RETURN TO THE LORD

Joel 2:12-13. “That is why the Lord says, ‘Turn to Me now, while there is time. Give Me all your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your remorse tear at your heart & not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious & merciful. He is not easily angered; He is full of kindness & anxious not to punish you.” The Living Bible

RUNNING THE RACE

"The way in which we measure our standard of living indicates the race we have decided to run. The American Christian faces a true dilemma. We can choose the rat race, or we can choose to not love this world & 'throw over everything that hinders & the sin that so easily entangles, & . . . . run with perseverance the race marked out for us' (Heb. 12:1)." Patrick Morley, Men's Devotional Bible

GOOD DAYS & BAD DAYS

"Whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God's love is perfected. That's how we know we are in Christ." (1 John 2:5) "In the life of faith you are going to have good days & bad days, mountain peak days & dry old desert days. You can't let either one of them become your obsession. Don't worry & fret over how you feel; just do what's gotta be done. When you are a God Guy, your best example of how to live is how Jesus lived."  Michael DiMarco, Devotions for the God Guy

GETTING WHAT WE WANT

"We are confident that God listens to us if we ask for anything that has His approval." (1 John 5:14) "If you aren't getting wha you want, maybe it's time to look at your wants & needs. Why do you want what you want? And how might that not be what you need right now? When God says no, it's because no is the best answer for you in this situation. Discover why. Ask yourself what getting what you want would do to your faith, your emotions, & your self-control. Then ask yourself what not getting it can do for all of those things. For the God Guy, getting God's best is always best." Devotions for the God Guy

KNOWING WHAT IS TRUE LOVE

"From the beginning we were commanded to love each other. Love means that we live by doing what He commands. We were commanded to live in love, & you have heard this from the beginning." (2 John 5-6) "Love isn't a gushy feeling that you get from your feelings or your hormones. It's not the feeling of contentment you get when you are with someone who loves you back. According to God's Word, it's something totally different:  it's doing what God tells you to do . . . Love calls you out of yourself & into a life of caring & concern for others. You have to get this idea. You can't love the way the world loves & call it good. you have to look at God's Word for the whole truth about love & know what it means for how you treat others." Devotions for the God Guy

GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN

"Going against the grain & doing what God wants you to do not only proves you believe but also increases your faith. Each time you risk disobeying the world by doing what is right, your faith grows." Devotions for the God Guy

OVERCOMING PERSECUTION

"Against this scandal of judgment or persecution of the world, Christ gives this comfort:  they should know that by His divine power & strength He will maintain His preaching & preserve His Church against the wrath & raging of the world & the devil. Then the devil with his kingdom, being conquered by Him, will have to yield to Him & must not carry out against His Church what he wants according to his fierce, furious wrath & hatred. For that reason, even though the Christians must suffer from the devil & the world because of this preaching, this Word shall nevertheless not be overthrown but shall finally be victorious & hold its ground & make it plain before all the world that their verdict against the Gospel is unfair . . . The reason is that this King Christ by His going to the Father has already overcome both the world & the devil. He now sends the announcement that He is the Lord over all & has the power & might to condemn & to punish with eternal hellfire whatever opposes Him, together with the devil & his angels." A Year in the Gospels with Martin Luther

TODAY'S HYMN

Son of God, Eternal Savior (LSB #842)

Son of God, eternal Savior, Source of life & truth & grace, Word made flesh, whose birth among us Hallows all our human race, You our Head, who, throned in glory, For Your own will ever plead:  Fill us with Your love & pity, Heal our wrongs, & help our need.

As You, Lord, have lived for others, So may we for others live. Freely have Your gifts been granted; Freely may Your servants give. Yours the gold & Yours the silver, yours the wealth of land & sea; We but stewards of Your bounty Held in solemn trust will be.

Come, O Christ, & reign among us, King of love & Prince of Peace; Hush the storm of strife & passion, Bid its cruel discords cease. By Your patient years of toiling, By Your silent hours of pain, Quench our fevered thirst of pleasure, Stem our selfish greed of gain.

Son of God, eternal Savior, Source of life & truth & grace, Word made flesh, whose birth among us Hallows all our human race:  By Your praying, by Your willing That Your people should be one, Grant, O grant our hope's fruition:  here on earth Your will be done.