Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour from Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "To Help and Not Harm" for Saturday, October 10, 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour from Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "To Help and Not Harm" for Saturday, October 10, 2015

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. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.[Jeremiah 29:11-14]
One evening a woman was driving home when she noticed an 18-wheeler truck behind her.
As this was a relatively crowded highway, that didn't especially bother her. What caused her some concern is that it seemed the big truck was following at an uncomfortably close distance.
Not a problem she said to herself and she stepped on the gas. The truck did the same. The faster she went; the faster went the truck. She slowed down, he slowed down. She took an off ramp and then, because the truck had continued to follow her, she immediately sped back onto the highway. The truck did the same.
The driver of the truck mirrored every move she made.
Once more she got off the road, hoping to lose her pursuer in the traffic. It didn't happen. The truck even ran a red light to stay behind her. Finally, in a panic, the woman whipped into a service station and bolted out of her automobile screaming for help. The truck driver sprang from his truck and ran toward her car. Yanking the back door open, he reached in and pulled out a man who had been hiding in the backseat.
The woman had been running from the wrong person.
From his high vantage point, the truck driver had spotted the would-be robber or rapist. The chase was not his effort to harm her, but to save her even at the cost of his own safety.
All of this is a rather lengthy way of saying please don't run away from the Lord. Don't be like the people of this world who resent God's commandments, His actions, His love, His call to faith, and the Savior's salvation.
Instead, rejoice and know His presence in your life is not there to hurt or harm. Look at the things the Triune God said to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. He said
* He had plans for our welfare;
* He had plans to give us a future and a hope;
* He has promised to respond to those who call on Him, to be found by those who seek Him;
* He has guaranteed He will restore our fortunes and bring us safely back home.
From what I can see and what I believe, the Lord will not hurt or harm, He has -- because of His Son's sacrifice -- promised to help and heal.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for Your presence in my life. Even when I may not understand why things happen the way they do, help me rely on You for guidance and direction. In Jesus' Name I ask it. 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:
Hosea 12:1 (11:12) “Efrayim surrounds me with lies

and the house of Isra’el with deceit.

Y’hudah still rules with God

and is faithful with holy ones.

2 (1) Efrayim is chasing the wind,

pursuing the wind from the east.

All day he piles up lies and desolation —

they make a covenant with Ashur,

while sending olive oil to Egypt.

3 (2) Adonai also has a grievance against Y’hudah;

he will punish Ya‘akov according to his ways

and pay him back for his misdeeds.

4 (3) In the womb he took his brother by the heel;

in the strength of his manhood he fought with God.

5 (4) Yes, he fought with an angel and won;

he wept and pleaded with him.

Then at Beit-El he found him,

and there he would [later] speak with us —

6 (5) Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot;

Adonai is his name!

7 (6) So you, return to your God;

hold fast to grace and justice;

and always put your hope in your God.

8 (7) “A huckster keeps false scales,

and he loves to cheat.

9 (8) Efrayim says, ‘I have gotten so rich!

I have made me a fortune!

And in all my profits no one will find

anything wrong or sinful.’

10 (9) “But I am Adonai your God,

from the land of Egypt.

Again I will make you live in tents,

as in the days of the established festival.

11 (10) I have spoken to the prophets;

it was I who gave vision after vision;

through the prophets I gave examples

to show what it would all be like.

12 (11) Is Gil‘ad given to iniquity?

Yes, they have become worthless.

In Gilgal they sacrifice to bulls;

therefore their altars are like piles of stones

in a plowed field.”

13 (12) Ya‘akov fled to the land of Aram.

There Isra’el slaved to win a wife;

for a wife he tended sheep.

14 (13) By a prophet Adonai brought Isra’el up from Egypt,

and by a prophet he was protected.

15 (14) Efrayim has given bitter provocation,

so the penalty for his bloodshed will be thrown down on him,

and his Lord will repay him for his insult.

13:1 “When Efrayim spoke, there was trembling;

he was a power in Isra’el.

But when he incurred guilt through Ba‘al,

he died.

2 So now they keep adding sin to sin,

casting images from their silver;

idols they invent for themselves,

all of them the work of craftsmen.

‘Sacrifice to them,’ they say.

Men give kisses to calves!

3 Therefore they will be like a morning cloud,

like the dew that disappears early,

like chaff blown by wind from the threshing-floor,

or like smoke that goes out the window.

4 Still, I am Adonai your God,

from the land of Egypt;

and you don’t know any God but me

or, other than me, any Savior.

5 I knew you in the desert,

in a land of terrible drought.

6 When they were fed, they were satisfied;

when satisfied, they became proud.

Therefore they forgot me.

7 So now I have become like a lion to them;

like a leopard I will lurk by the road;

8 I will meet them like a bear

whose cubs have been taken away.

