SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2009
PSALM 80:1-7
DEUTERONOMY 4:21-40
MATTHEW 8:1-17
I’m writing this on Friday morning before I head off to LuWiSoMo with our 8th graders. I have clothes in the wash machine so I can pack. It may be raining outside, but it’s warm and comfy inside as I relax and take my time and spend time in God’s Word.
Let’s face it, we all sin. We try not to, but things happen. Maybe we are tired. Maybe it’s been a long day and we lose our patience. Maybe we just get angry and we stop thinking right. So, when we sin, we should respond as the author of our Psalmist and run to the Lord, admit our mistakes and ask for forgiveness. We stay in the Word to keep away from sin, but when we do, we run to the Lord for forgiveness. He will restore us. We may move away from Him and we may stray, but He is always there to take us back.
For two or three days now, we have heard Moses warnings in Deuteronomy. We have to remember that this was one long speech that Moses was giving to the people. But this was more than a presidential speech to people during a special time. This was God’s Word to people who had reached an historic event. More than 400 years planning went into this event. God has promised Abraham that his children would have this land as their home. Abram (exalted father) would become Abraham (father of many) and his children would have this land. And God just wants them to know that they need to follow His Word and His Commandments. So Moses stands there preaching and reminding them of God’s Word and actions and gets the people ready to enter the Promised Land.
In the Gospel lesson, we see a couple examples of people who have great faith. Jesus heals a leper as well as the servant of a Centurion and not to mention Peter’s mother-in-law. This is Jesus most popular time. The people are amazed at His teaching and they need to hear His Word. They are so oppressed. They have no leadership that really cares about them. So Jesus fills this need as well as the biggest need they have, the need for their sin to be forgiven.
We have life pretty easy compared to the people of Jesus’ day. But we still have that same greatest need: the need to be forgiven. We get up every morning remembering our Baptism, knowing that we have been adopted by God and we are children of God and that we are forgiven. And we get down on our knees and thank God for that forgiveness.
Oh Lord, thank you for all you have done and bless our trip to LuWiSoMo this weekend. Amen.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2009
PSALM 86:1-10
DEUTERONOMY 5:1-21
MATTHEW 8:1-18-34
This would have been a great Psalm for spending a weekend with 23 of our 8th graders and 115 or so other young students. But it was a wonderful weekend, the kids behaved, we arrived home safely. Our Lord listened to our prayers to hold off the rain. Part of our prayer each day should be a plea for forgiveness for we do sin daily and we do need to be assured of our forgiveness each day. We really do have a wonderful God who watches over us and cares for us and wants to forgive us and keep us safe. Heck, He kept my 1999 Mercury Villager with bad tires running and on the road. He is an awesome God.
Part of the reason Deuteronomy is named Deuteronomy is because of our reading today. This is the second (Deutero) reading of the law. Moses reminds the people of the 10 Commandments before Joshua takes them into the Promised Land. We all need to be reminded of the Commandments from time to time. We all need to be reminded that God should be the first priority in our lives and that a natural response is to love our neighbor. I find it very helpful that I have to teach the 10 Commandments to our 8th graders each year. It reminds me to keep my priorities straight. It really is very helpful.
In the Gospel, Jesus is performing miracles left and right it seems. No wonder a number of people ask to follow Jesus, to become His disciples. I had never noticed before that the first one to ask was a scribe.
The scribes were the copyists of Scripture and teachers of the Law. The Scribes date as a distinct body from the period of Ezra. The name is derived from sepher, or “book” and means scripturalists – those who explained and copied the law. Their functions were to copy, read amend, explain, and protect the law. The scribe keeps record of work done and goods paid, of prices and costs, of profits and loss; he counts the cattle as they move to the slaughter, or corn as it is measured out in sale, he draws up contracts and wills, and makes out his master’s income tax.
