Daily Devotions

[Jesus said] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5

Connection with Jesus

Lately, I seem to be getting frequent reminders that I am not as young as I used to be. The latest was a notice in the mail that my twentieth high school class reunion will be held this summer. Indeed, those twenty years can go by very quickly. Also, a lot can happen in twenty years, making it hard to stay connected with classmates. Life happens. We get married and have children. Jobs take us all over the country. When we go so long without seeing people, it is easy to lose the connections we once had with them.

It’s also easy for that to take place with Jesus. Life happens. We get married and have children. We fill our schedules up with work, sports, and school activities. We have family and community obligations. We take vacations and try to make the most of life. Before we know it, we are losing our connection with Jesus. This happens gradually, just like with high school classmates over twenty years.

Losing a connection to a high school friend is one thing. Losing our connection with Jesus is another thing altogether. Jesus makes it clear in John chapter 15 that without a connection to him, we are in trouble: we can’t produce spiritual fruit and be saved from our sins. Ultimately, no connection with Jesus means no getting into heaven. It means getting tossed out with the other dead branches into the eternal burn pile.

The good news is that Jesus will never sever his connection with those who are joined to him by faith. He is always ready and waiting in his Word to remind us of his love and to draw us closer to him.

Perhaps, for you, now is a good time to reconnect with Jesus and take steps to remain in Jesus. Recommit yourself to regularly attending worship. Join a Bible study. Expand your devotional life.

We may or may not want to attend a class reunion, but we never want to miss out on eternal life with Jesus!

Prayer:
Dear Savior, thank you for always being there for me in Word and sacrament. Bless my efforts to remain in you now and forever. Amen.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
1 John 3:21-23

Love Pleases God

God has not only made you the object of his love, but he has also made you the subject who gets to love others. Like an object placed in a sentence that receives the action of the verb, God has placed people in your life to receive the action of your love. God calls them another, which means the objects to whom you can show your love can be anyone besides yourself.

As we talk about the objects of our love, we could talk about humanitarian aid, civil service, or random acts of kindness, but perhaps we should start with the objects of love God has placed in your home, people closest to you, likely the people to whom you have already said, “I love you.”

You can show your love in many ways to these people, but if you want to make your love visible, try doing something new. Perhaps it is vacuuming the living room or doing the dishes. It might be packing a lunch for your spouse or drawing a picture for your mommy.

I bet they will be pleased by it. I know God will. When we show our love by doing these things for one another, the apostle John says we “do what pleases him (God).” When the objects of God’s love also become the subjects who love others, God is pleased.

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for making me an object of your love. Thank you also for putting people in my life to be the objects of my love. Help me to think of clever and creative ways to show others my love through the things I do. Amen.

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
1 John 3:19,20

Love Is a Struggle

The ancient Greeks considered their stomachs to be the seat of their emotions. It was their way of expressing that emotions come from deep inside us. Today, the bodily organ commonly associated with emotions like love is the heart. We imagine our hearts bursting when they are full of love and breaking when they aren’t. It is interesting that we tend to associate our emotions with bodily organs that are so easily upset and unsettled.

Your love for others is evidence of your faith in God’s love for you. Yet how often don’t you demonstrate the truth of Jesus’ statement when he said, “the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” In your heart, you know that you have not loved your neighbor as yourself or have not loved others as God has loved you. As a result, in your heart, you imagine yourself condemned.

Perhaps it is because we associate love with organs that are so easily upset and unsettled that we imagine ourselves so easily condemned. Thankfully “God is greater than our hearts.” God is not easily influenced by your struggle to love others that his love for you becomes upset or unsettled. He proved his love when he gave his son, Jesus, to pay for those sins that should have condemned you and that can still make you feel condemned. When you feel this way, remember that your forgiveness does not depend on how you feel but on what God has done to save you. Thank God he is greater than our hearts!

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, when my heart tries to condemn me, keep me from despair and comfort me in the knowledge that you have forgiven all of my sins, even when I don’t feel forgiven. Amen.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:18

Love Makes Sense

Writing a good sentence is an art form. You can master that art by developing an awareness of what makes a sentence work. To be sure, there are nuances to sentence structure that may take a lifetime to master, but there are also some essential elements to every English sentence that even a toddler must master. One element that must be included in every sentence is the verb. The verb denotes action, occurrence, or existence. It is the verb that brings order and structure to what would otherwise be a collection of random and chaotic vocables. Without the verb, a sentence does not make sense and has no meaning. Even in simple sentences, the verb plays a crucial role. “See Jane.” “See Jane run.” “Run, Jane, run!” Without the verb, we wouldn’t know what to do with Jane.

A sentence doesn’t make sense without a verb, and a Christian doesn’t either. Actions are essential in the life of a Christian. You can tell someone you love them every single day, but if you never show it, your words make no sense and have no meaning. Like a sentence that doesn’t have a verb, the words “I love you,” when not connected to an action, are only a collection of random and chaotic vocables. Without action, love is senseless sentimentality and a meaningless emotion.

