Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour - Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "The Only Path to Life" for Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour - Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "The Only Path to Life" for Tuesday, 27 January 2015

You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore[Psalms 16:11]

About a week or two ago, the alarms at the International Space Station went off.
Sensors said there was a "leak of harmful substances from the cooling system." Every test seemed to be indicating ammonia gas was entering the U.S. module.
Immediately, the crew followed the only option which was open to them: they beat a retreat into the Russian compartment and sealed off the U.S. section of the Space Station.
It took a bit of time, but eventually the experts on the ground managed to figure things out and sent up instructions to the space crew on how they could clean things up. Thankfully, the danger hadn't been as bad as everyone had first thought.
Still, I wondered what thoughts raced through the minds of those astronauts as they huddled together in the small space of the Russian compartment. How did they feel?
Were they bitter about the fact that, with death being all around them, they had been forced to take the only path which could lead them to safety? Were they upset by the fact they had been forced to entrust themselves to the only place which could shelter and save them?
Or is it possible they gave thanks for that special path and their life-giving location?
You know, my friends, the same questions could be asked about how we feel about the salvation God has given us in His Son, Jesus. Because of divine grace Jesus came into this world to live for us, suffer for us, die for us, and rise for us.
He has become the Person, the Path, the Place who saves us; there is no one else.
Once again, the question is, "How does that make you feel?"
There are many who think God is being unfair by offering humanity only one way to heaven. There are others who think God's actions come from a cruel Dictator and not a loving Lord. How does salvation through Jesus alone make you feel?
I pray you may join with the psalmist, and with a grateful, thankful heart, say, "(In Jesus) You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore."
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks You have provided a Savior who is the Person who has won forgiveness for me. I rejoice that He is the Path from earth to heaven. I am incredibly grateful that in Him I will always be safe. For these great gifts of grace and love I offer up unceasing praise. In Jesus' 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:
Genesis 25-26Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Abraham Marries Keturah
1 Abraham married Keturah, 2 and they had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Later, Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan, and when Dedan grew up, he had three sons: Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 Midian also had five sons: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.
5-6 While Abraham was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of Hagar and Keturah. He also sent their sons to live in the east far from his son Isaac, and when Abraham died, he left everything to Isaac.
The Death of Abraham
7-8 Abraham died at the ripe old age of one hundred seventy-five. 9-10 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him east of Hebron[a] in Machpelah Cave that was part of the field Abraham had bought from Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. Abraham was buried there beside his wife Sarah. 11 God blessed Isaac after this, and Isaac moved to a place called “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”[b]
Ishmael’s Descendants
12 Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the slave woman of Sarah. 13 Ishmael had twelve sons, in this order: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 Each of Ishmael’s sons was a tribal chief, and a village was named after each of them.
17-18 Ishmael had settled in the land east of his brothers, and his sons[c] settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt on the way to Asshur.[d] Ishmael was one hundred thirty-seven when he died.
The Birth of Esau and Jacob
19 Isaac was the son of Abraham, 20 and he was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel. She was also the sister of Laban, the Aramean from northern Syria.[e]
Almost twenty years later, 21 Rebekah still had no children. So Isaac asked the Lord to let her have a child, and the Lord answered his prayer.
22 Before Rebekah gave birth, she knew she was going to have twins, because she could feel them inside her, fighting each other. She thought, “Why is this happening to me?” Finally, she asked the Lord why her twins were fighting, 23 and he told her:
“Your two sons will become
    two separate nations.[f]
The younger of the two
    will be stronger,
and the older son
    will be his servant.”
24 When Rebekah gave birth, 25 the first baby was covered with red hair, so he was named Esau.[g] 26 The second baby grabbed on to his brother’s heel, so they named him Jacob.[h] Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
Esau Sells His Rights as the First-Born Son
27 As Jacob and Esau grew older, Esau liked the outdoors and became a good hunter, while Jacob settled down and became a shepherd. 28 Esau would take the meat of wild animals to his father Isaac, and so Isaac loved him more, but Jacob was his mother’s favorite son.
29 One day, Jacob was cooking some stew, when Esau came home hungry 30 and said, “I’m starving to death! Give me some of that red stew right now!” That’s how Esau got the name “Edom.”[i]
31 Jacob replied, “Sell me your rights as the first-born son.”[j]
32 “I’m about to die,” Esau answered. “What good will those rights do me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Promise me your birthrights, here and now!” And that’s what Esau did. 34 Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew, and when Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the first-born.
Isaac and Abimelech
26:1 Once during Abraham’s lifetime, the fields had not produced enough grain, and now the same thing happened. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in the land of Gerar, 2 because the Lord had appeared to Isaac and said:
Isaac, stay away from Egypt! I will show you where I want you to go. 3 You will live there as a foreigner, but I will be with you and bless you. I will keep my promise to your father Abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants.
4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth,[k] 5 because Abraham did everything I told him to do.
