Listen to Devotion

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. . . And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

“Who cares?” Maybe we’ve said that when something seemed insignificant. At times, we might truly ask that when we are struggling, and it seems like no one cares. Who sincerely cares?

God does. He sees, and he cares. While we wait for Jesus to come and take us to glory, Peter reminds us that he cares. He writes, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” There’s a dose of humility that comes with suffering. In humility, I need to see that I’m not exempt from hardship and suffering any more than Jesus was. But neither am I exempt from the glory and life my Savior won for me. In the meantime, he cares!

Peter encourages us to cast our anxiety off on Jesus. But sometimes, we tend to brush off instead of casting off. Brushing off means I don’t want to deal with it. I don’t have the capacity to address this problem, so I’ll ignore it or pretend it doesn’t exist. Sometimes, we brush off the troubles of others and minimize whatever it is that’s making them anxious. Jesus doesn’t brush you off, and he doesn’t brush off whatever is causing you anxiety like it’s nothing. He says, “Give it to me!” That’s how much he cares.

The same living and loving God who said about your sins, “Give them to me!” and carried them to a cross, also says about your fears, your worries, your anxieties, your sorrows, “Give them to me!” Why? Because he cares. For you! He lifts the burdens you can’t carry and sustains you through this life even when you suffer. And as surely as he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, he lives, and he is coming to take you to glory someday. Why? Because he still cares!

Lord, give me the humility to cast all my anxieties on you because you care. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Listen to Devotion

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

What makes you anxious? On the other hand, what excites you and gives you a sense of eager anticipation?

In a way, anxiety and anticipation are similar. Both look toward the future. However, when we experience anxiety, we are worried because we don’t know what the future holds. We fret about the worst-case scenarios and the “what ifs.” When we eagerly anticipate something, we are excited because we know something great is going to happen. This kind of anticipation can also help us hold out for something better to come. For example, if I know I’ll be dining at a world-class restaurant tonight, I won’t be tempted to hit the drive-through and fill up on junk.

God, in his great love for us, points us toward a glorious and certain future through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus comes to us in the promises of the Bible, proven by his rising from the dead, and he exchanges our anxiety with eager anticipation. He doesn’t reveal all that will happen in this life, but he assures us that he is with us, and we belong to him. He’ll see us through our daily difficulties that often cause us anxiety.

He lifts your attention from your daily troubles and points you to the ultimate future—an eternity with him! He removes all anxiety concerning eternity by removing all your sins. All your sins were nailed to the cross with him, and his empty tomb is proof that no debt remains. You don’t need to be anxious about eternity, fretting if God will let you in. You can look forward to heaven with eager anticipation.

Looking forward to eternal life with this certainty helps us hold out for something better than what this world can offer us. We need not fill up on the empty promises and temporary pleasures of this world. We can be satisfied and content with God’s love and promises right now. We can leave our anxiety at the foot of Jesus’ cross and wait with eager anticipation for the day when we will see him with our own eyes.

Lord, lead me to your cross and lift all that makes me anxious and replace it each day with eager anticipation of a glorious life with you forever. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Listen to Devotion

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

“Wow, what a blessing!” “He’s so blessed!” “Count your blessings!” “Too blessed to be stressed!” These are ways we sometimes talk about blessings. It’s refreshing to hear people use the word “blessed” instead of “lucky.” Counting our blessings and remembering where they come from can keep us grounded and remind us to be thankful to God, who gives us all good things.

However, are blessings only things we would naturally call good? The apostle Peter mentions blessings we wouldn’t normally think of as blessings. He doesn’t say, “If lots of people like you, you are blessed.” Or, “If you’ve got good health and wealth, you’re blessed!” Instead, he says, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

Don’t let worldly standards and perceptions tell you what it means to be blessed. The world may look at a Christian and criticize them for “outdated beliefs.” Unbelievers might call Christians “close-minded” for confessing that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. But the one who is truly blessed is the one who belongs to Jesus. Belonging to Jesus means that we do not belong to this world. It means a Christian doesn’t fit into the world’s skewed ideas of what it means to be blessed.

If you believe in Jesus, and the world looks at you sideways, or responds with even more hostility, let it remind you that you are blessed because you belong to Jesus. This blessing lasts beyond the rejection of the world. This world’s insults don’t stick because God’s glorious blessings of forgiveness and life rest on you.

Lord, thank you for the blessings of being connected to you and the gift of your grace. Even when the world doesn’t call me blessed, make me a blessing to those around me. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Listen to Devotion

[Jesus said] I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.

“I’m praying for you.” Has anyone ever told you that? It can be an encouraging and comforting thing to have a Christian pray for you. They are asking God to help you with a problem or to bless you in special ways. It reassures you that you are not alone and that others are thinking of you and wishing you the best.

