Reflections

March 19,  2023

Today's Reading:  Matt. 2:13-15, 19-23

Daily Lectionary: Gen 41:28-57, Mark 11:20-33

Matthew 2:13: “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.””

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Joseph’s fiancé was pregnant. He knew it wasn’t his child. People talked about it. Legend puts him a lot older than Mary. Old enough people talked about that, too. I wonder what he dreamed about before God-given warnings took over his nights.  “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  “Rise, flee to Egypt.  Remain there until I tell you. Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.”  I’m guessing “abandon everything and flee to Egypt to protect the kid someone else fathered with your wife” might not have been on the 5 year plan. Joseph disappears before Jesus begins His ministry.  

It would be easy to remember him for his patience, selflessness, and sacrificial care for Mary and Jesus.  It would even be possible to mark him as one taken advantage of by those looking for a patron saint to represent their own feelings of insecurity and insufficiency. It might be best, though, to remember him only so far as the Scriptures do. He was the guardian of Jesus. The Husband of Mary. Faithful. 

In worry, he was near Jesus. In trial, near Jesus. Until death, near Jesus. Immanuel means God with us. Joseph is marked as one who was near to Jesus because Jesus was near to him. There are plenty of fathers and husbands marked for doing the right thing, and plenty more for feeling bitter about not getting enough attention. Joseph is simply the one near Jesus, and being near Jesus is enough. We remember Joseph as we can now see each other. Near to Jesus, hearing His promises and believing them, that even if we disappear from the story, we will ever be near Jesus in eternity. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, from the house of Your servant David You raised up Joseph to be the guardian of Your incarnate Son and the husband of His mother, Mary. Grant us grace to follow the example of this faithful workman in heeding Your counsel and obeying Your commands; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

- Pastor Harrison Goodman is Content Executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 18,  2023

Today's Reading:  Introit for Lent 4 Ps. 27:4-6; antiphon: Ps. 25:15

Daily Lectionary: Gen 41:1-27, Mark 11:1-19

Psalm 25:15: “My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.”

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. As a pastor, when the Lord promises rescue, I secretly get scared. I’ve been around cancer that isn’t healed.  Paralytics that still can’t walk. Addicts who relapse. I’ve heard poor sinners' desperate words and joined them in their litanies. God still said no. And I’m afraid He’ll do it again. I’m embarrassed. Of my lack of faith. But also, a little bit of Him. 

It’s easier to preach about a God who’s miracles work more like a vending machine. The 27th Psalm is for my fear and shame. David shows us where to look in days of trouble. We look for rescue in the things of this world. God promises it in His house. The shelter is in the House of the Lord.  The victory is given where the sacrifices are. 

It isn’t just a “look on the bright side, one day you’ll go to heaven” platitude.  It’s a question of which is stronger. The prayers I’ve wanted to be answered were rooted in a fear God wouldn’t help. He already has.  The temple is where He gives the victory. Forgiveness that relapse can’t undo. Salvation that isn’t measured in remission. Resurrection that accident and age can’t cripple.  

The things we’re so afraid of can’t actually hurt us here. We are gathered in a fortress that stands as a shield against everything else. It’s a question of where God works. Of how He answers prayers. The desperate litanies are met by a Jesus already risen from the grave, promising us the same. Look at where Jesus is, not where you’re afraid He won’t be. He’s in your church, giving good gifts of victory over all you’re so afraid of.  

In a world where everything falls down, David pleads to be found in the house of the Lord.  Because it will be left standing afterwards, even as Christ is risen. Sometimes I’m afraid God will say no. Joy isn’t found in the fear and the shame of it. So God lifts me up out of it and sets me on the rock, that is Christ. In Him, in His death and resurrection, I have a yes already given for me, and for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Why spend the day in blank despair, In restless thought the night? On your Creator cast your care; He makes your burdens light. (Rejoice, My Heart, Be Glad and Sing, LSB 737:3) 

- Pastor Harrison Goodman is Content Executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 17,  2023

Today's Reading:  Mark 10:32-52

Daily Lectionary: Gen 40:1-23

Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Patrick tends to get belittled. Faithful teaching about the Holy Trinity is truncated to a 3 leaf clover or maybe a satirical youtube video in select circles. His time in Ireland is reduced to fables and jokes about snakes being driven into the sea.  

