"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'"[Isaiah 41:10-13]
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
In every step of our life we have companions who help us.
In childhood, parents shape and civilize us. At the school level, we have friends who serve as our companions, and teachers who provide us academic direction. In our youth, we often develop friends who become lifelong companions. In marriage, ideally, we find a spouse who completes us.
But we're still not done. In our homes, dogs and cats often serve as our friends and, during our journeys pleasant co-passengers join us as companions to help make the miles fly by. In truth, it is difficult to live a meaningful life without such companions.
Sadly, almost all of our earthly companions are transient. With the most rare of exceptions, none of them stay with us from our first 'til our last breath.
Companions come and go. That is a rule of life. And the exception to that rule ... is the Lord.
The Lord alone has the ability, and the desire, to be with us throughout the length of our lives, up to and past our last breath. Since the Lord's first promise to fallen humanity, God's promise to be with us and take care of us has been a great comfort. Believers have found they need help, help from a divine Companion, during the good times and especially during the bad times of sickness and danger and problems.
Without God's help life is made much harder and infinitely more dangerous.
In our country, India, according to the cultural traditions, it is hard for single women, widows, and children to live alone, without any companion. As important as a companion is to such people, a relationship with the Lord is more important and more protective to anyone who is given and enjoys it.
That's one of the reasons why Jesus, our Lord, stressed the need to rely on God and His companionship. Throughout the Word of God, the Holy Bible assures us that the loving God, our Father, gives us promises that He wishes to be with us throughout our lives.
He promises us that He will never forsake or leave us. He even assures His people that He will be with us to take us through the valley of the shadow of death. By giving us His only Son, Jesus, He proved His promises are true and reliable.
An aged grandfather, who is also half-blind, used to take his grandson for a morning walk every day. One day the boy walked a little ahead of his grandpa. The grandfather asked him, "Where are we now?"
The boy replied, "Don't know."
Again, the grandfather asked, "Where are we now?" He got the same answer.
Then grandpa asked the lad, "Are you lost?"
The boy replied, "How can I be lost while you are with me and I am with you?"
Although the Lord sees all and is hardly half-blind, that is the way things work with us in our relationship. We can never be lost as long as we are with the Lord.
God wants to remain with us. He calls us, comes to us through His Word and Sacraments. Realizing and remaining in this truth is the real blessing -- and is the real meaning of companionship. Let the Holy Spirit help us to live a life of companionship with God.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, hold my hands and lead me in this walk through life. Keep me as Your companion, always holding Your hands, and remaining in Your unfailing love. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by Reverend D. Eben Titus. Reverend Titus received his degree from Serampore University. The good Reverend is married to Beril, and they have a son and daughter. Pastor has served 16 years at Bethlehem Lutheran Church and four years at Calvary Lutheran Church. Since 2001, he has been at Grace Lutheran Church Vallioor in the Nagercoil Synod. Pastor Titus has written numerous devotions and articles for Lutheran Hour Ministries' Christian Media Centre in India.
In this country of 1.2 billion people, Lutheran Hour Ministries-India is known as Christian Media Centre and began operations in 1951. Using Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC) in six languages -- Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi Marathi, Gujarati and English, this ministry center in Chennai reaches out with the Gospel. It also utilizes the Internet to broadcast round-the-clock radio messages of love and hope. Beyond this, short dramas, devotional songs, stage plays, and dance convey the Gospel to audiences in remote villages and cities.
Check out the new book release by Rev. G. Ranjendiran, a retired Lutheran pastor, as well as the special events going on at LHM-India, by reading its blog. You can find it by clicking here.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhm.org/international.
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
In every step of our life we have companions who help us.
In childhood, parents shape and civilize us. At the school level, we have friends who serve as our companions, and teachers who provide us academic direction. In our youth, we often develop friends who become lifelong companions. In marriage, ideally, we find a spouse who completes us.
But we're still not done. In our homes, dogs and cats often serve as our friends and, during our journeys pleasant co-passengers join us as companions to help make the miles fly by. In truth, it is difficult to live a meaningful life without such companions.
Sadly, almost all of our earthly companions are transient. With the most rare of exceptions, none of them stay with us from our first 'til our last breath.
Companions come and go. That is a rule of life. And the exception to that rule ... is the Lord.
The Lord alone has the ability, and the desire, to be with us throughout the length of our lives, up to and past our last breath. Since the Lord's first promise to fallen humanity, God's promise to be with us and take care of us has been a great comfort. Believers have found they need help, help from a divine Companion, during the good times and especially during the bad times of sickness and danger and problems.
Without God's help life is made much harder and infinitely more dangerous.
In our country, India, according to the cultural traditions, it is hard for single women, widows, and children to live alone, without any companion. As important as a companion is to such people, a relationship with the Lord is more important and more protective to anyone who is given and enjoys it.
That's one of the reasons why Jesus, our Lord, stressed the need to rely on God and His companionship. Throughout the Word of God, the Holy Bible assures us that the loving God, our Father, gives us promises that He wishes to be with us throughout our lives.
