Leaving a legacy.

“How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.” Psalm 40:4

Our heavenly Father, how grateful we are for Your Son, Jesus.  Where would we be without Him?  How could we operate our lives without firm confidence in Him?  It is sweet to trust in Jesus, to take Him at His word; and Father, we willingly do that   We release to You the pressures of the home and the office, our recreation time, the supply chain shortages, the evil gang activity in Haiti, the unexplained events that are mysterious to us at this moment, the mysteries that remain unsolved.  We still trust You.  For answers that we have not yet experienced, we trust You.  To bring about the desires of our hearts which we are unable to do for ourselves, we trust You, Father.  We take You at Your word.  What You have promised, You will fulfill. What You have written, You will keep.  And You have made your Word known to us in our own tongue so that we can read it, not simply in black print on white pages but as truth to live by and, if necessary, to die for.  Father, may our children remember us as parents who loved You; as parents who brought them up in a way that pleased You.  Help our children and grandchildren to grow and learn to respect You, to have a deep and abiding trust in You, just as we have.  How easily the church can become a greenhouse where growth seems normal and predictable, and yet it is far removed from the real world.  Help us to bridge for our children what it means to live for Christ in our fallen world that has long since lost its way.  It's sweet to trust in Jesus, and we do so, Father, with all our hearts.  In His great name. Amen

What's important?

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” Ephesians 4:11-12

This fallen world will tell you that this little girl from the Bon Berger Lutheran School in Caredeux is not important, she is too small and lives in a Third World Country; the thinking of our sinful, fallen world is wrong.

She is being brought up with the knowledge that she has a Savior who loves her and has conquered death and the devil; she will learn that the Holy Spirit has much more power than the evil spirits from the vodou priest.  She is being fed daily in the Trinity HOPE school feeding program and will grow up to be a strong witness for Christ, equipped to do His service.  Samuel J. Stone wrote the words to the hymn ‘The Church’s one Foundation’ in 1866 and these words seem to be a fitting way to close this devotion.

“The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord; she is His new creation by water and the Word.  From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride; with His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.  Elect from every nation, yet one o'er all the earth, her charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth. one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food, and to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.  The Church shall never perish!  Her dear Lord, to defend, to guide, sustain, and cherish, is with her to the end.  Though there be those that hate her.  False sons within her pale, against both foe and traitor she ever shall prevail.  Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed, yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up, "How long?"  And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.  Mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war she waits the consummation of peace forevermore, til with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest and the great Church victorious shall be the Church at rest.”

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

Kindness.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

Being kind and compassionate are two qualities that seem to be in short supply these days; turn on a political cable channel or surf the web if you don’t agree.  When our world tells us to look up to our sports stars, movie stars, political leaders, commentators and musicians, well it becomes more evident that we are holding up the wrong people to idolize as the world tells us that if we are kind and compassionate instead of mean and always being number one, than we are weak and not strong…losers. 

To forgive as God forgave us requires great courage and great strength; the world tells us otherwise.  The attached photo of a young girl at Labodrie seems to scream out the words ‘kind and compassionate’ when you look into her eyes.  Serving His children in Haiti is a humbling experience especially now during their ‘moment’ of chaos, and the fruits of your labor and their labor will bring more children and adults into the Kingdom. The hymn ‘All Depends on Our Possessing’ was written by an unknown author in Germany in 1673 and then translated by Catherine Winkworth in 1858 and words seemed like a fitting way to close this devotion.

“All depends on our possessing God's abundant grace and blessing, though all earthly wealth depart.  He who trusts with faith unshaken in His God is not forsaken and e'er keeps a dauntless heart.  He who hitherto hath fed me and to many joys hath led me, is and ever shall be mine.  He who did so gently school me, He who still doth guide and rule me, will remain my Help divine.  Many spend their lives in fretting over trifles and in getting things that have no solid ground.  I shall strive to win a treasure that will bring me lasting pleasure and that now is seldom found.  When with sorrow I am stricken, hope my heart anew will quicken, all my longing shall be stilled.  To His loving-kindness tender soul and body I surrender; for in Him alone I build.  Well He knows what best to grant me; all the longing hopes that haunt me, joy and sorrow, have their day.  I shall doubt His wisdom never, as God wills, so be it ever,  I to Him commit my way.  If on earth my days He lengthen, He my weary soul will stengthen; all my trust in Him I place.  Earthly wealth is not abiding, like a stream away is gliding; safe I anchor in His grace.”

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

Giving God our best.

