My work week had been exhausting. When I got up on Saturday morning, I felt drained – spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Then I realized that I had to preach and lead worship the next morning. I love to preach, but I felt tired, unfocused, and not even in a mood to preach on Sunday. I’d rather have stayed home and rested on that rainy November weekend. I groaned, and this groaning of my spirit was a prayer for the Spirit and Power of God.

Mysteriously, time and again, I have felt my strength and spirit renewed by God’s Spirit. It happened again this time. Suddenly I elt ready to prepare my message, in constant prayer seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit that the message may be truthful, powerful, relevant, and full of grace. This process of partnering with God energizes me and propels my faith to go deeper and broader.

We all get into situations that we feel unprepared for, too tired to do, totally unfocused to accomplish, or a number of other reasons we could fail at a task that is set before us. When we find ourselves in a situation like that we have two choices. We can either dig deep and rely on our own strength and wisdom or we can submit to God our inadequacies and weaknesses and rely on the Holy Spirit. Sometimes digging deep into our own well will get us through, but if we rely on the Holy Spirit then we will be graced with what we ourselves lack and we will give honor and glory to God.

In those times when I’d rather nap than preach I move quickly into prayer. I confess to the God that I can’t do what I am being called to do, sometimes confessing that I don’t even want to preach. I pray that God will so fill me with the Holy Spirit that this last message will be given with godly focus, power, and wisdom so that all the honor and glory may be given to God. I then enter the service, I preach, the service ends, and I am amazed and overwhelmed at the power of God! It truly wasn’t me – it was the Holy Spirit!

Bringing It Home:
1. What in your life have you been working hard at on with just your own power and coming up short? In prayer, partner with God so that you can serve God beyond your own abilities!
2. Do you know someone who is struggling with something they are trying to do without the power of God in their lives? Invite them to ask God to help them.

Prayer:
God, I confess that I too often live my life and serve you on my own power. Please forgive me for not asking you to be the power in my life. Guide me, grant me your Spirit’s wisdom and strength so that the life you call me to will honor you. Amen.

John A. Holm
Transforming Church Institute
www.transformingchurch.net

Related posts:

1. God’s Power to Change People
2. Turn to the Lord for Help
3. Freed From Sin

What’s a family for? Here’s a picture to consider: a family is a shelter in storms. A couple of months ago I was out golfing with some friends. While the weather was beautiful when we started, by the middle of the round storm clouds had gathered all around us. Suddenly an employee of the golf course came in a golf cart and told us a nasty storm was coming. He picked us up and quickly drove us to a shelter house. Just as we arrived the skies opened up and we experienced one of the most intense thunderstorms I have ever been in. The rain was torrential. The lightening was constant, with close strikes all around us. I love a good storm, but this one was frightening. I was awfully grateful to be in that little shelter house.

Life is tough. Jesus said, “In this world you will have many troubles,” and like in everything else, he was absolutely right. While some days are 72 degrees and sunny, most of us experience some pretty severe storms in life, storms that threaten to wash us away. Things don’t always go as planned. And in those tough times we need a place of shelter. We need a place of protection, stability, security.

Proverbs 14:26 says it well: “Reverence for the Lord gives a man deep strength; his children have a place of refuge and security.” Refuge and security – that’s what a family is supposed to provide. Our families can’t prevent every storm, but they can provide us shelter – refuge and security in tumultuous times.

Whenever I’ve had a tough day, I know that I can go home and ask my wife, Nancy, to sit on the back porch swing, or take a walk with me, and just let me dump. No matter how hard the day has been, no matter how wet I’ve gotten in the storms of life throughout the day, my family is a shelter, a place of refuge, a place of safety where I can dry off, regain perspective, and find comfort.

The family of God, the Church of Jesus Christ, is meant to serve the same function. The body of Christ is meant to be a shelter in the storms of life as well.

