Devotions from Pastor Strucely
Let God Be True!
Let God be true, and every human being a liar.
Romans 3:4
Do you know what one of the biggest reasons for doubt is among Christians? It’s the desire to know for ourselves that God loves us.
What I mean is this. In the Bible, God tells us he loves us. But maybe I don’t feel loved. So, even though God tells me he loves me, I want to know for myself that God loves me.
How can I know that for myself? Maybe I look at how my life’s going. Am I healthy? Am I comfortable? Am I successful?
You might be now. But if you aren’t now, or if in the past you weren’t, or if in the future you aren’t, does that mean God doesn’t love you? Do his words not line up with his actions?
Well, maybe it’s because you haven’t earned God’s love that you’re not healthy or comfortable or successful. But Asaph, the writer of Psalm 73, makes it clear you don’t have to earn health or comfort or success from God.
I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.
They are free from common human burdens;
they are not plagued by human ills.Psalm 73:3-5
The wicked didn’t earn any of these. They despised God. Yet, they had them all.
Maybe you’re just lacking that inner feeling. God tells you he loves you. But you just don’t feel it. Your heart has no peace. Your hands and lips keep on sinning. How could God love you?
The prophet Jeremiah tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
The beauty of God is that takes our eyes and our hearts out of the equation. He doesn’t point us to our life’s circumstances. He doesn’t point us to ourselves. He point us to himself.
He says, “I love you.” So, let God be true and your own humanity be a liar. If your heart says, “God doesn’t love me,” whom should you believe? “If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20).
God’s the one who makes everything work. He’s the one who says, “The one who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:20). He’s also the one who says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32).
Will you only believe him when he tells you you’re a sinner? Will you not also believe him when he promises you salvation through his name for Jesus’ sake?
Stop looking inward to know if God loves you. Your heart can’t tell you what God is feeling. Your mind can’t tell you what God is thinking. Only God can. So, “let God be true and every human being a liar.” Listen to what he says. He says, “I love you.”
Christianity IS a Crutch
He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9,10
“Christianity is a crutch.” Have you ever heard that? It’s not complimentary.
Non-Christians say that to mean Christians need faith to get through life, to make sense of the bad in their lives, and to give themselves hope for a better tomorrow. If Christians were stronger, they wouldn’t need to be Christian. They wouldn’t need faith.
Are they wrong? Not at all.
The Bible teaches us that we’re weak. Not only that, but there’s plenty of evidence of our weaknesses just looking at who we are. We’re sinful by nature. Sin causes terrible things to happen in our lives. Our strength is sapped, and we’re left powerless.
The world is ashamed of weakness. Leaders want to project strength. People try to hide their fragility.
But God tells us Christians that when we’re at our weakest, that is when we’re strong. It’s not because we tap into some reserve strength within ourselves. Instead, it’s because when we are at our weakest, our lowest, our feeblest, that’s when we have to rely on the Almighty, All-Gracious God the most.
It’s when I’m at my weakest that I have to rely fully on Christ’s power, just as I should when I feel strong. It is Christ’s power that saves me from my sin. It is Christ’s power that protects me and gives me true strength to endure.
Mockingly calling Christianity a crutch is like telling a person with a broken leg to stop using crutches. “Why don’t you just walk?” Like telling a person who wears glasses they don’t need them. “Why don’t you just see?”
But we recognize faith in Jesus for the crutch that it is. Jesus is the only reason we can make it through life. He is the only one who can truly comfort us when bad things happen to us. He is the only one who gives us hope for a better tomorrow and a blessed eternity.
Your All-Access Pass
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:1-8
Have you ever had a VIP backstage all-access pass? You don’t just get to go to the concert or event. You get to go behind the scenes and meet the stars of the show. You can go places the rest of us poor slobs can’t. You have access.
Access is a popular term right now. There’s talk about access to housing, access to education, access to healthcare.
What about access to God—access to God’s grace?
Unlike access to housing, education, or healthcare, access to God’s grace costs nothing. Isn’t it incredible? The most valuable of all these is given away for free. It comes through faith in Christ Jesus. Earthly housing, worldly education, and physical healthcare are only temporary. A heavenly home, divine guidance, and the promise of a new and glorious body are eternal. And yet these are the free gift of God.
These verses turn everything upside down. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Someone might be willing to die if they thought the other could still do more good. A parent will die protecting their children. Soldiers will die in the hope that their fellow citizens will use their sacrifice to better the world.
