by Higher Things, Inc.
Join HT for a reading of the days Higher Things Reflection. A short devotion directed toward the youth of our church, written by the Pastors and Deaconesses of our church, clearly proclaiming the true Gospel of Jesus Christ! Find out more about HT at our website, www.higherthings.org
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July 19, 2026
<p>July 19, 2026</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Today's Reading: </strong><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%208%3A1-9&version=ESV">Mark 8:1-9</a></p><p><strong>Daily Lectionary:</strong> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%202%3A18-36&version=ESV">1 Samuel 2:18-36</a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2015%3A22-41&version=ESV">Acts 15:22-41</a></p><p><br></p><p>“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.” (Mark 8:2)</p><p><br></p><p>In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.</p><p><br></p><p>Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile Jesus' compassion in wanting to feed the 4,000 with the three days it took Him to actually do it. For every one of the voiceless 4k with hunger pains and every family gathered around a hospital bed praying for healing while machines beep and nurses give sad smiles, for everyone looking around trying to find the supposed compassion and coming up short, let me go ahead and speak the collective “why?” we’re all afraid to give voice to. Why do we have to wait? Why do we have to suffer? Why, if You can fix this, God, do we have to wait for you to get around to doing it? </p><p><br></p><p>It’s not a new question. I used to have the audacity to ask my mom why she didn’t start dinner 15 minutes earlier so we could be eating now. It was shortsighted then. It’s shortsighted now. It’s just hard to see past sin and the pain it brings. This is what sin does. It finds excuses not to look to God for every good thing. To not fear, love, and trust Him above all things. The veil it casts over us brings that other kind of fear, the one that really struggles with love and trust. The one who loses sleep and trembles when compassion feels far off. </p><p><br></p><p>The truth is that God does work in mystery, in His own ways and His own time, and yet always for good. It is always compassion that drives Him. Ultimately, it drove Him to the cross for the 4,000, and for all who hurt and suffer under sin. And again, they waited three days in fear and trembling, even after it was finished, before the angels proclaimed His resurrection. But Christ is still risen. </p><p><br></p><p>So to everyone waiting with fear and trembling, who feels the same despair of the grave, remember. It is already finished. Even during those three days, it was finished. All of the blindness of sin could not prevent the resurrection. All our whys won’t stop Him from working for your good in His own way and own time now. Take heart. Our Lord sees you and has compassion. He IS working, even now. To bring you out of darkness and sin and despair, and into the same resurrection. Take heart. Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks, He broke it, and He gives it to you.</p><p><br></p><p>In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.</p><p><br></p><p>O God, whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and earth, we humbly implore You to put away from us all hurtful things and to give us those things that are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. </p><p><br></p><p><br>Rev. Harrison Goodman, Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.</p>
July 12, 2026
<p>July 12, 2026</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Today's Reading: </strong><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205%3A17-19%2C%2020-26&version=ESV">Matthew 5:(17-19) 20-26</a></p><p><strong>Daily Lectionary:</strong> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%207%3A1-23&version=ESV">Judges 7:1-23</a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%207%3A24-12%3A15&version=ESV">Judges 7:24-12:15</a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%201%3A1-24&version=ESV">Galatians 1:1-24</a></p><p><br></p><p>“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)</p><p><br></p><p>In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.</p><p><br></p><p>Jesus is clear: He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. And He is doubly clear that unless a person’s righteousness is more than the righteousness of the leading religious leaders of the time, he will never make it into heaven. It may be easy to think you are more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees, as theirs was a self-righteousness built on following the traditions of men rather than adhering to the Law of God. But Jesus is firm: anyone who relaxes the Law of God will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. The scribes and Pharisees crafted more than just God’s Ten Commandments in an attempt to fulfill the law themselves, and they failed. Jesus’ words are not a dare, trying to encourage people to try harder to get into heaven. He is condemning the self-righteous sinners and anyone who would twist the Commandments of God to elevate himself as more favored by God. The stark truth is that only Christ can follow God’s commands. Only He can truly be called righteous under the law - you and I will never, on our own works, make it to heaven.