1-31-2025

Good Morning All,

  Matthew 27: 4-5; “(Judas) saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.”

    Have you ever felt sorry for doing something?  Did it help or did you feel just as bad?  We often realize that we have done something wrong and then we feel bad.  We have a hard time getting over it and often we don’t.  We continue to feel guilty with little, if any, sense of relief or respite.

     Which brings up a question, if feeling sorry for your sins doesn’t make you feel better; then what does?  Many will tell you that repentance means to feel sorry for your sins.  That is only a small part of the story.  This is also why, when we feel sorry for our sins, we still feel empty of forgiveness and still burdened by sin.

    It is always interesting to me that Judas felt sorry for his sins.  After he betrayed Jesus and saw that Jesus was soon to die; Judas felt tremendous remorse.  He went to the Temple and threw the money back to the Scribes.  “I have betrayed innocent blood!!”  The regret and the remorse which he felt were incredible; yet he went out and hung himself.  He felt bad; he felt terrible; he felt the greatest sense of remorse and yet he received nothing from it. 

    So how does repentance work?  It is more than feeling sorry; it is the knowledge that God has forgiven our sins.  When we repent, we look to God for forgiveness and then we have faith in his promise to forgive.  You see, Judas real problem was he went to the wrong priest.  He should have gone to Jesus, our true high priest.  He should have gone to Jesus trusting in His promise to forgive our sins.  Remorse is only part of repentance, and it really doesn’t matter if you are sorry because you are afraid of punishment or sad because you feel guilty about your sin; the critical part is that you truly believe that your sins are forgiven.

    Our comfort doesn’t come from feeling sorry; our comfort comes from knowing that God has mercifully forgiven us of all our sins.  Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, our debt for our sins has been paid.  We don’t do anything to “re do” this, once was sufficient.  We only benefit from his gracious gift.  We receive this wondrous gift by faith alone; that desire to trust and to believe in God’s promise.  Our comfort doesn’t come because we feel bad.  Our comfort comes from what God has done: He forgives our sins that is our comfort.

Dear Father, to you alone belong the glory.  We come to you as a broken people; we are broken by sin and its guilt.  Yet through all of our failures, you forgive us because of your love for us.  We pray for those in our community who have watched loved ones return to you.  Be with them and give them your comforting Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1-30-2025

Good Morning All,

  Exodus 3:8; “and I have come down…to bring them to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey,” 

    So how much would this land sell for? How do we decide the value of land? Is it the proximity to us, is it the productivity, can there be sentimental value? What is it worth?  Much of the land has higher taxes now than the original purchase price.  So, as we were talking about land and what determines its value.  Why does land, or a house, or a car sell for the price that it does?  What are the factors that play into the value of the item?  If the item is being auctioned, it really comes down to a very simple answer: two people want it.  If those two people have enough money, it can be very expensive indeed.

    Yet when you get done, there has to be some level of intrinsic value of the item sold.  Land that is rich and highly productive or is easily developed and can be sold that way, cause the value of the land to be influenced.  So why was the land of Canaan called a land flowing with milk and honey? If you look at the topography of the land it is not that great.  The rainfall isn’t ideal; they usually have to trap rainwater in cistern-like things in order to preserve water.  The land produced food and fiber but the land of Egypt along the Nile was more productive or the land along the Tigris and the Euphrates in Babylon was more productive.  Why was this land so special?

    The real value of the land wasn’t in the land; it was in the company.  The land to which God is referring here is the land where God’s people live trusting in the gracious providence of God.  It is where the people of God live as contented children of their heavenly Father.  The land flowing with milk and honey is more about your relationship with God than the productivity of the land.  This applies to all of our life situations.

    God encourages us to be content and happy with his gifts.  He supplies with all that we have need of.  He even gives us more than we need; yet we often fail to see this.  Too often we see God’s blessings as our entitlements.  We see them as something which God owes to us.  This sinful nature view of God’s gift is what causes us to be restless, to be dissatisfied with God’s gifts for us. 

     God blesses us every day and in every way which we can imagine and many which we cannot.  The Creator-Redeemer provides, protects, sustains and delivers to us and for us every day in every way.  All of which we are to only thank and praise, serve and obey him.  The Lord brings you into his family into a land flowing with milk and honey.  Let us feast and enjoy his bounty.