But Christ died for sinners. He died for us. But he is better than us, more righteous than us. Does that make any sense? He could have stayed alive forever and done immeasurably more good than we could have ever hoped to have done in our lifetimes. He could have let us die and let our evil die with us.
Instead, while we were still sinners, the righteous Christ died for us. That’s grace! His death is our all-access pass to God’s grace. In this grace we stand. Under this grace we live. From this grace we draw our strength to live for God until Jesus returns to take us to be with him in heaven.
A Changed Heart Simply Wants to Serve - No Strings Attached
This month’s devotions are provided by WELS Congregational Services.
“If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said,
“come and stay at my house.”Acts 16:15
Have you ever received “too good to be true” offers like free cruise tickets or the chance to win a vacation in Hawaii? There are plenty of offers of foolproof ways to get rich. What may seem like kind and generous offers are really scams to get your information, sell you stuff, or get your money. Get burned a few times and you learn.
Things are different for the baptized believer. A heart changed by the love of Christ and his forgiveness simply wants to serve—no strings attached.
Maybe you’ve experienced someone’s surprise when you stopped to help them. Remember times in your life when you were shocked by a gift or that someone knew what you needed before you did and provided it? The more you realize what it means to be truly forgiven by God’s grace, the more joy fills your heart, causing the desire to serve others.
True generosity and joy in service does not come from recognition or rewards. It comes only from a changed heart that knows it is loved, forgiven, and freed by Jesus. It’s not a blind or uncalculated love but love that looks and acts to help.
Lydia saw the needs of those who had shared the good news of Jesus with her. She knew what she could do. Paul was reluctant to accept help and made a point to protect others from the idea that he peddled the gospel for a plate of food. But Lydia’s heart had been so changed and so understood God’s gift to her, she was excited to give a gift of service and support to Paul and Silas. “And she persuaded us,” Paul commented.
You have a “no strings attached” Savior. Go give “no strings attached” service to others. Go persuade some others to let you serve them for Jesus’ sake.
To Be Great in the Kingdom of God is To Serve as a Slave "Just Like Jesus"
This month’s devotions are provided by WELS Congregational Services.
Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.Matthew 20:28
Jesus’ words are shocking, aren’t they? The world looks up to those with the greatest abilities, the ones who have great wealth, or the ones who have power. A part of us loves these things, too.
On one occasion, ten of Jesus’ disciples were mad at the other two because their mother asked Jesus for her two sons to be seated at Jesus’ right and left in his kingdom. Jesus told her those placements belonged to his Father’s choice.
Then he told all of them that we are different than the world and its lust for power, riches, and honor. To be truly great means to serve others. To be first means to become slave of the group. Then Jesus gave this example, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
When we are tempted by this world’s wisdom to withhold our time, talents, or treasures where we could or should help others, who do we resemble? We start to look like the world.
When we realize that our calling as saved, forgiven, dearly loved residents of heaven who are simply sojourning here is to serve our neighbor, what a joy it is to do what we have been given to do, serve where we can, and to help our neighbor.
Jesus tells us that that is what it means to be “just like Jesus.” He gave himself as the ransom for our release from the captors of sin, death, and the devil. We are free.
What better way to live that freedom than to serve others “just like Jesus”!
God Doesn't Stop Taking Care of You
This month’s devotions are provided by WELS Congregational Services.
Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
the LORD delivers them in times of trouble.
The LORD protects and preserves them—
they are counted among the blessed in the land—
he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
The LORD sustains them on their sickbed
and restores them from their bed of illness.Psalm 41:1-3
God is keenly aware of your life lived for him as you live it for others. One children’s song tells us, “He’s got the whole world in his hands.”
Did you know that he loves you so much he actually has you engraved on the palms of his hands (Isaiah 49:16)? In fact, he loves you so much and knew the cost to redeem you from your sins, shame, and hell that the Son of God gave his hands to be pierced for you. He took your punishment on the cross, and you received forgiveness, eternal life, and his undivided attention.
God’s Word tells us that as you keep an eye out for those who struggle or are weak, God is pleased. He promises to take care of you so you can take care of others. A life lived for others is simply a reaction to the life Jesus lived for you so that you have life and peace now and eternally. And the Lord promises to bless that life.
