Asides

May 29
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Uncategorized Aside
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” (John 11:25-26, NIV)

The world as we know it “whistles through the graveyard”; that is, it ignores all evidence that we, too, shall die. 

Our Lord offers us the only hope of life through death.  He, alone, is the resurrection and the life. 

Our Lord’s question: “Do you believe this,” is the litmus test. To answer in the affirmative does not keep us out of the graveyard but, because of Jesus, the graveyard to the believer becomes a passageway, not a destination. 

Live each day as one going from life to life.  – Luther

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May 28
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“‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'” (2 Kings 5:16, NIV)
 
There is a saying: “God plus one is a majority.”   That saying is a lie.  The truth is this: God, alone, is a majority! 

There are times when we feel out-matched or out-numbered.  Today’s scripture reminds us that we are not only not alone; but that we need never fear or fret.  On God’s side there are always more with “us” than there are with “them.”  – Luther

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May 27
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“They said, ‘Though John [the Baptist] never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.’ And in that place many believed in Jesus.” (John 10:41-42, NIV)

It is not necessary to be a worker of signs and miracles to be at the heart of the plan of God for this world. 

John the Baptist only proclaimed the truth — and because of his testimony, many believed in Jesus. 

It is worth noting that telling the truth is not always an easy task: Speaking the truth — in love — is hard when we’re personally frustrated; the truth is often at odds with “conventional wisdom” or with the “politically correct”; and the truth is often — as the proverb says — “just getting its shoes on while a lie has run half-way around the world.” 

However, according to scripture, it is knowing the truth that makes us free. (John 8:32) 

Not many of us will work miracles, but all of us can strive to know the truth intimately; to live the truth faithfully; and to speak the truth in love. In doing so, many around us will come to believe in Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life.  – Luther

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