</p><p><br></p><p>And that is the point of Jesus’ words. Not by our own merit can we achieve salvation. It is only by Jesus’ merit, His work, that sinners can obtain eternal life. We cannot keep God’s laws, and even if we were capable, we wouldn’t choose to because ours is original sin - sin that we have inherited and that inhabits us all. But rather than leave us to be condemned for our own unrighteousness, Jesus stepped in to fulfill the Law perfectly and to take the punishment for sins that are rightly ours. Jesus is the only truly righteous One, and He shares that righteousness with you. In the waters of Baptism, you are united to Christ in a death and resurrection like His. When you come out of those cleansing waters, you are given the robe of righteousness, which marks you as God’s redeemed child. When God looks at you, He sees Jesus. He sees His Son, Who fulfilled the Law perfectly, not for His sake but for yours. You have righteousness in Christ; your Heavenly Father will not forsake you. </p><p><br></p><p>In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.</p><p><br></p><p>Lord of all power and might, author and giver of all good things, graft into our hearts the love of Your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Your great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.</p><p><br></p><p>Deac. Emma Heinz, registrar for Higher Things.</p>
July 5, 2026
<p>July 5, 2026</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Today's Reading: </strong><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%205%3A1-11&version=NIV">Luke 5:1-11</a></p><p><strong>Daily Lectionary:</strong> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%2023%3A1-16&version=NIV">Joshua 23:1-16</a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%2023%3A1-16&version=NIV">Acts 12:1-25</a></p><p><br></p><p>“And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets’” (Luke 5:5)</p><p><br></p><p>In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.</p><p><br></p><p>Jesus blesses these unsuccessful fishermen with the greatest catch of all time, and through His blessing assures them and us that he will never let the godly grow hungry. He will give us bread and fish and will satisfy us with his provisions. He will feed us physically and give us daily bread. Yet he, the Bread of Life, will also satisfy us with living bread from heaven. He will feed us spiritually. Whoever feeds on him in faith will never hunger, thirst, or die. He will never let us perish spiritually. How does he comfort despairing, sinful Simon? “Do not be afraid,” he says.</p><p><br></p><p>Look at how this story began. The crowds were pressing in on Jesus. Like a celebrity that gets swarmed by a crowd, Jesus is trying to get away as the crowds press in on him all the way up to the shore—and this, to “hear the word of God.” Wouldn’t your Pastor love to have that happen every Sunday morning, with crowds of people swarming to get into church and hear God’s Word? So, what will Jesus do? He will feed his people. He will teach his people. He will call his people.</p><p><br></p><p>This story begins and ends with the Word of God. The crowds are drawn in to hear God’s Word, and the disciples are sent out to proclaim God’s Word. Jesus blesses his disciples with physical provision, spiritual healing, and finally, a spiritual office. He calls them to be fishers of men. He gives these despairing men a hopeful calling. He gives these sinful men an office of forgiveness. He gives these poor fishermen the treasures of heaven. He gives these frightened men courage to follow.</p><p><br></p><p>When we toil all night and catch nothing but discouragement and despair, we should follow Peter’s example in handing over our lament to God and obeying his Word. We should let God do the worrying—if it doesn’t work out, he knows why; and if it does, all glory, honor, and praise belong to him. In everything we do as Christians, we trust God’s Word. We throw out his net and let him worry about how full it will be. If God blesses our bodies and souls, he will surely bless our work and gifts. He will not let us labor in vain. His blessing will always accompany us in our work. </p><p><br></p><p>In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.</p><p><br></p><p>O God, You have prepared for those who love You good things that surpass all understanding. Pour into our hearts such love towards You that we, loving You above all things, may obtain Your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Rev. David Woelmer, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Smithville, Texas. </p>
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Join HT for a reading of the days Higher Things Reflection. A short devotion directed toward the youth of our church, written by the Pastors and Deaconesses of our church, clearly proclaiming the true Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Find out more about HT at our website, www.higherthings.org
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