Thank you for your goodness in sharing God’s promises for His children! Your prayers are always appreciated! 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

✨Wednesday, February 21✨ ✨✨✨8th Day of Lent✨✨✨ Writing to the church in Rome, Paul said, “For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” God had made a promise (really a set of promises) to Abraham. At times, Abraham disobeyed God-doubted God-and even laughed at God’s promises. But in the end, Abraham trusted God’s promises. And that trust-that faith—made all the difference. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying Romans 4:13-25 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb. Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham, but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers and do not ignore our petitions, dear LORD, for Melissa (having breast cancer surgery 1/30/24), Sandy (breast cancer; meeting with MD 1/30/24 to discuss options for new diagnosis), Marcus Maze (wife Regina), Galdino (10-year-old with brain cancer; beat lung cancer at age of 3), Joni (angiosarcoma; begins chemo on 2/5/24), Sarah Lam (breast cancer spreading to other areas of her chest), Vernon (cancer returned; surgery scheduled for 2/22/24) Doug (stage 3 rectal cancer; wife is Joan), Randy Lee Burkett (sister Michelle asking for deliverance from cancers in his body), Frederic (prostate cancer; cousin of godsservant), emilycnoftle’s cousin (stage 4 cancer of neck and lungs; age 19 and having surgery 2/6/24; needs salvation), Don (glioblastoma), King Charles III, Michael (stage 4 mass on brain stem, trachea, lung, stomach and right leg; starts chemo 2/6/24), John (battling brain cancer for 7 years), Iris (colon cancer; has kidney disease and diabetes as well), Bruce (lung cancer), Mike (aggressive form of cancer), Yvette Cruz (colon cancer; has had chemotherapy for 2 years), Brady’s pastor’s wife (severe cancer), Hannah (breast cancer; 28 years old), Jim (bladder cancer plus host of other health issues), Shawn (breast cancer returned to his bones), Doug Claassen (end stage cancer), Brittney (cancer is spreading quickly; MD’s giving up; has 3 daughters), Gerald (lung cancer), a woman (cancer returned; requested by brenkay21), a man (cancer returned; requested by brenkay21), AbbasDaughter SadieM’s mom (anal cancer), Kathy (breast cancer; in ER right now 2/16/24), Gibbseng (melanoma), Jenny from CA (large brain tumor), friend of anika.dirk18 (liver and kidney cancer; given 5 years to live), John (chordoma cancer; brother is Steve; daughter getting married in March), Scott (end stage cancer; battling for 3 years; needs salvation), cddrawdy’s sister-in-law (cancer in colon and liver; 6 children), and all cancer patients who we don’t know their names, but You do! Bless them, their families and friends with Your peace that is beyond all understanding as You guide them down the journey they are traveling. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ That is the way it is with a promise. When someone makes you a promise, you either trust the promise or you do not trust the promise. The only way to receive a promise is to trust it (or not). And here is God’s promise to you: In Jesus Christ, God accepts you, loves you, forgives you, and claims you as God’s very own child. Believe that promise. Trust it. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Triune God, You promise us that we belong to You. We trust You; strengthen our trust. Hold on to us when we doubt, disobey, or dismiss You. Forgive us and cling to us for Christ’s sake. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen! 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨ ♥️♥️♥️

Amen and amen, dear sister! IJMN!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

Amen and amen, dear LookingUp! Thank you for sharing your prayer! 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

✨✨Friday, February 23✨✨ ✨✨10th day of Lent✨✨ In the first half of the assigned gospel reading, Jesus says: “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” In response to this (good!) news, Peter rebuked Jesus. And Jesus, in turn, rebuked Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” And then, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Praying Mark 8:31-38 over all Your children today and always, dear Lord, especially those battling cancer: “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ”He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”“ ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers and do not ignore our petitions, dear LORD, for Melissa (having breast cancer surgery 1/30/24), Sandy (breast cancer; meeting with MD 1/30/24 to discuss options for new diagnosis), Marcus Maze (wife Regina), Galdino (10-year-old with brain cancer; beat lung cancer at age of 3), Joni (angiosarcoma; begins chemo on 2/5/24), Sarah Lam (breast cancer spreading to other areas of her chest), Vernon (cancer returned; surgery scheduled for 2/22/24) Doug (stage 3 rectal cancer; wife is Joan), Randy Lee Burkett (sister Michelle asking for deliverance from cancers in his body), Frederic (prostate cancer; cousin of godsservant), emilycnoftle’s cousin (stage 4 cancer of neck and lungs; age 19 and having surgery 2/6/24; needs salvation), Don (glioblastoma), King Charles III, Michael (stage 4 mass on brain stem, trachea, lung, stomach and right leg; starts chemo 2/6/24), John (battling brain cancer for 7 years), Iris (colon cancer; has kidney disease and diabetes as well), Bruce (lung cancer), Mike (aggressive form of cancer), Yvette Cruz (colon cancer; has had chemotherapy for 2 years), Brady’s pastor’s wife (severe cancer), Hannah (breast cancer; 28 years old), Jim (bladder cancer plus host of other health issues), Shawn (breast cancer returned to his bones), Doug Claassen (end stage cancer), Brittney (cancer is spreading quickly; MD’s giving up; has 3 daughters), Gerald (lung cancer), a woman (cancer returned; requested by brenkay21), a man (cancer returned; requested by brenkay21), AbbasDaughter SadieM’s mom (anal cancer), Kathy (breast cancer; in ER right now 2/16/24), Gibbseng (melanoma), Jenny from CA (large brain tumor), friend of anika.dirk18 (liver and kidney cancer; given 5 years to live), John (chordoma cancer; brother is Steve; daughter getting married in March), Scott (end stage cancer; battling for 3 years; needs salvation), cddrawdy’s sister-in-law (cancer in colon and liver; 6 children), Bruce (cancer tumor in abdomen; surgery being performed on 2/22/24), Walt, Merv and Sister Shirley (Walt needs salvation; sent in by RN4JC 7), and all cancer patients who we don’t know their names, but You do! Bless them, their families and friends with Your peace that is beyond all understanding as You guide them down the journey they are traveling. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ So here is the central problem with the gospel: the cross. Both Jesus’ cross, and the crosses that Jesus calls us all to take up as we follow him. Why would anyone worship a God that suffers and dies? Why would anyone follow such a God? Why? Because the Crucified Christ, and no other, is alone the true God. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Blessed Savior, when you call us to follow you, you call us also to die to ourselves. Give us the courage to follow you every day, to carry our crosses with humility and strength. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️

