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06/08/2026

God Pause
A daily devotion brought to you by the alumni of Luther Seminary

Monday, June 8, 2026
Exodus 19:2-8a (NRSV)
Read Exodus 19:2-8a on biblegateway.com

Verse2They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Verse3Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: Verse4You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Verse5Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, Verse6but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites." Verse7So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. Verse8The people all answered as one: "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do." Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.

Devotion
The Promised Land; release from captivity; a wilderness of uncertainty. What do we emphasize in the Exodus story? Today’s reading points to God’s action and God’s purpose. While we must be very careful how we claim parallels in, or precedents from, the past, we who live in the United States might ask if there is anything we should learn as we prepare to celebrate fundamental events of our nation’s origins.

History shows it is one thing to be rid of an oppressive ruler. It is so much harder, then to establish true freedom. Our reading suggests that honoring a covenant is necessary to create and preserve such a nation. The Creator of the Universe set an enslaved people free so that they could become a people, a nation governed by God’s intent for the good of all. It is one thing to celebrate a claim to independence. It is another to continue to “form a more perfect union.”

Prayer
Thank you, O God, for the gift of your covenant. Open our hearts, transform our wills so that your law guides our work for the common good. Amen.

Paul H. Moessner ’04 D.Min.

06/08/2026

06/07/2026

God Pause
A daily devotion brought to you by the alumni of Luther Seminary

Sunday, June 7, 2026
There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 588, focus on verses 3 and 4)
1 There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in God’s justice
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heav’n.
There is no place where earth’s failings
have such kindly judgment giv’n.

2 There is welcome for the sinner,
and a promised grace made good;
there is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.
There is grace enough for thousands
of new worlds as great as this;
there is room for fresh creations
in that upper home of bliss.

3 For the love of God is broader
than the measures of the mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
But we make this love too narrow
by false limits of our own;
and we magnify its strictness
with a zeal God will not own.

4 ‘Tis not all we owe to Jesus;
it is something more than all:
greater good because of evil,
larger mercy through the fall.
Make our love, O God, more faithful;
let us take you at your word,
and our lives will be thanksgiving
for the goodness of the Lord.

Text: Frederick W. Faber; Music: North American; Public Domain

Devotion
“For the love of God is broader than the measures of our mind,” the hymn proclaims. And yet, way more often than we’d like to admit, we struggle to believe it. Not because God’s love is lacking or finite, but because we place bounds around it—quietly, subtly, sometimes without even realizing it. We draw lines around who belongs and who does not. We magnify the requirements and restrictions while minimizing grace. We make God’s love smaller than it truly is.

But God’s love is not confined by our categories. It is wider, deeper, and more generous than we can fathom. The invitation before us is not just to believe in that love, but to live it—to “take God at God’s word” and allow our lives to reflect that same mercy and kindness. When we begin to trust the wideness of God’s love, our lives become something more: a living response of gratitude for the goodness of the Lord.

Prayer
Expansive God, open our eyes to see beyond the limits we place around your love. Your love is deeper and wider than we can comprehend. Help us not only to receive this love, but to live it out with our whole lives. Amen.

Rev. Gabriella Conklin ’21 M.Div.
Pastor, First Lutheran Church, Edinburg, TX

06/06/2026

God Pause
A daily devotion brought to you by the alumni of Luther Seminary

Saturday, June 6, 2026
There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 588, focus on verses 1 and 2)
1 There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in God’s justice
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heav’n.
There is no place where earth’s failings
have such kindly judgment giv’n.

2 There is welcome for the sinner,
and a promised grace made good;
there is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.
There is grace enough for thousands
of new worlds as great as this;
there is room for fresh creations
in that upper home of bliss.

3 For the love of God is broader
than the measures of the mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
But we make this love too narrow
by false limits of our own;
and we magnify its strictness
with a zeal God will not own.

4 ‘Tis not all we owe to Jesus;
it is something more than all:
greater good because of evil,
larger mercy through the fall.
Make our love, O God, more faithful;
let us take you at your word,
and our lives will be thanksgiving
for the goodness of the Lord.

Text: Frederick W. Faber; Music: North American; Public Domain

Devotion
It is tempting to think of mercy as something that has limits—something that needs to be measured out carefully. Some of us may even wonder if there is enough grace for us, or if we have somehow gone too far to receive it.

This hymn reminds us that the idea of limited grace and mercy couldn’t be further from the truth. There is a wideness in God’s mercy, “like the wideness of the sea.” It is not small or scarce, but expansive beyond what we can imagine. There is welcome for the sinner, healing found in Christ, and grace enough not just for a few, but for “thousands of new worlds.” There is room, more room than we tend to believe.

God’s mercy is not something we must compete for or prove ourselves worthy of. It is already given and given abundantly. Today, we are invited to trust in the wideness of God’s mercy—to receive it for ourselves, and to believe that there is more than enough to go around.

Prayer
Limitless God, daily remind us that your mercy and grace know no bounds. We are never out of the reach of your love and care. Help us to hold on to those reminders and trust deeply in your wideness. Amen.

Rev. Gabriella Conklin ’21 M.Div.
Pastor, First Lutheran Church, Edinburg, TX

06/05/2026

God Pause
A daily devotion brought to you by the alumni of Luther Seminary

Friday, June 5, 2026
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 on biblegateway.com

Verse9As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. Verse10And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. Verse11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Verse12But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Verse13Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."

Verse18While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." Verse19And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Verse20Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, Verse21for she said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well." Verse22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well. Verse23When Jesus came to the leader's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Verse24he said, "Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. Verse25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Verse26And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Devotion
In Matthew 9:18-26, two people come to Jesus out of their desperation, having nothing else to lose. One, a leader who thinks, maybe, just maybe, Jesus could raise his little girl, and the other a woman who has known suffering for twelve long years. They do not come before Jesus with certainty. They come because they have nowhere else to go, no other options.

And Jesus responds with compassion, meeting them where they are. He is quick to extend his healing power to them, restoring what once seemed lost. Jesus does not leave them untouched in their desperation and pain but answers their faithful reach with wholeness.

Faith is not about clarity or certainty, as we well know, but about simply reaching out to Christ who is merciful and full of grace. As we witness the leader and woman reaching out in faith, we are invited to trust that even at the end of our options, Jesus is still at work.

Prayer
Compassionate God, we come before you today as our most authentic, vulnerable selves, with heavy burdens on our hearts. Maybe some of us have run out of options and we have nothing left to lose. Give us the courage to reach out in faith to you, trusting that you meet us there in our pain and despair. Amen.

Rev. Gabriella Conklin ’21 M.Div.
Pastor, First Lutheran Church, Edinburg, TX

Interested in digging deeper into today’s text?
Read more here.