Greetings to you in Jesus' name. I had an amazing weekend. It was my first weekend away from Hermantown since I moved up here. I made it down to Kansas to one of my adopted families house. One of my best friends in college, his parents live down in Chenney, Kansas. They invited me down and I was able to surprise them. It was a fun weekend of hanging out with them, playing games, and shooting guns. Then on my way home from there, I was able to meet my new niece. JoAnna and Steven had a perfect, beautiful little girl and named her Ava Grace. I got to hold her and spend some time with them and I must say I am one proud uncle. I love my nephews and am glad to have boys to wrestle with and watch them play football, but I can already tell it is going to be pretty special to have a little girl around too.
I am working my way through the Large Catechism again and truly appreciate how Luther thought of everything as he wrote these amazing works. On his explanation to the third commandment of "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy", he covers what most Americans struggle with today. I was just discussing the topic of "Sabbath living" with a member last week, and we were questioning working on Sunday. I grew up with Sunday being Dad's only day to mow and get stuff done around the house, so I have never thought twice about doing manual labor on Sunday after getting home from church. However, then comes the fine line of doing labor around the house and working as in your job. I have to admit, there have been many times I find myself doing work stuff on Sunday afternoon to get ready for a Sunday evening Bible or such. So how do we accomplish a "Sabbath living" life-style in a crazy, busy world. Well for the full answer, dust off your Book of Concord and read the two pages of Luther's Large Catechism. However, since we are talking about a crazy busy life, I will try to paraphrase here as well. Sabbath living is not about doing absolutely nothing on Sunday afternoon, and we know this because this is what the Pharisees tried to accuse Jesus of. It is not about doing absolutely nothing, but rather setting time aside to rest and be reminded even God rested on the seventh day. It is about setting aside time for your relationship with Him (church, daily devotions, prayer time, etc.) and it is about setting aside time to refresh and rest yourself (taking a day off from your job, spending quality time with family, refreshing your own energy through rest or relaxing hobby time, etc.) For me, this includes my daily devotions, my daily prayers, my evening wind down period every night, as well as wood working, hunting, fishing, etc. For you, it will look different because you probably have a family, a house to do chores, and such. The point is to make sure you don't fill up every second of your life so that you have no time left for God, your own rest, and your family. I heard a quote the other day from another pastor that I really liked. It goes like this: "Work from your rest rather than rest from your work." Rest is a gift, use it to re-energize yourself so that you are ready to do the work God has given you to do. Use that rest to strengthen your relationship with God and with those around you. So we a Sabbath people can still accomplish this life-style even in the midst of EVERYTHING that is constantly demanding our time and efforts. Even Luther almost 500 years ago knew this would be such a problem, he included it in his writings. Thanks be to God who wants us to be rested people and gives us the gift of the Sabbath.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Luke's Writings.
Greetings to you in the name of Jesus. This last weekend was a pretty good weekend. Pastor Ludwig was gone, so I had all three services by myself. They all went really well though. I spent all last week dreading preaching on the Gospel lesson of Mark 10. How is a young, new pastor suppose to preach to a bunch of wealthy people when Jesus says it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God?? However, I came up with a sermon that I thought worked pretty well. And it must have been alright, because I got a lot more compliments and comments afterwards than I normally get. The Lord works through me, even when I doubt myself. The sermon should be posted on the church's website for you to hear.
I was reading my devotion today, and then there was a special edition on Luke. There was a line in there that I never realized before. With his Gospel and the book of Acts, Luke's writings make up over one third of the New Testament. Did you ever know that? ONE-THIRD! He wasn't even a disciple, rather just a physician with a hobby in recording history and took a special interest in Christ and His apostles. I wonder if Luke ever knew how huge and important his writings would be. If he ever doubted his works as being good enough or really that important. But just as God can work through little old me, the same God inspired Luke's writings to be a major portion of His Word that is still alive and active today as we read it and learn about Jesus's birth, ministry, death, and resurrection; and then His ascension and the apostles travels and ministry as the Christian church was born and grew. Our God is good!