“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.  What you brought home, I blew away.  Why?” declares the LORD Almighty.  “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.”  Haggai 1:9

Back in the day, while living in Haiti and visiting the Lutheran schools and congregations in the nine Districts throughout the country, I was frequently asked by the Haitian District Presidents to give a message on Sunday morning to their congregation on the topic of tithing; not a great way to make friends by giving the ‘money message’ as called in the U.S., but it was a wonderful way to plant seeds and share in the joy of tithing and the realized blessings that always came following.

In my home congregation back in Lincoln, there was a man who always seemed to be angry at the world; angry at our country, angry at Christians, angry at God and the only time I remembered seeing him smile was when he stated that he had never given one dime to a congregation.  He doesn’t understand that what he is withholding from God is preventing him from enjoying a fuller and happier relationship with our Heavenly Father and more abundant blessings.

The attached photo was taken at Bon Berger in Caredeux on a Sunday morning; this was my home congregation while living in Haiti.  The average person in Haiti at that time, had an annual income of roughly $350 and I would try to sit in the rear of the Church on Sunday, not because that is how I was brought up as a German Lutheran, but I was curious to see what their offering plate looked like when it reached the last pew.

These people who had literally nothing to live on placed a few coins into the plate and to them, it must have been like you or I placing $500 in our offering plate.  Our Heavenly Father's sovereign ways can cause our endeavors to succeed beyond our wildest dreams or they can defeat our plans to our own dismay and leave us looking for somebody to blame. 

With a simple touch of His hand, God can steer our vessel into a profitable channel or He can allow it to run aground in poverty and bankruptcy.  The Scriptures teach us that the Lord enriches the generous but leaves the miserly to discover that withholding their money only leads to poverty. 

Over the years, the offering plate at Bon Berger got fuller and fuller and even had paper money becoming more prominent than coins; the congregation is being blessed.  To the man that I spoke of earlier there is a verse in Matthew that says “Selfishness will always look first to its own home, but godliness will seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness."  May your tithing be a joy and not a hindrance as you return a portion of your daily blessings to the One who gave it to you.  I am closing today with the lyrics to the song “Thank you for giving to the Lord” that were written in 1988 and it brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it.

“I dreamed I went to heaven, and you were there with me.  We walked upon the streets of gold, beside the crystal sea.  We heard the angels singing, then someone called your name.  You turned and saw this young man and he was smiling as he came.  And he said friend you may not know me now and then he said but wait; you used to teach my Sunday School when I was only eight.  And every week you would say a prayer before the class would start and one day when you said that prayer, I asked Jesus in my heart.  Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am a life that was changed.  Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am so glad you gave.  Then another man stood before you and said remember the time, a missionary came to your church and his pictures made you cry.  You didn't have much money; but you gave it anyway.  Jesus took the gift you gave and that's why I'm here today.  Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am a life that was changed.  Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am so glad you gave.  One by one they came, far as the eyes could see, each life somehow touched by your generosity.  Little things that you had done, sacrifices made, unnoticed on the earth; in heaven now proclaimed.  And I know that up in heaven, you're not supposed to cry.  But I am almost sure, there were tears in your eyes as Jesus took your hand and you stood before the Lord.  He said, my child look around you for great is your reward.  Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am a life that was changed.  Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am so glad you gave.”

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

God gives to you.

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.  This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:10-12

Several weeks ago, Trinity HOPE sent me a brochure, and probably to you as well.  It had a few wonderful articles and some awesome photos that jumped out at me, grabbed my attention and caused me consider the importance of spending one single quarter to provide a meal for a Haitian child; God is asking me to just give a quarter to feed one of His children. 

What God gives to you, He wants to give through you.  He gives us a quarter, well actually probably several hundred quarters each month, and then nudges each of us to give a portion of our quarters to feed His children.  God is looking for people he can use to feed His kids in Haiti.    

I read a devotion recently that compared how God sees us as either a cup or a straw.  He looks around and asks, “Will you be a cup, or will you be a straw?”  If you’re a cup, you just get filled up, and that’s it.  But another kind of person says, “God, I’ll be a straw, and you can channel your blessing through me to other people.”  That’s the kind of person God wants to bless again and again, day after day.  This promise is built on your willingness to share what he supplies to you.  Are you willing to be a ‘straw’ and pass on God’s blessing to others?

I’ve had people tell me that right now, in this unstable economy, is not a good time for them to commit to giving to any charity.  It’s a quarter.  No matter how much or how little you have, you can be generous with it.  If you are like me, you either have a big pickle jar, a German beer stein or an unused ashtray that is full of change.  One of those quarters will provide a meal for one of His children in Haiti.

Letting God give through us is a blessing and when you do this, God promises three things.  First, you will grow spiritually, second, He will use you to meet other people’s needs and last, you will bring Him glory.

