Dear Friends in the Risen Lord:

Every morning – when I turn on my computer – I wonder, “How much worse is the news going to be today than it was yesterday?”  How many more confirmed corona virus cases will there be?  How many more people will have died?  What kind of greater precautions will we need to take, and what kind of greater restrictions will be placed upon us?  How much more will the stock market plunge?

In the midst of all this, we need encouragement, a source of strength, and hope.  What greater source of encouragement, strength, and hope could we have – and could we be able to share – than the good news that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead?  He is with us in our struggles, and He has defeated our greatest enemies – sin, death, and the power of the devil.

I would like to share with you four sources of strength and hope from the account of the Israelites’ crossing the Jordan River on their way to the Promised Land, as recorded in the early chapters of the book of Joshua. 

First, in Joshua 1: 2 the Lord said to Joshua, “My servant Moses is dead; now proceed to cross the Jordan.”  The Lord did not say, “Moses is dead; you might as well give up.”  Nor did He say, “Moses is dead; so why not go back to Egypt.”  “Moses is dead; it will never be the same again.” Or “Moses is dead; what hope do you have now?”  Rather the Lord said, “Moses is dead; now proceed to cross the Jordan.” 

We have heard it said over and over again.  We are living in unprecedented times.  We were not prepared for this, nor did we see it coming.  We do not know how long it will last or what life will be like after it is over.  We know it will be different, but we do not know how it will be different.  In many ways Moses is dead.  The realities, resources, and support systems that we had been counting on no longer exist.  And they disappeared so quickly.  But just as God said, “Moses is dead; now proceed to cross the Jordan,” so God is saying to us, “Life will be different, but it is not over.”  With God’s presence and power – with the hope of the resurrection – we will be able to get through this.  One year from now we will be able to look back and say, “God is good, and He saw us through.”  Moses may be dead, but we still need to and we still can cross the Jordan. 

Second, three times in the first nine verses of Joshua 1 God says, “Be strong and courageous.”  In verse 6, verse 7, and verse 9.  “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

It would be very easy today to be frightened and dismayed.  We have many, very valid reasons to be frightened and dismayed.  Just like the disciples of Jesus, on the evening of Good Friday, had many, very valid reasons to be frightened and dismayed. 

But the angel told the women who came early on Easter Sunday morning to the tomb, “Do not be afraid.  I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here.  He has been raised.  Come, see the place where He lay.  Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has been raised from the dead.”  (Matthew 28: 5-7)  So we, too, need to see the place where He lay.  We, too, need to see that the tomb is empty.  Then we, too, need to go quickly and tell people that He has been raised from the dead.  This year – during the upcoming Holy Week season – may God give you even more strength of conviction and mountain-moving faith, so that you will be able to believe with power and with boldness, “Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.”

Third, in Joshua 3: 2-4 we read that the leaders of Israel went through the camp and commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord our God being carried by the levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place.  Follow it, so that you may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before.” 

What do we need the most as we go through a national and global crisis unlike any we have experienced before?  We need to know that God is with us and that He goes before us, “for (we) have not passed this way before.”  I remember a poster I had on my wall in my dorm room in college.  It showed a mushroom cloud from an atomic explosion.  It asked the question, “Is there a future?”  It gave an answer from God.  “Yes, I am already there.”

Paul describes Jesus as “the first born from the dead.”  Jesus has already gone through the experience of death ahead of us.  And He has broken the power of death over us.  Therefore, “nothing in all of creation” – and that includes the corona virus – “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8: 39)

Fourth, Joshua 3: 15-16 tell us that “when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, the waters flowing from above stood still . . . while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off,” so the people were able to cross over on dry ground. 

There was a miraculous crossing of a body of water at the beginning of the time of leadership of Moses (the Red Sea), and there was a miraculous crossing of a body of water at the beginning of the time of leadership of Joshua (the Jordan River).  But there is a significant difference between the two.  In the case of Moses and the Red Sea, God sent a strong east wind that blew all night.  In the morning there was a dry path. The people did not need to step into the sea until they had a dry path.  In the case of Joshua and the Jordan River, somebody had to step into the water first before the flow of the river stopped and a dry path became available.

I know that I, for one, would like to have a dry path before I have to step in.  But that is not the way it always goes.  It sure would be good to know how this pandemic will end and how long it will last, but at this point we do not know.  But still we need to step in, take necessary precautions, help those who are most vulnerable, and see this time as an opportune time to show the kind of courage and compassion that Christ can give. 

I remember several years ago a woman who was very close to dying from cancer read the lessons on Easter Sunday.  Never before had those Scriptures passages spoken so strongly to me as they did that day as they were being read by someone who would soon be dying and who believed with all her heart that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.

This Easter season may your faith in Jesus be even bolder, your hope in Jesus be even greater, and your love for Jesus be even stronger.

Dennis D. Nelson
Executive Director of Lutheran CORE
[email protected]
909-274-8591

P.S.

Our prayers are with all confessional Lutheran pastors as you find and develop ways to stay connected with your congregations, give your people hope, courage, and strength, and reach out to your communities during these most unusual times.  On our website you can find a list of some congregations that are livestreaming and/or posting recordings of their worship services.  A link to that list can be found here.  Please let me know if you would like to be added to that list.

“Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:11-12)

When things do not go the way we want them to go, we call that Your fury and anger. I suspect You call that the truth. You give a heart of wisdom to those who will come into Your presence and see things as they are. Lead me, O Lord, to see clearly the truth of the life into which You invite those who will come into Your presence. You offer to guide us through these limited days.

Lord, when I was young, I thought in terms of forever. As I get older, I see the foolishness of such thoughts. My days are numbered. Help me to live according to the days You have given me that I may abide in You as You abide in me, doing those things which will grow in me what You have always intended. Help me to be lifted up according to Your will.

Lord Jesus, You have told us that we must be united with You. Saint Paul told us that we must be united in Your death in order to be united in Your resurrection. Help me, O Lord, to overcome the obstacles of the way this age thinks that I might see things as You would have me see them, knowing that all things are in Your hands. Guide me, O Lord, to walk in Your ways now and always. Amen.

“Remember what my span of life is; for what vanity You have created all the sons of men! What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?” (Psalm 89:47-48)

How much time do you have on this earth? The young will think it is a long time. The old know that it is like vapor, here for a moment and then gone. We were created for eternity. Your life is in the Lord and if not, then here today and gone tomorrow. “Come,” says the Lord, “let us reason together.” Do not shame yourself by thinking that it is in your hands, but come to the Lord and live forever.

Lord, You have planted in us the desire for eternity. You have given the sure promise of eternity. Guide me in the way I need to go that I would walk now and forever in the way of the eternal ones that will be with You forever. Do not let me linger, but grow in me the hope of glory that I would now and always live into the life You hold before me knowing that only in You is there hope.

Lord Jesus, You are the strait gate and only in and through You is there hope for every day. Guide me, O Lord, in the way You would have me go that I would now and forever live into the promise You give through Your salvation. Help me through every obstacle that I would abide in You and You in me now and forever. Keep me close to You that I may abide in Your goodness and mercy. Amen.

“We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.” (Romans 6:9)

This past Christmas, as we prepared for company, I offered to get the relish tray for my wife.  “You can’t,” she said.  “It broke last year.  Remember?”  So it goes: after 20 years, some of our wedding gifts are wearing out or breaking, a little reminder that most things don’t last forever.  

Yet one thing does: the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Can we even imagine it, a life utterly free of death?  Death sets the boundaries of our life in ways that we don’t even stop to consider, yet Christ’s life has no limits—“death no longer has dominion over Him!”

What such a life really is, we do not yet know.  Yet we know this: the gifts that Jesus gives, coming from this deathless Man, endure forever.  The Name He gives you in Baptism, the forgiveness He declares to you, the feast He sets for you—these things remain true, even at the graveside.  They are eternal life.

LET US PRAY: Immortal God, who became our flesh that we may rise in the flesh and live forever: by the Spirit of Your resurrection, grant us courage.  Banish our fears in the face of death, and free us for faithful service in Your Name, by which we pray.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau

Sunday, December 10, 2017 Devotion

“Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us?  And will You not go forth with our armies, O God?  O give us help against the adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain.  Through God we shall do valiantly, and it is He who will tread down our adversaries.”  (Psalm 60:10-12)

The nations of this world toil against one another.  Men dream dreams of unity through conquest, forcing peoples to join where there can be no unity.  You have established the peace that surpasses all understanding.  You have come to eternally deliver all who turn to You from wickedness to walk in the ways that have always been.  You alone can save, and have saved, the people from their self-destruction.

Lord, I know these words and they are soothing, but in times of trouble it seems little comfort.  Lead my mind to begin to grasp the significance that it is You who is working through all things for Your glory.  Guide me away from the way the world thinks to begin to see Your hand in all things.  Lead me, O Lord, in Your ways that I may be delivered from the vanity of this world.

Lord Jesus, You have come to liberate all the captives from sin, death and the devil.  Guide me this day, O Lord, in the way You would have me go.  Help me overcome the obstacles that will get in the way and lift me up from the pit of despair.  Only through You can we walk in the way of salvation which You have established and which shall last forever.  Help me this day, my Savior.  Amen.

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me.  Deliver me from those who do iniquity and save me from men of bloodshed.”  (Psalm 59:1-2)

Sometimes this world is troublesome.  There are difficulties each day.  But the Lord, who knows all things, has us in His hands.  He knows the plans He has for us.  Yes, we have our difficulties, but to Him we should turn in every time of trouble.  It may seem dark at times, but He is mighty to save and will watch over us all.  The Deliverer has come and in Him all who trust will be rescued.

