when you feel burned out, know with absolute certainty that Jesus will give you the rest you need.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, take my burdens and grant me true rest in 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.

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.”
Matthew 11:25,26

Childlike Faith

Daily Devotion – July 10, 2023

Devotion based on Matthew 11:25,26

See series: Devotions

If you were to die and stand before God, and he were to ask you, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” how would you answer him?

That is an important question, and over the millennia, humanity’s best and brightest have come up with many different answers. According to the Bible, however, there is only one correct answer: “Because Jesus lived a perfect life for me, died on the cross for me, and rose from the dead for me.”

The Bible calls that answer the gospel, which is the exact opposite of what the wise and learned expect it to be. They expect an answer that puts them at an advantage, one that gets them into heaven by their own intellectual endeavors, religious effort, or good works—anything but total reliance on Jesus as their Savior.

That’s why Jesus says the gospel is hidden from the wise and learned. It’s not that God makes it obscure. It’s just that they are too self-focused to see what God wants to reveal to them.

The fact of the matter is that no one can come up with the correct answer on their own. The gospel does not involve arrogantly assuming that you can enter heaven under your own power. Rather, it involves humbly recognizing that you can’t.

You don’t need to be wise and learned; you need to be like a child. Children know how to trust because they are dependent on their parents. So when you say to a Christian child, “Jesus loves me this I know,” they reply, “For the Bible tells me so.” That is childlike faith that trusts completely.

Praise God that adults can be spiritual children, believers who simply trust that Jesus has already done it all.

Prayer:
Father, give me faith that trusts your Son and his gospel completely. 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] “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:29,30

Yoked Together With Jesus

Daily Devotion – July 9, 2023

Devotion based on Matthew 11:29,30

See series: Devotions

Jesus’ words remind us that once we were yoked to eternal death, bearing the full load of our sin. But Jesus shattered that burdensome yoke; he lifted and pulled away from us the entire burden of sin’s guilt, so that by faith in him, we have rest for our souls.

Now Jesus says that he has given us another yoke, an easier and lighter one. He is keeping with the illustration of a yoke that joined two animals to pull a load together. Often the two draft animals did not have the same strength. One was usually stronger than the other. A piece of equipment called an evener worked along with the yoke to balance the load. The evener could be adjusted so that the stronger animal bore the heavier portion of the load.

Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” The yoke that Jesus asks us to take is life as his follower. As we strive to live according to God’s will in glad response to his love for us, we may strain under burdens of suffering and have to push against the yoke of problems. But we are not alone. By faith, we are linked together with Jesus. Being yoked together with him means that when this life becomes weighed down with burdens, Jesus is pulling alongside us. In fact, he pulls most of the weight for us. We are not aware of how much of the load he is carrying. Only if he were to slack off—which he promises never to do—would we discover how utterly dependent we are on his strength.

Yoked together with Jesus, we pull only the share of life’s burdens for which he has given us strength. When the going gets tough, Christ pulls harder, making the yoke easy and the burden light for us.

Prayer:
Jesus, when I am weighed down by the concerns and difficulties of my life remind me that you are walking right alongside of 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.