Matthew 5:4

Watch on YouTube

Who needs God’s comfort? Well, all of us need God’s comfort at one time or another. When Jesus was talking in his Sermon on the Mount, he also mentioned comfort. But first he said in Matthew chapter five, verse four,

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

You know, I don’t know of anybody who says I’m looking forward to a time when I get to mourn or grieve, because what’s attached with grieving? What’s usually a deadly accident or a very serious illness or some other tragedy that takes people away from those whom they love. And so it’s a very difficult thing. Jesus is not saying that God is the source of such tragedy or evil that cause us to grieve. It was the devil. He tempted Adam and Eve and they sinned. And once sin was in the world, it causes grief.

God is not the cause of grief. Rather, he is the source of all comfort. His goal is to save people for eternity so that they never have to grieve again. But now, for a time, God allows things to happen so that we realize the inadequacy of this world to provide what we really need, the comfort that we need.

Consider the mourning Israelites as they were enslaved down in Egypt. If they had not had such hardships, they probably would have wanted to stay there in the best land of Egypt, in Goshen. But instead they were motivated to move on to the Promised Land. And of course, from that, promised land is where the Savior would be born. So we see how God works good even through times of hardship. We Christians don’t only mourn with the tragedies of life. We mourn because of our own sin. Think of the apostle Peter, how he grieved after he denied knowing Jesus as his Savior.

We also grieve when we think of the harm that our sin has done. But we don’t grieve as those who have no hope. We know that we have a Savior. We can come to him, confess our sins, and receive his forgiveness of all our sins. Jesus became one of us to conquer sin and death. Yes, He allowed himself to be tempted, but he never sinned. He grieved at the grave of his friend Lazarus. But then he used his power to raise Lazarus from the dead.

Jesus’ innocent death paid for all the sins of the world. Everything that God held against us has been taken away. And even though now there’s still times when we grieve, we have problems. This world is not going to be perfect. We have a perfect Savior. And someday he will return and he will gather all people before him on that judgment day, separating evil from good forever. And we don’t have to worry about that day because as our Savior, he’s provided everything we need to prepare us for heaven.

And so during our time of life. We face our challenges, we face the problems of our own sin, but we also have a Savior. Let us always look to him for our comfort. Amen.

Matthew 5:30, Mark 8:36

Watch on YouTube

Have you ever noticed that during Jesus ministry there were times that he had extreme statements? For example, I’ll read one from Matthew, chapter five, verse 30. It says,

If your right hand causes you to fall into sin, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (Matthew 5:30)

Now, Jesus did not intend for us to hurt ourselves. He wasn’t literally saying we needed to cut off our hand. Because again, if you take note of what he said, if your hand causes you to sin, well, your hand doesn’t cause you to sin. It’s your sinful heart and it’s the temptations of the devil. Now, if the devil is tempting you to put something, to put anything even as valuable as a hand between you and having Jesus as your Savior, then you need to let it go.

I’ll give you a story, sort of a modern day parable of a spiritual aspect. There was a man who loved finding treasure. One day he found a treasure map and he immediately hired a crew, got a boat, and he went off into the ocean in search of the treasure. And after many days following the map, they found this deserted island. They went on to it and they found the treasure. It was gold coins. It was worth millions of dollars. Elated, he had his crew load that gold back onto the boat and they began their return trip home

The next day. As he’s sitting on the deck, he’s looking through the coins and he put them all into a bag. And as he stood there, he doesn’t even realize there’s a large storm approaching. Suddenly there was a big wave that nearly tipped the boat over and off went the bag of gold into the water. Immediately he dove in to try to save the bag. And he did. He got it. But that bag of gold was very heavy. The crew threw him a lifeline and said, grab hold of it, but he wouldn’t let go of the gold. And so it took him under the water. How sad that a man was willing to hold on to even gold and lose his life.

