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Today’s devotion is based on the sermon of June 5, 2022.  Listen to it here!

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Speak up or stay silent?

Just 50 days earlier when confronted about his connection to Jesus, Peter said, “I don’t know the man!”  Three times when given a “crowd” to speak to, he cowered and denied his connection to Jesus.

Has this ever happened to you?

Given an opportunity to speak to the truth of the Lord…but then cave?  Or speak the exact opposite than a clear witness?

I know I have.

Like Peter, afterwards you feel as though you have let your Savior down when you deny him, or at least fail to speak up for him.  It is crushing as Jesus promised and warned:

Matthew 10:32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

So what changed over the next month and a half that at Pentecost he spoke boldly to the crowd the Lord gathered?

Jesus could have let Peter in his despair after the denial and the voice of Peter’s witness could have been silent.  Yet Jesus did not want Satan to win, but rather to unleash the power of the Spirit through Peter.  So before he went back into heaven, Jesus spent time directly with Peter to reinstate and reaffirm the purpose Jesus had for him – “Feed my sheep!”

        15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. (John 21:15-17)

Then just a short time after, the Spirit of God filled Peter to speak with boldness to the crowd that was gathered in Jerusalem.

What does that mean for us?  Jesus does not want a failure in witness to silence our witness.  Jesus went to the cross for the times we remained silent.  The Spirit of God recorded Jesus’ conversation with Peter so we too could hear Jesus’ heart that builds on the forgiveness he gives to send us out once again to be his witnesses.

And, like Peter, he doesn’t send us out without the promise that the Spirit of God would be with us.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses… (Acts 1:8) While this promise was first directed at the original followers of Jesus, the promise is given to all who are witnesses of the word and work of the Lord and desire to proclaim it to others.

So, speak up!  The Lord has given you experience with his love and grace.  Speak boldly!  The Spirit of God is with you!

Apply: What is your story of grace? A witness speaks to what they see and hear.  What difference does it make that you have faith in Jesus?

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your forgiveness when I fail to witness.  Thank you for your Spirit who empowers me to witness.  AMEN

Acts 2:5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

A crowd came together in bewilderment.

Pentecost is filled with miracles.  All of them bringing to the culmination of God’s Spirit changing hearts of 3000 skeptics, unbelievers, misguided religious, or just plain curious people to know, believe and trust Jesus as their Savior.

The miracle of Pentecost does start with the sound of the wind and the tongues of fire…but the result of these anomalies is that a crowd gathered around the disciples.  The curiosity was not just the sound of the wind or the flames, but the fact they heard voices that were in their own languages from people they quickly found out or knew never studied the language.  This certainly is a wonderful blessing that the wonders of God were being proclaimed to so many people.

Wouldn’t it be nice if God gathered a crowd like this again?

Or does he?

I know it is easy for me to wish for the “big” while overlooking the “small.”  We perhaps wish and wonder if God will gather such a big crowd again.  Perhaps, but maybe he wants us to see the crowd he is gathering around us.  It is probably not 3000, 300 or 30…but maybe it’s three.  Three people that are not that different from the crowd the Spirit gathered in Jerusalem.  Do you know people who don’t know Jesus or have drifted from Jesus who…

• Come from a different cultural background?
• Are religious, but don’t know grace and the message of Christ?
• Skeptics?
• Detractors who downplay or dismiss the Christian faith?
• People who are curious or confused about spiritual matters?
• Spiritual, but not grounded?

Where is this crowd?  Perhaps it is the people living next door…maybe working next to you…maybe sitting next to you on the athletic sidelines…maybe in the same hobby club…maybe…you fill in the blank.

Perhaps with a little thought and focus, we begin to see the people God’s Spirit has gathered around us that are disconnected from Jesus, don’t know Jesus, or curious about Jesus – or all of the above.

Who is that for you?

