By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.[1 John 4:13-15]
In 1957 a group of Buddhist monks were forced to move because the government was building a highway. That was no problem for the monks, but it was a crisis for their large, centuries-old, clay statue of Buddha. A crane was brought in to lift the giant Buddha from its base.
The crane lifted and the monks heard a crack. They ordered the crane to set the statue down.
Later they checked the statue for damage. Using a flashlight they looked under the protective cover. They were surprised to see something shining back. The tarp was removed, and the monks looked closer. The gleam became brighter.
The monks carefully chipped away at the Buddha's toe. Then, after a while, they began in earnest. Hours later, filled with questions, they stood before a solid-gold statue.
Their best guess explanation was this: centuries before, the army of Burma was about to invade Thailand. The monks at that time covered their gold statue with clay. It was a good disguise, made all the more complete when the Burmese slaughtered the monks who knew the secret. It took hundreds of years for the statue to be seen for the precious object that it was.
Today I encourage you to see the value of a living Savior and not a lifeless statue.
Today I urge you to value the grace of God more than you might cold gold. My friends, not a single one of our Daily Devotioners is being given 100 years to see the Savior and appreciate all He has done for them with His life-sacrifice. None of us have endless tomorrows that will enable us, by some strange accident, some coincidental happenstance, to sneak a glimpse of His great love.
On the other hand, every day, the Holy Spirit calls us to see Jesus clearly.
* He wants us to see underneath the mud of abuse, the dirt of disregard with which the world tries to cover the Savior and the salvation His death and resurrection have won.
* The Holy Spirit wants you to look past the lies of Satan who does his best to cover the Christ, disguise Him, deny Him, and hide Him.
* Today the Holy Spirit wishes to chip away at the disrespect that doubters and deniers and detractors have smeared over your Lord.
Today is the day the Holy Spirit says, "See the Savior for Who He is. See Him as the Redeemer who has rescued you."
See Jesus clearly and be confident the Father, on Judgment Day, will not see you as a sin-stained sinner.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, may we see our Savior and be kept in the faith of Him who gave His life so we might have life eternal. This we ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
In 1957 a group of Buddhist monks were forced to move because the government was building a highway. That was no problem for the monks, but it was a crisis for their large, centuries-old, clay statue of Buddha. A crane was brought in to lift the giant Buddha from its base.
The crane lifted and the monks heard a crack. They ordered the crane to set the statue down.
Later they checked the statue for damage. Using a flashlight they looked under the protective cover. They were surprised to see something shining back. The tarp was removed, and the monks looked closer. The gleam became brighter.
The monks carefully chipped away at the Buddha's toe. Then, after a while, they began in earnest. Hours later, filled with questions, they stood before a solid-gold statue.
Their best guess explanation was this: centuries before, the army of Burma was about to invade Thailand. The monks at that time covered their gold statue with clay. It was a good disguise, made all the more complete when the Burmese slaughtered the monks who knew the secret. It took hundreds of years for the statue to be seen for the precious object that it was.
Today I encourage you to see the value of a living Savior and not a lifeless statue.
Today I urge you to value the grace of God more than you might cold gold. My friends, not a single one of our Daily Devotioners is being given 100 years to see the Savior and appreciate all He has done for them with His life-sacrifice. None of us have endless tomorrows that will enable us, by some strange accident, some coincidental happenstance, to sneak a glimpse of His great love.
On the other hand, every day, the Holy Spirit calls us to see Jesus clearly.
* He wants us to see underneath the mud of abuse, the dirt of disregard with which the world tries to cover the Savior and the salvation His death and resurrection have won.
* The Holy Spirit wants you to look past the lies of Satan who does his best to cover the Christ, disguise Him, deny Him, and hide Him.
* Today the Holy Spirit wishes to chip away at the disrespect that doubters and deniers and detractors have smeared over your Lord.
Today is the day the Holy Spirit says, "See the Savior for Who He is. See Him as the Redeemer who has rescued you."
