Trust

“In God, my faithful God,

I trust when dark my road;

Great woes may overtake me,

Yet He will not forsake me.

My troubles He can alter;

His hand lets nothing falter.”

~Lutheran Service Book 745 vs. 1

 

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The Lord Alone

Today’s readings:  Isaiah 45:11-48:11; Ephesians 4:1-16; Psalm 68:19-35; Proverbs 24:3-4

“For this is what the Lord says–he who created the heavens, he is God;

he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it;

he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited–

he says:  “I am the Lord, and there is no other.

I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness;

I, the Lord, speak the truth;  I declare what is right.”  Isaiah 45:18-19

Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word;  Curb those who by deceit or sword would wrest the kingdom from Your Son and bring to naught all He has done.

Lord Jesus Christ, Your pow’r make known, for You are Lord of lords alone;  defend Your holy Church that we may sing Your praise eternally.

O Comforter of priceless worth, send peace and unity on earth;  support us in our final strife and lead us out of death to life.   ~hymn by Martin Luther, 1483-1546

Whose words do you trust?  In whom do you trust?  In what do you place your trust?

If it is not in Jesus Christ, your trust is in vain.  He alone is Lord of Lords.

Turn our hearts to You and You alone, O Christ.  You have the Words of eternal life!  Amen.

Above All!

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,

may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation

 in the knowledge of him,

having the eyes of your heart enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope

to which he has called you,

what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power

towards us who believe,

according to the working of his great might

that he worked in Christ

when he raised him from the dead

and seated him at his right hand

in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority

and power and dominion,

and above every name that is named,

not only in this age but also in the age to come.

And he put all things under his feet

and gave him as head over all things to the church,

which is his body,

the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

Ephesians 1:16-22

Lord,  help us to remember today and always that you alone are God and to you alone belongs our devotion and praise and trust.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Walked the Road

photo by Jennifer Cabrera

O Christ, You walked the road our wandr’ing feet must go.  You faced with us temptations power and fought our ancient foe.

No bread of earth alone can fill our hung’ring hearts.  Lord, help us seek Your living Word, the food Your grace imparts.

No blinding sign we ask, no wonder from above.  Lord, help us place our trust alone in Your unswerving love.

When lures of easy gain with promise brightly shine, Lord, help us seek Your kingdom first; our will with Yours align.

O Christ, You walked the road our wand’ring feet must go.  Stay with us through temptation’s hour to fight our ancient foe.

Hymn text by Herman Stuempfle, Jr. 1923-2007

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.  No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will  be able to endure it.  Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” 1 Corinthians 10:12-14.

Changeless Love

Photo by Laura Jostes

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on

your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out

and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.”

Psalm 121

* * * * *

If you but trust in God to guide you

And place your confidence in Him,

You’ll find him always there beside you

To give you hope and strength within.

For those who trust God’s changeless love

Build on the rock that will not move.

~Georg Neumark, 1621-81

Lord God, through Your Son Jesus Christ, we have confidence that You are always with us and hear our prayers.  Be with us today with all of its challenges, joys and struggles.  May we at the end of this day give you all thanks and praise for Your faithfulness.  In Your dear Son’s name we pray, Amen.

Lean On Him

Photo by Laura Jostes

The hill was steep, but cheered along the way

By converse  sweet, I mounted on the thought

That so it might be till the height was reached;

But suddenly a narrow winding path

Appeared, and then the Master  said, “My child,

Here thou wilt safest walk with Me alone.”

* * * * *

I trembled, yet my heart’s deep trust replied,

“So be it, Lord.”  He took,

my feeble hand

In His, accepting thus my will to yield Him

All, and to find all in Him.

One long, dark moment

and no friend I saw, save Jesus only.

* * * * *

But oh! so tenderly He led me on

And up, and spoke to me such words of cheer,

Such secret whisperings of His wondrous love,

That soon I told Him all my grief and fear,

And leaned on His strong arm confidingly.

And then I found my footsteps quickened,

And light ineffable, the rugged way

Illumined, such light as only can be seen

In close companionship with God.

* * * * *

A little while, and we shall meet again

The loved and lost; but in the rapturous joy

Of greetings, such as here we cannot know,

And happy song, and heavenly embraces,

And tender recollections rushing back

Of pilgrim life, methinks one memory

More dear and sacred than the rest, shall rise

And we who gather in the golden streets,

Shall oft be stirred to speak with grateful love

Of that dark day when Jesus bade us climb

Some narrow steep, leaning on Him alone.