The Scribes (Hakamin, learned) were not a sect but a profession; they were scholars learned in the law, who lectured on it in synagogues, taught it in schools, debated it in public and private, and applied it in judgment on specific cases. A few of them were priests, some were Sadducees, most were Pharisees, they were in the two centuries before Hillel what the rabbis were after him. From being transcribers and expounders of the Law, they supplied, after the captivity, the place of the prophets and the inspired oracles, which had ceased; and from them arose those glosses and interpretations which our Lord rebukes under the term “traditions.”
Not many of the Scribes liked what Jesus had to say, so it is very surprising to see one of them wanting for follow Jesus.
A lot of people think Jesus is being cruel to the guy who wants to go bury his father first. Many agree that this man’s father was not near death. He had not died and was awaiting burial. If the father had died that morning, he would have already been in the ground before nightfall, so that the family could go through the purification process and be ceremonially clean the next day. Typically, there was a 30 day mourning period where the family would dress in black and moan loudly. But this man wasn’t in either of these situations. He father was probably very old, but not near death. So Jesus was concerned about his priorities and didn’t believe he was worthy of following Him.
Can you imagine being in a boat or out on a lake and see Jesus change the weather? Now we live in Wisconsin, so we are used to weather changing quickly. But we are not used to seeing the point where it is cloudy and windy one minute and beautiful and brightly sunny the next. That would be awesome to see.
Also, that situation with the two possessed men is amazing. Jesus comes upon these men who are so affected that people could not even go near the place where they stayed. No one would hang around tombs. That was an unclean place. But that’s where these demon possessed men stayed. They run to Jesus knowing who He is and suggest they be cast into the pigs. Again, pigs are unclean animals. And those pigs run to the water and drown. That would have been an strange sight.
All in all, our lesson shows us that Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is Master over all. He is Master over our lives.
Well, I have to start working on a presentation for the zone LWML meeting this Saturday. I’m talking about my trip to India last January. This will be fun. I’m sorry I only get 30 minutes to share the pictures and details and another 15 minutes for questions. I could talk about India for hours.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2009
PSALM 91:9-16
DEUTERONOMY 5:22-6:9
MATTHEW 9:1-17
Once again we have this Psalm that is connected with Christ. Of all people, Satan interprets this Psalm and tells us that it is our Lord Jesus whom our God will “command his angels concerning you.” Oh yes, Satan knows the Scriptures. He knows them better than we do. After all, he was there when they were written. He saw the events of which they speak. And Satan can twist and turn the Word of God and make us doubt (see Adam and Eve for proof of that).
But this passage also applies to us as well. It doesn’t mean that nothing will happen to us. It does not mean that we won’t break the occasional leg. What it does mean is that no matter what happens to us here on this earth in this life, that heaven is our home, we will spend eternity with our God and then life will be fine. No sin. No sickness. No death. That’s what we who trust in Jesus have waiting for us.
You might as well sit back and get used to hearing Moses recount the law and the history of Israel as they traveled in the wilderness, because that is what we are going to be reading for a while – at least for the next 10 days. But this is a good lesson for us. We need to be reminded day after day of our sin.
Then end of this lesson is one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament. “All these words that I have commanded you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Basically, be in the Word constantly. If we are in the Word constantly, we won’t be able to sin – okay, we may be able to find some time to sin, we are crafty little buggers. The more we are in the Word, the more strength we have to resist temptation.
Jesus continues healing people. This time he heals a paralytic. See here in our lesson today, the scribes don’t like Jesus telling the guy he is forgiven. Yesterday a scribe was asking to follow Jesus, today one is criticizing Him. The result? “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.” Jesus does miracles to glorify God and to bring people to faith.
I didn’t realize that Matthew became a disciple so late. Where did Matthew get the information for the first eight chapters of his book? He was probably following Jesus and listening to him before this. Jesus didn’t just walk up to strangers and tell them to follow Him, although you wouldn’t know that from this. Matthew probably witnessed the events and the miracles he wrote about even though he wasn’t officially a disciple yet.
