by Mark Gierus

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I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).

Read Romans 8:18–25

Suffering is not something we enjoy going through in life. We don’t want to suffer; we want to be comfortable in the things we do. Many of us hate being out of our comfort zones, and we may hear people tell us to ‘push through’. However, sometimes, are we only dealing with first-world problems?

Recently, a question was asked on a local radio station about things that make people suffer. One lady called in and said that the cupholder in her new BMW was too small to fit her coffee travel mug. Another caller said he now had to park one level lower in the underground parking at his workplace, and he couldn’t get full phone coverage there.

We might laugh at this, but do we sometimes place too much emphasis on our first-world problems? Yet, in the face of true suffering – in loss and grief, in physical, emotional and mental struggles, in seeing poverty and war – we are encouraged to not even compare them with the glory that awaits us in Jesus.

The same Jesus who holds us now in his love, presence and comfort in his word, is the same Jesus who will come again one day to take us to be with him forever in all his glory.

The old hymn ‘It is well with my soul’ was written by Horatio Spafford, who lost his four daughters in a shipwreck. Horatio didn’t go on the journey, and only his wife, Anna, survived. He received a telegram from Anna after she was rescued, with only two words, ‘Saved alone.’

Horatio went to see Anna. As the ship he was sailing on passed the place where his four daughters drowned, he wrote the hymn.

In his grief, he didn’t need to compare his suffering with what was to come, for his eyes were on Jesus in faith, knowing he could say, ‘It is well.’

Know that in your suffering, Jesus holds you, for in him, all is well in the depths of your soul.

Dear Jesus, it is well with my soul because you have saved me. You died for my sins, and, in your name, you give me hope and peace, day by day, no matter what suffering I face. You walk with me through it all, and you will take me to be with you forever in the end. Amen.

Pastor Mark Gierus serves as a Lutheran pastor in Alberton, Woongoolba and LORDS (Lutheran school) in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 9, 12 and 22. He enjoys visiting the beach, singing and jamming, caring for their pets as a family, going on road trips and seeing people share the love of Jesus with one another. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.

by Mark Gierus

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

Read Romans 8:1–11

You may have been to a funeral before, or perhaps you have wondered about death. Maybe you might think this is a very morbid way of starting a daily devotion, yet death is part of life. Have you stopped to ponder how, among death, there is life, and what great comfort we have in Christ Jesus?

It is Jesus who will come to judge the living and the dead, and as the just judge of all, we all will need to give an account of our lives to him. So, what will you say? Are there things you might be ashamed to share among the good things you have done? Does that frighten you?

In the words of St Paul today, there is great comfort. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But what does that mean? It is certainly great news that we are not condemned by Jesus if we are in him, but what does it look like?

If you think of God’s amazing grace and the great love he poured out for all through Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, we can be at peace. God has done the work on our behalf, so we do not need to worry about an eternity of condemnation, simply by believing in Jesus.

On the day of judgement, when the judge Jesus asks for your account, you can simply say, ‘The account of my life, Jesus, is you, for you love me and died for my sins.’

We have no condemnation in Jesus Christ, the one who will judge the living and the dead, because of faith, trusting that Jesus has done it all. There is nothing more to do than now but to live in Jesus and walk day by day in faith.

Dear Jesus, you are right to judge our sins. Thank you for dying for my sins so that I know, in you, there is peace and no condemnation, but forgiveness and hope. Help me to live a life that shows your love to others today and always. Amen.

Pastor Mark Gierus serves as a Lutheran pastor in Alberton, Woongoolba and LORDS (Lutheran school) in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 9, 12 and 22. He enjoys visiting the beach, singing and jamming, caring for their pets as a family, going on road trips and seeing people share the love of Jesus with one another. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.

by Mark Gierus

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

‘Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you do not know how to interpret this present time?’ (Luke 12:56)

Read Luke 12:49–56

Are you a gardener or someone who likes the great outdoors? Do you check the weather to see what the new day will bring? Will it rain or be hot? Do you read the signs of what nature is doing?

Jesus told the people of his day that they could interpret the basic things of nature, such as the clouds that bring rain, yet they were unable to understand the times in which they lived. The times of brokenness, sin, division, hate and hurt.

Jesus says that to us today in the same words. Do you know how to interpret the present times? Do you see the sin in the world, the disobedience to God, the selfish living, the hurt, the division, even in our own church? Do you know what time it is? The time is to repent and believe – to turn back to Jesus and hear his word of grace, love, hope and peace.

Jesus tells us he will come again to take us to be with him forever, and he tells us to be ready for when he returns to find us doing his work.

His work is simply living a life of repentance, or an ongoing turning back to him when we sin, when we fail in our best efforts to live a good life in his name. The time to repent is always at hand, just as the time to serve the Lord is. Jesus calls us to a life of faith, to follow him where he leads. He reminds us when we sin and contribute to the brokenness and division of the world to repent and turn back to him, where he receives us lovingly and forgives our sins, for he died on the cross for us all.

He sends us into the world, healed and whole, to share his love amid the brokenness and division of the present time. We are also called to encourage others to recognise that now is the time to listen to God’s quiet yet powerful voice.

Dear Jesus, help us to clearly see that in the division and brokenness of the world, you call us daily to repent, to turn back to you and to fix our eyes on you. In our repentance, help us hear your words of forgiveness again. Change our hearts so that we see things through your eyes and love others in their brokenness and in times of division. Amen.

Pastor Mark Gierus serves as a Lutheran pastor in Alberton, Woongoolba and LORDS (Lutheran school) in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 9, 12 and 22. He enjoys visiting the beach, singing and jamming, caring for their pets as a family, going on road trips and seeing people share the love of Jesus with one another. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.