A little over a year ago, a storm of epic proportions tore through the lives of thousands of people in the Gulf region. Thousands of homes were destroyed. And while government infrastructure has struggled to respond, the family of God, brothers and sisters in Christ just like you and me, have become a very real shelter – a point of hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. Many of you have made a phenomenal difference in the lives of broken, hurting and frightened people through your generosity. What an awesome witness to the love the God.

The nuclear family – and the family of faith – are designed to be a shelter in the storms of life.

Bringing It Home
1. Whenever the family of God serves as a shelter in the storms of life it brings glory to God. Who can you reach out to this week?
2. Who in your family or church has served as a shelter in a storm? Send them a note of thanks today.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, ultimately you are our shelter and our strength in difficult times, but you have chosen to extend your love and grace through the lives of those who belong to you. Thank you for those who have held us fast and provided a refuge during the storms of life. Help us to extend that same gift of grace to others who are barely holding their heads above water. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Related posts:

1. Sacrificial Giving Strengthens Faith
2. Choosing Love
3. Renewed By God’s Spirit and Power

From the story of the generous widow we learned that genuine giving is proportionate. How much we give matters only in proportion to how much we keep. From the story of Zacchaeus we learn the second principle of genuine giving: genuine giving is sacrificial. Giving out of our excess is not genuine giving. The sacrificial giving of a sinner moved Jesus heart and spirit. I’m not saying you shouldn’t give if you’re not doing it sacrificially; what I am saying is that I don’t believe that kind of giving srengthens your faith, the kind of faith that brings you salvation and eternal life.

Let me give you an illustration from the physical world. If you want to strengthen your muscles you must work them beyond their current ability. In other words, you must lift a weight that is heavy enough to exhaust you by lifting it 5-7 times. Lifting a very light weight many times will not strengthen your muscles.

One of the reasons I believe God calls us to give sacrificially is that it strengthens our faith and helps us grow spiritually. If we merely give out of our excess we don’t give God the opportunity to prove his faithfulness. That’s like lifting a very light weight. It won’t strengthen your muscles. But when we give sacrificially, when we give to the point of it hurting a bit, we exercise our faith…we learn to trust in God by giving him a chance to prove himself trustworthy.

This is at the heart of this whole stewardship conversation…the issue of trust. Every piece of money minted in this country has the same four words printed on it, “In God we trust.” That’s the biggest
lie in America. If we’re honest we’ll admit that most of us put a lot more trust in the security of money than we do in the security of God’s promises. There’s a word for that; it’s called idolatry. I believe that money is the greatest idol in our culture. And nothing breaks the spell of material idolatry like proportionate, sacrificial stewardship. Let me be clear: giving isn’t for God’s benefit. It isn’t for the church’s benefit. Genuine giving benefits us. It strengthens our faith and protects us from idolatry.

Bringing It Home
1. Be honest…is your current giving sacrificial, or are you giving out of your excess? In what ways does your giving impact the way that you live?
2. Spend some time in prayer and let the Holy Spirit search your heart for any hint of idolatry in relationship to your finances. Your checkbook and credit card statements might just help your meditation!

Prayer:
Father, it’s so easy to say that we trust in you and in your provision for us and yet we so often find our deepest security in what we own or in our savings. Help us to distinguish between our wants and our needs. Teach us to simplify the former and trust you for the latter. Set us free from any financial bondage that we may suffer from, that we might be free to give as you graciously provide. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Related posts:

1. Genuinely Generous Giving
2. Free To Give
3. Sheltering Families

While many people wish the church wouldn’t talk about money, the truth is Jesus had lots to say on the subject. In this series of devotions we’re exploring what Jesus teaches about genuine giving.

First, genuine giving is proportionate. How much we give only matters in proportion to how much we keep. That’s why Jesus made a big deal out of the widow’s offering in today’s bible reading. The widow didn’t give much, but she gave all she had, and that’s why Jesus said that the widow had given more than anyone else. The amount given was small, but the proportion was huge. Why does the proportion matter? Because it’s a commentary on the status of our heart. The proportion of our giving speaks to the status of our heart before God, the openness of our spirit and the depth of our gratitude.