In reality, Patrick was kidnapped when he was 16 and enslaved for 6 years before escaping the country of Ireland where he was brought only to return to preach the forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus to the very nation that took Him from His family and made him a slave. He was a fierce defender of the Triune God to a culture set against the idea. 

Somehow, it’s easier to imagine a God who helps the faithful drown snakes than a God who is glorified in suffering. James and John want to sit at either side of Jesus in the hour of triumph. They don’t know what they’re asking for. That hour is the cross. Those seats are reserved for two thieves.  

Sinners go looking for power. Jesus reveals Himself in mercy. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. Patrick not only confessed the Triune God, but preached to the sinners Christ died for, assuming the role of servant even to those who held him captive. There’s a reason. Stories of glory only help the powerful, and I guess the ones who hate snakes.  There’s no help for the sinners or the ones without a great escape story. When we go looking for power, only the devout end up glorified, never the sinners.  When Jesus works mercy, even thieves can be saved, and all of us join Christ in the humility of the cross  that we would be raised with Him in glory. This is a Christianity with room for sinners, with room for the lowly, with room for you. Your faith is not measured in the great works you accomplish but in the sins Christ forgives. All of them. The snake's head was crushed at the foot of the cross where your salvation was won, whether or not you chased the rest out of a country. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

I bind unto myself today The pow’r of God to hold and lead, His eye to watch, His might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need, The wisdom of my God to teach, His hand to guide, His shield to ward, The Word of God to give me speech, His heav’nly host to be my guard. (I Bind unto Myself Today, LSB 604:3)

- Pastor Harrison Goodman is Content Executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 16,  2023

Today's Reading:  

Daily Lectionary: Gen 39:1-23

Genesis 39:23: “The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.”

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Whatever Joseph did, the Lord made it succeed. Joseph, of course, being the guy wrongfully imprisoned. But, like, really successfully. I wonder if Moses smirked as he wrote this stuff. If it wasn’t for this verse, we could have an inspiring “when life gives you lemons” peptalk. Roll with the punches. Make the best of it. But this happened because the LORD was with Joseph. This is the Lord’s definition of success, too. I’d rather be a normal guy lots of people ignore than the second most important person in prison.  

It might be something to consider before quoting an out-of-context Bible verse about God having a plan for your life. I’m not saying He doesn’t. I’m saying you might not like it. The Lord doesn’t measure success by power over this world, but by salvation within it. The Lord measures success by the cross.  Joseph isn’t a story of rolling with the punches, but of a son being cast down and raised up to save His people.  

Joseph’s story begins with a robe, a pit, and jealous betrayal and ends with a meal that sustains a people dying in a world of not enough. Success isn’t measured in power, but in the Lord moving among sinful people to work mercy and salvation where there should be none. It looks like Christ coming down from heaven to walk the road to the cross to bear your sins and die, only to rise and send forth the Holy Spirit to deliver this salvation to you in a meal of Holy Communion. Jesus being in control of the nation of Israel without bearing the cross for her is no success at all.  

And for you, the Lord doesn’t mark success in wealth or power or the things of this world that pass away, but by keeping you in faith now, through death, and unto the same resurrection. Look to the Word for that. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Come, Thou incarnate Word, Gird on Thy mighty sword; Our prayer attend. Come and Thy people bless, And give Thy Word success, And let Thy righteousness On us descend. (Come, Thou Almighty King,, LSB 905:2)

- Pastor Harrison Goodman is Content Executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 15,  2023

Today's Reading:  Luther’s Small Catechism – Ten Commandments: First Commandment

Daily Lectionary: Gen 37:1-36, Mark 10:1-12

We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Idols are good things. The money you love more than God isn’t evil. The love of it is. The people we value more than God are the neighbors He gave you. The power you trust more than God isn’t sinful to have. It’s sinful to use it selfishly. It’s foolish to think it will save you eternally.  That’s the point. An idol is a part of creation we worship instead of the creator. That stuff isn’t God. It can’t save you.  

