Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour from Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Wondering Why" for Friday, 9 January 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour from Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Wondering Why" for Friday, 9 January 2015 

And He (Jesus) answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."[Luke 13:2-5]

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
November 21, 2013, was a very shocking day in Latvia.
That was because a large shopping mall in Riga collapsed, killing and wounding many people. The tragic news story was immediately broadcast by the international media. Fifty-four people died and 42 were injured. Miraculously, all of the children who were in the mall that day were spared.
There were a number of thoughts that were shared by all of us who survived. First, all of us were brought to a realization that life, any of our lives, can be snuffed out in a moment. Second, we were left wondering why people had ignored the warnings and hadn't tried to escape. Yes, it was true: the visitors and the staff of the shopping mall had ignored an alarm which, for an hour, had been sounding a warning of impending disaster.
People asked themselves, "Can death really come to me so suddenly? Even while I am choosing what type of milk I want to buy -- whole or skim?" People wanted to know, "What would be my reaction to the alarm? Would I do what everyone else was doing? Would I run to buy a piece of bread and ignore the alarm? Would I be more careful?"
The tragedy also exposed another sorry issue in our society.
Out of the 54 who died, only six were living in a legal, marital relationship. That fact made the task of finding and providing help for the next of kin most difficult for our government. Although it may not have been what the deceased would have wanted, the state could legally only help those who were in a lawful relationship, and not those who were merely living together.
Of course, the greatest questions asked by the media were, "Where was God when all this happened?" and "Why did the Lord allow such terrible things to happen at all?" Soon it seemed like everyone was challenging heaven with their, "Why? Why? Why?"
To those who do not know Jesus and who are not forgiven by the Lord, the real answer can be illusive, frustrating and non-existent. In contrast, things are quite different for those who have been brought to faith in the Savior. While we who have lost loved ones may still be pained by death, we know the crucified and risen Savior is with us. We rejoice that because the Savior lives, we shall also live.
Because we live in a sinful world there are many terrible and tragic things we cannot avoid or predict or stop. Our nation suffered much in two World Wars, the Holocaust, and genocide during the time of the Soviet Union.
That being said, there remains one thing we can do! We can repent, just as Jesus asked us to do in Luke 13.
Repentance will not prevent us from dying in this life, but the forgiveness the Holy Spirit gives to repentant and believing hearts does grant them life everlasting in a place where accidents, sin, evil and death have been banished.
THE PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, from Your boundless mercy we have received our lives and everything that we have: our families, friends, daily bread ... everything. Grant that the evil foe does not have power over us. Let us be thankful for the joys You give to all of us and make us thankful for times of hardships and sufferings. Help us know that through them You can increase our faith and trust in You. This I ask in the Savior's Name. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by former Latvian Lutheran Hour Ministries' employee and present volunteer Ilze Abraha. She currently is working as a bookkeeper in an international company, and she is married and has two sons. As a volunteer, Abraha works with our ministry center staff by telling the citizens of this former Soviet Union country about the Good News of salvation, which is theirs through Jesus Christ.
Lutheran Hour Ministries-Latvia, known in-country as Lutheran Hour Mission, supports the efforts of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, from its ministry center in Riga. Through Equipping the Saints(ETS) workshops, it trains Christians to be outreach-minded in respect to their faith. It also uses four different Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC), which are tailored to both adults and young people, either individually or in study groups. Beyond that, LHM-Latvia connects with communities through radio programming, movie night/discussion events, vacation Bible schools, and it even features a seminar series on Christian living: the "School of Spiritual Survival."
Stop by and click here to visit LHM-Latvia's blog and see what's going on in this Northern European country of nearly two million people.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhmint.org.