He takes care of you as you take care of others. He doesn’t do it because you are so good and do so many good things. It is his promise to you as his child that he is not going to let you fall or run out. He is pleased as you spend yourself for others. You start to look like your Father in heaven. God takes care of the weak AND those who help the weak.
If you are reading this, God has blessed you. You have his Word, his forgiveness, his love. You are rich. Spend yourself for others so that they know they are loved, forgiven, and freed by Jesus and that their names are written on the palms of his hands, too. You are blessed as you have regard for the weak, “the LORD delivers them in times of trouble.”
God will not stop taking care of you.
God Helps Us Help Others
This month’s devotions are provided by WELS Congregational Services.
It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor,
but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.Proverbs 14:21
At some point in time, many of us have been in need of some area of our life—physically, mentally, or spiritually. Who did God use to help meet your need? Could you ever thank them sufficiently? Could you ever thank God sufficiently?
As you look around, opportunities abound in the faces of people you can help in little and big ways. Some you know by name; others are only acquaintances. For some you could offer a word of encouragement or a listening ear. Some could use a helping hand. Some could use a loving word, some a stern word, or some just a word of God’s love.
Yes, this will take your time and some of the abundance God has given you in knowledge or possessions. Sometimes the gift is squandered. Sometimes the advice is taken, the gift used wisely, the promise of God’s grace received with thanksgiving. Sometimes you don’t know how it turns out. Jesus tells the parable of two believers who passed by a suffering fellow Jew on the road. But a Samaritan stopped to help, risked his own safety, generously gave, and spent the time to help someone who would normally be his enemy.
Martin Luther once spoke about helping others during the pandemic of 1527. He pointed out that a man who will not help others unless he can do so without risking his own safety or property will never help.
Why is your heart moved to help? It is because you know how Jesus helped you. He didn’t spare anything but gave himself up for you to make you right with God—forgiven, loved, and freed. His love compels us to love others, especially the needy neighbor.
Whenever we help others in need, it is a reminder of how helpless we were and are, but how God has helped us, continues to provide for our every need, and promises to bless us. “Blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.”
God’s blessings as he opens your eyes to see and moves your heart to be kind to your need neighbor.
Two Attitudes on Suffering
The one is demonic; the other, divine.
There may be many attitudes toward suffering. But there seem to be two attitudes from major spiritual players about the suffering of others. On the one hand, you have the devil’s attitude. On the other, you have Christ’s. We may find ourselves imitating the one or the other.
First, let’s identify the players. The devil was created as an angel to serve God. But he rebelled against God and led a third of the angels (Revelation 12:4) into rebellion with him. Because of his rebellion, God condemned the devil to hell for eternity (Matthew 25:41). The devil never escapes this torment.
Christ is the uncreated Son of God. From eternity, his will has been in perfect agreement with the Father’s. Even as a human being, his will perfectly aligned with God’s. As the Son of God, he had never experienced suffering.
The devil seeks to draw human beings into suffering alongside him. He wants us to suffer now on earth. Even more, he was us to join him in suffering forever in hell. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). As the saying goes: “Misery loves company.”
The Son of God, who had known no suffering, became a human being in order to suffer. “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22). He did not spare himself from suffering but willingly suffered so that we might be relieved of our suffering.
Which attitude do you adopt? Imagine that you have struggled with a long-term ailment. Perhaps you don’t have to imagine. Finally, after years of suffering, researchers discover a cure. It will provide you some relief, but in many respects, it’s already too late for you. However, someone who’s suffered the same ailment only a short time receives the cure and still has the rest of their life ahead of them. Will you be happy for them? Will you also harbor some resentment that they won’t “pay their dues?” “It’s not fair.”
Or will you rejoice that maybe your suffering allowed for their release? That you, along with all those who suffered that ailment, spurred the researchers on to search for a cure. That, perhaps, the researchers examined you or others in the same condition and were able to find the cure. You might not have been spared. But many will be.
Let’s examine this from another point of view. When the devil rebelled against God, he lost everything. The angels “always see the face of God” (Matthew 18:10). The devil does so no longer. The devil does not experience the bliss of heaven but only the torment of hell. He also wants us to lose everything by rejecting God and being condemned to hell.
Christ, on the other hand, is the eternal Son of God. All things are his both in heaven and on earth. Yet, “you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Though Christ had everything, he willingly gave it all up so that we might have the riches of his glorious inheritance (Ephesians 1:18).
