Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran HourSaint Louis, Missouri, United States "Of Prime Importance" fo Saturday, 10 January 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran HourSaint Louis, Missouri, United States "Of Prime Importance" fo Saturday, 10 January 2015 

And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.[2 Corinthians 4:3-6]

Years ago a huge crowd gathered in the street outside a hotel in Glasgow, Scotland. The noisy, celebrative crowd had come together to show its appreciation to its victorious soccer team.
During the celebration, a quiet, little man slipped into the hotel, unheralded and unacknowledged.
The man went unnoticed because, quite frankly, nobody knew his face, and most people wouldn't have recognized his name. In short, that man didn't mean a thing to the crowd.
That was sad because this man had saved the lives of more than a few individuals in that great group.
In 1945 the man had won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. This prestigious award had been given to Sir Alexander Fleming because as a combination biologist, pharmacologist and botanist he had been able to identify the antibiotic properties of penicillin. Sadly, the crowd saw only a soccer team, not the man who was responsible for having saved so many of its lives.
You know, it's a sad thing when people overlook the wonderful things of life and concentrate on that which is insignificant or unimportant. It's tragic when people see this globe's glitter and glamour and overlook God's great grace. Look around and you will see many of our friends and neighbors getting caught up in this world's fluff and foolishness.
At the same time, their eyes are blinded to the wonders of God's love, the sacrifice of the Savior, and the ongoing guidance of the Holy Spirit. The divine gifts which have been won at the cost of Jesus' life are passed over as inconsequential.
It is my prayer your life and focus are different.
By the Holy Spirit's power, look at Jesus. Let your eyes be lifted from the unimportant and see the great thing that the Lord has done for you. Focus on the Christ who has saved you, your soul, your family, your friends, from the fires of eternal agony and anguish.
Let the Lord lift your hearts from that which seems important and show you something better -- Someone far more important and worthy of our attention and veneration.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, forgive me for those times when the things of this world seem to be of prime importance. May I always acknowledge the greatness of Your love and the sacrifice of my Savior. Send Your Holy Spirit upon me so that my priorities may be right and proper. This I ask in the Savior's Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour^®
Lutheran Hour Ministries

Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Job 3: Job’s First Speech
Blot Out the Day of My Birth
1 Finally, Job cursed the day
of his birth
2     by saying to God:
3 Blot out the day of my birth
and the night when my parents
    created a son.
4 Forget about that day,
    cover it with darkness,
5 and send thick, gloomy shadows
    to fill it with dread.
6 Erase that night from the calendar
    and conceal it with darkness.
7 Don’t let children be created
or joyful shouts be heard
    ever again in that night.
8 Let those with magic powers[a]
    place a curse on that day.
9 Darken its morning stars
    and remove all hope of light,
10 because it let me be born
    into a world of trouble.
Why Didn’t I Die at Birth?
11 Why didn’t I die at birth?
12     Why was I accepted[b]
    and allowed to nurse
    at my mother’s breast?
13 Now I would be at peace
    in the silent world below
14 with kings and their advisors
    whose palaces lie in ruins,
15 and with rulers once rich
    with silver and gold.
16 I wish I had been born dead
and then buried,
never to see
    the light of day.
17 In the world of the dead,
the wicked and the weary rest
    without a worry.
18 Everyone is there—
19 where captives and slaves
    are free at last.
Why Does God Let Me Live?
20 Why does God let me live
when life is miserable
    and so bitter?
21 I keep longing for death
more than I would seek
    a valuable treasure.
22 Nothing could make me happier
    than to be in the grave.
23 Why do I go on living
when God has me surrounded,
    and I can’t see the road?
24 Moaning and groaning
    are my food and drink,
25 and my worst fears
    have all come true.
26 I have no peace or rest—
    only troubles and worries.
Eliphaz’s First Speech
Please Be Patient and Listen
4:1 Eliphaz from Teman[c] said:
2 Please be patient and listen
    to what I have to say.
3 Remember how your words
4 have guided and encouraged
    many in need.
5 But now you feel discouraged
    when struck by trouble.
6 You respect God and live right,
    so don’t lose hope!
7 No truly innocent person
    has ever died young.
8 In my experience, only those
who plant seeds of evil
    harvest trouble,
9 and then they are swept away
    by the angry breath of God.
10 They may roar and growl
    like powerful lions.
But when God breaks their teeth,
11 they starve,
and their children
    are scattered.
A Secret Was Told to Me
12 A secret was told to me
    in a faint whisper—
13 I was overcome by sleep,
    but disturbed by dreams;
14 I trembled with fear,
15 and my hair stood on end,
    as a wind blew past my face.
16 It stopped and stood still.
Then a form appeared—
    a shapeless form.
And from the silence,
    I heard a voice say,
17 “No humans are innocent
in the eyes of God
    their Creator.
18 He finds fault with his servants
    and even with his angels.
19 Humans are formed from clay
and are fragile as moths,
    so what chance do you have?
20 Born after daybreak,
you die before nightfall
    and disappear forever.
21 Your tent pegs are pulled up,
and you leave this life,
    having gained no wisdom.”
[Footnotes:
3.8 those with magic powers: The Hebrew text has “those who can place a curse on the day and rouse up Leviathan,” which was some kind of sea monster. God’s victory over this monster sometimes stood for God’s power over all creation and sometimes for his defeat of his enemies (see Isaiah 27.1). In Job 41.1, Leviathan is either a sea monster or a crocodile with almost supernatural powers.
3.12 Why was I accepted: The Hebrew text has “Why were there knees to receive me,” which may refer either to Job’s mother or to his father, who would have placed Job on his knees to show that he had accepted him as his child.
4.1 Teman: See the note at 2.11.]
Matthew 8: Jesus Heals a Man
1 As Jesus came down the mountain, he was followed by large crowds. 2 Suddenly a man with leprosy[a] came and knelt in front of Jesus. He said, “Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”
3 Jesus put his hand on the man and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” At once the man’s leprosy disappeared. 4 Jesus told him, “Don’t tell anyone about this, but go and show the priest that you are well. Then take a gift to the temple just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed.”[b]
Jesus Heals an Army Officer’s Servant
5 When Jesus was going into the town of Capernaum, an army officer came up to him and said, 6 “Lord, my servant is at home in such terrible pain that he can’t even move.”
7 “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied.
8 But the officer said, “Lord, I’m not good enough for you to come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 9 I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I can say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I can say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he will do it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised that he turned and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you that in all of Israel I’ve never found anyone with this much faith! 11 Many people will come from everywhere to enjoy the feast in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 12 But the ones who should have been in the kingdom will be thrown out into the dark. They will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”
13 Then Jesus said to the officer, “You may go home now. Your faith has made it happen.”
Right then his servant was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
14 Jesus went to the home of Peter, where he found that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever. 15 He took her by the hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and served Jesus a meal.
16 That evening many people with demons in them were brought to Jesus. And with only a word he forced out the evil spirits and healed everyone who was sick. 17 So God’s promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,
“He healed our diseases
    and made us well.”
[Footnotes:
8.2 leprosy: In biblical times the word “leprosy” was used for many different kinds of skin diseases.
8.4 everyone will know that you have been healed: People with leprosy had to be examined by a priest and told that they were well (that is “clean”) before they could once again live a normal life in the Jewish community. The gift that Moses commanded was the sacrifice of some lambs together with flour mixed with olive oil.]
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660 Mason Ridge Center Dr.
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1(800)876-9880

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