May 2023 - LPNI

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May 2023

LPNI Devotion

We are Family (1 Thessalonians 4:9)

In early March, 23 and Me notified me that it had discovered that I have another cousin. Now I have a family of over 1,500 from Ireland, Scotland, all the way to Canada and the United States!

But that’s nothing compared to our Christian family. There are hundreds of millions of men, women, and children who trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. One day we’ll all be in Paradise getting to know our Savior Jesus, our Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit. We’ll also be able to meet and get to know more members of our heavenly Christian family, as well as being reunited with family and friends.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, St. Paul notes that we have been taught to love each other. But knowing we are to love family is not the same as actually loving family. When we fail to do so, how comforting that our Lord showers repentant hearts with his forgiving love! He renews our desire and ability to continue to love others as we have been loved. So again, how far does your loving concern for your Christian family go? Read Acts 4:42-22, 4:32-34, Galatians 6:10, and 1 Peter 2:7. You’ll be reminded that early Christians considered themselves family. They had a deep respect, love and concern for each other. They had each other’s back. They took care of each other. That concern could be seen and experienced.

St. James (2:15,16 NIV) causes us to consider this. Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed’, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? Wishing people well may make us feel warm and fuzzy, but it doesn’t help people with their challenges and problems. Lutheran Parish Nurses know that all too well. They know that our loving God has called us to care about the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of our Christian family, as well as those outside our family whom God wants to be members of his family of believers.

Long ago, someone cared enough about you and me to share the gospel with us in word and sacrament. He told us to go and makes disciples of all nations by baptizing them in the names of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them everything … (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV). We are overjoyed and overwhelmed by what our Lord has worked through the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and minds. He has enabled us to understand the truth about humanity, and about his incredible love for us through our Lord Jesus. He enables us to see family, friends, and neighbors through God’s eyes. As our gratitude grows stronger, we have a burning desire to share God’s ministry of love with others.

Lutheran Parish Nurses and their congregations have committed themselves to holistic ministry: body, mind, and spirit. Above all they care about the souls of those our Lord brings into their lives. But they also provide for people’s physical and emotional needs. They know that one powerful way to share the gospel with others is by caring for their needs. Imagine how many people may have experienced Jesus’ love through your devotion to their total wellbeing!

Since the inception of COVID-19 the number of hurting people searching for answers to their spiritual questions, as well as help with their physical and emotional needs, has increased dramatically. What enables us to continue living for and serving our Lord, is the reality that we don’t have to worry about the mess surrounding us. Why? Because as Christian singer/songwriter Twila Paris reminds us, ‘God is in control. We believe that his children will never be forsaken.’

We rely on him to forgive us, heal us, and renew us. We rely on him to guide us, to open our spiritual eyes to see others as family, and to understand our Christian lives and mission, through his eyes. We focus on the mission at hand: making disciples, nurturing disciples, caring for disciples, and comforting disciples. As we seek to serve him to the best of our ability, our Lord reminds us, ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20)

Rev. B. Joe Cottam

Grand Blanc, MI 48439 ncjc69@att.net