What attitude do you adopt? Perhaps you have known material poverty. But now you live a more comfortable life. You don’t have everything, but you have more than enough. When you’re called on to be generous, what part of you grumbles and thinks, “I had to pay my dues. No one ever helped me. They’ll just have to figure it out on their own”?
Or will you rejoice that you giving up of a part of your riches—not even the whole part—might bring financial peace and security to someone else? Even if they haven’t “paid their dues” or “earned it” or “deserved it.”
These two attitudes toward others’ sufferings stand before us. One is devilish, nay, even demonic. The other is divine. The first is our inherent apathetic and selfish attitude. The second can only be given to us through the gospel.
Because Christ is not just our example. His attitude toward suffering has rescued us from our suffering. Because Christ suffered the torments of hell, we will never experience anything like it. Because Christ became poor for our sake, we have become rich.
Let us remember what Paul wrote to the Philippians,
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Philippians 2:3-13
You Belong
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9,10
There’s an epidemic going on. No, I’m not talking about COVID19. I’m talking about loneliness.
Loneliness is on the rise in America. A report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education states that 36% of Americans feel serious loneliness. The numbers are even worse when you consider young adults, ages 18 to 25—61%—and mothers of young children—51%.
People are lonely. People feel isolated. People feel like the people in their life know very little about them.
Do you feel that way, too? Do you feel like you’re a wisp of grass floating alone in the river of life?
You’re not alone. You’re not alone in your loneliness. But you don’t have to be alone in your life either.
Peter tells us, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.” We look for community in all kinds of places. Often, however, the bonds that hold those communities together are about as strong as spiderwebs. When the bond breaks, the community falls apart.
God has given you a community. He has made you his chosen people, his royal priesthood, his special possession. By bringing you to faith in Christ, he makes you belong. Christ continues to strengthen the bond between you and himself through Word and sacrament. And as the bonds grow between you and your Savior, they also grow between you and the saved.
As the Church, we can be better about living out our existence as the body of Christ. Too often, we think of ourselves as all spokes and no wheel. Connected to Christ but not connected to each other.
But we are actually a spoke and wheel. We are connected to Christ and to each other through the bonds of faith. The same Word and sacraments that bond us to Christ also bind us as his body. We belong. And you belong with us.
Don't Let Christmas Come Too Early
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord.”Isaiah 40:3
My son wants it to be Christmas right now. Actually, he was already asking for it to be Christmas in July. “Get the tree down.” “Put it here.” Of course, for him that means presents, too. But I think he just enjoys the feeling of the Christmas season.
It’s cliche to say, but it seems like Christmas comes earlier every year. Even if Christmas music doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving and stores don’t start putting out Christmas decorations until November 1st, people are already posting about Christmas on Facebook in August. Only 120 days until Christmas!
Don’t let Christmas come too early! The season in the church year that comes before Christmas is called Advent. Advent comes from the Latin word for “arrival” or “coming.” It’s during the season of Advent that we prepare for our Savior’s arrival.
Do you know the feeling of being unprepared? An unexpected guest rings your doorbell. A teacher gives a pop quiz. Calamity or crisis strikes and catches you unaware. It’s not a good feeling.
Advent prepares us for Christmas. During this season, we reflect on the prophecies God made about his Messiah. He tells us who to look for. Not a king carried on a royal litter. Not a flashy entertainer. Not a rich businessman. No, but a baby laid in a manger. A man crucified as a criminal. A Savior from our sins.
During this season, we reflect on why Jesus had to come. Indeed, he came to save us from this wretched world of woe. Indeed, he came to save us from pain and sadness. Indeed, he came to save us from injustice and oppression. But he also came to save us from ourselves. From our sins, our faults, our mistakes, our defects. He is born to die.
Perhaps that’s too somber for the Christmas season. But it’s the whole reason for the season. Though death brings sadness, in Jesus’ death we find gladness. In Jesus’ death, we find life.
Don’t let Christmas come too early. Prepare yourself for his coming in Bethlehem. Be prepared for his coming again.
Bah, Humbug!
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
Are you having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit? It is still November after all. But no. It’s not that. It’s something else, isn’t it?
It’s the feeling of missing out. Something’s happened to you over the past year or years, and you won’t be able to celebrate the holidays like you used to. While everyone’s making merry, your decorations won’t go up, you won’t see your friends or family, you won’t get to see the lights.
