Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Something's Missing" by Rev. Wayne Palmer for First Sunday in Advent: November 29, 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Something's Missing" by Rev. Wayne Palmer for First Sunday in Advent: November 29, 2015
Important Note: Beginning with this devotion (November 29 -- the first Sunday in Advent) and throughout the Advent season, the content for LHM’s Daily Devotions will be provided from Rev. Wayne Palmer’s Advent devotion series, “Fear Not!” All Daily Devotions subscribers, as well as those who are signed up for both Daily Devotions and Seasonal Devotions, will receive a single devotion each day written by Rev. Palmer. The Daily Devotions written by Rev. Ken Klaus will resume after Advent.
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
Read Luke 1:5 In the days of Herod, King of Y’hudah, there was a cohen named Z’kharyah who belonged to the Aviyah division. His wife was a descendant of Aharon, and her name was Elisheva. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of Adonai blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elisheva was barren; and they were both well along in years.. TEXT: ...There was a priest named Zechariah ... And he had a wife ... and her name was Elizabeth (Luke 1:5b).

As we begin the transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas, we meet an old Jewish couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth. Like us, they have much to be thankful for in their lives. God has given them a strong faith in His coming Savior, and they have a good reputation in their town.
But, like all of us, their thanksgiving is neither perfect nor complete. One thing has eluded them, one thing that keeps their thankfulness from being complete. God has not given them a child. They celebrate the holidays together, but they have no earthly future, no heritage, no one to whom they can pass on their holiday traditions.
What do you do when you've lived your life as well as you can, sought to honor God, and yet find He has withheld something good and beneficial from you--a spouse, a child, a job, a house, etc.? It gets pretty hard to not feel there's something wrong in your relationship with God. Either He's punishing you for something you don't remember or understand, or maybe He isn't quite as loving as you were always told He is.
Maybe you've exited the Thanksgiving season into the Christmas season with a big hole in your life. Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, we turn to God and wait for His will and time. There's often nothing else we can do.
THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Your Word promises that You are good, loving and kind to all Your children. Yet there is an empty spot in my life. Grant me the faith and courage to trust in Your goodness and love, and give me the patience to wait for the good that You intend to bring from this disappointment. I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Ezekiel 35:1 The word of Adonai came to me: 2 “Human being, turn your face against Mount Se‘ir; prophesy against it, 3 and say that Adonai Elohim says, ‘I am against you, Mount Se‘ir. I will stretch out my hand against you and make you utterly desolate. 4 I will make your cities ruins and make you an utter waste, and you will know that I am Adonai. 5 Because of your long-standing hatred, you put the people of Isra’el to the sword at their time of calamity, at the time of final iniquity. 6 Therefore, as I live,’ Adonai Elohim swears, ‘I will prepare you for blood. Blood will pursue you. You intensely hate your own blood [relatives]; therefore blood will pursue you. 7 Yes, I will make Mount Se‘ir utterly desolate, cutting off from it anyone passing through or returning. 8 I will fill his mountains with his slain; in your hills and valleys and in all your ravines will fall those slain by the sword. 9 I will turn you into perpetual ruins; your cities will not return; and you will know that I am Adonai.

10 “‘Because you say, “These two nations, these two countries, will be mine; we will take possession of them,” even though Adonai is there; 11 therefore, as I live,’ swears Adonai Elohim, ‘I will deal with you as your anger and envy arising from your hatred deserve; and I will make myself known among them when I judge you. 12 You will know that I, Adonai, have heard all your blasphemous talk against the mountains of Isra’el, such as, “They are desolated, they are given to us to devour.” 13 Moreover, you have boasted against me with your mouths, speaking more and more against me — I have heard it.’ 14 Here is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘To the joy of all the land, I will desolate you. 15 Since you rejoiced over possessing the house of Isra’el, because it was desolate, that is what I will do to you — you will be desolate, Mount Se‘ir and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am Adonai.’

36:1 “Now you, human being, prophesy to the mountains of Isra’el. Say: ‘Mountains of Isra’el, hear the message from Adonai. 2 Adonai Elohim says: “The enemy is boasting over you, ‘Ha! Even the ancient high places are ours now!’ ” ’ 3 Therefore prophesy, and say that Adonai Elohim says, ‘Because they desolated you and swallowed you up from every side, so that the other nations could take possession of you; and now people are gossiping about you and slandering you; 4 therefore, mountains of Isra’el, hear the message of Adonai Elohim — this is what Adonai Elohim says to the mountains and hills, the streams and valleys, the desolate wastes and the abandoned cities, now preyed on and derided by the other surrounding nations — 5 therefore this is what Adonai Elohim says: “In the heat of my jealousy I speak against the other nations and all of Edom, since, rejoicing with all their heart, they have arrogated my land to themselves as a possession and, with utter contempt, seized it as prey.”’

6 “Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Isra’el, and say to the mountains, the hills, the streams and the valleys that Adonai Elohim says this: ‘I speak in my jealousy and fury, because you have endured being shamed by the nations. 7 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: “I have raised my hand and sworn that the nations surrounding you will bear their shame. 8 But you, mountains of Isra’el, you will sprout your branches and bear your fruit for my people Isra’el, who will soon return. 9 I am here for you, and I will turn toward you; then you will be tilled and sown; 10 and I will multiply your population, all the house of Isra’el, all of it. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will multiply both the human and animal populations, they will increase and be productive; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before — indeed, I will do you more good than before; and you will know that I am Adonai. 12 I will cause people to walk on you, my people Isra’el; they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; never again will you make them childless.” 13 Adonai Elohim says, “Because they say to you, ‘Land, you devour people and make your nations childless,’ 14 therefore you will no longer devour people, and you will not make your nations childless any more,” says Adonai Elohim. 15 “I will not permit the nations to shame you, or the peoples to reproach you any longer; and you will no more cause your nations to stumble,” says Adonai Elohim.’”

16 The word of Adonai came to me: 17 “Human being, when the house of Isra’el lived in their own land, they defiled it by their manner of life and their actions; their way before me was like the uncleanness of niddah. 18 Therefore I poured out my fury on them, because of the blood they had shed in the land and because they defiled it with their idols. 19 I scattered them among the nations and dispersed them throughout the countries; I judged them in keeping with their manner of life and actions. 20 When they came to the nations they were going to, they profaned my holy name; so that people said of them, ‘These are Adonai’s people, who have been exiled from his land.’ 21 But I am concerned about my holy name, which the house of Isra’el is profaning among the nations where they have gone.

22 “Therefore tell the house of Isra’el that Adonai Elohim says this: ‘I am not going to do this for your sake, house of Isra’el, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have been profaning among the nations where you went. 23 I will set apart my great name to be regarded as holy, since it has been profaned in the nations — you profaned it among them. The nations will know that I am Adonai,’ says Adonai Elohim, ‘when, before their eyes, I am set apart through you to be regarded as holy.

24 For I will take you from among the nations,

gather you from all the countries,

and return you to your own soil.

25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you,

and you will be clean;

I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness

and from all your idols.

26 I will give you a new heart

and put a new spirit inside you;

I will take the stony heart out of your flesh

and give you a heart of flesh.

27 I will put my Spirit inside you

and cause you to live by my laws,

respect my rulings and obey them.

28 You will live in the land I gave to your ancestors.

You will be my people,

and I will be your God.

29 I will save you from all your uncleanliness.

I will summon the grain and increase it,

and not send famine against you.

30 I will multiply the yield of fruit from the trees

and increase production in the fields,

so that you never again suffer the reproach

of famine among the nations.

31 Then you will remember your evil ways

and your actions that were not good;

as you look at yourselves, you will loathe yourselves

for your guilt and disgusting practices.

32 Understand,’ says Adonai Elohim,

‘that I am not doing this for your sake.

Instead, be ashamed and dismayed for your ways,

house of Isra’el.’

33 “Adonai Elohim says, ‘When the day comes for me to cleanse you from all your guilt, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the ruins to be rebuilt. 34 The land that was desolate will be tilled, whereas formerly it lay desolate for all passing by to see. 35 Then they will say, “The land that used to be desolate has become like Gan-‘Eden, and the cities formerly ruined, abandoned and wasted have been fortified and are inhabited!” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I, Adonai, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted what was abandoned. I, Adonai, have spoken; and I will do it.’

37 “Adonai Elohim says, ‘In addition, I will let the house of Isra’el pray to me to do this for them: to increase their numbers like sheep — 38 like flocks of sheep for sacrifices, like the flocks of sheep in Yerushalayim at its designated times, in this degree will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am Adonai.’”

2 Peter 1;1 From: Shim‘on Kefa, a slave and emissary of Yeshua the Messiah

To: Those who, through the righteousness of our God and of our Deliverer Yeshua the Messiah, have been given the same kind of trust as ours:

2 May grace and shalom be yours in full measure, as you come to a full knowledge of God and Yeshua our Lord.

3 God’s power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowing the One who called us to his own glory and goodness. 4 By these he has given us valuable and superlatively great promises, so that through them you might come to share in God’s nature and escape the corruption which evil desires have brought into the world.

5 For this very reason, try your hardest to furnish your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with perseverance, perseverance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if you have these qualities in abundance, they keep you from being barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 9 Indeed, whoever lacks them is blind, so shortsighted that he forgets that his past sins have been washed away. 10 Therefore, brothers, try even harder to make your being called and chosen a certainty. For if you keep doing this, you will never stumble. 11 Thus you will be generously supplied with everything you need to enter the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah.

12 For this reason, I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you already have. 13 And I consider it right to keep stirring you up with reminders, as long as I am in the tent of this body. 14 I know that I will soon lay aside this tent of mine, as our Lord Yeshua the Messiah has made clear to me. 15 And I will do my best to see that after my exodus, you will be able to remember these things at all times.

16 For when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, we did not rely on cunningly contrived myths. On the contrary, we saw his majesty with our own eyes. 17 For we were there when he received honor and glory from God the Father; and the voice came to him from the grandeur of the Sh’khinah, saying, “This is my son, whom I love; I am well pleased with him!” 18 We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

19 Yes, we have the prophetic Word made very certain. You will do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark, murky place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all, understand this: no prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own; 21 for never has a prophecy come as a result of human willing — on the contrary, people moved by the Ruach HaKodesh spoke a message from God.

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