Saint Louis, Missouri, United States - Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Faithful unto Death" Thursday, 29 May 2014 (Jesus said) "Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life."(Revelation 2:10)
Meriam Ibrahim is a name you may want to remember, and you may
also want to remember her in your prayers. A resident of the Sudan but the wife of an American citizen, Ibrahim has refused to renounce her faith in the Savior. Because of her faithfulness she has been sentenced to death by hanging. True, the court has shown her some mercy. Judge Khalifa has decreed Ibrahim can give birth and nurse her baby before she is hanged.
Oh, I forgot Ibrahim was also sentenced to receive 100 lashes right now because she had relations with her Christian husband. Under Sharia law that's adultery and isn't allowed. Ibrahim also isn't allowed to marry anybody outside the Muslim faith; nor is she allowed to convert to any other religion.
Now there are two things to remember here:
1. Ibrahim never was a Muslim. Her father, a Muslim man, deserted the family when she was very young. She was raised by her mother, a Christian; that is the only faith she has ever known.
2. To avoid the death penalty and be restored to society, all Ibrahim has to do is renounce Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord. This she has refused to do.
When the apostle John was instructed to write to the church in Smyrna, he was given these words: "Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life."
When Revelation was written, there was no prophet Muhammad, there was no Sharia law, and there was no Islam faith. Still, in every generation the devil raises up those powers that will, through threat, intimidation and violence, try to separate sinners from their beloved Savior. Today, John's words are incredibly applicable for Ibrahim and for many other believers around the world.
Even as we give thanks for religious freedom in our nation, let us remember those for whom following the Savior is incredibly costly. By God's grace and the Holy Spirit's power, may they cling to Christ and make a wonderful witness to the world.
If the Lord wills, may they all be delivered from such unjust persecution. Until then, may they, like Paul, be able to say, "as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:20-21).
THE PRAYER: Lord of the nations, today we ask that You will strengthen and keep secure all who are suffering for their Redeemer, who gave His life so they might have life. If possible, may this cup of suffering pass from them. If not, may Your will be done and their witness touch others with the hope and power that comes from knowing Jesus as Lord. In His Name we pray it. 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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Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Psalms 27: By David.
1 Yahweh is my light and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?
Yahweh is the strength of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh,
even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army should encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear.
Though war should rise against me,
even then I will be confident.
4 One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after,
that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life,
to see Yahweh’s beauty,
and to inquire in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in his pavilion.
In the covert of his tabernacle he will hide me.
He will lift me up on a rock.
6 Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me.
I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tent.
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh.
7 Hear, Yahweh, when I cry with my voice.
Have mercy also on me, and answer me.
8 When you said, “Seek my face,”
my heart said to you, “I will seek your face, Yahweh.”
9 Don’t hide your face from me.
Don’t put your servant away in anger.
You have been my help.
Don’t abandon me,
neither forsake me, God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me,
then Yahweh will take me up.
11 Teach me your way, Yahweh.
Lead me in a straight path, because of my enemies.
12 Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.
14 Wait for Yahweh.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage.
Yes, wait for Yahweh.
28: By David.
1 To you, Yahweh, I call.
My rock, don’t be deaf to me;
lest, if you are silent to me,
I would become like those who go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my petitions, when I cry to you,
when I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Don’t draw me away with the wicked,
with the workers of iniquity who speak peace with their neighbors,
but mischief is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings.
Give them according to the operation of their hands.
Bring back on them what they deserve.
5 Because they don’t respect the works of Yahweh,
nor the operation of his hands,
he will break them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be Yahweh,
because he has heard the voice of my petitions.
7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield.
My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped.
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices.
With my song I will thank him.
8 Yahweh is their strength.
He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save your people,
and bless your inheritance.
Be their shepherd also,
and bear them up forever.
29: A Psalm by David.
1 Ascribe to Yahweh, you sons of the mighty,
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name.
Worship Yahweh in holy array.
3 Yahweh’s voice is on the waters.
The God of glory thunders, even Yahweh on many waters.
4 Yahweh’s voice is powerful.
Yahweh’s voice is full of majesty.
5 Yahweh’s voice breaks the cedars.
Yes, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them also to skip like a calf;
Lebanon and Sirion like a young, wild ox.
7 Yahweh’s voice strikes with flashes of lightning.
8 Yahweh’s voice shakes the wilderness.
Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 Yahweh’s voice makes the deer calve,
and strips the forests bare.
In his temple everything says, “Glory!”
10 Yahweh sat enthroned at the Flood.
Yes, Yahweh sits as King forever.
11 Yahweh will give strength to his people.
Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha. 2 It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, “Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick.” 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God’s Son may be glorified by it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let’s go into Judea again.”
8 The disciples told him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.” 11 He said these things, and after that, he said to them, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep.”
12 The disciples therefore said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep. 14 So Jesus said to them plainly then, “Lazarus is dead. 15 I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let’s go to him.”
16 Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus,[a] said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go also, that we may die with him.”
17 So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia[b] away. 19 Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Then when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21 Therefore Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. 26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, “The Teacher is here, and is calling you.”
29 When she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him.
Footnotes:
a. John 11:16 “Didymus” means “Twin”.
b. John 11:18 15 stadia is about 2.8 kilometers or 1.7 miles
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