What lives in your heart? What occupies your thoughts? It might be a person, a possession, an activity, a place, or an experience. It can be a source of joy or a source of stress. It can come from generosity or from greed. It can come from appetite or altruism. It can be physical or emotional. But there is something—something …
Who or what comes first in our lives? What is supposed to come first? Love? Money? Career? Country? Community? Family? Justice? Truth? Something else? There are a lot of candidates. God clears it up for us. In the first commandment he declares “You shall have no other Gods.” It makes sense. When we obey God, we love people and forgive. …
Dear Trinity Family Here is today’s WELS Devotion. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.Galatians 5:1 Today, citizens of the United States of America celebrate freedom. The Fourth of July is Independence Day—the day which marks the signing of the Declaration …
Monday, July 6, Genesis 25 8-– Who were these people Abraham was “gathered to” in death? Only he and Sarah were buried in the Cave of Machpelah. These were the believers who had preceded him in death and now were in heaven. Cf. Heb. 11:4-16; Matt. 22:31-33. 34 — In the Christian congregation, we have those who are like Esau …
The more we read the Gospels—the more we learn about Jesus’ life and ministry—the more awestricken we become. Jesus changed lives. He changed history. He changed everything! Jesus went head to head with the prince of evil. He descended into darkness to demolish the dungeons of the devil and to free the captives who languished there. The darkness fought back. …
Thousands of lives could have been saved. But people didn’t listen. The prophet Jeremiah tried to warn people against rebellion and sin. But they didn’t want to hear it. They attacked Jeremiah instead. They beat him and put him into the stocks. Attacking the messenger is not an uncommon response to God’s Law. Sinners generally don’t want to hear that …
Dear Trinity Family, Here is the latest WELS devotion. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 Sometimes I forget how powerful the disease of sin truly is in my life. I forget that my sinfulness infects even my thinking, even my sense of logic. For example, I …
Monday, June 29, Genesis 19 Vv. 4-5 — God also speaks of the sin of homosexuality and its punishment in Rom. 1:26, 27, 32 and I Cor. 6:9-10, Lev. 20:13. 14 — The Lord sheds further light on Lot’s positive spiritual life in II Peter 2:6-8. 26 — True repentance is turning away from sin, not looking back to it. …
When Jesus saw the crowds, his heart broke. He saw people who were troubled and downcast. He saw people who were looking for help, but didn’t know where to turn. So, he did something about it. He told us to do something about it, too. First, he provided a solution to the problem. It was expensive; it cost him everything. …
he apostle Paul must have been a brave man. He was told that he would be imprisoned if he went to Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-13). He went anyway. He knew that he would be in danger whenever he went to preach the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:30-31). He went anyway. Why would he do that? For the same reason a parent would …