From Streams In the Desert

~ Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”  Proverbs 3:5-6

Always There

Photo by Jennifer Burr

“From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind;

from His dwelling place he watches all who live on earth–

he who forms the hearts of all,

who considers everything they do.

 * * * * *

No king is saved by the size of his army;

no warrior escapes by his great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.

* * * * *

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

to deliver them from death,

and keep them alive in famine.

* * * * *

We wait in hope for the Lord;

he is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love rest upon us,

O Lord, even as we put our trust in you.”

Psalm 22:12-22

Lord God, so often I misplace my trust when I run into trouble.   Instead of falling on my knees and bringing to you my concerns I try “this and that”, I consult experts, I go to my friends, to books, to talk radio, to the internet.  Lord, forgive me for not coming to you first!  Lord, you know my human frailty and in your mercy you don’t turn away from me when I finally come to you.  You generously give your wisdom, your strength, your patience and perseverance to me.  And I am helped.  Thank you Lord God for your faithfulness and grace.  Always.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

We Are Limited, But He Is Not!

Photo by Laura Jostes

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments

and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor?

Or who has given a gift to him

that he might be repaid?

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Romans 11:33-36

* * * * *

In the hubbub of the day

the rush of activities

or in the still of the night

when thoughts and fears

rush in and continue

to clamour

and keep us awake

take heart

and remember the God who loves us

more than we could ever know;

whose grace and mercy gathers us to himself

and by faith keeps us ever near.

Listen.

He whispers: ‘Fear not,

I have overcome the world…

and all those things you are worried about.

Lean on me.

I will not buckle under

your load of care.

My strength will be yours.

I will not let you fall.’

Lord God, even though we cannot understand your ways we trust you to know what is best for us and our loved ones, and that your love surrounds us day and night.  Thank and praise you for such undeserved favor.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we commend ourselves and all things to you this day.  In His name we pray, Amen.

Image by Marian Trinidad

“When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.  Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Therefore, they could not believe.

 For again, the prophet said,

“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”

* * * * *

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.  Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;

for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

* * * * *

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.  And whoever sees me, sees him who sent me.  I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”  John 12:36b-46

Lord God, many folks have a hard time “seeing” you, believing that you came into this world in human form, to live like us, to die like us.  Many have a hard time believing that Jesus was raised from the dead and lives eternally even now.  Many doubt and just give up.  Lord have mercy on them.  Draw them near to you through the power of your Holy Spirit, cleanse them from their sin and unbelief and give them eyes to see.  Thank you for opening my eyes and giving me faith to believe in you.  Help me to be a bold confessor amid the scoffers.  Forgive me for times when I have remained silent rather than speak your Name.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

May 1 Just Resting

Photo by Laura Jostes

Devotion taken from Streams In The Desert compiled by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

“God that cannot lie.”  Titus 1:2

Faith is not working up by willpower a sort of certainty that something is coming to pass, but it is seeing as an actual fact that God has said that this thing shall come to pass, and that it is true, and then rejoicing to know that it is true, and just resting because God has said it.

Faith turns the promise into a prophecy.  While it is merely a promise it is contingent upon our cooperation.  But when faith claims it, it becomes a prophecy, and we go forth feeling that it is something that must be done because God cannot lie. ~ From Days of Heaven Upon Earth.

* * * * * 

I hear men praying everywhere for more faith, but when I listen to them carefully, and get at the real heart of their prayer, very often it is not more faith at all that they are wanting, but a change from faith to sight.

Faith says not, “”I see that it is good for me, so God must have sent it, but, “God sent it, and so it must be good for me.”

Faith, walking in the dark with God, only prays Him to clasp its hand more closely.  ~Phillips Brooks

* * * * *

The Shepherd does not ask of thee

Faith in thy faith, but only faith in Him;

And this He meant in saying, “Come to me.”

In light or darkness seek to do His will,

And leave the work of faith to Jesus still.

* * * * *

“Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.  Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

“Nazareth!  Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”

“How do you know me?”  Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God;  you are the King of Israel.”

Jesus answered, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.  You shall see greater things than that.”

John 1:44-50

Lord God, help us to walk this day by faith.  May we see Your Word as a light unto our path illuminating each step of the way, trusting in your promises.  There is nothing that can separate us from your great love.  We give you thanks and praise!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.