by Carolyn Ehrlich
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I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown [me] … Please deliver me from the hand of my brother (Genesis 32:10a,11a).
Read Genesis 32:3–21
Unworthy. I don’t know about you, but when I feel unworthy, I often focus on what is wrong with me. How broken I am. I also want to please others. I certainly would come with gifts to placate a brother who would rightly be angry with me. Jacob does that, too. But he also recognises and appreciates the steadfast love and faithfulness that God has shown him. He has been blessed with family, livestock and riches, and he knows it. Despite his brokenness, God has continually shown Jacob how much he is loved. And still, Jacob is frightened of Esau. So, he boldly asks God for deliverance even though he is unworthy.
From today’s reading, one reality and two questions arise for me, which I think deserve to be pondered. The reality: God’s love is steadfast, unchanging, ongoing, given, a gift, unwavering, believable, trustworthy, available and demonstrated. When I think about the vastness and certainty of God’s love for me, I am overwhelmed. Still, it is right and proper to think about God’s love for you. Like Paul, it leads me to say:
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38,39).
Based on this unwavering, steadfast love of God, the two questions that I think deserve consideration are: ‘Where has God shown his steadfast love for you in your life?’ and ‘What can you boldly ask him to deliver you from today?’
Jacob had good reason to be frightened that Esau would harm or kill him. But he turned to God for deliverance. We, too, can and should turn to God for deliverance. Does that mean things will go the way we want? No. But they will go the way God wants. His love is steadfast. He is faithful and delivers us, even though we are unworthy. Praise God.
My Father in Heaven, thank you for your steadfastness. Thank you for all the mercies you extend to me every day. Thank you for always loving me. Thank you for the many blessings you give me each day. Today, I come before you and boldly ask you to deliver me from [fill in the whatever you need here]. Through your Son, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
by Carolyn Ehrlich
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Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you’ (Genesis 31:3).
Read Genesis 31:1–21
God gives Jacob a promise, a promise that Jacob could rely on. That promise was simply, ‘I will be with you’. God gives each one of us that promise, too, when we are obedient to his instruction. All we must do is to be available. In response to God’s calling, like Jacob, we must say, ‘Here I am’ (verse 11).
I don’t know about you, but I cling to God’s promise that he will be with me. I do not know what is around the corner. I also do not see the full picture of what I am saying ‘yes’ to when I say to God, ‘Here I am’. I might get an idea about what this picture looks like by looking back over my life and seeing where God has been and what he has done. I know that God’s fingerprints and handiwork are all over my life.
But how do I hear God? Most certainly in his word and the teaching of his word in Sunday services. What am I listening for? Like Elijah in 1 Kings 19:11–13, we do not always hear God in the big things like fire and earthquakes. Instead, ‘After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper’ (1 Kings 19:12). Be still and listen for the sound of a low whisper. Pay attention to it.
Knowing that God will be with you today, would you join me in listening for his gentle voice? Ask God to show you where he has been in your life. Ask him to show you his hand, even in the most challenging places of your life. In trauma, grief, childhood, adulthood, loss, joy, sorrow, happiness, tears, work, play, disagreements, shared conversations, controversy, disobedience, someone else’s disobedience and all the places and spaces of your life, God has been with you. I know that for certain because he promises to be with each of us who believes in the name of Jesus. But I don’t always see his hand. Ask and then wait for him to show you. Get a cup of tea, sit and ask. Look, listen, smell, taste, feel. God will show you because he is faithful and steadfast.
Loving Father, you always keep your promises and have promised that you are with me. Here I am. Show me where you are in my life. You know my heart’s deepest yearnings. You know my desires. Please help me always know and unquestionably trust your goodness. Amen.
Carolyn Ehrlich lives in retirement with her husband Wayne in Ipswich, Queensland. Prior to retirement, Carolyn worked as a researcher in the disability and rehabilitation fields. Today, Carolyn keeps busy with hobbies, supporting the Ipswich Lutheran Parish in various leadership roles and supporting her family.
by Carolyn Ehrlich
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And to love him with all the heart … and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices (Mark 12:33).
Read Mark 12:28–34
Have you ever loved someone so much that it almost hurts? That person who captures your whole being? Your heart feels like it would burst from your chest. You gaze adoringly at them. You hang onto their every word. You want to spend time with them. You can’t wait for the next word, whisper, smile, hug, gurgle, coo, phone call. You run to them with all your might. You want to be with them, hold them. You think about them all the time.
How do you love God? Do you hold onto his every word? Desire to spend time with him? Gaze adoringly toward him? Do you look for his whispers, smiles and hugs? As I write this, I am on holiday near McLaren Vale in South Australia. It has been the most beautiful day. The sun has been shining – the warmth of the morning sun gently kisses my face. The scent of the ocean dances gently to my nostrils, and the sound of warbling magpies as they play in the trees is a melody to my ears. Today, I have tasted God. All the things that have delighted me so much today were created by God. None of the most delightful things have been human made. Today, I know that God loves me. But how well do I love God?
Jesus commands us to love God with all of us. All our heart. All our strength. All our mind. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I don’t even think I can focus on one thing with my entire being for even one second. I cannot even fathom what loving God with all of myself looks, feels, tastes, smells or sounds like. It is so much more than the offerings and sacrifices that I bring. SO. MUCH. MORE. Today, as I see, hear, feel, taste and smell all of God’s creation, I know that loving him is so much more than Sunday worship – although that is important, too. Today, I know that I eagerly wait to be able to love God with all my heart, all my mind and all my soul.
My Heavenly Father, loving you with all my heart, mind and soul is so much more desirable than offering you sacrifices of time, money or material things. Thank you that I can love because you first loved me. Thank you for instilling the taste of your love within me. Help me to love you with everything I am today. Help me to love others as I love myself today. In Jesus’ precious name, I pray. Amen.
Carolyn Ehrlich lives in retirement with her husband Wayne in Ipswich, Queensland. Prior to retirement, Carolyn worked as a researcher in the disability and rehabilitation fields. Today, Carolyn keeps busy with hobbies, supporting the Ipswich Lutheran Parish in various leadership roles and supporting her family.
by Pastor Tim Klein
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O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! (Psalm 119:5)
Read Psalm 119:1–8
Our two-year-old grandchild looks up at us with a wistful smile and eyes that reek of innocence. Our love is mutual. But that’s not always how it is. It would be great if it were that way all the time. As for me, I would love to be that innocent, smiling, butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth kind of person. I would love to say I am completely steadfast in keeping the statutes of the Lord. But you and I know that’s not how it is.
I could pray long and hard, ‘O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!’ And still, be less than steadfast! Nevertheless, I will continue to pray for a steadfast and blameless life. Why? Because that pleases the Lord. I know it – and perhaps so do you. Like me, have you experienced the blessings of walking in the ways of the Lord many times?
When we sing these verses, they are significant because they reassure us that despite our sometimes lack of steadfastness – our low threshold of blamelessness – the Lord remains steadfast in his love toward us. He renews. He forgives. He restores. He assures us of life with him forever.
‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness’ (Lamentations 3:22,23).
I will continue with you to seek the Lord’s precepts. I will endeavour to remain steadfast.
Dear Lord, prompt me with your Holy Spirit to walk in your ways. Lift my eyes to see the light of your word and let it light my way so that in all my ways, I follow you. In the name of Christ, Amen.
Tim has served as a pastor for more than 30 years in Australia and New Zealand. He plans to retire on 12 January in 2025. Husband to his wife Joy, father of three and grandfather of more than 10, Tim says he is living in hope. He enjoys gardening (especially his orchard of more than 60 trees, succulents and flowering plants), making music (he loves to sing), beekeeping and taking photos.
by Pastor Tim Klein
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[Jesus] cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out’ (John 11:43).
Read John 11:32–44
I am looking forward to resurrection when this ageing, painful, wearing-out body of mine will be fully restored by the Lord:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:4).
Whenever a Christian congregation confesses the Apostles’ Creed, we confess that we believe in the resurrection of the dead. We believe that on the last day, our bodies will be raised from the dead, and we shall all be gathered in the presence of Jesus. This is a central and essential statement of our faith.
The Apostle Paul makes that clear when he says this:
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (1 Corinthians 15:13,14).
For some, even to consider resurrection is impossible. But for us who believe, it gives hope and even power to our lives. I consider that if the Lord was able to knit me together in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139) and give me life in the first place, then he can restore me from the grave.
This story of the raising of Lazarus from the tomb by Jesus is another account of the incredible power over life that the Lord has. It took only three words from Jesus, and Lazarus was resurrected. In just three days, Jesus overcame death and all the powers of darkness and was himself raised to life.
Can people die and be raised back to life again? Of course. Here’s an example. It’s called ‘cardioversion’. Tomorrow, I will lie down on an operating table, and my cardiologist will stop and start my heart. I have experienced this several times over recent years. As the anaesthetist injects the anaesthetic, I don’t count backwards. I simply say: ‘Lord, into your hands … zzzz.’ I am fairly matter of fact about it.
Likewise, I am convinced of our confession: ‘I believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting!’ I will live and die in faith (by God’s grace), and on the last day, he will raise me to life with him forever.
Lord of death and life, strengthen such faith in me so I can be confident of this resurrection confession and place my life in your hands daily. Amen.
Tim has served as a pastor for more than 30 years in Australia and New Zealand. He plans to retire on 12 January in 2025. Husband to his wife Joy, father of three and grandfather of more than 10, Tim says he is living in hope. He enjoys gardening (especially his orchard of more than 60 trees, succulents and flowering plants), making music (he loves to sing), beekeeping and taking photos.
by Pastor Tim Klein
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her (Genesis 29:20).
Read Genesis 29:1–20
In yesterday’s devotion, in Genesis 28:2,3, Jacob’s father Isaac sends him on his way with instructions and a blessing:
Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.
So much for ‘the best-laid plans of mice and men’ (thank you, Robert Burns). Those plans soon went astray. With some significant manipulation (dare we say ‘skullduggery and trickery’) by Laban, not one, but two wives – both the daughters of Laban – were married to Jacob. But God’s plan was still at work. Fulfilment of the blessing took more than one wife; it took both wives and two maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah (whom Jacob also married), to produce Jacob’s 12 sons, the founding fathers of the tribes of Israel.
It is amazing how God persists with his plan. It’s the big salvation plan. One of the sons is Judah – and his house is the house of Israel from which Jesus came.
If you are interested in the story, keep reading Genesis for the extraordinary roll-out of God’s saving plan all those generations ago.
Is there some encouragement in this for you and me? If you read on, you will discover the characters of the 12 leaders of the tribes of Israel. They were many and varied, and God had something to say and do through each of their lives.
You may find a direct comparison to your life among them. However, in general terms, you will see the miracle of how the Lord works through different people, in good and bad situations, always working for the good of his people and the sake of his kingdom.
By all means, we lay our plans. But most of all, we trust the Lord to guide us through them all.
Lord: you must laugh sometimes at the plans we make. Yet despite us, you remain working in and through us. Please continue to give us the confidence to boldly step ahead in faith, trusting in you, knowing that you are there with us, working your good for the sake of your kingdom. Amen.
Tim has served as a pastor for more than 30 years in Australia and New Zealand. He plans to retire on 12 January in 2025. Husband to his wife Joy, father of three and grandfather of more than 10, Tim says he is living in hope. He enjoys gardening (especially his orchard of more than 60 trees, succulents and flowering plants), making music (he loves to sing), beekeeping and taking photos.
by Pastor Tim Klein
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?’ (Genesis 27:46)
Read Genesis 27:46–28:4,10–22
What a way to move out of home and start your own journey – sent off by Mum, who doesn’t want you to marry one of ‘those’ women!
It’s happening again. God uses one of life’s dilemmas to set the path for his big plan. So, Jacob packs his life up and moves away. What an adventure and an amazing way God unfolds his plan for Jacob and all people – including you and me.
Jacob leaves with the blessing of God given through his father:
God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojourning that God gave to Abraham!
On the way, he has an amazing dream where God speaks to him directly:
I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
Jacob set up an altar in that place – called Bethel (around 11 miles north of Jerusalem) – and made promises to the Lord.
What an astounding start to an incredible journey! More about how the journey unfolds tomorrow.
But, for now, what might we learn? I believe the Lord sets us all off on a life-changing journey. Every day has the potential for joy and satisfaction – even if we encounter struggle and pain. God promises to be with us – to never leave us. We can trust in his promises. He will be at work in and through you and me.
Lord, open us to hear your guiding word, see the way you have promised, and serve – for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Tim has served as a pastor for more than 30 years in Australia and New Zealand. He plans to retire on 12 January in 2025. Husband to his wife Joy, father of three and grandfather of more than 10, Tim says he is living in hope. He enjoys gardening (especially his orchard of more than 60 trees, succulents and flowering plants), making music (he loves to sing), beekeeping and taking photos.
by Pastor Tim Klein
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Esau said, ‘Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing’ (Genesis 27:36).
