Grace and peace to you in Jesus.
In His passion our Lord Jesus revealed to us that He is our Brother in the flesh, like us in every way except the sin.
Today, in His resurrection, He has shown Himself to be Lord, Savior and King over sin, death and the power of the Devil. He holds the keys of death and Hades. Along with the Holy Spirit, He now lives to continually intercede for us and promises that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8).
As Martin Luther often reminded himself,
“though the Devil be the master of 1000 arts,
the Triune God and His Word are Master of 100,000 more.”
(Large Catechism)
I pray all is well with your soul and that the Evil One isn’t giving you too much trouble. A little trouble is expected, but too much trouble might drive one “to misbelief, despair and other great shame and vice”.
But take heart, if the Devil is giving you all types of grief, count it a compliment. See it as an affirmation that you’re doing something good and Godly for the Kingdom. All of the dark forces of the evil realm must consider you a threat. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
Though the fight might be a bit unnerving at times, no worries. True the Devil may rage but be encouraged that the Triune God fights on your behalf.
- The Father, from eternity, provides and protects. (Ephesians 1 and Romans 8)
- The Son is always before the Father. He pleads his sacrifice on your behalf and continually intercedes. (Hebrews 2:14-16 and 4:12-16)
- The Spirit, through the Word that you have been reading during these 40 days of Lent, corrects, comforts and offers to us the gifts of Jesus.
If you would like to reread some of the meditations from the past forty days, I’ve indexed all of them in one place. You can access them by clicking on the link below.
As you read through the devotionals, use them as guides to help you focus on …
- the Person and Work of Jesus
- all of the gifts that only Jesus can give
- Christ FOR us, IN us, THROUGH us, WITH us
One more suggestion …
… when you read the Gospel for each day’s meditation, read it in “present time” and not as a “past event”. Receive the words as if the resurrected Jesus is speaking them right here, right now … because He is present, right here, right now. After all he did promise that He would be with us always even to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20).
Let me give you an example of this. In the Gospel reading for Day 15, Luke 5:12-26, a leper and a paralytic come to Jesus. Both men, like each one of us, wonder if Jesus is willing to give the gifts that only He can give: healing, forgiveness, restoration to the community, life … life … life.
The leper says,
“Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” (5:12-13)
To the paralytic Jesus says,
“Friend, your sins are forgiven.” (5:20)
And then Jesus tells him to take up his mat and go home.
The very same Jesus who spoke those words years ago, still speaks these words today. He is present (invisible to the eye, but nonetheless, really and fully present). And so, I encourage you to engage in a present tense conversation with the Living Lord Jesus. Not speaking to someone as if they’re distant or disinterested but rather present right now.
And so, go ahead and pray such prayers:
“If you are willing … you can …”
And then go into the Scriptures, go to Worship this weekend, have Christ centered conversations with one another and, in all of those places, listen for the voice of Jesus saying to you:
“I am willing. Be clean.”
“Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Let us continue to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)
All of the gifts that only Jesus can give to you,
Paul