For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.[Jeremiah 29:11]
There is a shop in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which sells hot sauces.
Now, when this shop, which is known as the Pepper Palace, sells hot sauces, they mean hot sauces. One of their premier palate burners is a variety they have named FLASHBANG. Composed of a blend of Carolina reaper, scorpion, ghost, and habanero peppers, FLASHBANG is downright destructive to the taste buds.
The stuff is so dangerous the owners of the Pepper Palace make people sign a waiver if they want to sample the premier concoction. Illinois resident, Randy Schmitz, signed the paper and tasted.
Almost immediately, Schmitz was on the ground and having a convulsion.
He was taken to the hospital, a scan was run, and the results showed he was in the early stages of a malignant brain tumor. Back home in Illinois, Schmitz underwent surgery, had chemotherapy, and finished up his treatment right before he got married.
Schmitz believes tasting the sauce triggered the seizure, which ended up saving his life. Indeed, he even sent a letter to the Pepper Palace to thank them and apologize for his mother who, when the event was taking place, had screamed the store's sauce was "killing her son."
Most of us, looking back on our lives, can remember a time when we were in Schmitz's shoes.
By that I don't mean we have tasted a host of hot sauces; nor do I think all of us have had brain tumors. On the other hand, most of us have found ourselves in situations where we might think the Lord has it in for us. You remember, you were enjoying the good life and then Bam! something unexpected happened, and your whole world was turned topsy-turvy.
At such a time it was easy to blame God and question His intentions for your life.
If that has ever been the case for you, then I encourage you to pay attention to what the Lord tells us through His prophet Jeremiah. He says, "I know the plans I have for you." No matter what you may think, they are plans for your welfare and not your destruction. The things I do are not to bring evil into your life. On the contrary, it is My desire to give you a blessed future and hope for today, tomorrow and eternity.
If anyone has any doubt about the sincerity of God's statement, all he needs to do is look to Bethlehem's manger, Calvary's cross, and Jerusalem's empty tomb. In these places they will see the love and grace of God that came to us in the Person of His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Having seen all that God has done for us through the Redeemer's many sacrifices, we ought to be assured that He will always do for us that which is right and good.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, forgive those times when I have questioned Your care and compassion. Let me see the Savior and believe that You, my loving Father, will take care of me in every situation and circumstance. This I ask 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:
Psalm 32: (0) By David. A maskil:
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
____________________________
There is a shop in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which sells hot sauces.
Now, when this shop, which is known as the Pepper Palace, sells hot sauces, they mean hot sauces. One of their premier palate burners is a variety they have named FLASHBANG. Composed of a blend of Carolina reaper, scorpion, ghost, and habanero peppers, FLASHBANG is downright destructive to the taste buds.
The stuff is so dangerous the owners of the Pepper Palace make people sign a waiver if they want to sample the premier concoction. Illinois resident, Randy Schmitz, signed the paper and tasted.
Almost immediately, Schmitz was on the ground and having a convulsion.
He was taken to the hospital, a scan was run, and the results showed he was in the early stages of a malignant brain tumor. Back home in Illinois, Schmitz underwent surgery, had chemotherapy, and finished up his treatment right before he got married.
Schmitz believes tasting the sauce triggered the seizure, which ended up saving his life. Indeed, he even sent a letter to the Pepper Palace to thank them and apologize for his mother who, when the event was taking place, had screamed the store's sauce was "killing her son."
Most of us, looking back on our lives, can remember a time when we were in Schmitz's shoes.
By that I don't mean we have tasted a host of hot sauces; nor do I think all of us have had brain tumors. On the other hand, most of us have found ourselves in situations where we might think the Lord has it in for us. You remember, you were enjoying the good life and then Bam! something unexpected happened, and your whole world was turned topsy-turvy.
At such a time it was easy to blame God and question His intentions for your life.
If that has ever been the case for you, then I encourage you to pay attention to what the Lord tells us through His prophet Jeremiah. He says, "I know the plans I have for you." No matter what you may think, they are plans for your welfare and not your destruction. The things I do are not to bring evil into your life. On the contrary, it is My desire to give you a blessed future and hope for today, tomorrow and eternity.
If anyone has any doubt about the sincerity of God's statement, all he needs to do is look to Bethlehem's manger, Calvary's cross, and Jerusalem's empty tomb. In these places they will see the love and grace of God that came to us in the Person of His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Having seen all that God has done for us through the Redeemer's many sacrifices, we ought to be assured that He will always do for us that which is right and good.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, forgive those times when I have questioned Your care and compassion. Let me see the Savior and believe that You, my loving Father, will take care of me in every situation and circumstance. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Psalm 32: (0) By David. A maskil:
(1) How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven,
those whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed those to whom Adonai imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away
because of my groaning all day long;
4 day and night your hand was heavy on me;
the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah)
5 When I acknowledged my sin to you,
when I stopped concealing my guilt,
and said, “I will confess my offenses to Adonai”;
then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah)
6 This is what everyone faithful should pray
at a time when you can be found.
Then, when the floodwaters are raging,
they will not reach to him.
7 You are a hiding-place for me,
you will keep me from distress;
you will surround me
with songs of deliverance. (Selah)
8 “I will instruct and teach you
in this way that you are to go;
I will give you counsel;
my eyes will be watching you.”
9 Don’t be like a horse or mule
that has no understanding,
that has to be curbed with bit and bridle,
or else it won’t come near you.
10 Many are the torments of the wicked,
but grace surrounds those who trust in Adonai.
11 Be glad in Adonai; rejoice, you righteous!
Shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Psalm 51: (0) For the leader. A psalm of David, 2 when Natan the prophet came to him after his affair with Bat-Sheva:
3 (1) God, in your grace, have mercy on me;
in your great compassion, blot out my crimes.
4 (2) Wash me completely from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
5 (3) For I know my crimes,
my sin confronts me all the time.
6 (4) Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil from your perspective;
so that you are right in accusing me
and justified in passing sentence.
7 (5) True, I was born guilty,
was a sinner from the moment my mother conceived me.
8 (6) Still, you want truth in the inner person;
so make me know wisdom in my inmost heart.
9 (7) Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
10 (8) Let me hear the sound of joy and gladness,
so that the bones you crushed can rejoice.
11 (9) Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my crimes.
12 (10) Create in me a clean heart, God;
renew in me a resolute spirit.
13 (11) Don’t thrust me away from your presence,
don’t take your Ruach Kodesh away from me.
14 (12) Restore my joy in your salvation,
and let a willing spirit uphold me.
15 (13) Then I will teach the wicked your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
16 (14) Rescue me from the guilt of shedding blood,
God, God of my salvation!
Then my tongue will sing
about your righteousness —
17 (15) Adonai, open my lips;
then my mouth will praise you.
18 (16) For you don’t want sacrifices, or I would give them;
you don’t take pleasure in burnt offerings.
19 (17) My sacrifice to God is a broken spirit;
God, you won’t spurn a broken, chastened heart.
20 (18) In your good pleasure, make Tziyon prosper;
rebuild the walls of Yerushalayim.
21 (19) Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then they will offer bulls on your altar.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but rather so that through him, the world might be saved. 18 Those who trust in him are not judged; those who do not trust have been judged already, in that they have not trusted in the one who is God’s only and unique Son.
19 “Now this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their actions were wicked. 20 For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won’t be exposed. 21 But everyone who does what is true comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished through God.”
22 After this, Yeshua and his talmidim went out into the countryside of Y’hudah, where he stayed awhile with them and immersed people. 23 Yochanan too was immersing at Einayim, near Shalem, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to be immersed. 24 (This was before Yochanan’s imprisonment.)
25 A discussion arose between some of Yochanan’s talmidim and a Judean about ceremonial washing; 26 and they came to Yochanan and said to him, “Rabbi, you know the man who was with you on the other side of the Yarden, the one you spoke about? Well, here he is, immersing; and everyone is going to him!” 27 Yochanan answered, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from Heaven. 28 You yourselves can confirm that I did not say I was the Messiah, but that I have been sent ahead of him. 29 The bridegroom is the one who has the bride; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed at the sound of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must become more important, while I become less important.
31 “He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth is from the earth and talks from an earthly point of view; he who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies about what he has actually seen and heard, yet no one accepts what he says! 33 Whoever does accept what he says puts his seal on the fact that God is true, 34 because the one whom God sent speaks God’s words. For God does not give him the Spirit in limited degree — 35 the Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands. 36 Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life. But whoever disobeys the Son will not see that life but remains subject to God’s wrath.”
The Lutheran Hour660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
____________________________
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