Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Remembered" for Sunday, November 8, 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Remembered" for Sunday, November 8, 2015

Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.[Psalm 139:7-10]
I wonder how many of our Daily Devotioners feel truly treasured and always appreciated.
I'm sure there was a long spell in the life of Merhan Karimi Nasseri when he felt undervalued and unwanted. His name doesn't sound familiar, does it? So, as a refresher, here's his story.
Nasseri ended up in Paris after being expelled from his homeland of Iran. He flew to England, but somebody stole his refugee documents. As a result, he was refused admittance to that country and was returned to Paris. Unfortunately, without papers, Nasseri was also refused a home by the French.
Unable to move forward or backward, Nasseri stayed at Terminal 1 in the Paris airport.
He stayed there for part of 1988 and all of 1989. He was still at the airport when 1990 came and went. The same was true for 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and part of 1999. Finally in 1999, the French authorities gave Nasseri an international travel card and a permit gave him the permission to become a Frenchman and the opportunity to travel anywhere in the world.
Surprisingly, when he was given his papers, Nasseri simply smiled and tucked the documents in his folder. He had felt so unvalued for so long, he was afraid to leave the place that had been his home for over a decade.
If I were to sit down and talk with everyone who is receiving this daily devo, I'm pretty sure many of you would be able to identify with Nasseri. That's because most of us have had moments in our lives when we felt unappreciated, unwanted, unrecognized, unapplauded and unneeded.
* There's the grandma in the nursing home whose telephone seems to be in her room merely for decoration. Her friends are gone; her family has forgotten.
* There's the student who has done great work but, as of today, has not heard from any of the first-pick colleges to which he has applied.
* How about the grade-schoolers who watch all the big parts in the school play being assigned to someone else -- the one who is never picked first on the playground -- whose artwork always seems to end up being tacked up on the out-of-the-way bulletin board?
I could go on, but I won't. It's just not necessary.
Of course, if you really wish to see Someone who was unwanted, look to the Savior. Jesus was rejected by His church, His government, His friends. His back was lashed; His head was crowned with thorns. He was stripped, spit upon, scorned and condemned. Iron nails were driven into His hands and feet.
This, Jesus endured so you might always be remembered, could always be forgiven, could be assured the Lord's love had not passed you by. You can be confident Jesus was successful because -- on the third day after He was crucified and died -- He rose from the dead. Unbelievably, unexpectedly, divinely, Jesus came back and showed to a lost and lonely world just how much God loves them.
He wants to show that to you as well.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, the world may never recognize me; even those who are closest to me may not think often of me. Still, my Savior knows and remembers. More than that, His sacrifice forgives and redeems me. For all this I give thanks 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:
Lamentations 1:1 How lonely lies the city

that once thronged with people!

Once great among the nations,

now she is like a widow!

Once princess among provinces,

she has become a vassal.

2 Bitterly she weeps at night,

tears running down her cheeks.

Not one of all her lovers

is there to comfort her.

Her friends have all betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

3 Y’hudah has fled into exile

from oppression and endless slavery.

She lives among the nations,

but there she finds no rest.

Her pursuers have all overtaken her

in the midst of her distress.

4 The roads to Tziyon are mourning

because no one comes to the festivals.

Her gateways are all deserted,

her cohanim are groaning,

her unmarried girls are grieving —

how bitter it is for her!

5 Her foes have become the head,

her enemies relax,

for Adonai has made her suffer

because of her many sins.

Her young children have gone away

captive before the foe.

6 All splendor has departed

from the daughter of Tziyon.

Her princes have become like deer

unable to find pasture,

running on, exhausted,

fleeing from the hunter.

7 In the days of her affliction and anguish,

Yerushalayim remembers

all the treasures that were hers,

ever since ancient times.

Now her people fall into the power of the foe,

and she has no one to help her;

her enemies are gloating over her,

mocking her desolation.

8 Yerushalayim sinned grievously;

therefore she has become unclean.

All who honored her now despise her,

because they have seen her naked.

She herself also moans

and turns her face away.

9 Her filthiness was in her skirts;

she gave no thought to how it would end.

Hence her astounding downfall,

with no one to console her.

“Look, Adonai, how I suffer;

for the foe has triumphed!”

10 Enemies have reached out their hands

to seize all her treasures.

She has seen Goyim approach

and go inside her sanctuary,

those whom you forbade even

to enter your assembly.

11 All her people are groaning,

as they search for something to eat.

They barter their treasures for food

to keep themselves alive.

“Look, Adonai! See

how despised I am.

12 “May it not happen to you,

all you passers-by!

Just look, and see if there is any pain

like the pain inflicted on me,

which Adonai made me suffer

on the day of his blazing anger.