Did you know that Jesus prays for you? He gives an example of that in today’s Bible verse. He prayed for his disciples the night before he died on the cross. He acknowledged that his disciples and every believer belongs to God as a child belongs to his father. He prayed for protection and strength. In this world they would face troubles and temptations. Many things in this world would war against their faith, but Jesus was praying to his Father on their behalf. The unbelieving world and the forces of evil are powerful, but Jesus is bigger and stronger. The one who answers prayers prayed for his disciples.

We are in the world for a time. In this world, there are various troubles, but Jesus has overcome them. Jesus is in heaven, where he ascended forty days after rising from the dead. Jesus still prays for his followers for strength and endurance. He prays that through their sharing of his word and promises, many others will come to faith and receive his glorious gifts of forgiveness and everlasting life. You are not forgotten by your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The world and the forces of evil are powerful, but Jesus is bigger and stronger. The one who answers prayers is praying for you.

Lord, grant me strength to withstand all those wars against my soul, and give my great anticipation of the glorious life that waits beyond the troubles of this world. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Listen to Devotion

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

We can be pretty good at glorifying. To glorify something or someone means to highly value it; to elevate it above other things; to praise it as one of the greatest things. We glorify the status of wealth, and the things and experiences it can buy. We put politicians and entertainers on a pedestal until they fail to meet our expectations.

Our struggle isn’t that we don’t know how to glorify. It’s that we tend to glorify things that have a fading glory. Their greatness quickly passes, and we’re left searching for the next great thing. When we encounter Jesus in his Word, we find an eternal glory, a greatness that never fades.

The Bible verse today is a prayer that Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified. He prays that God the Father be glorified, that God’s greatness would be made known in what Jesus was about to do. He prays that he, God the Son, also would be glorified. Jesus did not seek to be glorified in a worldly sense, such as being a king on earth or receiving fame and fortune. To be glorified, Jesus was not put on a pedestal; he was put on a cross. How could there be greatness and glory in suffering and dying on a cross?

Jesus’ death on the cross accomplished the greatest thing ever—the forgiveness of our sins, all the times we’ve glorified the wrong things. This great and glorious thing is proven by Jesus rising from the dead. It’s living proof that eternal life is ours just as Jesus promises. We don’t receive this glory because of our hard work. Jesus did it all. This glorious forgiveness and eternal life are ours through knowing Jesus in faith. We can set aside all the things we’ve glorified and place all our hope in Jesus and his glory, which never fades.

Lord, let all the glory of this world fade, and fix my faith on your eternal glory, the glory of sins forgiven and everlasting life. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Listen to Devotion

If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

It hurts to be insulted. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about the collective teasing and ribbing that take place among people who generally get along with each other. I’m talking about that moment when someone crosses the line, takes part of what you are, and holds it up for contempt. That hurts.

When Christians are insulted because of their beliefs, they should not be surprised. Perhaps it’s the co-worker who dismisses you for being stupid and naïve. Perhaps it’s the schoolmate who goes out of her way to flaunt something sinful in front of you. Perhaps it’s the guy down at the gym who picks religious fights for fun. Perhaps it’s the family member who rolls her eyes at you and your “narrow” view of the world. Sure, you can usually ride the waves and take the cutting remarks in stride. However, there are times when it becomes overwhelming. There are moments when the insults truly hurt.

When that happens, your Lord wants you to remember that such insults mark you as someone he has blessed. Oh, sure, it doesn’t feel like a blessing. But that’s okay, because the truth remains that those insults identify you as someone the Holy Spirit has brought into God’s family, someone surrounded by God’s promises, someone embraced by full forgiveness through faith in Jesus.

So let the insults come. Let the eyes roll. Let the snickers and the sneers do their worst. Jesus says that they serve as a reminder that you belong to him. When we keep that in mind, then such insults are not so bad after all.

Lord Jesus, when the insults come to attack my faith, empower me by your Spirit to remember that such insults mark me as someone blessed by you. In difficult moments, give me peace of mind and heart. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Listen to Devotion

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.

Sheep can be easily spooked. A sudden noise can send them into a frenzy. These gentle creatures are not built to handle a lot of stress because they do not have a strong defense mechanism. Sheep are vulnerable and depend on their shepherd for protection.

Like sheep, you and I don’t always feel like we’re built to handle some of the problems we’re facing. We can feel stressed and overtaxed. And the truth is that we are just as defenseless. Much of the stress in our lives is due to problems beyond our control. We may work hard, but cutbacks can still take away our job. We may eat right, but medical tests can still deliver troubling news.

Thanks be to God that we are not on our own. We have a shepherd who protects us. Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, was willing to lay down his life for his sheep (John 10:11). He is a Shepherd who did not remain dead but picked his life up again. This good and living Shepherd provides protection for his sheep.