Jesus gave a spiritual warning very similar to this, when he said,

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36)

God has given us his word as the most important thing for our lives because it tells us of Jesus. It connects us to Him and his forgiveness and all that he offers us. Now, the story is not done about the man. You see, a crew member jumped into the water and pulled him out and saved his life, although the gold was lost. Jesus in a similar way, looked down upon us as we are struggling in our sin, in a sense, spiritually drowning in our sin. And so God sent Him into this world to rescue us. He took all of those sins, the weight of those sins on himself. It didn’t sink him to the bottom of the ocean. It took him to the cross where he carried the weight of all that sin until his death. But it was in that death that he won forgiveness of all our sins, that he set us free from all that would weigh us down in this world.

Of course, that’s not the end of Jesus’ story either. He rose from the dead. He showed that he has power to forgive sins and that he can give us eternal life in heaven. This is our greatest treasure. This is more valuable than anything else that we can have in the world. So as you’re tempted to think of other things being more important than Jesus and his word. Remember this story. Remember Jesus’ words. Hold on to Jesus by faith. Amen.

Matthew 5:3, Luke 18:9-14, 2 Corinthians 8:9

Watch on YouTube

Jesus Sermon on the Mount is well known. It’s been heard often, as a matter of fact, so often that we probably don’t think anything of what he says as being unusual. Here is what Jesus said in Matthew chapter five, verse three.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

Now, people, many people, anyway of Jesus time would have considered what he said very unusual because they thought. It’s people who are good. It’s people who have done great things for God. Those are the ones who are going to inherit the Kingdom of God. It’s the faithful people who are depending on their works to outdo the sins in their life. But Jesus was saying, No, it’s for the people who are poor in spirit.

And later he told a parable about two people who went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and in part of his prayer, he basically just listed all the good things that he had done and how much better he was than everyone else. But his list did not impress God at all. The second man was a tax collector, a despised man among the people. He simply came to God and it says struck his chest, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And it was that man, Jesus said, who went home forgiven!

How can God do that? There’s only one way that he can do it, and that is that he had Jesus take that man’s place to suffer and die on the cross so that his sins could be forgiven. And so that to this very day, as people confess their sins and their poverty in their spiritual lives, we can say with certainty Jesus has forgiven you. Your sins are gone and you are now holy in God’s sight. This is the great blessing that we have in Christ.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Yes, Jesus humbled himself in death to take away all of your sins. He is the only reason that we can be certain of having the Kingdom of Heaven as our final destination. Trust in him at all times. We pray.

Dear Lord, we cannot earn heaven on our own. Our debt of sin is too great. But you sent your perfect Son to the cross to fully satisfy your justice. Help us always to trust in Jesus payment for full forgiveness and life in your kingdom. Amen.

Ephesians 5:8, Romans 6:23

Watch on YouTube –

Have you noticed how often the Bible uses contrast to teach truths? As you go through the Bible, you see good and bad. You see heaven and hell. You see people who are convicted or who are pardoned. And all of those are helping us to better understand what it means to have salvation in Jesus Christ as our Savior.

So the Apostle Paul was writing to the Ephesians in chapter five, verse eight, and he says,

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5:8

We’ve all had power go out in our homes at night and tried to stumble around to find our way. Well, that happened to the Ephesians, but not physically, spiritually. The Ephesians were without the Word of God and in darkness of unbelief. But it wasn’t just the Ephesians. The Apostle Paul himself. Even though he had the Word of God. The unbelief was so great in his life that he also was not seeing the truth. He was raised in a moral home. He had a great position that he boasted about among his people. He bragged about being able to keep so many of the laws. And yet there was still an emptiness in his heart until he realized from the word of God and was converted. He, too, was in darkness.

But then the Holy Spirit changed his life. And by faith, he saw things in just an opposite way. Everything that he had bragged about before, he now called garbage. And instead of thinking how great he was so much better than everyone else, he now called himself the worst of sinners who were saved by God’s grace.

