“He destroyed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore trees with frost. He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones and their herds to bolts of lightning.” (Psalm 78:47-48)

Nations rise and nations fall. The Lord blesses whom He blesses and the nations continue as if His hand were not there. The Lord is the One who is the author of history. When He withholds His hand, wickedness reigns. When He gives His blessing, the nations flourish. It is the Lord God who is the source of all kindness, goodness and mercy. Abide in the One who provides for all.

Lord, You are there in every season and yet the nations continue as if You were something made up. We are the ones who are made up and we have been made up by You. Lead me away from the insanity that visits every generation and into the truth that You are God and there is no other. Lead me into the way, truth and life that You have established once for all.

Lord Jesus, You have come to lead the way for as many as would follow You. In You alone is there hope and a future. Guide me, O Lord, in the way You would have me go today that I would walk the path You have set before me. Lead me to do those things which are pleasing in the Father’s eyes and know that in You is the hope for all people of every time. Thank You, Jesus, for leading all who follow. Amen.

“He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, and frogs which destroyed them. He gave also their crops to the grasshopper and the product of their labor to the locust.” (Psalm 78:45-46)

Whether it is good which elicits no thanks, or plagues to warn, people remain unmoved. Generation after generation sees the Lord’s hand in things and the people go about their business as if the Lord does not matter. He who holds all things together is simply a part of the fabric, not given a thought. Think again and turn to the Lord while you may that you may know His goodness.

Lord, I do forget and go about my business as if it did not matter. I do this with others too. Help me, I pray, to see in You the truth that without You I do not exist, for You are the One who created and sustains me. Guide me away from selfishness and into the truth of Your ever-present love and kindness. No matter what happens in this earth, help me see Your hand in all things.

Lord, You do care for those whom You have made. You love us enough to die for us. Guide me into Your presence to walk with You, knowing that You who hold all things in Your hands, have come that we might have true liberty and life in and through You. Guide me in the way of Your righteousness that I may abide in Your love now and forever and come to everlasting rest in You. Amen.

“They did not remember His power, the day when He redeemed them from the adversary, when He performed His signs in Egypt and His marvels in the field of Zoan, and turned their rivers to blood, and their streams, they could not drink.” (Psalm 78:42-44)

How easily we forget Who it is that has created this existence. We come up with other explanations and forget what we have seen. The Lord has done marvelous things and either we look on them and wonder, or else dismiss them and move on. Come into the presence of the One through Whom all things have their being and know what life was created to be.

Lord, the rebellion of this age runs deep and many are they who sell all kinds of things to lead me astray. I believe what I know is fake when I watch entertainment and ponder on the false narrative, yet I will not ponder on the truth You have revealed for the ages. Guide me, O Lord, in the way of truth that I may forever hold fast to the goodness You have given from the beginning.

Lead me, O Lord, that I may walk in the way of grace and truth. Lord Jesus, apart from You, there is just meandering around this creation You have brought into existence. Lead me in the deeper things that I would ponder each day upon the goodness I see all around me. Help me also ponder the rebellion that is also present that I may better understand why You have come. Amen.

“How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! Again and again they tempted God, and pained the Holy One of Israel.” (Psalm 78:40-41)

The battle of this age is against the One who created all things. We take for granted that what is before us is ours and do not really want to know the answer as to why it is there. We dismiss what we do not want to hear and in so doing, rebel against the Lord, for it is He who made all things. We are His whether we want to acknowledge this or not. What does He desire? Is it not love?

Lord, I too live the life I want and think things the way I want to think them. I do not want to pursue what is true and lovely, only what I want to be true and what I determine to be lovely. Guide me, O Lord, away from a rebellious heart, most especially when I do not think it rebellious, that I may see things as they are and not as I want them to be. Guide me in the way of truth.

Lord Jesus, God in the flesh, You have come for as many as would turn to You that the good life may be found. I think I have life, but it is life that has me, not the life You give. Lead me into the life which is eternal that I may walk with You wherever You lead and come into the truth,  for only in the truth can I live freely. Guide me today, O Lord, in the way You know I need to go. Amen.

“But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger and did not arouse all His wrath. Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and does not return.” (Psalm 78: 38-39)

Lord, Your ability to hold Your hand against those who do evil is more than I am able to understand. You give freely to all and do not punish the wicked before their time. All things are in Your hands and You have a reason for everything. It will be as You have determined and nothing will thwart Your perfect plan. Help me trust in You in whom all things rest.

Lord, it is often difficult when I see the wicked spewing their lies and deception. You have given Your promises and many reject You. Help me to not be one of them. Create in me a new and clean heart that ponders on all the goodness You have brought into the world. Lead me in the way of righteousness that I may forever walk humbly with You, my God and my Savior.

Lord Jesus, You who was put to death by the wicked of this world and for the sake of sin which infects us all, by Your humble example, help me to walk before You as one who knows that it is You alone who is able to accomplish salvation for all who believe. Guide me this day to do those things which are right in the Father’s eyes, which will provide a witness that it is You who guides me. Amen.

“One of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection.” (Acts 1:22)

Must!  The apostles used their words carefully.  When Judas Iscariot proved unfaithful, the remaining 11 apostles knew that they must replace him, not for the sake of numerical consistency or the beauty of balance, but for the central task of their calling: witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus.

That witness is why God had called the apostles: He wanted the 12 men to go forth and testify (first to Israel, then to the world) that Jesus is not dead, but alive.  It is also why we call the Church “apostolic”: the Church’s faith hangs on their witness, and the Church exists to preach and teach that witness still today.

This week concludes the Church’s annual celebration of Easter, but the witness to Jesus’ resurrection continues.  The Church must (must!) bear that witness to be the Church.  Without it, there is no reason to be the Church, but with it, there is reason for everything good, and for hope in the midst of the bad.

LET US PRAY: O God, thank you for the holy apostles.  Grant that their witness to Your Son’s resurrection would still convert hearts today.  Let Your Word spread and spread, and Your Church grow and grow; in Jesus’ name.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau

“But they deceived Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant.” (Psalm 78:36-37)

It may seem for a time that those who say one thing and do another get away with what they are doing, but the Lord who knows the heart will hold all accountable. Do not seek to deceive, nor be deceived; as a man sows, so shall he reap. The Lord cannot be mocked. Learn faithfulness, come to the Lord and know the goodness He grants to those who fear Him.

Lord, take my words and make them true to You.  Guide me through the pitfalls of this world and help me to become the person You have created me to be. Lead me away from those who with smooth lips destroy and maim that I may forever be in Your presence and walk upright before You. Guide my lips to speak what is true and lead me to do that which is good in Your sight.

Lord Jesus, You willingly took the derision of those who, with smooth tongues, spoke all kinds of evil against You. Lead me by Your example to move through the nonsense espoused by those who hate You that I may live in Your example humbly as a willing servant. Guide my lips and thoughts that I may be truthful before You My Savior and do what is pleasing in the Father’s sight. Amen.

THE CHURCH ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST
Devotional for Day of Pentecost 2018

There was a news item sometime back about a man from Mankato, Minnesota, who was fined $100 for trying to set fire to an evangelist while he was preaching. My guess is that there are a lot of Christians today who need to be set on fire in a figurative and positive way. The church on the Day of Pentecost was a church that was set on fire. It was ablaze with enthusiasm, excitement, and power. What was there about this particular church that made these people so responsive to this kind of outbreak of Christian fervor?

First, the church on the Day of Pentecost was A CHURCH OF INTENSE FELLOWSHIP. They really loved each other. They had strong bonds of care and concern for each other.

There is a church in Chicago that officially is named St. Stephen’s. But it is also known as “The Church at the End of the Road.” And don’t you think that “at the end of the road” is a fitting location for a church? For there are many people who are at the end of their ropes and at the end of life’s road. Their hope and strength are gone. “At the end of the road” is also where the church needs to be.

The church at its best is a caring church. A church where love is experienced. And that certainly was true of the church on the day of Pentecost. They ate together, sang together, worshipped together, and even had their possessions together. They gained strength from their intense fellowship.

Second, the church on the Day of Pentecost was A CHURCH OF STRONG UNITY. People of different backgrounds, social classes, languages, skin colors, and national origins all heard the same Gospel in their own native tongue. But rather than fragmenting into tiny, self-serving interest groups, the church on the Day of Pentecost was drawn into a cohesive whole.

