27 February
Now that we have been declared righteous through faith, we thus have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1.
If I believe that the Lord Christ has overcome my hardship, sin, death and all evil, it is not possible that I could despair and be stupid, no matter how much also sin and death might pressure me. For faith is always there and says: If sin pressures you, if death frightens you, then cast your eyes upon Christ; He died and rose for your sake and has overcome every misfortune and disaster. What then can harm you? Of what then should you be afraid? So also if other misfortunes have been laid around your neck, such as illness or poverty, then cast your eyes away from them, lock up reason, and cast yourself upon Christ and cling to Him, thus you shall be strengthened and comforted. If you look to Christ and believe in Him, there then is no evil that you may encounter which is so big that it could harm you and cause you to despair. That’s why it is impossible for this fruit [peace] to remain outside anywhere there is faith, so that peace would not also follow.
After another rough, painful, semi-sleepless night, this daily GUIDE from Luther is most comforting to me. May it also comfort you about anything the devil has tried to lay around your neck. And may it also comfort us amidst the ‘thorns in the flesh’, i.e., my/your osteo-arthritic pains, that God has permitted to assail us.
Peace to you through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Elmer H.
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