Gracious Father, your mercies overwhelm us in depth and volume.  You bring to us the things we need, especially our Savior who brings to us life.  Guard and protect us and give us that sense of contentment which we need.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1-29-2025

Good Morning All,

  Haggai 2:5; “My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.”

    Have you ever seen any of the children’s book series “Where’s Waldo?”  It is a series of books where the main character Waldo dresses in red and white stripes.  He is hiding in a picture, and you have to find him.  It is not as easy as it sounds.  The artist uses a combination of colors and hues to give the illusion of Waldo when it isn’t really him.  You can spend hours on a book trying to find Waldo in the different areas of the picture.

    Looking for something has been part of the human experience for a long time.  The Greek cynic Diogenes carried a lantern and searched for an honest man.  Peter, Paul, and Mary asked the musical question, “Where have all the flowers Gone?”  Whether it was the truth, true love or just a really good cheeseburger; people have searched for something that they couldn’t find.

    There are many times in our lives when we feel like we can’t find God.  We look around and see troubles in the world, in our nation even in our lives and we feel like we are looking for Waldo.  We see violence throughout the world.  We see hatred.  We see part of the world with more money, food, and power than it could ever need or use while another part lives on pennies a day with little food and no way to control their own destiny.  We look at our nation and see a people divided on virtually every issue that exists.  We look at our own lives and see pain and problems.  We see job troubles, relationships, even our own inner peace.

    One of our biggest problems is the same as when we look for Waldo, we are easily misled, and we end up looking in all the wrong places.  We look to drugs and alcohol; we look to crackpot self-help gurus; we look to our own strength and wisdom.  All these lead us down the wrong path; toward the path of destruction.  We tend to look to anything besides God. 

     The wondrous thing is that even though we look away from God; he never looks away from us.  He remains in our midst; offering us the peace and the hope to survive this world.  He is always right where He said He would be, in His Word and His sacraments. He is always there to lead through the difficult times; never abandoning us but always there to offer us comfort and hope.

     He does this through the creation which he has made.  He does this through the Church which he formed.  He does this through you and me whom he has redeemed.   God is always in our midst, so we never have to fear.  We are never alone, even when facing our darkest fears; god is there to comfort us.  He is in our midst, and we have nothing to fear. For the victory over sin, death, and the devil has been secured, by Christ, and given to us, by that same Christ. Have no fear little flock, our Savior is protecting us!

Dear Father, you graciously live in our midst and protect us from all the devil’s ways.  Keep us safe and cause us to see that our comfort is in you alone.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

1-28-2025

Good Morning All,

   Romans 12:21;” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

    As I watch some of the NFL playoff games, I am reminded of the old adage that the second guy to throw a punch is the one that gets the penalty.  It seems that when one player gets away with a late or cheap hit, the second player usually gets mad and retaliates and gets caught.  We see this occur all the time in sports, but we also see it in life.

    Whenever we deal with very difficult people, those people to whom ethics seem like a word for others to know and someone else to have; it becomes difficult to stay true to ourselves.  It is very tempting to use some of his own tactics back at him.  This is especially true when you know what his tactics are and what he is trying to do.  We can see the trap he is placing in front of us, and we can avoid it.  But what do we do when we don’t see the trap and then we fall into it?

    This is when our anger can get the best of, and we become what we despise.  We can become wicked, deceitful, deceptive, petty, and underhanded.  This not only plays into the hands of those who hate us and look to discredit Christians.  It makes it harder to witness to our faith when we have engaged in this kind of deceit.  It can be especially destructive if it “works” one time, and we feel that we experience some worldly success.  This tempts us to believe that we can get away with it again.  It can tempt us to think that we are “above” God’s law and will.  This temptation takes us back to the Garden where the devil tempted Eve with the promise to be “like God”.

    This type of action really serves the devil’s purpose.  It draws us away from God and ensnares us into the devil’s trap.  Whenever we engage in this type of activity, we will be overcome by evil; we cannot beat the devil at his own game.   

    Our only chance is to follow God’s direction.  This is one of those verses that give us some very practical advice as well as theological teaching.  We, as God’s redeemed children, are never able to battle the devil especially on his turf and on his terms.  We must always cling to God, His promises, and His justice.  We may never see what we feel will be “justice.”  Yet by our staying true to our faith, we are witnessing to God’s grace and truth.  When we repay evil with good, we confound the ones who commit the evil.  More importantly, we are speaking the words of God’s precise Gospel message.  We show love to those who hate us just as Christ did and instructs us to.