Not even when you put the name Jesus on it. That’s my favorite trick. I name all my idols Jesus. Jesus wants me to be successful. Happy. Rich.  At least that’s what I tell myself. You can see it go wrong in two ways. First, the Scriptures never promise Jesus wants you to have those things. Second, if Jesus is only a means to an end, the end is your real god. Not Jesus. 

Idolatry is like getting a Christmas present and saying thank you to the present instead of the person who gave it to you. It’s not just rude. It misses the greatest thing about presents. Someone loves you enough to give you something. That’s the real gift. Idolatry takes for granted the love of the Savior and trades it in for things that moth and rust destroy. None of the things we fear, love, and trust in will be around for eternity. None of them can get you to eternity either. But Jesus already has.  

It's the other side of the First Commandment coin. If God says, “You shall have no other gods”, what He also means is that He insists on being God to you. For you. He insists on being the one you trust in above all because He is trustworthy. He insists on being the thing you fear above all because His wrath consumes in a way nothing in this world can express. He insists on being what you love above all things because to see God is to see the source of all good things, and know He insists on giving them to you.  Idols aren’t bad things. They’re good gifts from God that blind us to the giver. He insists you have good things so fiercely that He gives them even to idolaters like you, then forgives you, saves you from your idols, and even from yourself by the cross that becomes our treasure.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“I am alone your God, the Lord; No other gods shall be adored. But you shall fully trust in Me And love Me wholeheartedly.” Have mercy, Lord!  (These are the Holy Ten Commands, LSB 581:2)

- Pastor Harrison Goodman is Content Executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 14,  2023

Today's Reading:  Romans 5:1-18

Daily Lectionary: Gen 35:1-29, Mark 9:33-50

Romans 5:8: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Spiritual warfare is easier when it’s us against the devil, but I am a sinner.  The problem is me. It’s the devil who would have you think the only enemies are outside of yourself and outside of our walls. In true spiritual warfare, there is no us against them. There is only Jesus for sinners. WE were the enemies of God. Not the world. Not the devil. Us. So Jesus died for you. Your sins are forgiven. So are your enemies’. The devil lost.  

Now, the battleground is your conscience. It’s more than “this isn’t how it’s supposed to be”. It’s “I’m not how I’m supposed to be.”  I haven’t done enough. I haven’t trusted enough.  Spiritual warfare is the devil pointing away from the cross where Christ already won the victory for you. Christ was crucified. Christ is risen. But I’m still scared. I’m still struggling. I’m still sinning. Even if all the problems in the world went away, I’d still be stuck with me. This is where the devil fights.  

So Jesus wages war for your conscience and your soul both. He fights back against the accusations of the evil one. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” For you. The free gift is not like the trespass. The free gift is not found in the Law that accuses and shows what’s wrong.  It’s in the Gospel that reconciles enemies. “Now you are reconciled to God through the death of His Son.”  

I am a sinner Jesus died for. No, I haven't done enough. I haven't trusted enough. I haven’t fought hard enough. But Jesus has. Now there is grace given to sinners that reconciles us to God and so reconciles us to each other. If you can’t see past the picture the law would paint of your enemies and of yourself, your spiritual warfare is simply to receive the Gospel. Receive pardon and mercy. Receive forgiveness, life, and salvation that unite us to the victory already won when Christ burst from the tomb. That unites us even to each other. We are the enemies that were reconciled to God together. We are the sinners Jesus died for. We are the baptized. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Preserve Your Word and preaching, The truth that makes us whole, The mirror of Your glory, The pow’r that saves the soul. Oh, may this living water, This dew of heav’nly grace, Sustain us while here living Until we see Your face. (Preserve Your Word, O Savior LSB 658:4)

- Pastor Harrison Goodman is Content Executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 13,  2023

Today's Reading:  Ex. 17:1-7

Daily Lectionary: Gen. 29:1-30, Mark 9:14-32

Exodus 17:7: “And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?””

