Dear Fellow Children of God,
Did you make any resolutions for 2025? As I began to write this devotion, it was
January 7. The New Year was only one
week old. How are you doing on your
resolution, or goals? Have you broken
them, or yet failed in your good intentions? My daughter, Mary, showed me a
Christian news e-mail, called “Pour Over.”
One of the notes on Wednesday, January 8 reads, “If you’re still
plugging along at your fresh fitness goals for 2025, congratulations! You’re
already doing better than the almost 25% of resolution-making
Americans who quit after week one.”
If you might be struggling with your wishes for a more healthy
life in 2025, please consider with me God’s call and His wisdom for His
children which we find in Romans 12:1? “1 I
appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship.”
Imagine! God calls His people to lives of worship, worship
which is willing to sacrifice in order to serve our Lord and Savior. Now, even though we know that Paul, inspired
by God, is right, that is a difficult goal! I am sure that if we are falling behind in
our New Year’s resolutions, or struggling
in our current personal goals, this call from God seems impossible. I easily
remember times in the last days where I have failed in living sacrificially for
my Lord. How about you?
The world around us works against our healthy goals. Selfishness
is so easy! Indulgence, anger,
lust, and greed come so naturally! We prefer self-reliance, rather than
faith in the goodness of God. The enemy
fights our plans for spiritual health.
Keeping our resolutions, persevering in our goals, is difficult.
But, to “present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God,” seems totally impossible. We know our past failures. Where could we
find it in ourselves to live in such a faithful and holy way? If we are honest with ourselves, we know that
we have failed, and we do fail. No
wonder John writes, “8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1John 1:8) Our sinful nature
is a verifiable fact!
This sobering truth nevertheless leads us to the amazing
mercy of God. If we look more closely at
Romans 12, God’s MERCY is the power to work toward the impossible goal of holy
living. “1 I appeal to you therefore,
brothers, BY THE MERCIES OF GOD, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship
God’s mercy is His power to change lives. And surprisingly, God calls sinners to do His
holy work. If you are reading with me
through the Bible in two years, we are currently meditating on the book of the
prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 6 is an
interesting chapter. In that chapter Isaiah
recounts a vision he had of the throne room of God Himself. The prophet was sure he was a dead man. In verse 5 Isaiah shares, “5 And
I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen
the King, the Lord of hosts!’” Isaiah knew his sin, and he was
sure of his condemnation.
But, the rest of the Isaiah 6 account tells us of God’s
mercy. “6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his
hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And
he touched my mouth and said: ‘“Behold, this has touched your lips; your
guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’ 8 And I heard
the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’
Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’” (Isaiah 6:6-8)
Truthfully, we are weak and sinful. But thankfully, like God cleansed Isaiah, He
cleanses us in the blood of Jesus. We
are weak and sinful, but thankfully, by His mercy, we live in the grace of
God’s forgiveness found in Jesus.
Remember the words of Romans 12:1. “1 I appeal to you therefore,
brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Don’t just dwell on your failures. We face God’s call to righteous living, His
call to make a difference for good in this world, “by the mercies of God.” Consider also how God used sinful people like
Noah, and Moses, and Rahab, and David, and Bathsheba, and Peter, and Paul. God forgave their sin and called them to His
service. Scripture is full of the
wonderful work God accomplished through these sinful people!
It is not just for a New Year, but for new lives in Jesus
that our Heavenly Father calls us, “1 I appeal to you therefore,
brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Our Lord calls us, and He empowers us for this holy task in His Mercy.
What holy task does God have in store for you in this
coming year? Please remember, we live in
the grace and the mercy of God! Please
remember, our Lord forgives you, and can and does accomplish great things for
His kingdom through You!
A Child of God, Tackling God’s Impossible Call of Holy
Living, Trusting In His Mercy!
Pastor Rockey
P.S. I continue to serve as vacancy pastor at
First Lutheran Church in Gainesville, Florida, until First Lutheran receives a
permanent full-time pastor.
NEWS
AND MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES AT First Lutheran Church – Gainesville!