We’ve talked about fasting before. It’s a good thing. But we don’t do it to impress God or earn favor. We do it as we focus on God and reflect on Him alone. Jesus takes the opportunity to teach John’s disciples and straighten them out on His purpose and mission. Oh, the disciples of Jesus will fast once He is dead and risen from the dead. But now is the time to rejoice while he is around.
Well, I’m back in the office again today. I have lots of catching up to do. Yesterday was nice and relaxing, but the trip to LuWiSoMo is over and it’s time to get back to the work at hand.
Have a blessed day serving the Lord where you are.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 07, 2009
PSALM 121
DEUTERONOMY 6:10-25
MATTHEW 9:18-38
This is going to be a fun morning. We have chapel this morning like every Wednesday. But this morning is special because we are baptizing one of our kindergarteners. It’s not often that we get a chance to baptize one of our students, but the parents and grandparents talked with us and want to get this blessed event done. So it will be fun.
Our Psalm is so uplifting. I was visiting someone in the hospital yesterday. She was so down. For some reason she complains that her feet hurt. Because her feet hurt she can’t walk and because she can’t walk she can’t go home. She was down and depressed. But then, you read verse seven, “The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.” We know and believe that, but sometimes our belief gets short. She complained that God left her and asked why He would do that to her. Well, it’s not the Lord who makes our feet hurt. It’s living in this sick and sinful world. The Lord’s job is listed in verse eight, “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” He watches over us and will help us, even if our feet hurt and we can’t walk.
Moses continues to remind the people to follow God. The main point of his message is in verse twelve, “then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” If the people of Israel would have just remembered that, they wouldn’t have had any trouble. But in a few years, after they get settled, after they forget the 10 plagues, after they forget wandering for 40 years, after they get prosperous, they will forget and they will follow other gods. Don’t forget the Lord. Don’t get comfortable. Time and time again I find that it’s when we get comfortable that that is when the Lord comes in and makes things uncomfortable.
So, Jesus raises a girl from the dead, heals a woman who was bleeding for twelve years, gives sight to two blind men and casts a demon out of a man who was mute. And all I’ve done this morning is shower, eat breakfast, come to work, go to devotions and write a few words here.
It just amazes me that the people see so clearly, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” But the religious leaders say, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” That doesn’t even make sense. They see Jesus miracles with their own two eyes and yet they refuse to believe. That is just amazing to me.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 08, 2009
PSALM 126
DEUTERONOMY 7:1-19
MATTHEW 10:1-23
I love Thursday’s … mainly because Friday is my day off. But it just puts us closer to the weekend and time to relax and time to spend time with our Lord.
Our Lord is all about restoration as we see in the Psalm. Part of that is by necessity. Since we are about destruction and sinfulness, our Lord has to be about restoration and forgiveness. Our response to the Lord’s restoration is that our mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues shout for joy, we proclaim the Lord’s love to the nations and we are glad. For sure, times are tough, but the Lord is with us walking, holding our hand.
Moses is very clear and direct with the people of Israel in the text today and his message is one that many people would question. How can a loving God order the Israelites to go in and destroy every man, woman and child in their effort to take over their nations? Well, verse four is our answer, “For they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.” The Lord knows how stiff necked these people are. He knows their sinful ways. He didn’t choose them because they were wonderful, perfect people. He choose them because He loved them and we all know that love is blind. Of course, we are the same way. God warns us and warns us and makes promises to us and we sin and complain and follow our own devices rather than God. Then we fall on our knees and ask for forgiveness and we are thankful that He does forgive us.
So, finally in Matthew 10, we have Jesus collecting all His disciples. Now, they had probably been following Him for a while now. He isn’t going to call the disciples one day and send them out on a missionary project the next day. That’s not how the Lord works. But because in the time line, Jesus was ready to send out the twelve, it is an opportune time to list the men and give them credit. Jesus also sees this as a teachable moment. He begins to warn them about a time after His death and resurrection when they would be persecuted and arrested and tried and killed. This task of being His disciples wasn’t all glamour and glory. It would be fun following Jesus. It was be amazing to see what they saw. But, it was going to get messy. It was going to get dangerous. This is life and death stuff: eternal life or eternal death stuff.
