Hope Reigns Eternal

Romans 8:24


For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

I received an email yesterday morning. Well, actually, between the more than half-dozen email accounts I have to use in order to keep up with many assets of my daily responsibilities I received 238 in total, but one stood out.

This email happened to come from my sister. She had sent me an email regarding former Chief Justice of the Alabama State Supreme Court Roy Moore. Justice Moore’s career seems to have been one of exemplary service. Having graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Moore first served in several posts as a military police officer, including Fort Benning, Georgia, and Illesheim, Germany before being sent to South Vietnam. Moore left the United States Army as a captain in 1974, and was admitted to the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa that same year. He graduated in 1977 with a Juris Doctor degree.

Moore spent the majority of his life in public service of one form or another. However, what justice Moore is best known for is his firm refusal to remove a plaque that contained the Ten Commandments from his courtroom walls. After receiving some initial complaints, Justice Moore decided to take action. Rather than remove the plaque from his courtroom, he commissioned a 5,280 lb monument carved in black granite to be placed in the rotunda of the Alabama State Supreme Court. During the unveiling ceremony Justice Moore said, “Today a cry has gone out across our land for the acknowledgment of that God upon whom this nation and our laws were founded....May this day mark the restoration of the moral foundation of law to our people and the return to the knowledge of God in our land."

For his efforts, on October 30, 2001, the ACLU of Alabama, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Southern Poverty Law Center were among groups which filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, asking that the monument be removed because it "sends a message to all who enter the State Judicial Building that the government encourages and endorses the practice of religion in general and Judeo-Christianity in particular."

In outright defiance of [authors note: unlawful] rulings from Federal Courts and Judges, Justice Moore refused to remove the monument. Moore argued that he would not remove the monument, as doing so would violate his oath of office. He stated:

“[The monument] serves to remind the Appellate Courts and judges of the Circuit and District Court of this State and members of the bar who appear before them, as well as the people of Alabama who visit the Alabama Judicial Building, of the truth stated in the Preamble to the Alabama Constitution that in order to establish justice we must invoke 'the favor and guidance of almighty God.”

Justice Moore was right in what he said, and right in taking his stand for truth and Christianity. We are living in a time when Romans chapter 1:18-20 has come to pass; “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For 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 men are without excuse.”

While I look about at the world we live in, my heart has no doubt that we live in the last days. For mankind to live in such a state of depravity and to not just call it good, but to flaunt it in the faces of Christians calling us “fundamentalists” or “radicals” because of our conservative biblical Christian values is all the proof we need.

So how do we live in the face of this turning tide of hedonism? With hope eternal.

In my exchange with my sister she responded to me with just one simple sentence. “Hope reigns eternal.” How right she is Hope does reign eternal. We have seen hopes become reality in the lives of people we felt had little chance at all to come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I sit here at this desk typing this message today as a prime example of that. I may not be able to call myself the Chief of all Sinners like the Apostle Paul did, but I sure was a decorated Lieutenant rising in the ranks of those opposed to God.

We do not know what the future holds for this nation, or for your neighbor or loved one. But life without hope is a life already lost. Justice Moore lives with a hope that he cannot see. We should be doing the same. Living a peaceful life having all your hopes and dreams fulfilled is a wonderful thing. But as a Christian, is that reality ever capable of being met? I ask that question because as a Christian we are required to live an others centered life. If others are suffering, we should be sharing in that burden. If our neighbors are poor, we should be seeking to lift those people out of poverty, supply jobs, skills and opportunity for growth. If our friends and family are lost, eternally dead in their human tents, separated from God, we should not rest until we have given our last full measure in an attempt to show them Jesus. Hope can we do this? By living in hope of things we cannot yet see, but yearn for with all of our sacred being.

Hope truly does reign eternal. Thanks Deb for the reminder.

All Creation Waits

Colossians 1:15-20

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Inspirations for my devotionals come from a variety of places. It may be from a reading that I have been going through. It may be from a thought that comes to mind that causes me to research a topic or theme. Sometimes it is just a feeling that I have or a mood that I am in that will drive me to be comforted by the Word, or to be lead by it.

