TRUST IN THE LORD

Jeremiah 17:7  "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord & has made the Lord his hope & confidence." The Living Bible

THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

"The spiritual life is not a life of quiet withdrawal, a hothouse of growth of artificial ascetic practices beyond the reach of people living ordinary lives. It is the ordinary duties & labors of life that the Christian can & should develop his spiritual union with God." Thomas Merton, Men's Devotional Bible

LIFE THOUGHTS

"Will euthanasia 'let the peoples praise You, O God'? Does embryo experimentation "let all the peoples praise you' (Ps. 67:3)? If the heavenly city's structures have the brilliance of gemstones (Rev. 21), what inestimable value resides in the human bodies whom the Lamb has written into His book of life by creating, redeeming, & calling them each? Our witness to the sanctity of life may bring tribulation, but His grace alone has overcome it already (John 6:33). Grace Lutheran Church Bulletin

GRIEF

"Studies show that depression leads to isolation & isolation leads to depression. This is true of the grieving just as it is for the clinically depressed.No one can function in a healthy fashion alone. Thankfully, the Christian congregation can help break the cycle. A Christian congregation gathers together to receive God's Word & Sacraments; in that gathering, God's people may expect encouragement from fellow believers.St. Paul urges us:  'Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep' (Rom. 12:15). The apostle is exhorting the mourner to grieve, not in a private space in an attempt to avoid troubling others but in the space shared with other believers.

"Martin Luther also says, 'Whoever is in despair, distressed by a sin-stricken conscience or terrified by death or carrying some other burden upon his heart, if he would be rid of them all, let him go joyfully to the sacrament of the altar & lay down his woe in the midst of the community [of saints] & seek help from the entire company of the spiritual body.'" Robert Preus, The Lutheran Witness, Sept. 2021

AN EASTER HYMN 

Jesus Lives! The Victory's Won (LSB #490), Sts. 4 & 5)

"Jesus lives! I know full well Nothing me from Him shall sever. Neither death nor pow'rs of hell Part me now from Christ forever. God will be my sure defense; This shall be my confidence.

"Jesus lives! And now is death But the gate of life immortal; This shall calm my trembling breath When I pass its gloomy portal. Faith shall cry, as fails each sense:  Jesus is my confidence!