Dear Father in heaven, temptation is all around us.  We try to stand up to it and fail miserably.  Give us wisdom to rely on you and your strength and not our own.  Give us the strength to stand to our foes and that by your grace; we may show your glory to the world.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1-27-2025

Good Morning All,

   1 Samuel 17:46a; “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.”  

    This is part of a verse from the story of David and Goliath.  There is a lot about this story that intrigues me.  One of those things is the tremendous detail that the writer of Samuel goes to in describing Goliath.  Goliath was nine feet tall, his chest plate armor alone weighed 125 pounds, and the head of his spear weighed 15 pounds.  The shaft of the spear was big enough to use as the main frame of a weaver’s frame.  This was one big, mean, ugly dude.  He struck terror into the hearts of the entire Israelite army, king and all the people.  He had challenged the Israelites to send out their best soldier.  That best soldier and Goliath would fight; one on one and the winner of that battle would be the winner of the war.  If the Israelite won the Philistines would be the slaves and if Goliath won, then the Israelite would be the slaves.

     For forty days, Goliath mocked the Israelites and their God.  For forty days his challenge went unanswered.  On the forty first day, David, a little shrimp of a kid, came out to do battle with Goliath and killed him with a stone and cut off Goliath’s head with Goliath’s own sword.  This is quite a story.

     This is one of those stories that many people know but always seem to fixate on the wrong part of the story.  Many people will latch onto the idea that someone was nine feet tall.  Once they read that, the entire Bible is dismissed.  Now if it matters to you, there are some older translations that have Goliath about seven foot tall and there are some commentaries that suggest that the way we convert the ancient measurements to our known measurements of today is off; to me it doesn’t matter because that is not the purpose of this story.  The really important part is that Goliath was a big, mean, nasty thing to meet in the dark.

    We all face “Goliaths” in our life.  It might be changes at our workplace; it might be the prospect of getting married and moving away from Mom and Dad to a new place with this somewhat new person.  It might be the health of our parents or siblings or spouse or even our own health.  For most of us the biggest Goliath we face is our own mortality.  Someday, I will die and for many people nine feet isn’t tall enough for that Goliath.  These are just a few things in our lives that strike terror into our hearts and minds.  There are many others, some of which may be your Goliath.

    David gives us a clue to our answer.  Before the battle begins, Goliath gives the “trash talk” speech about how he will leave David on the field of battle for the birds and animals to pick clean.  David responds with a statement of faith.  “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand.”   We will face many Goliaths, but God has promised to deliver them into our hand.  God has promised to guard and save us.  No matter what comes our way, we rest securely at the foot of the cross looking at the empty tomb.  God has already delivered us up from the bondage of sin and the guilt and pain that sin causes us.  So, as we face our “Goliaths,” we can do so with the same confidence that David did and be certain that God will deliver us as well.  Faith that God would deliver him the victory over Goliath is what carried the day for David.  That same faith will carry you through as well.

Dear Father, we face many “Goliaths” in our life and on our own we would fail.  Yet you sent Jesus to do battle with all the Goliaths we face and defeated them and then gave that victory to us.  Remind us of this truth as we cling only to you.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret          

1-26-2025

Good Morning All,

      James 5:16b; “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” 

    So, what do we do when we think that we can’t do anything else?  Most of us say, “at least I can pray.”  I hear that often.  We often place a very low priority on prayer.  We often look at it as a lesser blessing.  We think that preaching or teaching is the greatest gift.  We think that healing or being a missionary has much greater value.  Yet when we think of prayer it is pretty low.

    I think that part of this is because prayer is something that we all can do.  We tend to place value on talents, skills or gifts that we don’t have and are rare.  There are some churches which place a great value on someone being able to “speak in tongues” (a form of spiritual speaking) or some other very rare gift.  We look to the gifts that others have and see them as greater than ours.  We may even think that if it is a gift that I have, it can’t be very important. 

    This type of thinking is unfortunate, and it gives the devil an edge.  The devil knows how valuable prayer is for the life of a Christian and he will do everything he can to divert it or destroy it.  The devil wants nothing better than for you and me to undervalue prayer and to underutilize it.  Unfortunately, many of us do just that, we fail to use it as much as we should.

