Mark 11:24  Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

A preschooler was traveling with her family on Interstate 10 over the Atchafalaya basin from Baton Rouge to Houston. It was dark. The darkness was caused both by the time of day and even more by the fog. Because of the fog, one could only see a few feet in front. By the quietness in the car, it was apparent that all were afraid. This fear was heightened when the family met a car going the wrong way on the interstate. At that point, the preschooler inquired if it was all right to ask Jesus to take away the fog.

Trying to make sure that the proper theological answer was provided, the parents carefully explained that God could say yes, but He might say no, or He might say wait a while.

With the conclusion of the answer, the child prayed aloud that Jesus take the fog away. Within five minutes, the fog was completely gone. One could see the stars and, more important, the road very clearly.

Did God take the fog away as requested in the prayer? I don't know. I know that His Word says that He has the power to respond with a resounding yes. The God who created the heavens and earth, who raised the dead to life, and who forgives sins has the power to make and take away fog.

Have you prayed today?
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Mark 8:36  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

Many people are fooled into believing that things buy happiness. Parents promote such thinking by saturating their children with lots of things. It starts in the "nursery of plenty" and goes all the way into college where they're given full tuition and money on the side to buy the term papers they don't have time to write.

P.T. Barnum spent his life proving the statement he coined: "There's a sucker born every minute." Unfortunately, people who truly believe that money will buy happiness are suckers. They have been duped into believing something that isn't true. If it were true, why do so many people who have so much money seem so unhappy? Why do some end their own lives? Why do others jump from one self-help guru to another? The answer is simple: Because happiness is never found in things.

Happiness is found only in relationship - relationship with God and with one another. Such relationships are made possible only through Jesus Christ. Though we had separated ourselves from God because of sin, He reconnected us. He brought us back into relationship through the perfect life He lived for us, through the death He died for us, through the resurrection, which proclaimed victory over sin and death. In being connected back to God through faith in Jesus Christ, we are brought into relationship not only with God but also with one another.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Mark 7:34-35  He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

Mark's astonishing account tells of our ever-caring Lord Jesus healing a man who was deaf and slow of speech. He did so away from the crowd, personally, privately, completely. He touched the man, fixed His eyes on heaven and said, "Be opened!" Note the word immediately. He could have done so here, too. The man's tongue was loosened, and he began to speak plainly.

"Ephphatha!" What a fitting watchword for Christians. God's care and concern are so totally focused on us. Touched by the personal healing of Christ in our souls, freed from eternal death, blessed according to our most detailed, intimate and specific needs, how can our response be anything other than praise, adoration, thanksgiving, and telling forth what great things God has done for us?

Look at the people's response. They were overwhelmed and, glorifying God, they explained, "He has done everything well." May the people's response also be our as our Lord opens us to worship, work, and witness in word and deed, so that others, seeing Christ through our lives, might also exclaim, "He has done everything well!"
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Mark 6:31  Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.

Compassion fatigue. Burnout. Church-worker stress. These are some of the most dreaded maladies today. And they're afflicting the best kinds of people - those who want to help others in Christian love. There's just too much to do and too little time in which to do it! Counseling, teen problems, food pantries, handouts on the street, clothing drives, money for every cause in the book - compassion is stretched until the passion is wrung out of it.

Have your inner fires cooled? Has stress wrenched compassion from your heart? Jesus knows what you are facing. He saw His own followers pressed on all sides, fast-forwarding their prayers for healing, unable to stop and eat. He saw and stated simply, "Come with Me...to a quiet place and get some rest." Stop, rest, find quiet, get away, refresh. These are the urgings of our Lord Himself. Remember, He regularly withdrew to be alone and pray.
 

However, remember as you face your fatigue that the mercies of your Lord endure forever. Remember that His compassion fails not. Indeed, the constant compassion of God for fallen humanity includes you. His refreshment for you is in the promise of His constant presence. And when you have been restored to full strength, it will be His hand lifting you up, His arm on your shoulder sending you back out into the world, and His love in your acts of energetic compassion.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Matthew 28:20 ...teaching them to obey everythingI have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

This conclusion to the Great Commission is a great challenge to us. We don't like to be commanded. We are independent, free-thinking, stand-up-on-our-own Americans. While we obey most civil laws, we do so not because they are commands from authority but because we decide that to do so is best for us or because the penalty is severe enough to discourage us. Our attitude towards civil authority and law reflects our inner perversity and sinfulness. We treat God's Law in the same "flip" way, often thinking of the Ten Commandments as the Ten Suggestions.

Our challenge here, however, is teaching not just for the acquisition of knowledge or skills so our students can make wise decisions. Our challenge is teaching God's Word so people desire to do no less than obey. Desire of the heart is a little hard to measure, but pastors, teachers, and parents work hard to nurture this.

The beauty of this challenge is the promise given in its conclusion. For we do not accept this responsibility alone. You notice, it does not say that "if you do these things, then I am with you always." No, the promise is, "Surely I am with you always." Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit is our teacher. He resides within us and is with us always, whether we succeed or whether we fail. And when we do fail, He is there to forgive and restore us. What a great comfort, and what a great teachers.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Matthew 28:19  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The most diversely populated county in the United States by race, ethnicity, and religion is Queens, New York. In several distinct square miles of Queens, more than 120 nationalities speaking 170 languages share a neighborhood. Reaching "all nations" may mean walking around the block!

But even if representatives from every nation on the planet rented rooms in your home, it would make no difference if the two-letter command of Christ were ignored. "Go!" says the risen Lord. Go. Go teach and baptize. Go in the strong name of the Trinity with grace in Word and Sacrament. Go.

So let's take one step. The first step. The most critical step in following the Great Commission. And our first step is to seize as individuals and as the church of God what is given in Holy Baptism. The first step is to walk in union with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The life of God is the gift received in Baptism. The Father's love, the Son's grace, the Spirit's fellowship - these are the prerequisites in the Christian spirit empowering the first toddling step. Our spirits are filled to overflowing with the dynamics of our triune, living God. And so we are compelled to go. We go - whether to Queens, New York, or Queensland, Australia - with God!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Matthew 25:40  The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, wherever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me."

Many adults today enjoyed the Lone Ranger as children. He was always the hero. As he rode away, the person whom he helped always asked the question, "Who was that masked man?"

Two images of that mask come to mind in this parable of Jesus. The persons who helped others, fed them, clothed them, visited them, did not remember or keep track of whom they helped or how often. "When did we see You hungry?" they asked Jesus. It is as if we mask our minds, not keeping track to mount up an account that should be repaid.

Further, the persons who helped did not consider anything about those they helped except their need. Not their skin color, not their personal hygiene, not whether they were handicapped, not their mental ability, only their need. The persons who helped were masked to anything but need.

This happens only when Jesus makes us His brothers and sisters in faith and enables us to make others His brothers and sisters in need. Then what excitement to hear Jesus say, "Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance."
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,