Saturday, May 20, 2017

The Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States Daily Devotion by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour - Sunday, May 21, 2017 "Enlightened by the Spirit"

The Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States Daily Devotion by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour - Sunday, May 21, 2017 "Enlightened by the Spirit"



In the verse that we have just read, Paul, the author, is making clear...
In the verse that we have just read, Paul, the author, is making clear...
 
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Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Enlightened by the Spirit" for Sunday, May 21, 2017
1 Corinthians 12:3 - Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our international ministry centers to write our
Sunday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.
In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of 
The Lutheran Hour
In the verse that we have just read, Paul, the author, is making clear that some of the Corinthians were failing to recognize Jesus is Lord.
They had been influenced and led astray to follow man-made idols. In other verses Paul also tries to define the functions and the power of the Holy Spirit, and the apostle lists some of the many different gifts the Holy Spirit bestows.
There are the two main issues that Paul addresses in this very chapter: the first issue was the Corinthians were involved with false religions. The second is they had become victims of Satan's deception.
According to the text, we can safely presume that some must have said "Jesus is cursed." By saying that, they showed themselves to be ignorant and arrogant blasphemers. At the same time they gave witness to the fact they were not believers in the living Lord.
They were spiritually blind as they denied Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit who desired to lead them. It is that God-sent Spirit who wished to touch and heal their lives.
Sadly, there are times when we, just like the Corinthians, act like pagans and are led astray. We may not kneel before carved idols, but there are times when our actions, words, and thoughts demote God and promote ourselves. We can be overly self-confident. We may even claim we can do everything by ourselves and have no need for any divine assistance.
We trust ourselves instead of God and, like the Corinthians, we end up rejecting God's power. The Scripture tells us that no man can call Christ "Lord" and believe in Him, unless that faith is created by the Holy Spirit. Even so, some people claim they have decided to follow Him.
When we share the Gospel with someone, it is the power of the Spirit that converts. The truth is the Lord grants the gifts of the Holy Spirit to us freely and encourages us to share them. We do this rightly when we point the lost to their Redeemer and Lord.
As God's people we are given different talents to perform different works, but all our gifts and abilities proceed from one God, one Lord, one Spirit.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit whom You have sent to us to offer guidance for our daily lives. With the Spirit's power alone we are illuminated and enlightened to recognize that You are the only Lord and Savior. May the power of the Holy Spirit continue to help us live up to Your expectations and bear witness to Jesus with people around us. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written Reverend Phan Narit (Jesse). He is the Executive Director of Strong Hold Church in Cambodia. An ordained minister, he previously served as a pastor at a church in the Sihanoukville area in Cambodia. He later served for seven years as Logistic Coordinator for The Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod (LCMS) in Cambodia.
Since its establishment in 2000, the ministry center staff and volunteers at LHM-Cambodia have used programs like 
Equipping the Saints (ETS) and Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC) to communicate the message of God's eternal love to the country's 15-plus million Cambodians. The center also cooperates with churches in reaching the lost through puppet shows, music events, and youth programs.
In-country LHM-Cambodia is known as Cambodia Christian Media Center, with its headquarters in Phnom Penh City. In addition to utilizing 
BCC and ETS workshops, this ministry center is active in evangelism training and educating this county's citizens in Christian teachings. Using a values-based education program, young people are taught the benefit of making healthy lifestyle choices. The ministry center also provides clothing and other materials to school-age children.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Psalms 4-6; John 7:1-27

Psalm 4:(0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David:
2 (1) O God, my vindicator!
Answer me when I call!
When I was distressed, you set me free;
now have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
3 (2) Men of rank, how long will you shame my honor,
love what is vain, chase after lies? (Selah)
4 (3) Understand that Adonai sets apart
the godly person for himself;
Adonai will hear when I call to him.
5 (4) You can be angry, but do not sin!
Think about this as you lie in bed,
and calm down. (Selah)
6 (5) Offer sacrifices rightly,
and put your trust in Adonai.
7 (6) Many ask, “Who can show us some good?”
Adonai, lift the light of your face over us!
8 (7) You have filled my heart with more joy
than all their grain and new wine.
9 (8) I will lie down and sleep in peace;
for, Adonai, you alone make me live securely.
5;(0) For the leader. On wind instruments. A psalm of David:
2 (1) Give ear to my words, Adonai,
consider my inmost thoughts.
3 (2) Listen to my cry for help,
my king and my God, for I pray to you.
4 (3) Adonai, in the morning you will hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my needs before you
and wait expectantly.
5 (4) For you are not a God
who takes pleasure in wickedness;
evil cannot remain with you.
6 (5) Those who brag cannot stand before your eyes,
you hate all who do evil,
7 (6) you destroy those who tell lies,
Adonai detests men of blood and deceivers.
8 (7) But I can enter your house
because of your great grace and love;
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in reverence for you.
9 (8) Lead me, Adonai, in your righteousness
because of those lying in wait for me;
make your way straight before me.
10 (9) For in their mouths there is nothing sincere,
within them are calamities,
their throats are open tombs,
they flatter with their tongues.
11 (10) God, declare them guilty!
Let them fall through their own intrigues,
For their many crimes, throw them down;
since they have rebelled against you.
12 (11) But let all who take refuge in you rejoice,
let them forever shout for joy!
Shelter them; and they will be glad,
those who love your name.
13 (12) For you, Adonai, bless the righteous;
you surround them with favor like a shield.
6:(0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. On sh’minit [low-pitched musical instruments?]. A psalm of David:
2 (1) Adonai, don’t rebuke me in your anger,
don’t discipline me in the heat of your fury.
3 (2) Be gracious to me, Adonai,
because I am withering away;
heal me, Adonai,
because my bones are shaking;
4 (3) I am completely terrified;
and you, Adonai — how long?
5 (4) Come back, Adonai, and rescue me!
Save me for the sake of your grace;
6 (5) for in death, no one remembers you;
in Sh’ol, who will praise you?
7 (6) I am worn out with groaning;
all night I drench my bed with tears,
flooding my couch till it swims.
8 (7) My vision is darkened with anger;
it grows weak because of all my foes.
9 (8) Get away from me, all you workers of evil!
For Adonai has heard the sound of my weeping,
10 (9) Adonai has heard my pleading,
Adonai will accept my prayer.
11 (10) All my enemies will be confounded,
completely terrified;
they will turn back
and be suddenly put to shame.
John 7:1 After this, Yeshua traveled around in the Galil, intentionally avoiding Y’hudah because the Judeans were out to kill him. 2 But the festival of Sukkot in Y’hudah was near; 3 so his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go into Y’hudah, so that your talmidim can see the miracles you do; 4 for no one who wants to become known acts in secret. If you’re doing these things, show yourself to the world!” 5 (His brothers spoke this way because they had not put their trust in him.) 6 Yeshua said to them, “My time has not yet come; but for you, any time is right. 7 The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me, because I keep telling it how wicked its ways are. 8 You, go on up to the festival; as for me, I am not going up to this festival now, because the right time for me has not yet come.” 9 Having said this, he stayed on in the Galil.
10 But after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he too went up, not publicly but in secret. 11 At the festival, the Judeans were looking for him. “Where is he?” they asked. 12 And among the crowds there was much whispering about him. Some said, “He’s a good man”; but others said, “No, he is deceiving the masses.” 13 However, no one spoke about him openly, for fear of the Judeans.
14 Not until the festival was half over did Yeshua go up to the Temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Judeans were surprised: “How does this man know so much without having studied?” they asked. 16 So Yeshua gave them an answer: “My teaching is not my own, it comes from the One who sent me. 17 If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether my teaching is from God or I speak on my own. 18 A person who speaks on his own is trying to win praise for himself; but a person who tries to win praise for the one who sent him is honest, there is nothing false about him. 19 Didn’t Moshe give you the Torah? Yet not one of you obeys the Torah! Why are you out to kill me?” 20 “You have a demon!” the crowd answered. “Who’s out to kill you?” 21 Yeshua answered them, “I did one thing; and because of this, all of you are amazed. 22 Moshe gave you b’rit-milah — not that it came from Moshe but from the Patriarchs — and you do a boy’s b’rit-milah on Shabbat. 23 If a boy is circumcised on Shabbat so that the Torah of Moshe will not be broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man’s whole body well on Shabbat? 24 Stop judging by surface appearances, and judge the right way!”
25 Some of the Yerushalayim people said, “Isn’t this the man they’re out to kill? 26 Yet here he is, speaking openly; and they don’t say anything to him. It couldn’t be, could it, that the authorities have actually concluded he’s the Messiah? 27 Surely not — we know where this man comes from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
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