     Prayer is one of the greatest gifts that God gives to us.  Prior to Jesus’ death, prayer was a cumbersome process which was only properly handled by a priest in the Temple.  But Jesus gave to us the victory which allows us to come before God’s holy throne and not only come to him but come to him as children come to their dear and loving father.  The power of prayer is beyond what we can ever fathom. 

    God knows that the devil assaults us every day and it is through prayer that we stay in constant communication with God.  This is how God designed it for us to maintain our courage and strength when facing the blistering attacks that the devil and this sinful world fires at us.

    True prayer: prayer that is honest and heartfelt.  Prayer that is sincere and truly trusts in God’s promise to hear it is a powerful tool.  God answers prayer in his own time and in his own way, but he does answer them.  So, as we face life, prayer should be first and foremost in our life.  It is not some lesser gift; it is such a great and powerful gift that God gives it to all his children, to you and to me that we may stay strong and safe.  It is our vital connection to God where we lift up to him our cries, our fears, our hopes and our joy.

    Prayer is our best ally in strengthening our faith.  Use it every day and often; a closer relationship with god awaits you.

Dear Father, you gave us the gift of prayer to keep us close to you.  Move us to utilize this wondrous gift to its full potential.  Keep us in your care.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1-25-2025

Good Morning All,

  Hebrews 10:35-36; “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”

    “I wish I had said something.”  “I didn’t know what to say so I didn’t say anything.”  I hear that a lot.  We go to work and get into a conversation with a co-worker, or we are at coffee and church, God, faith, religion becomes the topic, and we freeze.  Or even worse, a friend comes to us quietly and they are distressed with some event in their life.  Maybe they have found out they have cancer or that their son or nephew has lost his job.  We know we should say something but what?

     It is times like these that make us feel useless and without any clue as to who we are.  You might even remember the Bible verse that says, “Be prepared to give a defense of your faith” and the guilt sinks in.  It is times like these that cause our confidence to sink.  It may be of little consolation, but all Christians go through this.  We all face times when a chance or an opportunity to witness to our faith in Jesus and how we benefit from that faith just slips through our fingers.  Maybe you were tongue tied, maybe you were intimidated, or maybe you just didn’t see the opportunity until after it was over.  It happens to all of us.

    The first thing is to stop beating yourself up.  That is really the devil and your old sinful nature attacking you.  Remember if the devil can convince us to always back away; if the devil can crush your confidence; he wins.  Our confidence doesn’t come from inside of us, remember it comes from God.  We always need to have faith and to trust in that faith.  God has promised to provide for us, and he will.  He will give us the words.

    God gives us the words, but we still must be prepared.  Take a little time sand think up how you would answer someone’s question or address someone’s pain.  It might take some time, but it might be a real good learning experience.  How do you receive God’s comfort?  How do you receive Hs grace?  This is part to come up with an answer but also to aid you in your faith.  How do you receive God’s comfort?  When you realize this, first you can offer this advice and direction to the person you are talking to.  It will also help you when you are troubled.  Some hear it best in music, some feel it best in the company of loved ones, and some receive by reading God’s Word. 

      Whichever method comforts you the best, we see that God uses whatever created means he wants to come to you.  Plus, we know that God will give us other chances to witness for him.  He will be there for you whatever you need from him; God will provide.

Dear Father, we often miss chances to witness for you to bring your comfort to a hurting world.  Give us the strength and the courage to speak your love and grace to those around us who are most in need of it.  Guide us with your Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1-24-2025

Good Morning All,

      Isaiah 26:9; “My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.  For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.”

    Did you ever watch a scary movie or read a scary book when you were a child?  How did it go?  I remember the first couple of times I watched a scary movie; it was a Vincent Price one and I didn’t turn the lights off for two nights.  Every noise made me jump.  It is funny how the night makes our fears alive.  Here, in the wintertime, a forced air furnace house will creak and crack each time the furnace kicks on.  During the daytime, we hardly notice, but at night; it sounds like footsteps in the hall: it could be an axe murderer!!

     The night always brings about our greatest fears.  The sounds we hear but we don’t know what made them; we can’t see them and make us wonder what is out there.  This is part of the reason why the Bible always equates God with light and the devil with darkness.  It is an analogy which we readily understand.  We can get lost in the dark, very easily, and the darkness heightens our sense of loneliness.  It is at night that we often struggle the most.

