Daily Devotions

During the Lenten season, members of Faith Lutheran Church have written our daily devotions.  Today’s writer is Alan Balius.

²Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and against Aaron. ³The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had died when our kindred died before the Lord! ⁴Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? ⁵Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.” ⁶Then Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting; they fell on their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ⁸Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aaron, and command the rock before their eyes to yield its water. Thus you shall bring water out of the rock for them; thus you shall provide drink for the congregation and their livestock. Numbers 20:2-8

It’s amazing!  The same Israelites who God rescued from slavery in Egypt have a laundry list of objections to God’s provisions for them in the wilderness—there are no figs, vines, pomegranates, and now there appears to be no water.  This is not turning out the way anyone—not even Moses and Aaron—had expected.  But the brothers waited faithfully for the Lord’s direction:  Strike a rock with the staff—the same staff that led the Israelites through the Red Sea—and water will flow forth for the Israelites and their animals.

Drawing water from a rock would be even more significant if it had changed the people’s scornful attitudes to praise and thanksgiving, but here’s a quote from Numbers 21:5, one chapter later:   “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.”  To paraphrase:  “Hey, Moses, what have you done for us lately?” 

It’s easy for me, and perhaps for you, to look with amazement and ridicule at the Hebrews who quarreled with Moses and with God; however, if I’m honest, I see myself not faithful as Moses, but as full of fear and faithlessness as the grumbling Israelites.  It’s always a lot easier to complain than to be thankful, but God calls us to faithfulness, praise, and thanksgiving.  After all, we are still precious in the sight of the One who loves us in spite of our daily grumblings.  Let’s begin and/or end this day with praise.

Let us pray:  Gracious God, you are the God of our salvation, the Creator of the universe.  We think of ourselves as faithful and content, but we’re often faithless and covetous.  Strike our hearts so that love will flow forth for all people.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

During the Lenten season, members of Faith Lutheran Church have written our daily devotions.  Today’s writer is Denise Adams.

³Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” ⁴And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵He sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. ⁶Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar. ⁷Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” ⁸Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, “See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Exodus 24:3-8

As I read this passage, I think about laws (rules) and promises.

Almost every day I have the opportunity to teach children about rules.  When one of the children “forgets” I remind them “rules are made to keep you and your friends safe”.  I ask them to try very hard to remember the rules so they are able to continue to play safely.  I tell them that they can come ask me if they forget the rules.  They often promise “not to do it again”.  Of course, this promise is most often broken.

The Israelites promised Moses that they would follow the Ten Commandments.   They also broke their promise.  God expects us to follow His rules as well.  God also expects that we will “forget”.  He tells us we can come to Him when we “forget” His rules.  He sent His Son to die for us that by His grace we will always be forgiven for “forgetting” His rules and breaking those promises.

As I continuously remind the children about the rules at school, God reminds us about His Laws and forgives us when we “forget” our promises.

Let us pray:  Dear God, thank you for your rules and for your forgiveness when we break our promise to follow them. Amen.

During the Lenten season, members of Faith Lutheran Church have written our daily devotions.  Today’s writer is Davis Adams.

¹⁰As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. ¹¹They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? ¹²Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” ¹³But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. ¹⁴The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” Exodus 14:10-14

During the Lenten season, members of Faith Lutheran Church have written our daily devotions.  Today’s writer is Rachael White.

²⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt. Genesis 50:24-26

Genesis begins with life and ends with death.  Joseph’s life was filled with adversity yet his humility, wisdom, sympathy courage, patience and generosity allowed him to forgive.  God dominated his life; it was the secret for all he did.  It was his simple trust in God that enabled him to be what he was and did what he did.  Joseph had faith in God.  He passed this faith on through his forgiveness and love for his family that lasted a lifetime.  In the end he said I die, but God will be with you-God remains.

All of us have been betrayed or been the betrayer.  We can forgive or ask to be forgiven, but only God can help us to forgive completely.  There comes a time in our lives that we have been so hurt that true forgiveness is unattainable without asking for God’s love and guidance to show us how. 