See Jesus clearly and be confident the Father, on Judgment Day, will not see you as a sin-stained sinner.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, may we see our Savior and be kept in the faith of Him who gave His life so we might have life eternal. This we 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:
1 Samuel 1-3; Luke 17:20-37
1 Samuel 1: Hannah Pours Out Her Heart to God
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
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Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
1 Samuel 1-3; Luke 17:20-37
1 Samuel 1: Hannah Pours Out Her Heart to God
1-2 There once was a man who lived in Ramathaim. He was descended from the old Zuph family in the Ephraim hills. His name was Elkanah. (He was connected with the Zuphs from Ephraim through his father Jeroham, his grandfather Elihu, and his great-grandfather Tohu.) He had two wives. The first was Hannah; the second was Peninnah. Peninnah had children; Hannah did not.
3-7 Every year this man went from his hometown up to Shiloh to worship and offer a sacrifice to God-of-the-Angel-Armies. Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served as the priests of God there. When Elkanah sacrificed, he passed helpings from the sacrificial meal around to his wife Peninnah and all her children, but he always gave an especially generous helping to Hannah because he loved her so much, and because God had not given her children. But her rival wife taunted her cruelly, rubbing it in and never letting her forget that God had not given her children. This went on year after year. Every time she went to the sanctuary of God she could expect to be taunted. Hannah was reduced to tears and had no appetite.
8 Her husband Elkanah said, “Oh, Hannah, why are you crying? Why aren’t you eating? And why are you so upset? Am I not of more worth to you than ten sons?”
9-11 So Hannah ate. Then she pulled herself together, slipped away quietly, and entered the sanctuary. The priest Eli was on duty at the entrance to God’s Temple in the customary seat. Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried—inconsolably. Then she made a vow:
Oh, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
If you’ll take a good, hard look at my pain,
If you’ll quit neglecting me and go into action for me
By giving me a son,
I’ll give him completely, unreservedly to you.
I’ll set him apart for a life of holy discipline.
12-14 It so happened that as she continued in prayer before God, Eli was watching her closely. Hannah was praying in her heart, silently. Her lips moved, but no sound was heard. Eli jumped to the conclusion that she was drunk. He approached her and said, “You’re drunk! How long do you plan to keep this up? Sober up, woman!”
15-16 Hannah said, “Oh no, sir—please! I’m a woman hard used. I haven’t been drinking. Not a drop of wine or beer. The only thing I’ve been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to God. Don’t for a minute think I’m a bad woman. It’s because I’m so desperately unhappy and in such pain that I’ve stayed here so long.”
17 Eli answered her, “Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him.”
18 “Think well of me—and pray for me!” she said, and went her way. Then she ate heartily, her face radiant.
19 Up before dawn, they worshiped God and returned home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked.
Dedicating the Child to God
20 Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, “I asked God for him.”
21-22 When Elkanah next took his family on their annual trip to Shiloh to worship God, offering sacrifices and keeping his vow, Hannah didn’t go. She told her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll bring him myself and present him before God—and that’s where he’ll stay, for good.”
23-24 Elkanah said to his wife, “Do what you think is best. Stay home until you have weaned him. Yes! Let God complete what he has begun!”
So she did. She stayed home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Then she took him up to Shiloh, bringing also the makings of a generous sacrificial meal—a prize bull, flour, and wine. The child was so young to be sent off!
25-26 They first butchered the bull, then brought the child to Eli. Hannah said, “Excuse me, sir. Would you believe that I’m the very woman who was standing before you at this very spot, praying to God? I prayed for this child, and God gave me what I asked for. And now I have dedicated him to God. He’s dedicated to God for life.”
Then and there, they worshiped God.
2:1 Hannah prayed:
I’m bursting with God-news!
I’m walking on air.
I’m laughing at my rivals.
I’m dancing my salvation.
2-5 Nothing and no one is holy like God,
no rock mountain like our God.
Don’t dare talk pretentiously—
not a word of boasting, ever!
For God knows what’s going on.
He takes the measure of everything that happens.
The weapons of the strong are smashed to pieces,
while the weak are infused with fresh strength.
The well-fed are out begging in the streets for crusts,
while the hungry are getting second helpings.
The barren woman has a houseful of children,
while the mother of many is bereft.
6-10 God brings death and God brings life,
brings down to the grave and raises up.
God brings poverty and God brings wealth;
he lowers, he also lifts up.
He puts poor people on their feet again;
he rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope,
Restoring dignity and respect to their lives—
a place in the sun!
For the very structures of earth are God’s;
he has laid out his operations on a firm foundation.
He protectively cares for his faithful friends, step by step,
but leaves the wicked to stumble in the dark.
No one makes it in this life by sheer muscle!
God’s enemies will be blasted out of the sky,
crashed in a heap and burned.
God will set things right all over the earth,
he’ll give strength to his king,
he’ll set his anointed on top of the world!
11 Elkanah went home to Ramah. The boy stayed and served God in the company of Eli the priest.
Samuel Serves God
12-17 Eli’s own sons were a bad lot. They didn’t know God and could not have cared less about the customs of priests among the people. Ordinarily, when someone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant was supposed to come up and, while the meat was boiling, stab a three-pronged fork into the cooking pot. The priest then got whatever came up on the fork. But this is how Eli’s sons treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to God. Before they had even burned the fat to God, the priest’s servant would interrupt whoever was sacrificing and say, “Hand over some of that meat for the priest to roast. He doesn’t like boiled meat; he likes his rare.” If the man objected, “First let the fat be burned—God’s portion!—then take all you want,” the servant would demand, “No, I want it now. If you won’t give it, I’ll take it.” It was a horrible sin these young servants were committing—and right in the presence of God!—desecrating the holy offerings to God.
18-20 In the midst of all this, Samuel, a boy dressed in a priestly linen tunic, served God. Additionally, every year his mother would make him a little robe cut to his size and bring it to him when she and her husband came for the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “God give you children to replace this child you have dedicated to God.” Then they would go home.
21 God was most especially kind to Hannah. She had three more sons and two daughters! The boy Samuel stayed at the sanctuary and grew up with God.
A Hard Life with Many Tears
22-25 By this time Eli was very old. He kept getting reports on how his sons were ripping off the people and sleeping with the women who helped out at the sanctuary. Eli took them to task: “What’s going on here? Why are you doing these things? I hear story after story of your corrupt and evil carrying on. Oh, my sons, this is not right! These are terrible reports I’m getting, stories spreading right and left among God’s people! If you sin against another person, there’s help—God’s help. But if you sin against God, who is around to help?”
25-26 But they were far gone in disobedience and refused to listen to a thing their father said. So God, who was fed up with them, decreed their death. But the boy Samuel was very much alive, growing up, blessed by God and popular with the people.
27-30 A holy man came to Eli and said: “This is God’s message: I revealed myself openly to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your family to be my priests: to preside at the Altar, to burn incense, to wear the priestly robes in my presence. I put your ancestral family in charge of all the sacrificial offerings of Israel. So why do you now treat as mere loot these very sacrificial offerings that I commanded for my worship? Why do you treat your sons better than me, turning them loose to get fat on these offerings, and ignoring me? Therefore—this is God’s word, the God of Israel speaking—I once said that you and your ancestral family would be my priests indefinitely, but now—God’s word, remember!—there is no way this can continue.
I honor those who honor me;
those who scorn me I demean.
31-36 “Be well warned: It won’t be long before I wipe out both your family and your future family. No one in your family will make it to old age! You’ll see good things that I’m doing in Israel, but you’ll see it and weep, for no one in your family will live to enjoy it. I will leave one person to serve at my Altar, but it will be a hard life, with many tears. Everyone else in your family will die before their time. What happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be the proof: Both will die the same day. Then I’ll establish for myself a true priest. He’ll do what I want him to do, be what I want him to be. I’ll make his position secure and he’ll do his work freely in the service of my anointed one. Survivors from your family will come to him begging for handouts, saying, ‘Please, give me some priest work, just enough to put some food on the table.’”