✨✨Sunday, February 25✨✨ ✨✨✨12th Day of Lent✨✨✨ “Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song” (ELW 808, Verse 1) A few years ago, I realized that I always have an “ear worm” playing in the back of my consciousness-a song “stuck” in my head. But what do you do when the song that is stuck in your head is an awful tune, one that drives you crazy? You know, like the Kars 4 Kids ad tune. In Greek mythology, the most dangerous “ear worm” singers were the sirens, whose song would lure sailors to their deaths. Odysseus avoided the sirens by stuffing wax in his sailors’ ears. But Orpheus had a better solution—he pulled out his harp and sang a more beautiful song. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Please hear our prayers and do not ignore our petitions, dear LORD, for Melissa (having breast cancer surgery 1/30/24), Sandy (breast cancer; meeting with MD 1/30/24 to discuss options for new diagnosis), Marcus Maze (wife Regina), Galdino (10-year-old with brain cancer; beat lung cancer at age of 3), Joni (angiosarcoma; begins chemo on 2/5/24), Sarah Lam (breast cancer spreading to other areas of her chest), Vernon (cancer returned; surgery scheduled for 2/22/24) Doug (stage 3 rectal cancer; wife is Joan), Randy Lee Burkett (sister Michelle asking for deliverance from cancers in his body), Frederic (prostate cancer; cousin of godsservant), emilycnoftle’s cousin (stage 4 cancer of neck and lungs; age 19 and having surgery 2/6/24; needs salvation), Don (glioblastoma), King Charles III, Michael (stage 4 mass on brain stem, trachea, lung, stomach and right leg; starts chemo 2/6/24), John (battling brain cancer for 7 years), Iris (colon cancer; has kidney disease and diabetes as well), Bruce (lung cancer), Mike (aggressive form of cancer), Yvette Cruz (colon cancer; has had chemotherapy for 2 years), Brady’s pastor’s wife (severe cancer), Hannah (breast cancer; 28 years old), Jim (bladder cancer plus host of other health issues), Shawn (breast cancer returned to his bones), Doug Claassen (end stage cancer), Brittney (cancer is spreading quickly; MD’s giving up; has 3 daughters), Gerald (lung cancer), a woman (cancer returned; requested by brenkay21), a man (cancer returned; requested by brenkay21), AbbasDaughter SadieM’s mom (anal cancer), Kathy (breast cancer; in ER right now 2/16/24), Gibbseng (melanoma), Jenny from CA (large brain tumor), friend of anika.dirk18 (liver and kidney cancer; given 5 years to live), John (chordoma cancer; brother is Steve; daughter getting married in March), Scott (end stage cancer; battling for 3 years; needs salvation), cddrawdy’s sister-in-law (cancer in colon and liver; 6 children), Bruce (cancer tumor in abdomen; surgery being performed on 2/22/24), Walt, Merv and Sister Shirley (Walt needs salvation; sent in by RN4JC 7), and all cancer patients who we don’t know their names, but You do! Bless them, their families and friends with Your peace that is beyond all understanding as You guide them down the journey they are traveling. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ That’s how you defeat an ear worm! You sing a more beautiful song. And what better song is there than Jesus himself: “Lord Jesus, you shall be my song as I journey.” With Jesus figuratively and literally as our song, we have nothing to fear from the deadliest siren or ear worm. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Lord Jesus, may we sing your love each morning, your grace each day, and your forgiveness every evening. Surround us with your beauty. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen!🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️✨✨✨♥️♥️♥️