He promises us that He will never forsake or leave us. He even assures His people that He will be with us to take us through the valley of the shadow of death. By giving us His only Son, Jesus, He proved His promises are true and reliable.
An aged grandfather, who is also half-blind, used to take his grandson for a morning walk every day. One day the boy walked a little ahead of his grandpa. The grandfather asked him, "Where are we now?"
The boy replied, "Don't know."
Again, the grandfather asked, "Where are we now?" He got the same answer.
Then grandpa asked the lad, "Are you lost?"
The boy replied, "How can I be lost while you are with me and I am with you?"
Although the Lord sees all and is hardly half-blind, that is the way things work with us in our relationship. We can never be lost as long as we are with the Lord.
God wants to remain with us. He calls us, comes to us through His Word and Sacraments. Realizing and remaining in this truth is the real blessing -- and is the real meaning of companionship. Let the Holy Spirit help us to live a life of companionship with God.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, hold my hands and lead me in this walk through life. Keep me as Your companion, always holding Your hands, and remaining in Your unfailing love. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by Reverend D. Eben Titus. Reverend Titus received his degree from Serampore University. The good Reverend is married to Beril, and they have a son and daughter. Pastor has served 16 years at Bethlehem Lutheran Church and four years at Calvary Lutheran Church. Since 2001, he has been at Grace Lutheran Church Vallioor in the Nagercoil Synod. Pastor Titus has written numerous devotions and articles for Lutheran Hour Ministries' Christian Media Centre in India.
In this country of 1.2 billion people, Lutheran Hour Ministries-India is known as Christian Media Centre and began operations in 1951. Using Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC) in six languages -- Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi Marathi, Gujarati and English, this ministry center in Chennai reaches out with the Gospel. It also utilizes the Internet to broadcast round-the-clock radio messages of love and hope. Beyond this, short dramas, devotional songs, stage plays, and dance convey the Gospel to audiences in remote villages and cities.
Check out the new book release by Rev. G. Ranjendiran, a retired Lutheran pastor, as well as the special events going on at LHM-India, by reading its blog. You can find it by clicking here.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhm.org/international.
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:
Isaiah 53:1 Who believes our report?
The Lutheran Hour
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Isaiah 53:1 Who believes our report?
To whom is the arm of Adonai revealed?
2 For before him he grew up like a young plant,
like a root out of dry ground.
He was not well-formed or especially handsome;
we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us.
3 People despised and avoided him,
a man of pains, well acquainted with illness.
Like someone from whom people turn their faces,
he was despised; we did not value him.
4 In fact, it was our diseases he bore,
our pains from which he suffered;
yet we regarded him as punished,
stricken and afflicted by God.
5 But he was wounded because of our crimes,
crushed because of our sins;
the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him,
and by his bruises* we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, went astray;
we turned, each one, to his own way;
yet Adonai laid on him
the guilt of all of us.
7 Though mistreated, he was submissive —
he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to be slaughtered,
like a sheep silent before its shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 After forcible arrest and sentencing,
he was taken away;
and none of his generation protested
his being cut off from the land of the living
for the crimes of my people,
who deserved the punishment themselves.
9 He was given a grave among the wicked;
in his death he was with a rich man.
Although he had done no violence
and had said nothing deceptive,
10 yet it pleased Adonai to crush him with illness,
to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering.
If he does, he will see his offspring;
and he will prolong his days;
and at his hand Adonai’s desire
will be accomplished.
11 After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction.
“By his knowing [pain and sacrifice],
my righteous servant makes many righteous;
it is for their sins that he suffers.
12 Therefore I will assign him a share with the great,
he will divide the spoil with the mighty,
for having exposed himself to death
and being counted among the sinners,
while actually bearing the sin of many
and interceding for the offenders.”
54:1 “Sing, barren woman who has never had a child!
Burst into song, shout for joy,
you who have never been in labor!
For the deserted wife will have more children
than the woman who is living with her husband,” says Adonai.
2 Enlarge the space for your tent,
extend the curtains of your dwelling;
do not hold back, lengthen your cords,
make your tent pegs firm.
3 For you will spread out to the right and the left,
your descendants will possess the nations
and inhabit the desolated cities.
4 Don’t be afraid, for you won’t be ashamed;
don’t be discouraged, for you won’t be disgraced.
You will forget the shame of your youth,
no longer remember the dishonor of being widowed.
5 For your husband is your Maker,
Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name.
The Holy One of Isra’el is your Redeemer.
He will be called the God of all the earth.
6 For Adonai has called you back
like a wife abandoned and grief-stricken;
“A wife married in her youth
cannot be rejected,” says your God.
7 “Briefly I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I am taking you back.
8 I was angry for a moment
and hid my face from you;
but with everlasting grace
I will have compassion on you,”
says Adonai your Redeemer.
9 “For me this is like Noach’s flood.
Just as I swore that no flood like Noach’s
would ever again cover the earth,
so now I swear that never again
will I be angry with you or rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may leave and the hills be removed,
but my grace will never leave you,
and my covenant of peace will not be removed,”
says Adonai, who has compassion on you.
11 “Storm-ravaged [city], unconsoled,
I will set your stones in the finest way,
lay your foundations with sapphires,
12 make your windows shine with rubies,
your gates with garnet, your walls with gemstones.
13 All your children will be taught by Adonai;
your children will have great peace.
14 In righteousness you will be established,
far from oppression, with nothing to fear;
far from ruin, for it will not come near you.
15 Any alliance that forms against you
will not be my doing;
whoever tries to form such an alliance
will fall because of you.
16 It is I who created the craftsman
who blows on the coals and forges weapons
suited to their purpose;
I also created the destroyer to work havoc.
17 No weapon made will prevail against you.
In court you will refute every accusation.
The servants of Adonai inherit all this;
the reward for their righteousness is from me,”
says Adonai.
55:1 “All you who are thirsty, come to the water!
You without money, come, buy, and eat!
Yes, come! Buy wine and milk
without money — it’s free!
2 Why spend money for what isn’t food,
your wages for what doesn’t satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and you will eat well,
you will enjoy the fat of the land.
3 Open your ears, and come to me;
listen well, and you will live —
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
the grace I assured David.
4 I have given him as a witness to the peoples,
a leader and lawgiver for the peoples.
5 You will summon a nation you do not know,
and a nation that doesn’t know you will run to you,
for the sake of Adonai your God,
the Holy One of Isra’el, who will glorify you.”
6 Seek Adonai while he is available,
call on him while he is still nearby.
7 Let the wicked person abandon his way
and the evil person his thoughts;
let him return to Adonai,
and he will have mercy on him;
let him return to our God,
for he will freely forgive.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways,” says Adonai.
9 “As high as the sky is above the earth
are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For just as rain and snow fall from the sky
and do not return there, but water the earth,
causing it to bud and produce,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth —
it will not return to me unfulfilled;
but it will accomplish what I intend,
and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.”
12 Yes, you will go out with joy,
you will be led forth in peace.
As you come, the mountains and hills
will burst out into song,
and all the trees in the countryside
will clap their hands.
13 Cypresses will grow in place of thorns,
myrtles will grow instead of briars.
This will bring fame to Adonai
as an eternal, imperishable sign.
Romans 10:1 Brothers, my heart’s deepest desire and my prayer to God for Isra’el is for their salvation; 2 for I can testify to their zeal for God. But it is not based on correct understanding; 3 for, since they are unaware of God’s way of making people righteous and instead seek to set up their own, they have not submitted themselves to God’s way of making people righteous. 4 For the goal at which the Torah aims is the Messiah, who offers righteousness to everyone who trusts. 5 For Moshe writes about the righteousness grounded in the Torah that the person who does these things will attain life through them.[Romans 10:5 Leviticus 18:5] 6 Moreover, the righteousness grounded in trusting says:
“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend to heaven?’” —
that is, to bring the Messiah down — 7 or,
“‘Who will descend into Sh’ol?’” —
that is, to bring the Messiah up from the dead. 8 What, then, does it say?
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.”[Romans 10:8 Deuteronomy 30:11–14] —
that is, the word about trust which we proclaim, namely, 9 that if you acknowledge publicly with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord and trust in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be delivered. 10 For with the heart one goes on trusting and thus continues toward righteousness, while with the mouth one keeps on making public acknowledgement and thus continues toward deliverance. 11 For the passage quoted says that everyone who rests his trust on him will not be humiliated.[Romans 10:11 Isaiah 28:16] 12 That means that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — Adonai is the same for everyone, rich toward everyone who calls on him, 13 since everyone who calls on the name of Adonai will be delivered.[Romans 10:13 Joel 3:5(2:32)]
14 But how can they call on someone if they haven’t trusted in him? And how can they trust in someone if they haven’t heard about him? And how can they hear about someone if no one is proclaiming him? 15 And how can people proclaim him unless God sends them? — as the Tanakh puts it, “How beautiful are the feet of those announcing good news about good things!”[Romans 10:15 Isaiah 52:7]
16 The problem is that they haven’t all paid attention to the Good News and obeyed it. For Yesha‘yahu says,
“Adonai, who has trusted what he has heard from us?”[Romans 10:16 Isaiah 53:1]
17 So trust comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through a word proclaimed about the Messiah.
18 “But, I say, isn’t it rather that they didn’t hear?” No, they did hear —
“Their voice has gone out throughout the whole world
and their words to the ends of the earth.”[Romans 10:18 Psalm 19:5(4)]
19 “But, I say, isn’t it rather that Isra’el didn’t understand?”
“I will provoke you to jealousy over a non-nation,
over a nation void of understanding I will make you angry.”[Romans 10:19 Deuteronomy 32:21]
20 Moreover, Yesha‘yahu boldly says,
“I was found by those who were not looking for me,
I became known to those who did not ask for me”;[Romans 10:20 Isaiah 65:1]
21 but to Isra’el he says,
“All day long I held out my hands
to a people who kept disobeying and contradicting.”[Romans 10:21 Isaiah 65:2]
____________________________The Lutheran Hour
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
____________________________
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
____________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment