“But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; yes, let them rejoice with gladness.  Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him.”  (Psalm 68:3-4)

Live the life you have been given.  Do what the Lord gives you to do.  Enjoy the daily life as it comes.  Through it all, sing praises to the Lord who made you, knowing that it is He who created all things and shares all that He made with us.  Rejoice and be glad, for God is good and gracious and shares of His bounty.  Sing praises and live uprightly before the Maker of all things.

Lord, I become worried in the ups and downs of daily life and do not remember Your goodness.  Help me now and always to see each day the good things You have provided in my life.  Let me learn how to rejoice in all circumstances knowing that You alone are God and all goodness comes from You.  May I sing praises to You now and always, Lord, for Your goodness.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into this world to lead us in a new way of living.  Help me relax today.  Not be lazy, but relax and go about the business You give me to do that I may live in praise and thanksgiving for all of Your goodness.  Help me now and always to be a person of praise and to sing new songs to You for Your goodness.  Ride before me, Lord, in whatever direction You will lead me.  Amen.

“Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him.  As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before God.”  (Psalm 68:1-2)

The way of the wicked is before us.  It remains in every culture, time and place.  First, the Lord must remove the wickedness in us.  By His grace and mercy He does. Then He will remove all wickedness from among the faithful.  This is the prayer of the righteous.  Lord, melt away all the wickedness of the world that only faithfulness would remain and righteous praise be heard.

Lord it is easy for me to deflect the truth and say that the wicked out there need to be removed,as I say it in wickedness.  Create in me a heart that is both bold and compassionate that I would stand fast upon Your Word in full repentance, while also desiring Your Kingdom and the goodness that has been displaced in this world by the wicked.  Lead me Lord where I need to be.

Lord Jesus, You are the hope of every generation.  Lead me in the way of truth that I would first seek You and the righteousness You offer, knowing that only then shall all other things that are needed be added.  Help me through the daily struggles to know that there are wicked in the world, and sometimes I am one of them; but my trust and hope is in You, O Lord, my God and my Savior.  Amen.

“The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (1 Corinthians 6:13)

Perhaps you have heard the first part (“not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord”), but how frequently have you heard the second part (“the Lord for the body”)?  Your body, that two-legged thing that you are, with all its wobbly bits—the Lord is for it.  He is intended for it, you might say.

It’s the promise that the Church may not make frequently enough.  God sent our Lord Jesus for a specific purpose: to become flesh (John 1:14), that He might bring about “the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). These bodies, headed towards the grave—God wants them.  He wants you, flesh and bone, both for your sake and for His glory, that His creation might experience the joy for which He created, namely, His Son.

Thus He sent His Son to cancel the power of sin, death, and the devil and to reveal God’s redemption in His own flesh.  This flesh He now bestows on the Church, His new creation, by joining believers to Himself in the Spirit and promising them a share in His resurrection (what else is Holy Communion?).  Your body (you!) has a Lord, a groom and a guardian, and therefore, it has a future (a happy one!).  And so, as St. Paul writes, glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:20).

LET US PRAY:  O God, who created our father, Adam, from the dust of the earth, and fashioned our mother, Eve, from his side: we praise You for Your new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, sent into our flesh that our flesh might rise in His Spirit.  Grant us grace to glorify You in our bodies, living for You, even as You live for us; through Christ our Lord.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau     

WHERE ARE YOU IN YOUR PERSONAL, SPIRITUAL LIFE JOURNEY?

Devotional for January 21, 2018 based upon Mark 1: 14-20

One of the things that I find very interesting about the Gospels is the way that at times they describe different events in the life of Jesus and the disciples’ relationship with Jesus.  Other times – even when they describe the same event – they mention different details or emphasize different aspects of a particular event.  Such is the case in the spiritual life journey of the disciple Peter.

Mark 1: 14-20, our Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday, January 21, tell of Jesus’ calling Peter to become a disciple.  Verses 17 and 18 – Jesus said, “Follow Me,” and they (Peter and his brother Andrew) immediately left their nets and followed Him.  “Immediately” is a word that the Gospel writer Mark uses often.  There is an immediacy – an urgency – to everything in the Gospel of Mark.  I see Peter, being called by Jesus, responding immediately.

