YOU NEVER LOOSE WITH FAITH

This is what the LORD says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
     who draws strength from mere flesh
     and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
     they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
     in a salt land where no one lives.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
     whose confidence is in him.” —
Jeremiah 17:5–7

People can choose to put their faith in humanity.
Moreover, people can indeed achieve the results
they were looking for. Doctors cured loved ones,
friends got them a new job. However, these people
will miss the truth that it was God who did these
great things for them and that those people involved
in helping them were merely God’s messengers.
They might have gotten what they wanted, but
Jeremiah says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh . . .”

Ultimately, these people have won the battle but lost
the war because their “heart turns away from the
LORD.” Their trust in humanity has created distance
from God. This is the “curse” of trusting in humanity.
It pushes a person farther from the Lord.

I want to encourage us to hold tightly to our faith
 whether things work out the way we want or not. We
never lose with faith. Either we get what we asked for
or we get something even better — closeness to God.
This kind of closeness and deep faith is an invaluable
gift; one that will make our entire lives more peaceful,
joyful, and meaningful.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

(from Holy Land Moments)

WHEN YOUR ANGRY

Scripture:

"Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be
reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift"
(Matthew 5:24 )

Reflection:

it is not easy to sing praises to God when you're angry
with the person sitting next to you. Or you feel the eyes
of one you have wronged glaring at you. Or you sense that
a wrong relationship with a brother or sister is getting in the
way of a right relationship with your Father.

Before  you attempt to show your love for God by singing,
praying, or searching His Word, go to someone you treated
wrongly, and deal with the grievance.

The heart that yearns to stay right with God will not resist
His command to get right with others.

Prayer:

Almighty God, remind me to always be mindful of
reconciliation to those I have treated wrongly. May I always
strive to be right with others. In Your Holy and Blessed Name.
Amen

JUSTICE

Verse

But let justice run down like water, and righteousness
like a mighty stream.
Amos 5:24 NKJV Study Bible

Voice

Without justice and love, peace will always be the
great illusion.
Dom Helder Camara

Prayer

God, mold our hearts that we may never pray for peace
without praying for justice and love. Amen.

A CHEERFUL SPIRIT

For the poor, every day brings trouble; for the happy
heart, life is a continual feast.
Proverbs 15:15 NLT

When I think of God, my heart is so full of joy that
the notes leap and dance as they leave my pen; and
since God has given me a cheerful heart, I serve Him
with a cheerful spirit.
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

FATHER, help me to have a happy heart. Remove the
anxiety that sometimes weighs my heart down. Keep
my heart from growing proud. Instead, give me a pure
heart — a heart that is pleasing to you. Help me to
hide your Word in my heart so that I can walk in your
ways and enjoy life that is a continual feast.

RIVER OF JUSTICE

Verse

Better the poor walking in integrity than one perverse
of speech who is a fool.
Proverbs 19:1

Voice

This is the rule of most perfect Christianity, its most
exact definition, its highest point, namely, the seeking
of the common  good. For nothing can so make a person
an imitator of Christ as caring for [their] neighbors.
John Chrysostom

Prayer

Lord, we weep with those who weep and refuse to be
consoled. May our tears mix with yours in a river of justice,
flowing down like mighty waters, transforming the world that
is into the one that ought to be. Amen.
Common Prayer

HE WILL RETURN

"I will come back"

[Jesus said], "When everything is ready, I will come and
get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
 And you know where I am going and how to get there."
John 14:3-4 NLT

His promise to return

As a child, George Tulloch was fascinated by stories of
the Titanic.…In 1996 he put together a team of the best
scientists and sailors and set out to the exact spot where
the Titanic sank in 1912. He and his crew were able to
recover numerous artifacts from the ship — eyeglasses,
jewelry, dishware, some coins and the like. But the most
exciting thing they found was a large piece of the hull
resting several hundred yards away.

The team did its best to raise the twenty-ton piece of iron,
but to no avail. At one point the team almost had it.…but a
storm blew in and.…the Atlantic reclaimed its treasure.
Then Tulloch did something surprising before they were
forced to retreat. He descended into the deep once more in
a small submarine, and using a robotic arm, he attached a
small handmade placard onto the section. It said, "I will
come back. George Tulloch."

For a lot of the same reasons, Jesus left us a similar
message. "I am going to prepare a place for you..…When
everything is ready, I will come and get you" (John 14:2-3).
Some may wonder why he cared in the first place. Why
would he even want to reclaim us? What good are we to
him? In many ways we're just as worthless and cumbersome
and unyielding as that lazy piece of iron in the Atlantic.

But Jesus doesn't see us that way. He's dreamed of this
 moment since the beginning of creation, and now that the
time is near he can't help but leave this mark on our hearts.
"I'm leaving now. But don't worry, I'll be back.

Adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry
Jenkins and Frank M. Martin, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), 

YOU WILL FIND

Verse

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you."
Matthew 7:7 NKJV Study Bible

Voice

Radical simply means 'grasping things at the root.'
Angela Y. Davis

Prayer

O God, do not let us be satisfied with surface level
activism. May we continue asking, seeking, and knocking
until we grasp evil at the root. Amen.

PRAYING FOR PERSECUTORS

(Jesus said) "You have heard that it was said, 'You
shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But
I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you." Matthew 5:43-44

Fifteen-year-old Nouman Masih died on Wednesday, April
15, 2015.

You don't know Masih; even so, I'd like to share just two
things about him.

First, you should know that there was no need for Masih, a
citizen of Pakistan, to die. Five days before he passed away,
he was walking on his way to his cloth-stitching job. He was
approached and stopped by two men, two Muslim men.

They asked him if he was Muslim or if he was a Christian.

The lad answered truthfully. He told his questioners that
Jesus was his Savior. They didn't like his answer. They didn't
like his answer so much that they began to beat Masih. It
wasn't a fight he could win. When he was able to break free
for a moment, Masih ran for his life. Tragically, his attackers
weren't done with him. They gave chase and caught the boy.

They doused him in kerosene and set him on fire. Before the
flames were extinguished, Masih was burned on 55 percent
of his body.

Taken to a hospital, the doctors said they thought Masih
might survive his injuries. But this Pakistani hospital is not
equipped to save a boy who is burned on 55 percent of his
body. So, Nouman Masih died, the most recent of a long line
of Christian martyrs.

That's the first thing I wanted you to know about this boy.

Here's the second: before he died, Masih forgave those who
had murdered him. Although he wanted to see his assailants
prosecuted for what they had done, that desire wasn't
motivated by a thirst for revenge. He just wanted to make sure
they didn't do the same thing to other Christians.

That being said, Masih forgave his assailants.

I've tried to decide what I would have done if I had been him.
Would I forgive those who had persecuted and martyred me?
I've tried to decide what I would do if Nouman Masih had been
my son. I wondered how seriously I take Jesus' words which
tell us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

I still don't have the answers; maybe you don't either.

One thing for sure, Nouman Masih is my brother; a hero of the
faith who has set an example. He has shown me how to witness;
he has shown me how to love my enemy, and he has shown me
how important it should be for us to love Jesus, who first loved us.

THE PRAYER:

Dear Lord, be with our brothers and sisters around the world
whose suffering proclaims the power of salvation in their lives.
Be with me so I may learn to love and pray for all those who
have done me wrong. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)

TOOK THE LOAVES

Verse

And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and
looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and
gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples
gave to the multitudes.
Matthew 14:19 NKJV Study Bible

Voice

The godless Galileans feed our poor in addition to
their own.
Roman Emperor Julian


Prayer

O God, may we recapture the spirit of the early
church. May we watch over those suffering in our
congregations as well as all those outcast and
downtrodden by empires today. Amen.

WORTH KNOWING

"Three Things Worth Knowing"

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem
those who were under the Law, so that we might receive
adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has
sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba!
Father!" Galatians 4:4-6

You know, when St. Paul wrote to the Galatians about
being adopted, he was referring to a Roman legal action.
Although Roman adoption was familiar to Paul's original
audience, there are some things you might want to know.

For example, you should know there were three things
which happened at that formal ceremony.

First, the person being adopted left his old family and
became part of a new one. That also happens to us when
we are given faith in the Savior. Those who believe in Jesus
Christ, who recognize His sacrifice, rejoice that the Spirit
leads sinners from Satan's family of damnation and brings
them into a new relationship with their Creator. By God's
grace they become children in God's household of salvation.

Second, in the Roman world, an adopted son became a
legitimate heir to the estate.

Nobody could take away the benefits which had been given
to him. That's exactly what St. Paul says happens to us. In
the book of Romans he writes, "For I am convinced ... (not)
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from

the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord"
(see Romans 8:38-39).

In other words, once you had nothing to look forward to but
death and the grave; but now, because of Jesus' sacrifice,
you have become an heir of heaven.

Third, according to Roman law, when you were given a new
life in a new family, your old life was wiped out. Your past
debts were cancelled. You became a new person.

Because of Jesus' substitution, we who have been adopted
also find our sins are gone. The debt demanded by the Law
has been paid in full. We have been welcomed into a new life,
a life filled with forgiveness and hope.

That's what St. Paul meant when he said to the Corinthian
church, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

To make it possible for you to be adopted is why Jesus was
willing to leave His throne in heaven. Now, all who have been
given faith are adopted as children of God and have become
inheritors of eternal life. The door to God's family has been
opened, and for this we must give thanks.

THE PRAYER:

Dear Lord, I rejoice that You, without any redeeming qualities
in me, have adopted me. Now, by the power of Jesus' life-
giving substitution I have been given a new and better life.
Keep my heart always grateful for this gift, which will never
end. This I pray in the Savior's Name. Amen.

Pastor Klaus

I TRUST YOU

LORD, I put my trust in you today. You are my
security and protection, my shield, my fortress,
and my hiding place, and I praise you. When
enemies surround me and troubles multiply,
help me to remember that you are ever faithful
and that you surround and protect me, both
now and forever.  In Jesus Name Amen

GOD PROTECTS HIS PEOPLE

The land of Israel

O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause
you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land
of Israel.      Ezekiel 37:12 NLT

Birth of a Nation

In 63 B.C. the Roman armies invaded the land of Israel
and made it part of the Roman Empire. Then Jesus came,
and in response to the Jews' rejection of him as their
Messiah, he predicted that the Jewish temple would be
completely destroyed (Luke 21:6), a prediction fulfilled in
A.D. 70. After a second revolt in A.D. 135, no Jews lived
in Jerusalem, and they became scattered through the
world.

Then in the late 1800s, in response to anti-Semitism,
particularly in eastern Europe, a Jewish movement called
Zionism arose. In 1917 in an attempt to win Jewish
support for World War I, England issued the Balfour
Declaration, supporting the creation "in Palestine of a
national home for the Jewish people."

Following War World II, Britain turned the matter of a
Jewish state to the newly created U.N., which voted on
November 29, 1947 to endorse a plan to create separate
Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem as an
international zone.

The British Mandate was scheduled to end on May 15,
1948, at which time their troops would begin leaving. The
day before, a historic meeting was held in Tel Aviv. At
exactly 4:00 p.m. the meeting was called to order by
David Ben-Gurion. The audience rose and sang "Hatikvah,"
the Israeli national anthem. Then Ben-Gurion read in
Hebrew Israel's Declaration of Independence. Everyone in
the audience stood to their feet and applauded, many with
tears streaming down their faces. For the first time in two
thousand years there was an independent Jewish state of
Israel.

The very existence of present-day Israel is a reminder to
us of God's faithfulness in keeping his promises.
(Ezekiel 37:1-13)

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History by
E. Michael and Sharon Rusten (Tyndale, 2003), 

HI MOM

"A Greater Love"

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should
be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the
world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 1 John 3:1

All of us have watched professional sports.

It doesn't matter if it's hockey, football, baseball or championship
chess, when the cameras zoom in on the winner, he or she will
stop whatever he or she is doing, hold up an index finger, and
say, "Number one." If the camera stays on them for a second or
two longer, they will mouth the words, "Hi, mom!"

Why is it always mom who comes to these players' minds at
the moment of success? Why not, "Hi, wife!" or "Hi, kids!" or
"Hi, dad!" or even, "Hi, college coach that brought me to this
point where I'm making a gazillion dollars"?

Why do they always say hello to mom?

Like the rest of us, these athletes know their mothers are
standing behind them. Indeed, a person can commit an
unspeakable crime and everyone will abandon him -- everybody --
except for Mom.

Look at Mary, Jesus' mother. As the Savior was dying to take
away the sins of humankind, almost everybody else had deserted
Him. Embarrassed or frightened, most friends had fled from His
side. But Mary, the Lord's mother, stayed at the foot of the cross
(see John 19:25).

It's Mother's Day and it's right we celebrate it. But what is it we
celebrate this Mother's Day? Is Mother's Day merely a time to
give thanks for a biological individual who struggled and suffered
through her children's sins, stunts and shenanigans?

The church, Christ's church, says, "No!"

The church, Christ's church, says, we rejoice in Christian mothers
who, with love, write on the hearts of their children what the rough
hand of the world cannot erase. In doing so, we remember birth
mothers, adoptive mothers, and mothers who never had a child to
call their own. We remember all who found it within themselves to
speak to the little ones of the Lord's gracious love.

We remember those who have shared how God's Son experienced
the ultimate loneliness so our sons, our daughters might never be
alone; how God's Son suffered so our children would never have to
suffer eternally; how God's Son laid down His life so our sons and
daughters might live. Most importantly, they told how God's Son
rose so our sons and daughters might have life. God's Son rose so
all who believe in Jesus as their suffering Substitute, their victorious
Friend, their living Lord, will live forever.

Dear mothers, look into your cribs and cradles. Look at your young
children, your teens, your young adults, your children, with families
of their own. Look at your grandchildren growing up in a different world
than we could ever have imagined.

Look at them. Do you love them?

Of course, you do! You've laid down your lives for them, but God loves
them with a greater, a deeper, longer- lasting love than yours. How
great is the love the Father has lavished on us. His is a love so great
that His Son died so we might be called children of God.

THE PRAYER:

Dear Lord, for those women who have loved us and sacrificed
themselves for us, we give thanks. May their love remind us of the
Savior's love, and their sacrifice of His. This we pray in Jesus' Name.
Amen.

Pastor Klaus

TO BE THEMSELVES

Verse

I give you a new commandment, that you love one
another. Just as I have loved you, you also should
love one another.
John 13:34

Voice

The beginning of love is the will to let those we love
be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist
them to fit our own image.
Thomas Merton

Prayer

Lord, you show us the same compassion and
commitment that a mother has for her tiny child.
Teach us to care so completely. Show us how to
delight in serving with the same joy you show in
nurturing our creation. Amen.
Common Prayer

PERSEVERANCE

Proverbs 24:16 we read, “for though the righteous fall
seven times, they rise again

The verse doesn’t say that the righteous get up again;
rather the language is very precise when it specifies
that the righteous rise again. This teaches us that not
only do the righteous get up after failure, but they rise
to new heights. They are greater than they were before
they fell in the first place.

We keep pushing forward even when we fail. It’s only
through perseverance and pressing on that we are able
to reach our goals. From every failure, we get smarter;
from every fall, we can rise higher.Consider the following:
Babe Ruth, who held the world record for the most
home runs also struck out 1,330 times. Michael Jordan,
one of the greatest basketball stars of our times, was
cut from his tenth-grade basketball team. Abraham
Lincoln lost eight elections, failed at two businesses,
and suffered a nervous breakdown before he was elected
president of the United States; now he is considered
one of the greatest presidents in American history. The
list goes on and on

KEEP PUSHING FORWARD!!!!!!

SEEK GOD

Seek God and Be Happy

But may all who seek you
     rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
     “The LORD is great!” — Psalm 70:4

Seeking God means walking outside and taking in
the nature around you and seeing the Creator. It
means looking at sweet children or beautiful animals
and seeing God, their Maker. Seeking God also
means that when you find yourself in an uncomfortable
confrontation at work or at home, we need to see
beyond the circumstances and see how God is
orchestrating the situation for our very best. What
joy to know that even our toughest moments are from
God for the good!

Seeking God most definitely includes studying His
Word and integrating His messages. It certainly means
calling out to God in prayer and supplication. When we
set our hearts on seeking God, we can find Him in all
we do, and with that mindset, David promises joy.

How might you seek out God today? Keep God first
place in your awareness and notice how you are filled w
ith joy and gladness as you recognize that God is
everywhere when we seek Him.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

WELFARE

Verse  

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into
exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare
you will find your welfare.
Jeremiah 29:7

Voice

I love America more than any other country in the world
and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize
her perpetually.
James Baldwin


Prayer

God, as we seek the welfare of our cities, may we listen
to language of the unheard. Amen.

COMMITMENT AND CALLUSES

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also
received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance
with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was
raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at
one time, most of whom are still alive, though, some
have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to
all the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:3-7

My brother Tom, a highly intelligent inventor and part-
time philosopher, has called the modern cell phone the
"Swiss Army knife of technology."

By that he means it can do a little bit of everything. It
can give you directions, show you the weather, send
pictures, take video and, well, a little bit of everything.

Oh, one other thing, they can also be addictive.

Case in point: physicians are seeing people come in with
some interesting cell phone-related maladies. Some
doctors have seen dedicated smartphone use leading to
repetitive stress injuries. Do you like to text? If you do too
much texting, your thumb's tendons can constrict and you
can end up with the injury called "texting thumb."

Recently, a California man, a fellow who is dedicated to
the game Candy Crush Saga, after more than six weeks
of constant playing, actually managed to rupture a tendon
in his hand. You've got to love a game a lot to create that
kind of injury.

All of this is a roundabout way to get to the biblical individual:
James the Just.

This James was the brother of our Lord, an early convert to
the faith, a leader of the early church, and one of the first
martyrs for the faith. James should be known and respected
for all of those qualities ... and for one more.

The ancient church historian, Eusebius tells us, "(St. James)
was in the habit of entering alone into the temple, and was
frequently found upon his knees begging forgiveness for the
people, so that his knees became hard like those of a camel ...."

James' knees were callused because he spent so much time
kneeling in prayer.

Now, I just checked I don't have the condition I've called,
"prayer knees." You probably don't either, which, I guess is
a sign of where we're putting our priorities, isn't it? It's a sad
thing that so many of us feel naked if we don't have our cell
phones, but most of us don't feel the least bit strange when
it come to forgotten prayer.

This maybe means we need an adjustment in attitude. We
have a Savior who gave His life for our forgiveness and
salvation. For His gracious act we need to "thank and praise,
serve and obey Him."

And get down on our knees in faithful prayer.

THE PRAYER:

Dear Lord, help me keep my priorities straight. Help me invest
my time in that which glorifies You. This I ask in the Savior's
Name. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)