“Speak, God. I’m Ready to Listen”
3:1-3 The boy Samuel was serving God under Eli’s direction. This was at a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen. One night Eli was sound asleep (his eyesight was very bad—he could hardly see). It was well before dawn; the sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the Temple of God, where the Chest of God rested.
4-5 Then God called out, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Yes? I’m here.” Then he ran to Eli saying, “I heard you call. Here I am.”
Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” And so he did.
6-7 God called again, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel got up and went to Eli, “I heard you call. Here I am.”
Again Eli said, “Son, I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” (This all happened before Samuel knew God for himself. It was before the revelation of God had been given to him personally.)
8-9 God called again, “Samuel!”—the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, “Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am.”
That’s when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel, “Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, ‘Speak, God. I’m your servant, ready to listen.’” Samuel returned to his bed.
10 Then God came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak. I’m your servant, ready to listen.”
11-14 God said to Samuel, “Listen carefully. I’m getting ready to do something in Israel that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention. The time has come for me to bring down on Eli’s family everything I warned him of, every last word of it. I’m letting him know that the time’s up. I’m bringing judgment on his family for good. He knew what was going on, that his sons were desecrating God’s name and God’s place, and he did nothing to stop them. This is my sentence on the family of Eli: The evil of Eli’s family can never be wiped out by sacrifice or offering.”
15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then rose early and went about his duties, opening the doors of the sanctuary, but he dreaded having to tell the vision to Eli.
16 But then Eli summoned Samuel: “Samuel, my son!”
Samuel came running: “Yes? What can I do for you?”
17 “What did he say? Tell it to me, all of it. Don’t suppress or soften one word, as God is your judge! I want it all, word for word as he said it to you.”
18 So Samuel told him, word for word. He held back nothing.
Eli said, “He is God. Let him do whatever he thinks best.”
19-21 Samuel grew up. God was with him, and Samuel’s prophetic record was flawless. Everyone in Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, recognized that Samuel was the real thing—a true prophet of God. God continued to show up at Shiloh, revealed through his word to Samuel at Shiloh.
Luke 17: When the Son of Man Arrives
20-21 Jesus, grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come, answered, “The kingdom of God doesn’t come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, ‘Look here!’ or, ‘There it is!’ And why? Because God’s kingdom is already among you.”
22-24 He went on to say to his disciples, “The days are coming when you are going to be desperately homesick for just a glimpse of one of the days of the Son of Man, and you won’t see a thing. And they’ll say to you, ‘Look over there!’ or, ‘Look here!’ Don’t fall for any of that nonsense. The arrival of the Son of Man is not something you go out to see. He simply comes.
24-25 “You know how the whole sky lights up from a single flash of lightning? That’s how it will be on the Day of the Son of Man. But first it’s necessary that he suffer many things and be turned down by the people of today.
26-27 “The time of the Son of Man will be just like the time of Noah—everyone carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ship. They suspected nothing until the flood hit and swept everything away.
28-30 “It was the same in the time of Lot—the people carrying on, having a good time, business as usual right up to the day Lot walked out of Sodom and a firestorm swept down and burned everything to a crisp. That’s how it will be—sudden, total—when the Son of Man is revealed.
31-33 “When the Day arrives and you’re out working in the yard, don’t run into the house to get anything. And if you’re out in the field, don’t go back and get your coat. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you’ll lose it, but if you let that life go, you’ll get life on God’s terms.
34-35 “On that Day, two men will be in the same boat fishing—one taken, the other left. Two women will be working in the same kitchen—one taken, the other left.”
37 Trying to take all this in, the disciples said, “Master, where?”
He told them, “Watch for the circling of the vultures. They’ll spot the corpse first. The action will begin around my dead body.”
The Lutheran Hour660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
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