“Don’t take it personally.” Has anyone ever said those words to you after saying something that you did, indeed, take personally. Faculty, staff, friends, students can all say things that might offend or hurt us. But what if I told you that Christmas is the perfect time to take things personally? John the Baptist takes the stage in our verses today from the Gospel of Luke. He was foretold way back in the book of Isaiah, and here we find him “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” I love John’s ministry because it had such a laser focus: point people to Christ. Just as in Advent we look for the coming of the Savior, the Baptizer spent his time paving and preparing the way for the coming Messiah.

John took the coming of the Savior personally. He knew what it meant for the world, yes. He’s even the narrator of one of the more famous passages in Scripture: “Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:19) As wonderful as it is to consider God’s love for the whole world, John also knew what it meant for him as an individual. He wasn’t preaching a message of repentance only for others, but knew he personally needed it as well. John even told the crowds that he was not even worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus. He knew his sin and he still looked for and proclaimed the Messiah boldly. His unworthiness didn’t make him run away from Jesus, but rather to him. John’s repentance made him look at his sin so that he could truly look at his Savior.

Repentance is personal. It can be uncomfortable and painful to relive our shortcomings and failures to live up to God’s perfect measuring stick. This Christmas season, I encourage you to truly reflect on why God had to send his son Jesus in the first place. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Our sin is personal, but so is God’s grace. He knows your sins, every one of them, and he forgave you fully. Maybe John the Baptist felt so personally connected to Jesus because they were actually cousins- part of the same family. In Galatians, we see that we, too, get that same personal relationship since we have been adopted into God’s family as his sons and daughters.

Don’t be afraid of repentance this Advent. Seeing our sin only helps us see our Savior more clearly. Verse 6 says “And all people will see God’s salvation.” Don’t run away from your sins this Advent, run to the Father and experience the fullness of God’s grace that covers our guilt and shame. Take it personally, friends, our repentance is met with the open, forgiving arms of Jesus.

“Look here.” You might find yourself saying this reminder to your students while you are trying to teach. As their eyes wander, you might need to remind them that you have something important to say to them and that it would be best if they kept their eyes on you. Sometimes in your teaching, you might feel like you’re constantly saying, “Look here.” Oh, the sweet focus of God’s littlest lambs.

This reminder would also be helpful for all of his lambs. Children, teens, adults, all of us. “Look here!” What are we looking at? We are looking to Jesus, our Savior, for our every need. Life works better when we fix our eyes upon Jesus. In any and every circumstance our eyes can be looking up to where our help comes from.

In Jude 20, the Bible says, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” This section of Scripture has the heading, “A Call to Persevere.” It reminds us that there will be many scoffers among us who don’t see the value in the Word of God. These people should not come to us as a surprise, because God’s Word has already warned us of them. It is important to “build ourselves up in the most holy faith.” Be in the Word of God and know what it says. Look to him. Pray to him and ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen your faith.

Your students are new to this world. They don’t yet know how ugly and corrupt it is. They don’t know how full of sin and sadness this side of heaven truly can be. So, you teach them to look up. You help them get in the habit of fixing their eyes upon Jesus, so that when trouble comes their way, they know who to look to.

You are not new to this world. You are aware of the ickiness, the sin that is all around you. Thankfully, you’ve also been graced by the faithfulness of God throughout your life. He’s been with you every step of the way. What a privilege it is to teach the next generation of believers where to fix their eyes. What an honor it is to have the Word of God to open every single day and be reminded of God’s love and forgiveness.

So, look. Keep looking. Never lose sight. Keep your eyes upon Jesus.

You may have heard of the website “GoFundMe.” The website was created back in 2010 as a “fundraising platform dedicated to helping people help each other.” Since 2010, the website has raised over 30 billion dollars. 30 billion dollars sure does sound like the fundraising platform has successfully met their goal of helping people help each other. In fact, maybe you have even donated before. Usually when tragedy strikes, one of the first things you’ll hear about is a GoFundMe page that was set up so others can help. When the situation someone is in feels helpless, it feels good to be able to help, to somehow be part of their healing. People even donate to others that they don’t personally know. It’s a wonderful platform that allows people to carry each other’s burdens. It’s a beautiful picture of startling generosity.