Without the Holy Spirit, we also would be seeking for God in the wrong places. We really wouldn’t ever know the truth. But in the light of God’s Word, our sinfulness has been exposed. We realize that we cannot save ourselves. We confess our sins and Christ through the good news of the Gospel has forgiven us all our sins. Everything is taken away. We have gone from darkness to light. We are now a new creation. The old has gone. What a tremendous contrast that is.

Now we have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. And what about our future? Well, we look forward to the time when we leave this world because we’re now foreigners here. What was once our native land, by our sinful nature, is now foreign to us. And instead, our inheritance is part of our citizenship, which is going to be in heaven. Talking about the amazing contrast of what’s going to happen to us. We know that verse from the Apostle Paul that says

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Let us pray. Gracious Lord, your word is full of warnings to us about sin, evil, death, and the devil. We pray that your Holy Spirit will help us see these dangers and flee to Christ. Who is our goodness, life, and salvation. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

John 8:3-11

Watch on YouTube – Watch on Facebook

Today, I’d like to read from John Chapter 8, which describes several types of temptations. As I read, I’d like you to listen to what some of those temptations are.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (John 8:3-5)

So, the first temptation is pretty obvious. This woman has committed adultery. The setting is that Jesus is in the temple area, and he’s teaching people. Of course, the temples in Jerusalem. You know, you think of it as a holy city. And yet here is this woman caught in the act of adultery so close that they’re able to not only see her and grab her, but they bring her immediately to Jesus. So what do we learn from this?

Well, we learn, first of all, that we can be tempted anywhere and at any time. So even if we’re at church or among believers, temptations are always going to be around us.

Secondly, temptations includes motives. Don’t you wonder why were these men so ready to find this woman, condemn her, and bring her to Jesus? Were they concerned about this woman’s soul? No, certainly not. They were trying to find fault with Jesus. And really, in the end, they ultimately just wanted to look better than everyone else. And that’s a serious temptation. We also have to watch out as we consider what other people are doing. Are we judging them and why are we judging them? Jesus, of course, confronted them, challenged them when he told them

Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)

And of course, it says that one by one these accusers left the presence of Jesus and end up leaving this woman standing there alone with him. But this shows the third type of temptation, and that is that these men, realizing their sin, had an opportunity to confess their sin to Jesus. But rather than that, they wanted to hide their sin or avoid Jesus. And how sad that is. But I can understand why. After all, Jesus had no sin. He had the right to pick up all those stones and throw it at every one of the people around him because they were all sinners.

But you know what Jesus did instead? Later, he was willing to say basically, God, I want you to throw all the stones of judgment at me as he was suffering and dying on the cross. He did that to take away all of our sins so that we have nothing to be afraid of before God. And so that temptation of avoiding Jesus is just the opposite of what we should be doing. We should be coming to him. That we receive this wonderful gift, forgiveness, that he has won.

The fourth temptation is that some people confuse forgiveness of sinners with accepting sin. Now we see, as Jesus talked to the woman, he asked,

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:10-11)

What this is saying is that Jesus forgiveness does not give people a license to sin. Rather, Jesus was sent by God so that He could free people from their sin, not excuse sin, or allow it to continue. So when we also look to God, first of all, to help us against temptation, we continue to hear his word. We will pray. We will watch to make sure that we are not falling into any temptations. And also, we will continue to look to Jesus forgiveness, realizing that he has come to set us free from our sins. And now he gives us an opportunity as we receive that forgiveness, to also live as his people so that others who are also bound by sin may be set free. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we and all people deserve your judgment against our sins. But you put all of our guilt on your son. Help us to trust in your promises. And a stand against temptation so that we may always be your people. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

1 Peter 5:8

Watch on YouTube – Watch on Facebook

Are you afraid of lions? I think you should be. As far as I’ve read, they can run up to 50 miles an hour for a short period. Certainly they can be fierce when they’re defending their own family or if they are hungry. And so if you’re not afraid, there’s got to be one reason for that. And that would be that there’s some kind of barrier or protection between you and that lion. If you are in an area with a lion without any protection, you have great reason to fear.

