Category Archives: Daily Devotions

Daily Devotions

The Absolute Truth

Isaiah 8:16-22 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/…

Information is one of the most important, most coveted, and these days most taken for granted things in our world. It’s right at our fingertips. Want to know how to make chicken noodle soup (as I did last week)? Google it. Or, if that doesn’t quite give you the recipe you want you can call your mom! Information has never been so easily attainable – we are rich in words which teach, direct, and entertain. And yet though we have all the riches of this world’s words, we are desperately poor if we have not God’s Word. That’s what Isaiah is really saying here, that God’s Word – His promises are, in the end, the only things that really matter. As it is written, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our Lord Endures Forever. And this is the word which was preached to you!”

Don’t take His Word for granted: because it is certain! Isaiah notes that even though God was “hiding his face” He would trust His Word. In this world, there are often things that seem to prove God wrong. In Isaiah’s days it would be the people turning away from God and Him removing His protection, yet His promises would come true – the Savior would be born.

Today it might be evolution, called scientific fact by many even though it has never been witnessed, tested, or proven in any scientific way. Evolution seeks to tear down God’s Word but it won’t succeed. God’s Word stands and will stand even after the very heavens and earth created by God in 6 days are destroyed. God’s Word is more certain than anything that anyone could ever tell you. So when it seems like God is hiding his face, when it seems like man is right and God is wrong, listen to God!

For God’s Word also creates family. Isaiah says “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.” These words find their final fulfillment in Jesus of whom they are quoted in Hebrews 2:13. Jesus, the word made flesh, came to fulfill the Word and to preach the Word and through that Word He makes us to be His children, His brothers, His family. He forgives our sins and draws near to us in love.

This is why we should listen only to His Word as Isaiah says “And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

Only God’s Word is really, ultimately true. We live in a world that claims there is no such thing as absolute truth (a ridiculous and self-defeating argument). But God’s Word is the light which breaks this darkness. It will remain when all man’s ideas and philosophies are gone and those who believe it, those who cling to it and the promises of grace in Jesus Christ that it offers, these will live forever by that Word.

In Christ
Pastor Ude

Daily Devotions

Don’t Be Afraid, Be With Jesus

Isaiah 8:9-15 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/…

Fear is often the most fearful enemy. When people are afraid the can do some pretty terrible things. There are many who know this and try to use it for their advantage – Adolf Hitler was like that. He fed the people on fear so that he could sell them his solution.

Isaiah brings a warning and a comfort to his people and to us in these verses. He says – don’t be afraid of anything except God. Don’t listen when people say “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!” Don’t get carried away by doomsday predictions or by political rhetoric. These things all distract, they all ignore the wonderful truth expressed in verse 10. There we find what is really to be the cry of the church in the face of any and every foe, “Bring it on, God is with us!”

When you rightly fear God, that is stand in awe of Him, His power, His law, His works then you know that there is no one who can stand against Him, no one who can defy His will or thwart His plans. That’s terrifying if you’re against Him, it’s wonderful and awesome if He is with you. And in Jesus that is exactly what God is – He is with you by birth, by water, by blood, by suffering, by death, by resurrection. He is with you and through faith you are with Him.

If He alone is your fear and He alone your dread, He who is so awesome in majesty and power and holiness who yet graciously stooped to be with you and forgive your sins, then what could you have to fear? Don’t give in to fear, just be with Jesus.

In Christ
Pastor Ude

Daily Devotions

Up To The Neck

Isaiah 8:1-8 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/…

Have you ever been up to the neck? In deep water where you couldn’t swim, standing on the tips of your toes just trying to keep your head above water? That is where Isaiah predicted the Israelites would be before long. The kings of Israel and Syria which now appeared so threatening would soon be swept away but that same river would flood the land of Judah all the way up to the neck. Isaiah even named his son “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” which means something like “swift is the booty and speedy is the prey.” Before, God says, this child will even know how to say “my Father” or “my mother” the Assyrians will come down like a wolf on the fold, and the sheen of their spears will be like stars on the sea. They will flood into the land, they will surround Jerusalem (the head of Judah, Immanuel’s land, hence “up to the neck”) and it will seem like there is no hope for God’s people, no ground to stand on.

But remember, these are God’s people, this is Immanuel’s land and He will deliver them as Isaiah records in chapters 36-37. He will do it because it is Immanuel’s land and they are Immanuel’s people. He has just pointed Ahaz to that sign and remember that sign cannot possibly fail. Immanuel will come and on the cross it will be He who has the water come up to His neck, indeed He will drown in the flood of the sins of all time. It was what should have happened to you and me. Because we like Ahaz and the people Isaiah spoke to then are far too easily impressed by the things and people of this world and far too easily distracted from loving and serving and trusting the True God. But Jesus drowned under those sins for you so that you might be raised up to stand on solid ground in the forgiveness of your sins!