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

All the saints.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Hebrews 12:1

For many congregations, next weekend we will celebrate ‘All Saints’ day and it always causes me to consider those in my lifetime, who have gone before me to receive their glory.  They beat me to the banquet table.  I have been thinking about a video my Bible study group in Lincoln had watched back in the day titled ‘In my seat’ and it was the story of Steve Scheibner.  He was an American Airlines pilot who was bumped from AA Flight 11 that was hijacked and smashed into the first tower on September 11, 2001.

Towards the end of the video, he shared a short paragraph that he had written down some twenty years ago and it caused me to consider the importance of our lives, our legacy and how we are accomplishing what needs to be accomplished in the time that each of us has left here. 

He wrote the following; “To seek, trust and glorify God through humble service and continual prayer.  To raise qualified disciples as quickly as possible so that one day I might hear God say “well done my good and faithful servant.”  Does this apply to your life?

The attached photo is of Pastor Israel Isidor from Les Cayes and on this particular moment in time, he was baptizing a group of orphan girls who were the first group to enter the orphanage he began in Les Cayes.  Pastor Israel has gone before us and he no doubt heard our Lord Jesus say the words, “well done my good and faithful servant” when he entered paradise.  We pray that these orphan girls and the other children in the Lutheran school in Les Cayes who are being prepared to be missionaries for Jesus and are being fed daily through the Trinity HOPE feeding program are out working in the harvest field of Haiti today, winning lost souls.

I pray that your day will be a time of reflecting on those who are doing His work today and have done His work in the past and have impacted your life.  An all-time favorite hymn of mine is ‘For all the Saints who from their labors rest’ and was written by William W. How in 1864 and its words seem like a wonderful way to leave you today.

“For all the saints who from their labors rest, who Thee by faith before the world confess, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest, Alleluia! Alleluia!  Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might; Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.  Alleluia! Alleluia!  Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold, fight as the saints who nobly fought of old and win with them the victor's crown of gold.  Alleluia! Alleluia!  O blest communion, fellowship divine, we feebly struggle, they in glory shine; yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.  Alleluia! Alleluia!  And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long, steals on the ear the distant triumph song, and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.  Alleluia! Alleluia!  But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day; the saints triumphant rise in bright array; the King of Glory passes on His way.  Alleluia! Alleluia!  From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Alleluia! Alleluia!  The golden evening brightens in the west; soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.  Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.  Alleluia! Alleluia!”

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

Reformation.

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Reformation.

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong; God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things of the world to nullify the things that are, so that no one can boast before Him.  It is because of Him that you are in Jesus Christ, who has become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption, therefore as it is written; "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord!" 1 Corinthians 1:27-31

Reformation Day and for those of us who are Lutheran’s, those of us who are died in the wool good German Lutheran’s, it is OUR holiday.  I am a Lutheran of German descent and it seems to me that Reformation Day is for all Christians; it is a wonderful day!  It's the day some 500 years ago when the German monk Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Germany.  In so doing, he pointed to the power of real forgiveness in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.  Led by God's Holy Spirit, Luther came to understand that the Good News of salvation is for everyone, not just a chosen few, and it is not just wishful thinking; it's not based in works that we can do, or imagine that we can do.  Salvation is the grace-filled work of God in the flesh for the sake of every sinner in the world.
Martin Luther knew that Jesus Christ is the only One worthy of our boasting because He alone won the victory for each of us at Calvary.  Luther boasted about that grace.  Heavenly Father, give us the confidence to trust in You, to boast in You and to live life boldly for You in all we do.  We pray this in the name of Your Son, Jesus.  Amen.

Living by faith.

“All these people were still living by faith when they died.  They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” Hebrews 11:13

What a beautiful statement regarding all those saints who fell asleep before the coming of our Lord Jesus.  It really doesn't matter how they died, where they died or when they died; but the most important thing they had in common is that they all "were still living by faith when they died."  Our Heavenly Father wants you, me, these children from Haiti and all people on this earth to be living by faith when we breathe our last.  He sent His only Son to come into this world to seek and save the lost.

Believers in Christ should not die while napping in a recliner or basking in the glow of our earthly accomplishments, but firmly holding to our faith in our risen Savior.  The followers of Christ in Hebrews 11 understood that it is as precious to die by faith as it is to live by faith.  These children living in Haiti are learning more about their Savior every day and are enjoying their daily meal from Trinity HOPE.  For most of them, their ancestors practiced vodou and probably denied Christ and did not receive the same promises of Eternal Glory in Heaven as these young saints are waiting for in the coming days of their journey.  These young children are confident of their acceptance by God, daily enjoying the rays of His love and resting in His faithfulness to the very end.  I close today with the words to the hymn ‘Savior of the nations, come’ that was written by Martin Luther in 1524.

