Being humble.

“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." Psalm 25:9

Forty-one years ago today, my youngest daughter was born at Western Nebraska General Hospital with the fire alarm beeping and battery powered emergency lights illuminating the birthing area.  It is humbling to consider just how old that makes me feel.  These past few weeks have caused me to consider how much of our world needs to take a class on Being Humble 101.  Can I get an AMEN?

Humility is not thinking less of yourself.  You can be confident and humble at the same time.  Humility is thinking of yourself less.  When you stay focused on our Heavenly Father, what He has accomplished through you, and helping other people, you naturally think about yourself less.  That’s not an easy way to live in our fallen world.  Why would anybody choose to think of others more than they think of themselves?  Because God makes many promises in the Bible for Christians who will humble themselves.  Humility is a big deal to our Triune God.  I read a devotion about ‘being humble’ last week and here are four things God will do in your life when you work on being humble.  I know there are a few Haitian Lutheran pastors who read my messages so I’m hopeful you can glean a few snippets of wisdom this Monday that can be passed on to your congregation.

If you’re humble, God will guide you.  If you don’t know which way to turn, whether to get in or get out of the boat, hold on or let go, then get humble.  When you humble yourself, God will make your next step clear and you’ll make fewer mistakes in life.

If you’re humble, God will bless you.  Isaiah the Prophet writes in 66:2 “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts”.  God doesn’t bless egotistic or prideful people or those who secretly think they’re better than everybody else.  Been around anyone like that recently?  Our Triune God blesses the humble.

If you’re humble, God will give you the power to change.  The power to change is called grace.  Maybe there are things in your life you’d like to change.  Perhaps you’ve tried to change, but you can’t or you won’t.  You need grace!  How do you get God’s grace and the power to change?  Every time you’re prideful, you’re on the opposite side of God; and you don’t want to be there.  The humbler you are, the more grace our Triune God gives you.

If you’re humble, God will reduce your stress.  I can imagine that all of us will need some stress reduction this week.  If you’re prideful, your stress is going to go up.  Instead, listen to Jesus: “Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls” Matthew 11:29.  When you’re tapped out and feel like you have nothing left to give, surrender to Jesus. Spend time in the Bible, learning how to choose gentleness and humility by his example.  Pray, and ask him for the grace to change.  Then you’ll find the rest your soul has been craving.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Preparation.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” Psalm 51:1-4

Last Sunday, I worshipped online at the 8 AM service with Christ Lincoln, and for confession and absolution, Pastor Dirk Reek read from Luther’s Small Catechism and it brought me back to my confirmation class in 1964.  For a few months now I have been having a longer prayer in preparation for Sabbath Day; be it Saturday, Sunday or Monday for you and me.  Today I’m just going to share what Pastor Reek, the congregation in Nebraska and the 77 of us worshipping on line read together. 

What is Confession?  Confession has two parts.  First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.

What sins should we confess?  Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even those we are not aware of, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer; but before the pastor we should confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts.

Which are these?  Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments: Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker?  Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy?  Have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome?  Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds?  Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?

Heavenly Father, open our hearts so that we are able to admit to you the fullness of our lives; that which is beautiful and good, and that which is also hurtful and hateful.  We confess that we do not follow Jesus in all that we do.  We love with condition.  We judge and condemn.  We cast the first stone, and keep the logs in our own eyes.  We do not turn to You as the source of our healing.  Forgive us, we pray.  Forgive our sin, and empower us to be imitators of Christ in love and service.  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

The Blood on the cross at Calvary has cleansed you, your sins are forgiven.

Amen.

Made plans?

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Have you done any planning for your future recently?  Made plans for the Labor Day weekend or for one last three-day getaway vacation?  Have you made plans for your retirement?  Have you made plans for where or what you are going to eat tonight?  The dictionary indicates that making plans should be a realistic view of the expectations; depending upon the activities, a plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range.  Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure.

I’ve sat down and made some plans for the remaining years of my life and have an agenda that set a course for the remainder of my journey.  If my history repeats itself in the coming years, I can tell you now that there will most certainly be some challenges and failures.  I’ve presented my plan to my Heavenly Father and am still watching and listening for His guidance.  I truly want the Lord to determine my steps on this journey regardless of my own agenda.  I am hoping that His directions and my steps will intersect at some point but if things appear too dark, I will turn to His course and be confident of His wisdom and my life as He blesses more people through it.

Our Triune God will determine your steps, my steps and the steps of this child who lives in Ouanaminthe.  My journey intersects with his journey as my life is bringing him a noon meal at his Lutheran school.  I don’t know how much longer he will be blessed by my gifts but I am confident that this is a direction that is God pleasing.  God knows our hearts and He will often direct us to do things in which we are gifted or where our personalities just seem to be a natural fit; it is His plan for us and for this child.  Thank you for feeding children with Trinity HOPE school feeding programs and preparing them for their journey...His journey for them.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Going home.

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”  Matthew 24:14

Johnny Cash and I sang a duet while driving home from HyVee yesterday, well, actually I just sang the chorus “when the roll is called up yonder” while the song was being played on the radio in my truck; cause I don’t remember all the words.  There is a lot I don’t recall these days; senior moments.  Going home…have you ever considered who will be worthy of having their names written on the role up yonder?

Am I considered worthy?  I try to live in a way which is good and God-pleasing but the reality is that the puffy face in morning mirror failed again and again yesterday.  What about the children in the attached photo?  They are some of the 105 that attend the Lutheran School in Balague which is located in the Arcahaie District.  Are they considered worthy?  They probably try as hard as we do to live God-pleasing lives but not sure if they are able recite the six chief parts of the Lutheran Catechism like you and I can.

Good news!  While we are pleading the worthiness of our lives, it is exactly where Jesus comes in!  Jesus came to this world not because we were good people, but because we were bad people, sinful people who needed a Savior.  His death on the cross paid for all our American and Haitian sins that made us unworthy.  We can now, because of Jesus, look forward to eternity in the glory of heaven together with the children from Balague and all of God's family of believers!

“When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair.  When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.  On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise, and the glory of His resurrection share.  When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies, and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.  Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun, let us talk of all His wondrous love and care.  Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done, and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.”  James Black, 1893

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Trusting Thee.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Matthew 6:34

This scripture reading and the song “I am trusting thee Lord Jesus” have been bouncing around in my head today.  In this world that we live in, worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles; it only takes away today's peace.  This world’s self-help courses tell us to fight fire with fire but we need to remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

The girl in the attached photo attends Bon Barger (Good Shepherd) Lutheran School in Caredeux, Haiti.  I confess that there are times when I, Mr. Small Potatoes, worries that this child may not get her meal at school tomorrow; God has never let the Trinity HOPE pot go empty.  My doubting that financial responsibilities will slow and come to a halt have never been realized.  Jesus wants us to let go of our anxiety; we must live in the present moment.  There are too many opportunities we could miss today by worrying about what might happen tomorrow.

The Lord could come between now and tomorrow and all our worry would have been silliness and you, me and the children at Bon Barger will be together in Heaven.  Thank you for joining me in trusting in our Lord Jesus to keep the pots full at Trinity HOPE schools in Haiti.  Thank you for joining me in sharing our financial blessings with those who have so few.

“I am trusting Thee, Lord, Jesus, trusting only Thee; trusting Thee for full salvation, great and free.  I am trusting Thee for pardon; at Thy feet I bow; for Thy grace and tender mercy, trusting now.  I am trusting Thee for cleansing in the crimson flood; trusting Thee to make me holy by Thy blood.  I am trusting Thee to guide me; Thou alone shalt lead; every day and hour supplying all my need.  I am trusting Thee for power, Thine can never fail; words which Thou Thyself shalt give me must prevail.  I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus; never let me fall; I am trusting Thee forever, and for all.”  Frances R. Havergal, 1836-1879

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Saving the best.

“The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.  One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.  The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was.  Then the LORD called Samuel.  Samuel answered, “Here I am.”  And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”  But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”  So he went and lay down.  Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”  “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”  Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.  A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”  Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy.  So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.”  1 Samuel 3:1-9

Back in the day, when I was a child, I was not allowed to touch the black telephone on the desk.  We were on a party line and when my mom needed to call someone, she either used that black piece of technology with a rotary dial or by opening the door and yelling out a name.  The term ‘Cell’ phone was a solitary place I would be placed in after touching the phone and being spanked and being reminded I broke the house rules.  The scripture reading talks about how Samuel received his ‘call’ from God.  It is good to read these passages from time to time as we too have been called but sometimes we don’t understand who was calling or what it was they wanted.

The young boy in the attached photo attends the Lutheran school in Ouanaminthe and this is one of those special photos as the boy sitting next to him is wearing a North American throw away t-shirt that proclaims “saving the best for last.”  This young boy and you both have received the ‘call’ from our Heavenly Father; but each of your calls was different but both will bring blessings back to our Heavenly Father.  Your gift is feeding this child and he is growing the Kingdom in Haiti.

We get calls all the time and sometimes we answer and sometimes we just let the phone ring and ring and hope that they will leave a message.  He continues to call you and His children in Ouanaminthe and around this world.  Thank you for answering His call and taking the message.  While driving home recently, George Younce sang a song titled “Who at my door is standing” and its words seem relevant to this passage in 1 Samuel. 

“Who at my door is standing, patiently drawing near, entrance within demanding?  Whose is the voice I hear?  Sweetly the tones are falling; “Open the door for Me!  If thou wilt heed My calling, I will abide with thee.  Lonely without He’s staying, lonely within am I, while I am still delaying, will He not pass me by?  Sweetly the tones are falling; “Open the door for Me!  If thou wilt heed My calling, I will abide with thee.  All through the dark hours dreary, knocking again is He; Jesus, art Thou not weary, waiting so long for me?  Sweetly the tones are falling; “Open the door for Me!  If thou wilt heed My calling, I will abide with thee.  Door of my heart, I hasten!  Thee will I open wide.  Though He rebuke and chasten, He shall with me abide.  Sweetly the tones are falling; “Open the door for Me!  If thou wilt heed My calling, I will abide with thee.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

The lost son.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.  “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick!  Bring the best robe and put it on him.  Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  Bring the fattened calf and kill it.  Let’s have a feast and celebrate.  For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:20-24

Last Friday and Saturday, there were 3 notices of un-delivered messages to people who receive my messages and I have removed those email addresses from my list.  IF you too, would like to stop receiving this message, please send me a reply and I will remove you from the list as well.  This message is also found on FaceBook and the Trinity HOPE website.

I worshipped online with Christ Lincoln yesterday and the message from Pastor Dirk Reek spoke about putting lipstick on a pig.  I’ve heard and even have used that phrase before, but he nudged my mind to take that phrase in a new direction.  Back in the day, when I was in high school in the late 60’s, the word ‘abortion’ was seldom used and when it was, it was akin to a horrible, unforgivable, un-speakable sin in Seward, NE.  Twenty years later, my pre-teen daughters and I went on ProLife walks in Lincoln, NE and also stood with other members of Christ Lutheran along ‘O’ Street in silent protest to abortion that was at the time, culturally approved, growing in favor and receiving tax dollars.  Today, men marry men, women marry women, men identify as women and women identify as men and our pigs wear lipstick.  People that I am friends with have grown frustrated at what is happening in our country and the truth is ‘we’ have allowed ‘sin’ to happen on our watch; we keep smearing lipstick on the pig to make it look good.  And after last week, it doesn’t seem that our one Nation under God doesn’t have enough lipstick to hide our sins.  Our world needs to confess our sinfulness and turn to the cross of Christ.

In the scripture for today, the lost son didn’t understand how much his father loved him and seldom do we really understand how our Heavenly Father can possibly be excited when we are walking back to Him, head lowered, after being lost in the affairs of this world with lipstick on our face.

The children in the attached photo are some of the 344 that attend Grace Lutheran School in the Les Cayes District.  These children felt the earth violently tremble nine days ago and were drenched by Tropical Storm Grace a few days later.  They are His kids and they like you and me, have strayed now and then and we have been tempted by this world to turn away.  Their temptations are different than our temptations.  We take our food for granted and think nothing of spending $86 a month for cable TV, a cell phone, groceries, clothes, shoes; eighty six dollars would feed all the children at this school for one day. 

When we find that this world’s temptations don’t bring what we had thought they would, we turn and return home to our Heavenly Father who is changeless.  His love is everlasting; for you, for them and for me.  Have you been following the temptations of this world recently?  Have you been searching for that something you can't find?  Are you running with nowhere to run to?  Have you smeared bright red lipstick on the pig?  Come home; come home to the One who loves you more than anyone.  Thank you for helping to feed His children.