Far too many Christians imagine that they’ll be more generous if and when they become rich, but the amount of money we have doesn’t matter. Generosity has more to do with the proportion we give than it does with the actual amount we give…no matter how much we actually own. Lots or wealthy people were giving offerings at the same time that the widow was giving her offering, but they were giving out of their excess. Their proportion was small and Jesus was unimpressed.

Consider this: a philanthropy study a few years ago found that those who earned under $10,000 gave an average of 5.2% of their income to charity. Those who earned between $10,000 and $19,999 gave an average of 3.3% of their income. And those who earned between $75,000 and $99,999 gave only 1.6%. I’ll say it again: how much you give only matters in proportion to how much you keep. Genuine giving is proportionate.

Do you know what proportion of your wealth you are giving to God? Let me challenge you to calculate it. Most of us think little of tipping a waiter or waitress 15% for good service at a restaurant, and yet we balk at giving even 10% to the Lord. What does the proportion of your giving say about your heart? Does it reflect your gratitude for all that God has given you? Genuine giving does!

Bringing It Home
1. Take a few moments to calculate the percentage of your giving relative to your income. You decide if you want to count just your giving to your church or all your charitable giving. You can also decide whether you wish to calculate from your gross or net income.
2. Honestly ask yourself, “Does my giving reflect my gratitude?” If you don’t like your answer, check your heart and change your behavior.

Prayer:
Lord, you said that where my treasure is, there my heart will be also. I want my heart to be with you. Grant me grace to be a genuine giver, not because you demand it but because you called me to live in generosity. Soften my heart where it is hard; open my hand when it is clenched. Thank you for freeing me to give. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Related posts:

1. Sacrificial Giving Strengthens Faith
2. Free To Give
3. Holding on to God

While I was attending seminary my wife and I took a Sunday to worship at a Holiness Church. We figured we were going to worship in Lutheran churches for the rest of our lives when I finally graduated, so why not try something really different?

This church was located in a very poor part of the city. For a seminary couple my wife and I were rich, thanks to my wife’s fulltime work at a major accounting firm. When the offering baskets came around on long poles I noticed that everyone was putting in change. I felt so sorry for these poor people so I put some folding money in the basket and felt pretty darned magnanimous. Until, that is, about a half hour later when they passed the basket again for people’s “gifts and offerings”. This time those saints of God were dropping all sorts of bills into the basket. I sheepishly grabbed my wallet and emptied whatever I had left into the plate.

But they weren’t done yet. About an hour later it was time for people to bring forward their tithes. I couldn’t believe my eyes. People were stuffing all sorts of money into envelopes and walking them up to the front of the church where they dropped them into a big basket and received a blessing from the pastor. And what blew me away was the joy I saw on people’s faces as they brought those tithes forward. Some of them literally danced up to the altar and danced back to their pews. I just sat and begged God to forgive my arrogance, my stinginess, and my weak faith.

I learned an important lesson that day about genuine giving. I’d given an offering that day…two, as a matter of fact. But my giving was far from genuine. And that’s what I want to share with you in the next few devotions…what the Bible has to say about genuine giving. People give for lots of different reasons, but not all giving accomplishes what God wants to accomplish in our lives. We don’t give for God’s sake; we give because we need to…we give because God wants to do something in our lives through our giving. Through the gift of God’s grace we are free to give.

Bringing It Home
1. What’s your honest attitude about giving? When you give do you count it as gain or loss?
2. Does your heart tend toward shame or pride when it comes to your giving? Pray about it. Remember that growth in giving requires growth in faith.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, every good thing comes from your hand. Grant me the grace to know that truth in the depths of my soul, and allow it to well up into a life of generosity. Cleanse my heart from any attitude or perspective that would keep me from knowing the freedom that comes from generous and genuine giving. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Related posts:

1. Genuinely Generous Giving
2. Sacrificial Giving Strengthens Faith
3. Holding on to God

The unity of the Body of Christ is a precious thing, something Jesus prayed for, and we are called to protect it. But how do we do that? Let me suggest a few things that you and I can do to protect and even enhance our unity as a body, and keep the body of Christ strong.

