Thursday, March 2, 2017

The Lutheran Hour Ministries Daily Devotion - Lenten Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries "Is this the Messiah?" for Friday, March 3, 2017

The Lutheran Hour Ministries Daily Devotion - Lenten Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries "Is this the Messiah?" for Friday, March 3, 2017

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As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ[(Luke 3:15).]
Read Luke 3:15-18
Luke 3:15 The people were in a state of great expectancy, and everyone was wondering whether perhaps Yochanan himself might be the Messiah; 16 so Yochanan answered them all, “I am immersing you in water, but he who is coming is more powerful than I — I’m not worthy to untie his sandals! He will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh and in fire. 17 He has with him his winnowing fork to clear out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the straw with unquenchable fire!”
18 And with many other warnings besides these he announced the Good News to the people.
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If John were here today, he would have a lot to say about our fear to confront those who live contrary to God's Word. He was a bold and powerful preacher; he was unafraid to stand up to the self-absorbed religious leaders or expose the errors of powerful political rulers.
It's not difficult for the crowds to see the power of God at work in his ministry. So we should not be surprised to hear them asking if John might be the great prophet that Moses predicted long ago. Is this the Messiah God had promised to send?
But John immediately set the crowds straight. However powerful he might be as a prophet, he is nothing compared to the One who is coming. Compared to Him, John is like the lowest house slave, unworthy even to stoop down and lay his fingers upon the sandals of the great Messiah.
Even now, this mighty Son of God is living in Galilee. Soon He will come to John to begin His ministry, by which He will accomplish His great rescue mission. John baptizes with water, but the Christ will pour out the Holy Spirit and His cleansing fire upon those who hear and believe.
What thoughts must have rushed through those crowds, hearing the long-awaited Messiah is near? What thoughts cross your mind when thinking of Jesus, who not long ago was that tiny Baby laying in Bethlehem's manger? How amazing is it that He will soon stride forward in humility and poverty to save the world?
THE PRAYER: Almighty God, thank You for sending Your great Son to save us from death and hell. Accept our thanksgiving and praise for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Leviticus 15-16; Mark 8:22-38
Leviticus 15:1 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, the discharge is unclean. 3 The discharge is unclean no matter whether it continues flowing or has stopped; it is still his uncleanness. 4 Every bed which the person with the discharge lies on is unclean, and everything he sits on is unclean. 5 Whoever touches his bed is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 6 Whoever sits on anything the person with the discharge sat on is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 7 Anyone who touches the body of the person with the discharge is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 8 If the person with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, the latter is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 9 Any saddle that the person with the discharge rides on will be unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening; he who carries those things is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 11 If the person with the discharge fails to rinse his hands in water before touching someone, that person is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 12 If the person with the discharge touches a clay pot, it must be broken; if he touches a wooden utensil, it must be rinsed in water.
13 “‘When a person with a discharge has become free of it, he is to count seven days for his purification. Then he is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water; after that, he will be clean. 14 On the eighth day, he is to take for himself two doves or two young pigeons, come before Adonai to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the cohen. 15 The cohen is to offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; thus the cohen will make atonement for him on account of his discharge before Adonai.
(RY: vii, LY: vi) 16 “‘If a man has a seminal emission, he is to bathe his entire body in water; he will be unclean until evening. 17 Any clothing or leather on which there is any semen is to be washed with water; it will be unclean until evening. 18 If a man goes to bed with a woman and has sexual relations, both are to bathe themselves in water; they will be unclean until evening.
19 “‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she will be in her state of niddah for seven days. Whoever touches her will be unclean until evening. 20 Everything she lies on or sits on in her state of niddah will be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 22 Whoever touches anything she sits on is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 23 Whether he is on the bed or on something she sits on, when he touches it, he will be unclean until evening. 24 If a man goes to bed with her, and her menstrual flow touches him, he will be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on will be unclean.
