Not Reckoned according to Your Flesh

Verse for the week: “Blessed is the one you choose, O God, and bring near to dwell in your courts!” Psalm 65.4

Prayer for the week:  Almighty God, thank you for planting in us the seed of your living Word. By your Holy Spirit grant us to receive it with joy, live according to it, and grow in faith and hope and love; through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Romans 8.12-17 (writing in 56 AD, Paul declares great news for wretched sinners like himself who cannot deliver themselves.)

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as children, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method*): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you: in Christ you rescue and adopt a sinner like me as your own beloved child. Thank you! Still the moribund will of my flesh beckons. So, by your evermore present Spirit, bear witness to and for me that I am your own, not mine… your beloved child and a fellow heir with Christ… suffering unto glory; 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=X2bhHosLHmI&ab_channel=CUCSacredWinds

What does baptism mean for daily life?

It means that our sinful self, with all its evil deeds and desires, should be drowned through daily repentance; and that day after day a new self should arise to live with God in righteousness and purity forever. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Benediction:  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all.  Amen.  II Cor 13.14

*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).  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.