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Deer Hunting is Biblical!! Oh so is Psalm 114.
Greetings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was so excited to do a whole long post about how deer hunting is actually Biblical. I was reading Deuteronomy 12 this morning and twice, God gives them permission to eat meat freely. His example is: "as the gazelle and deer are eaten!" Twice, the Lord uses deer hunting as an example that His people can eat meat. See deer hunting is Biblical. Hopefully this is enough to convince my mother to stop praying for the deer every time I go hunting. I was dreaming this morning about deer hunting, have been talking to several guys about ground to hunt on; I am thoroughly ready to be out in the woods with my gun!! And then this verse comes along and I am even more excited. Just then, I read an extra resource on the psalm for the day and that hope of deer hunting was quickly replaced. I mean I am still super excited to go hunting, but my priorities were set straight again as the brilliance of Psalm 114 was revealed to me in my reading. Psalm 114 is pretty awesome on its own as you read it. Talking about oceans and rivers fleeing, mountains and hills jumping like sheep, definitely catches your attention. However, I thought this was merely pointing to creation being under God's power and control. My first thought was that this psalm is speaking about the creation demonstrating a "fear of the Lord" style worship. Boy was I wrong. Patrick Henry Reardon wrote an awesome book called Christ in the Psalms. I try to read this every day with the psalm of the day, because he normally has some pretty awesome thoughts to add to each psalm. Today might have been the best one yet though. Reardon explains not only what Psalm 114 is getting at, but how it uses Hebrew poetry so masterfully. By repeating similar ideas twice, Hebrew poetry gets the reader to slow down and think about what he or she is reading. (My idea from yesterday's blog). So you see the repetition in the Judah/Israel, sea/Jordan, mountains/hills. These are meant to have you really think about what you are reading. However, here is the really cool part that I don't know if I would have ever come to on my own understanding, this psalm is speaking about the history of the exodus. The sea and the Jordan are the two ends of the time period. From the time they crossed the Red Sea until they reached the Jordan, the people of Israel and Judah were wondering in the desert. What was significant things in that history period? Oh mountains as in Mt. Sinai, and water flowing from rocks in the desert to give His people water to drink. You see, the mountains and hills are solid and immovable, but when God is present they go jumping like sheep. The earth trembles as God shows His people so many powerful signs of Himself being present on the mountain and water flowing from rocks, as the people travel from sea to river.
And then how does this relate to us? Well if Jesus is seen as the new Israel being brought out of slavery, then the life of the church is represented by their wandering in the desert waiting to reach the promised land. So this is a psalm that directly correlates to us as the life of the church. If this psalm was to be tweaked to fit our exact situation today, it would be about Christ redeeming us from the bondage of sin instead of the slavery of Egypt. Instead of Israel and Judah, it would be the new Israel of all Christian believers. Instead of the sea and the Jordan, it would be the empty tomb/place of Christ's ascension to His second coming (whatever place that will be). It could still be mountains and hills jumping like sheep. However, instead of water flowing from rocks, it could be baptismal waters flowing from His Word or body and blood being in, with, and under the bread and the wine. However, it would still be the same joyous psalm of praising God for His work of redeeming, providing for and being with His people. Just as much as the Israelites and Judahites had to be thankful for God bringing them up out of Egypt, providing them with water from rocks, and being with them as the mountains shook; we are thankful that God brought us out of sin, provided spiritual water of cleansing, and His presence as the kingdom shakes with His grace. Maybe it is just because I am a psalm nerd, but I was so fascinated with this new way of looking at Psalm 114 I almost (almost being the key word) forgot all about deer hunting. Which is really OK, because God's Word should be the joy and highlight of my day, even more than thinking about hunting. So feel free to pray Psalm 114 slowly, reflecting on it, with the idea in mind that this is our psalm as thanks just as it was this psalmists psalm of thanks for the mighty wonders God does for His people.