25 “‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days not during her period, or if her discharge lasts beyond the normal end of her period, then throughout the time she is having an unclean discharge she will be as when she is in niddah — she is unclean. 26 Every bed she lies on at any time while she is having her discharge will be for her like the bed she uses during her time of niddah; and everything she sits on will be unclean with uncleanness like that of her time of niddah. 27 Whoever touches those things will be unclean; he is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening.
28 “‘If she has become free of her discharge, she is to count seven days; after that, she will be clean. (LY: vii) 29 On the eighth day, she is to take for herself two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the cohen at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 30 The cohen is to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; thus the cohen will make atonement for her before Adonai on account of her unclean discharge.
(Maftir) 31 “‘In this way you will separate the people of Isra’el from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in a state of uncleanness for defiling my tabernacle which is there with them.
32 “‘Such is the law for the person who has a discharge; for the man who has a seminal emission that makes him unclean; 33 for the woman in niddah during her menstrual period; for the person, man or woman, with a discharge; and for the man who has sexual relations with a woman who is unclean.
16:1 Adonai spoke with Moshe after the death of Aharon’s two sons, when they tried to sacrifice before Adonai and died; 2 Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell your brother Aharon not to come at just any time into the Holy Place beyond the curtain, in front of the ark-cover which is on the ark, so that he will not die; because I appear in the cloud over the ark-cover.
3 “Here is how Aharon is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He is to put on the holy linen tunic, have the linen shorts next to his bare flesh, have the linen sash wrapped around him, and be wearing the linen turban — they are the holy garments. He is to bathe his body in water and put them on.
5 “He is to take from the community of the people of Isra’el two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Aharon is to present the bull for the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and his household. 7 He is to take the two goats and place them before Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 Then Aharon is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Adonai and the other for ‘Az’azel. 9 Aharon is to present the goat whose lot fell to Adonai and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat whose lot fell to ‘Az’azel is to be presented alive to Adonai to be used for making atonement over it by sending it away into the desert for ‘Az’azel.
11 “Aharon is to present the bull of the sin offering for himself; he will make atonement for himself and his household; he is to slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 12 He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before Adonai and, with his hands full of ground, fragrant incense, bring it inside the curtain. 13 He is to put the incense on the fire before Adonai, so that the cloud from the incense will cover the ark-cover which is over the testimony, in order that he not die. 14 He is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the ark-cover toward the east; and in front of the ark-cover he is to sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Next, he is to slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, bring its blood inside the curtain and do with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood, sprinkling it on the ark-cover and in front of the ark-cover. 16 He will make atonement for the Holy Place because of the uncleannesses of the people of Isra’el and because of their transgressions — all their sins; and he is to do the same for the tent of meeting which is there with them right in the middle of their uncleannesses. 17 No one is to be present in the tent of meeting from the time he enters the Holy Place to make atonement until the time he comes out, having made atonement for himself, for his household and for the entire community of Isra’el. (LY: ii) 18 Then he is to go out to the altar that is before Adonai and make atonement for it; he is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. 19 He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, thus purifying it and setting it apart from the uncleannesses of the people of Isra’el.
20 “When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 21 Aharon is to lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the transgressions, crimes and sins of the people of Isra’el; he is to put them on the head of the goat and then send it away into the desert with a man appointed for the purpose. 22 The goat will bear all their transgressions away to some isolated place, and he is to let the goat go in the desert.
23 “Aharon is to go back into the tent of meeting, where he is to remove the linen garments he put on when he entered the Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. 24 Then he is to bathe his body in water in a holy place, put on his other clothes, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, thus making atonement for himself and for the people. (RY: ii, LY: iii) 25 He is to make the fat of the sin offering go up in smoke on the altar.
26 “The man who let go the goat for ‘Az’azel is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; afterwards, he may return to the camp.
27 “The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, is to be carried outside the camp; there they are to burn up completely their hides, meat and dung. 28 The person burning them is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; afterwards, he may return to the camp.
29 “It is to be a permanent regulation for you that on the tenth day of the seventh month you are to deny yourselves and not do any kind of work, both the citizen and the foreigner living with you. 30 For on this day, atonement will be made for you to purify you; you will be clean before Adonai from all your sins. 31 It is a Shabbat of complete rest for you, and you are to deny yourselves.
“This is a permanent regulation. 32 The cohen anointed and consecrated to be cohen in his father’s place will make the atonement; he will put on the linen garments, the holy garments; 33 he will make atonement for the Especially Holy Place; he will make atonement for the tent of meeting and the altar; and he will make atonement for the cohanim and for all the people of the community. 34 This is a permanent regulation for you, to make atonement for the people of Isra’el because of all their sins once a year.” Moshe did as Adonai had ordered him.
Mark 8:22 They came to Beit-Tzaidah. Some people brought him a blind man and begged Yeshua to touch him. 23 Taking the blind man’s hand, he led him outside the town. He spit in his eyes, put his hands on him and asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 He looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like walking trees.” 25 Then he put his hands on the blind man’s eyes again. He peered intently, and his eyesight was restored, so that he could see everything distinctly. 26 Yeshua sent him home with the words, “Don’t go into town.”
27 Yeshua and his talmidim went on to the towns of Caesarea Philippi. On the way, he asked his talmidim, “Who are people saying I am?” 28 “Some say you are Yochanan the Immerser,” they told him, “others say Eliyahu, and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But you,” he asked, “who do you say I am?” Kefa answered, “You are the Mashiach.” 30 Then Yeshua warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 He began teaching them that the Son of Man had to endure much suffering and be rejected by the elders, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers; and that he had to be put to death; but that after three days, he had to rise again. 32 He spoke very plainly about it. Kefa took him aside and began rebuking him. 33 But, turning around and looking at his talmidim, he rebuked Kefa. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said, “For your thinking is from a human perspective, not from God’s perspective!”
34 Then Yeshua called the crowd and his talmidim to him and told them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake, and keep following me. 35 For whoever wants to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will save it. 36 Indeed, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? 37 What could a person give in exchange for his life? 38 For if someone is ashamed of me and of what I say in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.
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The Lutheran Hour Ministries Daily Devotion - 
Lenten Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries "Flee the Coming Wrath" for Thursday, March 2, 2017

 
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And he (John) went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins(Luke 3:3)
Read Luke 3:1-9
Luke 3:1 In the fifteenth year of Emperor Tiberius’ rule; when Pontius Pilate was governor of Y’hudah, Herod ruler of the Galil, his brother Philip ruler of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 with ‘Anan and Kayafa being the cohanim g’dolim; the word of God came to Yochanan Ben-Z’kharyah in the desert. 3 He went all through the Yarden region proclaiming an immersion involving turning to God from sin in order to be forgiven. 4 It was just as had been written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Yesha‘yahu,
“The voice of someone crying out:
‘In the desert prepare the way for Adonai!
Make straight paths for him!
5 Every valley must be filled in,
every mountain and hill leveled off;
the winding roads must be straightened
and the rough ways made smooth.
6 Then all humanity will see God’s deliverance.’”[Luke 3:6 Isaiah 40:3–5]
7 Therefore, Yochanan said to the crowds who came out to be immersed by him, “You snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming punishment? 8 If you have really turned from your sins, produce fruit that will prove it! And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘Avraham is our father’! For I tell you that God can raise up for Avraham sons from these stones! 9 Already the axe is at the root of the trees, ready to strike; every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown in the fire!”
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Luke anchors John's ministry in human history by listing the Roman emperor, the governor of Judea, and the ruler of the northern province of Galilee where Jesus is living. John preaches in the region near the Jordan River. Huge crowds come out to him, but he is aware that some are here for the wrong reasons. Some are merely curious; others don't recognize any sins in themselves that need to be washed away. John boldly challenges them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
These strong words challenge us to look deep within our hearts. John has come to prepare the way for God's mighty Son. He calls us to recognize our faults and failings and humble ourselves before our God. This baptism is not an empty, meaningless ceremony. It is God's solution to the deadly poison of our sin. Through water and the Word God washes away our sins, delivering us from death and hell, and saving us from His destructive wrath.