Jesus is an example of startling generosity—the ultimate example. No, he didn’t donate money to your cause, but even more, he gave up his life for you. Your debt was too great for any price to be paid, but Jesus, in love, hung on a cross, suffered, and died to declare you debt free. What an example you have in Jesus to freely be so generous.
Our reading today says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9

You were in great need and Jesus came to your rescue. Not with riches, but with his own body and blood.

You have an opportunity to give to our Lord in thanks. He gives you many opportunities to use what he has given to you to give back to him. This isn’t something that you “have to do”, but rather “get to do” to show love, gratefulness, and honor to God. It is an opportunity to give freely, with joy in your heart, and to say, “thank you” to your Savior for all that he has done for you.

Your money, your talents, and your time, have all been given to you by him. To God be the glory! Be startling generous with it.

It would be so easy to pass judgement on the man in the story. He’s standing there, in front of Jesus, the Savior, who invites the man to follow him. We may want to scream at the text and ask, “What are you doing? Don’t you know who’s asking you?” The answer would likely be that he does not. Yes, we can easily pass judgement on this man until we take a closer look at the text and ourselves.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. He knew the heart of this man’s question found in verse 17, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” This man knew the commandments. It’s clear from his question that even though he felt he had kept the commandments (which, by the way he hadn’t, and no one ever has), he knew in his heart that something wasn’t quite right, wasn’t enough. And so, his question to Jesus.

Sell it all, give it all away to the poor and come walk the world with me! Can you picture the man’s face? Do what? His reaction was immediate sadness. This was too big an ask.

Now the next question—Is Jesus saying that wealth is wrong or makes it impossible to get to heaven? No. He did say that it would be hard. However, Jesus isn’t saying that to be truly committed to him, we must live a life of poverty. He is saying that the man and all of us need to take a careful review of our priorities.

Money isn’t the only distractor that can pull us away from Jesus. What distracts us from our time with the Savior? Is it our activities and overly scheduled life? Might it be our time in front of a screen? Could it be that hobby, which may be a great hobby, but that takes away our time in worship, in the Word, in prayer? Is it worry or stress? These are things that most people struggle with. We want to be in the Word, walking with our Savior. Making the changes in priorities to commit to the time with Jesus, is not as easy. Good intentions. Little outcome.

So now what? Each day is a gift of grace. Jesus hasn’t changed his mind. He still wants you to spend time with him each day. He loves to hear from you. He loves to speak to you through his Word. He loves to use you to share his message of grace and forgiveness to all around us. Jesus wants us to remember that it’s not what we do, but what he has done that gives us heaven with him.

Today-consider one small change you can make to your routines. What step can you take that will give you more time with Jesus? What’s getting in the way? No need for a dramatic selling of everything. Simply stop and reflect on your daily life. Review your priorities. Then set goals for yourself that can provide more and more time with the One who loves you dearly. He went to the cross for you. That’s how much he loves you. He loves to hear from you and loves to share with you through the Word. May God bless you as you seek to be with him more and more.

We were standing in an airport in Oregon gathering our things as we headed to Sun River for our younger son’s wedding. Four adults. Two-and-a-half-year-old twin girls and their 2-month-old little sister. The numbers say we had them four-to-three. Nope. The baby was crying and the twins just wanted to be anywhere but waiting for a rental car. We were losing big time.

Not just in airports with little ones at the end of their ropes, but on any given day you and I can feel like we did that day. We look around and the struggles of this life sometimes seem to multiply faster than our ability to get them off our plate. We tell ourselves, “I can do this. I’ve got this.” But in our hearts, we feel our confidence slipping. What else can I do?” we ask ourselves. In the middle of the night we may think, “If only I could…, then all would be ok.”

Satan loves this scenario. He loves to see us in a state of doubt and uncertainty. He smiles as we keep telling ourselves that we can handle things and fight our fears on our own.