It’s the feeling of a hard year. Your kids’ Christmas list is a mile long, but you can only afford a few inches. The cheer of the Christmas season won’t erase the debt you’ve built up in the last twelve months. The bill collector might take Christmas Day off, but he’s right back to work on December 26th.
It’s the feeling of who’s missing. Maybe this is the first year you’re celebrating Christmas without someone. Maybe it’s been several years, and it’s still hard to look at their seat at Christmas dinner and find it empty.
It’s the feeling of “Bah, humbug!” You just can’t get in the mood.
“In this world you will have trouble,” says Jesus. Even in this awful prophecy, our Lord speaks truth. You do have trouble. The world gladly robs you of Christmas cheer. This is because our world, corrupted by and mired in sin, looks at the little baby in the manger and every year still says, “Bah, humbug! Who needs him?”
You need him. The world offers you no hope. As soon as Christmas comes, it passes. The world goes back to its routine. But Jesus remains.
“Take heart! I have overcome the world,” says Jesus. He replaces our “Bah, humbugs” with “Joy to the worlds.” The Light of the world shines in your gloomy darkness. He promises you life regardless of whether the world wants you to live. He spreads his Christmas cheer from Bethlehem to Calvary to Texas.
If you need this Christmas cheer, come to the manger. If you need this year-round joy, come to see the Savior who has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord.
We Live By Faith
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. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:1-7
What’s the hardest part about being a Christian? I’d say that over the course of a Christian’s life it’s that what we believe often doesn’t line up with what we see.
We believe that God will protect his own. But we still see Christians suffer. You might even suffer.
We believe that God provides. But we still see Christians go without. You might even go without.
We believe that God is in control. But what we see makes it look like no one’s in control.
Do you think Paul found it hard to live by faith and not by sight? He says that he was groaning because he longed to be in his heavenly home. You don’t have to imagine what made Paul groan. As he lived his Christian life and told others about Jesus, he was often persecuted. He often made long, arduous journeys over land and sea. He saw what we see. Yet he says, “We are always confident.”
How can this be? Because his faith, his trust, and his confidence were in God. “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” The Holy Spirit, living in you by faith, is the down payment on your heavenly home.
So, when it is hard to live by faith and not by sight, we need more strength from the Spirit. Paul prays in Ephesians 3, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Now, where does this outpouring of the Spirit come from? Paul told Timothy, “From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
The Holy Spirit is poured out on you whenever you come into contact with the gospel. You rub against the gospel of Jesus when you hear or read God’s Word. You taste and see the gospel when you receive the Lord’s Supper. You are held in the gospel’s loving arms when you remember your baptism. This promise is for you: God has had mercy on you, sinner. His Son has brought you life, and life to the full.
When what you see brings you down and makes you despair, remember this: We live by faith not by sight. Go where faith is given. Go to the Word. Receive the Supper. Remember your baptism. Be ready in season and out of season. Let the Spirit strengthen your faith so that you more readily live by faith.
God Does Not Need You
But, oh, how he wants you!
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
Acts 17:25
God doesn’t need anything. Not food, not shelter, not medicine. He is completely and truly self-sustaining. He is the great I AM. He simply exists.
This also means that God does not need you. Sorry to burst your bubble. God did not save you because he needed to have you. Even if he condemned every sinner to hell, God would still be complete.
Does that truth hurt? Is it shocking? Is it offensive? Truly, this teaching about God reveals the shock and offense of God’s grace!
At election time, you might hear someone say, “I don’t like either candidate, so I’m voting for the lesser of two evils.” That person recognizes that though neither candidate is good someone has to fill the office. That person NEEDS someone in that role.
If God needed you, there would be something missing in God. Something he could not continue to exist without. So, his favor toward you would be less grace and more a deal with the devil. He would keep you around because he needed you, sinful and evil as you are.
God does not need you.
But, oh, how he wanted you!
Why would God lower himself to become a man if he didn’t need you? Because he wanted you.
Why would God allow himself to experience the pain and toil of life if he didn’t need you? Because he wanted you.
Why would God allow himself to die innocently and suffer all the torments of hell for sinful you if he didn’t need you? Because he wanted you.
Have you ever been in a one-sided friendship? One where you’re somebody’s friend, but they’re not really a friend to you? Maybe in high school, you had the car, so your “friends” kept you around to drive them places. They were friends with you because they “needed” you (or at least needed your car). If they were just your friends to get what they needed from you, they weren’t your friends.