On the Last Day, Jesus will return to earth to execute God's judgment. He will cast into the eternal fires of hell all that refuse to accept the forgiveness and salvation He came to win for them. Today is the day for you to escape God's wrath and find peace and eternal salvation in Jesus your Savior.
THE PRAYER Almighty God, You sent John to prepare the people of Israel for the coming of Your Son Jesus. Through the powerful words spoken by John, prepare me for Jesus' second coming, that I may escape Your fiery wrath. I pray this in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Leviticus 14; Mark 8:1-21
Leviticus 14:
 Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “This is to be the law concerning the person afflicted with tzara‘at on the day of his purification. He is to be brought to the cohen, 3 and the cohen is to go outside the camp and examine him there. If he sees that the tzara‘at sores have been healed in the afflicted person, 4 then the cohen will order that two living clean birds be taken for the one to be purified, along with cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop leaves. 5 The cohen is to order one of the birds slaughtered in a clay pot over running water. 6 As for the live bird, he is to take it with the cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered over running water, 7 and sprinkle the person to be purified from the tzara‘at seven times. Next he is to set the live bird free in an open field. 8 He who is to be purified must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water. Then he will be clean; and after that, he may enter the camp; but he must live outside his tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day he is to shave all the hair off his head, also his beard and eyebrows — he must shave off all his hair; and he is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and he will be clean.
10 “On the eighth day he is to take two male lambs without defect, one female lamb in its first year without defect and six-and-a-half quarts of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, and two-thirds of a pint of olive oil. 11 The cohen purifying him is to place the person being purified with these items before Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 12 The cohen is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering with the two-thirds-pint of olive oil, then wave them as a wave offering before Adonai. (LY: ii) 13 He is to slaughter the male lamb at the place in the sanctuary for slaughtering sin offerings and burnt offerings, because the guilt offering belongs to the cohen, just like the sin offering; it is especially holy. 14 The cohen is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 Next, the cohen is to take some of the two-thirds-pint of olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, 16 dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle from the oil with his finger seven times before Adonai. 17 Then the cohen is to put some of the remaining oil in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot and on the blood of the guilt offering. 18 Finally, the cohen is to put the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the person being purified; and the cohen will make atonement for him before Adonai. 19 The cohen is to offer the sin offering and make atonement for the person being purified because of his uncleanness; afterwards, he is to slaughter the burnt offering. 20 The cohen is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar; thus the cohen will make atonement for him; and he will be clean.
(RY: v, LY: iii) 21 “If he is poor, so that he can’t afford to do otherwise, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him; two quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; two-thirds of a pint of olive oil; 22 and two doves or two young pigeons, such as he can afford, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. 23 On the eighth day, he will bring them to the cohen for his purification, to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Adonai. 24 The cohen is to take the lamb of the guilt offering and the two-thirds of a pint of olive oil and wave them as a wave offering before Adonai. 25 He is to slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering; and the cohen is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 The cohen is to take some of the olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and sprinkle with his right hand some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Adonai. 28 The cohen is to put some of the oil in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot — in the same place as the blood of the guilt offering. 29 Finally, the cohen is to put the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the person being purified, to make atonement for him before Adonai. 30 He is to offer one of the doves or young pigeons, such as the person can afford, 31 whatever his means suffice for — the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering — with the grain offering; thus the cohen will make atonement before Adonai for the person being purified. 32 Such is the law for the person who has tzara‘at sores if he cannot afford the usual elements used for his purification.”
