July 9: Devotion

I Am Baptized

God saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. (Tit. 3:5 ESV)

Make the sign of the cross as you say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

I Believe …

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.

This is most certainly true.

Bible Reading – Psalm 11

To the choirmaster. Of David.

11 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
    they have fitted their arrow to the string
    to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
if the foundations are destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”[
a]

The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord's throne is in heaven;
    his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
The Lord tests the righteous,
    but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
Let him rain coals on the wicked;
    fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
    the upright shall behold his face.[1]

Over the last few months I have said over and over again, “Everything is going to be okay.” That is the message of this psalm. Everything is going to be okay.

It begins with a statement of defiance and faith; to paraphrase, “I take refuge in the LORD.” This is David’s response to whomever is urging him to flee.

Years ago, I knew a pastor who had served in Buffalo during the race riots during the 1960’s. Pastor Fey was in his 90’s and I was a young seminarian. He was a very small man. I doubt he was more more than 5’4”. But he was a man with great faith. One day he told me a story about those days of trouble and chaos. His congregation was mixed, meaning that he had both Black and White parishioners, which was even less common then, especially as Pastor Fey was White. One of his Black members was ill, and we went to her apartment building in a seedy part of town to pray with her and take her the Lord’s Supper. He was greeted at the door by a handful of very large young Black men. They challenged him, “Where do you think you’re going?” He cheerfully said, “I’m going up to visit one of my members.” They replied, “No, you’re not. This is a Black apartment. You’re not welcome here.” Pastor Fey answered, “My member is sick, and I am here to pray for her. I am going in.” They towered over Pastor Fey, “Man, you are not coming into this building. Look around little man! Don’t you know we’ll stop you? Don’t you know we could kill you? You should be afraid of us!” To which Pastor Fey calmly and quietly replied, “What kind of God do you think I serve?” And at that point they stepped back and let him pass.

What kind of God do you serve? You serve the God who gave his only begotten Son to save you from sin and death. You serve the God who created all things, and who will, one day, bring all things to an end. You serve the God who IS, the God who is with his people, the God who raises the dead, restores justice, and makes all things new. This God sees you, knows you, and loves you.

There are a lot of things in our world that are not okay right now. But the LORD has it in hand. He will set all things right. He has already won the victory over sin and death for us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s only a matter of time until he brings the final victory with Jesus’ return. Until then you can take refuge in the LORD. He’ll bring you through. Everything is going to be okay.

Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer

The Fifth Petition: “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Heavenly Father, do not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that You would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. But you have given Your Son, our Savior, Jesus to bear our sins in His body on the cross and given us forgiveness for His sake. For Jesus’ sake help us to sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us. Amen.

Prayer

Pray for your spouse, parents, family, and friends – and for your enemies.

Benediction

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (2 Thess. 2:16-17 ESV)

 



[1] English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

 


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