And then how does this relate to us? Well if Jesus is seen as the new Israel being brought out of slavery, then the life of the church is represented by their wandering in the desert waiting to reach the promised land. So this is a psalm that directly correlates to us as the life of the church. If this psalm was to be tweaked to fit our exact situation today, it would be about Christ redeeming us from the bondage of sin instead of the slavery of Egypt. Instead of Israel and Judah, it would be the new Israel of all Christian believers. Instead of the sea and the Jordan, it would be the empty tomb/place of Christ's ascension to His second coming (whatever place that will be). It could still be mountains and hills jumping like sheep. However, instead of water flowing from rocks, it could be baptismal waters flowing from His Word or body and blood being in, with, and under the bread and the wine. However, it would still be the same joyous psalm of praising God for His work of redeeming, providing for and being with His people. Just as much as the Israelites and Judahites had to be thankful for God bringing them up out of Egypt, providing them with water from rocks, and being with them as the mountains shook; we are thankful that God brought us out of sin, provided spiritual water of cleansing, and His presence as the kingdom shakes with His grace. Maybe it is just because I am a psalm nerd, but I was so fascinated with this new way of looking at Psalm 114 I almost (almost being the key word) forgot all about deer hunting. Which is really OK, because God's Word should be the joy and highlight of my day, even more than thinking about hunting. So feel free to pray Psalm 114 slowly, reflecting on it, with the idea in mind that this is our psalm as thanks just as it was this psalmists psalm of thanks for the mighty wonders God does for His people.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
They're Great!! Right?
Greetings to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. I believe my last couple sermons have recorded successfully. So if you want to listen to those, check them out on our church website. (http://www.piclutheran.org/learn/sermons-2/) My own from this weekend should be up tomorrow.
I have been busy with a lot of details and events coming up. I successfully organized my first hooley. What's a hooley you ask? It is Irish slang for party! I am hosting a party at Dubh Linn's Irish Pub at the end of October and our wonderful secretary came up with hooley for the title. It is for 21 to 39 year old's in the congregation. This is supposed to be my target focus group as the young associate pastor. Most of them in this demographic, (282 on the church record books) are mostly inactive and don't come to anything at church. So my plan is to gently guide them back with more community life events first and then work them back into regular worship and active roles in the church. I sent out 150 invites (those who we actual had emails or addresses for still) and we will see how many we have actually come.
My devotion this morning included Psalm 111 which speaks of the great works of the Lord. Great are the works of the Lord... Full of splendor and majesty is his work... He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered... God's works are great. Creation, the art, the exodus, the ten plagues, the Red Sea, the manna, the promise land, the prophets and wars, John the Baptist, His Son, the disciples, His Son's death, His Son's resurrection, the ascension, the start of the Christian church, etc. That is not even the full list, but is a pretty good highlight reel. However, did you notice something? As you read through that list, did you stop and gasp at each one, or did you simply read through the list without really thinking about them individually? Each one of those is such an amazing work God did through His power and mightiness, that that list should take a person ten minutes to get through as he or she reflects and is amazed by each one. So how come you read through it in a matter of seconds? Because we have heard of these great works over and over. We know the stories, we know how they end, and we don't give them much more thought than that. But wait a second. The psalm states that His works will be remembered, then says the Lord is gracious and merciful. His work is full of splendor and majesty, followed by His righteousness endures forever. These great and powerful works are suppose to be remembered to remind us who our God is. As you read through the list above and acknowledged that each one was indeed a powerful and wonderful work of the Lord, did it remind you of the gracious, merciful, righteous God we have? Or did you blow by that sign as fast as you when through the list?
It is kind of like how every time I see a new landscape, whether it be mountains, lakes, trees, ocean, fields, desert, etc. I always stop and take in the full view. I am instantly reminded of how awesome our God is who made all of these wonderful scenes. However, the drive to work that I take everyday, very rarely reminds me of God's amazing artistic ability. I have seen it so many times it has lost it luster. It seems less impressive now that it is routine.