First, we need to be particularly aware of the power of our words, and use our words to build one another up, instead of tearing each other down. Encouragement is an essential vitamin in the health of the body of Christ, and each of us is responsible for making sure that we all get our recommended daily allowance. It says in the New Testament book of Hebrews, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

I believe in the 10 to 1 rule in the body of Christ. For every critical thing we need to lovingly say to one another, we need to say 10 affirming things. That’s a good rule for home, work and church. Who can you encourage this week? Who can you thank? Who can you praise? Who can you write a note to that says, “I think you’re the best.”

Second, practice the art of forgiveness. We must exercise radical grace with one another in the body of Christ. The goal of community is not a lack of conflict. We can’t live in community and not have conflict. Where two or more are gathered, toes will be stepped on, that’s a reality of life together. The question is not whether there will be conflict in the body. The question is how we will live with one another in the midst of conflict.

If you’ve offended someone, confess your sin and ask for their forgiveness. If you’ve been offended by someone and are holding a grudge, go and make it right today. Make the first move. Die to your pride. Put away your fear. Go with the grace and love of God in your heart and on your lips and seek to make that relationship right.

Finally, to protect the unity we share in Christ we need to regularly get into the Word of God, so that the truth of God’s Word might get into us. In our own personal devotional life and in small group community, we need to allow the truth of God’s Word to transform our minds and conform our wills to his.

During the Last Supper, when Jesus prayed for the unity of his followers, he asked the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.” You see, Satan would love nothing more than to undermine our unity and render us powerless to accomplish God’s mission. Satan would love to have us argue over things that don’t really matter, engage in power struggles and turf wars, squabble over issues of style and not substance. Satan would delight in having us so focused on our own issues that we lose sight of the world around us that continues to die without knowing Jesus Christ
as Lord and Savior.

And so, brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to arm ourselves against the enemy, and render him powerless against the unified Body of Christ.

Bringing It Home:
1. What threats to the unity of the Body of Christ can you identify in your own local church? What can you do to protect the unity?
2. If you have a broken relationship with someone in your local church (be honest with yourself and God!!) seek to make it right today. Make the first move.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, forgive me for my part in undermining the unity of your Church by my thoughts, words, and deeds. Help me to do all that I can to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Teach me to use my words to build others up and encourage them, and stay grounded in your Word so that enemy might not find a foothold in my soul. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Related posts:

1. Maintaining Unity in Christ
2. Unity in the Body of Christ
3. Made for Community, Part One

The Bible calls us to protect the unity of the Church, but what exactly is Christian unity?

Let’s start with what unity is not. Unity is not the same as conformity. Conformity implies that our unity is based on some outside pressure or our own effort, but the bible says that it is the Holy Spirit who creates our unity. We don’t create it. It’s a gift. So, unity is not conformity. Neither is unity the same as uniformity. Uniformity happens when we all look or act the same. That’s not unity either. Real Christian unity is much deeper and richer and stronger than that.

When the Bible talks about unity it is referring to something living, dynamic. When St. Paul wanted to talk about the unity of the Church he used the image of the human body. We are one body, Paul says, with many parts. Those parts don’t all have the same function, nor do they look alike. The human body lacks uniformity. In fact, it thrives on diversity! And so does the body of Christ. It’s the diversity of our God-given gifts that makes us strong.

Christian unity is a living thing, and it thrives on diversity. But that’s not all. The real key to our unity is that it is grounded in Jesus. There’s unity in the body of Christ because we all belong to Jesus through our baptism. We are one in Christ. And because we’re one in Christ, we share a common mission, a common purpose, a common sense of direction.

When one of our boys was little he joined a soccer team. Have you ever seen little kids play soccer? It’s this little blob of bodies, all dressed in the same shirts, gathered around the same soccer ball, and all their little legs are kicking. Mostly they just kick each other, but occasionally they kick the ball too, but the ball rarely goes far because it can’t get out of the blob of bodies. That’s not unity!

By the end of the soccer season, however, the coach had helped these aspiring soccer players to work as a team. They learned that they had different positions to play, different parts of the field to cover, different tasks to perform. But they all had a single purpose, a single mission – to get the ball into the net. And not just any net, mind you! We learned the hard way that we needed to be clear about which net we were trying to get the ball into! But when all of that came together, unity happened. They became a team, and it was wonderful to watch.

It is also wonderful to watch the Body of Christ work when we choose to live out and protect the unity that we have in Christ. Without unity we cannot effectively accomplish God’s mission. Without unity, we feed the doubts of unbelievers about the reality and power of the Gospel.

Bringing It Home:
1. How can you help to affirm and celebrate the diversity of your local church?
2. How would you articulate the mission or purpose of the Body of Christ? Do you think the majority of your local church would affirm that common direction? I challenge you to poll some of the members to find out, and don’t just ask the people you know!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, you paid a great price to form us into one body, the Body of Christ. We thank you for the incredible diversity in the Body and for the strength that our diversity brings. Keep us grounded in the truth of your word, and keep our eyes focused on our common mission. Together we can do so much more for your Kingdom than we ever could alone. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Related posts:

1. Unity in the Body of Christ
2. Protecting the Unity of the Church
3. Growing Disciples – Part One

Have you ever heard a great symphony orchestra play? What a wonderful experience…and what a great metaphor for the unity of the Body of Christ.

A great orchestra is lead by a great conductor. The conductor gives every musician a part to follow and leads them to a common destination. Every musician is highly motivated and committed to playing their part. No single part is any more important than another. It takes every part to make the music complete.

The musicians in a great orchestra are often very diverse. They might be from all over the world and have had very different experiences. Some may be male, others female, some young, others old. They play different instruments. Their musical parts differ from one another…the music that the trumpets are playing is quite different from the music that the violins are playing. Each part fits together to create the whole. There is tremendous diversity in an orchestra, but it is that very diversity that makes the music so wonderful.

Unity is achieved when a group of people are headed in a common purpose and common direction. Unity is not the same as uniformity; it does not require that everyone be the same. In fact that usually hinders real unity. Another word for unity is sometimes harmony, and by definition you need at least two different musical notes to make harmony!

The Church is very much like a symphony orchestra. It is incredibly diverse, but has an essential unity because we have a Great Conductor, a common score to follow, and a clear destination. And when the Church plays the symphony of God’s music with passion and grace it is a delight to the heart of a broken world.

The Apostle Paul calls us to, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). How are you doing at protecting the unity of your church? Are you playing your “part”, exercising your spiritual gifts to build up the body? Are you refusing to gossip, living clean with your brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you extending forgiveness rather than allowing bitterness to take root in your heart?

The unity of the body of Christ is precious. It was purchased at the price of our Lord’s life. Make every effort to protect it.

Bringing It Home
1. What are your spiritual gifts? How are you using them to build up your local church?
2. Are there attitudes in your heart or ways of behavior in your daily life that threaten or undermine the unity of your church? Confess them and repent of them today!

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for making me a part of your Body, a gift that was purchased on my behalf at a great price. Show me how I can make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in my local church. Shape my heart for obedience to you and for an extraordinary love for my brothers and sisters in the faith so that together we might serve you with our very lives. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Related posts:

1. Maintaining Unity in Christ
2. Protecting the Unity of the Church
3. United With Christ

There’s a dangerous myth floating around in our culture. It says that all religions have an equal claim on the truth. Because we live in a society that highly values tolerance and pluralism (at least philosophically we do) this myth has lots of appeal to us. It basically says that as long as someone believes something sincerely, then it must be true for them, and no one has the right to tell them otherwise. Their belief must be respected and given equal weight with all other “truths.”

That sounds great in theory, but it just doesn’t hold water in reality. I don’t care how sincerely you believe that 2 + 2 = 5, it just isn’t true. I don’t care how deeply you believe that you can leap off a tall building and fly, — that isn’t true either.