Anyway, enjoy your Thursday. Stay in the Word. Pray to God often through the day and He will get you through, holding your hand all the way.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2009
PSALM 103:1-10
DEUTERONOMY 8:1-20
MATTHEW 10:24-42
It’s Friday! For me, it’s a nice relaxing day. I have a little work to do, but nothing heavy. I do have to work on my Power Point for the LWML Zone Rally tomorrow at Redeemer Lutheran Church. So, if you want to hear about my trip to India, stop by about 9am tomorrow.
I dare you to read the Psalms and not be uplifted. In our Psalm for today, it begins by stating the fact that his soul is blessing the Lord and then he gives us the reasons why he is blessing the Lord. He forgives us. He redeems us. He satisfies us. He works righteousness. He works justice. He is merciful. He is gracious. Our Lord does so much for us. We should constantly be in the Psalms so we are constantly reminded of what the Lord does in our live. Each day our Lord blesses us. Each day we thank Him for all He does. Sure, it may be cold and raining outside, but He gives us food and clothing and all that we have to live on. We are loved by our God and nothing is going to change that.
Moses continues his long speech to the people of Israel. They need a long speech. They need to remember all that the Lord has done for them over the last 500 years, from choosing Abraham and promising this land to him and his descendants to the 10 plagues that haunted the Egyptians but didn’t touch the Israelites. They wandered the wilderness for 40 years, and yet, their clothes didn’t wear out and their feet did not swell. Can you imagine that? That is utterly amazing.
Life is tough. Hey, my wife lost her good paying job. We are living paycheck to paycheck. But we are surviving. We’ve had to cut back. But the Lord is getting us through. He really is. So, we are living our this lesson from Matthew. One can get two sparrows for a penny. In other words, sparrows are cheap. Yet, the Lord will not let one of them fall to the ground. He protects them, how much more is He going to protect us for whom His Son died on the cross. He even has the hairs of our head numbered. He loves us and takes care of us. He forgives us. That’s why the Lord should be the center of our lives. He does so much for us. It is just so amazing what He can do in our lives. Focus on the Lord and every day will be a good day.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009
PSALM 106:1-12
DEUTERONOMY 9:1-22
MATTHEW 11:1-19
Good morning! It’s a chilly day but that’s okay. I’m in my nice warm family room in front of the television watching the news trying to get motivated to get in the shower so I can do a presentation of my India trip to the LWML Zone. It’s going to be a great day.
The first verse of our Psalm kind of summarizes the whole thing. “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Yes, our Lord is so good to us. Even though we have sinned, He forgives us through His Son. Oh yes, we sin daily and yet the Lord puts up with us and sends His Holy Spirit to us to show us our sin until we repent and then He shows us our Savior and the forgiveness we receive through Him. Just as He saved the Israelites from the Red Sea, He saves us through His Son. We are forgiven and heaven belongs to us.
Moses continues to remind the Israelites of all their mistakes from the time they left Egypt until that day. And yes, you can’t remember mistakes without remembering the incident with the Golden Calf. Can you imagine, Moses was up on the mountain with God for 40 days and 40 nights and while he was there, he had nothing to eat or drink? What the heck do you do on a mountain with God for 40 days and 40 nights? And from our reading, it sounds like Moses did this twice, once as they were making the Golden Calf and then again, after the Golden Calf. I can’t even imagine.
I’ve preached on this Gospel lesson many times. I think I’ve written about it here before. John the Baptists’ disciples come and visit Jesus. They ask if He is the Christ or should they look for another. Of course He’s the Christ. Look at what He’s done. He’s healed the sick. He’s made the blind see. The lame leap like a deer. He has fulfilled all that the Old Testament says He would do. He is the Christ.
