Still Forgiven. Still Loved. Still Kept.
Friday’s Verse:
From Psalm 121:1-2 ESV
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Some days it’s more than we can bear. We do our best to soldier on, but our heads drop regardless. In those times, faith isn’t the putting-on-a-smile or pretending-to-be-strong stuff. Faith is knowing where our help comes from.
Lutheran faith is not naïve about suffering. We do not ignore it, or gloss it over, or pretend it’s something else. God meets us in the midst of it. Christ knows what it is to feel weary and rejected and broken. He does not stand over us, telling us to give it another try. He comes near.
When Scripture exhorts us to “lift up our eyes,” it is not telling us that if we just feel better, everything will be better. It is telling us to remember that even when we cannot hold ourselves up, the Lord is holding us. Our hope is not placed in our mood or our resilience or our coping mechanisms. It is placed in the immutability of God’s promise.
Grace is this: even on a day full of sadness and stress and mistakes, you are still claimed by Christ. Still forgiven. Still loved. Still kept.
So if all you can do is breathe and whisper a prayer, it is enough. God is already at work on your behalf.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, some days can be hard, and when those days come, I feel like my strength is worn thin. Raise my head when I cannot raise it myself. Remind me that you are near, that your grace is sufficient for this moment, and that nothing can separate me from your love. Keep me in your care. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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