Psalm 139 prays, "For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well." There are many times in life when we ask ourselves, "Who am I?" We ask this when we...
Pray God He would your neighbor bless as you yourself wish success. Have mercy Lord! This is the closing for Luther's verse on the 9th and 10th commandments in his hymn, These Are the Holy Ten Commands. What is the 9th Commandment? You shall not covet your neighbor's house. What does this...
Luke 11:24-26 says, "24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in...
The Augsburg Confession asserts the doctrine of repentance saying, "Our churches teach that those who have fallen after Baptism can receive forgiveness of sins whenever they are converted, and that the church ought to impart absolution to those who return to repentance. Properly speaking...
Today is the feast day of St. Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus, the God-bearer who was chosen by the Father to carry God in her womb for 9 months and be the Mother of God. One of the best known passages concerning St. Mary is the annunciation, the time in which St. Gabriel the Archangel came...
President Harrison, in his Little Book on Joy, says, "The Gospel of free forgiveness in Christ frees us to expect mistakes, forgive them, and to find the humor in them after the fact" (Little Book on Joy 69). We live as if everyone is always going to love us, improve their behavior, and...
The 8th Commandment declares, "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in...
Dr. Martin Luther, of blessed and holy memory, writes in Against the Heavenly Prophets saying, "I will here briefly recount these articles of the Christian Faith to which everyone is above all things to pay attention and hold fast. The first is the law of God, which is to be preached so...
In the Divine Service, right after corporate confession and before the Absolution is declared, the pastor says, "I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you. And in the stead and by the command of my Lord, Jesus Christ, I...
The Ten Commandments command us to live a righteous life, a life in faith toward God and fervent love toward our neighbor. This command never goes away. It doesn't stop once we are baptized, nor does it's demand depart from us whenever we go to church. God demands perfect righteousness. The...