·
Pastor Chris Kollman has accepted the call to
serve First Lutheran as full-time pastor.
o Pastor
Kollmann will be installed as Pastor of First Lutheran on Sunday afternoon,
February 16, at 4:00 p.m. with a meal to follow.
o Pastor
Kollmann’s first Sunday to lead worship is February 23.
·
The Robert C. Besalski Scholarship Fund
has been established at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, for Florida – Georgia District
Students who are studying for the pastoral ministry at the seminary Pastor Bob
attended. When this endowment reaches
$25,000.00 the seminary will start awarding scholarships. The Besalski’s are working to find out the
total amount donated so far. Stay tuned
for more information as we learn it.
·
Claire Abigail Denson was baptized in
worship at First Lutheran on Sunday, January 5.
Here are a couple of pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/MF26yjZjVhSnZhMo7
·
SUNDAY SCHOOL IS IN FULL SWING until
May. Children begin in worship at 10:00 a.m.. Early in the service, after
the Children’s Message, children leave for a lesson, for a craft, and a
snack.
Parents,
Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts, Neighbors, PLEASE bring your children to
Sunday School. THANK YOU Sunday
School Teachers and staff!
·
In Sunday Bible Class we began a study of “The Pastoral Epistles,” 1 and 2
Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, on Sunday, January 5. Come and Join Us in the Besalski Fellowship
Hall at 8:45 a.m.!!!!!
·
COLLEGE STUDENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS meet on
Tuesday nights in the student house at 7:00 p.m. Come and join us! They
are studying “The Case for Christianity.” There was a break as school was out for the
Christmas holiday. Tuesday night group
classes start again this Tuesday, January 14.
·
STEPHEN MINISTRY – First Lutheran is
re-activating the Stephen Ministry program at First Lutheran. Angie Burr, Tina Gorske, and Jean Halabrin will
start leadership training, perhaps in February.
Dana Lucas, a former leader, will also join the leadership team. In addition, those who are committed to training
as supervised Christian Care Givers include: Julie Dicks, Patti Holloway, Debbie
Jones, Marge Polkowski, Kathy Rockey, Stephanie Smith, and Jon Visscher. Stay tuned for more information as the
training process progresses.
·
WE CONTINUE TO READ THROUGH THE SCRIPTURE IN
2024 and 2025 using the “Today’s Light Devotional Bible.” On Wednesday,
January 8, we read Isaiah 11 and 12.
Feel free to
contact Pastor Rockey at 907-841-4066 if you have any questions about these
readings. Or send an e-mail question to jonrock53@mtaonline.net I have
recently received questions and comments. It is always good to consider
our Lord’s love and guidance. I will TRY to answer, but some things only God
knows!
P.P.S. Family Fun:
·
I went
fishing once since my last devotion. I took John Dudeck fishing on a new favorite
lake. The temperatures have been
cool. It was not an aggressive bite. However, I had 5 bites, and hooked . . . NO
fish! John did catch 5 small bass. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/B6vKKHtrqypAwcXA6
·
I also played golf on Monday, January 6. Something must have been wrong. I shot my best score at Hawkstone, an 83! 😊 I expect to be back in the 90’s soon. Though I do not expect to golf while visiting
family at home in Alaska.
·
Kathy and I leave after worship on Sunday,
January 12, to travel to Alaska. As
pastor, I was at First Lutheran for Christmas.
We did not spend the holiday time with our children and
grandchildren. We will return on January
31.
*******
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I
retired at the end of August 2019 from serving as full-time senior pastor of
St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion
previously entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired
many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued
writing. However, with life's changes I now call this weekly devotion
"Journeys Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer
senior pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those
who asked to receive it. (However, I am currently as Vacancy Pastor for
First Lutheran Church in Gainesville, FL.)
So, if you stopped receiving
these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now
receiving these devotions and do not wish to receive them, please let me know,
and I’ll gladly remove your name from my distribution list. My e-mail
address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these
devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Vacancy Pastor, First Lutheran
Church, Gainesville, FL
Pastor Emeritus, St. John
Lutheran Church, Palmer, AK
How great is the love the Father has
lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we
are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
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