I heard a song recently which was written by Cleavant Derricks and this is not found in the Lutheran Service Book, but a quartet sang it on the internet radio station.  The title is ‘We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials’ and the words hit home.

“Some of these days I'm going home where no sorrows ever come, we'll soon be done, we'll soon be done with troubles and trials; safe from Heartaches, pain and care, we shall all that glory share, and I'm gonna sit down beside my Jesus, Lord, I'm gonna sit down and rest a little while.  We'll soon be done, we'll soon be done with troubles and trials, troubles and trials.  In that home yes, in that home on the other side, on the other side, and I'm gonna shake glad hands with the elders, tell my kindred good morning.  Then I'm gonna sit down beside my Jesus, and rest a little while.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Who is in control?

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.  There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.  God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.  Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.  The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.  He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.  He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.  He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:1–10

It has been a challenging week filled with brief moments of joy, celebration and unwanted events filled with worry, tears and fears.  Heavenly Father, quiet our hearts, and in so doing, remind us that You are sovereign; not almost but altogether sovereign.  Nothing occurs in our lives that has not been masterfully planned and put together by You, our eternal God.  Help us to enter into the truth of Psalm 46:10 personally and consistently.  May that result in being still, turning everything over to You, enabling us to discover and fully know that You are God.  As we cast our cares upon You, knowing You care for us, release our stress.  Father, we entrust our concerns to You today, large and small, new, old and nagging.  We long to experience peace-filled living by stepping out of the spotlight called worldly living.  We pray that Your mighty presence would take the place of the stress, the demands, the struggles, the mess we've created when turning from You.  We ask that You would give us Your shalom, Your peace, like we've never known it before.  We deliberately step out of the spotlight and trust You and desire to rest in You.  In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Unfailing love.

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.  I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.  Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.”  Psalm 63:1-3

David wrote these words when he was in the Desert of Judah.  Have you ever been standing outside and alone in the middle of a desert?  Just the thought of that degree of heat causes my mouth to get dry; my lips are almost starting to feel cracked and waxy.  The most important thing to David’s mind this day was knowing that God loved him. 

A person who understands that God’s unfailing love in their life is on their way to eternal glory.  The children eating lunch attend school at Bois Marchand in the Aribonite District.  Their school is located on the North edge of Gonaives and there are cacti within a stone throw of this school.  It was very hot on this day but these children understand God’s unfailing love and they, like you and I are on our way to eternal life.

There is a peace that comes from knowing that God has our best interest at heart.  How do they and you and I know that God truly loves us?  Take a look at the cross.  He knew us before we were born, before the foundations of the universe were laid, He set a plan in place that would offer forgiveness for sins we had not yet committed.  He placed you where you are to help these children He placed at the Bois Marchand School.

Sometimes we look at our hardships living in North America, and they may seem very HUGE but I ask that you consider your blessings and take another look at these children eating their only meal of the day…in a desert.  Hardships here and there; with all the things He has done for you, could you not take a few hardships for him?  Trust Him.  Trust His love.  Feed His sheep.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Boy with chair.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."  Ephesians 6:10-11
The stock market has been going up and down recently with fears of the next round with COVID, Afghanistan, our Southern border and a whole host of seemingly worldly challenges.  Do you suppose that this small child from with the chair on his head could walk onto the trading floor in NYC and stand up on his chair and yell at the top of his voice “STOP THIS MADNESS”?  What would he accomplish?

Sadly, there are people in our world that will read the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians and imagine that God is telling ‘them’ to be strong and trust in their own wisdom and strength; after all, they are in control of their destiny.  Our Triune God has not instructed this world to be strong in ourselves or in our resources.

The little boy from Cap Haitian would probably get some attention, but not because of his financial might, but rather because of the oddity that he would bring.  None of the traders would understand the Canopy of Grace pin he is wearing or what it could possibly mean.  Our Lord is telling us in Ephesians to be strong in the Lord.  Do not put your trust in worldly wisdom, wealth or strength; turn back to Him who created you and blessed you with the possessions that you have.

This young child does not own much more than the school uniform that he is wearing.  He does have Jesus and is being fed by somebody like you who have shared a portion of their providence.  Thank you for sharing with those who have less…much less.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay