SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH
DEVOTION, READINGS and PRAYERS
EASTER WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Colossians 3:2 ESV
NEWS: Tomorrow evening our Board of Directors meeting takes place, online via Zoom, at 7 PM. Bruce Woodward sent out the link by email yesterday. Please contact Bruce if you did not receive it.
PRAYERS: Today we lift up Daria Roth in prayer.
READINGS: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; Psalm 61; Colossians 3:1-7; John 21:1-14
COLLECT OF THE DAY: Almighty God, by the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, You destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light. Grant that we who have been raised with Him may abide in His presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
DEVOTION:
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
“Loving Someone We Can’t See”
1 Peter 1:3, 8-9 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead … Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
It’s a weird situation that we are in as Christians, I can’t deny it. There’s something really odd about having the most important Person in your life invisible. Inaudible, too. Our contact with Jesus is different than it is for our other important relationships. Our parents, our spouses, our children, friends, neighbors—these are all people that we normally see and hear on a regular basis. In fact, that’s how we keep up the relationship. We call it “staying in touch.”
But what about the most important relationship of all? Well, we definitely “stay in touch” with Jesus, but the way we do it is different: prayer, reading the Bible, hearing preaching, going to Communion. And we benefit from these things, there’s no doubt. But it’s still—weird.
Why does God make it this way? I don’t know. I can see that there would be a huge practical problem if you have billions of people all wanting to spend quality time in Jesus’ physical presence. There’s no “this world” solution for that. No doubt God will work these things out in eternity, and I don’t need to worry about that. But right now, things are hard.
Because, of course, there are many times when we desperately want and need to see Him face to face. Feel the touch of His hand. Hear His own voice speaking clearly to our ears. And except for extremely rare visions and miracles, we don’t have this. And it hurts.
Who would put up with this? If my sister had a boyfriend who was this elusive, I’d tell her to dump him in a heartbeat! And yet, here we stay—we can do no other. There is simply nobody else who loves us the way that Jesus does.
Nobody else would do what Jesus did—leave all the power and glory of heaven behind, and for what? To rescue His enemies! To become a human being, with all of the pain and trouble and frustration that involves. To rescue us from evil at the cost of His own life. To willingly suffer and die a shameful public death on a cross.
Nobody else has ever loved us like that. Jesus heard our need, and He came. He loved us to the end. And then He rose from the dead to live again forever—with us.
This is why Jesus holds our hearts. This is why we wait, patiently or impatiently. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will continue in this strange in-between relationship, until the day Jesus comes back visibly at last, and our joy is full.
WE PRAY: Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you had other long-distance relationships? How did you keep in touch?
2. When you need to feel close to God, what do you do?
3. What do you want to do in the first day you see Jesus with your own eyes?
Today’s Bible Readings: Joshua 19-21 Luke 11:29-54
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 can go about your day 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.”
You can now go to bed quickly and cheerfully.
OTHER RESOURCES:
Our church website is: https://www.svlchurch.org/
Below is our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/shepherdofthevalleyoceanside
Here is the website for Lutherans for Life: https://lutheransforlife.org/
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 Wednesday to everyone! For any needs or prayer requests, please contact us
Pastor Joel, pastor@svlcchurch.org
