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Bread Of Life January 2015

To our Readers: The compiler of these Daily Devotions is David Schaller, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, CLC, Sister Lakes, Michigan. The devotions will appear month by month in 2015 (excluding Sundays, as in the past). We heartily thank Pastor Schaller for providing this spiritual menu for our subscribers. Dear readers, as the Lord directed His prophet: “…Eat what you find; eat this scroll…” (Ezekiel 3:1)—and you will surely be blessed.January 2015

TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941;
WS  = Worship Supplement 2000;
SC  = Martin Luther’s Small Catechism;
[  ] = Minor Festivals or commemorations in the Christian Church Year

Jan 1   Luke 13:1-9  Psalm 121
Our Savior mercifully grants us another year. May we bear fruit to His glory.

Jan 2 Luke 12:1-12  TLH 96
There’s no need to be afraid to confess Jesus before others. He will watch over you.

Jan 3 Romans 3:21-26  TLH 377:1, 6
The year is new, but this truth remains: We are sinners and saints.

Jan 5  Luke 2:40-52  Psalm 119:97-104
The boy Jesus shows His appreciation  for the Word of God—and grows in it.Bread Of Life January 2015

A Glorious Sight

DEVOTION –
Epiphany

“This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11)

“Now that was a glorious sight!”

That’s what we might say after viewing a magnificent natural landscape or the star-filled sky on a clear night. Nature can be glorious because it is the handiwork of God (Psalm 19:1). Something of His divine glory shines in it, even if many who gaze in awe at the Grand Canyon do not acknowledge it.

Marriage_at_CanaThe glory of God that we see in His creation is that of His power and wisdom, and even His goodness to mankind (Acts 14:15-17). But His glory is also seen in His other attributes: that He is holy, just, all-knowing, present everywhere, and eternal. Furthermore, His glory is especially seen in His grace and love, which are revealed on the pages of Scripture.

In the season of the church year called Epiphany, we learn of the glory of God as it was revealed in Jesus. In His miracles, the almighty power of God was revealed in Him. By these acts of power it could be seen that Jesus was the Son of the living God. The first of these took place at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11), where Jesus turned water into wine. With this work Jesus “manifested His glory” by doing something that only God could have done. His disciples saw it and believed in Him.A Glorious Sight

God’s Will for Your New Year

DEVOTION –
New Year

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:13-16).

It seems natural for us to look forward to the new year with plans and ambitions. We all want to accomplish more than we did last year. We want to reach new goals and fulfill aspirations that we may have been harboring for years. We resolve, “It is finally going to happen this year in 2015!” God’s Will for Your New Year

God is Pro-Life

Perhaps you have seen the bumper sticker or heard the expression, “God is Pro-Life.” Exactly what does that mean? Because there are so many life-and-death discussions permeating our society, especially around election time, it may be helpful to review what God says about being Pro-Life.

ProlifeBumber_4c

Physical Life

Our God is the “I Am” God – Jehovah (YHWH in Hebrew). He is eternal, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Any talk of “life” must begin with the Giver of life, our Triune God. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). God is Pro-Life

Celebrating the Jesus Antipoverty Program

Basic RGB“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
(2 Corinthians 8:9)

Fighting poverty has been at the forefront of American politics for longer than I have been alive. Every few years a new government program is established to ward off the devastating effects of poverty in our nation. This issue is customarily brought to our attention during December. Well-intentioned efforts are made during the Christmas season to gather food for the needy, winter coats for the underprivileged, and toys so that every child can have a gift under the Christmas tree. Many claim that this is what Christmas is supposed to be about. Surely the volunteers who ring bells at the red kettles across our nation would agree with this assertion. But are we ready to agree that Jesus was born to fight poverty?

Absolutely!

But not the poverty that is described as a deficiency in material goods. The poverty that caused the Son of God to be born into this world was much deeper and far more devastating in its effects than what most Americans would Celebrating the Jesus Antipoverty Program

No Small Role

Joseph, Jesus’ step-father, is mentioned only within the context of Matthew’s and Luke’s “Christmas story” accounts.
After Luke’s account of the twelve-year old Jesus in the temple (Luke ch. 2), we hear no more of Joseph in the record of Scripture.

This minimal information about Joseph from Bethlehem has not prevented any number of people from saying much more than they know about him through fictionalized accounts of the gospel in television, movies, and videos.

From the Holy Spirit’s somewhat scant portrayal of Joseph we should not conclude that he had an insignificant role in the earthly life of Jesus or in God’s plan of salvation. Joseph had no small role, but a large one with weighty responsibility.

MaryJoesphIllustr1No Small Role

ADVENT AGAIN

Advent is a season of preparation for Christians. Consisting ofthe first four Sundays of the new church year, it is the season during which we prepare to celebrate the birthday of the incarnate Christ. Each year we observe this season by preparing ourselves with prayer and contemplation of the historical fact as well as the significance of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.TheConcertofAngels1534GaudenzioFerrari

The season of Advent prior to the birth of Jesus lasted 4,000 years–through the whole Old Testament period, from the time the first promise ADVENT AGAIN

The PERFECT Present

Fellow Worshippers of God’s Perfect Christmas Gift—  The cover of a recent Sunday newsmagazine said, “There’s still time to find the perfect present for Christmas.” And then it was said, “Check inside for last minute… The PERFECT Present

‘Going All In’ with Thanksgiving

‘To the max,’ ‘pedal to the metal,’ and ‘nothing in reserve’
are several more slang terms that express a total commitment
to a cause or undertaking.

If one were to poll Americans as to what that means for them in connection with their Thanksgiving Day activities, no doubt many would answer they were ‘going all in’ with a day of football or ‘leaving nothing behind’ on the dinner table.

King David would have been amazed, if not shocked, for he put high value on actually giving thanks. Many are the psalm verses where he gives praise and thanksgiving to God for His wonderful works and words.

But there is one incident in David’s life when he especially ‘gave it all he had.’ It is recorded in the second book of Samuel (chapter 6), with a parallel account in 1 Chronicles 16.‘Going All In’ with Thanksgiving