So maybe we shouldn't hear the stories of God's awesome works so often, and then maybe they would be full of splendor and majesty again. Maybe if we only heard the works of the Lord once every two years instead of every year, we would be reminded of His graciousness, mercy, and righteousness again. OR we can go back and re-read that list, this time stopping to reflect on how awesome each work truly is. We can slow down our lives enough to remember the works of the Lord and still be constantly reminded of who is as our God who did these things. We can be impressed by the routine, because instead of acknowledging that we already know that story, we can review and reflect on how that story leaves a different impact on us hearing this time from the last time we heard it. I can watch the same stupid movie 100 times and still laugh every time, why can't I read the same Bible story 100 and still be in awe of the wonderful God we have. He is awesome, He is powerful, He is gracious, He is majestic, He is merciful, He is righteous, He is our loving God who did these mighty acts and wants us to remember them so we will be reminded of exactly who our God is and how He works for, through, and in us. Praise be to this God as hopefully you slow down to be reminded of who He is and what His Son did and continues to do for you each and every day.
I have been busy with a lot of details and events coming up. I successfully organized my first hooley. What's a hooley you ask? It is Irish slang for party! I am hosting a party at Dubh Linn's Irish Pub at the end of October and our wonderful secretary came up with hooley for the title. It is for 21 to 39 year old's in the congregation. This is supposed to be my target focus group as the young associate pastor. Most of them in this demographic, (282 on the church record books) are mostly inactive and don't come to anything at church. So my plan is to gently guide them back with more community life events first and then work them back into regular worship and active roles in the church. I sent out 150 invites (those who we actual had emails or addresses for still) and we will see how many we have actually come.
My devotion this morning included Psalm 111 which speaks of the great works of the Lord. Great are the works of the Lord... Full of splendor and majesty is his work... He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered... God's works are great. Creation, the art, the exodus, the ten plagues, the Red Sea, the manna, the promise land, the prophets and wars, John the Baptist, His Son, the disciples, His Son's death, His Son's resurrection, the ascension, the start of the Christian church, etc. That is not even the full list, but is a pretty good highlight reel. However, did you notice something? As you read through that list, did you stop and gasp at each one, or did you simply read through the list without really thinking about them individually? Each one of those is such an amazing work God did through His power and mightiness, that that list should take a person ten minutes to get through as he or she reflects and is amazed by each one. So how come you read through it in a matter of seconds? Because we have heard of these great works over and over. We know the stories, we know how they end, and we don't give them much more thought than that. But wait a second. The psalm states that His works will be remembered, then says the Lord is gracious and merciful. His work is full of splendor and majesty, followed by His righteousness endures forever. These great and powerful works are suppose to be remembered to remind us who our God is. As you read through the list above and acknowledged that each one was indeed a powerful and wonderful work of the Lord, did it remind you of the gracious, merciful, righteous God we have? Or did you blow by that sign as fast as you when through the list?
It is kind of like how every time I see a new landscape, whether it be mountains, lakes, trees, ocean, fields, desert, etc. I always stop and take in the full view. I am instantly reminded of how awesome our God is who made all of these wonderful scenes. However, the drive to work that I take everyday, very rarely reminds me of God's amazing artistic ability. I have seen it so many times it has lost it luster. It seems less impressive now that it is routine.
So maybe we shouldn't hear the stories of God's awesome works so often, and then maybe they would be full of splendor and majesty again. Maybe if we only heard the works of the Lord once every two years instead of every year, we would be reminded of His graciousness, mercy, and righteousness again. OR we can go back and re-read that list, this time stopping to reflect on how awesome each work truly is. We can slow down our lives enough to remember the works of the Lord and still be constantly reminded of who is as our God who did these things. We can be impressed by the routine, because instead of acknowledging that we already know that story, we can review and reflect on how that story leaves a different impact on us hearing this time from the last time we heard it. I can watch the same stupid movie 100 times and still laugh every time, why can't I read the same Bible story 100 and still be in awe of the wonderful God we have. He is awesome, He is powerful, He is gracious, He is majestic, He is merciful, He is righteous, He is our loving God who did these mighty acts and wants us to remember them so we will be reminded of exactly who our God is and how He works for, through, and in us. Praise be to this God as hopefully you slow down to be reminded of who He is and what His Son did and continues to do for you each and every day.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Sweet Dreams.
