Daily Devotions
Sunday, June 22, 2025
“By faith Your Word has made us bold to seize the gift of love retold; All that You are we here receive, and all we are to You we give.
“One bread, one cup, one body, we, rejoicing in our unity, Proclaim Your love until You come to bring Your scattered loved ones home.”
As we grow in faith, we learn the importance of meekness and humility. The meek are blessed, our Lord says. They will inherit the earth. We are to humble ourselves beneath the hand of God, who will lift us up in His own good time. This is how we approach the table of the Lord to receive His body and blood. We come in meekness and humble repentance, fully aware that we are sinners in need of forgiveness.
Our hymn presents another trait that characterizes our approach to the Lord’s Supper: “By faith Your Word has made us bold to seize the gift of love retold.” We receive holy Communion in reverent awe and humble repentance and, at the same time, we come to the table with bold faith. Each time we receive the Sacrament we hear Jesus’ words and cling firmly to His promise: “This is My body … this is My blood” (Matthew 26:27-28). We cannot understand the mystery of Jesus’ presence in the Sacrament, but we trust His Word. Martin Luther spoke of this bold faith in his Small Catechism with Explanation. In response to the question about worthiness in receiving the Sacrament of the Altar, Luther wrote, “That person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,’” (p. 29).
We receive Jesus’ body and blood when we partake of the Sacrament, as our hymn declares: “All that You are we here receive.” With faith both humble and bold, we believe that Jesus is present in the Lord’s Supper. He gives Himself to us and we dedicate our lives anew to Him. At the table, we come together as one bread, one cup, and one body, rejoicing in our unity. We hear “the gift of love retold,” the precious words that Jesus used as He gave the gift of His body and blood to His disciples and now as He gives that gift to us. As we leave the table of the Lord, we pray that the Holy Spirit would make us bold witnesses as we share Jesus’ story with others. With boldness we approach the throne of God in prayer, confident that He will hear and help us. By the grace of God, we are bold in hope as we receive His holy Supper and proclaim His death until He comes again.
WE PRAY: Lord and Savior, lead me to be bold in faith, in prayer, and in hope. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, “Lord Jesus Christ, We Humbly Pray,” which is number 623 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
- Do you know anyone who is humble in their nature but still strong in character?
- Why is true humility such a hard personality trait for most people?
- How does knowing Jesus gave up His life for us inspire humility in character and the boldness to tell His story to others?
Today's Readings:
Song 1-3Acts 6