If you want your love to make sense and have meaning, do what Jesus has already done. Jesus loved you not so that you would be simply lovable but so that you would be loving. Jesus loved you so that you would be a person of action; be a person who is engaged in works of service and is willing to make personal sacrifices.

Words are appropriate for making promises and commitments of love. But it is an action that brings meaning to those words. So, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, a sentence doesn’t make any sense without a verb, and a Christian doesn’t either. Keep me from meaningless lip service. Make me instead a person of action so that my love has meaning. Amen.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:16

Love Is Unconditional

When your living Lord laid down his life for you, he showed you that love was an action; a thing you do. But who is to be the recipient of your loving actions? Most people would say their family, friends, and neighbors are the recipients of their love. But what is it about your family, friends, and neighbors that make them deserve your love? Is it because they raised and nurtured you? Is it because they support and encourage you? Is it because they lend you a cup of milk and an egg when you need them? Those are all wonderful things, but if those are the reasons you love others, then you still don’t understand love. Notice what all the previous examples have in common. They are examples of conditional love; it’s about you getting something before you give something.

In 1 John 3:16, we are told that Jesus loves “us.” It would be good for us to remember what we gave to Jesus before Jesus made us the recipients of his love. According to Ephesians 2:1-3, all people are, by nature, enemies of God. This is because, by nature, none of us wants the same things God wants. We had nothing of value to give to Jesus, in fact, we disobeyed and fought against him. If Jesus were to love us with conditional love, if he were to wait for us to give something to him before he gave something to us, then we would never be loved by him.

But you are loved. Jesus was fully aware you had nothing to give him. Yet, he decided to make you a recipient of his love. When he laid down his life for you—he gave your life value, forgiveness, and salvation. Jesus loves you not because of what you can give to him, rather, he loves you because of what he has given to you. Jesus loves you unconditionally.

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, I’m not worthy to be a recipient of your love. Yet, you love me anyway. Teach me love is unconditional. Strengthen me so that my love for others may be as unconditional as your love for me. Amen.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
1 John 3:16

Love Is an Action

What is love? Ask a doctor, and they will tell you love is a result of fluctuating testosterone and estrogen levels. Ask a poet, and they will tell you that love is an emotion or a feeling. Ask a philosopher, and they will tell you that love is a construct of your mind. What about you? How would you define love? How you answer the question likely depends on which season of life you are in. A young person may start stammering about sweating palms, a racing heart, and a fluttering feeling in their stomach. A mature person may engage in a sensible discussion about faithfulness, commitment, and responsibility. An older person may wistfully reflect on something that is both comfortable and familiar.

Doctors discuss it, poets sing about it, and philosophers analyze it. Young people are afflicted with it, the mature are obligated by it, and the elderly tolerate it. We do our best to define and describe it, but it doesn’t seem like we really know what love is.

Jesus Christ did not define his love for you with a discussion of hormones, emotions, or thoughts. He did not describe his love for you from a personal perspective, rather, Jesus showed you his love with his actions. He did something that personally cost him dearly but benefits you eternally. He laid down his life for you. He paid the price for your sins so that you could be in a right relationship with God. As the apostle John wrote, “This is how we know what love is.”

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for showing me that love is an action. As I think about my Savior, who laid down his life for me, I am no longer content to define or describe love. Lord, strengthen me as I show that I know what love is by my actions. Amen.

No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
Acts 4:32

A Manager of God’s Possessions

That’s mine! You can’t have it! Leave it alone! Many parents have heard words like this so often that they never want to hear them again. At work, you hear: He took my parking place. That was supposed to be my promotion. Why doesn’t anyone think about my loyalty to this company?

The concern about me and what’s mine seems to be present at every stage of life. Some stages may be more filled with it than others, but the general thought is still the same. You have to fight to hold on to what you have. You have to fight to get what you deserve.

The early Christians spoken about in our Bible reading didn’t think that way. In fact, they didn’t claim anything as their own. Those believers did not find it necessary to talk much, if at all, about their own possessions. Possessions didn’t seem to be that important.

Why? The first reason is that these believers realized that everything they had was God’s, not theirs. They didn’t think of possessions as belonging to this person or that person. Everything belonged to God. Each one of them was only a manager of God’s possessions.

Think of that. What you have is not yours. It’s God’s, and you are the manager. One person manages one group of things, and other people manage other things. Having that understanding can change your point of view about possessions dramatically.

Another reason the early Christians didn’t consider their possessions to be their own was that they realized that we use our possessions only for a short time. What we possess now must be viewed from the perspective of our eternal glory of heaven. Our lives here and now are only a short step in our unending journey. Everything comes from God, and he has even better things, even more valuable things, in store for us. Heaven awaits. This fact teaches us to place the right amount of value on what God has given us to use here on earth.

Prayer:
Lord, teach me that all good gifts come from you. Lead me to value the spiritual blessings that you give through Jesus. Help me to use the many blessings you give me to serve you and love others. Amen.