For real sinners... a Real Savior

Verse for the week:  Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning. Luke 12.35

Prayer:  “Almighty, everlasting God, you have promised us a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.  Direct us by your Spirit, that we may wait watchfully for the coming of your Son, and with holy lives go forth to meet him, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete für das jahr der Kirche, 2nd  ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p.235). 

Bible reading for the day:  Hebrews. 9.24-28

²⁴For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. ²⁵ Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

 Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method**): Gracious and almighty Father, you know that real sinners like us need the real savior, not a copy made by our hands or ideas. Thank you for sending Jesus to get the job done once and for all!  With his own blood, he has put away my sin; keep me from taking it out again. While I wait for his return, so overwhelm me with the merciful judgment he has rendered on my behalf that I may wait eagerly for him. I ask this through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved, classic hymn that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU23M_vSdkU

“I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord…”

What does this mean?

I believe that Jesus Christ — true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary — is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, and has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver and gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. He has done all this in order that I might be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns for all eternity. This is most certainly true! (from the Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

Benediction:  The God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  (Romans 15.13)

*There are many patterns for devotions.  This pattern has been followed by God’s people for centuries.

**The T.R.I.P. approach to prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray.  It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria, MN www.dailytext.com).  The method is founded on scripture and easy to remember:

T: thanksgiving

                                                          R: regret (repentance)

                                                          I: intercession (asking God to take a specific action)

                                                          P: plan or purpose

Reading a biblical text and then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s prayers...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on God’s Word and talk to God.