#wordandsacrament

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Only The LORD's Promises Keep & Strengthen Us

#DailyDevotion Only The LORD's Promises Keep & Strengthen Us Psalm 119 113I hate two-faced people, but I love Your teaching (torah). 114You are my Hiding Place and my Shield —I wait for Your promise (dabar). 115Go away from me, wicked men – I want to do what my God orders (mitsvah). 116Help me as You promised (imrah) so that I may live, and don't let me be disappointed in my hope. 117Strengthen me so I may be saved, and I will always respect Your laws (choq). 118You reject all who leave Your laws (edah) to go wrong with a lie they deceive themselves. 119You get rid of all the wicked on earth like dross, but I love the truths (edah) You wrote. 120My flesh shudders in fear of You; I stand in awe of Your judgments (misphat). Two-face, some translations are half-hearted or double-minded. Such are people who say they worship the LORD but they really put their trust in other things or people for every good. Hate is a pretty strong word. Are we supposed to hate? St. Paul tells us to stay away from people who call themselves Christians but who live unrepentant lives. We can't avoid unbelievers though without leaving the world. (1 Cor. 5:11ff, Rom. 16:17) We on the other hand should love the LORD's teaching. We see His teachings in the Gospels and the letters of the Apostles. The LORD Jesus Christ is our Hiding Place and Shield. We turn to Him from protection against all evil thoughts and actions. We are called to wait for His promise. Peter tells us in his second epistle, "4Thus He has given us His precious and very great promises, so that after you have escaped the corruption that lust brought into the world, you might by these promises share in the divine nature." Bad company corrupts good character so it is right for the psalmist to expel wicked men from his midst. It's tough enough dealing with our own flesh in wanting to do what God had commanded us. We don't need to hang around false Christians who tempt us into do evil. A promise we can look to is from Isaiah 45, "22Turn to Me to be saved, all you most distant parts of the world, because I am God, and there is no other." We need to remind the LORD of His promises not because He forgets but because we do. Sometimes it seems long in coming but He will and does fulfill all His promises. His petition to be strengthened so he may be saved reminds us that we need to continually be strengthened by the LORD to remain faithful and be saved. He has given baptism, the Supper, absolution and the preaching and teaching of His Word to keep His promise of preserving us in the faith unto life everlasting. By His strengthening we keep all that He tells us. Verses 118 and 119 should be terrifying to those who pick and choose what parts of God's Word they are going to keep and not keep. True, many of the particulars of the Mosaic Law are no longer in force. They were for Israel as a nation state. Jesus has fulfilled it all for us. Yet, there remains in the New Testament His moral law which we keep by the Gospel. We should not dismiss the holiness Jesus has called us to through His holy apostles. We should not be like those who abuse God's grace in Christ Jesus in order to sin. They will not remain with the LORD. He will get rid of them all in the Lake of Fire on the Last Day. We love all truths the LORD has given us through the apostles and prophets. Our flesh should indeed shudder at the LORD's commands. It never keeps them. It will be purified by fire and a new glorified body will be given us at the resurrection. We indeed should stand in awe of all the LORD has given us. In them we find the power, wisdom, might, grace, mercy and peace of the LORD our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Merciful Father, grant us Your grace through Word and Sacrament to uphold all You have given us so we may shun those who reject Your teaching but call themselves Your people and live according to Your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

[s-y-s-y-e-d]

The light of the world... #htlcyonkers #church #chiesa #lcms #lutheran #stainedglass #wordandsacrament

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Being In The LORD's House Is Better Than Anything Else.

#DailyDevotion Being In The LORD's House Is Better Than Anything Else. Psalm 84 5Blessed are those whose refuge is in You: their minds are on the pilgrim roads. 6As they pass through the valley of weeping they make it a place of springs. The early rains also cover it with blessings. 7They get stronger and stronger until each appears before God in Zion. Truly those are blessed who take refuge in the LORD the God of Israel. It doesn't mean everything is going well all the time. It does mean God will be with us and enable us to deal with whatever comes our way, because we will not be dealing with it by ourselves but the LORD fights for us. When the LORD Jesus is our refuge our minds are on the pilgrim roads, i.e. our path to reach the Kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem. Our minds are set on heavenly things and not earthly things. The place of springs is made by us by our tears along the way, which tells us it isn't going to be easy just because the LORD is with us. The early rains, what can this agricultural term mean for us? Perhaps it is our time when we are either young or when we are first converted to Christ and we are fed and strengthened by the Word and Sacraments. They prepare us for what is to come. They get us to set down roots and give quick growth spiritually. Our pilgrim way, with the hardships that come along the way and have us shed tears, makes us stronger and stronger. As Paul says in 2 Cor. 4, “7The light trouble of this moment is preparing for us an everlasting weight of glory, greater than anything we can imagine.” When the LORD calls us to appear before Him at the resurrection in Zion, the New Jerusalem, our hardships that disciplined and strengthened us will come to end and we will rejoice in God our Savior. 8O LORD God of armies, hear me pray; listen, O God of Jacob. (Music)9O God, our Shield, look and see the face of Your anointed one. 10A day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness. 11The LORD is a sun and a shield; God bestows grace and honor. The LORD doesn't keep back anything good from those who live innocently. 12O LORD of armies, blessed is the person who trusts in You. The LORD is thrice invoked again: LORD, God of armies; God of Jacob; God, our Shield. Is it a Trinitarian invocation? If you can see orthodox teaching, it is probably so. I think it is at least a witness to it. What are we invoking God to do? We're asking Him to look and see the face of His anointed one. In the immediate context of the Psalm, the king of Judah. For us, it is the face of our LORD Jesus Christ, who is King, who sits at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. To be in the presence of the LORD where He bestows upon us His word and sacraments is better than being anywhere else. There we are in the presence of One who truly loves us and calls us His children. No matter where you stand in the house of the LORD it is better than anywhere else with those who live in wickedness.  Let us then turn to the LORD Jesus Christ and God our Father. He is a sun and shield to all who trust in Him. God bestows grace and honor to those who put their trust in Him and depend upon Him for every good thing. God will not keep back from us anything good if we live innocently before Him. Not living innocently? Repent! Change your mind and trust in God. We are promised here, we will be blessed if our trust is in the LORD of armies, our LORD Jesus Christ. Almighty God and Father, give us Your Spirit that we may trust in You and our LORD Jesus Christ for every good thing, be blessed by Your word and sacraments, and receive from Your hand daily, grace and honor. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article