Until recently, I did not have the faith I needed to understand what forgiveness felt like, I prayed for God to help me forgive others and to forgive me of my sins.  Yes, I had to admit my role in what I saw as wrongs done against me.  Slowly, as each day passes my resentments, guilt and self-pity that have literary been eating away at me for the last 15 years have begun to fade.  God has intended everything that has happened in my life, good and bad, to show me that I must trust him and have faith in him to endure the trials that lay ahead.

Let us pray:  Lord, thank you that you intend everything that happens to us for our good.  Give me the strength to live that out; to live, to grow, to love and to show others what you have taught me in hard times.  Amen

During the Lenten season, members of Faith Lutheran Church have written our daily devotions.  Today’s writer is Christina Montalvo.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ²I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3

The Dean of Student Affairs at my medical school often talked about the ‘Impostor Syndrome.’ How did I get into this great school? I don’t deserve to be here. I’m a fraud, and it’s only a matter of time before everyone else figures it out. 

Every now and again, and pretty much always during service, I wonder if I’m an Impostor and perhaps I should gather my things and quietly retreat to the door, but then I read the story of Abram, a pagan man who not once but twice passed his wife as his sister among several other sins. And it reminds me that God’s promise is a covenant of Grace, the unconditional and undeserving love of God, even to sinners like Abram.

Like Abram, we are all set forth on this incredible journey and instead of feeling like we are aimlessly roaming through the desert, we should trust in God’s will and recognize that this is all part of a voyage with a great destination.

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, as we carry on this great journey with many unexpected twists and turns, help give us the strength to bear the unexpected, the will to remember our blessings and the guidance to make good choices.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

During the Lenten season, members of Faith Lutheran Church have written our daily devotions.  Today’s writer is Doug Elsen.

¹⁵The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Genesis 2:15-17

In Genesis 2:15 – 17 God gave each of us an awesome amount of responsibility.  He gave us the power over ourselves and his world.  When I wake up each morning, I need to understand what a great undertaking it is to be part of God’s kingdom.  This responsibility includes service to our church.  We have many opportunities to serve and there are openings all the time for people to participate.  When I am asked to serve in leadership, I feel that it is my responsibility to serve where asked.  We are also responsible givers, practicing intentional giving that honors God and the church that we attend.

God gave us the power to make choices.  Each time we do this, we should prayerfully ask God’s guidance.  There are times when we are tempted by the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  When we make the right decision with God’s guidance we are rewarded.  It is difficult to live with the pain of bad decisions.  Each day in our business we are presented with situations where we have to evaluate what is the right decision.  There are so many temptations in business dealings, money being the main culprit, that we sometimes lose our focus on what is right and wrong.  The Holy Spirit works in us to make these choices and also to realize when we fail that there is a forgiving God who is always there for us and who gave us his Son to take away our sins.  What else do we need?  We have all the tools we need to live in this complicated world in which God has placed us.

Let us pray:  Heavenly Father, please remind us daily the responsibilities that come with faith. Show us how to serve you best and guide our thoughts and actions. Thank you for all you have given us. Amen.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

Do not plan harm against your neighbor who lives trustingly beside you.

Do not quarrel with anyone without cause, when no harm has been done to you.  Proverbs 3:27-30

I can remember a time in my life when the idea of Christianity basically boiled down to a long laundry list of stuff that I wasn’t supposed to do.  The only sense of “Trinity” connected to Christianity was “Thou Shalt Not.”

The trouble was…lots of that stuff was fun.  I didn’t like the idea of God or anyone else telling me what I wasn’t supposed to do.  The Ten Commandments were, for me at least, ten suggestions or ten pretty good ideas.

Obviously I came around to a new way of thinking.  And then one day I found myself sitting in a class at the seminary and listening to Jim Nestigen lead us through Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.  He pointed out to us how Luther saw both a “no” and a “yes” in each commandment.  It wasn’t simply that God was telling us what not to do, God was also opening us to the new world that would come about when we acted on the positive impulses of the law.

Not just “Thou shalt not kill” but also “we are to fear and love God so that we do not hurt our neighbor in any way, but help him in all his physical needs.”  And a whole new world opened up for me.