As I have mentioned before, I was born and raised on a small farm. Dad’s farm adjoined large tracts of unmolested lands that were free for hiking, biking, hunting, horseback riding and all sort of leisure recreation. I spent my formative years, not behind a desk or on a sports team, but rather in the deciduous woods of western, PA. If I wasn’t hunting or trapping, I was tracking and scouting and learning that terrain like it was the back of may hand. While I knew my Dad owned just a small tract in comparison to the vast forests I roamed, but it sure felt like it was all mine.

I’d see some of the same deer over and over to the point where I’d give them nick-names. I’d visit the same creek crossings and field divides and just sit and watch for hours. I’d stand there in wonder of the wonder. How could such an awesome place exist, and what’s my role in it? I pursued that wonder for a long time. I started college to be a biologist, and then to be a teacher of biology. Then, who knows what happened. I grew. I changed. But I’ve never lost that wonder.

My thoughts that I put to paper today are not meant to draw us into a heart of conservation, or ecology, or to debate the value of recycling or, validity of global warming, or even as our God-given responsibility of stewardship over our natural resources. I write today simply because I cannot look or even consider nature, this world – and not give thanks to God.

It’s called natural revelation. It’s a theological term for God revealing Himself through creation itself. That wonderment that stifled me in the awe of the great outdoors in my youth, was an inner yearning to know God. My God shaped hole was filled by creation. Not just the outdoors and all that it has to offer, but in my children. The birth of our three children drove me to a place of contemplation that I knew I would never be released from until I could reconcile the fact my children were no accident, and that the button noses and toothless smiles were descendant of some Neanderthal-like creature, or worse yet an accident of nature itself when some random strike of lightning impacted a mud-puddle.

When I look over the hills and trees and canyons of this country, I know that nature is not an accident. When I look into the eyes of my children, I know that they are not a result of some cataclysmic storm, but that they were designed, and made in the image of God.

I’m humbled by God, in some small way, nearly every day of my life, and I’m a better man for it. The idea that my intellect can define who God is and how He does things is crazy. The thoughts of His mind, and the reasons that cause things to be done or not done, is so far beyond me that it is almost embarrassing to think that I can even conceive of those thoughts. But, I am made in His image, and all that is made, we are told is for us to care for, enjoy, and use to bring glory to Him.

After all, His work has been done to reconcile us to Him. And not just us, but all creation. All that has been created has been made sinful and dark and spoiled, and placed into an ever-ongoing state of decay, physically and spiritually. Let us be reminded daily to make peace with Him as we are washed by the blood of His sacrifice.

Thank you God for your creation, as it is your creation that has driven me home.

Understanding God Means Understanding Suffering

I Peter 4:1-6

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.


I’m so looking forward to going through this book with our church in the not too distant future, if the Lord continues to lead in this direction. In the mean time, going through the books of Peter and James, repeatedly, to prepare myself for this past has been, and continues to be an awesome experience. Additionally, God is using it in my life to open spiritual doors revealing passages I should have traveled long ago.

The first thing that any congregant must know about their pastor is his humanness. Pastors are fallen sinful people just as the rest of those in the body of Christ. What makes them different is their calling, not their righteousness. Look back at the choosing of the nation of Israel by God to be His focal point all throughout history. Many fell along the way. More importantly, many learned from those who fell, and committed to a more serious life to Jesus. Any pastor or church leader who sets themselves up above their congregants in quality of person or Christian, as opposed to simply doing their best to be a Godly leader according to his calling, is setting himself up for a terrible fall.

In my walk and sanctification, God has revealed to me many things. Accordingly, I have done my best to adapt to those revelations accordingly by choosing to let the Spirit lead me more and more each day, and giving each area God desires of me, over to Him. This process, while necessary, and slow to come, is one that I must embrace as a Christian – painful as it might be. To not do so, to not go with the leading of our sanctification as the Lord calls is to deny that Jesus is our Lord (and not just savior), and worse yet, to deny the Holy Spirit in our obligation as confessed Christians to deny ourselves and pick up the cross that God has said before us with obedience – as painful as it might be. I am no different. God is calling me to change. If I deny the call to change, I’m denying God’s leadership in my life.

Peter was an amazing man. For many reasons. To rise to the level of the man he became, required that he lower himself into the servant of God he thought he was. See what I mean?

Remember what John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. For three years, Peter saw himself as increasing. He was with Jesus with a select group of 12 men. Of those 12, he was part of a select group of three. He was spoken to directly by the Holy Spirit to reveal to Peter that Jesus was in fact the Son of God, savior to all (Mark 8, Luke 4). Peter was special. He is the only disciple to defend Jesus’ physical life, and did so by wielding his sword in the true manner of someone whose career is that of a fisherman: by nearly missing altogether and only cutting of an ear. Peter was a well respected and honorable disciple that was truly looked up to as a Sr. leader on that group of twelve; at least in his mind. Perhaps in the minds of the other disciples too. However, God had bigger plans for him than just peer popularity. To rise to that level at which God had intended for him to be used, Peter had to endure, and find out that maturing really means becoming less, decreasing, so that he might be increase in a Godly way.

Suffering was something Peter had to endure. He was chastised by Christ, he ran away from the scene in the garden after raising his sword, and denied Jesus three times, the third time with anathema. The rest of the disciples knew this and it took Jesus Himself in His resurrected body to go to Peter, one on one, and get things worked out. To bring Peter back into the fold of a Christ follower, Peter had to realize that the suffering he had gone through already was just slight in comparison to what was coming. More so, that all these sufferings were nothing in the grand scheme of things when compared to the Glory that would be bestowed upon him, and all believers, in the heavens for eternity.

Peter understood, intimately, that to be used by Christ to his fullest potential, the potential that was divinely enumerated to him that he must die to himself. He knew that the things of his old life, his old ways, and the ways of the gentiles would have to be put behind him. I’m sure that a litany of old fishing buddies and their fish stories and their lifestyle and behavior so commonly attributed to men of the sea, would have to be left behind, in favor of the new man created in him, and renewed daily by his faith.

We too must do the same. Things we value, if not equally valued by God, must decrease, so that what God has for us can increase. Old friends and old ways, MUST be left behind, so that the new man can grow and blossom in the service of God. If you categorize yourself as Christian, you MUST do the same. To think you can live a life unchanged by the Holy Spirit alive in you as a mark sealing you to Jesus, is akin to believing that there is more than one way to heaven, and that perhaps Jesus really isn’t the Way, Truth and Life. There are some things about Christianity and it’s doctrine that we can debate, and there are some things for which the bible leaves us no room for error. Living like the old man, is not compatible with living a life for Christ, or a life save by God. Scripture is clear, the old man must die.

In truth, we realize this. In reality, we find it hard to crucify what was once our way of life. But we must. Living for Jesus means not living for the last, but to satisfy the calling for our future. Pray daily that we are given the strength to do this through the Holy Spirit. We must give all to Him. Think of this as our way of decreasing. Receive what God offers to us, no matter how small or insignificant it seems, and deem it to be increase, for we know it is good. To God be all the glory.

New Vision

I Corinthians 4:7


For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

I’m not sure why, at least yet, but God really has me going through some changes. It is not that I do not want to change, because quite frankly any change away from what I was or have been, can only be good as long as the leading is of God. But I see things differently. Compassion is more real. As funny as it may seem, reality is more real. Simple decisions are not just being brought to God, but being weighed to determine if they are really even legitimate questions I should be asking, or directions I should be going. In other words, if you should not be going in that direction, why do you have to worry about a decision that takes you that way?

I know that some get to this point and really hit a cross roads in their faith. I guess in the end you have to. What happens is that something awakens in you by the hands of God working in your Spirit. In the process, He places glasses on you that cause you to see things a little more through His heart, which is of course a desirable thing – unless of course you do not want to change.

Funny thing is, can we really be sure that God has not tried to put these glasses over our eyes earlier? I mean, think about that. If He had, would we really know it anyway? Or would that attempt have been forgotten by us, buried deeply in a subconscious fallen, human, sinful mind? Would our own fleshly agendas and desires buried God’s attempt at sanctification and increased righteous thinking in our hearts and minds simply because we had already decided to take the path of our choice anyway? If one does not desire to change, any simply reason becomes a worthy enough excuse to deny the calling of the Holy Spirit into a righteous lifestyle, simply because we want to keep our fleshly lifestyle all the more.

God is changing my heart. Things that used to anger me, now simply make me weep with the thought of the lost soul, the fallen societal morals that are behind it, or the simple thought of how this situation/incident/decision might look if “God” were infused into it. I ache for a more simple life, as God is not complicated, but desires us to be like children so that He can minister to us in more useful ways. Important things become less important. Other things, things that were things of God all along anyway - but were overlooked by the business of life, or the indifference of our flesh-driven world, are coming more into a Christly focus. More clear to His vision, and more convicting to mine.

There are things in my life that, after having put years of labor and focus into, not to mention a level of importance in my life that maybe they should not have been, I’m perfectly willing to walk away from now, if in fact that is what god calls me to do. Knowing that God could call us to go anywhere, do anything or say any word at any time has always been a no brainer to me. Seeing Christians who refuse to consider that God might use them outside of their own little comfortable box refuse to act, or even pray about a calling that God might have for them used in a way they did not want to be used, used to infuriate me. How can you call yourself a Christian at all, and sit there in your chair, all snug as a bug in the rug, and throw your hands up at the very idea that god might call you to do something uncomfortable to you, is beyond my comprehension, and just made me want to grab people by the shoulders and exclaim, “Do you understand you’re telling God NO!?” Now I just want to cry for them, and pray for them, and thanks God that He has given ME the grace and strength to change. Something about horses being lead to water comes to mind…

More than anything, this work in me has shown me more clearly than ever that everything belongs to Him. All that IS, is His. All that I desire is His to give or keep. All that I need is His to provide. Any change in my life that is for the better, begins with Him, and ends with me. All things that are good are His to give, and He desires to do so.

But this is the biggest change of all: I have understanding that everything He chooses to give me IS good, or He would not give it to me.

Be it victory, or trial. If it’s from God, it is good for me. Be it a new path to travel, or a new burden to bear, it’s good for me. If it is a new direction in life, a new job, or a new hair-style – if it is a call from God, shame on me for not believing that it is good.

To get to this point one thing must happen in our relationship with God. We simply get to the point where we say, “God, I give up. EVERYTHING is about you now”, and then release our flesh so that the Spirit leads. So that all we see is the look of our lives, and our witness through the lenses of God’s righteousness. It is easy to confess that as we do things we must do them all for the Glory of God. We can all agree on that I’m fairly certain.

But first, we have to do them.

Memories...

Do We Really Grow Up To Become Our Parents?

Matthew 10:42

"And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."

Last night my family and I attended the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup. What a great time we had, but boy, it can be an expensive trip.

By all standards of reference, attendance was down in all areas near as I can tell from reports. But hey, let's face it; the economy isn't the greatest right now. People are in dire straits. Ends are hard to meet or are not meeting at all. At any rate, discretionary income is at its lowest level in years, and so everyone is cutting back. The one good thing about that is this - it's less crowded, and the lines for everything are shorter.

As we walked around I noticed quickly that there were fewer vendors. Trade show type exhibits were smaller, and some of the people that we have seen there for years are just simply not there. As our populace relies more and more on our government to bail them out, or to give them some sort of light at the end of the tunnel, the reality is that things are getting worse for the majority of Americans.

As I pondered this thought, I really did begin to pray for our country and the people here. Our leadership in this nation lacks so much in so many areas. Foreign policy, if we have one, is an utter failure. Domestic policies have us on the fast-track to total socialism. Our Congress continually passes legislation that 65-70% of Americans oppose. The elite are ruling what is quickly becoming a subjugated middle-class who are seen as only servants to those in power. All I could think was, "Come Lord Jesus!"

Throughout my childhood, I knew inside my parents loved me. I do not remember my Dad telling me that in words until I was 24 years old and married, but I know the love was there. Growing up on a farm, life was hard, but while we may have had a lot of hand-me-downs, and lacked the latest styles in tennis shoes or didn't have the biggest birthday parties, I had enough. Thinking back, I see how hard we did have it, and also how hard mom & Dad had to work to provide for us 5 children. While I may not have had the Converse All-Star hi-tops that everyone else had and that I always wanted, what I was given was an appreciation for what we did have, and one thing that can never be taken away: Memories.

Walking through the animal barns last night holding hands with my kids, and an arm around my wife I was suddenly 10 years old again myself. In my mind I was the little one holding my Dad's hand, and looking up into his eyes. I remembered the hard life on the farm, and was so appreciative of the lessons that it taught me. I was once again skipping through the barns of the Butler County Fair back in western PA. I was reminded of the importance of the agrarian lifestyle, and how the hard work of so few feed this nation, and for a large part the world.

I remembered admiring not just the farm animals, but the men that owned and worked their farms and how proud I was that some of the best known farmers in the area knew my name and who my Dad was. Names like Knauff, Drueschel, Beahm, Knox and Scheibel may mean little or nothing to you, but they were legendary in the western PA farming community - and they knew my Dad! Wow! I remember the excitement knowing that I was going to get paid 50 cents a day for my work plowing the fields, putting in hay or working in the grain silos. Money I saved to put together $15.00 to become the first Spithaler in history to take a ride in an airplane; rides they sold at the annual Farm Show event for the $15.00 I worked all summer to save. I remembered the satisfaction I felt knowing the dirt that was rubbing off onto the towel even after my shower, was because I had put in a hard day's work.

Perhaps more than anything, I remembered the joy I felt being at the Fair with my family. I knew that this break from the labors of farm life was a well earned reward, and that my Mom and Dad had earned it as well. Days at the Fair or Farm Show were memories that could not be taken away - fond memories of my youth, family life, and the relationship I had with my Mom and Dad.

Then it happened. I was then struck by God with a firm reminder that my children are a gift from Him, and I wondered to myself: Am I making the same memories for my kids today that my parents made for me 35 years ago? Tears welled up, and all I could do was mutter a few prayers under my breath, knowing that the Lord would here, and hoping that my wife would not (grown men should not be caught crying at the fair after all). Well, she caught me anyway- but I did not know how to fully explain how i felt. At least in such a way that I would not totally break down in tears for everyone to see.

The family is God's design, and the most foundational element of society that He has created. We owe it to Him, and to our spouses and children to do all we can to make sure that family is loved and nurtured, supported, and cared for, and given our best attention and strongest most sincere love. Christ died for all of us as sinners so that we might be reconciled to God, and our sins fully forgiven. But He lived a perfect life to be an example of the love that we are to have for His children, and our families that He has gifted us with.

I cannot imagine being blessed with a more wonderful family. God is perfect, yet I am not, and so I pray today that the Lord bless me personally, and all of us corporately, that our Father gives us Wisdom, peace, kindness, caring, love and peace as we do our best in our failed, weak human bodies to live up to the example that Jesus gave us. Without fail, we must be certain to give God the thanks and glory for all that He has done to mold and shape these leaky vessels thus far.

Obama Sells Out US Sovereignty to the UN Over AZ Imigration

Because Barak Obama knows that without the vote of the Hispanics in the next election that he has no chance whatsoever of getting reelected, he is hard at work. Not only is he doing all he can to legalize (and thereby give the right to vote) to the estimated 13-15 Million illegal aliens in the US from Mexico (along with who knows how many Muslim and Al Quida members and supporters), he has now filed suit with the United Nations claiming human rights abuses against his own State of Arizona!

In any previous generation, this would have been viewed as TREASON, and it should today. I cannot fathom in my mind a sitting President of this nation SUING a State within this Nation that he has sworn to protect and serve, in a Federal Court via the United Nations! it's simply incomprehensible and the word needs to get out.

This monster we have for a President, must go. I pray for him and this nation continuually. I honor and respect his office, but I dispise tha man and his obvious agenda to destroy this nation. If anything is worthy of imnpeachment, this is it.

What follows is copied in large part from Topix.com.
_____________________________________________

The battle over immigration and the challenge to Arizona's sound and reasonable immigration law has reached a new low. That low is President Obama's character.

President Obama's State Department has filed an unprecedented report with the United Nations Human Rights Council citing Arizona's immigration law as a human rights problem in this country. That's right - the Obama Administration, which is challenging the AZ law in federal court, is now appealing to the United Nations - and to some of the most repressive countries in the world - actually citing the Arizona law as an example of human rights abuses in this country.

It is a comparison that is deeply troubling. How can the President compare AZ's law - which protects the state's borders and residents - to a human rights abuse? There's no shortage of legitimate human rights abuses that need to be investigated - including the murder and torture of Christians around the world because of their religious beliefs. To compare AZ's immigration law to a human rights problem is simply absurd.

This is just another example of President Obama's disturbing philosophy of placing the United States under international review. Despite past presidential administrations repeated refusal to legitimize the U.N. Human Rights Council, the Obama Administration was quick to subject the U.S. to review under the Council. This position has met heavy criticism. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is quoted as saying,“‘Without meaningful membership standards, that body will remain nothing more than a rogues’ gallery, and our participation will have the net result of legitimizing its biased actions.’”

The Human Rights Council devotes a majority of its efforts to condemning Israel, while ignoring some of the world’s worst human rights abusers. The current Council is made up of 47 countries, with less than half of its members considered to be “free” countries according to credible human rights organizations. The Council harbors some of the worst human rights offenders in the world.

The Obama Administration must not be permitted to get away with this tactic. As you know, we're engaged in the legal fight to defend AZ's immigration law and have filed amicus briefs with the federal district court and now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of 66 members of Congress urging the appeals court to uphold the constitutionality of AZ's measure.

By including the AZ immigration law in this U.N. report, the Obama Administration sidesteps the judicial process accorded by the U.S. Constitution and places the duly enacted law before an international body for review. This move undercuts American sovereignty, the well-established principle of federalism, and the popular will of the people.

Most Americans don't support the President's position on this issue and according to a recent Rasmussen poll, 61% of Americans support a law similar to the Arizona measure in their own state.

Lost Without You

Psalm 39:5

"Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah."

I am always inspired by the writings of Thomas a Kempis. The Lord so leads and guides when we seek Him, I just had to share my morning devotional with you today.

The following is chapter 40 of book 3 of his book, Imitatio Christi - The Imitation of Christ . I have edited it just to update some of the language as it was originally written in Latin in around 1418. Keep in mind that this is wriotten in the first. To better understand, put yourself as the person writing this note. I Hope you are as blessed as I was.

LORD, what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that You visit him?

What has man deserved that You should give him Your grace? What cause have I, Lord, to complain if You were to desert me, or what objection can we have if You do not do what we ask? This I may think and say in all truth: "Lord, I am nothing, of myself I have nothing that is good; I am lacking in all things, and I am ever leaning toward nothing. And unless I have Your help and am inwardly strengthened by You, I become quite lukewarm and lax."

But You, Lord, are always the same. You remain forever, always good, just, and holy; doing all things rightly, justly, and in holiness, disposing them wisely. I, however, who am more ready to go backward than forward, do not remain always in one state, for I change with the seasons. Yet my condition quickly improves when it pleases You and when You reach forth Your helping hand. For You alone, without human aid, can help me and strengthen me so greatly that my heart shall no more change but be converted and rest solely in You. Hence, if I knew well how to cast aside all earthly consolation, either to attain devotion or because of the necessity which, in the absence of human solace, compels me to seek You alone, then I could deservedly hope for Your grace and rejoice in the gift of new consolation.

Thanks be to You from Whom all things come, whenever it is well with me. In Your sight I am vanity and nothingness, a weak, unstable man. In what, therefore, can I glory, and how can I wish to be highly regarded? Is it because I am nothing? This, too, is utterly vain. Indeed, the greatest vanity is the evil plague of empty self-glory, because it draws one away from true glory and robs one of heavenly grace. For when a man is pleased with himself he displeases You, when he pants after human praise he is deprived of true virtue. But it is true glory and holy exultation to glory in You and not in self, to rejoice in Your name rather than in one's own virtue, and not to delight in any creature except for Your sake.

Let Your name, not mine, be praised. Let Your work, not mine, be magnified. Let Your holy name be blessed, but let no human praise be given to me. You are my glory. You are the joy of my heart. In You I will glory and rejoice all the day, and for myself I will glory in nothing but my infirmities. Let the Jews seek the glory that comes from another.

I will seek that which comes from God alone. All human glory, all temporal honor, all worldly position is truly vanity and foolishness compared to Your everlasting glory. O my Truth, my Mercy, my God, O Blessed Trinity, to You alone be praise and honor, power and glory, throughout all the endless ages of ages.

Here I Stand, I can do no other.
*"Hier stehe ich, ich kann machen kein ander," Martin Luther