Greetings in the name of our precious Savior Jesus Christ. It has been a busy week. I woke up to a phone call Wednesday morning that my senior pastor was not well. He ended up going to the hospital for a kidney stone. So I had to very quickly cover everything Wednesday as well as start writing a sermon for this weekend. He is out of the hospital now and doing better, but will still need to take it easy for awhile. I do have give credit to Ruth who taught confirmation so that I could cover a few other things. It definitely changed the course of my week in a hurry, but thanks be to God we managed and he is doing better.
I am writing my sermon on the Old Testament text from Amos and am noticing how easy it is to go into a doom and gloom, fire and brimstone mode from the text. I had to laugh as I was typing and starting noticing my tendency to go that way. I am trying to stay more positive and Gospel driven, but it is scary as you begin to compare modern day America with the times of Amos.
My devotion a few days ago, included Psalm 126 which begins with, "When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream." This is from book four of the psalms, which is usually attributed to the return of Israel back from the exile. So, the psalmist is saying when the Lord brought Israel back together as a people again and ended the exile from Babylon, it was like they were dreaming.
The Lord's restoring their fortune was so unreal, so amazing awesome, they felt like they were dreaming. I love this way of putting it. I love it, because every time I try to imagine Jesus' second coming, I can't picture it as reality. Even in my dreams of His second coming, it feels like I am dreaming. We will have to pinch ourselves it will be so awesome, so beautiful, it won't feel real. However, it won't be a dream. When we pinch ourselves, we will know we are awake and that Christ has come again. This simple line used by the psalmist reminds us of the hope and the excitement we have in Christ's promise to come again. How awesome is our God.
I am writing my sermon on the Old Testament text from Amos and am noticing how easy it is to go into a doom and gloom, fire and brimstone mode from the text. I had to laugh as I was typing and starting noticing my tendency to go that way. I am trying to stay more positive and Gospel driven, but it is scary as you begin to compare modern day America with the times of Amos.
My devotion a few days ago, included Psalm 126 which begins with, "When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream." This is from book four of the psalms, which is usually attributed to the return of Israel back from the exile. So, the psalmist is saying when the Lord brought Israel back together as a people again and ended the exile from Babylon, it was like they were dreaming.
The Lord's restoring their fortune was so unreal, so amazing awesome, they felt like they were dreaming. I love this way of putting it. I love it, because every time I try to imagine Jesus' second coming, I can't picture it as reality. Even in my dreams of His second coming, it feels like I am dreaming. We will have to pinch ourselves it will be so awesome, so beautiful, it won't feel real. However, it won't be a dream. When we pinch ourselves, we will know we are awake and that Christ has come again. This simple line used by the psalmist reminds us of the hope and the excitement we have in Christ's promise to come again. How awesome is our God.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Rescue me from Hades!
Greetings to all of you in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. I survived another very busy weekend. Friday I drove up to Hibbing, which is about an hour away, and met the very nice LWML ladies from Grace Lutheran there. They had supported me through the seminary as the pastor there was a friend of mine first year. They had originally planned to come to my ordination, but miscommunication happened and they didn't know it was a morning service. So I ran up and had a nice lunch and visit with them, and it gave me a good opportunity to thank them. Then I came back and wrote my sermon for Sunday since the week got away from me. Later that night I went to the high school football game. It was the rival game between Hermantown and Proctor (the next town over). Hermantown smoked them 68 to 0. It was so much fun to be at a high school football game on a Friday night again.