But you don’t have to worry about having a one-sided relationship with God. He doesn’t need you. He doesn’t need anything from you.
But he does want you. And he’s gone to extreme lengths to prove just how much he wants you. He’s come all the way to earth, gone all the way to the cross so that he might have you. If God wanted you that badly, how could you ever do anything to make him not want you?
Time for Reform
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
Reformation Day is thirteen days away. On that day, we celebrate how Martin Luther began the Lutheran Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg.
When we hear the word “reform,” we often think of doing things a new and different way. If politicians talk about tax reform, for example, we think of chucking the old tax code and replacing with a new one.
Is it time for reform in the church again? In some ways, yes. We can make practical changes to how we operate as a church and how we live as Christians. We can indeed look forward.
But when we talk about Reformation, first we want to look back. The church in Martin Luther’s day had added all kinds of false teaching to its doctrine. Especially egregious was the selling of indulgences. Through indulgences, one could buy their way to heaven.
Led by the Holy Spirit, Martin Luther looked back to what the Scriptures actually said. And this is what he found:
To the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
Romans 4:5
The church of Martin Luther’s time had conformed to the pattern of this world. It became greedy. It put its trust in man instead of God. It promoted a system of works righteousness rather than grace.
Through Martin Luther’s work, God renewed the minds of Christians.
So too, we need a daily reformation. Every day, the world calls us to conform to its pattern. To put our trust in wealth or power, people or institutions. Every day, the world encourages us to evaluate ourselves and others on the basis of merit instead of grace. Every day, the world attacks our faith and steals our hope.
Like Martin Luther, return to what Scripture says. Return to the truth of God’s Word, the Light in our dark world. Return to Jesus who alone can save you by his grace through faith. “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Be Served Graciously
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
Exodus 15:22-27
God chose Moses to be the leader of his people. Now, usually when we think of “divinely appointed leaders” we think of kings and queens—the kind of people everyone else serves while they lead.
But throughout Moses’ life, his leadership was not “I’ll sit back and relax while you do all the work.” No! God put Moses in a position to serve. God even tells us, “Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).
And what did this humble service do for Moses? Did it bring him appreciation and gratefulness from the people he served? Hardly. Again and again, as Moses tried to serve the people, they complained about it.
They complained when they thought they weren’t going to have water (Exodus 15:22-27).
They complained when they thought they weren’t going to have any food (Exodus 16:1-3).
They complained when they thought they were going to die trying to take the Promised Land (Numbers 14).
They complained that Moses was setting himself up as leader, not God (Numbers 16).
They complained when God put down that rebellion (Numbers 16:41).
They complained about the regulations of the tabernacle (Numbers 17:12,13).
They complained about the food they had from God (Numbers 21:1-9).
Do you get the picture? No matter how Moses tried to serve the people, they complained.
So, what does God do?
Sometimes he just listens to their complaint and answers it in spite of their complaining. What grace!
Sometimes he does punish them—even putting the most rebellious to death. But he never just wipes them out. Again, what grace from God!
But it is clear on all those occasions that the people sinned. It is only because of God’s undeserved love that they were not destroyed.
Jesus encourages us all to be servants to one another. Our service flows out of the unmatchable service Jesus has performed and still performs for us. He did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
Since it is not just one of us who’s called to service but us all, that means there will be times when others will serve us. What will our attitude be at those times?
Will we complain that they have not served us the way we want to be served—even if their service has filled our need?
Will we complain that they aren’t doing things the right way (i.e., the way we want them done)?
Will we complain that they didn’t seek our input or opinion?
Will we complain so much that their joyful service turns into a burden for them, even into resentment?
Or will we consider that God has put those people in our lives to serve us just as we are called to serve them? In other words, God himself is using their service—even up to the manner of their service—to take care of us.
Indeed, no service from one Christian to another will be perfect. We won’t find perfect service like Christ’s in the service of Christians. But we can see the fruits of Christ’s grace in their service. And we can serve them by being gracious as they serve God by serving us.
Eternity
You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.Revelation 5:9,10
What will we do for eternity? Have you ever wondered about that? If right now we don’t have enough time, maybe in eternity we’ll have too much time!
Now, work and family and fun and errands and friends and … take up all our time. In previous devotions, we’ve reflected on making God a priority. But in eternity, we won’t have to prioritize. We won’t have a job in the same sense. We won’t even have family in the same sense. All our needs will be met. All the needs of our neighbors will be met. What will we do?