     It is at night that the “worries” strike with a vengeance.  How do we pay all these bills?  Why is my child struggling in school all of a sudden?  How do we fix the car right now?  What will I do if we don’t get any more moisture this year than last?  Why doesn’t my spouse love me like they used to?  My health, my parents’ health, my spouse’s health just isn’t what it should be.  When the “worries” start, especially at night, the devil and our old sinful nature loves to attack. 

     One thing about the devil, he knows no mercy, nor does he ever show any.  He sticks the knife in, twists it about, pours salt on the wound and then he starts all over again.  This is what Isaiah was experiencing when he wrote our verse.  He was prophesying the exile of Israel and was envisioning the destruction of the city he loved, the death of many of the people he knew and the forced slavery of the rest.  He saw the pain, but he also saw the better truth that God was there to rescue them. 

     God is here to rescue you as well.  He comes to you in his Word, and he listens to you in your prayers.  The Spirit will cause us to remember all the things which Jesus said to us.  This is part of the reason why reading the Bible regularly is so helpful.  The Holy Spirit uses those special passages to bring us comfort and to remind us of where our hope comes from.  God encourages us to pray so that we can express our fears and our desires.  So, when we face those nights or days filled with the “worries” take a few minutes and yearn for God in the night.  Look to him for your comfort and hope; don’t look to yourself or any other worldly support.  Any other support will only fail.  Only God, whose love and mercy exceeds our every need can keep us safe and give us peace.

Dear Father, we yearn for your Holy Spirit to comfort us and give us peace.  Keep us secure in your arms and give us your peaceful rest which only you can deliver.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

1-23-2025

Good Morning All,

   Isaiah 55:9; “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

    Do you ever watch the TV commercials that show someone or something walking through a maze?  We always get to watch from above and look down on the maze.  It looks so easy from above; you can see every corner and every straight path.  When we look down from the top, we can give all kinds of advice and point out which path to take and which is a dead end.

     When you are in the maze, it seems to be almost impossible.  We look and everything looks the same; whether I go left or right there doesn’t seem to be much difference.  I can’t tell what is beyond the next wall.  Even if I am going through the maze with someone else; we still can’t see over or around the walls.  It can be really frustrating.

     Our life is very much like a maze.  We can only see right in front of us and a little behind us.  Yet even where we have been is more about memory than vision.  Yet as we go forward, we wonder about other directions or other choices.  As we experience life, we do not see ahead.  So, we travel in one of two ways, either by fear or by faith. 

     The world will want you to travel by fear.  The world wants you to always wonder, to always question and to always doubt.  The world wants you to always ask questions like why? Why does this happen to me?  Why do all the good things go to them and not to me?  Why do I always get the short end of the deal?  These and dozens of other questions will haunt us and allow the devil to play cruel attacks on us.  Each time we go down a path, the devil torments us and makes us walk with fear and great in trepidation.  This is how most people walk through the maze of their life.

     God comes to you and me with a different plan.  God sets above all and aids us, guides us, and blesses us as we go through our maze.  We have to trust God when he tells us that all things work for good for those who love Him.  We may never see where we all are heading but we have to trust God and his promises.  This can be tough when it seems like all our choices are losing choices.  The thing we need to always remember is that we are God’s redeemed children always and forever.  We may not see how we are getting through our life, but we will make it through this life to eternal life with Jesus.  This is God’s promise to us to be with us, to comfort us and to give us hope and to show us his mercy.  We must have faith that God will continue to guard us, to protect us, and to always give us hope.

Dear Father, too often we don’t see the answer, so we fail to trust your steadfast love.  Give us the courage to live the life which you give to us. Give us the comfort in knowing that all occurs under your watchful eye and that your grace for your children never dies.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.        

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1-22-2025

Good Morning All,

   Romans 3:24; “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”    

     The sign says, “FREE TAKE ONE!” or maybe “FREE FOR THE TAKING!”  What do you do?  Do you take one?  Now I realize that if the sign was on a box of puppies, you might think twice but what if it was something you or one of your family members could really use; would you take a free one?  Suppose you were at a garage sale and there was a snowsuit there that would fit your child or grandchild; would you take it for free?