In Christ
Pastor Ude

Daily Devotions

Abortion – The End of the Story

I was listening to a book. A young girl found out she was pregnant. She was distressed. As the writer described her thinking through her various options, I knew something. I knew that she wasn’t going to have an abortion. I knew it because no one ever gets an abortion in books or movies do they? I mean I’m sure there are a few out there but it pretty much never happens.
You know why? There is no story in Abortion. At least not one that anyonewould want to hear. Abortion is the end. It’s legalized murder. There’s no story in abortion because abortion ends a story. It ends a life with all of it’s limitless possibilities and countless tales. With abortion, there cannot be any “happily ever after.”

Except for in Christ. The true story of the child, both God and Man, who lived righteously and died vicariously, that story can replace all the stories and all the happiness ended by abortion. His story, the story of the cross and of an empty grave, that can give peace and forgiveness to all including those who have done what authors can’t seem to bring themselves to write about. His story can bring the happily ever after of heaven to those children. It can shine an eternal light on eyes cheated of ever blinking into the light of the sun here on earth. Because Jesus’ death is not the end of the story for those who believe in Him. It’s just the beginning.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”

Daily Devotions

A Sign to Behold – Part 4

Isaiah 7:1-14 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/…

No matter how remarkable something is, it’s always that much better if it’s for you. The big present under the christmas tree elicits all the more wonder when it has your name on it. Martin Luther often spoke of how amazing the words “for you” in the institution of the Lord’s Supper are. So it is in our text. Perhaps the most amazing part of this miraculous sign is the “immanu” of “immanuel” It’s hebrew for “with us.” This amazing sign that Isaiah speaks of is not a sign for someone else alone, it wasn’t a sign just for Ahaz and Israel but for us! It’s ours. The God-Man belongs to us! As the hymn says, “I am his and He is mine.” More than that it is for US! For people like us. Consider that it was Ahaz to whom Isaiah made this promise. I mentioned that Syria and Israel had been sent to punish him for his sins. 2 chronicles 28 details some of Ahaz’s evil deeds –

– he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and not David his father.

– he offered to false god’s.

– he even burned his children as a sacrifice.

– he asked assyria for help instead of asking God.

-he caused the people of judah to act sinfully along with him.

– he took from the Lord’s house to give tribute to assyria (which didn’t work).

-in distress he was even more faithless to the Lord.

-because syria defeated him, he sacrificed to their gods as if they would help him.

-he destroyed the vessels of the house of God and shut it’s doors.

-he made altars to false gods all overJerusalem and all over Judah

As far as outward deeds and their effects on others, Ahaz was one of the wickedest people this world has ever seen and still God comes to Him, still God seeks to bring Him to repentance, still Isaiah says to him, “The Lord Your God.” The reason is the unbelievable truth that Jesus had paid for Ahaz’s sins. The “us” of “God with us” includes Ahaz, wretched sinner that he was. Jesus did not just come for those who are mostly good, not only for those who made some mistakes but really have a good heart, no Jesus came for sinners. He came for wretched pathetic sinners like Ahaz…like you and me. You and I really aren’t that different from Ahaz. How often like him haven’t we desired to be more like the world in speech, in entertainment, in dress, in learning – and less like the peculiar people that God made us to be? Do you ever find yourself lacking the desire to hear God’s Word. Perhaps even getting annoyed when someone brings that word to you?

Don’t you and I make false gods by raising up money, tv, work or family above God? When we love ourselves more than those around us are we not sacrificing them on the altars of our own desires? And do we not dishonor God when we look for help to everything but God – music for comfort, philosophy and psychology for answers, our own ingenuity? Not that those things are wrong in themselves but when we look to them in the place of God…We, like Ahaz have sinned greatly. We are wretched, unworthy – guilty. And still God is with us. Still this sign is and always will be for us. This emphasizes the absolutely staggering miracle that God effected through this virgin birth. Many churches today say that it was a myth, Jesus was not God just a really wise and good man that we can learn from. They don’t think we need a savior because they don’t think we are all that bad. But when we recognize what sinners we are, we can see how necessary this wonderful sign is, what a sight for sore eyes – behold the virgin pregnant and bearing a son. This child was the perfect answer to our problem. This child, being man was able to come under the law, to take our place, to fight our battle – perfectly. He was able to suffer and die – as God His perfect life, his suffering and his blood were weighty enough to counterbalance all the sins of the world – His death – the death of God! – was what was needed for the world to be justified and all who believe to have life in His name. Jesus was God with us and what a miracle that was. He is ours – we, sinners that we are, are His – behold that baby in bethlehem’s poor, silent stable – He is the reason, the sign, the seal for our redemption – behold Him and marvel!