In this “new song,” angels and people sing, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God.” In heaven, we will serve God! How exactly? The book of Revelation is full of songs. Expect lots of singing. Don’t worry! You’ll enjoy it.
Perhaps, we’ll have similar work to what God gave Adam and Eve in Paradise. There was no sin, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have work to do. They were to “fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28). This was to be done in service to God.
Perhaps there will even be ways for us to serve our neighbor, even if they have no needs.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The song of Revelation 5 isn’t about our time in eternity, though it reflects eternity. They’re singing about the present. “You have made them a kingdom and priests to serve God.”
We act as though we have to wait for heaven to fully live out our service to God. And in a sense, that’s true. There will be no constraints on our service in heaven.
Let’s identify what truly constrains our service. Sure, we give the common excuses. There’s not enough time. It costs too much. I don’t know how or don’t have the talent. But those are just excuses. The real constraint is sin.
Indeed, sin is now a great constraint. Indeed, in heaven sin will no longer constrain us. But read again what this new song says, “With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Jesus has already redeemed us from sin. “My chains are gone! I’ve been set free!”
If we recognize, then, that the ultimate service is what we’ll be doing in heaven, shall we not strive to emulate that service on earth, as much as we are able, as much as Jesus’ blood frees and equips us to do so?
You’re not waiting to be made a kingdom. You are a kingdom!
You’re not waiting to be made a priest. You are a priest!
There needn’t be any constraints on your service because Jesus has bought you with his blood and promised you all the time in eternity with him.
Seasons
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
What’s your favorite season? Summer? Winter? Spring? Fall? Football?
Everyone goes through different seasons of life. Some are young. Some are old.
Some are in school. Some work. Some stay at home. Some are retired.
Some have young children. Some have older children. Some have adult children. Some have no children.
Some have good health. Some have poor health. Some are confined to bed.
Some are doing well. Some are not doing so well.
Depending on the season you’re in, your time is dedicated to that season’s demands. Your pie chart shifts. Your priorities change.
Is there, then, a time when there is no time for church?
You might think that’s true, looking at Ecclesiastes 3.
But what this chapter—made famous by The Birds—actually shows us is that whatever the season, being served by God and working for him are always in season.
Read verse 1 again: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Whatever season you’re in, it happens under the watchful eye of heaven.
If you’re single, married, divorced, or widowed, there’s time for Jesus.
If you have one kid, two kids, five kids, or no kids, there’s time for Jesus.
If you’re in school, at work, or at home, there’s time for Jesus.
If you’re happy, sad, content, or depressed, there’s time for Jesus.
How? Because Jesus’ cross is for us in every season. It’s like one of those sculptures, which, depending on which side you’re facing it from, takes on a totally different appearance. It fills the needs of the needy. It adds joy to the joyous. It stands for all time at the center of every season.
So, whatever the season—high or low—
make Jesus’ cross your reason to live for him below.
Weeks
In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Exodus 20:11
God made time. We hear in Genesis how God created light. How he created the sun, moon, and stars to “mark sacred times, and days and years” (Genesis 1:14). Time is a gift from God to us just like the many other blessings God gives us.
When God created the world, he did so in six days. On the seventh day, he rested. So, he established the seven-day week and gave it to us. He set up the routine that more or less continues to this day. Work during the week. Rest on the weekend. Christian churches still dedicate a day to gathering for worship—usually Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead.
But we so easily break that routine. The work part we have down fine. You might even be overworked or overworking. It’s the worship part that we struggle with.
Think about the most important things in your life. Your priorities. Make a top 10 list.
I’m certain you put God and/or church somewhere on that list.
Now, think about your typical week. If you have your schedule in front of you, review it. Make another top 10 list. This time, make the list in order of time dedicated to various priorities. Did the order change? Did non-priorities find their way into your list? If you were honest, where did God fall? Did he fall off the list?
The point of this exercise wasn’t to tell you that you must dedicate x hours to God each week. It’s not to tell you that other things on the list don’t have some priority. But if you, like me, put God number one your priorities list but far from number one on your time list, it’s eye-opening, isn’t it? It makes us ask the question, “If God is my number one priority, why don’t I prioritize him?”
There’s more to worship than just Sunday mornings. Worship comes from an Old English word which means “to acknowledge worthiness.” Certainly, we can and do worship God by fulfilling the callings he’s given us. But he’s also called us together as the Church, to worship together, yes, but also to work-ship together.