13 “From on high, he sent down fire

deep into my bones;

he spread a net to catch my feet;

he turned me back;

he left me desolate,

in misery all day long.

14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke,

knit together by his hand.

It weighs down on my neck,

and it saps my strength.

Adonai has put me into the power

of those I cannot withstand.

15 “All the strong men within my walls

Adonai has rejected.

He has set a specific time

for crushing my young men.

Adonai has trodden, like grapes in a winepress,

the virgin daughter of Y’hudah.

16 “Because of these things, I weep;

my eyes, my eyes stream with tears;

for anyone who could comfort me

and revive my courage is far away.

My children are in a state of shock,

because the enemy has prevailed.”

17 Tziyon spreads out her hands,

but no one is there to console her.

Concerning Ya‘akov, Adonai has ordered

those around him to be his foes;

Yerushalayim has become for them

an unclean, filthy thing.

18 “Adonai is in the right,

for I rebelled against his word.

Listen, please, all you peoples;

and see how I am in pain!

My young women and my young men

have gone into captivity.

19 “I called out to my lovers,

but they let me down.

My cohanim and leaders

perished in the city,

as they were seeking food

to keep themselves alive.

20 “See, Adonai, how distressed I am!

Everything in me is churning!

My heart turns over inside me,

because I have been so rebellious.

Outside, the sword brings bereavement;

inside, it is like death.

21 “People have heard how I groan,

with no one to comfort me.

All my foes have heard of my trouble;

they are glad that you have done it.

Bring the day you have promised,

so that they will suffer like me!

22 “Let all their wickedness come before you.

Then do to them

as you have done to me

because of all my offenses.

For my groans are many,

and I am sick at heart.”

2:1 How enveloped in darkness Adonai, in his anger,

has made the daughter of Tziyon!

He has thrown down from heaven to earth

the splendor of Isra’el,

forgotten his footstool [the sanctuary]

on the day of his anger.

2 Without pity Adonai swallowed up

all the dwellings of Ya‘akov.

In his wrath he broke down the strongholds

of the daughter of Y’hudah,

brought them down to the ground,

thus profaning the kingdom and its rulers.

3 In his fierce anger he cut off

all the power of Isra’el,

withdrew his protecting right hand

at the approach of the enemy,

and blazed up in Ya‘akov like a flaming fire

devouring everything around it.

4 He bent his bow like an enemy,

with his right hand set like a foe.

He killed all who were pleasant to see.

In the tent of the daughter of Tziyon,

he poured out his fury like fire.

5 Adonai became like an enemy;

he swallowed up Isra’el,

swallowed up all its palaces,

and destroyed all its strongholds.

For the daughter of Y’hudah

he has multiplied mourning and moaning.

6 He wrecked his tabernacle as easily as a garden,

destroyed his place of assembly.

Adonai caused Isra’el to forget

designated times and Shabbats.

In the heat of his anger

he rejected both king and cohen.

7 Adonai rejected his altar,

disowned his sanctuary,

and gave her palace walls

over to the power of the foe,

who raised such shouts in the house of Adonai

that it sounded like a festival day.

8 Adonai resolved to destroy

the wall of the daughter of Tziyon.

He measured it with his line and did not stay his hand

until it was all in ruins.

He brought grief to rampart and wall;

together they lie dejected.

9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;

he destroyed and broke their bars.

Her king and rulers are among the Goyim,

there is no more Torah,

and her prophets do not receive

visions from Adonai.

10 The leaders of the daughter of Tziyon

sit on the ground in silence.

They throw dust on their heads;

they are wearing sackcloth.

The unmarried women of Yerushalayim

lower their heads to the ground.

11 My eyes are worn out from weeping,

everything in me is churning;

I am empty of emotion

because of the wounds to my people,

because children and infants are fainting away

in the streets of the city.

12 They keep asking their mothers,

“Where is something to eat or drink?”

as they faint away

in the streets of the city,

gasping out their last breath

in their mother’s bosom.

13 What can be said to you, what can be compared with you,

daughter of Yerushalayim?

What example can I give to comfort you,

virgin daughter of Tziyon?

For your downfall is as vast as the sea;

who can heal you?

14 The visions your prophets saw for you

were futile, just a whitewash.

They did not expose your guilt,

    so as to reverse your fortunes —

    no, the visions they saw for you

    were alluring, but futile.

15 All who pass your way

clap their hands at you,

hissing and shaking their heads

at the daughter of Yerushalayim:

“This city was called ‘perfection in beauty’?

‘the joy of the whole earth’?”

16 All your adversaries

open their mouths to jeer at you.

They hiss, they grind their teeth;

they say, “We have swallowed her up!

This is the day we were waiting for,

and now we have lived to see it!”

17 Adonai has done what he planned,

he has fulfilled his promise,

which he decreed in ancient times.

He has destroyed without pity,

he has let the enemy gloat over you

and filled your foes with pride.

18 Their hearts cried out to Adonai,

“Wall of the daughter of Tziyon!

Let your tears stream down

like a torrent, day and night!

Give yourself no respite,

give your eyes no rest!

19 “Get up! Cry out in the night,

at the beginning of every watch!

Pour your heart out like water

before the face of Adonai!

Lift up your hands to him

for the lives of your babies,

who are fainting away from hunger

at every streetcorner.”

20 Adonai, look and see

who it is you have thus tormented!

Should women eat the fruit of their wombs,

the children they have held in their hands?

Should cohanim and prophets be slaughtered

in the sanctuary of Adonai?

21 Youths and old men are lying

on the ground in the streets,

my unmarried women and young men

have fallen by the sword.

You killed them on the day of your anger,

you slaughtered them without pity.

22 You have summoned my terrors from every direction,

as on a festival day.

On the day of Adonai’s anger,

not one escaped; not one survived —

the children I held in my arms and raised,

my enemy has destroyed.

Hebrews 12:1 So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment — that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement — and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us, 2 looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting,[Hebrews 12:2 Habakkuk 2:4] Yeshua — who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.[Hebrews 12:2 Psalm 110:1] 3 Yes, think about him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you won’t grow tired or become despondent. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in the contest against sin.

5 Also you have forgotten the counsel which speaks with you as sons:

“My son, don’t despise the discipline of Adonai

or become despondent when he corrects you.

6 For Adonai disciplines those he loves

and whips everyone he accepts as a son.”[Hebrews 12:6 Proverbs 3:11–12]

7 Regard your endurance as discipline; God is dealing with you as sons. For what son goes undisciplined by his father? 8 All legitimate sons undergo discipline; so if you don’t, you’re a mamzer and not a son!

9 Furthermore, we had physical fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them; how much more should we submit to our spiritual Father and live! 10 For they disciplined us only for a short time and only as best they could; but he disciplines us in a way that provides genuine benefit to us and enables us to share in his holiness.

11 Now, all discipline, while it is happening, does indeed seem painful, not enjoyable; but for those who have been trained by it, it later produces its peaceful fruit, which is righteousness. 12 So,

strengthen your drooping arms,

and steady your tottering knees;[Hebrews 12:12 Isaiah 35:3]

13 and

make a level path for your feet;[Hebrews 12:13 Proverbs 4:26]

so that what has been injured will not get wrenched out of joint but rather will be healed.

14 Keep pursuing shalom with everyone and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses out on God’s grace, that no root of bitterness[Hebrews 12:15 Deuteronomy 29:17(18)] springing up causes trouble and thus contaminates many, 16 and that no one is sexually immoral, or godless like Esav, who in exchange for a single meal gave up his rights as the firstborn. 17 For you know that afterwards, when he wanted to obtain his father’s blessing, he was rejected; indeed, even though he sought it with tears, his change of heart was to no avail.

18 For you have not come to a tangible mountain, to an ignited fire, to darkness, to murk, to a whirlwind, 19 to the sound of a shofar, and to a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further message be given to them — 20 for they couldn’t bear what was being commanded them, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it is to be stoned to death”;[Hebrews 12:20 Exodus 19:12–13] 21 and so terrifying was the sight that Moshe said, “I am quaking with dread.”[Hebrews 12:21 Deuteronomy 9:19]

22 On the contrary, you have come to Mount Tziyon, that is, the city of the living God, heavenly Yerushalayim; to myriads of angels in festive assembly; 23 to a community of the firstborn whose names have been recorded in heaven; to a Judge who is God of everyone; to spirits of righteous people who have been brought to the goal; 24 to the mediator of a new covenant, Yeshua; and to the sprinkled blood that speaks better things than that of Hevel.

25 See that you don’t reject the One speaking! For if those did not escape who rejected him when he gave divine warning on earth, think how much less we will escape if we turn away from him when he warns from heaven. 26 Even then, his voice shook the earth; but now, he has made this promise:

“One more time I will shake

not only the earth, but heaven too!”[Hebrews 12:26 Haggai 2:6, 21]

27 And this phrase, “one more time,” makes clear that the things shaken are removed, since they are created things, so that the things not shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we have received an unshakeable Kingdom, let us have grace, through which we may offer service that will please God, with reverence and fear. 29 For indeed,

“Our God is a consuming fire!”[Hebrews 12:29 Deuteronomy 4:24; 9:3; Isaiah 33:14]

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