In 1540, Frederick Myconius was very sick and about to die. He wrote a farewell letter to his dear friend Martin Luther, who sent back this reply: “I command you in the name of God to live because I still have need of you in the work of reforming the church…The Lord will never ler me hear that you are dead, but will permit you to survive me. For this I am praying, this is my will, and may my will be done, because I seek only to glorify the name of God.”

Myconius, who had become too weak to talk, regained his strength and outlived Luther by two months.

When our primary concern is to glorify God, we can be confident that He will answer our prayers.

Tags: authority, glorify, Luther, prayer

Martin Luther, that giant of the Protestant Reformation, confessed, “Next to faith, this is the greatest art: to be content with the calling in which God has placed you.” This raises a few questions to ponder:

• How content are you with your gifts and talents?
• Is it okay to have certain gifts and not others?
• How well do you know and accept your limits?

I know of two businessmen that were each installed as elders at a church. Both of those men resisted the decisions of their pastor strongly and led to the pastor’s resignation and ultimate demise of the church, which is no longer in existence.

Later those two leaders both confessed, independently, that they had felt a call to ministry early on in their lives and felt like they missed God. Either they did not have the gift of pastoring, or they were disobedient to the call. Yet they both felt they had the authority to make pastoral decisions for the church without shouldering the responsibility.

They did not value the calling God gave them, but sought out a calling they desired. And it backfired!

Identify your true calling and stay faithful. And do not step into a calling that is not yours. Doing so can cause great harm to the Body of Christ.

Tags: contentment, gifts, Luther

The rest of this week I want us to consider an old hymn written by Martin Luther. The tune is ancient and the young generation would have no interest in it. But I want us to consider the words of verse 1:

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;

Our Helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing;

For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not is equal.

This old hymn of the church addresses the two primary unseen forces in the world around us: God and Satan. Satan can do nothing to God, but he can cause tremendous chaos among God’s people. Because Satan is out to do much damage, A mighty fortress is our God. He is a protection that never fails and our Helper.

Sing the new songs, but don’t lose the message in this old one.

Tags: hymns, Luther