That’s quite similar to the prophet Elisha’s servant’s thoughts as they were at war with the Arameans. The King of Aram sent horses, chariots and soldiers to surround the city. Things were not looking good for God’s people. “Don’t be afraid,” Elisha answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” God provided a miracle by striking those who surrounded the city with blindness. Elisha went out, spoke to them and led the Arameans unknowingly into Samaria before the king of Israel. After feeding them, he allowed them to return to their master. What an unlikely resolution to a terrifying scenario.

Life can be hard. No one escapes the struggles of life in the world. Sin and evidence of sin are all around us. But so is God’s army of angels. In love, God sends his angels to surround us, to protect us. Does that mean that we will walk through life unaffected by hardship? No. However, we can face those hardships knowing that we’re not alone. God has promised to be with us in all things. He has also promised that “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91:11) Our battle with Satan is brutal but our God is more powerful than Satan and his lies and deceit.

Do you feel like you can’t do it alone? You’re right. None of us can beat Satan but Jesus did. Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven were all for us to assure us that we are at peace with God and Satan is defeated. So, as you face each day, you can be at peace knowing you’re not alone, the battle against sin is done, and God’s angels are there all around you. We are at peace with God as his dear child, loved and protected by our heavenly Father.

Every single day. It was there yesterday. It’s there today. It’ll be there tomorrow. The temptation to sin, to mess up, to disobey, to be hurtful or thoughtless or lazy or irresponsible. It’s sin and it’s not going away. What a terrible thought.

In the lower level of the Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther hid from those trying to capture him, is an unexpected room on the tour. Our family was excited to see this castle known for its part in the life of Luther and many of the writings for which he is known. The first stop was a room in the lower level that had a significant display of items used for confinement and torture of prisoners. It also included several items used in battle. We saw close up what a suit of armor looked like. It’s an imposing set of items designed to protect the soldier from attacks on any part of their body. It’s impressive to say the least. While not perfect, (it’s hard to imagine moving with the weight and design of the armor), being prepared with their full suit of armor provided considerable protection.

You and I are in a battle each day. We don’t face arrows flying at us. No one with a sword is hiding out ready to attack. But we do have an enemy. That enemy is Satan, and his weapons are cunning and designed to destroy. Satan is willing to go to any lengths to draw you and me away from our God. He wants nothing more than for us to be separated from our Lord. He uses our reason, our guilt, our relationships, our worries to create doubt, fear, anger, resentment, selfishness, and even complacency. He’s often subtle and always determined. What a terrible thought.

What can we do? In our previous devotion, we considered all that God did for the Israelite people. We reflected on God’s power to overcome earthly enemies and to provide for his people. We recalled the lengths God went to save us by sending the only Son he has, Jesus, to take every sin we have committed on himself and take the punishment that was to be ours. His power is endless and there is nothing, not even Satan, that is stronger than God. His love is also endless. It’s his love for us that motivates his use of power to protect us.

The reading for today reminds us that we don’t need to be afraid of the devil’s attacks. “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” We can have confidence that God’s power and his love can protect us from any of Satan’s attacks. Just as the soldier put on the suit of armor one piece at a time, we can put on our armor of protection. How? Be in the Word. Every time we read and study the Bible, reflect on a devotion, sing a hymn, say a prayer and in many other ways, we are putting on our armor of protection one piece at a time. The more we know about God, who he is, what he has done, what he can do, what he does do on our behalf, the more he fortifies our trust, confidence, and ability to stand against the devil’s schemes. As the Holy Spirit strengthens our faith, we are more prepared, with his help, to fight off Satan’s attacks.
Our God is powerful, incredibly powerful, more powerful than Satan and his lies and deceit. God arms us with his Word and promises to be with us in all things. We can trust in that because of who God is. We can have confidence in his promises and live in the peace of his forgiveness and protection every single day.

Think of a time when someone did something so kind, so unexpected, that you were overwhelmed. One of those times for me was this past winter. We had a snowstorm like none other. Not only was there close to two feet of snow, but it was also wet and heavy. I love to shovel. However, the thought of how I would shovel this left me feeling defeated before I started. And then I heard it… the sound of a snow blower. Dressed in gear that made him almost unrecognizable was our neighbor. As the snow continued for hours, he returned again and again and again until the snow finally stopped. I was moved to tears. How do you thank him? How do you repay such over-the-top kindness?

Our Bible reading for today is written for the Israelites who had been wandering in the desert for 40 years. Moses is reminding them to never forget all the things they had seen the Lord do on their behalf.

• He parted the water to allow them to cross in safety and escape Pharaoh’s armies.
• He fed them miraculously each day in the parched desert.
• He provided water from a rock.

Now they were getting ready to cross the Jordan and return to Canaan, the land promised to them. Imagine the excitement, the anticipation, the anxiousness as they plan to enter a land their parents had told them about. They had experienced God’s gracious care for them over and over and often in miraculous ways. His words remind them to be watchful so that they never forget all God had done and continued to do for them. He commanded them to tell their children about these things, about their God, about who he is and what he has done for them. Their prayer to return to the promised land was about to be answered. God didn’t want them to ever forget the multitude of prayers God had answered on their behalf.

You and I aren’t crossing a river into a new and unknown home, but we need these reminders as well. God has given us the greatest gift to take away our biggest need—forgiveness through his grace. The Israelites weren’t able to cross the Jordan on their own and even more, we can’t provide for our greatest need—God’s grace. And on top of providing for our greatest need, he fills our lives with so many lesser blessings and gives us strength to face hardships. He gives it to us freely and reminds us in these verses to fight against complacency and to tell and tell the next generation. Each day in your classroom you get to do that as you teach the children about Jesus, about his love and forgiveness. As you tell, remind the children and yourself of all that God has done, can do, and continues to do for us. What he has done is so kind, so unexpected, so overwhelming. How do you repay God for his over-the-top kindness? We can’t, but we can thank him each day and continue to share his message of grace, his amazing grace for us. What a joy and what a privilege. Thank you, Lord!

There are a couple of experiences in my life that left me speechless. Standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon. Seeing the ocean for the first time. Driving from Anchorage to Kenai in Alaska. On that particular trip, I was with two other colleagues. While the conversation was lively, we also had long periods of time where no one spoke. We had run out of adjectives to describe what we were seeing. How do you put into words a description of these places that even comes close?

Today’s verse from Psalm 111 uses the word fear. When we define fear, we usually think of things that make us uncomfortable, anxious, concerned. This use of the word fear is another definition: reverential awe, especially toward God. The places mentioned above certainly bring about an overwhelming sense of awe. We marvel at beauty that is beyond explanation. Fear or awe of the LORD makes all those places pale in comparison. In the previous verses of Psalm 111, the writer describes the LORD and the amazing works for which we are in awe. Those include his graciousness and compassion, his providing of food, his promises kept, his power to protect his people, his faithfulness, justice, trustworthiness, his love that redeemed us (paid for our sins through Jesus).

The more we know about the LORD and learn about him in the Word, the more we grow in our fear, our awe of him. We see a God whose love for us is boundless. We see the amazing world that he created and shares with us. We stand in awe of a mountain range and a simple firefly—all created for us. We marvel at his promises kept for us through Jesus. We are humbled by his grace that gives us what we don’t deserve but that is always ours. More and more we understand that all of creation was created by him—”To him belongs eternal praise.” We seek to grasp his mercy and forgiveness for us over and over—”To him belongs eternal praise.” We treasure the gift of being his child, not because of anything we’ve done but because of his incomparable love for us—”To him belongs eternal praise.”

We are reminded to constantly be in the Word. We may be tempted to think that we know so much about God already. However, each time we’re in the Word, we’re reminded over and over of who God is, his power, his majesty, his love, his grace. And we stand in awe at the foot of the cross with hearts full of faith as we grow in understanding.

Words might fail in describing God’s creation. As we see the amazing world around us, they are reminders of God’s gifts to us. While our words may fail, God’s promises never fail. They are yours and mine today, tomorrow, each day, and for eternity. How awesome is that. “To him belongs eternal praise.”

I’m afraid. We’ve all said or thought those words either as a child or an adult (or both). It’s a terrible feeling. What makes you say or think those words? Fear of heights? Fear of being alone? Fear of being criticized? Fear of being left out? (That even has an acronym-FOMO). What about the fear of speaking up and sharing your faith?

