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December 10
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And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52, NASB)

Bethlehem, the manger, the heavenly host, the visit of the wise men, and all of the other wondrous features of our Lord’s arrival were a great beginning; but it didn’t end there. The baby Jesus became the boy Jesus, who became the adolescent Jesus, who became the fully-grown man.

In our lives, there are many wondrous beginnings: The birth of a child; a wedding; a new lease on life after a serious illness; a new day.  It is only the first step.  Advancing through each step that follows is as expected as night following day.

We grow in stature because we take nourishment over time.  We grow in wisdom by the same principle, but instead of food, it is obedience to the word of God that increases wisdom and divine favor.  – Luther

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September 30
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“The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.”  (Isaiah 26:7, NIV)

While it is true that — externally — the path of the righteous is full of “ups and downs”; internally, at the seat of our heart and spirit, the path is bubble-center level for the person who faithfully follows the leading of the Spirit.

If we allow it, the external, visible, tangible, temporal, physical pressures of living will dictate our internal, invisible, intangible, eternal, spiritual perspective.  Don’t allow it.  In fact, turn it around so that your view of things visible is always informed, guided, and determined by things invisible.

It is the serenity that the “Upright One” alone provides that allows you to, as poet Rudyard Kipling wrote, “keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.”  – Luther

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May 8
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“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”  (1 Chronicles 16:8, NIV)

Today’s scripture is taken from the first words spoken by the priests that served before the ark of the covenant of God.  The ark was the physical representation — a reminder, if you will — of the presence of God.

These words were prescribed by David, and are as good today for us as they were thousands of years ago for the Children of Israel.

First, we are invited to “give praise to the Lord.”  May all that we do speak well of our heavenly Father.

Next, we are to proclaim His name: That is, to “advertise” that God is.  There are many forms of advertising.  Some of it is active, and some of it is passive; but all forms carry a message.  Are we proclaiming His name, or are we hiding our relationship to God as if it is of no consequence to us?

Third, our advertising has the purpose of making known to the nations — that is, those who know not God — what God has done for you.  This is your story, and no one should be able to tell your story as well as you.

Today, let your life be an advertisement for the goodness of God.  – Luther

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