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Moses is tired of the people complaining and fighting.  So the Lord tells him to hit a rock with a stick to shut them up.  The Bible is full of uncomfortable things about Jesus. He rose from the dead.  It’s easier to paper over the miracles and teachings that don’t jive with common morals today.  But when you take Jesus out of the book, it gets even weirder.  Nobody tells the story of water from a rock to prove a political point or win an argument online.  This doesn’t demonstrate kindness unless you squint.  

It's easier to complain about the world that’s falling apart than recognize they’re only asking the same questions Israel did of old.  Is the LORD among us or not? Because it doesn’t really look like He is.  They asked that to the guy who ripped the sea in half and marched them through on dry ground while a pillar of fire watched.  They saw.  Society asks it surrounded by death and tragedy.  And we ask because people won’t stop being sinners.  It’s funny how we want their miracles, and they want our comforts, but we both manage to ask the same questions about God. It’s almost like the real problem isn’t how the world looks, but the sinful state of our hearts. So Jesus answers. Not in temper tantrums but in promises. The Bible makes more sense if Jesus is always in the center of it.  

There is a rock, from whose side comes living water, struck to put an end to the sinful rebellion of God’s people, and that rock was Christ. He was struck. He was beaten. He was crucified and pierced for you, and from His side comes life giving water. The Lord was among His sinners to save them. It hasn’t changed. It’s been fulfilled. It answers the worry of the people not by setting them apart from the things they’re afraid of, but by forgiving their sins, our sins, so that life can be more than just an escape from the thing that isn’t the real problem. There can be hope in Him who has already saved. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Yet, O Lord, not thus alone Make me see Your passion, But its cause to me make known And its termination. Ah! I also and my sin Wrought Your deep affliction; This indeed the cause has been Of Your crucifixion (Jesus, I Will Ponder Now LSB 440:3) 

- Pastor Harrison Goodman is Content Executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 12,  2023

Today's Reading:  John 4:5-26

Daily Lectionary: Gen 27:30-45, 28:10-22, Mark 9:1-13

John 4:10: “Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.””

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This lady’s a sinner.  She has to work herself up every time she goes out in public.  She hears what she is whenever she goes out.  She’s not Jewish enough. Not married enough. She would rather not go out to that well anymore.  How can I not come back here anymore?  She actually confesses it.  Give me the water so I don’t have to get more.  I don’t want to have to come here anymore.  I don’t want to be what they stare at.  I don’t want to be what they talk about. I don’t want to be the object lesson to nice little boys and girls anymore.  

Jesus asked for water and never got any.  He asked after her husband and never got an answer either.  Jesus asks after everything she needs and never gets it.  She can’t give it.  Sin is still sin.  It breaks stuff.  Salvation did come from the temple of the Jews, but Jesus is there to do more than correct her about her church-going habits and get her married.  He’s there to give.  He doesn’t wait until she feels appropriately sorry.  Her biting answers toward Jesus say plenty about how she really saw herself.  He just starts promising living water to bitter sinners.  He’s so blunt that the rest of us get uncomfortable too.  There’s no condition. It’s here. It’s free. We’d like to imagine it’s because Jesus isn’t being as polite as we imagine, but really it’s deeper.  The whole conversation points out a truth we’d rather not see.  

Nobody’s saved by measuring their shortcomings, whether they be the sins acceptable by the public or not.  We’re saved by Jesus, the rock.  We’re saved by the living water that comes from His pierced side.  He shows up. He dies. He saves.  And it’s for you too.  There are no conditions. It’s free. 

For the sins you hide away, for the statistics you’ve become on purpose or on accident, for your guilt, for you, peace. Jesus died for you. Your sins are forgiven. You are baptized. You have the living water promised. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast to the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

- Pastor Harrison Goodman is Content Executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 11, 2023 

Today's Reading: Introit for Lent 3 Ps. 84:1-4; antiphon: Ps. 84:5 

Daily Lectionary: Gen 27:1-29, Mark 8:22-38 

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. (From the Introit for the Third Sunday in Lent) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Churches come in all shapes and sizes. The massive and beautiful cathedrals of Europe, The climate-controlled and cushioned-pew buildings many of us know, and the rickety lean-tos often seen in disadvantaged nations. 