Read Genesis 27:30-45
I have always struggled to get my head and heart around this story. Why does God allow it? Even Isaac was suspicious that perhaps things weren’t quite right. ‘You sound like Jacob, but you tell me that you are Esau.’
It just seems wrong, unfair, ungodly, sneaky. But amazingly it turns out that God had a plan after all. Jacob became part of the lineage of Jesus. Perhaps this is God doing what it says in Romans 8:28: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.’
There are many things in this world that seem unfair. How many times have you felt cheated? How often have you wondered, ‘What is God doing here’?
And it is even worse when you believe you have been doing good, living a good life and others who may not have been so ‘good’ end up with blessings that ‘should have been yours’. It’s just not right.
In my life, I can look back, and maybe you on yours, and see those sorts of things that have happened. There have been times when I have felt some of what Esau felt (perhaps not so bad), feeling quite justified in my anger. Where to go? What to do?
I have learned finally (and I’m still learning this): Take it to the Lord. Leave it in his hands. Ask him to open my eyes and heart to see and recognise the blessings that are already mine. Trust that the Lord will nevertheless work for good in my life as I continue on in faith.
Dear Heavenly Father, you know well what goes on in our hearts and minds, especially when we feel we’ve been poorly treated, cheated, or even robbed of something we considered our own. Prompt us then to turn to you. Open our hearts and minds to see and recognise the blessings we already have – gifts from you. Then bless us with peace as we travel ahead, being your gracious presence in the world. Amen.
Tim has served as a pastor for more than 30 years in Australia and New Zealand. He plans to retire on 12 January in 2025. Husband to his wife Joy, father of three and grandfather of more than 10, Tim says he is living in hope. He enjoys gardening (especially his orchard of more than 60 trees, succulents and flowering plants), making music (he loves to sing), beekeeping and taking photos.
by Pastor Tim Klein
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! (Mark 10:47b)
Read Mark 10:46–52
Today, I had two significant conversations. In the first, I learned of a serious illness in a family. In that same conversation, I heard of the miraculous healing of a daughter. The other person I was speaking with told me about undergoing health tests. Later in the day, I heard of the death of a dearly loved father.
This is real life it never gives up. It doesn’t only happen to ‘other people’; it’s happening to me, too. My visit to my cardiologist yesterday revealed six months of entrenched atrial fibrillation (despite my pacemaker) cardioversion ahead. Early today, I underwent an MRI scan of my pituitary gland.
And what about you?
Where do we go when we encounter that sort of news? Who do we go to? What do we ask? What kind of answer are we seeking?
Many of us remain silent: we carry on but keep our unanswered fears deep inside. We mask up, tighten the upper lip and plough on. Others seek solutions, answers and healing. We all have different ways of coping with the unknown future. We might also carry around in us a hope that things will improve, of healing, of someone who will recognise our dilemma and hear our silent cries for help.
I wonder how long blind Bartimaeus carried his disability. Who had he gone to and cried out through the years of darkness? What were his hopes and dreams?
When he heard that it was Jesus headed his way, he cried out: ‘Have mercy on me!’ When Jesus asked him what he wanted, he asked for the obvious: ‘Rabbi, let me recover my sight.’ He had his general need (that cry for mercy), and his specific cry (restore my sight).
And what about you, me and those I spoke with earlier today? My prayer will begin: ‘Lord, have mercy.’
Sometimes, we don’t need to use words that describe our needs. We can trust the Lord already knows: Your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matthew 6:8).
Jesus knew what Bartimaeus needed before he even asked. He healed him. He commended him for his faith. Bartimaeus, on his part, then became a follower of Jesus.
We don’t have to remain silent in our fears and uncertainty for the future. We can call out to God, who already knows our needs, with this marvellous cry: Lord, have mercy!
Dear Father God, in all our distresses, we call out to you: Lord, have mercy. With Bartimaeus and every hurting person, for the brokenness of the world and people around us, we cry out: Lord, have mercy. O Lord, hear our prayers; work your peace for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Tim has served as a pastor for more than 30 years in Australia and New Zealand. He plans to retire on 12 January in 2025. Husband to his wife Joy, father of three and grandfather of more than 10, Tim says he is living in hope. He enjoys gardening (especially his orchard of more than 60 trees, succulents and flowering plants), making music (he loves to sing), beekeeping and taking photos.