“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:35)

Someone once wrote an article reflecting on his grandfather’s decision not to invest in Xerox back when that company first started; instead, he put his money into a company that did not last.  “What could have been?” the article mused.  Some investments go nowhere; others produce more than we could imagine.

Jesus and the gospel are going somewhere: there’s the promise behind our Lord’s words in Mark 8:35.  It’s not as though Jesus were setting up a moral test—“If you try to save your life, I’M GONNA TAKE IT!”  Rather, He sets forth the absolute truth: everything lost for His life is saved, because His life is the true Life that abides forever.

I promise that life of Jesus to you.  How can I not?  He’s not holding onto it!  He let His life go on the cross, planting it in the sinner’s grave.  Even in His resurrection, He hands over His body and blood to sinners—and if He hands over His very body and blood to sinners, what would He ever withhold from them?  Clearly, the life that inherits the kingdom, the only life that bears fruit—it’s for you!

LET US PRAY:  Dear Jesus Christ, true Life: teach me to suffer all losses for Your sake with patience and thanksgiving, so that I may gain all that You promise, to the singular end that Your word be proven in me as in Your flesh, and Your glory thus abound.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau

“And say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.” O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!” (Psalm 71:11-12)

In the mystery of faith, in this world and in the age of sin, the Lord allows what He allows and we do not understand it. Yet we too sin, so who are we to cry out to the Lord about justice? There are times where we think we are alone, but we are not. The Lord is your constant companion and hope; he does not forsake you in spite of what you think or feel. God is always good.

Lord, there are those times when life is tough and I feel all alone. Guide me, O Lord, that I would now and always hold fast to the truth You have revealed. Lead me in Your ways to simply know deep in my spirit that this is true, so that I may hold fast to you in times of trouble. You are there quicker than I can acknowledge and always faithful even if I do not see. Your word tells me that You are not far off.

Thank You, Lord, for manifesting to us and for us. You know what it feels like to be forsaken. You know what it is like to feel abandoned; yet you remained faithful and did not abandon us. Help me, especially in times of trouble, to be guided by Your grace and mercy and to know that help is already present and that Your Spirit is in me. Lead me to live in truth and not by what I feel. Amen.