Daily Devotion for December 19, 2005

ONCE A YEAR, and only ONCE A YEAR, Lutheran Church Charities does an Appeal to KEEP OUR HEAD ABOVE WATER ENOUGH TO SEE THE FEET OF JESUS WALKING ON IT.  You will be receiving an email today. Please consider giving us support for the various ministries that we Fund and the Relief Efforts we are doing.  Thank you for you prayers and support.

 

Tim Hetzner

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Give Thanks in all Circumstances

 

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 

It’s been a stormy season—storms of nature, of lives, of the heart, and too often, of faith. Seeing and working with the destruction and devastation in the Gulf States, I’ve longed for the New Jerusalem in which “no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime” (Isaiah 65: 19-20). Frankly, I was hearing a lot of weeping and cries of distress. And, lives were hurting.

 

Like the psalmist, I cried for God to “restore our fortunes” so that “those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy” (Psalm 126: 4-5). Paul’s admonition to “rejoice always ... give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5: 16,18) gives one hope, but it’s hard at times.  Notice Paul doesn’t say give thanks for all circumstances, but rather IN ALL circumstances!

 

Turn to the Christ child. The humility, grace, and utter faith with which He faced his storms gives me the strength to face mine. What a gift we have this Christmas and each day in our lives.

 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, in all the circumstances that you place me in, let me give you thanks because of your coming into my life.  Amen

 

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Tim Hetzner - President - Lutheran Church Charities
		333 W. Lake Street, Addison, Illinois 60101
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		Web Site: lcc.LutheranChurchCharities.org
		E-Mail: TimHetzner@LutheranChurchCharities.org
At the end of the day. . . Making A Difference In People's Lives and In God's Kingdom