WELS Daily Devotions

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As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said.
Matthew 14:15-17

Bring Him Your “Not Enough”

Have you ever sat down with...

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Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1

His Love Endures Forever

Many, if not most, psalms in the Bible were designed to be sung or spoken antiphonally—that is, the first half of each verse is sung by a leader or choir followed by the congregation responding with the second half. If you open your Bible to Psalm 136, you’ll notice that the second half of each of the 26 verses is exactly the same...

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Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, [Jesus] gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Matthew 14:19-21

With Jesus There is Always More

With Jesus...

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[Jesus said] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
Matthew 13:44-46

Treasure

Discovering a hidden treasure is a common dream. Wouldn’t it b...

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[Jesus said] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
Matthew 13:44

The Treasure

A man by the name of Edward Doheny [pronounced Doh-HEE-nee] has just arrived in California. The year is 1892. Doheny is a drifter. He’s worked as a mule driver, a fruit packer, and even a singing waiter. But nothing has panned...

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…so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
1 Timothy 6:19

Truly Life

For decades, Peggy Lee was a fixture in American pop culture. Called “The Queen of American Pop Music,” she performed on stage, on television, and in the movies. For example, you can hear her voice and her songs all through the Disney classic, “Lady and the Tramp.”

For all the joy she brought, however, perhaps her most memorable song is one that is not joy...

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Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant.
1 Timothy 6:17

Arrogance

Max Roser does research. He researches the wide variety of living conditions that people experience around the world. He also offers some perspective. For instance, Roser has this to say about living conditions that many of us accept as ordinary. He writes: “What many people in wealthy countries regard as ordinary—electricity at the flip of a switch, clean water from a tap, refrigeration, antibiotics, hot...

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So God said to [Solomon]. . . “I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart.”
1 Kings 3:11-12

Priority

Solomon had just become the next king of Israel. He was about twenty years old. In lavish generosity, the Lord said a breathtaking thing. He said to Solomon, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

“Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” In your prayers right now, what is your most common...

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“I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.”
1 Kings 3:7

Candor

Here’s the setting for today’s Bible passage. The great King David is now an old man. The Lord has just anointed David’s son, Solomon, to be the next king of Israel. At this time, Solomon is about twenty years old.

To be twenty years old is to be in a fantastic moment in your life. You’re an independe...

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[Solomon said], “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
1 Kings 3:9-10

Wisdom

Thanks to Walt Disney and others, we’ve all heard of the magic genie who grants you three wishes for anything you want. I doubt most folks have ever asked themselves what they would ask for if given that opportunity. Why? Because it isn’t realistic.

Ye...

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“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Matthew 13:43

Light at the End of the Tunnel

It is said that people can endure almost anything if there’s some goal to shoot for, some “light at the end of the tunnel.” Prisoners of war have talked about undergoing horrible treatment of all sorts but making it out alive because they thought about the day they would be released, or when th...

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“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Matt...

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“‘Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
Matthew 13:30

Until the Harvest

Some people believe that the weed Jesus talks about in this parable is the darnel plant. It looks like wheat, grows like wheat, and produces seeds that are similar to wheat. Not surprisingly, then, it has earned the name “false whea...

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“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.’”
Matthew 13:27-29

Weeds and Wheat

As a young boy, I once thought I would help my dad by taking care of some of the weed...

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Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.”
Matthew 13:24-26

Weeds

If you have ever planted a garden, you know that there is one kind of plant that will always grow. The green beans may not germinate, the corn migh...

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“This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me?”
Isaiah 44: 6-7

The Bible Stands Alone

In Old Testament times, God gave his people a visible reminder of his presence called the Ark of the Covenant. There was a time when the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines who had defeated Israel in battl...

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Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:20

No Excuse

Why are apples red? What does electricity look like?

Anyone who has been a parent or teacher has heard questions like these. Sometimes we can give an answer that makes sense to the child, and sometimes not.

How do you know t...

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By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11

Build Your Spiritual House

“And he huffed, and he puffed…and he blew the house down!” Remember that story? The first two little pigs hastily built houses with cheap, weak materials. The Big Ba...

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Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. . . Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. . . But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Matthew 13:3,8,23

One Seed Multiplies

The farmers where I live...

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By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11

The Solid Foundation

Every building needs a foundation. You can touch up paint. You can change the carpet. You can move furniture. But if the foundation crumbles, the whole building is in...

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What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
1 Corinthians 3:5-7

Only Servants

Paul worked as a missionary bringing the good news about Jesus to the people of Corinth fo...

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As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11

Watered with the Word

It doesn’t lo...

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Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Isaiah 55:6-7

Easy to Find

My children love to play hide-and-seek. They can get creative with their hiding spots. But when I play with my three-year-old, and it is my turn to...

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Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
Isaiah 55:6

God is Near

Does something strike you as amazing in today’s Bible verse?

What jumps out at me is the idea that the Lord is near us, that he allows himself to be found by us.

After all, why should he? Why should he be near us? Why should he allow himself to be found by us? Just look at...

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[Jesus said] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28

A Heavy Burden

We know what it is like to carry a heavy burden. Our arms begin to ache as we strain to hold up the weight. Our back muscles tighten, and our legs tire under the strain. We can only carry the load so long, and we are forced to put it down and rest. Sometimes the burden we carry is n...

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[Jesus said] “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:29

Carrying the Cross

The Bible teaches that the burden of sin and selfishness is great because God’s judgment always follows. Simply put, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Adam’s first sin is a perfect illustration. He followed the path of self-indu...

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[Jesus said] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28

First Weariness, Then Rest

Jesus spoke in no uncertain terms about the details of Christian discipleship. He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).

At first blush, self-denial seems like a relatively easy standard to meet. But Christian self-denial requires us to keep God’s great commandments perfectly...

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Jesus said, “Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. . . No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Matthew 11:26-27

A Purposeful Choice

Jesus and his cross are natural stumbling blocks to sinners like us. Why, then, do we believe something that seems so silly? Jesus explained when he prayed, “Yes, Father, for this is what you were please...

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Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”
Matthew 11:25

A Revealed Glory

The Bible teaches us that the glory of Christ’s cross is naturally hidden from us. It is hidden behind the horrific dreadfulness of God’s shameful suffering and death there.

Martin Luther explained this important truth in his Small Catechism with these words: “I believe that I can...

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Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”
Matthew 11:25

A Hidden Glory

In his first letter to the Christians in the city of Corinth, the apostle Paul uses an interesting word to describe the “message of the cross.” He calls it “foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The idea that a man killed on a cross could accomplish anything, much less the eternal salvation of the world...

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What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:24-25

Freedom

The stories of prisoners of war who survived are fascinating. The accounts of the brutal and inhumane treatment by the enemy are horrific. The extreme emotions felt by the prisoners are breathtaking: the terror of being completely controlled by the enemy, the hopelessness of recognizing that escape...

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[Jesus said] “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:37-39

Whom Do You Love?

These words of Jesus may be a bit difficult to c...

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[Jesus said] “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Matthew 10:42

God Notices

Large gifts or giant acts of kindness are often heralded, praised, and promoted. You have probably read stories about billionaires donating massive amounts of money to a children’s hospital, or a group fundraising campaign raising money to purchase a home for a homele...

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[Jesus said] “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.”
Matthew 10:40-41

Welcoming Jesus

Sometimes when we share the truths of God found in the Bible, we are met with hostility or indifference. But sometimes the opposite happens. Sometimes, when we share a...

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[Jesus said] “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:38-39

Take up Your Cross

In Jesus’ day, you wouldn’t find people wearing cross necklaces or hanging a cross to decorate their homes. The cross was an instrument of death. So I can only imagine the puzzled looks on the faces of the people w...

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[Jesus said] “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
Matthew 10:37

My First Love

I have a great relationship with my family. My parents cared dearly for my siblings and me. We all still get along and love getting together. I have a wonderful wife whom I treasure, and she feels the same way about me. I cherish my c...

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[Jesus said] “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn, ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”
Matthew 10:34-36

Peace

A few years ago, I was sitting in a doctor’s office. My wife was holding our toddler, pregnant with our secon...

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[Jesus said] “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own hous...

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Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.
Jeremiah 20:13

It’s Time to Sing!

Do you like to sing? Perhaps you enjoy singing because you are a gifted singer, and people around you enjoy hearing you sing. Or perhaps you enjoy singing but can’t carry a tune. So, you keep your singing to yourself and save it for the shower. Either way—whether you are a gift...

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Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:8

The Crown That Opens Heaven

A crown can open doors. If you wear the right crown, guards step aside. Palace doors swing open. You are welcomed into rooms where ordinary people cannot go. A royal crown gives access, honor, and pr...