A former member shared recently that his wife’s dad had passed away.  Before he passed, he questioned, “Why am I still here, I am ready to go to heaven.”  As he was in a care facility, he had a chance to share his faith with the staff that cared for him.  God gave him one last crowd to which to declare the wonders of God.

God is putting a crowd around you who needs Jesus.  Be ready!

Apply: Write down 1-5 names that are in your “crowd” that need Jesus.  Pray for opportunities to have a conversation about the “wonders of God.”

Prayer:  Spirit of God, thank you for gathering a crowd around me that needs Jesus.  Give me boldness and clarity to declare the wonders of God to them.  AMEN.

Today’s devotion is based on the sermon of June 5, 2022.  Listen to it here!

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Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11)

 

Ever since this event after the worldwide flood, language has been a barrier to the interaction of people.  Language was to be a unifying aspect of the world’s population.  God intended that people would multiply and fill the earth and have a common language that whenever they would get together they could both communicate and understand each other.  However, like with so many things God intends to be a blessing to people, people with a sinful nature use that blessing for selfish purposes.  Language was no different.

Instead of listening to the Lord’s command and filling the earth, they concocted an idea for self-promotion.  They communicated to one another, not the words and direction of the Lord, but used language to promote and convince others to go against the word of the Lord and build a city with a tower to promote themselves.

God did not coddle them and but rather divided them.  Language would no longer be a blessing that united, it would be a curse that divided.  Because the languages were confused, people gathered with others who spoke a similar language and settled in different parts of the world (Note: There is and always has been one race, the human race.  However, the division of languages has created different people groups (which our current culture calls “races”).

For thousands of years and still today we live in the shadow of the selfishness of Babel and the struggle to overcome language barriers to communicate and work together.

Yet there is one message that transcends “every, nation, tribe and people.”  The message of the Gospel is to be communicated in and among all nations.  It is the power of God for the salvation of souls.

In the event of Pentecost for a brief time, the Lord allowed the language barrier to be miraculously overcome to “declare the wonders of God.”  As people from all over the Mediterranean world gathered in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples with the ability to speak fluently in other languages.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:1-11)

For a brief moment in time, the language barrier was overcome to communicate the words and work of God to the hearts of people.  The power of the Gospel and the work of the Spirit is what overcomes the division of languages to bring salvation to all people.

Language is still a barrier and the curse of Babel still creates barriers, but dedicated men and women with a love for Jesus are using their God given gifts to bring the “wonders of God” to every nation, tribe and language.

Apply: How can you be part of or support the message of the Gospel reaching others who don’t speak the same language as you?  Here’s two to consider: Dr. Chris & Janine Pluger works with Lutheran Bible Translators (https://lbt.org/project/chris-janine-pluger/) or the WELS World Missions (https://missions.welsrc.net/)  or if you need resources in different languages (https://mlp.welsrc.net/).

Prayer: Lord, you directed us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.  Equip us with the power of language to communicate the power of your Gospel to the hearts of people. AMEN.

Isaiah 41:10        So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

This verse from Isaiah is my daughter’s confirmation verse.  The more I reflect on it, the more I love it and I pray it carries with her throughout her life.  Within four short lines, the Spirit of God packed a ton of promise and hope for today and the future.

The verses don’t downplay or dismiss the hardships and difficulties of life, they direct us through them with the person of God and the promises he gives.

1. There will be and are things in this world that make us afraid…God is with you!

Fear is dismissed when we are with someone who already knows the outcome.  As a kid, you are always more comfortable doing something with a parent who is with you.  They are stronger and they already know the experience so are not afraid.  Multiply that greatly and you have God’s promise.  When we are afraid of life itself, God who is all powerful and eternal has already journeyed the path and promises to be with you.  Jesus promised as he left, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