Today’s reading is spoken by Paul. Paul was an amazing missionary. Did you know that before God called him to be a missionary, he was among the most horrific persecutors of Christians? The evil he inflicted on Christians is unspeakable. And then God called him to do the very thing for which Paul had been persecuting people. He called him to travel all over that part of the world and boldly preach the story of God’s grace through Jesus. Imagine the potential for fear that Paul had. Would those who used to join him in attacking Christians now turn on Paul? Would Christians believe him? Paul, as a missionary, experienced beatings, shipwrecks, arrests, threats of violence, and much more. Paul had every reason to be afraid. And yet, we hear just the opposite from him. When under attack, he told everyone he could about his Savior. That’s courage like I’ve never experienced, and you might say the same.

Where did this courage come from? Was he just extra gifted in the courage department? We’d love to ask him, “Paul, how’d you do it?” He gives us the answer in his words inspired by the Holy Spirit, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.” His strength was not his own—it was from the Lord. His goal was not for himself but that all might hear the message of God’s love and mercy. His answer to fear- The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. Paul knew, and so do we, that this earth is just a temporary home for us. God has promised us heaven and will bring us safely there as he wills and in his time.

You and I have opportunities to share the same message that Paul proclaimed. Too often I find myself saying, “I wish I would have said something. What a missed opportunity.” I would imagine you’ve had the same thought. Why do we hesitate? Why don’t we speak up? We have the most amazing message to share—the message we have is God’s grace.

Today’s reading encourages us and reminds us. It encourages us that we don’t need to hesitate or be afraid. It reminds us that the Lord will be at our side and give us strength just as he did for Paul..

So, like Paul, be bold! Look for those opportunities to share the gospel. Who do you know that needs to hear? Be bold! You’re not alone in this. The Holy Spirit is with you as you speak. It’s his work to create and grow faith. You may not have all the answers, but you know the heart of the gospel-Jesus is our Savior and his forgiveness, grace, mercy, and promise of heaven is for all who believe.

It changes everything.

There are very few things that could be characterized as an action or emotion that changes everything.

A student walks into your classroom. He’s the first one today. There are tears in his eyes. He tries to hold them back. He puts his head down as he follows the daily routine of putting away his things and finding his chair. He sits down and tears flow freely.

You, the teacher, have yet to prep the final parts of the whole group activity you’ve planned for the class. You’re in the middle of cutting out all the pieces necessary. You put the scissors down. You walk over to the student; there’s now a puddle of tears on the table in front of him. You kneel down beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. He looks over to you with his tear-stained cheeks. You wipe yet another tear before it spills onto the table. You ask him if everything is alright. His eyes close; he rests his head on your shoulder and cries.

He never tells you what was wrong.

As school is ending, he comes and hugs your leg. You kneel down once again. He wraps his arms around your neck and whispers, “Thank you.”

Compassion. Your compassion changed that student’s whole day! You could have left him to his tears. But he was more important to you! And that changed everything for him.

God’s compassion changed everything for us. He changed everything by being everything for us.

In our verses for today you see Jesus worn from a long day of preaching and teaching; Jesus hadn’t even had the chance to eat. He and his disciples tried to escape the crowds for some rest. But the crowds followed them. Jesus saw them and had compassion on them “because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” There he was before their very eyes, the Good
Shepherd, the greatest shepherd: someone who could feed them and lead them, guide and protect them and love them like only the Good Shepherd can.

We are those people. We are those people starving for guidance, searching for it anywhere we can find it, yearning for knowledge and answers in this life. Jesus so easily could have left us to our own. He could have said, “Let them figure it out, Father. I don’t have to save them.”

Yet, he had compassion on us – compassion that turned into action. And now we have the Good Shepherd with us every day, his Word always available to us. There’s nowhere else to look. He is the answer! He changed everything for us.

What was once certain death – is now eternal life!
What was once hopeless- is now hopeful!
What was once pain and suffering – is now joy beyond measure!

