document.createElement('audio'); https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251203dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20 He’s Almost Here Have you ever waited at the airport for someone special? You scan the crowd. Your heart jumps every time someone comes around the corner. You can’t wait to see their face. You yearn to give them the warmest embrace. That’s the kind of eager longing captured in the final words of the Bible. Jesus declares, “Yes, I am coming soon.” The Church responds, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Advent is a season that focuses on this longing. We reflect on how Jesus first came in humility—born in a farming town, wrapped in rags, and laid in a feeding trough. He came not to be served, but to serve—to walk among us, to suffer with us, and to save us. We also look forward to his promised return. Whenever that is, he won’t come in weakness. He will come in power and glory to make all things new. The world desperately needs this renewal. We need this renewal. We’re tired of suffering. Tired of sin. Tired of bad news. While we yearn for the peace and justice only Jesus can bring, our weariness makes it easy to grow numb, distracted, or discouraged. That’s why we need this promise: “I am coming soon.” These words renew our hope and give us a clear focus. Yet, what does “soon” mean? From our perspective, it may not always seem fast, but it is certain. Jesus isn’t dragging his feet. He hasn’t forgotten us. He’s giving more people time to come to know him. His delay is not a sign of neglect, but of mercy. Rest assured, Jesus, our Savior, is coming. He is closer now than ever before, and he will not be late. While we wait, we live in hope. We listen to his Word, and we take it to heart—living in daily repentance for our sin and trust in God’s salvation. Prayer: Lord Jesus, you promised to return, and I believe you. Keep my heart ready, my hope alive, and my eyes lifted. Come quickly! Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251202dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? Romans 10:14 How will they hear? Imagine discovering the cure for a deadly disease, something that could save countless lives. Would you keep such vital information to yourself? Of course not! You would share it with everyone who needed it. You would eagerly spread the word so that people around the world could benefit from it. In the same way, the news about Jesus is meant to be shared far and wide. If people don’t hear about him, they cannot receive the life he offers. The apostle Paul makes this clear: people cannot believe in Jesus if they have never heard of him, and they cannot hear unless someone tells them. That “someone” is every believer. That “someone” is you. God has placed each of us right where we are, surrounded by people who need hope—friends, family, coworkers, and classmates. Some are hurting, some are searching, and some simply don’t know. Do not hesitate! Do not worry whether people will listen. Do not wonder if you will say the wrong thing. The power to change hearts doesn’t come from our words. It is in God’s Word. The same gospel that brought us to faith can bring others to faith as well. Our role is not to convince or convert. We are simply ambassadors of the good news. Jesus has already done the hard part for us. He lived a perfect life, bore the punishment for our sins, and rose again to offer eternal life. Now, he sends us out—not as salespeople, but as joyful messengers of hope. This Advent, the world is aching for good news. People can’t believe in the Savior they’ve never heard about. You may be the one God uses to help them hear. Let’s not keep it to ourselves. Let’s not keep this life-giving message to ourselves. Prayer: Lord, give me a heart that’s eager to share your good news. Open doors and open ears so that others may hear and believe in you. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251201dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.” Ezekiel 3:17 Watch and Warn We have all experienced those moments when we see danger approaching and feel an urgent need to warn others, “Watch out!” we shout. Perhaps a car backed up too quickly, or a child reached for something hot on the stove. In such situations, remaining silent would not just be wrong, but also unkind. This is the image God gave to the prophet Ezekiel. He was chosen to be a “watchman”—someone who remains vigilant and alerts people when trouble is near. However, the warning Ezekiel was to give was far more serious than damaged bumpers or burnt fingers. It concerned sin and its consequences. God called Ezekiel to deliver both hard truths and healing words. Although we are not prophets like Ezekiel, we share the same responsibility: to warn others and to bear witness. This calling can feel intimidating. Sometimes we keep silent because we are afraid of offending or uncertain about what to say. Thankfully, Jesus never chose silence. He spoke the hard truth to those who were proud and offered gentle words to those who were hurting. He warned about the reality of sin and called people to turn back to God. Even when people didn’t listen, Jesus did not walk away. He went to the cross. Jesus bore the punishment for sin so that we would not have to. He rose again to give us new life. Today, by his Word, the Spirit works in us to be loving and courageous watchmen for those around us. You do not need a loudspeaker or a pulpit to be a watchman. You just need the gospel—the good news of a Savior who came for sinners like us. This Advent, listen for the coming footsteps of Jesus and lovingly let others know that he is on his way. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for speaking the truth in love and for taking my sin to the cross. Make me bold and gentle to speak your truth to those around me. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251130dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. Isaiah 2:3-5 Peace That Comes from God In the United Nations Plaza in New York City, today’s Bible passage is quoted: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares . . .” All people desire peace, don’t they? Isn’t that why the United Nations was established in the first place? But it hasn’t worked so well, has it? Are Isaiah’s words just a fantasy? If you’re looking for a truly peaceful “United Nations,” you’re not going to find it in this sinful world. But that’s not what Isaiah was describing. Isaiah was describing peace that the world can’t give, find, or produce. Isaiah described peace that only comes from God. God brought peace to the hearts of people when he kept his promise to send his Son, Jesus, the Christ. Jesus came to bring peace to the earth by living and suffering and dying for a world full of sin and sinners, sinners like you and me. Because of Jesus’ perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection, we have peace. We have the peace of knowing that there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves because Jesus has done everything. We have the peace of knowing that we don’t need to satisfy God’s wrath against our sins because Jesus has washed them away. We have peace because Jesus has set us free. That peace is yours and mine in Jesus! That peace is what moves us to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn his ways. That peace is what moves us to walk in the light of the Lord. Prayer: May the peace of God, which the world cannot give, which surpasses our understanding, guard and keep your heart and mind through faith in Christ Jesus! Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251129dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion [God the Father] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:13-17 Christ Is Superior Consumer Reports is a magazine you would look at for the best of a given product and the best deal for your wallet. In today’s Bible reading, Paul gives us the “consumer report” on Christ. He clearly explains why Christ is superior to anyone or anything else. He is God. He created all things. He is eternal, without beginning or end. He is the firstborn from among the dead, never to die again. He holds everything together. Each part of these verses lays out an objective fact about why Christ is superior. And each of these truths has important significance for our daily lives. Despite the times we see sin interrupt our lives, despite the horrors of wickedness we hear about in the news, and despite the atrocities human beings commit against one another, evil and wickedness are not in control. Even though they may appear to be running the world, they are not. No matter what evil or wickedness may throw at us, there is nothing they can do to wrest control away from Christ. Nor is there anything they can do to separate us from Christ. For Christ defeated sin and death through his death on the cross and declared his victory as he rose from the dead. This is the report we have on Christ. He is supreme. No one is greater. There is no one who can take control from him or can separate us from him. What confidence this gives us as we continue our pilgrimage on earth! Prayer: O Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, in your mercy you have brought me into your kingdom. Continue to rule over me, protecting me from the evil one until I join you in your heavenly kingdom. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251128dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43 Paradise We have to wait for heaven. That’s just true. And things aren’t always going to be easy while we are waiting. The apostle Paul and his fellow missionary Barnabas couldn’t have said it any more plainly than they did during their first missionary journey. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). So then, what a great deal Jesus was offering one of the men hanging on a cross next to him. The man had confessed his sin and placed his confidence in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. He had boldly asked, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And how did our Savior answer? You’ll have to wait? No! “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “today you will be with me in paradise.” Skip the line! Have paradise today! The Bible does not tell us that the thief on the cross was transported, body and soul, to heaven that day, like the Old Testament believers Enoch and Elijah were. No, he died that day. His body was removed from the cross and presumably buried to await the day of resurrection. Yes, his believing soul went to dwell with God, but the reunion of his body and soul in heaven would have to wait until Jesus comes again. We’ll have to wait for heaven, too. But like the thief on the cross, we can be confident that paradise is ours because the heavy burden of our sin was left on the cross with our Savior. And, we have the promise from the Bible that, “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). Prayer: Jesus, thank you, for your sake I can be confident of my place in paradise. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251127dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Luke 23:42 The Best Thanksgiving Ever What was your best Thanksgiving ever? I admit that my Thanksgiving memories are fairly well mixed because what happens from year to year is so similar. It’s hard to distinguish one from another. That’s part of what makes celebrating Thanksgiving so special for so many people: the fact that we repeat what we did last year and the years before that. After all, how would most react to the suggestion that this year we should eat burgers? We don’t normally think of Good Friday as a day of thanksgiving, even though it is called Good. It’s a somber day on which we recall the suffering and pain that our Savior, Jesus, endured to make perfect payment for the sins of the world. Good Friday is the day that Jesus cried out in terrible spiritual agony, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). It doesn’t seem appropriate to consider it a day of thanksgiving. And yet that’s what Good Friday was in heaven: Thanksgiving Day! And why? Because on that day, a sinner repented. It was one of the men hanging there with Jesus, to be exact. What did repentance mean? Not that this man covered his head with ashes and walked around with a burlap sack on. No, true repentance means rending our hearts, not our clothes. It means acknowledging our complete brokenness before God—and the sin that results from our nature—but then seeing that in Jesus we have perfect forgiveness and salvation for time and eternity. This man’s repentance was simply and beautifully expressed with a few words: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Lovely repentance. And what happened in heaven? Thanksgiving broke out, just as Jesus once promised, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). At least for that one sinner, it was the best Thanksgiving ever because of what it meant that day and what it will mean for him for all eternity. It won’t be about memories and traditions that eventually fade. It means life everlasting! Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for suffering what you did on that Friday we call good. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251126dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Luke 23:39-41 Truer Words Were Never Spoken It’s one of the greatest conversion stories of all time. Of all people, one of the men who was hanging from a cross next to Jesus on this darkest of days defended him! We don’t know this man’s life history. We don’t even know his name. But what we can know for certain is that his punishment was just, as he himself confessed. But that’s not how things began. Earlier that day, he had joined the man hanging in agony on the other side of Jesus, mocking the featured attraction in the middle. Matthew’s Gospel records how the chief priests and teachers of the law ridiculed Jesus. “He saved others,” they said “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” And then Matthew adds, “In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him” (Matthew 27:42-44). But at some moment that afternoon, a miracle took place. That miserable man went from mocking Jesus to seeing him for who he is, the only Savior of the world. More than that, he confessed to his fellow convict and the world, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Truer words were never spoken. They were words inspired by Jesus’ cross, the distinctive symbol of God’s perfect justice and his perfect love. The cross inspired the thief to confess the truth about his sin and his Savior. May the cross do the same for you. Prayer: Jesus, help me see the depth of my sin and the certainty of my salvation in your cross. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251125dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Luke 23:38 Truer Words Were Never Written We can’t be entirely sure what Pontius Pilate’s motive was when he instructed his soldiers to affix a sign to Jesus’ cross that read: “This is the king of the Jews.” But we know for certain from John’s Gospel that the Jewish religious leaders weren’t happy with his statement. John tells us, “The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write “The King of the Jews,” but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews” (John 19:20-21). Pilate’s response to their objection was simple but equally ambiguous. “What I have written, I have written.” Some have suggested this was his coy way of warning others from making a similar claim, as if to say, “This is what happens to people who foment rebellion.” Others suggest it was part of his attempt to wash his hands of the situation, seeing it as nothing more than a religious dispute about which he had no opinion. Still others argue that his order was given under divine direction and that, in his heart of hearts, he believed Jesus was indeed who he claimed to be. In the end, we can’t know for certain what was in his heart and mind. What we can know is that truer words were never written. Jesus was and is the King of the Jews. He is the Messiah, the Anointed and Chosen One. More than that, he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the ruler of all nations, and the Savior of the world. This One hanging, dying, on a cross is the one long foretold, the Shepherd-King who laid down his life for all people, only to take it up again. What can you know for certain? If he did it for all people, he did it for you. Nothing could stop him; his love for you is too great. Believe it. It’s true. Prayer: Jesus, help me to see how true it is that you love me and that you are my Savior-King. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251124dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” Luke 23:35-37 A Different Kind of King When people think of a king, most people immediately conjure up the image of a big, strapping man with a crown on his head, sitting on a majestic throne, and living in a palace. To say that a man has a kingly appearance does not suggest weakness; instead, it implies strength, power, and majesty. So, is it any wonder that the people standing near the cross of Jesus did what they did, knowing that Jesus and his disciples had openly claimed that he was the Messiah, the Chosen One, the King of all kings? They sneered and mocked him, and apparently for good reason. After all, they could see his beaten and bloodied body nailed to a cross. They could hear him gasping for his final breaths. They could hear him crying out in agony. To their physical eyes, there was nothing kingly in his appearance at all. But to the eyes of faith, Jesus’ appearance on that bloody cross makes perfect sense. After all, it’s exactly what the Lord had urged his faithful people to watch for as they waited eagerly for the Messiah, their Savior, to appear. Seven hundred years earlier, the prophet Isaiah had said of him, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” (Isaiah 53:2-3). If anyone has ever matched this description, it’s Jesus. This is a truly kingly appearance because Jesus is a different kind of King. What makes him different? He’s not interested in appearances. He’s interested in saving his people. He’s interested in saving you. And that’s what he’s done. Perfectly. On the cross. Prayer: Dear Jesus, help me to see you as the powerful and gracious King of kings that you are. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251123dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” Luke 23:36-37 Jesus Is a King Quick! What thoughts come to your mind when you hear the word “king”? Do you think of crowns and palaces? The finest clothes and the best food? Lots of servants doing whatever the king wants them to do? I would guess that “being crucified” wasn’t at the top of your list. And yet, that is what’s happening to Jesus in the Bible verse for today. Jesus is being crucified. The charge placed on the sign above him was: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Ironically, the charge is true. Jesus IS the King of the Jews. In fact, he’s King of all. Oh, Jesus doesn’t look much like a king as he’s hanging on the cross. But when we’re reminded of why he’s there, things become clear. Jesus is there because he wants to save us. He’s on the cross not to save himself but to save you and me. A good king will battle for his people. Well, Jesus fought the ultimate battle for you and me—the battle against sin, death, and the devil’s power. He fought that battle all the way to—and through—the cross. True, at his crucifixion, Jesus doesn’t look like a king to our eyes. But our eyes of faith see the most glorious King of all, the King who has saved us. It’s a nice way to begin Thanksgiving week, isn’t it? Prayer: Oh Jesus, what a gracious King you are! Remind me that you’ve battled for me, winning forgiveness for me, winning eternity for me, that I might live my life in the peace of knowing I’m part of your eternal kingdom. Fill me with thankfulness, O gracious King! Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251122dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10 Lost It is a phone call I will never forget. My wife was calling to tell me that our three-year-old son was missing. She was at the park, and while she tended to our one-year-old daughter, the boy had disappeared into the woods. After calling his name and searching for some time, she called 911. I raced across town, praying all the way. When I arrived, four police cars were already on the scene. “Surely, they have found him by now,” I thought. As I ran to the scene, I asked one of the officers if my son had been found. He had not. The officer informed me that they were bringing in the canine unit to assist. Since the park was in a residential area, they were concerned that someone had abducted my son. I was terrified. Thankfully, within just a few minutes of my arrival, my son was found. He had gotten lost in the woods and was peacefully playing without a clue that anything was amiss. That day, I came as close as I pray I ever will to understanding what our heavenly Father has experienced with every one of his children. The Bible says that we were all lost because of our sins. We wandered away from our Father and were walking straight for the hell our sins deserve, as blissfully unaware of our predicament as my son was in the woods that day. Our loving, heavenly Father could not allow that to happen. His love, far greater even than my love for my son, moved him to send a rescue unit to save us. That rescue unit consisted of one person—his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus came to this world to find all of God’s lost children and rescue us from our sins and what our sins deserve. He went to the cross and paid the price to free us from those sins. Through his saving work, we are reunited with our heavenly Father and can look forward to spending all of eternity with him in the heaven he is preparing for us. Prayer: Thank you, Father, for sending Jesus to seek and save me when I was lost! Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251121dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion [Jesus said] “By standing firm you will gain life.” Luke 21:19 Never It is the darkest period of World War II. For all intents and purposes, Nazi Germany has conquered the entire continent of Europe. At present, the only force that stands in its way is the island of Great Britain. Winston Churchill has been Prime Minister for only a few months, but these few months have been terrible for his country. Hitler’s bombs have been dropping on London without mercy. Entire neighborhoods are in rubble. Families are sleeping in subways to avoid the death raining down from above. It is during this difficult, frightening time that Churchill receives an invitation. His old high school has asked him to come and speak to the students. He accepts. As the date nears, Churchill must give some thought as to what he will say. What do you say to teenagers whose families are facing the deprivations of war? When the date arrives, Churchill has decided what he is going to say. He enters the school. He gathers with the students and faculty. Then he gets up to speak. He describes to the students the crucial moment in history in which they live. Then he delivers some of the most memorable words in the entire war. He tells them, “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never.” In Luke chapter 21, Jesus describes for his disciples the hard and difficult days that lie ahead for his followers. Satan and this fallen world will rage against the message of the gospel—the good news of full forgiveness through faith alone in the crucified and risen Son of God. The lives of Christians will be fraught with persecution, temptation, hostility, and pain. But then Jesus holds out a precious promise. He says, “By standing firm you will gain life.” Apart from our Savior, of course, we would not stand at all. Left to ourselves, we would immediately fall away. But the Savior who has washed away our every sin of disloyalty is the same Savior who empowers us to stand firm. Therefore, in him, filled with the gospel in Word and sacrament, you and I will stand firm in this world until he brings us home to eternal life. Prayer: Lord Jesus, as the battle rages, move me never to give in. Never. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251120dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion [Jesus said] “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” Luke 21:6 Stones Jesus and his disciples are walking near the temple complex in Jerusalem. The buildings on the Temple Mount are breathtaking in their beauty. One contemporary account says of the temple that “whatever was not overlaid with gold was purest white.” The disciples are in awe, and understandably so. But as they express their admiration for such gorgeous handiwork, Jesus makes a prophecy. He tells them that all they see on the Temple Mount will one day go over the side. In Jesus’ words, “Not one stone will be left on another.” Fast forward to 1970. An archaeologist by the name of Benjamin Mazar excavates below the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount and makes a remarkable discovery. About his discovery, he writes the following: “The great pile of stones, lying just as they had fallen from the western enclosure of the Temple Mount, bore unmistakable marks of the Roman destruction. . . They have remained in that position ever since A.D. 70.” You can stand in front of those very same stones today. In your mind’s eye, take a moment to do just that. Stand in front of those stones. These are the beautifully ornamented stones Jesus’ disciples walked past and admired. These are the stones Jesus said would one day be thrown down. And these are the stones the Roman soldiers destroyed and hurled over the side, a mere four decades after Jesus said they would, all in exact fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy. The stones are a reminder. They remind us that every word of the Lord is true. Every word. They remind us that he is in control, even when all seems to be chaos and confusion. They remind us that his promise of full forgiveness through faith in him is a promise that never fails. They remind us that, just as he’s foretold, this sinful world will come to an end; that eternal life with him awaits. Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are in control. Your every word is true. Move me to trust you always. Amen.   Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.