Then Saturday morning, five of us guys went to a church family's house to split wood. They live an hour away, but are very faithful members. They have eight kids and they heat their house purely with wood all winter. The dad hurt his back and has not been able to cut or split wood. So we had a couple guys running chain saws cutting down more trees, and a couple guys running the splitter. Their kids stacked the split wood all day. It was a fun day and a good opportunity to serve a family in need. Then I had to get back to church to learn my sermon and be ready for Saturday night service.
Services Saturday night and Sunday morning went well. I got to be crazy and goofy with the kids in the children's sermon which I always enjoy. Then I spent Sunday afternoon grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning like a real adult. Then last night we had our pot luck and Bible study we will have every Sunday night now. I know I will get fed really well every Sunday night now, and it is a good group that gets together for our study.
Today, I had a hole list of stuff I was going to get done, and then got in the cleaning mood. I cleaned out a closet and the fridge in the kitchen. They had both been needing it for quite some time. And the best part is, I still got my hole list done. Now I am getting ready to go to the high school soccer game and then I am actually going brewery hopping. And yes, it is for work. I want to host a night out for the younger generations, so I am going to research which one will work with us. I mean I could try to call, but why not go there and sample a little too. :)
My devotion today was talking about Jesus thanking the Father for saving Him from the depths of Hades. It struck me as kind of odd, but I realized that Jesus Himself did suffer Hell as He went to pronounce His victory over the devil. Jesus saw how awful it was, He experienced how excruciating it is to be out of the Father's grace. And so He thanks the Father for His mighty wonders of saving Him. And I starting thinking that I am glad I don't have to say that prayer. I don't have to worry about being saved from the depths of Hades, since because of Christ I will never be there. And yet that seemed odd too. I should pray that prayer even more for that fact. I should sing His praises that He DID save me from the depths of Hades, so now I never will have to experience it. It is one more thing Christ did for me so I never will have to go through that. I most definitely deserve an eternal sentence to Hades, and yet thanks be to God, that since Christ has been there and has announced His victory over it, I never will have to be there. That is definitely worth a prayer of thanksgiving. SO, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, dear Lord for Your grace and mercy freely giving me my redemption and salvation in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Then Saturday morning, five of us guys went to a church family's house to split wood. They live an hour away, but are very faithful members. They have eight kids and they heat their house purely with wood all winter. The dad hurt his back and has not been able to cut or split wood. So we had a couple guys running chain saws cutting down more trees, and a couple guys running the splitter. Their kids stacked the split wood all day. It was a fun day and a good opportunity to serve a family in need. Then I had to get back to church to learn my sermon and be ready for Saturday night service.
Services Saturday night and Sunday morning went well. I got to be crazy and goofy with the kids in the children's sermon which I always enjoy. Then I spent Sunday afternoon grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning like a real adult. Then last night we had our pot luck and Bible study we will have every Sunday night now. I know I will get fed really well every Sunday night now, and it is a good group that gets together for our study.
Today, I had a hole list of stuff I was going to get done, and then got in the cleaning mood. I cleaned out a closet and the fridge in the kitchen. They had both been needing it for quite some time. And the best part is, I still got my hole list done. Now I am getting ready to go to the high school soccer game and then I am actually going brewery hopping. And yes, it is for work. I want to host a night out for the younger generations, so I am going to research which one will work with us. I mean I could try to call, but why not go there and sample a little too. :)
My devotion today was talking about Jesus thanking the Father for saving Him from the depths of Hades. It struck me as kind of odd, but I realized that Jesus Himself did suffer Hell as He went to pronounce His victory over the devil. Jesus saw how awful it was, He experienced how excruciating it is to be out of the Father's grace. And so He thanks the Father for His mighty wonders of saving Him. And I starting thinking that I am glad I don't have to say that prayer. I don't have to worry about being saved from the depths of Hades, since because of Christ I will never be there. And yet that seemed odd too. I should pray that prayer even more for that fact. I should sing His praises that He DID save me from the depths of Hades, so now I never will have to experience it. It is one more thing Christ did for me so I never will have to go through that. I most definitely deserve an eternal sentence to Hades, and yet thanks be to God, that since Christ has been there and has announced His victory over it, I never will have to be there. That is definitely worth a prayer of thanksgiving. SO, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, dear Lord for Your grace and mercy freely giving me my redemption and salvation in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Plentiful!