I used to be a runner. And I say “used to” because I don’t often, okay, more like hardly ever, participate in that activity anymore… unless it is to run after a child who is running toward danger or has fallen and gotten a bad scrape.

But back when I did consider myself a runner, I used to use the last line from our Bible verses today as some type of motivation during my race: “be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

It might seem silly, but if I found myself at a point in the race or in my training where I didn’t think I could make it any further I would repeat that passage over and over again. My hope was really that God would take over my body and finish the race for me. Sadly, that never actually happened, and my very own strength had to keep propelling my legs forward one step at a time for each and every race. But it always gave me a little bit of hope!

The Psalm writer was certainly not writing these verses as he was running a physical race, but perhaps in a different sense you could say that he was, because life is like a race. There’s a beginning and an ending and in the middle of it we do often get tired of running this race.

Maybe it’s your ministry that’s wearing on you. You’re working day in and day out for the Lord and sharing his precious truths with little children and adults alike, but you struggle to see the impact you’re making, and your efforts often seem in vain. Possibly it’s your life at home. You know that serving your family is an invaluable gift, but there is little thanks and no reprieve from the chores. Or maybe it’s something completely different.

David, the Psalm writer, was also feeling tired and worn down. His life was filled with opposition, enemies, inner personal struggles, and death. Yet he writes our verses for today, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

While my hope was futile that God would take over my body and finish the race for me when my physical strength seemed to be failing, our true hope in the LORD is never futile. As we wait for him, it’s not a waiting that might not ever be fulfilled, rather it’s a waiting similar to a student waiting for his teacher to teach him, or a child waiting for his parent. There’s always fulfillment in our waiting, because our Lord always keeps his promises to us.

Ponder the words of Isaiah 40:31, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” This race we call life does not come without help, and actually it comes with someone who already ran the race for us: Jesus. Born into this world to take on sin, death and the devil, he came to make sure our victory was certain at the end of our race. He came to make sure our hope was certain. So now… we find confidence in the love, grace, power, and mercy of our living Lord as we wait for his final victory lap and our eternal life with him! And while we wait, we run on, proclaiming the goodness of God to all who might listen, because we know that our work is never in vain!

You have never been alone. There has not been one instant in your life that the Lord has not been with you. When your heart hurt from a strained relationship, the Lord was right there with you. When your brain couldn’t shut off for the night and you laid there in bed with anxious thoughts swirling frantically, he was there. When you cried in your classroom, because you were overwhelmed with the responsibility of training your students, he was right next to you. You have never been alone.

The Lord tells us to trust in him. He tells us to lay all our anxiety at his feet. He tells us to fix our eyes on him. We know we can give all our hardships to him and yet, at times, we still find ourselves to be downcast. We can trust that the Lord has our best interest in mind and yet, we still struggle with worry, doubt, and fear. It can be overwhelming.

It turns out, we are not the only ones that have felt this way. In our reading for today, the Psalmist writes, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior, and my God.” King David is the one who wrote these words. Even this powerful ruler was struggling with feeling downcast, yet he knew that the Lord was the only one who he could put his trust in.

That is the same remedy for our sadness. When you are downcast, go to the Word. When we go to the things of this world for hope and understanding, we will be disappointed repeatedly. We will find ourselves stuck in the vicious cycle of being downcast.

When the Devil tempts us to forget that the Lord is walking right next to us throughout this life, open the Word as your weapon against his lies. Find promise after promise of the one who has gotten us through our hardest days.

The Lord was with us when things were tough. He is with us right now, whether things are going well or not. The Lord promises to be with us tomorrow, the next day, and every single day until we finally walk the streets of heaven with him.

No matter what we are going through remember God and what he does and has done for us. He’s been faithful. He is faithful. He will always be faithful. So, look up. Be downcast no more. You have Jesus.

Imagine, for a second, that you had a huge scoreboard in your classroom tracking all of your wins and losses of each day. Two students were sharing nicely with each other during recess. WIN! A student threw a tantrum during snack time, because she didn’t get the same amount of goldfish as her neighbor. LOSS! You got through a whole lesson without any major disruptions. WIN! You forgot to send home a time-sensitive note to the parents. LOSS! Wouldn’t it be stressful to keep track? Sure, somedays it would be nice to see the “W’s” rack up, but to see a whole bunch of “L’s” on days that you know very well, that you are losing, would just be discouraging.