The Bible also says there’s another person to fear, and it describes the devil also in as a way of a lion. It says In First Peter, chapter five,

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

The devil tries to devour us by spreading false information by lies to deceive us or to bring us to despair. To put a false trust in ourselves or in others. And in the end, to bring harm to us through evil. We know we shouldn’t be giving into those things, but we don’t have the power in ourselves to fight against it. We are defenseless. We need God’s help.

And thankfully, that’s why God sent his Son into this world so that he might do three things for us.

Jesus saved us.

He saves us.

And He will save us.

Jesus is also known as a lion. In Revelation, chapter five, verse five. He is described as the Lion of Judah. And how did this Lion of Judah save us? Well, we know that he took on a human nature. It was from the very tribe or people of Judah that he was from. Also, we know that God promised that all the people of the Earth would be blessed through him. Now, that blessing came as Jesus came into this world and lived a perfect life. He did not sin in any way, despite the daily attacks of that roaring lion, the devil. Instead, he allowed himself to be taken and put on a cross and gave up his innocent life to pay for the sins of the world. And the resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows that He has won the victory. The Lion of Judah has saved us.

Jesus continues to save us. He does that by bringing us his word. And as we hear that word, we know the truth. We understand that he is there for us to rescue us. Again, when we hear that word of truth of Jesus victory and we are baptized in his name, then we have faith and we have confidence that that forgiveness he won is ours. We also now have the Word of God as our defense. It stands as a barrier between us and all those terrible attacks of the devil.

Jesus also will save us. In that sense we understand that the day we die, whenever that is in the future, he is going to take our souls to heaven. We’re going to be separated from the devil and all that is evil in this world. But then on the last day, Jesus is going to raise all the dead, including our bodies, and our souls will be restored into our bodies after they’re made new. He knows those who are his, and he’s going to call us to be with him forever, even as he sends the devil and all that is evil away forever. And so as we then spend that time with Jesus, the very lamb of God, but also the lion of God who has won the victory for us, we know that we never have to fear again. Any lions or anything else for Jesus has provided all we need and will do so forever. Amen.

Matthew 6:28-30,33

Watch on YouTube – Watch on Facebook

All Christians need encouragement to trust in God and not to worry. Jesus gives that encouragement in Matthew Chapter six, verses 28 to 30, he said.

Why do you worry about clothing? Consider how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin, but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, will he not clothe you even more, you of little faith? (Matthew 6:28-30 EHV)

Jesus mentioned Solomon. He was the son of King David. When he was young, he asked God for wisdom. And God gave him great wisdom, the greatest wisdom in the world. On top of that, he also gave Solomon riches and great fame. People came from near and far countries far away to hear the wisdom of Solomon as he sat in court. And when I say court, he had a beautiful, magnificent palace. And in there was a throne room. It must have been an awesome scene. He sat on a throne that was six steps high. Each of the steps was very wide. It had statues of lions on either side all the way up. 12 lions standing there and then his throne at the top.

And Solomon in that throne was magnificent. His clothing was beautiful. His entire throne was covered in gold and inlaid with ivory. And also as someone entered into that palace room, there were 200 soldiers and each one held large shields of pure gold. What an awesome sight that must have been.

And now go back to what Jesus said. Solomon, in all his glory, was not as beautiful as the flowers that are out in the fields. Jesus point is this, if God can provide for flowers that are here today and basically gone tomorrow, how much more he can provide for us, his people, as we trust in him, we do not need to worry.

Instead of worrying, Jesus encourages us to trust in God and His providing. He wrote in Matthew 6:33.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

To seek God’s kingdom means to trust in Jesus, to trust that God sent his Son into this world to save us from our sins. Now, Jesus didn’t appear all glorious, even though He was God’s Son. He looked very ordinary most of the time, even though we know that his glory was even greater than that of King Solomon. He lived a humble life in order to live in our place and suffer and even die on a cross so that our sins would be taken away. So that one day we will experience the very glory of heaven, which is far beyond what Solomon’s glory was.

And so as we look forward to that day, we can be confident that God is with us, that he is taking care of all of our needs, even as he has done so much through Jesus, His Son, for us. Let us pray.

Lord God, we confess we don’t always trust in you. Through your word help us to look to Jesus for our complete forgiveness. Then help us to trust in your love to provide all that we need. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:15

Watch on YouTube – Watch on Facebook

How can you tell if people are good and bad? I think it’d be nice if there was some kind of a meter. You met somebody new, and as you walked up to them, the meter would go good or to the bad. It would be nice because then you could think about how they’re going to be helping you. Are they going to be trusting or are they going to be somebody you can’t trust? Or is it going to be somebody that is going to harm you?

Now, sometimes we think we can run into people and say, Yeah, I think they’re probably bad because they’re getting punished. Maybe they’re even getting sent to prison. Would you call the Apostle Paul someone, good or bad?

Before Paul believed in Jesus, he called himself good. He thought he was even pleasing to God, and yet he was hurting people who believed in Jesus as the Savior. He thought he was actually doing God a favor by having them arrested and doing things like putting them in prison or hurting them or even having some killed. He even was so zealous to do what he thought was good that he went to another city to try to find more Christians who believed in Jesus and stop them. But

Jesus stopped him on the way and told them that what he was doing was evil, that it wasn’t good at all, and that instead he needed to be sorry for his sins. Paul repented and he trusted in Jesus’ forgiveness. And Jesus did totally forgive him. And then He told him that He was even going to go out and be a missionary and do good to bring real blessings to other people.

Now you would think that the Apostle Paul, as he now is a Christian, would think of himself. Well, now I’m good. But actually he thought just the opposite. He wrote in first Timothy chapter one, verse 15.

This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15)

What about us? Are we good people or are we bad people? Well, as we think about how other people may judge us, we may say, Yeah, we’re pretty good as compared to others. But when we think about what God has done in setting the standard for what is good. We’re not good. He wants us to be perfect. And rather than perfect, we’re falling way short of that. Instead of helping people, instead of being kind through our words and actions, we’re not doing that at all or we’re not doing it enough. We also, like Paul, deserved to be punished for the things that we have done. But God, out of love for us, instead of punishing us, sends his Son into this world.

And you might want to ask, was Jesus good? How do we know he was good? Well, of course, he was always helping people, showing kindness to them, telling the truth. He did everything according to the will of God, His Heavenly Father, even God from heaven one time said, This is my son. I’m well pleased with him. He is good.

And yet out of love for us he had his perfect son take the punishment that we deserve for all the bad things we’ve done. But then Jesus rose from the dead so that it showed everything was right and everything was good. And all who trust in him can now be good. Not on their own, but from the very goodness of Christ himself.

And so if someone should ask you, are you good or are you bad? The answer’s yes. Without Christ, we can’t do anything good according to God’s standard. But with Christ, God sees us as perfect and we will enjoy that goodness forever. Let’s pray.

Lord God, your word tells us that we have all sinned against you. We cannot make up for the bad we do. Please forgive us in Christ and replace our sins with His goodness. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Luke 18:31-33

Watch on YouTube – Watch on Facebook

The theme for the devotion today is that God is in control. As we look around our world today, there’s a lot of uncertainty. There’s the war in Ukraine and the death and destruction that’s there. There’s natural disasters which harm a lot of people, and there’s even trouble in the financial markets. It may cause Christians to worry about what’s going to happen in their lives. And it’s a tempting thing when it doesn’t seem like God is in control.

But the same thing happened to the disciples, I believe, when Jesus was arrested. And then they saw him tried, crucified, and dead. That must have made their life totally uncertain at the time that all happened. But Jesus had predicted it precisely saying, this is how it is going to be, from the scriptures itself, from the Old Testament. And so they didn’t need to worry. They didn’t need to think that things were out of control. God had a plan and he was going to carry it out, even if they couldn’t understand at the time.