Well, I better get in the shower and get ready. Have a blessed day. Keep in contact with the Lord through the day and He will bless you.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2009
PSALM 80:1-7
DEUTERONOMY 4:21-40
MATTHEW 8:1-17
I’m writing this on Friday morning before I head off to LuWiSoMo with our 8th graders. I have clothes in the wash machine so I can pack. It may be raining outside, but it’s warm and comfy inside as I relax and take my time and spend time in God’s Word.
Let’s face it, we all sin. We try not to, but things happen. Maybe we are tired. Maybe it’s been a long day and we lose our patience. Maybe we just get angry and we stop thinking right. So, when we sin, we should respond as the author of our Psalmist and run to the Lord, admit our mistakes and ask for forgiveness. We stay in the Word to keep away from sin, but when we do, we run to the Lord for forgiveness. He will restore us. We may move away from Him and we may stray, but He is always there to take us back.
For two or three days now, we have heard Moses warnings in Deuteronomy. We have to remember that this was one long speech that Moses was giving to the people. But this was more than a presidential speech to people during a special time. This was God’s Word to people who had reached an historic event. More than 400 years planning went into this event. God has promised Abraham that his children would have this land as their home. Abram (exalted father) would become Abraham (father of many) and his children would have this land. And God just wants them to know that they need to follow His Word and His Commandments. So Moses stands there preaching and reminding them of God’s Word and actions and gets the people ready to enter the Promised Land.
In the Gospel lesson, we see a couple examples of people who have great faith. Jesus heals a leper as well as the servant of a Centurion and not to mention Peter’s mother-in-law. This is Jesus most popular time. The people are amazed at His teaching and they need to hear His Word. They are so oppressed. They have no leadership that really cares about them. So Jesus fills this need as well as the biggest need they have, the need for their sin to be forgiven.
We have life pretty easy compared to the people of Jesus’ day. But we still have that same greatest need: the need to be forgiven. We get up every morning remembering our Baptism, knowing that we have been adopted by God and we are children of God and that we are forgiven. And we get down on our knees and thank God for that forgiveness.
Oh Lord, thank you for all you have done and bless our trip to LuWiSoMo this weekend. Amen.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2009
PSALM 86:1-10
DEUTERONOMY 5:1-21
MATTHEW 8:1-18-34
This would have been a great Psalm for spending a weekend with 23 of our 8th graders and 115 or so other young students. But it was a wonderful weekend, the kids behaved, we arrived home safely. Our Lord listened to our prayers to hold off the rain. Part of our prayer each day should be a plea for forgiveness for we do sin daily and we do need to be assured of our forgiveness each day. We really do have a wonderful God who watches over us and cares for us and wants to forgive us and keep us safe. Heck, He kept my 1999 Mercury Villager with bad tires running and on the road. He is an awesome God.
Part of the reason Deuteronomy is named Deuteronomy is because of our reading today. This is the second (Deutero) reading of the law. Moses reminds the people of the 10 Commandments before Joshua takes them into the Promised Land. We all need to be reminded of the Commandments from time to time. We all need to be reminded that God should be the first priority in our lives and that a natural response is to love our neighbor. I find it very helpful that I have to teach the 10 Commandments to our 8th graders each year. It reminds me to keep my priorities straight. It really is very helpful.
In the Gospel, Jesus is performing miracles left and right it seems. No wonder a number of people ask to follow Jesus, to become His disciples. I had never noticed before that the first one to ask was a scribe.
The scribes were the copyists of Scripture and teachers of the Law. The Scribes date as a distinct body from the period of Ezra. The name is derived from sepher, or “book” and means scripturalists – those who explained and copied the law. Their functions were to copy, read amend, explain, and protect the law. The scribe keeps record of work done and goods paid, of prices and costs, of profits and loss; he counts the cattle as they move to the slaughter, or corn as it is measured out in sale, he draws up contracts and wills, and makes out his master’s income tax.
