But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."[Luke 10:41-42]
One thing is necessary.
That's the kind of statement which does not allow much wiggle room. Not so long ago I heard a story about "one thing being needful." The tale begins in the late 1800s when two steamboats left Memphis at just about the same time.
It didn't take too long before one captain flung out a challenge. That challenge was picked up by the commander of the other ship and, in an instant, a race had started. The competition was cutthroat as the two ships spewed smoke and sparks into the sky, as they steamed into the South.
After a while, one boat began to lag behind.
They had laid in enough coal for the trip, but hardly enough to carry on and complete a race. It was then that a smart sailor discovered the ship's cargo burned as strongly as did the coal. With eagerness, the crew carried crate after crate of cargo and chucked it into the fire.
They wound up winning the race, but they finished the race without their cargo.
That my friends, is not the way you want to finish your life.
You do not want to list your last day on earth counting a great many temporal victories, but failing to have the One Person who is needful. You do not want to say, "I know judges, jurists and statesmen, millionaires, billionaires, leaders of labor, and industry's influential, but I have never truly been able to count Jesus as my Friend and Savior."
You do not want to face the last day of your life without Jesus who is the One Person who is needful. Jesus is needful because, with Him, we are able to say, "Death is not the end. Because of Jesus -- the Christ, the Son of the living God -- I know the grave has been conquered, and there is a reunion in heaven with all who believe."
Why is Jesus the One Person who is needful?
It is because only with Jesus can you say, "I am saved." Only with Jesus can you be sure of joining the unending reunion in heaven. In short, with Jesus you have everything you need, and without Him ... you have nothing.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks Jesus has come to seek and save the lost, including me. For Holy Spirit-given faith I praise Your Name and look forward to the time when I shall see my Redeemer's face. Until then, I place myself into His hands. Amen.
One thing is necessary.
That's the kind of statement which does not allow much wiggle room. Not so long ago I heard a story about "one thing being needful." The tale begins in the late 1800s when two steamboats left Memphis at just about the same time.
It didn't take too long before one captain flung out a challenge. That challenge was picked up by the commander of the other ship and, in an instant, a race had started. The competition was cutthroat as the two ships spewed smoke and sparks into the sky, as they steamed into the South.
After a while, one boat began to lag behind.
They had laid in enough coal for the trip, but hardly enough to carry on and complete a race. It was then that a smart sailor discovered the ship's cargo burned as strongly as did the coal. With eagerness, the crew carried crate after crate of cargo and chucked it into the fire.
They wound up winning the race, but they finished the race without their cargo.
That my friends, is not the way you want to finish your life.
You do not want to list your last day on earth counting a great many temporal victories, but failing to have the One Person who is needful. You do not want to say, "I know judges, jurists and statesmen, millionaires, billionaires, leaders of labor, and industry's influential, but I have never truly been able to count Jesus as my Friend and Savior."
You do not want to face the last day of your life without Jesus who is the One Person who is needful. Jesus is needful because, with Him, we are able to say, "Death is not the end. Because of Jesus -- the Christ, the Son of the living God -- I know the grave has been conquered, and there is a reunion in heaven with all who believe."
Why is Jesus the One Person who is needful?
It is because only with Jesus can you say, "I am saved." Only with Jesus can you be sure of joining the unending reunion in heaven. In short, with Jesus you have everything you need, and without Him ... you have nothing.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks Jesus has come to seek and save the lost, including me. For Holy Spirit-given faith I praise Your Name and look forward to the time when I shall see my Redeemer's face. Until then, I place myself into His hands. 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:
Exodus 4: Signs of power
660 Mason Ridge Center Dr.
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
____________________________
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Exodus 4: Signs of power
1 Then Moses replied, “But what if they don’t believe me or pay attention to me? They might say to me, ‘The Lord didn’t appear to you!’”
2 The Lord said to him, “What’s that in your hand?”
Moses replied, “A shepherd’s rod.”
3 The Lord said, “Throw it down on the ground.” So Moses threw it on the ground, and it turned into a snake. Moses jumped back from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out and grab the snake by the tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a rod in his hand. 5 “Do this so that they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God has in fact appeared to you.”
6 Again, the Lord said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took his hand out, his hand had a skin disease flaky like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand back inside his coat. When he took it back out again, the skin of his hand had returned to normal. 8 “If they won’t believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second sign. 9 If they won’t believe even these two signs or pay attention to you, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on dry ground. The water that you take from the Nile will turn into blood on the dry ground.”
