Stuck in the Mud!
“So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
Ebed-Meleck said to [King Zedekiah]. “My Lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.”
Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” Jeremiah 38:6,8-10 NIV
Have you read the Book of Jeremiah lately? It is full of God’s warnings as well as his promises fulfilled. Jeremiah had warned the people to repent and be ready, for the day of judgment was coming. As with today’s world, they didn’t listen. Instead, they threw God’s messenger, Jeremiah, into a well. It must have been a dry season, since there was no water remaining in the well – just mud!
Have you ever felt a “dry season” in your life? No sustaining water, it seems, just mud! You may wonder if you’ll ever get out of situations like health challenges (sometimes one after another), or financial set-backs, even though you’ve worked hard for an honest day’s pay. Sometimes witnessing to family and friends and supporting missions seems fruitless because the world spins on in its quest into immoral living.
Jeremiah was doing what God commanded, but where was he? Stuck in the mud! He felt as you do sometimes, rejected and hurt. Can things get any worse? Jeremiah didn’t despair. He prayed. The loving Savior God lifted him out of the mud of life.
Jeremiah knew he was doing the right thing. So did his friend Ebed-Melech. So Ebed-Melech went to King Zedekiah and asked to rescue Jeremiah. The king granted his permission, even supplying men to help him. We are “rescued” by our King, Jesus. What a blessing that our family and friends offer prayers to the King on our behalf! God doesn’t need those prayers to help us, yet he wants to hear from his people.
J
esus knew rejection, hurt, the cross, death, and then the dark, sealed tomb. Though sinless, he knew the mud of sin – OURS! We know joy – the joy of forgiveness in Jesus sealed with his resurrection! Jesus came out of the mud of sin. He suffered for us and granted us that forgiveness. One day we, too, shall rise because of his glorious resurrection. Then we will never see the mud of sin again! In thankfulness, let us go and tell of all that joy through the LWMS, our church, and our synod.
By Ruth Knoke, Florida Sun Coast Circuit, LWMS
It’s about love
Love is the fulfillment of the Law. ~ Romans 13:10
Her husband was cold, self-centered, very demanding. So much so that he prepared a list of rules for her to follow. He insisted that she read them over every day and obey them to the letter. After several long years, her husband died.
Time passed. The woman fell in love with another man. This man, however, dearly loved her. Soon they married. This husband did everything he could to show his devotion to her. One day she was going through her old things. As she did, she came across the old list of rules her first husband had drawn up for her. When she looked over those familiar, bitter words, she realized something. She realized that even though her present husband hadn’t given her any kind of a list, she was actually following what her first husband’s list had called for.
Her reason for following the list now, however, was so different. For her first husband she had followed it out of obligation, fear, a simple desire to avoid trouble. Now, however, she followed it out of love. Now she just wanted to show her husband how much she loved him because he loved her so much.
If Christianity were simply a list of rules and regulations, you and I could probably manage to behave ourselves pretty well if we really wanted to. But that’s not what Christianity is. Christianity is all about God loving us so much that he became one of us. In the Person of Jesus Christ, God did what had to be done to rescue us from our sins, cover us in his forgiveness and give us everything we need for eternal life. He did this because he loves us.
That changes everything. That makes our outlook on life different. Now you and I want to do what the Bible says. Yes, we want to follow God’s will. But why? We do it out of love. We do it because we just want to show how much we love the Lord because of his great love for us.
Lord Jesus, you died on the cross for our every sin. Now you live. We want to thank you. We want to follow your will. We want to show our love for you. Help us do that. Amen.
Today’s Devotion is brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com
kids c.a.r.e.
Since 2005, LWMS has encouraged children to support missions through their prayers and offerings through a program called kids c.a.r.e. (care about reaching everyone with the gospel). The responses received from the children have been amazing; their love for missions is encouraging. We thank God for his blessings! Every year, LWMS selects a new project. The current kids c.a.r.e. project money will go to Partners in Apache Learning (PAL).
I’ve got the winter blues
Do you know anybody who suffers from SAD in winter (i.e., Seasonal Affective Disorder)? Some people call it “winter blues”-they get irritable, moody, sleep more, eat more, and feel depressed. Psychologists have begun to take SAD more seriously and have investigated the effect of diminished sunlight on people’s emotional health. There is a connection for a lot of people.
The farther north you live, the darker the winters get. Alaska is not for the faint of heart-in January the sun “rises” at 10:00 a.m., barely makes the horizon, and is gone by 2:00 p.m. I know some people who need light therapy to get through these months. You can buy a light box that pumps out a lot more lumens than ordinary incandescent bulbs. Sunlight produces vitamin D in our skin. Snowbirds often describe the feeling of healing when they first arrive in Florida or Arizona after Christmas and feel the sun on their skin.
People need Sonlight too. When the glory of Christ does not touch our faces by coming off the pages of the Bible, when we haven’t been listening to his voice, Satan plants depression and self-hatred. Paul writes, “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. . . . Wake up, O sleeper . . . and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:8-10,14).
Here is good news that generates spiritual vitamin D (meaning Delight) in our lives: Through Christ, God thinks you are beautiful, fun to be with, and desirable to have in his everlasting family. Through Christ, your sins are forgiven, your prayers are all answered, and your greatest longings and needs will be fulfilled. Through Christ, your pains are temporary and your joys are eternal.
Yeast
Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Luke 13:20-21
When I was kid, I’d watch my mom make bread by hand. Mom would mix the Fleishmann’s ® yeast with water. That yeast didn’t look very impressive and appeared to be just cloudy water. But the yeast had a strange power built into it as it worked in the dough from the inside out. The dough would rise and we’d have bread. Every time!
Thank God that his word has a special power to permeate and get into stone cold hearts 
like yours and mine. We were not born better candidates to become Christians than anyone else. We were born with zero spiritual powers to come to Christ. It was the grace of God and the yeast of God’s word that changed us into something we were not. The yeast of God’s word doesn’t appear to be very impressive either. But there is divine power in that word to make our faith grow just as there is power in the yeast to make the bread dough rise.
Just as yeast makes bread dough rise slowly and quietly without any snap, crackle and pop, our faith also grows slowly and quietly. But like yeast permeating and then changing dough, the word changed us. Now we have new values, new goals, a new reason to live, and a living hope compared to when we were just a “lump of dough” and didn’t know Christ by faith. Spread this yeast in your community and neighborhood and watch the yeast change the people you love in the way it changed you.
Prayer: Jesus, continue to work the yeast of your word in my heart that I may grow to love and serve you more. Please also then use me to share your word with those I come in contact with, that your word may continue to spread. Amen
