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Happy Birthday, Rachel! My oldest daughter turns 40 today. That is a sobering thought. Wasn’t I just 40 years old the other day? Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not complaining about being older. If I hadn’t grown older I would not have had the joy of being “Papa” to my grandchildren!  I try to see each day God gives me here on earth as a blessing and an opportunity to live for Him.

Sure, I have my share of physical ailments that come with age. Some of them are visible and noticable, some are not. I try not to dwell on them because I trust God’s promises. He has already shown me that He can be trusted. He sent the Savior He promised immediately after the first sin. He kept that promise in Jesus, who gave Himself for the sins of the world, including mine. I have the absolute certainty of forgiveness, and that changes the way I look at every day God gives me here. Read over these promises.

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

God renews and sustains me when I listen to His Word and reflect on all that He has done for me in my life. I know my Savior, but I also recognize God’s gracious provision. Good old Martin Luther wrote about it this way in his explanation of the First Article of the Apostle’s Creed.

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

That is a great reminder or God’s ongoing care for me. That has been true my entire life. And while I remember the past, I endeavor to not idealize the “good old days.”

Ecclesiastes 7:10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.

It is up to me to make today good. I do that when I remember I am a redeemed child of God and try to share that message with the people I encounter. That is our responsibility as followers of Jesus.

Psalm 71:18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.

God help us all to declare God’s Good News to the next generation.

Again, Happy Birthday Rachel. We will see you soon. I pray God blesses you with many more and I will enjoy every one I get to see as well.

Today is the final day of the LCMS Youth Gathering “In All Things.” It wraps up with a morning worship service in Minute Maid Park, and then everyone starts making their way home. Well, almost everyone. Some of the Planners will be here another day answering the help line, packing up things and all the other stuff that goes with putting on an event this size.

There have been so many Christ-centered presentations and moments that the participants were a part of and are now taking home with them. They have been reminded that God is IN ALL THINGS, including the brokenness and hurts and depression and hard times they will go through. It is a message we all need to hear over and over again, and I’ll probably be sharing some of what I heard in the days and weeks ahead.

Last night I was listening to one of the speakers, I was reminded of Psalm 31.

Psalm 31:9–16 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends— those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.

The Psalmist speaks of things that are a reality in our lives: distress, sorrow, grief, anguish, affliction and terror. Just because you have faith in Jesus, you are not exempt from these things. In spite of all this, the Psalmist speaks words of trust and confidence. “My times are in your hands.” No matter what is going on in your life, God is in control and God is with you. In all things, good and bad, God is in control and He is with you.

You have this assurance because He speaks it over and over in His Word. And in His Word made flesh.  Jesus came to be one of us to take our place in punishment, earn our forgiveness, and open heaven for us. He did that by dying on a cross and rising again in victory on the the Third Day.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

God not only is with us IN ALL THINGS, but through Jesus He gives us ALL THINGS we need.

Let that thought go with you in everything you do today.

A man arrives at the Pearly Gates and Saint Peter welcomes him. Peter explains, “Let me tell you how this works. It takes a 100 points for you to get in. You give me an accounting of your life, and I’ll tell you how many points you get.  The man begins by saying, “I was married to the same woman for 57 years and was completely faithful to her. I was a good husband, father and provider for my family.”  Peter replied, “Excellent, that will get you two points!”  The man was a little surprised at the small value placed on that, but he continued: “I was a faithful member of my church my entire life. I always tithed on all my income and was active in service through my congregation and church body.”  Peter again said, “Very good. That gets you one point.”  The man was more concerned now, but he went on with his accounting. “I volunteered at the local homeless shelter every week. I helped at least once a month at the food pantry to distribute items. I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity to help build homes. And I served on the board of Family Promise to provide a helping hand to families in situational homelessness.”  Peter said, “That is wonderful. One more point.”  The man was flustered and replied, “One point? At this rate the only way I’ll ever get into heaven is by the grace of God!”  Peter smiled broadly and said, “Come on in.”