But all of these buildings have something in common: the altar. The place upon which the elements of the Sacrament are placed for the assembled saints to receive in Holy Communion. It might be a massive and ornate slab of marble, it may be a card table, but that altar is the place where the Lord God sits in glory when we gather in worship. 

The presence of God is what truly makes his dwelling place lovely. Reality gets very thin around altars. Eternity begins to bleed through into our world around those places where God sits. 

You see it happen to Isaiah in the temple (Isaiah 6). Zechariah has a close call, too (Luke 1). No, there is no Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies at your church, or any church on earth. But the altar functions in the same way. It is the Mercy Seat, the place where our Eternal God sits to bestow his gifts upon us. 

And when the Lord God is present among us, He doesn’t come alone. We proclaim it every time we celebrate the Sacrament: “therefore with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name.” 

The indescribable beauty that is the eternal throne room of God shines into our world in a mystical way as Jesus is physically present in the Sacrament. You can joyfully sing in a cavernous building, in the room of a nursing home, around a kitchen table, or in your own pew because God himself is present there, for you. 

Tomorrow, when you walk into your church, look closely at the altar and take note of what makes it special. The wood or stone, the fabrics or candlesticks that adorn it, the flowers that bring it color, the Bible resting upon it. 

All of those things are there to remind us of God’s presence, but the biggest and most glorious clue is the communion ware set there ready for you to receive from the ever-present God of salvation Jesus, given for you. It is lovely, indeed! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

God Himself is present: Let us now adore Him And with awe appear before Him. God is in His temple; all within keep silence; Humbly kneel in deepest reverence. He alone On His throne Is our God and Savior; Praise His name forever! (God Himself Is Present LSB 907:1)

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

March 10, 2023 

Today's Reading: 

Daily Lectionary:Gen 24:32-52, 61-67, Mark 8:1-21 

And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?” (St. Mark 8:16–18) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It’s easy to give the disciples grief. Today we have the benefit of hindsight and we are absolutely positive, 100% certain, without a doubt in our minds, that we would have been better and more perceptive disciples. Except not. We’d be just as bad, if not worse. 

Jesus had just fed 4,000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few fish. He and His disciples crisscrossed the Sea of Galilee dodging inquisitive Pharisees and their sign-seeking. Jesus is trying to make a point (as usual), and all the Twelve can think about is dinner. They’re arguing about who forgot to pack the ice chest, and Jesus has to be the parent and calm them down and try to focus their attention. They are so worried about the right now, that they have completely forgotten that the sun will rise tomorrow, whether or not they have enough to eat today. 

Do you see yourself in the Twelve now? It’s easy to get wrapped up in the despair and disaster of everyday troubles. Admit it, your mind has wandered during church more times than you can remember, other things have suddenly become more important than the Word of God. 

And that’s what Jesus is trying to get the disciples to understand; that he fed the 4,000 and had seven baskets of food left over, that he fed the 5,000 before that and had twelve baskets of food left over, that wherever He goes, abundance and healing abound. 

The Pharisees and Herodians were only thinking about the now, living day-to-day on the hope that they had just enough power and authority to stay in charge of things, and the disciples are getting dangerously close to that attitude. 

He wants them to remember that when He is with them, they will always have plenty. And that’s true today as well. Jesus is with us, providing what we need most in abundance: His Word and gifts. Along the way, He provides for our earthly needs, too, through our families and occupations. 

Even when we think about and focus on the wrong things, Jesus is with us to bring us back to reality; to the certainty of his presence with us to sustain, guard, and keep us always in the one true faith. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Lord, take my hand and lead me Upon life’s way; Direct, protect, and feed me From day to day. Without Your grace and favor I go astray; So take my hand, O Savior, And lead the way. (Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me, LSB 722:1) 

-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.