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 1: Job and His Family
1 Many years ago, a man named Job lived in the land of Uz.[a] He was a truly good person, who respected God and refused to do evil.
2 Job had seven sons and three daughters. 3 He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pair of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a large number of servants. He was the richest person in the East.
4 Job’s sons took turns having feasts in their homes, and they always invited their three sisters to join in the eating and drinking. 5 After each feast, Job would send for his children and perform a ceremony, as a way of asking God to forgive them of any wrongs they may have done. He would get up early the next morning and offer a sacrifice for each of them, just in case they had sinned or silently cursed God.
Angels, the Lord, and Satan
6 One day, when the angels[b] had gathered around the Lord, and Satan[c] was there with them, 7 the Lord asked, “Satan, where have you been?”
Satan replied, “I have been going all over the earth.”
8 Then the Lord asked, “What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him—he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil.”
9 “Why shouldn’t he respect you?” Satan remarked. 10 “You are like a wall protecting not only him, but his entire family and all his property. You make him successful in whatever he does, and his flocks and herds are everywhere. 11 Try taking away everything he owns, and he will curse you to your face.”
12 The Lord replied, “All right, Satan, do what you want with anything that belongs to him, but don’t harm Job.”
Then Satan left.
Job Loses Everything
13 Job’s sons and daughters were having a feast in the home of his oldest son, 14 when someone rushed up to Job and said, “While your servants were plowing with your oxen, and your donkeys were nearby eating grass, 15 a gang of Sabeans[d] attacked and stole the oxen and donkeys! Your other servants were killed, and I was the only one who escaped to tell you.”
16 That servant was still speaking, when a second one came running up and saying, “God sent down a fire that killed your sheep and your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
17 Before that servant finished speaking, a third one raced up and said, “Three gangs of Chaldeans[e] attacked and stole your camels! All of your other servants were killed, and I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
18 That servant was still speaking, when a fourth one dashed up and said, “Your children were having a feast and drinking wine at the home of your oldest son, 19 when suddenly a windstorm from the desert blew the house down, crushing all of your children. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
20 When Job heard this, he tore his clothes and shaved his head because of his great sorrow. He knelt on the ground, then worshiped God 21 and said:
“We bring nothing at birth;
we take nothing
    with us at death.
The Lord alone gives and takes.
Praise the name of the Lord!”
22 In spite of everything, Job did not sin or accuse God of doing wrong.
Job Loses His Health
2:1 When the angels[f] gathered around the Lord again, Satan[g] was there with them, 2 and the Lord asked, “Satan, where have you been?”
Satan replied, “I have been going all over the earth.”
3 Then the Lord asked, “What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him—he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil. And he hasn’t changed, even though you persuaded me to destroy him for no reason.”
4 Satan answered, “There’s no pain like your own.[h] People will do anything to stay alive. 5 Try striking Job’s own body with pain, and he will curse you to your face.”
6 “All right!” the Lord replied. “Make Job suffer as much as you want, but just don’t kill him.” 7 Satan left and caused painful sores to break out all over Job’s body—from head to toe.
8 Then Job sat on the ash-heap to show his sorrow. And while he was scraping his sores with a broken piece of pottery, 9 his wife asked, “Why do you still trust God? Why don’t you curse him and die?”
10 Job replied, “Don’t talk like a fool! If we accept blessings from God, we must accept trouble as well.” In all that happened, Job never once said anything against God.
Job’s Three Friends
11 Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah[i] were three of Job’s friends, and they heard about his troubles. So they agreed to visit Job and comfort him. 12 When they came near enough to see Job, they could hardly recognize him. And in their great sorrow, they tore their clothes, then sprinkled dust on their heads and cried bitterly. 13 For seven days and nights, they sat silently on the ground beside him, because they realized what terrible pain he was in.
Footnotes:
1.1 Uz: The exact location of this place is unknown, though it was possibly somewhere in northwest Arabia.
1.6 angels: See the note at 15.8.
1.6 Satan: Hebrew “the accuser.”
1.15 Sabeans: Perhaps the people of Sheba in what is now southwest Arabia (see Isaiah 60.6).
1.17 Chaldeans: People from the region of Babylonia, northeast of Palestine.
2.1 angels: See the note at 15.8.
2.1 Satan: See the note at 1.6.
2.4 There’s no pain like your own: The Hebrew text has “Skin for skin,” which was probably a popular saying.
2.11 Teman. . . Shuah. . . Naamah: Teman was a place in northern Edom; Shuah may have been a town on the Euphrates River or else further south, near the towns of Dedan and Sheba; Naamah may have been located on the road between Beirut and Damascus, though its exact location is unknown.
Matthew 7: Judging Others
1 Don’t condemn others, and God won’t condemn you. 2 God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.
3 You can see the speck in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the log in your own eye. 4 How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don’t see the log in your own eye? 5 You’re nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye. Then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend’s eye.
6 Don’t give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don’t throw pearls down in front of pigs. They will trample all over them.
Ask, Search, Knock
7 Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks. 9 Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? 10 Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? 11 As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.
12 Treat others as you want them to treat you. This is what the Law and the Prophets[a] are all about.
The Narrow Gate
13 Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. 14 But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. 16 You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that produces bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. 20 You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds.
A Warning
21 Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in. 22 On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.” 23 But I will tell them, “I will have nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight, you evil people!”
Two Builders
24 Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on solid rock.
26 Anyone who hears my teachings and doesn’t obey them is like a foolish person who built a house on sand. 27 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Finally, it fell with a crash.
28 When Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were surprised at his teaching. 29 He taught them like someone with authority, and not like their teachers of the Law of Moses.
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Lutheran Hour Ministries
660 Mason Ridge Center Dr.
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
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