In Mark 1 Peter begins following Jesus.  John 2 tells of how Peter, along with the other disciples, actually come to have faith in Jesus.  After telling the story of Jesus’ turning water into wine, the Gospel writer John says in verse 11, “Jesus did this, the first of His signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”

But then Luke 5 tells us that even though Peter had begun following Jesus and had come to believe in Jesus, he still went back to his old ways of life.  Jesus uses Peter’s boat as a place from which to speak to the crowds and then tells Peter in verse 4, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”  Peter responds in verse 5 – “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.”  Not continuing to follow Jesus, even though he had come to faith in Jesus, but instead going back to his old life, Peter experienced futility and frustration and fishing all night and catching nothing.  Peter responds – after a miraculous catch of fish in verse 8 – “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  I had begun following You and had come to faith in You, but still I had gone back to my old way of life, which has resulted only in futility and frustration and fishing all night and catching nothing.  Luke ends his recording of this event by saying in verse 11, “When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Him.”

There is one more incident in this sequence.  In John 21, after the resurrection, Peter says to six of the other ten living disciples, “I am going fishing.” (verse 3)  The verb tense is saying not “I am going to go fishing once,” but “I am going back to fishing – I am going to go back to keeping on fishing.”  Peter must have been a person of influence, because the other six disciples say, “We will go with you.”  And with what result?  “That night they caught nothing.” (verse 3)  Again, not continuing to follow Jesus, even though they believed in Jesus and even though they had experienced the resurrection of Jesus, but instead going back to the old way of life, they fish all night and catch nothing.  Again Jesus appears on the shore.  Again there is a miraculous catch of fish.  Again Jesus recalls Peter and the other disciples to a life of following Him.

Where do you see yourself in the story?  Have you just begun to follow Jesus?  Have you recently come, or are you beginning to come, to faith in Jesus?  Have you returned to your old way of life even though you had begun following Jesus and had come to faith in Jesus?  Are you experiencing the futility and frustration that results from doing that?  Are you fishing all night but catching nothing?  Have you recently made a renewed commitment to follow Jesus?  Have you again – even though you have experienced in a mighty way the love of God as shown on the cross and the power of the empty tomb – gone back to your old way of life, only to again experience the futility and frustration of fishing all night and catching nothing?  Have you recently again experienced being recalled by Jesus?  Have you recently again experienced the grace and forgiveness and new life available from Jesus?

Wherever you are in your personal spiritual life journey, know this.  The same Jesus, who was so loving and forgiving and patiently persistent with Peter, will also be the same way with you.

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

“Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.  The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us.  God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.”  (Psalm 67:5-7)

In the ebb and flow of history, nations arise which do praise the Lord.  They are blessed when they do.  But whether or not they bless the Lord, He provides for them.  The earth brings forth its bounty and God provides for all.  See how good the Lord is and although many ignore Him, be one who blesses the Lord for the goodness He brings forth into this world.

Lord I am often more influenced by those around me than by You.  Yet the truth is that Your presence so permeates the world that it is You who is everywhere.  Help me to see more clearly that only in You is there hope and a future and that by Your goodness we all live.  Guide my heart to simply give thanks and praise You always and in every situation.  Thank You, Lord, for Your goodness.

Lord Jesus, not only were all things created by and through You, but You have redeemed the world by giving Your own life as a sacrifice.  Lead me, Lord Jesus, to live into the promises You have given and know that in You is there hope and a future, Lead me, O Lord, that I may be led to walk in the way You have established always.  Guide me and teach me how to praise and be thankful for all things.  Amen.

“Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for You will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth.”  (Psalm 67:3-4)

Lord how much better would this world be if they just stopped fighting against the truth, seeking to replace it with their idea of the truth.  Alas, the world continues its battle and I along with them.  Bring me to the place where I praise you in spite of what those around me do.  You are the righteous judge and it shall be as You determine.  Guide me to live in that knowledge always.

Lord, You know the struggle in my heart.  I desire those things which are of no value and flee from Your statutes which are more precious than gold or silver.  Judge my heart that I may be freed of those things which hinder me, and lead me in Your ways now and always to be one who praises You in season and out of season.  Righteous judge, give me Your righteousness.

Righteousness Incarnate, Jesus my Savior, guide me in the way of truth that You have established that I may be guided in Your  way now and always.  Lead me forth from this moment to live in the truth that all things are known and that You are guiding me in the way I should go.  Help me see through the cloud of this age to become and be the person You have created me to be.  Amen.