Remember what happened in California in late March 1997? Members of the Heaven’s Gate group sincerely believed that the appearance of the Hale-Bopp Comet was a sign that they should shed their “earthly containers,” because they were about to be taken to the next level by a space craft. In fact, thirty-nine of them believed it so sincerely, that they committed group-suicide; they voluntarily gave up their lives for their sincerely-held beliefs.

Let me ask you: if one of your children had been a follower of the Heaven’s Gate movement, and he or she had expressed their beliefs and intentions to you, would you have validated their beliefs as true? How about if they really, deeply, sincerely believed it? I can’t answer for you, but my clear answer would be a
resounding “No!”

What, then, constitutes “truth” for you? Or maybe the question is better stated, “Who constitutes truth for you?” Jesus Christ claimed to be “the truth”. (John 14:6). He also said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). Seeing Jesus through God’s Word and the Spirit of Christ can set you free from illusions and fears.

I’ve heard it said that truth is relative. I have to agree. Truth is a relative. He’s my brother and his name is Jesus. When you see Jesus, you see and know the truth that sets you free to live life abundantly.

Bringing It Home
1. Claiming that Jesus is “the truth” is a controversial statement for many people today. They see it as intolerant and narrow-minded. What do you believe?
2. How will knowing “the truth” set you free? How will failing to know the truth keep you in bondage?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we live in a time and a culture that continues to wrestle with the age-old question, “What is truth?” My soul aches to find that unchanging rock to which I can anchor my soul. Lead me to know the Truth so deeply in Jesus Christ that I am truly free and willing to risk going against the grain of a culture that will label me as intolerant and narrow-minded. Help me to respond to scoffing with grace and your unconditional love. Grant me your Spirit that others may see Jesus’ truth and grace through me. I ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Technorati Tags: Christian, devotional, Jesus, Christ, God

Related posts:

1. Growing Disciples – Part Two
2. Genuinely Generous Giving
3. Post-Easter Living

A very moving true story comes from Beaconsfield, Australia, where two miners were trapped 3,000 feet underground in a mine after an earthquake. Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, were lodged in a steel cage beneath tons of fallen rocks.

Teams of specialist miners bored through more than 45 feet of rock for two weeks using a giant drilling machine to reach the men. The final sections of the escape tunnel were cut with hand tools to minimize the risk of a cave in.

For five days the men existed on a cereal bar and water they licked from the surrounding rocks. On the sixth day the rescue team forced a narrow pipe through a small hole drilled through the rock and pushed through supplies including food and water. After 300 hours of intense labor the two miners were carefully brought back to the surface. Both men were in surprisingly good health.

I marvel at the tenacity of the miners who worked so hard to rescue their co-workers. I can only imagine the joy those two men must have felt over seeing the light of day again and the excitement of the families and the crowd as the miners and their rescuers surfaced. What an amazing story!

Isn’t that just like our story as followers of Jesus? Buried under a load of sin and death Jesus risked it all, leaving the safety of heaven and descending into human flesh to rescue us. Jesus didn’t just risk his life for us; he intentionally sacrificed himself.

Our story may not make the newspaper, but it is certainly reason for great joy. We’ve been rescued! We’ve got a story to tell! And since there are still people in our neighborhoods trapped under a load of sin and death, it’s a story we need to tell others, so that they, too, can be rescued by the One who was willing to risk it all.

Bringing It Home
1. Let the reality of your rescue sink in today, and let it fill both your heart and mouth with words of praise and thanks.
2. Ask God to put the name or face of someone who needs to be rescued into your mind. And when he does, invite them for a cup of coffee and tell them your story.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, I confess that I too often take for granted the lengths to which you were willing to go to rescue me. Having been brought to life I’ve too often forgotten those who are still lost under a load of sin and death, even though they live, work and play all around me. Give me a spirit of gratitude and a heart of courage to tell others the story of how you rescued me. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Technorati Tags: Christian, devotional, Jesus

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1. Resurrection Living
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3. Cleansed and Freed