When Billy Graham held his historic crusade in Montgomery, Alabama in the 1960’s, he insisted on an integrated choir. A local newspaper wrote in an editorial that Billy Graham’s coming to Alabama had set the church there back a hundred years. Billy Graham’s answer was classic. “If that is the case,” he said, “then I have failed in my ministry. For I had intended to set the church back two thousand years – back to the Day of Pentecost.”

When the waters of God rise, the dividers disappear. People are not separated by race, color, or language. Rather we are all precious souls for whom Jesus died. Where the Spirit of God is, there is unity.

And then third, the church on the Day of Pentecost was A CHURCH THAT REACHED OUT TO OTHERS. Where the Spirit of God is, people are concerned about sharing the Good News of Jesus with their family, friends, and neighbors. The church on the Day of Pentecost was a rapidly growing church because they were reaching out.

At the end of World War II, Robert Woodruff, president of Coca Cola, declared, “In my generation it is my desire that everyone in the world will have a taste of Coca Cola.” Today Coca Cola is sold throughout the world, because one man by the name of Robert Woodruff motivated his colleagues to reach their generation all around the world for Coca Cola.

Is it our desire in our generation, that everyone around the world would know Jesus Christ?

Richard Lederer, author and speaker, has become nationally known for collecting what he calls examples of “Anguished English.” He gathers such things as unintentionally funny headlines and signs.

People Magazine once did a story on Lederer. Their photographer asked him to think about setting up a humorous, posed picture that would summarize his work and would lead into his article. He did not have to fabricate anything.

On the outskirts of his town stood a telephone pole with a street sign that read, “ELECTRIC AVENUE.” Right below that street sign was a yellow diamond traffic sign that announced, “NO OUTLET.”

And that is the greatest danger for the church. That we will have God’s electricity, but no outlet. That we will experience God’s power, but then refuse to share that power with others. We will not let that power empower us to do something. That we will experience God’s love and unity among ourselves, but then shut others out. That we will experience the joy of the Holy Spirit, but then not want to and not try to share that joy with others.

The answer is really quite simple. The source of power is the Holy Spirit. Where the Spirit is, there is intense fellowship and a strong unity. And where the Spirit is, there is a great concern for reaching out to others.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

“When He killed them, then they sought Him, and returned and searched diligently for God; and they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer.” (Psalm 78:34-35)

Like a child that wanders off in their own way only to discover that they had it much better when they were at home, children of the Heavenly Father wander off into sinfulness and meet death. When they discover that God is truly good and holy all the time, they return to live in His presence and purpose. Some will do this and others will blame God for withholding the blessing He gives to those who look to Him.

Lord, Help me see the reality that if I ask you to leave my life, You do. Only under Your protection do I receive the blessing that comes to those who look to You. Guide me, O Lord, to walk in all of Your ways knowing that You have given the words of eternal life and only in You is there hope and a future. Lead me into Your arms of mercy.

Lord Jesus, You know us better than we know our selves. While we were yet sinners, You died for all of us. In thankfulness, bring me under Your wings of grace that I may rest in Your presence in the hope that only You can give. Guide me in the way I should live life and keep me from ever rejecting the truth You have already shown in Your gift of love to us. Amen.

“In spite of all this they still sinned and did not believe in His wonderful works. So He brought their days to an end in futility and their years in sudden terror.” (Psalm 78:32-33)

No matter the amount of blessings the Lord provides, many still go through their lives as though it was just their efforts that avail and with no thanks to the One who provides. It is not that the Lord “needs” praise, but everyone understands dealing with selfish, unthankful people. If the Lord withdraws, so do His blessings. He is under no obligation to bless those who curse Him. In futility do our days end when we live only for ourselves.

Lord, there is so much more that You have given of which I am unaware. Help me, I pray, to see more clearly all the goodness You have showered upon me that I may live a life that is thankful for all Your goodness and mercy. Teach me how to be thankful to all people for the goodness I receive and to appreciate the ways in which You have blessed me that I may have praise upon my lips.

Lord Jesus, You have given Your earthly life that I may join with You forever. Let me learn to respond with a heart that is thankful for all of Your provisions. Guide me now and always in the way I should walk that I may forever live in the goodness You have provided. May others see that I am thankful by what I do, how I do it and know that I look to You for all things. Amen.