“Savior of the nations, come, virgin's Son, make here Thy home!  Marvel now, O heaven and earth, that the Lord chose such a birth.  Not by human flesh and blood, by the Spirit of our God, was the Word of God made flesh; woman's Offspring, pure and fresh.  Wondrous birth! O wondrous Child of the Virgin undefiled!  Though by all the world disowned, still to be in heaven enthroned.  From the Father forth He came and returneth to the same, captive leading death and hell; high the song of triumph swell!  Thou, the Father's only Son, hast o'er sin the victory won.  Boundless shall Thy kingdom be; when shall we its glories see?  Brightly doth Thy manger shine, glorious is its light divine.  Let not sin o'ercloud this light; ever be our faith thus bright.  Praise to God the Father sing, praise to God the Son, our King, praise to God the Spirit be ever and eternally.”

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

Got troubles?

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.  You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me” Psalm 138:7

As a child of God, living in North America, there will always be some form of trouble in my life as the evil foe will have it no other way while he is still unleashed, roaming through every crook and cranny on this earth.  The child on the left in the attached photo is no doubt enduring more troubles in her life than the children next to her.  Her prayer time in Bois Marchand is reaching our Heavenly Father in the same amount of time that our prayers reach Him.  We think that her problems must not be like ours, but in truth they are as they were all started by satan, in Haiti, in Illinois, in Tennessee and all over this world; the evil foe brings trouble into the lives of those who call upon the Triune God; and also upon those who don’t. 

Big difference here, we are saved, those still clinging to the lies of the vodou priest are not saved.  Horatius Bonar wrote the lyrics for the hymn ‘Thy works, not mine, O Christ’ in 1857 and they are such a wonderful reminder that our Savior is always near, always there when we call upon His name.

“Thy works, not mine, O Christ, speak gladness to this heart; they tell me all is done, they bid my fear depart.  To whom save Thee, who canst alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee?  Thy wounds, not mine, O Christ, can heal my bruised soul; Thy stripes, not mine, contain the balm that makes me whole.  To whom save Thee, who canst alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee?  Thy cross, not mine, O Christ, has borne the awe-full load of sins that none could bear but the incarnate God.  To whom save Thee, who canst alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee?  Thy death, not mine, O Christ, has paid the ransom due; ten thousand deaths like mine would have been all too few.  To whom save Thee, who canst alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee?  Thy righteousness, O Christ, alone can cover me; no righteousness avails save that which is of Thee.  To whom save Thee, who canst alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee?”

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

Blessed to be a Blessing.

O GIVE THANKS…BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING

I have heard this phrase for years – “Blessed…to be a Blessing!”  The truth is it sounds great, but I’ve often wondered if it was biblical.  Is the reason God has blessed us in our lives so that we just turn around and bless others?  Isn’t it also that God blesses us because He loves us, because that is His nature as a faithful Father God to bless His children with good things?

The answer, yes!  God gives not because we deserve it, not because we have or can earn it, but because He is a loving, compassionate and gracious God.  And to that we should say, “O give thanks to the Lord for He is Good!”

But back to this “Blessed to be a blessing.”  The truth, it is biblical.  Consider:

I will bless you, and make your name great,

so that you will be a blessing. Genesis 12: 2

These were God’s words as He called Abram. You see, it wasn’t just about God loving and blessing Abram, but reflected God’s heart and desire to bless others with the relationship and life that come through Him alone.

I also love these words of the Lord through the Apostle Paul in Romans 15,

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God’s blessings are freely given for the benefit of His people, but they are to also flow from us into the lives of others.  We are blessed to be a blessing!  His face shines on us…that His saving power may be known upon the earth (Ps 67: 1).

For us to share God’s love, grace and forgiveness is the greatest thanks we can give back to God!  Did you hear that?  To share God’s love, grace and forgiveness is the greatest thanks we can give back to God!

So, consider this…Other peoples’ lives are better, both spiritually and materially, because they have crossed our path.  I pray that is the way it is with my life and I pray that you can say they same.  If not, then maybe you’ve found a new way to “give thanks” back to God for His blessings in your life.

Soon we will celebrate Thanksgiving…my encouragement is that we not only thank God that we are “Blessed”, but let us also share God’s love with all those around us… because this is the greatest thanks we can give back to God!  May your eyes be open each day as to whom you can bless.

James H. Rockey, Pastor

Amazing Grace Lutheran Church

Oxford, Florida