The old Christian faith of rules and regulations died and a new vision of faith as a means of preserving, protecting, and celebrating the giftedness of life rose up out of the ashes.  I saw then with new eyes how the rules and regulations had their place, not as ends in themselves but as means to an end, as participating in the very ends to which they would lead and guide us.

So it is that I hear these words from Proverbs this morning and I am reminded of how simple – and hard – it is to walk by faith.  I’ll have opportunity today to do good for someone else and I’ll be free to do it.  I’ll be given a chance to love my neighbor.  It will happen today and I’ll be available today to do it.  There are people in my life who trust me and today I will prove myself worthy of their trust by acting in a trustworthy manner. 

Things will happen today that will tempt me to anger and resentment – it is going to happen because it does every day – but I will recall these verses.  I will see others in my life through the eyes of faith.  I will see others as just as limited and self absorbed and scared as I am.  And my resentment will give way to compassion, my anger will be replaced by curiosity and willingness to seek to understand.

All of this will happen today.  Because all of this happens everyday.   And today I will see it for what it is because the Christian faith is not only real for me today but it finally allows me to see reality for what it is.  God is at work in, around, and through me – and through you – and through all of those around us – today and every day.

Let us pray:  Open the eyes of our hearts, O Lord, that we might see you at work in each moment of our lives.  Give us opportunity today to let your love become enfleshed anew through us again today in how we treat and respond to our neighbors.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans.

If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.  Exodus 22:21-27

Yesterday was a busy day at Faith Lutheran Church.  Between the two morning worship services our congregation put together 500 personal care kits which were delivered to homeless people on the streets of Houston.  The Faith Chinese Fellowship met in the afternoon.  Our middle school confirmation kids and their parents spent three hours at the Holocaust Museum.  The day ended with hospital visits to a 4^th grader battling leukemia and one of our senior saints who continues his struggles with some chronic health problems.

It was, I think, the church at its finest.

Also someone told me yesterday that the pope had sold his Harley.  In their telling of the story, they said that the pope had been criticized for owning such an expensive motorcycle when he calls the church to be mindful of the poor.  That wasn’t really what happened.

What happened was that Willie Davidson gave the bike to the pope as a gift in honor of the 110^th anniversary of Harley Davidson.  His intention all along was that the bike be given away for charity.  The bike and a motorcycle jacket, both autographed by the pope, sold for $404,485 with the proceeds going to benefit a hostel and soup kitchen at the Termini train station in Rome.  Willie, the pope, and the buyers did a good thing.

I don’t know the pope.  I don’t have his phone number and I doubt he would take my call if I tried.  But here is what I know for sure – if you asked him who the most important people in the world are, he wouldn’t hesitate to answer, “The next person who shows up to eat at the Termini train station soup kitchen.”

It is that way of thinking.  And that way of being.  That is the hope of the world.

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, this morning we resolve to put first things first.  We pray for the eyes to see the hurting, the alien, the poor, the widow, the orphan, and to respond with compassion and care.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Thus says the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, ²and say: Hear the word of the Lord, O King of Judah sitting on the throne of David—you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. ³Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if you will indeed obey this word, then through the gates of this house shall enter kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their servants, and their people. ⁵But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.  Jeremiah 22:1-5

The book of Jeremiah describes how the people of Israel slipped into one of their darkest chapters.  The not always so subtle slide that began with the excesses of Solomon, the fall of the north to Assyria, finally gave way to the Babylonian army camped outside of Jerusalem, demanding pay off money for years, and finally crushing the city and its inhabitants.

Jeremiah’s job, as God’s prophetic spokesperson, was to name reality for what it was.  The city was in dire straights, not because of the strength of the Babylonian army, but because of its own decadence, its own oppression and neglect of the powerless among them, and its own pursuit of worldly comfort rather than spiritual centeredness.

In today’s verses, Jeremiah lays out the issues very clearly – if the king of Judah would return to God’s will of justice for the poor, and care for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, then God would rescue them.  If not, they were doomed.  They chose not.

