by Mark Gierus
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I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).
Read Romans 8:18–25
Suffering is not something we enjoy going through in life. We don’t want to suffer; we want to be comfortable in the things we do. Many of us hate being out of our comfort zones, and we may hear people tell us to ‘push through’. However, sometimes, are we only dealing with first-world problems?
Recently, a question was asked on a local radio station about things that make people suffer. One lady called in and said that the cupholder in her new BMW was too small to fit her coffee travel mug. Another caller said he now had to park one level lower in the underground parking at his workplace, and he couldn’t get full phone coverage there.
We might laugh at this, but do we sometimes place too much emphasis on our first-world problems? Yet, in the face of true suffering – in loss and grief, in physical, emotional and mental struggles, in seeing poverty and war – we are encouraged to not even compare them with the glory that awaits us in Jesus.
The same Jesus who holds us now in his love, presence and comfort in his word, is the same Jesus who will come again one day to take us to be with him forever in all his glory.
The old hymn ‘It is well with my soul’ was written by Horatio Spafford, who lost his four daughters in a shipwreck. Horatio didn’t go on the journey, and only his wife, Anna, survived. He received a telegram from Anna after she was rescued, with only two words, ‘Saved alone.’
Horatio went to see Anna. As the ship he was sailing on passed the place where his four daughters drowned, he wrote the hymn.
In his grief, he didn’t need to compare his suffering with what was to come, for his eyes were on Jesus in faith, knowing he could say, ‘It is well.’
Know that in your suffering, Jesus holds you, for in him, all is well in the depths of your soul.
Dear Jesus, it is well with my soul because you have saved me. You died for my sins, and, in your name, you give me hope and peace, day by day, no matter what suffering I face. You walk with me through it all, and you will take me to be with you forever in the end. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus serves as a Lutheran pastor in Alberton, Woongoolba and LORDS (Lutheran school) in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 9, 12 and 22. He enjoys visiting the beach, singing and jamming, caring for their pets as a family, going on road trips and seeing people share the love of Jesus with one another. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
by Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God (Romans 8:14).
Read Romans 8:12–17
How often have you heard adults say to other adults to grow up and stop acting like a child? When did you last act like a child? If you said it has been a while, or that you never act like a child, maybe it is time to start.
We are children of God; therefore, we should act that way. How often do we, in the space of church politics, pretend that we are all grown up and no longer laugh and play, and must be serious? Serious about our church numbers and serious about our finances, and becoming too corporate in the worldly sense with our thinking.
Perhaps we need to get serious about being like children again in our thinking and especially in our hearts. We are, after all, children of God – let us play, dance, sing and trust our God as a child. The living God, who made heaven and earth and sent his only Son, Jesus, to die on a cross, gave us the right to become his children simply by believing in the one he sent – Jesus, our Saviour.
As children of God, let us live in such a way that reflects our Father’s love. Let us live in a way that doesn’t dishonour our Father by our actions. Let us live as children in the power of his Spirit, easily trusting that God will do his work in us and through us, and that he cares, giving us all we need. Let us live by his Spirit who he has poured into us, and let our actions go with the words we speak of his love for us.
When did you last act like a child? Start today and be carefree, not worrying about tomorrow or the future, but finding joy in the good gifts God has given you. Listen to the gentle voice of God’s Spirit guiding you and leading you in all truth day by day.
Heavenly Father, pour out your Spirit upon us richly as we are led to live as your dear children. Help us to not only say we are your children but also to act like your precious children and share your love with others around us. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus serves as a Lutheran pastor in Alberton, Woongoolba and LORDS (Lutheran school) in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 9, 12 and 22. He enjoys visiting the beach, singing and jamming, caring for their pets as a family, going on road trips and seeing people share the love of Jesus with one another. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
by Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
Read Romans 8:1–11
You may have been to a funeral before, or perhaps you have wondered about death. Maybe you might think this is a very morbid way of starting a daily devotion, yet death is part of life. Have you stopped to ponder how, among death, there is life, and what great comfort we have in Christ Jesus?