The Scribes (Hakamin, learned) were not a sect but a profession; they were scholars learned in the law, who lectured on it in synagogues, taught it in schools, debated it in public and private, and applied it in judgment on specific cases. A few of them were priests, some were Sadducees, most were Pharisees, they were in the two centuries before Hillel what the rabbis were after him. From being transcribers and expounders of the Law, they supplied, after the captivity, the place of the prophets and the inspired oracles, which had ceased; and from them arose those glosses and interpretations which our Lord rebukes under the term “traditions.”
Not many of the Scribes liked what Jesus had to say, so it is very surprising to see one of them wanting for follow Jesus.
A lot of people think Jesus is being cruel to the guy who wants to go bury his father first. Many agree that this man’s father was not near death. He had not died and was awaiting burial. If the father had died that morning, he would have already been in the ground before nightfall, so that the family could go through the purification process and be ceremonially clean the next day. Typically, there was a 30 day mourning period where the family would dress in black and moan loudly. But this man wasn’t in either of these situations. He father was probably very old, but not near death. So Jesus was concerned about his priorities and didn’t believe he was worthy of following Him.
Can you imagine being in a boat or out on a lake and see Jesus change the weather? Now we live in Wisconsin, so we are used to weather changing quickly. But we are not used to seeing the point where it is cloudy and windy one minute and beautiful and brightly sunny the next. That would be awesome to see.
Also, that situation with the two possessed men is amazing. Jesus comes upon these men who are so affected that people could not even go near the place where they stayed. No one would hang around tombs. That was an unclean place. But that’s where these demon possessed men stayed. They run to Jesus knowing who He is and suggest they be cast into the pigs. Again, pigs are unclean animals. And those pigs run to the water and drown. That would have been an strange sight.
All in all, our lesson shows us that Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is Master over all. He is Master over our lives.
Well, I have to start working on a presentation for the zone LWML meeting this Saturday. I’m talking about my trip to India last January. This will be fun. I’m sorry I only get 30 minutes to share the pictures and details and another 15 minutes for questions. I could talk about India for hours.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2009
PSALM 91:9-16
DEUTERONOMY 5:22-6:9
MATTHEW 9:1-17
Once again we have this Psalm that is connected with Christ. Of all people, Satan interprets this Psalm and tells us that it is our Lord Jesus whom our God will “command his angels concerning you.” Oh yes, Satan knows the Scriptures. He knows them better than we do. After all, he was there when they were written. He saw the events of which they speak. And Satan can twist and turn the Word of God and make us doubt (see Adam and Eve for proof of that).
But this passage also applies to us as well. It doesn’t mean that nothing will happen to us. It does not mean that we won’t break the occasional leg. What it does mean is that no matter what happens to us here on this earth in this life, that heaven is our home, we will spend eternity with our God and then life will be fine. No sin. No sickness. No death. That’s what we who trust in Jesus have waiting for us.
You might as well sit back and get used to hearing Moses recount the law and the history of Israel as they traveled in the wilderness, because that is what we are going to be reading for a while – at least for the next 10 days. But this is a good lesson for us. We need to be reminded day after day of our sin.
Then end of this lesson is one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament. “All these words that I have commanded you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Basically, be in the Word constantly. If we are in the Word constantly, we won’t be able to sin – okay, we may be able to find some time to sin, we are crafty little buggers. The more we are in the Word, the more strength we have to resist temptation.
Jesus continues healing people. This time he heals a paralytic. See here in our lesson today, the scribes don’t like Jesus telling the guy he is forgiven. Yesterday a scribe was asking to follow Jesus, today one is criticizing Him. The result? “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.” Jesus does miracles to glorify God and to bring people to faith.
I didn’t realize that Matthew became a disciple so late. Where did Matthew get the information for the first eight chapters of his book? He was probably following Jesus and listening to him before this. Jesus didn’t just walk up to strangers and tell them to follow Him, although you wouldn’t know that from this. Matthew probably witnessed the events and the miracles he wrote about even though he wasn’t officially a disciple yet.