Jesus said in Luke, chapter 18.

He took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. Indeed, he will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, mistreat him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. On the third day, he will rise again.” (Luke 18:31-33 EHV)

How can we know the love of God? Certainly not through wars or disasters. We know the love of God because he loved us so much, he sent Jesus into this world. Now, Jesus didn’t come to fight the Romans or some other secular government. He came to fight the power of sin and death and hell. They control us. We are slaves to those things. But not Jesus. He came as an innocent, sinless person. And as he was hanging on the cross, we know that he fought all of those enemies of ours and he overcame them by his suffering and death. His resurrection is proof that he won the victory for us.

Our Risen Savior is still in control. We don’t understand why he allows evil things to happen at times, but we know that God has a plan for our good. Perhaps it’s because he just wants to give us an opportunity to pray. Or perhaps it’s so that we look back and say, My, how blessed we were at times when now maybe we don’t have as many blessings. But in the end, we remember that God has been good to us and that He really has a plan to help us and to care for us.

And the other thing is he wants to remind us that this is not our home. Jesus came to prepare a place for us in heaven. So as we think of all the troubles and things that are going on in the world, it is not a cause for worry. God has a plan. His plan, as we hold to him and trust in him, is to take us to be with Jesus forever. And with that in mind, we end with a prayer, which is a hymn verse.

Fight the good fight with all your might. Christ is your strength and Christ your right. Lay hold on life and it shall be your joy and crown, eternally. Faint, not nor fear. His arms are near. He changes not who holds you dear. Only believe, and you will see that Christ is all eternally. Amen.

Ephesians 2:10

Watch on YouTube – Watch on Facebook

What the Bible reveals about God never ceases to amaze me. The Bible says that God is gracious. It means that he loves people, even though they don’t deserve it. The Bible says that God is almighty. It means that he has the power to create the entire universe out of nothing, simply by saying, “Let there be.” When Jesus assumed a human nature, he also showed that grace and power through his miracles for people.

There were times when Jesus worked through ordinary people in order to complete his good purpose. One of those times was when Jesus was invited to a wedding feast in the town of Cana. When he got there, they had told him that the wine was almost gone. Now Jesus could have used his almighty power simply to say, “Let there be.” And just like that, containers could have been filled with wine.

But instead, he had the common helpers go out and fill all the containers with water. And then he turned the water into wine. Those helpers may have thought that what they were doing was insignificant, but it was important to God. All of us have vocations, we have things that God would have us do in this world. It may be as husband or wife or as parent or child. Or in many other different ways, students or workers. And what we sometimes do doesn’t seem to be very significant in our life. But it is important to God.

He has given us time and talents that we may accomplish many good things for him. The Bible states

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. (Ephesians 2:10)

God also shows this miraculous grace and power through the means of grace. As people consider hearing the word of God or baptism and the Lord’s Supper, it may not seem very important to them, but it is important to God. When we bring a child to be baptized, again, it seems like very little is being done. But as far as God is concerned, he is bringing through faith for that child, the forgiveness that Christ won at the cross by his sacrifice. When we hear the word of God, many people might say it doesn’t seem to have much power, but we know that it is the power of God for the salvation to everyone who believes. When we receive the Lord’s Supper, once again, God is at work, conveying his forgiveness in Christ that we may receive it by faith and have that faith grow.

Gods means, his ordinary means, has made an eternal difference for us. And now God uses us as ordinary people in our daily lives to bring this wonderful means of grace to others. Let us pray.

Dear Lord, we deserve your judgment for all our sins. But you sent Jesus to take away our sins by his sacrifice. Thank you for your forgiveness and for the means through which you brought forgiveness and salvation to us. Please use us as your instruments to bring the good news to all. Amen.