It is Jesus who will come to judge the living and the dead, and as the just judge of all, we all will need to give an account of our lives to him. So, what will you say? Are there things you might be ashamed to share among the good things you have done? Does that frighten you?
In the words of St Paul today, there is great comfort. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But what does that mean? It is certainly great news that we are not condemned by Jesus if we are in him, but what does it look like?
If you think of God’s amazing grace and the great love he poured out for all through Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, we can be at peace. God has done the work on our behalf, so we do not need to worry about an eternity of condemnation, simply by believing in Jesus.
On the day of judgement, when the judge Jesus asks for your account, you can simply say, ‘The account of my life, Jesus, is you, for you love me and died for my sins.’
We have no condemnation in Jesus Christ, the one who will judge the living and the dead, because of faith, trusting that Jesus has done it all. There is nothing more to do than now but to live in Jesus and walk day by day in faith.
Dear Jesus, you are right to judge our sins. Thank you for dying for my sins so that I know, in you, there is peace and no condemnation, but forgiveness and hope. Help me to live a life that shows your love to others today and always. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus serves as a Lutheran pastor in Alberton, Woongoolba and LORDS (Lutheran school) in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 9, 12 and 22. He enjoys visiting the beach, singing and jamming, caring for their pets as a family, going on road trips and seeing people share the love of Jesus with one another. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
by Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
‘Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you do not know how to interpret this present time?’ (Luke 12:56)
Read Luke 12:49–56
Are you a gardener or someone who likes the great outdoors? Do you check the weather to see what the new day will bring? Will it rain or be hot? Do you read the signs of what nature is doing?
Jesus told the people of his day that they could interpret the basic things of nature, such as the clouds that bring rain, yet they were unable to understand the times in which they lived. The times of brokenness, sin, division, hate and hurt.
Jesus says that to us today in the same words. Do you know how to interpret the present times? Do you see the sin in the world, the disobedience to God, the selfish living, the hurt, the division, even in our own church? Do you know what time it is? The time is to repent and believe – to turn back to Jesus and hear his word of grace, love, hope and peace.
Jesus tells us he will come again to take us to be with him forever, and he tells us to be ready for when he returns to find us doing his work.
His work is simply living a life of repentance, or an ongoing turning back to him when we sin, when we fail in our best efforts to live a good life in his name. The time to repent is always at hand, just as the time to serve the Lord is. Jesus calls us to a life of faith, to follow him where he leads. He reminds us when we sin and contribute to the brokenness and division of the world to repent and turn back to him, where he receives us lovingly and forgives our sins, for he died on the cross for us all.
He sends us into the world, healed and whole, to share his love amid the brokenness and division of the present time. We are also called to encourage others to recognise that now is the time to listen to God’s quiet yet powerful voice.
Dear Jesus, help us to clearly see that in the division and brokenness of the world, you call us daily to repent, to turn back to you and to fix our eyes on you. In our repentance, help us hear your words of forgiveness again. Change our hearts so that we see things through your eyes and love others in their brokenness and in times of division. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus serves as a Lutheran pastor in Alberton, Woongoolba and LORDS (Lutheran school) in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 9, 12 and 22. He enjoys visiting the beach, singing and jamming, caring for their pets as a family, going on road trips and seeing people share the love of Jesus with one another. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgement on the heavenly beings (Psalm 82:1).
Read Psalm 82
I remember the first time I saw the Tom Cruise movie A Few Good Men. What struck me initially was the scene in the courtroom where it appears Tom Cruise has been bested by the Jack Nicholson character, Colonel Jessep, when he says the iconic line: ‘You can’t handle the truth!’ It seems that here the conflict comes to a head as it wrestles to determine between morality and duty. Colonel Jessep rationalises that people must be sacrificed so that the law can be maintained. I won’t spoil the ending for those who haven’t seen the movie – I do recommend it!
Here in Psalm 82, the scene is also set in a courtroom with God as the judge. He sits in judgement against corrupt rulers and judges who fail to care for those in need. It describes a divine council where God confronts ‘beings’ (these can be seen as lesser gods, deities or earthly rulers). God brings them to justice for their failure to uphold justice and protect the poor, oppressed, weak and needy. It reminds us also to care for those who are in need and less fortunate.