Daily Devotions

A Sign to Behold – Part 3

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/…

This is also the central promise of scripture. The promise on which all else stands or falls. Very often God tied the promise of the Messiah to other promises. Gen. 49:10 “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor the law-giver from between his feet until shiloh comes and to him shall be the obedience of the people.” God had vested the promise of the Messiah with David’s royal line so when Pekah and Rezin plotted to overthrow God’s anointed and put up their own puppet king, they were plotting against God’s plan to save. God’s response was certain, “It shall not stand and it shall not come to pass.” The sign of Immanuel was the perfect sign for Ahaz because He should have known that God’s promise to send a Savior meant that all his other promises would be true as well. So should we. But how easily do we sometimes forget this. When faced with the difficulties of this life we very well might say “What good does the virgin-birth do me now?” “What am I supposed to do with that?” But Isaiah would remind us to stop and marvel at Immanuel, the sign to behold for every situation. It is in Jesus’ birth and mission that all of God’s promises and plans are centered. For example – if you, like many these days, are facing financial difficulty – behind on school bills, trying to get out of debt or fend off bill-collectors, perhaps even struggling to put food on the table – what is your reaction? Where do you turn first? Bank accounts? Family members? More hours of work? Do you run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off, stressing out and worrying, shaking like a tree before the wind? Why? “Behold, the virgin pregnant and bearing a son and she shall call his name Immanuel!” Stop and marvel. Because of Jesus you can be firm no matter what difficulty you are facing. First of all, he is the one who through His life with us and death for us has given you all the treasures of heaven. What if you hunger now? You will be filled in heaven! He is the one who has promised to clothe you as the lillies and provide your daily bread! Do you need any proof that He keeps His promises? Behold Immanuel! In Jesus, all of God’s promises are answered, all of our needs are met. It is because of Jesus that God is working tirelessly with your best interests at heart. Through the God-Man, you and I are reconciled to God. We are His own children. What He has promised He will deliver. There is no need to shake. Behold the virgin born – the central sign of all scripture, of time and eternity, that stands to give us confidence. Behold Immanuel – and shake no more.

Daily Devotions

A Sign to Behold Part 1

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/…

We need a little more awe these days don’t you think? I don’t me “ah look at the baby” but jaw-dropping, senses defying awe. We need wonder. It seems like people are rarely amazed by anything anymore – they’ve seen it all. Sure we get it excited about stuff but it quickly wears off. People flock to the stores to buy the newest iphone and then again 6 months later but do they ever stop to marvel at the countless hours of work, the ingenuity that went into making it? We might get excited about a beautiful play in the game sunday – the quarterback firing a pass like a guided missile into triple coverage, the receiver turning his body at just the right moment to haul it in. We cheer and yell or throw things but do you stop to wonder at the strength of the arm, the dexterity of the hands or the hours of planning, preparation and practice that went into that one play? It’s easy to develop the “seen that before attitude,” writing the amazing and the incredible off as simply impossible.

That of course is what the world does when it comes to Christmas. Sure they like to get all jazzed up about the wonder and excitement of family and presents etc but what about the virgin birth? A myth they say! A fantasy. It’s too incredible – no intelligent person could believe that! Even many churches these days have written it off – they say God didn’t really mean it, it’s just a metaphor (what for I do not know), it never really happened. Far too easily, we can adopt such an attitude towards Immanuel as well. During the Christmas season, we stop to marvel at the Savior’s manger, but how much do we really do that? Where is our focus mainly: God with us, or movies, shopping, meals and family? Even when we do stop to be amazed at the miracle that God has worked, how quickly does it sometimes fade? Christmas comes and goes. The lights come down, the tree browns in the yard, we go back to the humdrum of our daily lives and how often do we stop and behold the sign. In our text, Isaiah seeks to grab our attention, to amaze us by showing us a sign to behold. This verse is one of the most dramatic in the whole bible – Isaiah literally says “Behold the virgin – pregnant and bearing a son and calling his name God with us!” “Look at it” he shouts! Stop what you are doing and be amazed at this sign – a sign to behold!