10 But Moses said to the Lord, “My Lord, I’ve never been able to speak well, not yesterday, not the day before, and certainly not now since you’ve been talking to your servant. I have a slow mouth and a thick tongue.”
11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives people the ability to speak? Who’s responsible for making them unable to speak or hard of hearing, sighted or blind? Isn’t it I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I’ll help you speak, and I’ll teach you what you should say.”
13 But Moses said, “Please, my Lord, just send someone else.”
14 Then the Lord got angry at Moses and said, “What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak very well. He’s on his way out to meet you now, and he’s looking forward to seeing you. 15 Speak to him and tell him what he’s supposed to say. I’ll help both of you speak, and I’ll teach both of you what to do. 16 Aaron will speak for you to the people. He’ll be a spokesperson for you, and you will be like God for him. 17 Take this shepherd’s rod with you too so that you can do the signs.”
Moses goes back to Egypt
18 Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go back to my family in Egypt and see whether or not they are still living.”
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt because everyone there who wanted to kill you has died.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his children, put them on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. Moses also carried the shepherd’s rod from God in his hand.
21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure that you appear before Pharaoh and do all the amazing acts that I’ve given you the power to do. But I’ll make him stubborn so that he won’t let the people go. 22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my oldest son. 23 I said to you, “Let my son go so he could worship me.” But you refused to let him go. As a result, now I’m going to kill your oldest son.’”
24 During their journey, as they camped overnight, the Lord met Moses[a] and tried to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a sharp-edged flint stone and cut off her son’s foreskin. Then she touched Moses’ genitals[b] with it, and she said, “You are my bridegroom because of bloodshed.” 26 So the Lord let him alone. At that time, she announced, “A bridegroom because of bloodshed by circumcision.”
27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet Moses.” So he went, and Aaron met him at God’s mountain and greeted him with a kiss. 28 Moses told Aaron what the Lord had said about his mission and all the signs that the Lord had told him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron called together all the Israelite elders. 30 Aaron told them everything that the Lord had told to Moses, and he performed the signs in front of the people. 31 The people believed. When they heard that the Lord had paid attention to the Israelites and had seen their oppression, they bowed down and worshipped.
First meeting with Pharaoh
5:1 Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: ‘Let my people go so that they can hold a festival for me in the desert.’”
2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is this Lord whom I’m supposed to obey by letting Israel go? I don’t know this Lord, and I certainly won’t let Israel go.”
3 Then they said, “The Hebrews’ God has appeared to us. Let us go on a three-day journey into the desert so we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. Otherwise, the Lord will give us a deadly disease or violence.”
4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you making the people slack off from their work? Do the hard work yourselves!” 5 Pharaoh continued, “The land’s people are now numerous. Yet you want them to stop their hard work?”
6 On the very same day Pharaoh commanded the people’s slave masters and supervisors, 7 “Don’t supply the people with the straw they need to make bricks like you did before. Let them go out and gather the straw for themselves. 8 But still make sure that they produce the same number of bricks as they made before. Don’t reduce the number! They are weak and lazy, and that’s why they cry, ‘Let’s go and offer sacrifices to our God.’ 9 Make the men’s work so hard that it’s all they can do, and they can’t focus on these empty lies.”
10 So the people’s slave masters and supervisors came out and spoke to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says, ‘I’m not giving you straw anymore. 11 Go and get the straw on your own, wherever you can find it. But your work won’t be reduced at all.’” 12 So the people spread out all through the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The slave masters drove them hard and said, “Make sure you make the same daily quota as when you had the straw.” 14 The Israelite supervisors, whom Pharaoh’s slave masters had set over them, were also beaten and asked, “Why didn’t you produce the same number of bricks yesterday and today as you did before?”
15 Then the Israelite supervisors came and pleaded to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is supplied to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look at how your servants are being beaten! Your own people are to blame!”
17 Pharaoh replied, “You are lazy bums, nothing but lazy bums. That’s why you say, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ 18 Go and get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you still need to make the same number of bricks.”
19 The Israelite supervisors saw how impossible their situation was when they were commanded, “Don’t reduce your daily quota of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them. 21 The supervisors said to them, “Let the Lord see and judge what you’ve done! You’ve made us stink in the opinion of Pharaoh and his servants. You’ve given them a reason to kill us.”
22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “My Lord, why have you abused this people? Why did you send me for this? 23 Ever since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has abused this people. And you’ve done absolutely nothing to rescue your people.”
God reassures Moses
6: The Lord replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I’ll do to Pharaoh. In fact, he’ll be so eager to let them go that he’ll drive them out of his land by force.”
2 God also said to Moses: “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty,[c] but I didn’t reveal myself to them by my name ‘The Lord.’ 4 I also set up my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan where they lived as immigrants. 5 I’ve also heard the cry of grief of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have turned into slaves, and I’ve remembered my covenant. 6 Therefore, say to the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I’ll bring you out from Egyptian forced labor. I’ll rescue you from your slavery to them. I’ll set you free with great power and with momentous events of justice. 7 I’ll take you as my people, and I’ll be your God. You will know that I, the Lord, am your God, who has freed you from Egyptian forced labor. 8 I’ll bring you into the land that I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I’ll give it to you as your possession. I am the Lord.’” 9 Moses told this to the Israelites. But they didn’t listen to Moses, because of their complete exhaustion and their hard labor.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go and tell Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, to let the Israelites out of his land.”
12 But Moses said to the Lord, “The Israelites haven’t even listened to me. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen to me, especially since I’m not a very good speaker?” 13 Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, giving them orders to let the Israelites go from the land of Egypt.
Family line of Moses and Aaron
14 These were the leaders of their households.
The descendants of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
These were Reuben’s clans. 15 The Simeonites: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, a Canaanite woman’s son. These were Simeon’s clans.
16 These were the Levites’ names by their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. 17 The Gershonites: Libni and Shimei and their clans. 18 The Kohathites: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. 19 The Merarites: Mahli and Mushi. These were the Levite clans by their generations.
20 Amram married Jochebed, his father’s sister. She gave birth to Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. 21 The Izharites: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The Uzzielites: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, Amminadab’s daughter and Nahshon’s sister. She gave birth to Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 The Korahites: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans. 25 Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of Putiel’s daughters. She gave birth to Phinehas. These were the leaders of Levite households by their clans.
26 It was this same Aaron and Moses whom the Lord commanded, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt in military formation.” 27 It was also this same Moses and Aaron who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
28 At the time the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, everything that I’ve said to you.”
30 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Look, I’m not a very good speaker. How is Pharaoh ever going to listen to me?”[Footnotes:
Exodus 4:24 Or him
Exodus 4:25 Or his feet
Exodus 6:3 Heb El Shaddai or God of the Mountain]
Matthew 24: Coming of the Human One
29 “Now immediately after the suffering of that time the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Human One[a] will appear in the sky. At that time all the tribes of the earth will be full of sadness, and they will see the Human One[b] coming in the heavenly clouds[c] with power and great splendor. 31 He will send his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four corners of the earth, from one end of the sky to the other.
A lesson from the fig tree
32 “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you know that the Human One[d] is near, at the door. 34 I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.
Day and hour
36 “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the heavenly angels and not the Son. Only the Father knows. 37 As it was in the time of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Human One.[e] 38 In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. 39 They didn’t know what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. The coming of the Human One[f] will be like that. 40 At that time there will be two men in the field. One will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and the other left. 42 Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know what day the Lord is coming. 43 But you understand that if the head of the house knew at what time the thief would come, he would keep alert and wouldn’t allow the thief to break into his house. 44 Therefore, you also should be prepared, because the Human One[g] will come at a time you don’t know.
Faithful and unfaithful servants
45 “Who then are the faithful and wise servants whom their master puts in charge of giving food at the right time to those who live in his house? 46 Happy are those servants whom the master finds fulfilling their responsibilities when he comes. 47 I assure you that he will put them in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose those bad servants should say to themselves, My master won’t come until later. 49 And suppose they began to beat their fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunks? 50 The master of those servants will come on a day when they are not expecting him, at a time they couldn’t predict. 51 He will cut them in pieces and put them in a place with the hypocrites. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.[Footnotes:
Matthew 24:30 Or Son of Man
Matthew 24:30 Or Son of Man
Matthew 24:30 Dan 7:13 I suddenly saw one like a human being (Aram kebar enash) coming with the heavenly clouds.
Matthew 24:33 Or Son of Man
Matthew 24:37 Or Son of Man
Matthew 24:39 Or Son of Man
Matthew 24:44 Or Son of Man]
The Lutheran Hour660 Mason Ridge Center Dr.
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
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