This is a very different psalm from many others, as it lacks praise, thanksgiving, confession or lament. Instead, it is God speaking to us. He has gathered all the ‘judges’ to give judgement against them. The God of heaven and earth is greater than any ‘god’ or ruler on earth, and at the end of times, they also will be judged for how they have treated their people/countries. Social justice is God’s cause, and he will uphold it. God will complete his work when he comes again to ‘judge the living and the dead’. There is only one God, and he works for the justice and peace of the kingdom on earth.
This truth I can handle!
May your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Guide our governments and those in authority to lead and direct with equity, love and care for all who are vulnerable and in need. Amen.
For 19 years, Anne has been the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer. She lives in Noosa with her husband, Mark (a pastor), has three grown children – Jonah, Christian and Emma – and is a proud new mother-in-law to Brooke. She enjoys walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do (Romans 7:18b,19a).
Read Romans 7:13–25
Does anyone else have to read and reread this passage from Romans to try to work out what Paul really means? One can feel the struggle that Paul is experiencing with sin and his inability to consistently do what he knows is right. The word ‘do, does, doing’ appears 16 times in this short passage – no wonder confusion occurs.
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it (Romans 7:19,20).
Poor Paul! Poor us! Even though we have been washed clean from all sin and forgiven from all our wrongdoing through baptism, that doesn’t mean we will no longer sin now. We have this internal conflict that rages between the power of sin and our desire to do good. It is a conflict between our sinful nature and wanting to do God’s will. Salvation is not the issue; we are delivered from the penalty of sin, but this doesn’t eliminate the ongoing battle we experience against sin’s influence. So, how can we deal with this and try to live within the boundaries God would like us to live in?
If we read forward to Romans 7:25: ‘Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ This is our answer. Our mindset and attitude must be godly. It must allow our thoughts and actions to be always in sync with the Spirit who helps us act as Jesus desires. Fill your heart and mind with God and let him control your thoughts and actions. Not easy? Absolutely not … but we can try, ask for forgiveness and try again. There is no limit to God’s love and forgiveness – this will never run out or run dry! God knows we are sinners, and we will keep on sinning, and that’s why he sent Jesus.
So, live knowing you are forgiven, but don’t give up trying to do better!
Loving God, thank you for loving and forgiving me, despite all the sinning I constantly do. Help me to try, with the help of your Spirit, to fill my life with the goodness and love that can only come from you. Amen.
For 19 years, Anne has been the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer. She lives in Noosa with her husband, Mark (a pastor), has three grown children – Jonah, Christian and Emma – and is a proud new mother-in-law to Brooke. She enjoys walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
… You also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another … in order that we might bear fruit to God (Romans 7:4).
Read Romans 7:1–12
When I was growing up, my parents had fruit trees in our backyard. During the summer months, we would be busy stewing, preserving and drying fruit. We had an abundance of peaches most years; therefore, we would dry a lot.
To dry the peaches, we would cut them in half and remove the stone. Then, my mother would make a sulphur solution, and we would soak them for a couple of days. They were then drained and placed flesh side up on trays, which we would place in the sun in our backyard. As the sun moved, so did our trays. They had to be turned to ensure all the moisture was removed before we could put them in airtight containers to have as treats when there were no fresh peaches left.
The Bible reading for today discusses marriage, the sins that can arise within it, and how we are to glorify God in all things and produce fruit in our marriages. God gives us so many good things, but when times are difficult, it is hard to remember the good times, and we focus on the negative (the sins). That is why God wants us to preserve, stew and dry all the good things that happen so that during difficult times, we can bring out what we have learnt and preserved to enjoy and look back on.
It takes effort to glorify God in our marriages and to put the other person first, especially when we feel we have been unfairly treated or slighted. Even for those who are not married, maintaining friendships and family relations takes effort. It must be a deliberate action.
My husband and I have just recently celebrated 30 years of marriage. We are blessed and continue to share time together, pray together, do special things for each other, reminisce about what we have done together and then look to the future. This is how I stew, preserve and dry fruits within my marriage. How do you do it?
Marriage and friendships are gifts, where fruits grow.
Loving Saviour, thank you for friendships, family and marriage. Help me grow my relationships and then preserve the love for the hard times. Amen.
For 19 years, Anne has been the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer. She lives in Noosa with her husband, Mark (a pastor), has three grown children – Jonah, Christian and Emma – and is a proud new mother-in-law to Brooke. She enjoys walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
Read Romans 6:12–23
A wealthy businessman, known for his demanding nature and harsh business practices, fell ill. Doctors told him his condition was critical, and he realised his life was nearing its end. He had always believed that success was earned through hard work and merit, and he applied this belief to his relationship with God, thinking he needed to earn his way into heaven.
As he reflected on his life, he realised he had accumulated many ‘wages’: possessions, achievements and a reputation for success. However, he also saw how much he had hurt others and how far he had fallen short of true love and compassion. He felt a deep sense of emptiness and despair, knowing he had nothing to offer God to earn his forgiveness or salvation. Then, a friend shared the message of Romans 6:23 with him. The businessman was stunned. He had always thought of heaven as a reward he had to earn, not a gift freely given. He began to understand that his good works and accomplishments were like wages, while salvation was a gift offered by God’s grace through Jesus Christ.
This is a story that any of us could probably relate to, even if not ourselves, someone we know. I cannot imagine living knowing that I must always try to earn merit points to win God’s favour. Understanding God’s grace is liberating. It is freeing, but it should not be taken for granted. God, in his great love for the world, decided at the beginning of time to put into place a way for us to be freed from our sin that would have condemned us to eternal death. In Jesus, God freed us, giving us a future and eternal life with our Heavenly Father. Our good works then grow out of our thankfulness and faith toward a loving Father.
Live in the freedom, love and grace of God!
God of grace and love, fill my life with your love and give me a thankful heart. Help me to share this grace and freedom with others who need to know you more. Amen.
For 19 years, Anne has been the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer. She lives in Noosa with her husband, Mark (a pastor), has three grown children – Jonah, Christian and Emma – and is a proud new mother-in-law to Brooke. She enjoys walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (Romans 6:4).
Read Romans 6:1–11
On 1 November, we celebrate All Saints’ Day – a time to remember and thank God for all the saints who have gone before us and died in the faith. We recognise that it is through their faith that we have also come to faith and experience God’s grace, the word of life, forgiveness and our future hope. Each person who has died in the Lord has completed the task God has set them, and they are welcomed into God’s eternal kingdom. I love thinking about this: my father, grandparents, friends and relatives all celebrating with our loving Saviour.
But we are also God’s saints here on earth and still have the task set before us to bring more to know Jesus as their Saviour. God’s grace is a gift, but there are so many who have not been exposed to this gift of life. We can’t give up on them. God’s grace is the key to our future in heaven. If God had not done his work through Jesus, we would not have much of a future.
Grace is mentioned 124 times in the NIV New Testament (86 times by Paul). Paul, in his letter to the church of Rome, speaks of the grace we have received in our baptism, and in it, we are also united with Jesus in his resurrection and are freed from all of our sins. The grace of God in Christ is – and always will be – the last word.
Grace in Christ is always the last word for us, even as it is also the first word that brought us to faith in and through our baptism. Through faith, grace is the first morning word, the word at midday and the last word at night. God’s grace extends to all people, at all times and in all situations throughout the world – it is not exclusive, nor can it ever be extinguished.
Our Lord’s grace is our past, present and future!
Loving Saviour, you have promised me a place with you and all the saints. Grow purpose within me to share your grace and love with all who will listen that they, too, may have a future with you. Amen.
For 19 years, Anne has been the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer. She lives in Noosa with her husband, Mark (a pastor), has three grown children – Jonah, Christian and Emma – and is a proud new mother-in-law to Brooke. She enjoys walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.