In Christ
Pastor Ude

Daily Devotions

No Church Growth for Isaiah

Isaiah 6:8-13, And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, 12 and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 13 And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

Many these days seem confused as to the real mission which Christ has given to His Church. It’s easy to tell by the very phrase that is so often applied, “Church growth.” Much is done in the name of growing numbers, growing offerings, tailoring the message in order to make people want to hear it. Such philosophies are entirely alien to the one which God gave to Isaiah. What was His mission? To grow? No. To preach. To keep on speaking when no one would listen (and not to change because they weren’t listening). To keep on preaching as the land was destroyed and decimated and even the remnant left behind was burned until, like a cut down, burnt tree, all that was left was a stump. It was never Isaiah’s job to figure out how to stop this. It was never his job to tailor his message. It was never his job to give the people what they wanted to hear. It was his job to keep preaching God’s Word, ever the same regardless of who would hear, regardless of what was happening around him.

Why? Because of that cut off stump. For the Holy seed is the stump. The Holy Seed is Jesus. The promised seed of the woman. The one reason why God did not make a complete destruction of His people. The one reason why He sent Isaiah to preach to them. The one reason there is forgiveness for you and for me for all our many sins. The one reason this world still exists. The one thing worth preaching about. If you aren’t preaching Christ, it doesn’t matter if everyone in the world is listening. You can have all the growth but you’ll have no Church. But if you are preaching Christ, it doesn’t matter if only a few or no one at all is listening. Preach Christ. That’s the mission. Amen.

In Christ
Pastor Ude

Daily Devotions

Ninth and Tenth Commandments

The Ninth and Tenth Commandments

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we do not sinfully desire to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house by a trick or in a way that appears to be right ; but we should do everything we can to help him keep what is his.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his workers, nor his animals, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God that we not sinfully desire to use tricks or force, or do anything that might cause our neighbor to lose his wife, workers, or animals; but we should urge them to stay and do their duty.
David killed a man to cover up the adultery he had committed with his wife. Ahab had Naboth executed on false charges in order to get his vineyard. Eve bit the forbidden fruit, along with Adam, damning the human race. And all these, like every sin you have ever committed share something in common, they started in the heart. David lusted, Ahab coveted, Eve desired what she should not have. This is what the ninth and tenth commandments address, the attitude of the heart which is behind every other sin against the neighbor and is the result of the lack of the proper attitude towards God.

Every sin starts in the heart, in wanting something that we cannot or should not have. And that desire, in itself, is sin. Many people like to pretend this isn’t the case. I talked to a Mormon once who told me that something was only a sin if you did it. I believe that’s a pretty common view. As long as I don’t follow through on some desire, then it’s not sin right? Wrong. You shall not covet. Discontentment, lust, jealousy, anger, these are all sins whether you follow through with the actions they lead to or not. And that’s really bad news for you and me. Because that’s really damning isn’t it? Because none of us have wholly holy desires. We covet, we become so easily discontent with what we have and throw a fit if we don’t get what we want.

Breaking this commandment is a direct result of breaking the first. It is because we do not fear, love, and trust in God that we are discontent. If we loved God, then what else should we need? If we trusted God, then how could ever be discontent? Won’t He provide?

The good news is that despite our sinful hearts, Christ lived a perfect life. He never coveted, never lusted. He was never discontent with the lot His Father gave to Him. Even hungering in the wilderness, even on the cross, in the most unimaginable pains, when Jesus cried out, “Why?” He still trusted His Father to care and provide. He did that for you. And He died for you in order to cleanse you from all sins of thought, word, and deed and in order to call you to faith in Him, to calm your constant discontentment and teach you to be content in only this – you are His child, your sins are forgiven, heaven is yours. What more do you need?

In Christ
Pastor Ude

Daily Devotions

There are No Words

Isaiah 6:1-8, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (ESV)

There are times when it seems better not to say anything. When you witness a magnificent display of music or theater, if you see something truly awe-inspiring, all encompassing like standing at the edge of a sunset sea or gaze upon the mighty mountains. Isaiah’s vision is far more awe-inspiring than them all. He saw the eternal God, high and lifted up in majesty. He who created the sea, and the mountains and is far more majestic than them all. He saw Him whom even the seraphim hid their faces from crying “Holy! Holy! Holy!”

Isaiah was struck deeply by just how awesome this was. He cried out, “Woe is me!” He knew he was a sinner. And he knew God was not. He knew there were no words, no words to atone for His sins, no words to describe what he was seeing.

So God spoke. His Word, a Word of grace. For this was the God of grace. It was Jesus whom Isaiah saw as John 12:41 says. And there are no words for His grace. No Words for how He came down to bring us Himself on the altar of the cross, to atone for our sins and to take away our guilt. No words to adequately praise and thank Him. But there are words which we can now speak. Words which our tongues have been set loose to proclaim. The same Words given to Isaiah. Words of Grace. The Word of God.

In Christ
Pastor Ude