At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness (Mark 1:12).
Read Mark 1:9–15
I’ve always thought of Mark as the action movie of the gospels. He gives us one scene after another, with very little rest in between. In our passage today, we have Jesus’ baptism, forty days in the wilderness, temptation, John’s arrest, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and ‘repent and believe’. All of that happens in seven verses. We also see the Holy Spirit at work, descending on Jesus at his baptism and leading Jesus into the wilderness. I believe Mark wants us to understand that the Spirit keeps doing this – leading Jesus from one scene to another. Mark is eager to show us that Jesus is the promised Messiah and that as we see who he is, we, too, will want to follow the Spirit’s lead and follow Jesus.
Having put our trust in Jesus, we have peace with God; we have eternal life; we have so much – but we are not promised a trouble-free life. We sometimes forget that ‘to follow’ means to go through the same things the person you are following has gone through. We see in the gospels that Jesus faced many difficulties. He went through hunger, thirst, weariness, suffering, betrayal, and so much more. Remember Mark 8:34 (take up your cross). Of course, Jesus had many good times with friends and family; he enjoyed many a good meal with good conversation and, no doubt, enjoyed much of the good creation (that he created).
Like Jesus, the Spirit is going to lead us through various action scenes. We are going to go through glorious times and challenging times – and even devastating times. As we do, remember that we are not the action star – Jesus is! The Holy Spirit, whom we received in our baptism, is with us. Jesus promised he would never leave us. We are the precious children of our Heavenly Father.
Heavenly Father, thank you for fulfilling your promises and sending Israel’s Messiah – my dear Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Help me to follow your Spirit’s leading so that my life may be based on repenting and believing in Jesus. In his mighty name, I pray. Amen.
Glenn is the pastor of St John’s Lutheran Church in Esperance and also looks after St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Kalgoorlie–Boulder. Glenn has been married to Karen for 38 years, and they have two grown sons – and their first grandchild is on the way (due March 2024).
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God, my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long (Psalm 25:5).
Read Psalm 25:1–10
This verse from Psalm 25 wonderfully points out that in our daily walk with God, we have the blessing of looking to the past, present and future.
The past: ‘Guide me in your truth and teach me.’
This points to the way God has gone before us, laying out the path to be in a relationship with him and serve him. The word guide (as written in the NIV) comes with connotations of a large Monty Pythonesque hand reaching down from heaven to push us in the right direction. Which is what we might sometimes wish would happen. But ‘guide me’ is better understood here in the sense of someone treading before us, physically leading the way.
For David, as the psalm writer, God had not yet physically come to earth and walked before his people – although he had interacted with them through priests and prophets. We have the advantage of God walking ahead of us, which is recorded in the Bible. We can turn to God manifested in history to seek his guidance.
The present: ‘For you are God, my Saviour.’
We die daily with Christ (1 Corinthians 15:31), and therefore daily receive his salvation, rejoicing in him as Saviour. God is our Saviour in the present, right now.
The future: ‘My hope is in you all day long.’
Hope points to the future. What’s more, hope in this verse is better translated as ‘in you Lord, do I wait [expectantly] all day long’. David is constantly looking to the future, to the eager expectation of the full revelation of God’s glory. We can do the same.
Today, may you look to God in the past, present and future, following the way of Jesus, living in his daily salvation, and looking with hope for the glory to come.
God, you are the Lord of all time – past, present and future. Thank you that you work in all of these, and we can experience the blessings that come through that. Help us to live our day with the hope of your future glory in our hearts. Amen.
Emma works as a freelance videographer in Adelaide, and she recently joined Lutheran Media as its Production Assistant. Emma also studies theology and is heavily involved in youth camping ministry around South Australia. In her free time, she eats a lot of cheese, attempts to grow vegetables (the tomatoes have been the best success so far), and has committed the majority of her ‘casual reading’ time this year to getting through War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
he Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come, and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life … Amen. Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:17,20).
Read Revelation 22:1–11
Youth camps, ultimate frisbee, beach volleyball, camping, strawberry picking, backpacking Europe. These are some of the things I always liked the idea of but never bothered to actually consider doing until I was specifically invited by a friend to join them.
How many things in life would you not have done if you hadn’t first been invited?
Fittingly, the end of the Bible, while wrapping things up, is also an invitation. But to what? And by whom?