    Many people might balk.  First you might look around and see who is watching but why?  It says it’s free.  Are we afraid someone will see us take something free?  Will they think we are poor?  Will they think we are cheap?  Do we “hear” their remarks, “drives a nice car but is too cheap to buy their kid a snowsuit;” even when no one is there?  Second, we might not really trust the sign.  What if some joker took the sign off of a box of marbles and put it on the snowsuit?  That would be embarrassing.  Third, do we tell ourselves that we don’t really need it even though it is only January?

    Strange as it sounds, these are the same reasons that many people refuse the gift of God’s free grace.  There are those who have too much pride.  Their pride may not let them take the gift.  They look around to see who is watching; they worry about what people will say.  Maybe they think it is a trick.  There is no way it is free; it has to cost something.  They may even try to pay for it or even claim that they actually did pay something for it.

    Worst of all there are some who think they don’t need it.  They think they have no need for this wondrous free gift of forgiveness of sins.  They buy into the “I’m ok and you’re ok” there’s nothing wrong with anyone.  When we think that we are good enough without any help, we tend to not seek out help.

    God comes to us in his Word and Sacrament offering to us the free gift of His true love.  God, the Creator-Redeemer rescues his created creatures, through the death and resurrection of His Son then freely gives that righteousness to us.  It is a gift that must not be too proud to take, we must not worry about how others view it and above all we need to see that we are truly in need of this salvation and that this is the only way we will receive it.  It will always be a gift; free for the getting.  It is God’s gracious, loving gift to us.

Dear Father, we give you thanks for the gift of our salvation.  Forgive us when we reject this wondrous gift out of our foolish pride.  Keep us mindful of the love that you have for us and strengthen our faith to trust in you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.           

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1-21-2025

Good Morning All,

   Ephesians 2:4-5; “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”

    Have you ever found yourself keeping a mental tally of when you were a good person or a bad person.  For example, if I went to one of my son’s ballgames; I was good.  When I yelled at the ref; I was bad.  I bring flowers home for my wife; I am good.  If they were for her birthday and it was a couple of days ago; I am bad.  If I say “hi” to a friend in the store; I am good.  If I walked right past him because I was preoccupied; I am bad.  If I get to work early; I am good.  If I don’t get my tasks done on time; I am bad. 

    We could go on and on.  Some of the list can get somewhat whimsical but sometimes it can hit a nerve as well.  Some things just irritate or hurt a little too much; especially if I find myself always scoring “bad.”  I try hard but I just can’t seem to score in the “good” zone.  So, at the end of the day, when I tally up the total; I am a bad husband, a bad father, a bad son, a bad neighbor; well, you get the point.  At the end of the day, it can be pretty depressing.

    Maybe you have stretches of times like that as well.  Sometimes things just seem to be going against us.  It always seems that just as trouble enters our lives; more and more comes our way.  We don’t get a drop of trouble; we get a flood of trouble.  We look at our lives and all we see on our score card is “bad,” so we assume that God hates us and is getting even.  At least that is what the devil wants us to think.  The devil likes it when we look at our score card and see we are way behind.  He likes it when we look at life and think that God is evening things out against us.  He likes it when we think “I am just too bad to be loved by anyone including God.”  Once we are thinking this, the guilt and the pain just pile on.

     Sin and the guilt of sin can be very cruel.  They will take events in our lives and turn them into thoughts that we are not good enough to be loved by anyone, especially God.  This is one of the most painful things to think and it is also the most wrong.  The devil is trying to deceive you; don’t let him.

     God loves you very dearly.  Even when we were sinners, he loved us enough to send Jesus to die for us to make us whole again.  We have a hard time comprehending the love that God has for us.  We only have imperfect images to try and convey his perfect love.  God doesn’t look at your score card; he looks at us through Christ as his redeemed children.  So, at the end of the day, throw the score card away; God has.  We may struggle at being a good parent, spouse, child, neighbor or whatever but God’s love doesn’t depend on us.  God’s love depends on God and that love goes beyond anything we can ever envision.  So, live in the comfort of God’s grace and mercy.  We don’t deserve it but, thanks be to God, we have it.

Dear Father, your mercies roll over us like a flood and we are amazed by them each day.  Give us the peace in our hearts and minds that you have forgiven us and that you hold us near to you.  Watch over, bless us, and protect us with your great love.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret