Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries "Going out in Style" Thursday, 20 February 2014 & "Am I Included?" Friday, 21 February 2014

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries "Going out in Style" Thursday, 20 February 2014 & "Am I Included?" Friday, 21 February 2014
For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.~~1 Timothy 6:7
At the age of 13, Billy Standley was a ranch hand and a rodeo rider. 
Things changed a lot for Standley over the years. His daughter describes him as "gruff, but his heart was as big as all outdoors." Standley's three other children agree that he loved them and raised them as well as anyone could.
That being said, when Standley died a few weeks ago, his children were more than ready to help him fulfill his final request: to be buried riding his 1967 Harley Davidson Electra Glide motorcycle. Understand, this was not a last-minute quirk or flight of fancy. Standley had been planning his departure for more than 18 years. The process began when he bought three extra grave plots next to his deceased wife.
The plan continued with his sons fashioning his see-through casket of steel-reinforced Plexiglas. When Standley ultimately succumbed to lung cancer, the services of five funeral directors were employed to make sure that, in the years to come, Standley would remain astride his beloved chopper.
Standley is not alone in his desire to meet his Maker in style.
The pharaohs of Egypt built the pyramids for the same reason. Other rich and powerful personages throughout history have done the same. In our own age, we see people buying cemetery plots so they can have a good view when they're gone, and others purchase caskets with inner-spring mattresses, so they can be comfortable in the afterlife.
People can do what they want and be buried any way they wish, but Scripture is clear: we brought nothing into the world and we can't take anything out.
At the moment when there are no more days on our personal calendars, on that day when we breathe our last, there is only one thing which is going to have any serious and lasting value: did we have faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and personal Savior from sin?
If we trusted in the Christ as our Redeemer, then, by His merit, the joys of heaven will be eternally ours. On the other hand, without the cleansing blood of the Lord, we will remain in our sins and everlasting suffering will be our lot.
I can only hope that amongst the many things Standley did to plan for his worldly departure, Jesus was high on his list. Of course, neither I, nor you, nor anybody can do anything to change where Standley has ended up.
But we can do our best to make sure that everybody else we know enters heaven because they have been given faith in the Christ.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for Your plan which has, through Jesus' sacrifice, given me life eternal. Now, please use me to encourage others to have faith in Jesus who makes His people really ready for their earthly ending. In Jesus' Name. Amen. 
In Christ I remain His servant and yours, 
Pastor Ken Klaus 
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour® 
Lutheran Hour Ministries
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Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries "Am I Included?" Friday, 21 February 2014
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.~~Acts 4:12
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: 
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our International Ministry Centers to write our Friday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.
In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
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This is a story of a woman who has been saved through faith in Christ: a woman who is now a member of the Dabala Junction Lutheran Preaching Station. She tells her story this way.
"I was introduced to three different types of idols by one of my uncles when I was young.
Back then I was made to understand that these idols were the ones who were ruling the heavens, the earth, and everything in it. To me it was entirely natural that I revered these idols. For me, any other religion or philosophy was unacceptable if these idols were not incorporated in that belief.
There is, however, something I noticed about these idols. They were very unforgiving. Anytime I offended one of their numerous instructions, they punished me severely and asked that I offer a lot of sacrifices including goats, sheep, chicken or dogs.
Sometimes, my farm produce would not yield properly. What was most serious for me is that my children would sometimes fall sick. Then, on a terrible day, my youngest child died. I was told this happened because I had offended one of these idols.
All that changed when David, an evangelist from the Dabala Junction Preaching Station, visited me at my house and shared the message of salvation with me. He told me that 'God loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us.'
I was surprised. All I had ever been told was one of my children had died to atone for the wrong I had done to the idols.
David's statement really kept me pondering and wondering. I then asked if I was also included among the ones God's Son had come to die for. Without hesitation David replied, 'Yes you are. Renounce your idols and believe on God's Son, Jesus Christ and you will be saved.'
After restless nights of pondering over the message, I invited David to come along with his pastor to lead me to Christ as my Savior.
Since then, I have felt an unexplainable sense of freedom and peace in my life. I later was baptized and I am now a member of the Dabala Junction Lutheran Preaching Station. The only Savior I know now is Jesus Christ. By following Him I have been given peace and salvation.
"It is my prayer that you also can say the same thing. I pray it for I know that you are also one of God's redeemed children."
THE PRAYER: Dear God, thank You very much for sending Your Son Jesus to die for us. I thank You for making me part of the many who have been saved by His death. I ask that You help me to also love my neighbors and share the good news to all so that many would come to faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Biography of Author: Today's International Devotion was written by Reverend Daniel Kofi Arkoh who is LHM's Regional Coordinator for the Volta Region in Ghana. In this capacity he does personal evangelism and visitation; he distributes our free Bible Course. Most importantly he connects others to the mission and ministry of the church. Known locally as Lutheran Media Ministry, it has its headquarters in Accra and was established in 1993. Using Equipping the Saints (ETS), LHM-Ghana conducts performing arts dramas, engages in children's ministries and reaches out to prisoners by supplying them food, Christian literature and clothing.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhmint.org.
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In Christ I remain His servant and yours, 
Pastor Ken Klaus 
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour® 
Lutheran Hour Ministries
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