I like that story because it reminds me of an important truth. The good deeds I do are not the cause of my salvation, but a response to it. My forgiveness and life, both here and in eternity, were earned by what Jesus did.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

I don’t have it in me to accomplish what needs to be done for my salvation. Jesus took my place, paid my penalty, and defeated death and the devil for me.

Ephesians 2:8–9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

When I stand at the pearly gates, it will not be a list of my deeds and what I have done that earns my forgiveness and entry. All I have to say is “I believe Jesus already paid my entry fee.” And then you will be with Him.

John 14:1-12  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father’?  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (NIV)

It is extremely important that Christian parents instill Christian values in their children. You cannot rely on others to do it. What is taught in your home will have the most lasting influence on your children. And this is so important for you to do in your homes because most of the influences your children will get outside the home are anti-Christian. That may sound pretty harsh, but it is true. The most influential persons in our society are those who reject Christ and promote values and lifestyles that contradict God’s Word. They reject any moral standards as obsolete and deny accountability for their actions.

These anti-Christian groups don’t simply want to be allowed to sin. They want the church to condone their sin. Even though they reject the teachings of the church, many of them demand that the church accept them and their sinful behavior. They say we cannot force our standards on them, and then turn right around and shove their standards down our throats. They even try to tell us that we should preach their ideology and reject the one who tells us that HE is the Way, Truth and Life.

This is being seen especially today among the PRO-CHOICE advocates. The overturn of Roe v. Wade has them up in arms, demanding that those who believe differently than they do must not be allowed to say so. “Don’t give us your standards, but you must accept ours.”

Schools today are being told to teach critical race theory and gender identification, but Christian teachers are told they cannot speak their faith.

Jesus told us it would be like this.

John 15:18, 20  “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first… If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.

This persecution and hatred is a proof that Jesus is who He claimed to be: THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. Why would they persecute a lie? Is anyone persecuting Buddha? People will blame Christians for the problems in the world, saying that the woes of mankind are the result of Christians trying to impose their standards on others. But think about this: was it the followers of Jesus Christ who gave us a 50% divorce rate? Are Christians responsible for a million and a half abortions a year? Are the Christians the ones who produce the movies glorifying evil and demons, adultery and promiscuity? Was it Christianity that brought AIDS to mankind? Did Bible believers bring us drug abuse? Of course not. These are all the direct result of those who say they need no standards. Who is forcing whose morality on whom?

These are real problems. They should scare you. They should make you realize the importance of instructing your children in the fear and knowledge of the Lord. Jesus has shown us the way to the Father: faith in Him as our Savior. You need to share with your kids that God loves everyone, and He proved that by sending Christ into this world to die for the sins of men. God was not willing that man should perish, but that all should come to a knowledge of Him through His Son. The death of Christ as payment for sin gives you life. His message is truth. You should now walk in His way.

The best way for any of you to instill these values in others is to live them yourself. Respond to God’s goodness by living for Him in everything you say and do. Counteract the negative influences of the world by giving a positive witness in your life to Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Psalm 101 (NIV84)

I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will sing praise. I will be careful to lead a blameless life— when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure. My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me. No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a President who sincerely felt this way? I know I’m not the only one to have that thought after reading this Psalm. If our rulers thought and lived this way, can you imagine how much better our world would be?

King David is describing his desire to be a faithful king over God’s people. He expresses that he wants to be a king like the Lord, hating sin and evil, punishing wrongdoers and leading the people in keeping with the will of our Heavenly Father. That may have been his desire, but we know David did not always live or rule that way. He was a sinner, just like the rest of us.

And while it sounds like this would be an ideal thing to have in our nation, I think that is part of the problem we have. Too many people think it is the government’s job to lead people to God. But that is not the way God set things up. Jesus told His followers to tell other people about Him, who He is and what He did for us through His life and death and resurrection. The message of reconciliation and forgiveness is to be shared by every believer with the people in their sphere of influence. You need to be the ones who share the hope that is in you, that Jesus paid for your sin and the sin of the whole world, and that everyone who trusts in Him receives His pardon and peace.

Instead of just wishing that we had rulers like the one David describes here, why don’t we all strive to live the life he outlines. If we would sing of God’s love and justice, voice our praise to Him publicly, and have the mindset to live according to His Word and His Will, how far would that go in making this world a better place? Especially if we would speak this truth in love?

Something for all of us to consider today.

In my last two devotions I have mentioned this passage.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Today I want to dign deeper into this with you. This passage presents a logical progression, a condition and response, an “If … Then” statement. One of the first things I learned in programming computers was about “If … Then” statements. These occur everywhere. Their purpose is to determine the outcome.

• IF a condition is true, the part of the program after the word THEN takes place.
• IF the condition is false, the part after the word THEN is ignored.

That is what God is setting up here in response to Solomon’s prayer.

IF my people…again, these are His chosen people that He is speaking to, those with whom He already has a relationship. He sets up four conditions

• Humble themselves – This was important. Under David, Israel had become a world power. Under Solomon’s reign Israel grew even more. It would be easy for them to forget about God and think they had done it all by their own power. They needed to acknowledge what God had done for them in humility.
• Pray – God’s people are reminded to speak to Him. This was not for God’s benefit, but for theirs. By speaking to God they would remind themselves where their help came from.
• Seek His face – The people with whom God already has a relationship are encouraged to seek His face, to try to get close to Him, to stay in His presence. This means they would understand who He is and what He would have them do.
• Turn from their wicked ways – This is what it means to repent: to do a 180, an about face, to turn away from sin and towards God.

God tells His people if they will humble, pray, seek and turn, THEN He will

• Hear – He will listen and be aware of our situation
• Forgive – Because of faith in His promises, people can be forgiven by God.
• Heal this land, which was a reference to easing the suffering and problems.

God’s actions were promised in response to His people believing in Him. The IF part of the formula describes faith in action. The THEN part of the formula is God’s promise to His faithful people. God is doing the promising, the acting, the giving. The people were merely invited to take God up on His offer.

You  and I are people who already have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. In His love and mercy He has reached out to us with the offer of forgiveness for Jesus sake. Through His life and death and resurrection He has done all that is necessary for us to be saved, to be God’s people called by His name. Because of that, because God has chosen us to be His people, these words from 2 Chronicles also apply to us. Let’s go through the outline again, making it more personal:

IF my people – you and I who are His children through faith in Jesus.

• Humble – When things are going well, we forget about God and assume that is just the way things should be if you work hard, rather than recognizing our good fortunes as blessings from God. We need to humbly acknowledge that God’s providence has blessed us tremendously, giving us homes and family, work and leisure, freedom and liberty. Be humble before God.
• Pray – This is an admonition bears repeating. If you want God to answer you, you have to speak to Him. Let Him know that you know He is there and in control by talking to Him.
• Seek – We need to seek His face always. We want to be on His good side, which is what this phrase implies. We don’t want God to turn His back on us, but desire to be where His face shines on us. We want to live always in His presence.
• Turn – We do that by admitting our sins and turning from them. That does not mean a thoughtless recitation of “I, a poor miserable sinner…” but a heartfelt admission that it was my sin, my guilt, that caused Jesus to die. That kind of admission will bring about a turning.

If you and I will humble and pray and seek and turn THEN God will:

• Hear – we know that God hears, since He promised that He would for Jesus’ sake.
• Forgive – That is what Jesus had come for. That is what He did. He gave Himself up for us, died and rose again so that we might be forgiven. Faith in Him makes that forgiveness your possession. God forgives you for Jesus’ sake.
• Heal – Easing of the suffering and problems all around us. Let’s face it, our lives and our nation need healing. People are not civil to one another in the public square. This nation of ours is one of the finest on earth, but it is still in need of a lot of healing. As those who are part of the family of faith, part of that nation whose God is the Lord, we have a responsibility to live up to. If you want the United States of America to be a nation under God, you must be a people under God. Take your stands for God, make your voices heard, Lift High the Cross. Share the Good News so that more people will be God’s people. And show God’s love in your words and your actions. If you and I are living the way God tells us to in this passage, that will go a long way toward healing this land.

We must take God at His Word.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We have been promised that when we humble ourselves, pray, seek, and turn from our wickedness, GOD will hear, forgive, heal –for Jesus Sake!