Lutheran Devotional 17th August 2025, Sunday Message
TOPIC: God Has Spoken by His Prophets
“God is speaking by His Spirit, Speaking to our hearts again, In the ageless Word declaring His own message, now as then. Through the rise and fall of nations. One sure faith yet standing fast; God abides, His Word unchanging; God the first, and God the last.”
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“By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host” (Psalm 33:6).
After that, the words from God continued. He spoke to the people He created and loved. God spoke with Adam and Eve in Eden, but after they disobeyed Him, they did not want to hear His voice and hid from Him. God confronted them with words of judgment and gave them words of promise and hope. God spoke to Abraham and made a covenant with him, that through one of Abraham’s descendants, all the families on earth would be blessed. God kept talking. He spoke to Moses, Scripture tells us, as a man speaks to a friend. God spoke through His prophets and promised to send His Anointed One, Jesus the Messiah. Again and again in the Old Testament, the phrase rings out: “Thus says the Lord!”
When the time was right, God spoke through His Son, as the writer to the Hebrews explains, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2a). The Word of God, the eternal Word who was and is God, took on human flesh to be born among us. Through His words and mighty works, Jesus the Word proclaimed the kingdom of God. When Jesus was transfigured in glory, the Father testified to His beloved Son, telling the disciples, “Listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5b). As sinful human beings, we do not always listen as we should. We turn away from God’s will to walk in our own self-centered ways. Jesus, the Word made flesh, died on the cross to atone for our sins. Then, with the words that broke the silence of the first Easter morning, an angel announced the good news: “He is risen!” Death is defeated. Our sins are forgiven. Thus says the Lord!
God still speaks to us in Holy Scripture, “in the ageless Word declaring His own message, now as then.” The apostle Paul reminds us, “’The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)” (Romans 10:8b). God, who speaks to us in His Word, very appropriately uses the alphabet to describe Himself. He is the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, the A to Z of our faith and life. He is everything to us and at every opportunity we eagerly hear and read His ageless, unchanging Word.
WE PRAY: Lord God, I love to hear You speaking in Your holy Word. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, “God Has Spoken by His Prophets,” which is number 583 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
- How does God speak to us today?
- Where’s the surest place we can find God communicating to us?
- Do you find time each day to commune with God? How would setting a specific time each day help to do that?
Today’s Readings:
