Pious Lutheran

To Dwell in the Temple of the Lord What is the Temple? The Temple is where God dwells on earth with His people. When the first temple was built, God’s glory descended on it, and when it was destroyed the glory of the Lord departed. When the second temple was built, God’s glory did not return, until Jesus entered because Jesus is the temple of the Lord. How do we dwell in the Temple of the Lord? Samuel was given to the Lord and dwelt in the temple his entire life. God makes our bodies His temple when He dwells in us through faith, therefore our whole lives are dedicated to the Lord. When we depart this life we go to dwell in the nearer presence of the Lord. We prepare for death by: Prayer and Devotion; Expecting it soon; Waiting patiently; Live holy lives as though every hour were the last; Keeping a calm and quiet heart; We lay hold of Christ the Prince of Life and Conqueror of death. A blessed feast of the Presentation of Jesus and Purification of Mary to you dear brothers and sisters...

The Wedding at Cana,  Paolo Veronese, 1562 Jesus Manifests His Glory in Marriage Jesus manifested His glory at the wedding at Cana His hour hadn’t yet come; the ultimate wedding feast is yet to come Our abuse of marriage dishonors Christ  Our honoring of marriage points us to the wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom to His bride the church. When you think of all of the things which have changed over the past century, from vehicles to entertainment to careers to clothing, many things have changed dramatically. But perhaps one of the most dramatic changes in the past century has been something far simpler: the household. Marriage is one of those areas of life that has seen dramatic change. A century ago nearly 80% of US households included a married couple, today it’s closer to 45%. Of those married couples today, the majority have no children compared to a century ago when the majority did have children.  I mention these statistics, however we know this already without...

Child Jesus in the Temple , Jan Steen,1659 The Comfort of Predestination Distinction between foreknowledge and predestination We are predestined through Christ and His work of redemption We are predestined through the hearing of His Word “ In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.” The topic of predestination often reveals the confusion people have regarding who is going to be saved. For example, there are some groups of Christians who believe in what is called double-predestination, whereby God predestines some to heaven and some to hell. Or on the other side of this many conclude that none are predestined to hell, but that all people are predestined to heaven. In which case they missapply predestination to mean that it doesn’t really matter what they believe or do in life, since if they’re predestined to heaven they will be saved regardless. It’s this latter misapplication I mention which is I think most prev...