Lord, I hear these words, but in times of trouble I am often overwhelmed in the moment.  Teach my heart to trust.  Teach me to learn from You that I may walk through every moment in trust and confidence in the faith You have given me.  Guide me, O Lord, that I may be led by Your mighty hand to become what you have in mind.  Lead me through every valley of the shadow of death.

Lord Jesus, You know adversity and the plotting of evil doers.  Guide me in the way I need to go each day.  Teach me to lean on You through Your Word and by prayer that I may forever hold fast to the truth You have revealed for the ages.  Lead me, my Savior, today that I may walk humbly with You and know the goodness You have in store for those who walk by faith.  Amen.

“Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You.  For You have delivered my soul from death, indeed my feet from stumbling, so that I may walk before God in the light of the living.”  (Psalm 56:12-13)

In this world of mixed up ideas, the Lord makes promises that only He is able to keep.  Who gives life?  Who can raise the dead?  Whose ability holds all things together?  It is the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.  Trust in the Lord with all of your might and let Him make up for any weakness that you have.  He will deliver your soul so that You can walk with Him forever.

Lord, I become confused by all of the promises, words and persuasions bantered about in this world.  Guide me through the morass of this world to stand before You covered in the righteousness You alone give.  Bring my heart to the place where I render thanksgiving for all of Your goodness and know that in You there is hope and a future.  Lead me, O Lord, for You alone know what is needed.

Lord Jesus, You have come to lead the way for as many as would come by grace through faith, trusting that You have given the words of eternal life.  Lead me this day to see in You the hope of glory and the firmness of the promises You have delivered.  Teach me how to praise and worship, knowing that only in You is there hope and a future.  Keep me from stumbling so I may walk with You now and always.  Amen.

“He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence.” (Rev. 7:15)

The old sinner in us doesn’t always like the term “shelter.”  Are we so weak that we need someone to shelter us?  Didn’t we cut the apron strings?  Shouldn’t Christians, in particular, be more questing, advocates in the public square for what is good and right and true?  Away with this mild Lord of shelter! (says the old, proud sinner . . . .)

And then 26 believers end up dead in a pool of blood as babies scream, mothers weep, and a nation goes on fighting.  Sudden illness cuts down beloved friends and family.  Opportunists prey on the young and deceive the poor, and an entertainment industry peddles vile myths to corrupt the soul.  Even churches quake with heresy, pressing the faithful into doubt, frustration, and a love of division.  

Come, O Shelter of the faithful!  What strength it takes to shelter others: resolve, compassion, and the willingness to go and seek the lost.  It takes a Man who would even bear a cross to overcome the power of death.  This Man is God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who knows you by name; whose love for you is stronger than death; and who will bring you, with great joy, to the throne that He shares eternally with His Father.  Have no fear, little flock!

LET US PRAY:  Protect, defend, and deliver us from evil, good Shepherd of the sheep.  By Your two-edged sword, that living word, silence the ancient enemy, curb all evil designs, bring us to repentance, and preserve Your Church in perfect peace until the day of Your appearing; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau

“Let death come deceitfully upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol, for evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.  As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me.”  (Psalm 55:15-16)

The contrast has always been before you.  There is the way of the Lord and there is the way of wickedness.  Do not walk in the ways of this world, but hear and heed the call of the Lord to be transformed by the renewing of Your mind.  Walk humbly before Your God and know the ways He established in the beginning.  Call upon the Lord and He will save You from all the evil of this world.

Lord, I know it is appointed to walk in this world for a time, but the wickedness is often so overwhelming.  Lead me to You to look to You through all that swirls around me that I may not be tempted to walk in any other way than the one You have established in salvation.  Lead me O Lord and help me to trust You for all things, dealing with the wicked and saving those who turn to You.

Lord Jesus, in times of trouble I call out to You.  Help me come to You in all times and places, both good and bad and all the times in between.  Lead me heart to learn from You how to deal with the craziness of this world and hold forever fast to the truth You have revealed.  Lead me O Lord and will follow You all the days of my life.  Grant me grace and strength of Your Spirit to fulfill this vow.  Amen.

“My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.  Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.  I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!  I would fly away and be at rest.”  (Psalm 55:4-6)

The troubles of this world are often overwhelming.  We wonder where the Lord is and why these things are happening.  It has happened before and it will happen again.  Woe to those who bring wickedness, but also, be encouraged and turn to the Lord while He may be found.  Trust in the One who holds all things in His hands and has promised there is a purpose to all things that will bring Him glory.

In times of difficulty O Lord, turn me to You that I would know the comfort Your Spirit provides to those who love You.  Trouble does come and there are difficulties int his world, but greater are You who is in me that the wicked one who stirs trouble in this world.  Guide me into Your goodness that I would forever hold fast to the truth of Your Word and the comfort You give.

Lord Jesus, You knew trouble, for it was constant throughout Your ministry.  Help me see in You the only hope there is not only for this world, but forever.  Lead me through the troubled waters of this world to seek the Father’s will in all things.  Lead me to know the hope of everyday life that comes by walking in faith under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.