SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH
READINGS, PRAYERS and DEVOTION
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8
NEWS: Tonight is the second of a four part Bible study at the Kolkman’s house. Entitled, ‘’Dying, Death, Living Again’, it is put out by Lutheran Hour Ministries. Things run from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, starting with a short devotion. Then there is a video study and discussion, followed by fellowship time with treats.
Tomorrow evening (Wednesday), Women’s Bible study takes place online. The time is 5:00 PM and it’s led by Lori Dowe. Contact her
Saturday we install our new pastor, “Pastor Joel” Luckemeyer, in our church at 3:00 PM. Afterward’s we have a celebration meal in our Community building, with lasagna and bread from Fratelli’s Italian restaurant here in Oceanside. Salad will also be served.
PRAYERS: Today we especially pray for Amy Terrill, along with children Lot an Asha. Amy requests prayers for job opportunities to open up, as she just received her Master’s degree in Public Health. We also pray for Pastor Robert McDonald’s wife Joyce, whom is back in the hospital due to heart issues. We lift up my wife Margie to the Lord, dealing with an irritated, very painful right toe.
READINGS: Psalm 69:1-4, 8-9, 24, 29-30; Psalm 122; Job 5:1-27; John 2:13-25
DEVOTION:
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
“Invisible Means of Support”
February 8, 2022
Jeremiah 17:5-8 – Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Sometimes when we’re driving across the United States the landscape is all brown and dry. Maybe we’re driving through desert, or maybe it’s farmland, but the harvest is over, and nobody’s irrigating the fields right now.
And then on the horizon we see a row of trees. It doesn’t take long to learn what that means! There’s a river there, though we can’t see it yet. The trees don’t care that there hasn’t been rain for months; they’re green and growing, and taller than anything else around. The river is their invisible means of support.
The Lord is like that for us Christians. There are times—way too many times!—when our lives are dry and brown. Sometimes we’re dealing with health problems, or the death of a loved one; sometimes it’s difficult times like joblessness or losing a home. And sometimes it’s those drab gray times that seem to come for no reason at all—times when we don’t feel God’s presence, and maybe we don’t feel much of anything else, either—little joy, little energy, just days that mean putting one foot in front of another, doing what we have to do, until a new day comes, and we start all over again.
Nobody likes those times. And yet every Christian has them. What support do we have when the hard times come?
Just this—the Lord, our strength and our Savior. He is the One who was born into this world to save us, to live and to die and to rise again, all to make us His own. He has called us and baptized us and given us faith in Him, and we live because of Him—whether we’re feeling it or not. We live off of Him, if I can use that metaphor—the same way that a tree lives off the water that reaches its roots, deep underground where nobody can see it, not even the tree itself. The connection is invisible—but the result is not. Those trees stand tall and green, even in the deepest drought.
Jesus is your support. It doesn’t matter if you’re not feeling it—I doubt trees “feel” the water at their roots all the time, either! But you are connected to Him, and He to you—and His life flows through you. Jesus is your Strength and your life, and He will see you through.
THE PRAYER: Lord, help me to remember and rely on You, my life and my strength. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you ever lived through a drought or dry season? What was it like?
2. Have you lived through a dry season in your personal life? What was that like?
3. How do you draw on Jesus’ life when everything around you seems dead?
Today’s Bible in a Year Reading: Exodus 4-6; Matthew 24:29-51
Luther’s Morning Prayer
In the morning, as soon as you get out of bed, you are to make the Sign of the Cross and say:
“God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit watch over me. Amen.”
Then, kneeling or standing, say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. In addition recite this prayer as well:
“I give thanks to you, my heavenly Father through Jesus Christ your dear son, that you have protected me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you that you would also protect me today from sin and all evil, so that my life and actions may please you completely. For into your hands I commend myself: my body, my soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel be with me, so that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.”
After singing a hymn or whatever else may serve your devotion, you are to go to your work joyfully.
Luther’s Evening Prayer
In the evening, when you go to bed, you are to make the Sign of the Cross and say:
“God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit watch over me. Amen.”
Then, kneeling or standing, say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. In addition recite this prayer as well:
“I give thanks to you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have graciously protected me today, and I ask you to forgive me all my sins, where I have done wrong, and graciously to protect me tonight. For into your hands I commend myself: my body, my soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel be with me, so that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.”
Then you are to go to sleep quickly and cheerfully.
OTHER RESOURCES:
www.svlchurch.org
www.facebook.com/shepherdofthevalleyoceanside
Here is the website for Lutheran Hour Ministries: https://www.lhm.org/
Lutheran Public Radio is listener supported and has two channels, one for sacred music and the other for talk, including news, current issues, politics and spiritual matters from a Lutheran perspective. Hosted by Pastor Todd Wilken, Issues, Etc. airs live Monday thru Friday from 1 to 3 pm Pacific, with the “Best Of” running at other hours: https://lutheranpublicradio.org/
KFUO is the listener supported radio station owned and operated by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Based in St. Louis, their format consists of teaching, preaching, ministry and sacred music: https://www.kfuo.org/
A very blessed Tuesday to everyone! For any needs or prayer requests, please contact us.
