Bill loves bow hunting. He loves it so much that he began setting boundaries for himself on how much time he spent in the woods, lest his marriage take a deer season size hit. His wife loves reading. She loves it so much that her children have to pass a hand in between her face and the book in order to get her attention. Some people love making their homes beautiful; some people love work; some people love their ideas or their minds. Luther tells us that our hearts are inclined to one interest or another. We are all leaning into something, making something the most important part of the day, that season, or this life. We can also do this with important relationships: loving our children, our spouse, or our friends so much that it crowds out the space intended for God.

Picture inclination not just as letters on a paper but as an action of the whole body. Whatever it is, we love it so much that we lean toward it rather than toward God. We rest our head on its chest; we snuggle to it so close that we can hear its heartbeat. This type of relationship is reserved only for God. We are invited to incline to Him, to lean into His heart and into His Word, and He overflows what we need for all the rest - time, energy, love, attention, and resources. Our inclination is intended only for One - the One who sacrificed everything, leaning into our world, to save us.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Some people refuse to darken the doctor's door. "I'll be fine," they say. They're not wrong to be afraid. Crossing that threshold has consequences. No more autonomy. Inspection. Diagnosis.

The Ten Commandments are the doorway. God, the Creator, stands just inside. His design and desire are simple: faith toward Him and love toward others.

You're on the examination table now. The Physician takes a good look. Your defiant disobedience has distorted His design and desire. You're not just sick; you're dying. No, worse! You've suffocated under your own self-obsession.

There is another who calls Himself the door, God's Word made flesh, the obedient Son of the Creator, Jesus. He fulfilled His Father's demands: perfect faith and perfect love. He took your sickness and died your death. Then He burst the door of the tomb and left all your disobedience buried forever. He exited there in order to encounter your dead soul by His Holy Spirit. His Spirit now breathes new life into your dry bones in conformity to Himself (Galataians 4:19).
 

You very well may fear this Great Physician. But He teaches you to love and trust Him. He, and He alone, is your God.

There is one more doorway, though. Jesus stands behind it. The Law still stands as well. But you have already died and are "hidden with Christ" (Colossians 3:3). On the day you cross that threshold, :He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion" (Philippians 1:6), and you will see Him face-to-face.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

The moonflower is a flower that only blooms at night under the light of the moon. I began thinking about the way some of our gravest and most fearful moments hit us at night. How many times do we wake in the night in a panic, worried about an approaching deadline or an unresolved issue? When that nighttime terror comes again, think of the moonflower. Like the moonflower blooming, Christ comes to us at night with the comfort of his Word: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Like the potentially romantic moonflower, our heavenly Father comes to us in love: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you" (Jeremiah 31:3). The moonflower stays open until sunrise, just as the Holy Spirit stays with us until Jesus returns on the Last Day to take us to himself forever. Like the fragrant moonflower, what sweet joy our triune God offers us, day and night, as he carries us through life into eternity.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Recalculating. If you have ever used a GPS you probably have experienced that word at one time or another and go a different way than the app has mapped out. Though we have gone "off-course," our GPS finds a new way to get us back on track.

The idea of recalculating recalls for me the work of our Good Shepherd in our lives. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6) When we have gone our own way, our Good Shepherd comes and finds us. Our Good Shepherd tells us, "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray" (Matthew 18:11-13). Jesus is our divine GPS. He did the recalculating for us by going to the cross to save us from our sins and put us on the path to everlasting life.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Plein air is a French expression that means "open air" and is a practice of painting in which artists work outdoors. Artists travel around the country, capturing moments with paint on canvas. In plein air competitions, artists submit work of scenes painted in a limited time period. Artists paint in thunderstorms, in 100-degree heat and in 30-degree cold. Plein air painting keeps artists from dwelling too much on the small details.

This art practice parallels what we do as Christians in this world as we "paint the picture" of our salvation in Jesus for others. We may be called on the spot to witness to others and have no time to prepare. In that moment we must speak from our heart and soul. The Holy Spirit helps us in this task: "The Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say" (Luke 12:12). The conditions may not be perfect, but the message is just as beautiful no matter where you declare it. Like the plein air artists, you do not need to worry about the minor details or the exact words. God will make a masterpiece of your on-the-spot "word pictures" of forgiveness and eternal life found in Jesus Christ.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Certain plants are called attractors because they attract butterflies. Nit just any plant attracts any butterfly. Black-eyed Susans are known attractors of Monarch butterflies, asters attract Painted Lady butterflies and Zinnias draw swallowtails.

In our Christian witness, are we living "attractors" who draw others to learn about our faith by the way we live? Jesus said, "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). How can we attract others? Our response to difficult circumstances with hope and confidence in Christ may attract others. They may be curious about a response that runs counter to the expectations of secular society.

Like specific plants for specific butterflies, we are sent by God to be present to particular people. You might be the attractor for someone who desperately needs to know that he or she is forgiven through Jesus.

Watch for people who search for meaning and direction. Attract them to the Good News of Jesus by praying with them, reading Scripture together or inviting them to church.

Like flowers and butterflies, Christian witness is a beautiful thing.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Scripture carefully traces the lineage of Jesus. Matthew tracks the generations from Abraham to Jesus, highlighting Jesus' connection to the line of David. Luke follows Jesus' ancestry all the way back to Adam. The geneal;ogy from Abraham to Jesus confirm's God's promise to Abraham, "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). The genealogy traced to Adam reveals the fulfillment of God's promise of a Savior in Genesis 3:15, when he said to the tempting serpent, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel".

By faith we have been grafted into the family of God by the blood Christ shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. God's promises of old apply to us as well. "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). Each Sunday is a family reunion with brothers and sisters in Christ. Enjoy being part of this holy heritage!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,