Jesus tells his disciples that the way to pray is to our Father. And by Father, he doesn’t mean just another title, but a relationship. So the context in which we pray is the context of family, where we as children approach a loving father. I realise as I write that for some the word ‘father’ falls as a hollow thud, because your experience of earthly fatherhood was not a good one. However, apart from finding release from the grip of that limitation you can, I trust, at least recognise that there is such a thing as good fathering, and that if the Bible is right about God being a father, then he would be a perfect one.  Fatherhood means access. In other words, I’m invited. It also means acceptance—I’m welcomed. Furthermore, it means attention—I’m heard. Do you see how praying in the context of the child–Father relationship puts the whole thing on a different footing?

Maybe you’ve always wondered how other people manage to pray with purpose and passion. You’ve heard them, seen them, but your prayer life seems rather sterile in comparison. By praying aright, we can find that purpose and passion ourselves.  So here we have opened our hearts to our Father and renewed, as it were, the relationship with him.

When we pray, ‘Our Father in Heaven’, we are talking to one whose power operates from the ground up or the highest point of the heavens down. In other words, there is not one part of the universe we know (and that which we don’t know) that is outside of the involvement and influence of our Father. That must have great bearing on our faith as we pray, realizing that nothing is beyond our Father’s scope.

Notice that there are no singular personal pronouns in the prayer. It’s all ‘our’, ‘we’ and ‘us’. Many of us were brought up with a very individualistic view of faith and Scripture. It was all about me—that Jesus died for me, God has forgiven me, I’m bound for heaven, etc. When we read Scripture in the light of community, we realize that most of it is addressed to us corporately. Obviously that doesn’t take away from the personal, because the corporate is made up of individuals, but it should affect the way we believe, live and pray.

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.

When my “chocolate” Labrador retriever puppy was three months old, I took him to the veterinarian’s office for his shots and checkup. As our vet carefully looked him over, she noticed a small white marking in his fur on his left hind paw. She smiled and said to him, “That’s where God held you when He dipped you in chocolate.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, but she had unintentionally made a great point. God cares deeply about His creation.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:30 that “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” God takes infinite interest in the most intimate details of our lives. No concern is too trivial to bring before Him. He cares that much!

God not only created us but He also sustains and keeps us. Perhaps you’ve heard the line: “the devil is in the details.” It’s far better to understand that God is in them, watching over even the things that escape our notice. Our wise and caring heavenly Father holds us—along with all of creation—in His strong and loving hands! James Banks

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.

Matthew 4:18-22 | As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

For some guys, an annual fishing trip is the highlight of their calendar. They stay in cozy cabins and spend long days fishing just for the fun of it.

You can be sure it wasn’t that way for the fisherman disciples. They weren’t on vacation when they met Jesus. Fishing was their career.

Our careers often demand much of our time and attention. But Jesus has an interesting way of interrupting our business-as-usual agenda. In fact, He invites us to join His business.

Notice the sequence of His statement to the fishermen: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 NKJV). He calls us first to follow Him, and then He makes something of our lives. He leads us to prioritize so we see the needs of people and their eternity as the goal of all our endeavors.

And while God may not require you to give up your career, following Him will guarantee that you will never see your career in the same way again. Where you “fish” is not important. But if you follow, you must fish. Joe Stowell

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.

Colossians 3:12-17 | Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

A few years before he became the 26th US president (1901–1909), Theodore Roosevelt got word that his oldest son, Theodore Jr., was ill. While his son would recover, the cause of Ted’s illness hit Roosevelt hard. Doctors told him that he was the cause. Ted was suffering from “nervous exhaustion,” having been pressed unmercifully by Theodore to become the “fighter” hero-type he himself had not been as a child. The elder Roosevelt made a promise never again to “press Ted either in body or mind.”

The father was true to his word. From then on he paid close attention to how he treated his son—the same son who would one day bravely lead the landing of Allied soldiers on Utah Beach in World War II.

God has entrusted each of us with influence in the lives of others. We have a deep responsibility in those relationships. For this very reason, followers of Christ are urged to be patient and gentle with one another (Colossians 3:12). Since Jesus came in humility, how can we withhold such kindness from one another? Randy Kilgore

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.

Exodus 32:21-32 | He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.” The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”

An Australian journalist who spent four hundred days in an Egyptian jail expressed mixed emotions when he was released. While admitting his relief, he said he accepted his freedom with incredible concern for friends he was leaving behind. He said he found it hard to say goodbye to fellow reporters who had been arrested and jailed with him—not knowing how much longer they would be held.

Moses also expressed great anxiety at the thought of leaving friends behind. When faced with the thought of losing the brother, sister, and nation that had worshiped a golden calf while he was meeting with God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:11–14), he interceded for them. Showing how deeply he cared, he pled, “But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written” (v. 32).

The apostle Paul later expressed a similar concern for family, friends, and nation. Grieving their unbelief in Jesus, Paul said he would be willing to give up his own relationship with Christ if by such love he could save his brothers and sisters (Romans 9:3). Mart DeHaan

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.