Firstly, we have the invitation from the Trinity to come and drink the water of life.
And secondly, John (on behalf of the church, I assume) ends his letter with the invitation to ‘Come, Lord Jesus’.
What a beautiful way to finish what is, for most, a very scary and confusing book of the Bible. An ending of a relationship. Because a relationship is an invitation – love offered without compulsion.
It began in Genesis with God’s invitation to Adam and Eve to join him in ruling the earth and building the population. But Adam and Eve didn’t return that invitation. They were so fearful after their first act of sin that the last thing they were going to do was invite God to come!
But here in Revelation, at the restoration of all things, redeemed humanity can, without shame, cry: ‘Come, Lord!’
Recent studies indicate people in Australia might be quite interested in coming to church and finding out about this whole Christianity thing; they just haven’t been invited yet (source: National Church Life Survey). Let’s extend God’s invitation. Let’s show people they don’t need to fear a perfect God because of their imperfections any longer. The gift of the water of life is free.
Lord God, you are always inviting us into a relationship with you. Help us to take up the invitation daily and put aside any fear, reluctance or complacency getting in the way of that life-giving invitation. Amen.
Emma works as a freelance videographer in Adelaide, and she recently joined Lutheran Media as its Production Assistant. Emma also studies theology and is heavily involved in youth camping ministry around South Australia. In her free time, she eats a lot of cheese, attempts to grow vegetables (the tomatoes have been the best success so far), and has committed the majority of her ‘casual reading’ time this year to getting through War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
2nd Day in Lent (Thursday)
Read: Psalm 118
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.” Psalm 118:8 (NIV)
‘The very centre and core of the Bible is the doctrine of the grace of God.’ ~J. Gresham Machen
I have recently come across these Bible facts (makes one wonder about the miracle of it):
• The shortest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117
• The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119
• The chapter in the centre of the Bible is Psalm 118
• There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118
• There are 594 chapters after Psalm 118
• Add these two numbers up and you get 1188 chapters altogether.
• The centre verse of the Bible is Psalm 118:8 (written above)
Is this what we mean by the centre and core of the Bible? Maybe, but it is God’s
undeserved love shown for His people! Grace is seasoned through the whole Bible and
even the literal centre verse of the Bible is peppered with God’s love – He gives shelter
and refuge from all circumstances, unlike the fickleness of humans. Read Psalm 118 if
you haven’t already and read of David’s joy in the love of God that he felt he did not
deserve. It speaks of the grace that God also offers to each of us. When David writes
‘I’ – put your own name there and rest in the grace and love of an amazing God.
Try to find a story in the New Testament or one in the Old Testament where God’s
ultimate love and grace is not apparent and how through everything He does is for the
love of His people. Yes, there are stories of judgement, but underlying these stories is the
message of God’s grace. One such story is Noah’s Ark – God was so displeased with how
evil His people had become, He could have destroyed the whole earth with the click of
His fingers and then forgotten all about creating anything else. Instead, God in His love
saved one family and His amazing creatures. Then came God’s promise in the rainbow
that He would never do such a thing again – all out of His love!
Explore the Bible and God’s Grace for His people.
Prayer: Gracious God, you have promised me your love over and over again through all
that is written in your Word. Help me to share this undeserved grace and love of a loving
God. Amen.
Karma vs Grace Ash Wednesday Read: Psalm 103:1-12 “Out of the fullness of his grace He has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.” John 1:16 (GNT) ‘Grace is the opposite of Karma, which is all about getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve and not getting what you do deserve.’ A few years ago, the movie ‘Unbroken’ came to my attention. Louis Zamperini was an Olympic runner who joined the army and during World War 2 was captured and imprisoned in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. The story is quite graphic in its descriptions of the horrors that Zamperini and his fellow POW soldiers went through. When he was finally released at the end of the war, he was full of bitterness and anger towards his captors who had tortured and killed so many of his friends. One day he went to a Billy Graham revival meeting and opened his life to the freedom and grace that Jesus offered. His life changed completely. He experienced the grace of God. When he encountered one of the Japanese guards who had hurt him physically and mentally, instead of anger and retaliation, Zamperini forgave this guard and showed him undeserved favour and love. This is a human example of just a fraction of the grace that is extended to us. In a society where we are all about others getting what they deserve (Karma) and the courts full of plaintiffs trying to get retribution for the pain and evil suffered to them, God’s gift of grace is unreal. Can you imagine the courts full of people wanting to offer others forgiveness and love? People getting what they don’t deserve? There would be no need for lawyers and courts. This Lenten season these devotions will be focussing on what we don’t deserve. The opposite of Karma! We don’t deserve the incredible love of a God who has to put up with all our complaining and going against his plan for us – but he loves us anyway and offers us total and absolute forgiveness and grace. As you may receive the ashes at the Ash Wednesday service today: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Prayer: My Heavenly Father, you extend such incredible love and acceptance for me. Help me live in the grace you offer me and share this grace with others around me. Amen.
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven (Matthew 6:1).
Read Matthew 6:1–6,16–21
I’m not generally a sports watcher, but this year, I really got into watching the tennis while the Australian Open was on. I was in awe of how naturally the pros seemed to pull off such high-level play. Things that, when I go out for a casual hit, require me to think carefully about my foot placement and timing of the swing, they seem to do with barely a conscious thought.
But the skills of these best-in-the-world tennis players on display on screens across the nation only come about because of how much practice they do in private.
The point of the practice is that the players don’t have to think about what they’re doing when it comes to the big games; it’s just instinctive.
Jesus says a similar thing about spiritual practices (or disciplines). You practice them in private so that in public, you do not have to prove anything; it just comes naturally.
That way, when we’re in front of other people, we’re not trying to impress them. We don’t need to. We can just be who we are, serving out of a love for God.
The things we practice spiritually aren’t needed to prove to others or God how good we are. But we still need to practice them – because they just don’t come naturally.
After getting inspired by watching the tennis and dusting off the old racquet, I’ve decided I’m not too interested in getting to the Australian Open. I think I’ll spend more time practising what Jesus preached instead.
Lord, you know our hearts and motivations. Sometimes, we don’t always have the right reasons for the things we do in public. Help us to practise your words in private so that in public, we don’t have anything to prove and can simply be serving out of our love for you. Amen.
Emma works as a freelance videographer in Adelaide, and she recently joined Lutheran Media as its Production Assistant. Emma also studies theology and is heavily involved in youth camping ministry around South Australia. In her free time, she eats a lot of cheese, attempts to grow vegetables (the tomatoes have been the best success so far), and has committed the majority of her ‘casual reading’ time this year to getting through War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God … the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it (Revelation 21:10,24).
Read Revelation 21:9–27
What is worship? That’s one of the big questions of Revelation.
Revelation, really, is a depiction of one big liturgy of worship as it will be upon the return of Christ and the New Jerusalem.
But what is worship?
According to the Bible, it is the crossing of boundaries. The bringing together of things that otherwise are not usually near each other. The blurring of the boundaries between ages (both in terms of the age of the people in the congregation and over history as we sing songs and speak words written generations ago), cultures, and heaven and earth itself: God’s realm and ours.
John G Strelan (yes, that’s my grandfather) wrote: ‘Every time the people of God worship God, there the new Jerusalem is coming down out of heaven … Worship breaks the boundaries of space and time. It takes us into God’s sphere of existence’.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t exactly feel the barriers of space-time being broken on the average Sunday morning. But maybe that’s because God always brings himself to us and puts himself in the world in a way we can relate to. He puts himself into simple things, such as bread and wine.
The church today is supposed to foreshadow the final great gathering of God’s people. But in what way, exactly?
We read that nations will walk by the holy city’s light, and kings from across the earth will bring their splendour. In other words, in the church, people of all nations are welcomed along with their culture. The church is (or should be) a model of God’s future, where all that is good and true in our cultures will be used for the service of God and his creation.
Where do you see your church crossing boundaries?
Lord, when we worship you, our earthly world meets with your divine one. Help us to see where we as a church can continue crossing boundaries, reaching those who don’t deserve your grace – yet you choose to give it anyway. Amen.
Emma works as a freelance videographer in Adelaide, and she recently joined Lutheran Media as its Production Assistant. Emma also studies theology and is heavily involved in youth camping ministry around South Australia. In her free time, she eats a lot of cheese, attempts to grow vegetables (the tomatoes have been the best success so far), and has committed the majority of her ‘casual reading’ time this year to getting through War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God’ (Revelation 21:3).