Without Jesus, our track record would be devastating. Everyday would be full of disappointment and despair. Thankfully, we get to live our days with Jesus. He has already conquered death and the Devil. We are victorious, through him.

In our reading for today, God is telling the Devil of the permanent punishment that chains him forever. The battle has been fought and God has come out with the “W”. Because of God’s amazing love and grace for us, we get to claim that “W” as our own. We don’t have to go through life feeling overcome by defeat.

Teaching can bring a lot of ups and downs. We are constantly working on training our students up in the way they should go. (Proverbs 22:6) The Devil, the world, and the sinful flesh, will constantly tempt and battle for defeat. This battle can drag us down and make us feel like our work is in vain but take heart, your work is not in vain. Those battles are meant to draw us closer to God. Our strength is only found in Jesus. What comfort to know that our victory does not depend on us. Our victory is complete. Even in our earthly losses, we can shout our battle cry: V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Can you think of something that has ever amazed you? It could be the breathtaking view of the Grand Canyon or the magnificent number of stars in the Milky Way. Possibly you have attended a Cirque De Soleil show and you have no idea how the performers get their bodies to move that way. Maybe it’s something simpler, like someone completing a Rubik’s cube. Crazier yet, completing one with their eyes closed. A Rubik’s cube can be hard enough to complete with one’s eyes open, let alone the impressive feat of not even using their vision at all!

There are a lot of things in this world that are unbelievable. Our puny minds cannot understand them. Our verses today can seem unbelievable, too. How in the world can sinners like us, belong to a heavenly Father that sacrificed his Son, Jesus, to die and take away our sins? How in the world can God the Spirit be dwelling in us and testifying that we are God’s own children? It’s amazing. Unbelievable!

Thank the Lord it’s also 100% true. Although we are completely unworthy, God wants us. We don’t have to understand how it’s possible. God says it’s true and we can believe him. In the reading for today and surrounding verses, he says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Unbelievable!

As you look at your class this week, take a second to think of all of you as the family of God. A group full of sinful people who fall short each day and yet are a group of people that God calls his heirs. He wants us. We are his. Rejoice with your students that we belong!
To add the incredibleness of it all, one day we will join our Father in heaven. Our short time here on earth, with all its ups and downs, can’t even compare to the unimaginable length of glory we will share with him someday.

It’s unbelievable. It’s true. Thank you, Jesus!

Take a second to think of a student that has been struggling with sin lately. Odds are, it didn’t take long for someone to come to mind. Odds are, it didn’t take long for a couple of your students to come to mind. It’s no surprise that this world is full of sin. You turn on the news and it’s all you hear about. Sin is in your home, in your neighborhood, everywhere you go. In fact, you are just as sinful as that student you thought of. We all are. None of us are worthy of God’s love.

What the news won’t tell you, however, is the good news of our salvation through Jesus. That is why it is so important to constantly be in the Word of God. That’s where we find the truth of who we are and more importantly whose we are.

Our resurrection reality is that we will overcome this broken world. Of course, not by anything we do or have done, but completely by what God has already done for us. We are no longer slaves to sin, because Jesus broke every chain through his death and resurrection. Our debt is paid in full.

God says in 1 John 5:3, “In fact this is love for God; to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” So, while we live here on earth, he wants us to show him and others love by living in full obedience of his commands. Think about how much easier your school days would be if everyone lived in harmony with one another and obeyed his commands. Imagine if we were all convicted of our sins right after we committed them, then confessed them to one another so that we could encourage each other to live the way we know he wants us to.

Sin has consequences and God loves you so much that he wants you to avoid the pain and hurt that sin causes. This world is not our home. Earthly pleasures are just that, earthly. Life with Jesus is everlasting. We can bask in that resurrection reality.

As we teach those entrusted to us, pray that they cling to Jesus when temptation gets strong. Remind them that they have the power, through Jesus, to say no to sin. We don’t need to fear this world and sin, because he has already won. Praise God!