God wants your time. The Church needs your time. Yes, there’s plenty you can do by giving offerings. There’s also much that can’t be done just by giving money. Often, the saying, “Time is money,” is true. Think about how valuable your time is. What a wonderful gift, then, when you give it to God!
Worship means “to acknowledge worthiness.” So, the question is, “Is God worthy?” Maybe your gut response is, “Well, duh.” But just to hammer home how worthy he is, remember the best week ever. On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem. On Maundy Thursday, he gave his last will and testament—the Lord’s Supper. That same night he was betrayed and arrested. On Good Friday, he died for all of your sins. On Easter Sunday—yes, above and beyond a week—he rose from the dead to guarantee you eternal life.
Because of Jesus’ best week ever, we are now free in every week we live. We don’t have to spend our weeks slaving away for a God who’ll probably just condemn us in the end. We now can live our weeks dedicating ourselves to our high calling as Christians. Serving our neighbor. Serving outside the church. Serving inside the church. All because he is worthy.
How can you fill up your schedule with worship and work-ship? Talk to Pastor Strucely, your elder, or a council member. We’d love to spend time with you dedicating our weeks to God.
Days
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
2 Peter 3:8-10
If you’ve ever been to or passed by a Joe’s Crab Shack, you’ve seen the mural permanently painted on the outside wall: “Free Crab Tomorrow.” Of course, the wise among us will know that that sign makes the same offer day after day. But tomorrow never changes to today.
Some of us are really good at procrastination. That word literally means “to put off until tomorrow.” We might do it with a school or work project. We might procrastinate getting the engine light checked. We might put off going to the doctor when we’re sick.
Maybe you’re reading this, and you’ve been putting off going back to church. Every Saturday, you say, “Tomorrow I’m going,” but Sunday comes, and you find yourself worshiping at St. Mattress once again.
How many times has tomorrow never come for you?
“Tomorrow, I’ll start reading my Bible more.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll get help with that sin I’m struggling with.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll send that email about wanting to help at church.”
Can I tell you a secret? The problem with our tomorrows isn’t tomorrow. Our problem with tomorrow starts today. We assume we have so much time, we don’t need to start serving until later, we don’t need our own filling up with God's Word until another time.
There won’t always be another time. There might not be a tomorrow.
That’s why Jesus tells us, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4).
Forgive us, Jesus, for our procrastination! Forgive us for your sake, as you always prioritized the work of the one who sent you. His work was for us. His work counts for us. His work motivates us to work for him.
How can you fill your days with Jesus’ work? It starts with seeing his work for you. You need to know that he has forgiven your laziness. Yes, he has! And it continues with seeing where his work needs to be done. As long as it is day, we do his work.
Do You Feel Like an Imposter?
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Do you feel like an imposter? A fraud? A fake?
Do you ever get the sense that people praise you to your face and cover your mistakes behind your back?
Do you feel like you’re barely holding it all together, putting on a brave face for the world, but one slip and everyone will discover you’re just being held together with paperclips and glue?
You’re not alone. Lots of people feel that way. But who can admit it without feeling like the whole house of cards will come crashing down?
And the hard part is, any negative encounter with another person seems to indicate you’re right. Like they can see right through you.
These feelings of inadequacy do come from a place of truth. We are sinners. We can’t do anything perfectly as perfectionist as we might be. Nothing we do is 100% perfect.
A little bit of pride, too, presents us with a paradox. You know you don’t do everything perfectly, but you don’t want it to seem that way. You want people to think you’re competent and adequate. You don’t want to open yourself up to criticism or disdain.
You and I need to be reminded we don’t need the façade we build for ourselves. Perfection is out of reach. We need grace.
Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:4-9
It is God’s grace that saves us. We are not perfect. Paul says we’re born dead—“dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Our attempts to cover our imperfections can only bring us worry that our coverings don’t cover enough.
We need grace. And grace God gives us. He has raised us from the dead. More than that he has “seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). You can’t be an imposter because God has given you the identity that matters: his daughter or son.
His handiwork.
That’s what we’re called. In Christ Jesus, we are God’s handiwork, made new in his Son. Transformed. Called. And that which we’re supposed to do? Already prepared for us in advance.
So, God’s grace saves us. It refashions us. It confers a new status on us. It prepares our works for us. You can’t pretend to be what God has already truly made you.