Jesus’ sheep were very nervous and fearful on that first Easter. His disciples met in secret behind locked doors. Then Jesus appeared and said, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19). Jesus could offer the disciples peace because he was alive again. He paid the price for their sin by his death on the cross on Good Friday. The living Jesus restored their joy of salvation with his peace of sins forgiven.

Jesus offers his peace to you and me as well. We may feel defenseless with the problems we are going through. But we are never alone. Our protector and Good Shepherd is always with us. Leading us to the green pastures of his Word, he fills us with comfort and confidence through his promises. As he satisfies us with the life-giving water of his Word, he strengthens our faith in him and gives us the peace that only he, our Good Shepherd, can give us.

Jesus, my Good Shepherd, lead me to a deeper understanding and a greater trust in your words. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Listen to Devotion

“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

It seems like an all-too-common occurrence when someone in the public eye comes under fire for past indiscretions. Whether it is athletes, politicians, or entertainers, we have seen examples of someone falling from grace. Once past sins are brought into the light, very few people in our society will have mercy. Social media will vilify the person. Public opinion will turn against them quickly. They might be blackballed by Hollywood or shunned by their political party. It is likely they will never recover or return to their previous position.

Deep down, we are all afraid that our past sins will come back to bite us in the end. Maybe it was something done in secret that nobody knows about. Perhaps it was a sin committed in the heat of the moment, you know that at some point it is going to come to light, and you are going to have to answer for it. It is likely that whatever happened will eventually be known by others; it is just a matter of time. The fear of waiting for that other shoe to drop is real. We fear losing our jobs, reputation, or relationships. Perhaps more than that, we fear being punished by God for all eternity.

That would be our fate, except that someone already answered to God on our behalf. In giving himself to die on the cross, Jesus already took both the blame and the punishment for our sins. He has paid for our sins and removed them from us.

Yes, the day is coming when many will have to answer for what they have done. But through faith in Jesus, we don’t have to fear that day. The Judge on that day will be the same one who died and rose from the dead to save us. Thanks be to God that through faith in Jesus, we will not be made to answer for our sins!

Dear Jesus, thank you for answering for my sins and removing them from me. Lead me to not fear the day of your return. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Listen to Devotion

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.

Do you ever feel lost? Like you don’t have a purpose in life? Maybe at times you have found yourself wondering: ‘How did I get here?’ or ‘Where am I going?’ So many in this world, maybe us included, are adrift in this world and on a search to “find themselves.”

It is to such wandering hearts that today’s verse speaks. Does it encourage you to know that God has determined the times and places in your life? The circumstances of your life are not coincidental or random. God has placed you where he wants you at a time of his choosing. That suggests that he has a purpose for you and a plan for your life. God has you right where he wants you.

Perhaps you are wondering how you can trust that. Well, the same God who determined the details of your life is the God who saw fit to save you from sin, death, and hell. He is the same God who offered his own Son on the cross to take away our sins and give us eternal life in heaven. Having already shown you the depth of his love, you can be sure that same love will follow you in your life. And not just this life, but eternal life as well, You need never wonder where you are going when life in this world is over. Jesus will take you to heaven through faith in him.

And while you wait for that day, God has given you a purpose: to love and serve him and the people he puts in your path.

Dear Jesus, thank you for giving me new life in heaven. As I wait for that wonderful day when you take me home, help me to find purpose in my daily life as I serve you. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Listen to Devotion

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

“I can do this all day.” Marvel fans will recognize that as one of Captain America’s common statements. It was something he usually said when he was involved in a difficult fight against an enemy. Cap is known for his determination and perseverance. He might have gotten knocked down, but you could expect him to get back up. Hits that would have knocked us down for good, usually couldn’t keep him down. He would get back up, slowly, but might say to his opponent, “I can do this all day.”

As much as we may look up to Captain America, none of us is that resilient in real life. Sure, we fight our battles, and we can give it our all, but so often we too get knocked down. And maybe we’ll rally and get back up for a time, but there are a few enemies that we cannot stand up to. Death is one of those enemies. It is staring all of us down, and we may fight it off for a while, but eventually it will knock us down, and we do not have the power or strength to get back up again. Not even Captain America has that kind of power.

But there is one who does. Jesus faced death, too. A terrible death that he didn’t deserve. Dying on a cross was not a nice way to go. And while he was innocent, he gave himself over to death so that you and I might be forgiven and saved. But that could only happen if Jesus didn’t stay down. Thankfully, on Easter Sunday, Jesus got back up. “He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” Jesus is alive again, nevermore to die. He has knocked out and defeated the one enemy that you and I could never hope to defeat. In Jesus, we have victory over death and the gift of eternal life in heaven!

Dear Jesus, death could not keep you down. I rejoice to know that you are alive and that you give me the gift of life as well. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.