Any time we choose to serve an idol, a god of our imagination, seeking to preserve our lives, we are doomed.  God doesn’t have to push any punishments buttons to take us there.  The consequences come built in to the choices.  Idols kill; God gives life.  That is the foundational bedrock of reality.

Many of us have been reading and hearing various comments regarding the death of the actor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  He died of an overdose of heroin, a needle still in his arm, with 30 bags of heroin and a dozen fresh needles in his apartment.  His was a tragic death, a great loss, but it wasn’t his fate, or his destiny, nor was it the inevitable end for him.

Addicts who seek help are quickly told that the inevitable end of a life of addiction is death, insanity, or prison.  But they are also told that there is a way out – the possibility of a new life, freedom from the obsession to use, a new way of being that depends on the support of God and other addicts, provided they take certain steps.  That provision – the taking of certain steps – grounds the spirituality of recovery in real life, with real people, seeking a real solution for a real problem.  It isn’t pie-in-the-sky empty spiritual mumbo jumbo.

Hoffman knew all about that.  He had been privileged to spend time in rehab, a privilege available only to a small percentage of addicts.  None of us can climb into his brain but, from the outside looking in, his addiction erased the memory of his own powerlessness.  Forgetting that, he neglected to reach out to another addict, to get to a meeting, to do what he knew he could do to get the help he needed.  Forgetting his powerlessness, he acted it out with tragic consequences.

God didn’t kill him.  God wasn’t even punishing him.  God loved him right to and through the end.  The deadly consequences were built into the drug and the lies that addiction tells.

Jeremiah was right.  Israel was soon to be decimated.  A generation would grow up in the refugee camps in Babylon.  The holy city would be destroyed, the temple demolished.  But God would still be with them, even in the darkest moments.  And God would enable them to return, to rebuild, to get on with their lives.

The message for today is simple – God will always hold open the door to life, and will love us enough to give us the freedom to take certain steps to find it.

Let us pray:  Gracious Lord, we pray today for all those who live their lives on the edge, suffering from the indecision, unwillingness, or blindness that denies God’s presence or claim upon their lives.  Work in, through and among us, that we might surrender to your will and turn our lives over to your care and protection.  May we find life in honesty, openmindedness, willingness, and humble service to others.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

It shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not continually accuse, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirits would grow faint before me, even the souls that I have made.

Because of their wicked covetousness I was angry; I struck them, I hid and was angry; but they kept turning back to their own ways. I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will lead them and repay them with comfort, creating for their mourners the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord; and I will heal them.  Isaiah 57:14-19

“Build up, build up, prepare the way…”

Someone is building a new house across the street from our church.  There used to be a tiny little house there which was built back in the late 1940’s.  It was a perfectly fine house.  Children were raised there.  Eventually renters came and went.  Then it was put up for sale on last time and now it is no longer there.

I noticed the day it disappeared.  One morning it was the house that it had always been.  Then came a bulldozer and a tractor with a bucket.  By the afternoon, it was a pile of rubble.  By the evening, it was a vacant lot.  Now they have spent weeks building a new, much larger, house on the property.

Tearing things down is easy, quick.  Building things takes a lot more time.

Are you a builder or do you prefer to tear things down?

I watched Richard Sherman’s interview after the Seahawks beat the 49’s.  He was excited after knocking down a potential touchdown pass.  In the heat of the moment he gave a little rant instead of the normal cliché ridden post-game speech.  The next thing you know, people who don’t know the first thing about Sherman, let alone know him personally, are going off on how bad of a person he is.  It is easy to tear things down.

It is easy to tear people down, to criticize the government, to point out what we aren’t doing that we ought to.  It is easy to tear ourselves down, to look with critical eyes into every mirror, including the inner eyes that see what no one else can see.

Building is harder.  It takes more time, more care, more thought, more love.

This morning, God calls us to build up, not to tear down.

Let us pray:  Gracious Lord, it is so easy, so tempting, to tear down, to be negative, to spot flaws, to criticize others.  It is so hard to build up, to watch our tongues, to see things from the other’s point of view.  Today, use us to build.  And build us as well, from the inside out.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.