We’ve talked about fasting before. It’s a good thing. But we don’t do it to impress God or earn favor. We do it as we focus on God and reflect on Him alone. Jesus takes the opportunity to teach John’s disciples and straighten them out on His purpose and mission. Oh, the disciples of Jesus will fast once He is dead and risen from the dead. But now is the time to rejoice while he is around.
Well, I’m back in the office again today. I have lots of catching up to do. Yesterday was nice and relaxing, but the trip to LuWiSoMo is over and it’s time to get back to the work at hand.
Have a blessed day serving the Lord where you are.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 07, 2009
PSALM 121
DEUTERONOMY 6:10-25
MATTHEW 9:18-38
This is going to be a fun morning. We have chapel this morning like every Wednesday. But this morning is special because we are baptizing one of our kindergarteners. It’s not often that we get a chance to baptize one of our students, but the parents and grandparents talked with us and want to get this blessed event done. So it will be fun.
Our Psalm is so uplifting. I was visiting someone in the hospital yesterday. She was so down. For some reason she complains that her feet hurt. Because her feet hurt she can’t walk and because she can’t walk she can’t go home. She was down and depressed. But then, you read verse seven, “The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.” We know and believe that, but sometimes our belief gets short. She complained that God left her and asked why He would do that to her. Well, it’s not the Lord who makes our feet hurt. It’s living in this sick and sinful world. The Lord’s job is listed in verse eight, “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” He watches over us and will help us, even if our feet hurt and we can’t walk.
Moses continues to remind the people to follow God. The main point of his message is in verse twelve, “then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” If the people of Israel would have just remembered that, they wouldn’t have had any trouble. But in a few years, after they get settled, after they forget the 10 plagues, after they forget wandering for 40 years, after they get prosperous, they will forget and they will follow other gods. Don’t forget the Lord. Don’t get comfortable. Time and time again I find that it’s when we get comfortable that that is when the Lord comes in and makes things uncomfortable.
So, Jesus raises a girl from the dead, heals a woman who was bleeding for twelve years, gives sight to two blind men and casts a demon out of a man who was mute. And all I’ve done this morning is shower, eat breakfast, come to work, go to devotions and write a few words here.
It just amazes me that the people see so clearly, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” But the religious leaders say, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” That doesn’t even make sense. They see Jesus miracles with their own two eyes and yet they refuse to believe. That is just amazing to me.
May the Lord bless us with a productive day.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 08, 2009
PSALM 126
DEUTERONOMY 7:1-19
MATTHEW 10:1-23
I love Thursday’s … mainly because Friday is my day off. But it just puts us closer to the weekend and time to relax and time to spend time with our Lord.
Our Lord is all about restoration as we see in the Psalm. Part of that is by necessity. Since we are about destruction and sinfulness, our Lord has to be about restoration and forgiveness. Our response to the Lord’s restoration is that our mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues shout for joy, we proclaim the Lord’s love to the nations and we are glad. For sure, times are tough, but the Lord is with us walking, holding our hand.
Moses is very clear and direct with the people of Israel in the text today and his message is one that many people would question. How can a loving God order the Israelites to go in and destroy every man, woman and child in their effort to take over their nations? Well, verse four is our answer, “For they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.” The Lord knows how stiff necked these people are. He knows their sinful ways. He didn’t choose them because they were wonderful, perfect people. He choose them because He loved them and we all know that love is blind. Of course, we are the same way. God warns us and warns us and makes promises to us and we sin and complain and follow our own devices rather than God. Then we fall on our knees and ask for forgiveness and we are thankful that He does forgive us.
So, finally in Matthew 10, we have Jesus collecting all His disciples. Now, they had probably been following Him for a while now. He isn’t going to call the disciples one day and send them out on a missionary project the next day. That’s not how the Lord works. But because in the time line, Jesus was ready to send out the twelve, it is an opportune time to list the men and give them credit. Jesus also sees this as a teachable moment. He begins to warn them about a time after His death and resurrection when they would be persecuted and arrested and tried and killed. This task of being His disciples wasn’t all glamour and glory. It would be fun following Jesus. It was be amazing to see what they saw. But, it was going to get messy. It was going to get dangerous. This is life and death stuff: eternal life or eternal death stuff.
Anyway, enjoy your Thursday. Stay in the Word. Pray to God often through the day and He will get you through, holding your hand all the way.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2009
PSALM 103:1-10
DEUTERONOMY 8:1-20
MATTHEW 10:24-42
It’s Friday! For me, it’s a nice relaxing day. I have a little work to do, but nothing heavy. I do have to work on my Power Point for the LWML Zone Rally tomorrow at Redeemer Lutheran Church. So, if you want to hear about my trip to India, stop by about 9am tomorrow.
I dare you to read the Psalms and not be uplifted. In our Psalm for today, it begins by stating the fact that his soul is blessing the Lord and then he gives us the reasons why he is blessing the Lord. He forgives us. He redeems us. He satisfies us. He works righteousness. He works justice. He is merciful. He is gracious. Our Lord does so much for us. We should constantly be in the Psalms so we are constantly reminded of what the Lord does in our live. Each day our Lord blesses us. Each day we thank Him for all He does. Sure, it may be cold and raining outside, but He gives us food and clothing and all that we have to live on. We are loved by our God and nothing is going to change that.
Moses continues his long speech to the people of Israel. They need a long speech. They need to remember all that the Lord has done for them over the last 500 years, from choosing Abraham and promising this land to him and his descendants to the 10 plagues that haunted the Egyptians but didn’t touch the Israelites. They wandered the wilderness for 40 years, and yet, their clothes didn’t wear out and their feet did not swell. Can you imagine that? That is utterly amazing.
Life is tough. Hey, my wife lost her good paying job. We are living paycheck to paycheck. But we are surviving. We’ve had to cut back. But the Lord is getting us through. He really is. So, we are living our this lesson from Matthew. One can get two sparrows for a penny. In other words, sparrows are cheap. Yet, the Lord will not let one of them fall to the ground. He protects them, how much more is He going to protect us for whom His Son died on the cross. He even has the hairs of our head numbered. He loves us and takes care of us. He forgives us. That’s why the Lord should be the center of our lives. He does so much for us. It is just so amazing what He can do in our lives. Focus on the Lord and every day will be a good day.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009
PSALM 106:1-12
DEUTERONOMY 9:1-22
MATTHEW 11:1-19
Good morning! It’s a chilly day but that’s okay. I’m in my nice warm family room in front of the television watching the news trying to get motivated to get in the shower so I can do a presentation of my India trip to the LWML Zone. It’s going to be a great day.
The first verse of our Psalm kind of summarizes the whole thing. “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Yes, our Lord is so good to us. Even though we have sinned, He forgives us through His Son. Oh yes, we sin daily and yet the Lord puts up with us and sends His Holy Spirit to us to show us our sin until we repent and then He shows us our Savior and the forgiveness we receive through Him. Just as He saved the Israelites from the Red Sea, He saves us through His Son. We are forgiven and heaven belongs to us.
Moses continues to remind the Israelites of all their mistakes from the time they left Egypt until that day. And yes, you can’t remember mistakes without remembering the incident with the Golden Calf. Can you imagine, Moses was up on the mountain with God for 40 days and 40 nights and while he was there, he had nothing to eat or drink? What the heck do you do on a mountain with God for 40 days and 40 nights? And from our reading, it sounds like Moses did this twice, once as they were making the Golden Calf and then again, after the Golden Calf. I can’t even imagine.
I’ve preached on this Gospel lesson many times. I think I’ve written about it here before. John the Baptists’ disciples come and visit Jesus. They ask if He is the Christ or should they look for another. Of course He’s the Christ. Look at what He’s done. He’s healed the sick. He’s made the blind see. The lame leap like a deer. He has fulfilled all that the Old Testament says He would do. He is the Christ.
Well, I better get in the shower and get ready. Have a blessed day. Keep in contact with the Lord through the day and He will bless you.