Reflections

Higher Things
Higher Things

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

  1. 1 hr ago

    Saturday of the Fourteenth Week After Trinity

    September 12, 2026 Today's Reading: Introit for Trinity 15 - Psalm 86:4, 6, 15a, 16; antiphon: Psalm 86:1a, 2b, 3 Daily Lectionary: 2 Chronicles 31:1-21; Philippians 4:1-23 “Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.” (Psalm 86:6) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Wow! … Really? … That’s crazy! … Yup. … How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? … And then suddenly, “Are you even listening to me?” Trapped. Not even half of your attention was being given to that other person. You were not listening but were distracted by other things. Your mind wandered. The phone buzzed. A loud car drove by. And suddenly you were a million miles away, not listening to a word they were saying. Sometimes I would guess it feels this way with your prayers. You have been praying for something, and it seems like God is just ignoring you, like He’s got something better, someone else better to listen to than you. This is our sinful human nature at work, causing doubt, failing to believe the words of our Introit tomorrow, and so many other passages of Scripture. God loves to hear the prayers of His children, to hear your prayers. He invites us to pray to Him and promises to hear us. David calls upon that promise as he cries out to God, “Give ear, O Lord to my prayer”. Stated another way, David is saying, “Okay God. You promise to hear me, so listen to me now.” And God does! He is not so busy with the other 8 million plus people that He doesn’t have time to listen to you. Of course He does! You are His child. He created you in your mother’s womb. He re-created you in the water of Holy Baptism to be His own child. He shed His holy and precious blood to forgive your sins. He feeds you with His holy Body and Blood, giving you forgiveness, life, and salvation. All this He has done for you. Of course, He hears and answers your prayers. He is the one who provides for you in the body with all the Gifts listed in the explanation to the First Article. He is also the one who provides for you in your soul with the Second and Third Articles' Gifts, namely life and salvation. So cry out to God, often. He does indeed give ear to your prayers. He listens to you and responds always with His good Gifts. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Lord, this I ask, O hear my plea, Deny me not this favor: When Satan sorely troubles me, Then do not let me waver. O guard me well, My fear dispel, Fulfill Your faithful saying: All who believe By grace receive An answer to their praying. (LSB 758:3) Rev. Daniel Voth, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND.

  2. 1 day ago

    Friday of the Fourteenth Week After Trinity

    September 11, 2026 Today's Reading: Philippians 3:1-21 Daily Lectionary: 2 Chronicles 29:1-24; Philippians 3:1-21 “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:4-8) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Saul was THE rock star of his day among the Jews. His pedigree was perfect, untouchable, and far more than most common people could ever hope to obtain. He had it all. Power, prestige, fame. He was at the top, until he wasn’t. That one day on the road to Damascus changed everything. From the worldly Jewish perspective, he lost it all. A fall from grace heard around the world. In a flash of light, he lost it all. Or did he? Saint Paul says he was glad to lose it all because when he lost it all, he gained Christ, which is more than everything. Everything Saul had worked for was earthly, temporary, leading to nothing, rubbish, garbage. And Paul couldn't care less about all that. He had Jesus, and that was worth giving up everything else worldly because Jesus is eternal. Right now, you might be striving for good grades, popularity among friends or co-workers, the right career, the right job, or any number of worldly honors. What Saint Paul wants for you more than anything, what God desires for you, is that you know Christ Jesus. Know Christ Jesus, crucified for the forgiveness of your sin; resurrected for your life into eternity. There is nothing else more important to know than Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  By His death and resurrection, Christ has made you His own. You are His, and He is yours. This is the free Gift of God for you. No more striving to earn your way upwards towards Him, if that was even some way possible. Christ Jesus has done it all for you and Gifts it to you through His Word and Sacraments. And one day, He’s coming back visibly for you, to make you eternally His in a new heaven and new earth that is surpassingly greater than anything you can imagine right now. So don’t worry if you lose it all in this life, as long as you have Chris Jesus, you have it all. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What is the world to me With all its vaunted pleasure When You, and You alone, Lord Jesus, are my treasure! You only, dearest Lord, My soul’s delight shall be; You are my peace, my rest. What is the world to me! (LSB 730:1) Rev. Daniel Voth, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND.

  3. 2 days ago

    Thursday of the Fourteenth Week After Trinity

    September 10, 2026 Today's Reading: Catechism: How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 9:1-13; 10:18-29; 2 Kings 13:1-18:8; Philippians 2:12-30 How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: “forgiveness of sins.” (Small Catechism - The Power of the Sacrament of the Altar) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. You eat, and a few hours later, you're hungry again. You listen to a teacher or boss tell you something, and 5 minutes later, you can’t remember what they said. This seems to be our normal course of life. When it comes to the things of God, suddenly it changes. When you come to the Lord’s table to eat of His body and drink of His blood, let’s be honest, physically, what you consume isn’t much. A small wafer and a sip of wine. That’s it. The reality is much greater than what your human eyes see and your senses experience. In that wafer of bread is the very body of Christ Jesus that hung dying on the cross for your forgiveness. In that wine is the very blood of Christ Jesus, poured out on the cross for your forgiveness. That is what Jesus says through the voice of your pastor. Jesus’ very Body and Blood, which you eat and drink, is “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus cannot lie, and so you have exactly what He says. So why both? Why can’t we just hear Jesus’ words, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” and skip the eating and drinking? Because our God works through means, through earthly, visible, tangible things. He does this in order that you might not doubt but believe. Your Lord puts His body into your body, puts His blood into you, so that you have no question who the “you” is of His statement. You have eaten of His body; you have sipped of His blood; His forgiveness is “for you” who have eaten and drunk believing Jesus so that you can experience what He promises: the forgiveness of all your sins. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We eat this bread and drink this cup, Your precious Word believing That Your true body and Your blood Our lips are here receiving. This Word remains forever true; All things are possible with You, For You are Lord Almighty. (LSB 622:4) Rev. Daniel Voth, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND.

  4. 3 days ago

    Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week After Trinity

    September 9, 2026 Today's Reading: 2 Kings 6:1-23 Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 6:1-23; 2 Kings 6:24-8:29; Philippians 1:21-2:11 “Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please strike this people with blindness.’ So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17-18) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. They were surrounded by a great army. The situation looked hopeless. But then, Elijah and his servant see that the army of God’s heavenly hosts was larger, burning with fire. Time for the holy angels to kick some butt! Then Elijah prays. He’s got heaven’s army all around him, ready to attack and defend the man of God, and he prays. Not “give me vengeance.” Not “let not one of these men make it home tonight.” But “blind them”. Come on! Really? These are the angels of heaven that fought against the great red dragon, Satan, and all his demonic horde in Revelation 12 and kicked him out of heaven. Surely they could have destroyed some puny humans. But NOOO! Elijah prays for blindness and a bit later restoration of sight. By the end of the account, all the soldiers are home, safe and sound. Talk about anticlimactic. This would not make a very good action movie. Elijah here stands as a picture of Jesus. Christ would be fully right to use His holy angels to smite you, to kill you, and send you to the depths of Hell with that red dragon. But in mercy, He prays on the cross, “Father, forgive them,” and because of His death, God does forgive you. All your sin is forgiven, and Christ Jesus takes you by the hand and leads you all the way home, to your eternal home with Him. As you travel with Christ through this wilderness on your way home, He sends His holy angels, that same fiery army Elijah saw, to guard and protect you, lest the evil foe have power over you and seduce you away from Christ Jesus. One day, you will see those holy angels who celebrated with great joy in heaven over your salvation as we all gather around the throne of God and the Lamb, Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Still let them aid us and still let them fight, Lord of angelic hosts, battling for right, Till, where their anthems they ceaselessly pour, We with the angels may bow and adore. (LSB 520:4) Rev. Daniel Voth, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND.

  5. 4 days ago

    Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week After Trinity

    September 8, 2026 Today's Reading: Galatians 5:16-24 Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 5:9-27; Philippians 1:1-20 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:19-23) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. An ancient Christian document, known as “The Didache,” begins, “There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways.” This well reflects what Saint Paul writes to us in Galatians. The works of the sinful flesh is the way of death, eternal death, separation from God. Those works of the flesh at first look tempting, enticing, maybe even fun. Yet every single one of them leads to death, to denying the good and holy Law of God, and leads us away from Christ Jesus. Every single one every time. But there is a different way, the way of life. This way is not based on your good works but on the good work of Christ Jesus, who gave His life as a sacrifice on the tree of the cross to forgive your sins, every single one, every time. The Way, as the earliest Christians were called, looked not to themselves but to Jesus for their salvation and entrance into the Kingdom of God.  In the waters of Holy Baptism, you have been washed clean of your sins, from the works of your flesh, and given a new, resurrected life as you were joined to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. This new life which He has gifted to you is Holy Spirit empowered to live in the way of life, to show forth in your daily life the fruits of the Holy Spirit, to walk in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These fruits don’t earn us any brownie points with God, our parents, or our pastor, but they are the thankful response to all that Christ Jesus has done for us. In joyful response to all Christ Jesus has done for us, we daily remember our Baptism, drown our old Adam who loves the works of the flesh and the way of death, and rise to new life empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk in His ways, the way of life in Christ Jesus, our Savior. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. O God of mercy, God of might, In love and pity infinite, Teach us, as ever in Thy sight, To live our lives in Thee. (LSB 852:1) Rev. Daniel Voth, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND.

  6. 5 days ago

    Monday of the Fourteenth Week After Trinity

    September 7, 2026 Today's Reading: Proverbs 4:10-23 Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 4:38-5:8; Ephesians 6:1-24 “Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.” (Proverbs 4:13) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Legos come with instructions. Furniture from IKEA comes with instructions. Your teacher gives you instructions. Your parents give you instructions. All these are very helpful to complete a task or tasks throughout life. Without them, you might still get the Legos built or figure out how to change your wiper blades, eventually. So when the author of Proverbs says, “Keep hold of instructions,” we might be tempted to think about some simple instructions for how to get things done, like building a bird house or baking a cake, or maybe how to have a good life with lots of friends and money and power and few enemies. But this instruction is so much more. We’re told not to let it go, not to lose it or let it slip through our fingers. We’re told to guard, to preserve it, not just some of it, but all of it,  because this is an instruction in your life. Not what keeps you breathing, but your eternal life, salvation in Christ Jesus. Instruction here is another way to say “all the teachings of the Scriptures”. Central to the teaching, all the instruction, is Jesus Christ, who gave His blood on the tree of the cross to forgive your sin and grant you life eternal with Him. This instruction is what you are or have been taught in catechesis classes and in the preaching of your pastor each Sunday. It is faith and knowledge of Christ Jesus crucified and resurrected for the forgiveness of all your sin. This instruction in Christ Jesus is your life, here in time, and for eternity. So guard it well. It should be held onto tighter than your phone. Guard it includes feeding it, regularly attending the Divine Service to hear the preaching of the Word, to be reminded that you are a baptized child of God, to receive the Absolution of all your sins, and to eat of Christ’s body and drink of His blood for the assurance that your sin is forgiven, eternal life, and salvation are yours. This instruction should be the single most important thing in your life that you guard and cling to always, because this instruction is nothing less than Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Lord, help us ever to retain The Catechism’s doctrine plain As Luther taught the Word of truth In simple style to tender youth. (LSB 865:1) Rev. Daniel Voth, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND.

  7. 6 days ago

    Fourteenth Sunday After Trinity

    September 6, 2026 Today's Reading: Luke 17:11-19 Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 4:8-22, 32-37; Ephesians 5:15-33 “Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.Then Jesus answered, ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’And he said to him, ‘Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.’” (Luke 17:15-19) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Ten are healed of their leprosy. One returns to the dwelling place of God with man, to Jesus, to give God praise for his healing. He gets much more than he expected, for at the conclusion of the encounter, Jesus declares, “Rise and go. Your faith has saved you.” “Made well” doesn’t capture what Jesus says very well. This leper was made well when he, along with the other 9, obeyed the word of the Lord and went to find a priest. This leper, on account of faith in Jesus, is saved. So here we can talk about objective justification, the theological term for Jesus paying the price of the sins of the whole world. Not one sin, not one sinner, has not been forgiven by Jesus’ sacrifice on the tree of the cross. For God so loved the world, all of it, every man and woman of all time and history and into the future, that He gave His only Son as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Just as all ten lepers were healed, so by the work of Jesus, the sin of the world is forgiven. Then comes subjective justification, which applies to the individual. This is the work of Jesus on the tree of the cross for you. It is the justification of the individual sinner before God on account of Christ Jesus. This is for God so loved insert your name here that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will be saved, that you will be saved. Of the 10 lepers, only one here is declared saved through faith in Jesus. This leads us to praise God where Jesus is found, in His Word and Sacraments, at church. We go to the place Jesus has promised He will be so that we can praise Him, sing Him our thanks, and glorify His name for His work to forgive us, give us life and salvation, to join the Samaritan leper at Jesus’ feet in reverent thanksgiving for all His Gifts to us. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. O be our great deliv’rer still, The Lord of life and death; Restore and quicken, soothe and bless, With Your life-giving breath. (LSB 846:3) Rev. Daniel Voth, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND.

  8. 5 Sept

    Saturday of the Thirteenth Week After Trinity

    September 5, 2026 Today's Reading: Introit for Trinity 14 - Psalm 84:1-2a, 4, 10b, 11b; antiphon: Psalm 84:9-10a Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 2:19-25; 4:1-7; Ephesians 4:25-5:14 “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:10) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Fancy hotels and apartments have doormen. These are the guys who stand all day outside, rain or shine, who open the doors for guests, who carry their bags and supplies, and who keep out troublemakers. Doormen don’t get to enjoy the fancy dinners at those hotels put on for paying guests. Doormen are almost never invited to stay for lunch with one of the apartment residents. They just stand at the door. They just welcome those who are invited, and block the way of those who would bring shame to the place. It is better to be a doorman in the house of God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. He who would be everything, makes himself nothing. For in the kingdom of God, it is the last who are first and the first who are last. Everything is backwards and flipped upside down. Therefore, the doorman at God’s house is better than the owner of the wicked tent. The servant is better than the master. The one who eats a scrap from God’s kitchen is better than those who feast apart from Him. We see this with Jesus, who is the ultimate doorman of God’s Kingdom. He who is God’s Son and heir puts Himself at the door. He opens the way into God’s house by His death for our sins. Thus, heaven is opened and hell is closed for all who believe and continue in faith. The way to God’s house has been opened for you, and all by Christ, heaven’s ultimate doorman. Simply believe this, and you are God’s guest, those who get to come into His house and feast at His banquet.  Jesus also carries all your burdens. You can bring to God your burdens by prayers. When you do, Jesus shoulders these burdens. He lifts you up when you are weighed down. He knows your sorrows and hurts, bearing those as well. All so that you might not be crushed under their heavy weights. Finally, Jesus keeps out the riffraff. Those who will not believe in Jesus’ salvation cannot enter heaven’s gates. They cannot pass through the door into God’s house of blessing. It’s not that God doesn’t want unbelievers to be saved. God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. But it depends on faith in Christ, and not by our works. To those who do not believe, Jesus calls them to repent and believe in His Word and salvation. That way, they might no longer be riffraff, but God’s children, thus able to come into God’s house by faith, too. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. By Your blood, the door is open, That which leads to heavenly bliss. Guard and keep us, Lord, forever, In the faith that gives us this. (original poem) Rev. Robert Mayes, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church and Zion St. John Lutheran Church, Beemer and Wisner, NE.

See All (2k)

About

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

Information

  • Channel
    Higher Things
  • Creator
    Higher Things, Inc.
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    2k
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2021 Higher Things®
  • Show Website
    Reflections

More From Higher Things