Weekly Devotion
Week of 6/26/23 by Pastor Jason

Lamentations 3:39-40
“Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins? Let us
examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Yahweh.” (LSB)
NONE of us have any right to complain to God about our lot in life, much less any circumstance
we find ourselves in as we journey through this life. In light of our sin and rebellion against God,
any life we have, no matter how wretched it seems, is a mercy extended to us from the hand of
God.

We must all remember, when we are confronted with all of the circumstances of this life, that the scriptures are clear in regard to our guilt and the fact that we all deserve nothing good from God. There is none righteous, none who seeks after God. All of us are wicked and every
thought and intention of our hearts is only evil continually. (Romans 3, Genesis 6)

Because of this, we deserve death, disease, destruction, pain, and wrath from God.

We don't always get this from him though. He is good to all both the wicked and the righteous
and shows his kindness to both the saint and the sinner. Jesus tells us this in Matthew 5:45,
“He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the
unrighteous.”

We know also that the call of the gospel goes to all men as well. That God commands all men
everywhere to repent and the kindness of God shown to all men everywhere is meant to lead
men to repentance.

God is a good God. If he cares for all men everywhere in this manner, how much more does he
care for his people? If he is kind to the wicked and unrepentant, how much sweeter is the
fellowship of God with those who repent and believe the Son, who have eternal life in Christ?

We don't affirm and enjoy and thank God for evil or evil circumstances we face in life. But we
do thank God that, for the repentant, those who are in Christ, he causes all things to work
together for our good and his glory. This should be enough to keep us thankful and focused on
the beauty of God in the midst of trial and tribulation.

God will never leave you nor forsake you. He will keep his hand upon you and give you grace
to ensure, Christian. He will show his strength in the midst of your weakness. He is good.

We should remember this reality the next time we start to complain about the circumstances of
life that come our way. Instead of complain, we should raise our hearts and hands in thankful
adoration to the God who saved us and keeps us and will bring us into eternal glory on that day.

Week of 6/19/23 by Pastor Tommy

Our Example
Ephesians 5:25-28
              The Holy Spirit uses the example of our everyday lives as husbands in shaping the character, priorities, and passions of our wives. What was the apostle Paul’s counsel to the people he was leading? “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1Cor. 11:1)
Can you envision yourself saying with humble integrity “Honey, the Lord has commissioned me, your husband, to help you become more like Jesus. So, watch my example and follow me as I follow Christ”?
The apostle John taught, “This is how we know we are in him, whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:5-6)
It would be good for every husband concerned with purposefully loving his wife to make it a lifelong quest to know Christ more and more. As Christ like models for our wives, we need a practical understanding of His meekness, holiness, compassion, patience, forgiveness, Joy, Love, and more. STUDY Christ not only for the sake of your own growth in sanctification but also for the spiritual growth of our wives.
If we are going to be instruments in the hands of the Holy Spirit, serving our wives by teaching them the ways of God, we need to be much more serious about our own spiritual growth, so we have something of spiritual substance to offer our wives.

Week of 6/12/23 by Pastor Jason

Matthew 15:17-20,“Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the
stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart ,
and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to
eat with unwashed hands do not defile a person.” ESV
The Jews were so concerned about their traditions that they had replaced God’s word with that
they missed the reality of what God’s word actually said. They had replaced God’s commands
with things that they could do to make themselves “right with God” but their works always fell
short. This was so because they were trusting in their own self-efforts and not in God.
All of the rules and traditions regarding hand washing and forbidden foods are done away with
here by Jesus in this one verse. Jesus tells us what true defilement is. He tells us that
defilement (that sinfulness that separates us from God) doesn't come from without. It doesn't
come from foods we eat or not washing hands or things of this sort. It comes from within and is
the manifestation of a corrupt heart.
The heart, as John Calvin said, is a perpetual idol factory. A conveyor belt of sin, if you will.
And all these sins that Jesus mentions here are merely a manifestation of the darkness that
dwells in the heart of a fallen man. They are birthed there and nurtured and grown there into
their fullest expression-the speech that comes from our mouths, for out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaks.
These things that fill our hearts also manifest themselves in the things that we do because as
we think so shall we do.
Scripture tells us that all men are corrupted in this way. We find this truth in Romans chapter 1
and again in chapter 3, and in James chapter 1 among other places. Our traditions and
ceremonies, our good deeds and the things that we do or do not do; no sort of behavior
modification what soever, can change our corrupt hearts.
Only through the truth of the gospel can we see this problem dealt with and completely rectified.
Only in Jesus can our hearts be changed and we be reconciled back to the God our sins have
separated us from. Only through the indwelling go the Holy Spirit and HIs work in us through
the word of God can our corrupt hearts be renewed and purity come from our lips.
It is only through the gospel that this is possible.
Trust in Christ and your hearts will be made pure.