2. There will be things in this world that cause us to be discouraged…God is your God!

The word that is translated “dismayed” means to have discouragement about the future.  Have you felt that recently…for a while?  As you look at the events happening around us, it is easy to be discouraged about the future, to look at it with great pessimism versus optimism.  But remember God already knows the future and ultimately, because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has planned for you the most glorious future in heaven.  When we walk each day with the Lord we have these promises from the Lord:

Psalm 139:13      For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. …

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Romans 8:28  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

 

3. There will be things we feel powerless over…God will strengthen you!

Many things are out of our control.  We don’t like to admit it, but eventually we do.  We wish we could change the situation.  We wish we could overcome the difficulty.  All too often we run to our own strength first and only when that is exhausted do we turn to the Lord.  Let’s reverse that and turn to him first.  He will strengthen you.  After all, he promises victory!

Romans 8:35-39 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

4. There are things we feel tired to continue to engage in…God will uphold you!

Hold up your arms above your head.  How long could you do that?  A minute or two?  Now have someone hold up your arm for you.  How long do you think you could do it now?  Much longer, right?  When we feel like giving up and the battles of life too strong, the Lord says, I will hold you up with my righteous right hand.  The picture and promise are like that which Moses experienced:

Exodus 17:11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

There is more that could be said about this short, yet powerful verse.  But perhaps these two statements summarize it:

1. The world is full of evil, that’s why God reminds us of who HE is and what HE promises!
2. What I am not, God is. What I can’t do, God will.

Truly this is a passage worth carrying through life!

 

Apply: Take time to memorize Isaiah 41:10

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for reminding me of who you are, my strong, personal, present God.  Thank you for your promises that are sure and true.  You will be with me, strengthen and uphold me.  For all this I am truly grateful! AMEN.

 

How was your weekend?

Oh, it’s already Thursday and you probably forgot about last weekend already and are looking forward to the one ahead.

I don’t know if I have fully grasped all the significance packed into one weekend for our family.  Without giving all the details, our oldest graduated from high school and we celebrated that with an open house on Sunday afternoon.  Our youngest finished middle school and gave profession of her faith at confirmation on Sunday.  We celebrated that event with another three adults who were confirmed and one was also baptized.  My parents and two of my sisters and their families joined in the events as well creating time for family and connection there.  Members and friends came to help celebrate these faith and life events as well as sent cards to our girls to wish them well and remind them they are loved by God and other people.

As I was at our chiropractor last week, he asked about the upcoming weekend and as I shared all of the faith and life events we were observing, he said, “Just take a few moments to step back and observe what was happening.”  At the graduation ceremony, the principal of the high school encouraged the class to live with gratitude.

So through the lens of gratitude I have much for which to be thankful.  God is truly faithful to his promise, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).  While not perfectly, God is at the center of our family – immediate and extended.  To see that lived in your daughters, and professed publically at confirmation is a moment I will never forget, and I pray continues to grow deeper and more convicted in the future.  As I contemplate the life change coming this summer, it comes with the consistency of a God who loves us and walks with us through life.  As you see lives impacted by the Gospel in your own family and others, you realize most of life doesn’t matter, only your faith in the Lord Jesus.  When that is secure, the rest will take care of itself.

A lot is happening in the world right now.  People being murdered.  Baby formula gone scarce.  Europe at the brink of war with Russia.  Economy making our money worth less.  Gender identity confusion.  Unborn lives struggling for protection.  A country searching for answers to life issues and a country relying on the government to fix things.  Our culture and country give us many reasons to be concerned about the future.  I would be dishonest to say I don’t worry about these as well and wonder what the world my daughters will be part of and perhaps one day their families.

Which is why I love my daughters’ confirmation verses.  They are great passages to begin every day with and carry throughout life:

The older from Joshua 1:9

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The younger from Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

The world and our lives have a lot going on…keep the Lord at the center of your heart and life!

Apply: What changes when you live by these promises each day?  Try it!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the power of your Spirit to work in our lives and those we love.  Keep us all close to you each day of our lives as we journey through life to an eternity with you.  Amen!