Greetings to you in Jesus. It's fall!!! We have been having perfect weather up here of cool mornings and evening with warmer afternoons. I love walking out to 40's in the mornings and then feeling the sun's warmth of the 60's or 70's in the afternoons. I did have to laugh at a couple walking out of the hotel across from my apartment this morning is winter coats and sweaters. I just chuckled and sighed, "Southerners". The trees are turning to beautiful colors of orange, yellow, and red. This really is the best time of the year. I even have a doe right behind my office most of yesterday. Needless to say, I am ready to go hunting!
I went to the JV football game on Monday and plan to go to the varsity game tomorrow evening. I didn't realize how much I have missed watching football games on fall evenings. So glad to be a part of a community again. However, they are not a football town so they don't take it as seriously as I do.
I was reading my devotion this morning and the Psalm was Psalm 130. I love this Psalm and normally my attention goes straight to the watchmen line repeated twice. However, this morning I caught something new. My attention was shifted to verse 7 which reads, "O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption." Those last two words really hit me in a different way today. PLENTIFUL redemption. I always knew my redemption is in the Lord and focused on how He accomplished this through His Son Jesus. However, I don't think I have ever really thought about it being plentiful. Not with that word anyway. We live in a word of plenty. Everything around us seems to be in plenty. We go to the super stores and see aisle after aisle of shelves full of food and never once worry about it running out. We don't worry about the opposite of plenty, or scarcity, for anything in our lives. So why would God's redemption be any different. But what if God's redemption wasn't plentiful? What if His redemption was scarce? What if we had to compete for His limited love and salvation? What would our world look like then?
It's a scary thought, but thanks be to God these are all only hypothetical questions because His Word reminds us His love, salvation, and redemption are not scarce, but truly are plentiful. Plentiful enough for all of us who are already in His salvation through Christ, but also plentiful enough for all of mankind if they would so believe. So then this becomes even more powerful, because it is not only good news for us, but for all people. Not only do we not have to worry about it for ourselves, but we can confidently tell others that God's love is plentiful enough to include them as well. Wheat an awesome God we have that freely offers such amazing and gracious love plentifully.
I went to the JV football game on Monday and plan to go to the varsity game tomorrow evening. I didn't realize how much I have missed watching football games on fall evenings. So glad to be a part of a community again. However, they are not a football town so they don't take it as seriously as I do.
I was reading my devotion this morning and the Psalm was Psalm 130. I love this Psalm and normally my attention goes straight to the watchmen line repeated twice. However, this morning I caught something new. My attention was shifted to verse 7 which reads, "O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption." Those last two words really hit me in a different way today. PLENTIFUL redemption. I always knew my redemption is in the Lord and focused on how He accomplished this through His Son Jesus. However, I don't think I have ever really thought about it being plentiful. Not with that word anyway. We live in a word of plenty. Everything around us seems to be in plenty. We go to the super stores and see aisle after aisle of shelves full of food and never once worry about it running out. We don't worry about the opposite of plenty, or scarcity, for anything in our lives. So why would God's redemption be any different. But what if God's redemption wasn't plentiful? What if His redemption was scarce? What if we had to compete for His limited love and salvation? What would our world look like then?
It's a scary thought, but thanks be to God these are all only hypothetical questions because His Word reminds us His love, salvation, and redemption are not scarce, but truly are plentiful. Plentiful enough for all of us who are already in His salvation through Christ, but also plentiful enough for all of mankind if they would so believe. So then this becomes even more powerful, because it is not only good news for us, but for all people. Not only do we not have to worry about it for ourselves, but we can confidently tell others that God's love is plentiful enough to include them as well. Wheat an awesome God we have that freely offers such amazing and gracious love plentifully.