“God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us.  That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.”  (Psalm 67:1-2)

When you were baptized, the words of Jesus were spoken over you, “Let your light shine.”  You were created in the image of God.  What is the light that shines?  The Light that God desires to shine is the light of His countenance in you.  It’s you and He together as one: each your own person, but one in spirit.  We have been invited into Trinity, three and One.  Let others know by reflecting  your light into the world.

Lord, what you have said I know in my head but my spirit continues in the well-worn path of simply doing what it has always done.  I struggle to let Your light shine through me.  Remove the resistance in me that I may forever hold fast to the truth of Your Word in my heart and shine forth with Your presence in a world of darkness.  Let Your salvation show in me.

Jesus, You have come to set the captive free.  Guide me in the way of truth that I may be led by You and the way You have forever established.  In Your salvation and by Your grace, lead me to Your living truth through all I say and do.  Help me to be guided by Your Spirit to walk in the ways of light and shine forth the truth that You are in me and I in You.  Amen.

“If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear; but certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.  Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer nor His lovingkindness from me.”  (Psalm 66:18-20)

It is not that the Lord does not know all of the things that wander through our minds but that the Lord is intolerant of sin.  Yet, He perseveres in seeking after us that we may come into His presence with thanksgiving.  He must create in all of us a clean heart that we would come into His presence as we were made to be and not as we have become.  His lovingkindness is forever,

Lord I have harbored thoughts in my mind that need to be removed.  Guide me in Your ways that Your thoughts would be my thoughts as I learn in order that Your ways become my ways.  Guide me in the way of salvation which You have prepared that I would walk the journey You have planned.  Before me is Your goodness and lovingkindness; and my desire is to be Yours always.

Thank You, Lord, that You have not turned a blind eye to my plight.  Through the salvation You have prepared in the sacrifice of Christ, You have made possible my eternal reconciliation.  Guide me, Lord Jesus, in the way of the cross that I would forever hold fast to the truth You have revealed and the way that has been made straight.  You alone are able to lead me where I need to go.  Take me with You that where You are I will be also.  Amen.

“Come and hear, all who fear God, and I will tell of what He has done for my soul.  I cried to Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue.”  (Psalm 66:16-17)

In a world that is filled with noise and constant activity, the soul can be left behind.  The Lord will nurse the soul and refresh it to see clearly that yes, we are physical creatures but that we are also soul and it too needs nurturing.  Come to the Lord and be refreshed and renewed.  Know that in the Lord goodness and mercy are bounteous and the Lord delights in His little ones.

Lord, help me see the estate of my soul and come to You that I may be refreshed.  Lead me through all of the things that are going on in me that I may understand the need for Your sustenance and see that only You can lift me up.   Let me learn to extol Your name and know the truth of life which You grant to those who love you, for You alone are able to do these things in this age of turmoil.

Lord Jesus You have come to set the captive free that we may abide in You now and forever.  Guide me, mind, body and soul, to live into the life to which You call me that I may grow in the righteousness You have given me by grace.  Teach me to give You praise and thanksgiving for all the goodness You have shown me.  Teach me to be still and know that You are God.  Amen.

“Which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke when I was in distress.  I shall offer to You burnt offerings of fat beasts, with the smoke of rams; I shall make an offering of bulls with male goats.”  (Psalm 66:14-15)

Through all that comes, the Lord desires that we learn to be people who praise Him in spite of circumstances. Offer yourself to the Lord and go where He will send you.  Do not hold back and do not be conditional in your offerings.  The Lord will create in you a clean and new heart that will worship and praise Him in all circumstances.  Come as you are and bow to the Creator of all things.

Lord I am conditional in my life.  I react depending upon the circumstances. Guide me away from being conditional to simply living the life You have given me knowing that only in You is there hope and a future. Renew in me a heart that longs after You and the things You would have me do.  Lead me in Your ways always that I may become sanctified as You have called me to be.

Lord Jesus You have come to lead the way in righteousness.  Guide me through all of the obstacles that will come my way knowing that You will lead me to where I need to be.  In creating me to be like You help me see all of the obstacles that are to be overcome that I may understand more fully as I pass through this life in preparation for all that is to come.  Amen.