I will tear their hearts from their bodies.

I will devour them there like a lion,

like a wild animal ripping them up.

9 It is your destruction, Isra’el,

although your help is in me.

10 So now, where is your king,

to save you in all your cities?

Where are your judges, of whom you said,

‘Give me a king and leaders’?

11 I gave you a king in my anger;

and in my fury I took him away.

12 “Efrayim’s guilt has been wrapped up,

his sin is stored away.

13 The pain of being born will come to him;

but he is an unwise son.

The time has come; and he shouldn’t delay,

there at the mouth of the womb.

14 Should I ransom them from the power of Sh’ol?

Should I redeem them from death?

Where are your plagues, death;

where is your destruction, Sh’ol?

My eyes are closed to compassion.

15 For though he flourishes among the reeds,

an east wind will come, a wind from Adonai,

blowing up from the desert.

Then his water source will dry up,

then his spring will fail —

it will plunder his treasury,

removing every precious thing.”

14:1 (13:16) Shomron will bear her guilt,

for she has rebelled against her God.

They will fall by the sword,

their little ones will be dashed to pieces

and their pregnant women ripped open.

2 (1) Return, Isra’el, to Adonai your God,

for your guilt has made you stumble.

3 (2) Take words with you, and return to Adonai;

say to him, “Forgive all guilt,

and accept what is good;

we will pay instead of bulls

[the offerings of] our lips.

4 (3) Ashur will not save us,

we will not ride on horses,

and we will no longer call

what we made with our hands our gods.

For it is only in you

that the fatherless can find mercy.”

5 (4) “I will heal their disloyalty,

I will love them freely;

for my anger has turned from him.

6 (5) I will be like dew to Isra’el;

he will blossom like a lily

and strike roots like the L’vanon.

7 (6) His branches will spread out,

his beauty be like an olive tree

and his fragrance like the L’vanon.

8 (7) Again they will live in his shade and raise grain;

they will blossom like a vine,

and its aroma will be

like the wine of the L’vanon.

9 (8) Efrayim [will say], ‘What have I

to do any more with idols?’

And I, I answer and affirm him;

I am like a fresh, green cypress tree;

your fruitfulness comes from me.”

10 (9) Let the wise understand these things,

and let the discerning know them.

For the ways of Adonai are straight,

And the righteous walk in them,

but in them sinners stumble.

Romans 16:1 I am introducing to you our sister Phoebe, shammash of the congregation at Cenchrea, 2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as God’s people should, and give her whatever assistance she may need from you; for she has been a big help to many people — including myself.

3 Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers for the Messiah Yeshua. 4 They risked their necks to save my life; not only I thank them, but also all the Messianic communities among the Gentiles. 5 And give my greetings to the congregation that meets in their house.

Give my greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first person in the province of Asia to put his trust in the Messiah.

6 Give my greetings to Miryam, who has worked very hard for you.

7 Greetings to Andronicus and Junia, relatives of mine who were in prison with me. They are well known among the emissaries; also they came to trust in the Messiah before I did.

8 Greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

9 Greetings to Urbanus, our fellow worker for the Messiah, and to my dear friend Stachys.

10 Greetings to Appeles, whose trust in the Messiah has been tested and proved.

Greet those in the household of Aristobulus.

11 Greet my relative, Herodion.

12 Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, women who are working hard for the Lord.

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has done a lot of hard work for the Lord.

13 Greet Rufus, chosen by the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me too.

14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers who are with them.

15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all of God’s people who are with them.

16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the Messiah’s congregations send their greetings to you.

17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put snares alongside the teaching in which you have been trained — keep away from them. 18 For men like these are not serving our Lord the Messiah but their own belly; by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the innocent. 19 For everyone has heard about your obedience; therefore I rejoice over you. However, I want you to be wise concerning good, but innocent concerning evil. 20 And God, the source of shalom, will soon crush the Adversary under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Yeshua be with you.

21 Timothy, my fellow-worker, sends greetings to you; so do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.

22 I, Tertius, the one writing down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 My host Gaius, in whose home the whole congregation meets, greets you. Erastus the city treasurer and brother Quartus greet you. 24 [Romans 16:24 Some manuscripts have verse 24: The grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you all. Amen.]

25 Now to God, who can strengthen you, according to my Good News,

in harmony with the revelation of the secret truth

which is the proclamation of Yeshua the Messiah,

kept hidden in silence for ages and ages,

26 but manifested now through prophetic writings,

in keeping with the command of God the Eternal,

and communicated to all the Gentiles

to promote in them trust-grounded obedience —

27 to the only wise God, through Yeshua the Messiah,

be the glory forever and ever!

Amen.

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St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
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