6 Isaac moved to Gerar 7 with his beautiful wife Rebekah. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her, and so he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister. 8 After Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech looked out a window and saw Isaac hugging and kissing Rebekah. 9 Abimelech called him in and said, “Rebekah must be your wife! Why did you say she is your sister?”
“Because I thought someone would kill me,” Isaac answered.
10 “Don’t you know what you’ve done?” Abimelech exclaimed. “If someone had slept with her, you would have made our whole nation guilty!” 11 Then Abimelech warned his people that anyone who even touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death.
12 Isaac planted grain and had a good harvest that same year. The Lord blessed him, 13 and Isaac was so successful that he became very rich. 14 In fact, the Philistines were jealous of the large number of sheep, goats, and slaves that Isaac owned, 15 and they stopped up the wells that Abraham’s servants had dug before his death. 16 Finally, Abimelech said, “Isaac, I want you to leave our country. You have become too powerful to stay here.”
17 Isaac left and settled in Gerar Valley, 18 where he cleaned out those wells that the Philistines had stopped up. Isaac also gave each of the wells the same name[l] that Abraham had given to them. 19 While his servants were digging in the valley, they found a spring-fed well. 20 But the shepherds of Gerar Valley quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds and claimed the water belonged to them. So the well was named “Quarrel,” because they had quarreled with Isaac.
21 Isaac’s servants dug another well, and the shepherds also quarreled about it. So that well was named “Jealous.” 22 Finally, they dug one more well. There was no quarreling this time, and the well was named “Lots of Room,” because the Lord had given them room and would make them very successful.
23 Isaac went on to Beersheba, 24 where the Lord appeared to him that night and told him, “Don’t be afraid! I am the God who was worshiped by your father Abraham, my servant. I will be with you and bless you, and because of Abraham I will give you many descendants.” 25 Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. Then he set up camp, and his servants started digging a well.
26 Meanwhile, Abimelech had left Gerar and was taking his advisor Ahuzzath and his army commander Phicol to see Isaac. 27 When they arrived, Isaac asked, “Why are you here? Didn’t you send me away because you hated me?”
28 They answered, “We now know for certain that the Lord is with you, and we have decided there needs to be a peace treaty between you and us. So let’s make a solemn agreement 29 not to harm each other. Remember, we have never hurt you, and when we sent you away, we let you go in peace. The Lord has truly blessed you.”
30 Isaac gave a big feast for them, and everyone ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning Isaac and the others made a solemn agreement, then he let them go in peace.
32 Later that same day Isaac’s servants came and said, “We’ve struck water!” 33 So Isaac named the well Shibah,[m] and the town is still called Beersheba.[n]
Esau’s Foreign Wives
34 When Esau was forty, he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 But these two women brought a lot of grief to his parents Isaac and Rebekah.[Footnotes:
25.9,10 Hebron: See the note at 23.16-18.
25.11 The Well. . . Sees Me: Or “Beer-Lahai-Roi.” (see 16.14).
25.17,18 sons: Or “descendants.”
25.17,18 Havilah to Shur. . . Asshur: The exact location of these places is not known.
25.20 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10.
25.23 two separate nations: Or “two nations always in conflict.”
25.25 Esau: In Hebrew “Esau” sounds like “hairy.”
25.26 Jacob: In Hebrew “Jacob” sounds like “heel.”
25.30 Edom: In Hebrew “Edom” sounds like “red.”
25.31 rights. . . son: The first-born son inherited the largest amount of property, as well as the leadership of the family.
26.4 They. . . on earth: Or “All nations on earth will ask me to bless them.”
26.18 gave. . . same name: By doing this Isaac claimed ownership of the wells.
26.33 Shibah: In Hebrew “Shibah” sounds something like “good luck” and “promise.”
26.33 Beersheba: Meaning “Well of Good Fortune” or “Peace Treaty Well.”]
Matthew 18: Who Is the Greatest?
1 About this time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 2 Jesus called a child over and had the child stand near him. 3 Then he said:
I promise you this. If you don’t change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. 4 But if you are as humble as this child, you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And when you welcome one of these children because of me, you welcome me.
Temptations To Sin
6 It will be terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers to sin. Those people would be better off thrown into the deepest part of the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their necks! 7 The world is in for trouble because of the way it causes people to sin. There will always be something to cause people to sin, but anyone who does this will be in for trouble.
8 If your hand or foot causes you to sin, chop it off and throw it away! You would be better off to go into life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the fire that never goes out. 9 If your eye causes you to sin, poke it out and get rid of it. You would be better off to go into life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell.
The Lost Sheep
10-11 Don’t be cruel to any of these little ones! I promise you that their angels are always with my Father in heaven.[a] 12 Let me ask you this. What would you do if you had a hundred sheep and one of them wandered off? Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go look for the one that had wandered away? 13 I am sure that finding it would make you happier than having the ninety-nine that never wandered off. 14 That’s how it is with your Father in heaven. He doesn’t want any of these little ones to be lost.
When Someone Sins
15 If one of my followers[b] sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower. 16 But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses. 17 If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.[c]
Allowing and Not Allowing
18 I promise you that God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth, but he will not allow anything you don’t allow. 19 I promise that when any two of you on earth agree about something you are praying for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 Whenever two or three of you come together in my name,[d] I am there with you.[Footnotes:
18.10,11 in heaven: Some manuscripts add, “The Son of Man came to save people who are lost.”
18.15 followers: The Greek text has “brother,” which is used here and elsewhere in this chapter to refer to a follower of Christ.
18.17 tax collector: See the note at 5.46.

18.20 in my name: Or “as my followers.”]
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