SEPTEMBER 28, 2025

  “‎What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and work flow.” 

― Martin Luther

ISAIAH 13-15

13You said in your heart,

“I will ascend to the heavens;

I will raise my throne

above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,

on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.^b

14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.”

15But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,

to the depths of the pit.(14:13-15)

GALATIANS 6

1Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5for each one should carry their own load. 6Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

JOURNAL 

That truth, of Martin Luther points me toward the holiness of the in-between space, the space between what happens to us and how we choose to respond. So often, life comes at us fast: hurtful words, unexpected news, failures, or temptations. In Isaiah 14, we see what happens when pride dictates the response: “I will ascend… I will make myself like the Most High” (vv.13–14). That space becomes filled with self, and the result is a fall into the pit (v.15).

But the gospel invites us to inhabit that space differently. Galatians 6 calls us to carry one another’s burdens, not react with pride or selfishness, but with gentleness, humility, and compassion. In that pause, that breath between wound and reply, God’s Spirit has room to work. It is in that holy space that my fleshly desire to defend, to lash out, or to despair can be transformed into patience, love, and faithfulness.

Jesus Himself showed us this pattern. In Matthew 28, His commissioning begins with His declaration: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (v.18). Even in the face of rejection and suffering, His response was to send His disciples out with hope, not bitterness. The space between the cross and the resurrection, the silence of Saturday...became the holiest space of all, changing history forever.

The more I learn to seek God in that space, the more I see it is not empty, it is sacred. It is where God whispers wisdom, where burdens are carried, where pride dies, and where love is born. That space changes everything. If I fill it with self, I reap destruction. If I fill it with the Spirit, I reap life (Galatians 6:8).

So today I pray: Lord, give me the grace to pause. Teach me to see that the space between what happens and how I respond is holy ground. Let me not rush past it, but enter it with You, so that my response becomes not mine alone, but Yours living through me.

 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

MATTHEW 28:18-20