(RY: vi, LY: iv) 33 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 34 “When you have entered the land of Kena‘an which I am giving you as a possession, and I put an infection of tzara‘at in a house in the land that you possess, 35 then the owner of the house is to come and tell the cohen, ‘It seems to me that there may be an infection in the house.’ 36 The cohen is to order the house emptied before he goes in to inspect the infection, so that everything in the house won’t be made unclean; afterwards, the cohen is to enter and inspect the house. 37 He will examine the infection; and if he sees that the infection is in the walls of the house, with greenish or reddish depressions that seem to go in deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 he is to go out of the house to its door and seal up the house for seven days. 39 The cohen will come again on the seventh day and examine the house; if he sees that the infection has spread over its walls, 40 he is to order them to remove the infected stones and throw them into some unclean place outside the city. 41 Next, he is to have the inside of the house thoroughly scraped, and the scraped-off plaster is to be discarded outside the city in an unclean place. 42 Finally, other stones must be set in the place of the first stones and other plaster used to replaster the house. 43 If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after the stones have been removed and the house scraped and plastered; 44 then the cohen is to enter and examine it. If he sees that the infection has spread in the house, it is a contagious tzara‘at in the house; it is unclean. 45 He must break down the house and take its stones, timber and plaster out of the city to an unclean place. 46 Moreover, whoever enters the house at any time while it is sealed up will be unclean until evening. 47 Whoever lies down or eats in the house must wash his clothes. 48 If the cohen enters, examines and sees that the infection has not spread in the house since it was plastered; then he is to declare the house clean; because the infection is cured.
49 “To purify the house, he is to take two birds, cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop leaves. 50 He is to slaughter one of the birds in a clay pot over running water. 51 He is to take the cedar-wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He will purify the house with the blood of the bird, the running water, the live bird, the cedar-wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. 53 But he is to set the live bird free outside the city in an open field; thus will he make atonement for the house; and it will be clean.
(LY: v) 54 “Such is the law for all kinds of tzara‘at sores, for a crusted area, 55 for tzara‘at in a garment, for a house, 56 for a swelling, for a scab and for a bright spot, 57 to determine when it is clean and when it is unclean. This is the law concerning tzara‘at.”
Mark 8:1 It was during that time that another large crowd gathered, and they had nothing to eat. Yeshua called his talmidim to him and said to them, 2 “I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them off to their homes hungry, they will collapse on the way; some of them have come a long distance.” 4 His talmidim said to him, “How can anyone find enough bread to satisfy these people in a remote place like this?” 5 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked them. They answered, “Seven.” 6 He then told the crowd to sit down on the ground, took the seven loaves, made a b’rakhah, broke the loaves and gave them to his talmidim to serve to the people. 7 They also had a few fish; making a b’rakhah over them he also ordered these to be served. 8 The people ate their fill; and the talmidim took up the leftover pieces, seven large basketsful. 9 About four thousand were there. 10 After sending them away, Yeshua got into the boat with his talmidim and went off to the district of Dalmanuta.
11 The P’rushim came and began arguing with him; they wanted him to give them a sign from Heaven, because they were out to trap him. 12 With a sigh that came straight from his heart, he said, “Why does this generation want a sign? Yes! I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation!” 13 With that, he left them, got into the boat again and went off to the other side of the lake.
14 Now the talmidim had forgotten to bring bread and had with them in the boat only one loaf. 15 So when Yeshua said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves from the hametz of the P’rushim and the hametz of Herod,” 16 they thought he had said it because they had no bread. 17 But, aware of this, he said, “Why are you talking with each other about having no bread? Don’t you see or understand yet? Have your hearts been made like stone? 18 You have eyes — don’t you see? You have ears — don’t you hear? And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” “Twelve,” they answered him. 20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” “Seven,” they answered. 21 He said to them, “And you still don’t understand?”
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God's Love Changes Everything! of The Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States for Thursday, 2 March 2017

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Above are pictures of LHM's staff sharing how they show their #LutheranLove.
I want to share God’s love today
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Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.




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