Read Revelation 21:1–8
Perhaps you’ve heard that when the New Testament uses the word ‘dwell’, it means ‘to tabernacle’, referring back to the Old Testament where God’s presence was with the Israelites in a (pretty large and fancy) tent that they carried with them while they were in the desert.
When I think of living in a tent, I think of my experiences camping: flimsy canvas walls, cold, uncomfortable floors, missing tent instructions, and never the correct number of pegs. When I put it like that, I kind of wonder why I even go camping!
That doesn’t seem like a very fitting place for the almighty God to dwell. But when you think about the state of the world, maybe it’s not too far off from how it is.
I mean, that’s how Jesus came into the world. Not in a mansion. But in a dirty feeding trough with some scrubby shepherds looking on (I’m pretty sure their lack of showering could rival mine after a week camping).
God pitches his tent amongst the uncertainties and flimsiness of our lives. He doesn’t care if we’ve got a few tent pegs missing. He just wants to be with us.
And here, Revelation speaks to the enormity of God dwelling with us. This almighty Creator who sits on the throne of heaven, surrounded by the heavenly hosts, comes down into our falling-apart, flimsy world.
I think I’ve worked out why, despite the lack of convenience and comfort, I do like camping. It’s because of the people. Stripped of your normal comforts and expectations of life, you can really appreciate the company and the pure joy of being alive, being present with those you love.
That’s what it will be like when God establishes the new earth. The unimportant, unhealthy, unholy things of the world will be stripped away. And it will be just us and God, gone camping.
Lord, you dwell among us in our shabby, ramshackle lives. We ask you today to remind us of your presence. Help us to keep the hope of your full glory being revealed to all people so all will know you as their God. Show us how we can bring that hope to others here and now. Amen.
Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah’ (Mark 9:5). Read Mark 9:2–9
Here’s a classic icebreaker question for you: if you could have any three religious/Christian figures from history over for dinner, who would they be?
My answer is CS Lewis, Phoebe (the deliverer of Paul’s letter to the Romans), and Katharina Zell (a prominent Protestant woman from the early 16th century). Oh, and I’d probably cook some kind of cheesy pasta bake, and we’d spend the night discussing cool theological matters.
Peter, James, and John’s answer to this question would have likely been Elijah, Moses and their Rabbi Jesus.
Well, the ultimate dinner party wish list comes true! I mean, Moses is the very man God used to bring salvation to the entire Israelite nation in Exodus, and Elijah was the Israelites’ most famous prophet. So, naturally, upon seeing these great figures appear in front of them, the disciples want to get their guests comfortable – put up some shelters and maybe pop open a glass of red. But this encounter doesn’t end in an intellectual discussion around a three-course meal as I would have hoped my dream dinner would be.
Instead, this rendezvous is characterised by fear and bumbling, awkward interactions. A bit star-struck, are we? Well, maybe that’s a little more realistic anyway.
In this story, the Jesus the disciples have been journeying with for some time now, with his scraggly hair, beard in need of a trim, and clothes that could likely do with some tough stain remover, is transfigured into a figure in dazzling white, surrounded by a cloud declaring he is God’s Son!
Here, the disciples get to see Jesus in a different light and in the company of the spiritual greats of their world. Ah, now they get it! (Or so they think.)
So, isn’t it time for the rest of the world to finally realise it as well? Will Jesus walk back down the mountain, shining brightly so all can see and believe?
Not quite.
A moment later, it’s just Jesus and his rag-tag bunch of disciples again. As they descend back into the world of sickness, poverty, demon possession, hypocrites and death, the revealed Son of God goes with them. Clothed again in a robe stained from that morning’s breakfast: God’s Son, the Saviour of the world.
Father God, I thank you that in the revelation of your Son with us, you leave us confirmation of your presence in this desolate world. We don’t always understand the way you reveal yourself, but we can be confident that you are here. Amen.
Emma works as a freelance videographer in Adelaide, and she recently joined Lutheran Media as its Production Assistant. Emma also studies theology and is heavily involved in youth camping ministry around South Australia. In her free time, she eats a lot of cheese, attempts to grow vegetables (the tomatoes have been the best success so far), and has committed the majority of her ‘casual reading’ time this year to getting through War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.