|
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
|
|
|
"True Worth"
Thursday, June 22, 2017
1 Thessalonians 4:14 - For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.
On the Hollywood Walk of Fame, there is only one actor whose name and character are on the star. That person is Clayton Moore, aka The Lone Ranger. There are other actors, however, who have also been intimately connected with the characters they have played. One of them was Adam West, the actor who had the title role in the 1960's series Batman.
West, who died a few weeks ago at the age of 88, complained that when the series was cancelled he found it difficult to get serious and steady work. That was because every time an audience looked at him, all they could see was a man in a cowl, a mask, and tights.
But this devotion is not about Adam West; it's about the car he drove in the series: the Batmobile.
The Batmobile was a modified 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. And, unlike its driver, it never had any difficulty finding work. Sold to a car customizer in 1965, it was restored and kept in a private collection from where it did personal appearances.
In January of 2013, the Batmobile went on the auction block. It was bought by a businessman from Phoenix, Arizona, by the name of Rick Champagne. Mr. Champagne laid out a total of $4.2 million for the one-of-a-kind vehicle. Did you get that number? That's $4.2 million dollars for a remade, reconstituted vehicle, which was almost 60 years old. What could make it worth that much?
The answer to that question is a simple one. It is worth that much because that is the price Mr. Champagne was willing to pay. This takes me to the next question: what are you worth? I mean, take a look at you.
• You had a soul which was blackened by sins of thought, word, and action.
• Your relationship with your Creator was a pitiful thing.
• Your life in this world was limited to a few decades of pain, worry, sorrow, and sadness.
• Your life in the next world was going to be an eternity of misery.
Put you on the auction block and you wouldn't expect anybody to offer a plugged nickel for you.
Even so, the Heavenly Father, in His grace and compassion remembered what He had originally wanted for you -- what He wanted you to be again. To make that happen He offered the only price that was guaranteed to end the bidding -- the only price which could not be beaten. He offered the life of His one-and-only Son.
It was a price that was paid. Jesus came into this world and lived a life of sacrifice to win our rescue. Every moment of every day was part of the payment, which had been offered. It was a payment that was finished when He carried our sins to Calvary's cross and gave up the ghost.
With His glorious third-day resurrection from the dead, all could see that the price had been accepted and all who were brought to faith in Him would have a new Owner, a new home, a new life without hurt or pain. It is a role worth having.THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I a poor, miserable sinner give thanks that You, the Creator of all that is, have loved me, rescued and restored me. By Your grace may others believe this wonderful truth. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources. For one of those, see Mike Barnes' article on The Hollywood Reporter on June 10, 2017. To access the article please click here.
|
|
|
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
|
|
|
Song of Solomon 1:1 The Ultimate Song, by Shlomo:
[She]
2 Let him smother me with kisses from his mouth,
for your love is better than wine.
3 Your anointing oils have a wonderful fragrance;
your name is like anointing oil poured out.
This is why young women love you —
4 “Take me with you. We will run after you.”
The king has brought me into his rooms.
[Chorus]
We will be glad and rejoice for you.
We will praise your love more than wine.
How right it is for them to love you!
[She]
5 I am dark tan but beautiful,
you daughters of Yerushalayim,
like the tents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Shlomo.
6 Don’t stare at me because I’m dark;
it’s the sun that tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
and made me look after the vineyards.
But I haven’t cared for my own vineyard.
7 Tell me, my love, where you pasture your flock,
where you have them rest at noon;
for why should I veil myself [like a whore]
beside the flocks of your friends?
[Chorus]
8 If you do not know,
you most beautiful of women,
then follow the footprints of the flock
and let your kids graze by the shepherds’ tents.
[He]
9 My love, I compare you with my mare,
pulling one of Pharaoh’s chariots —
10 your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with its strings of beads;
11 we will make you ornaments
of gold, studded with silver.
[She]
12 As the king reclines at table,
my nard gives forth its perfume:
13 to me the man I love is a sachet of myrrh
lodged between my breasts;
14 to me the man I love is a spray of henna flowers
in the vineyards of ‘Ein-Gedi.
[He]
15 Look at you, my love! How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are doves —
[She]
16 — Look at you!
So handsome, so pleasing, my darling!
Our bed is the greenery;
17 cedars are the beams of our houses,
cypresses the rafters.
2:1 I am but a rose from the Sharon,
just a lily in the valleys.
[He]
2 Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the other women.
[She]
3 Like an apple tree among the other trees in the forest
is my darling among the other men.
I love to sit in his shadow;
his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He brings me to the banquet hall;
his banner over me is love.
5 Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples,
for I am sick with love.
6 [I wish] his left arm [were] under my head,
and his right arm around me.
7 I warn you, daughters of Yerushalayim,
by the gazelles and deer in the wilds,
not to awaken or stir up love
until it wants to arise!
8 The voice of the man I love! Here he comes,
bounding over the mountains, skipping over the hills!
9 My darling is like a gazelle or young stag.
There he is, standing outside our wall,
looking in through the windows,
peering in through the lattice.
10 My darling speaks; he is saying to me,
“Get up, my love! My beauty! Come away!
11 For you see that the winter has passed,
the rain is finished and gone,
12 the flowers are appearing in the countryside,
the time has come for [the birds] to sing,
and the cooing of doves can be heard in the land.
13 The fig trees are forming their unripe figs,
and the grapevines in bloom give out their perfume.
Get up, my love, my beauty!
Come away!”
[He]
14 My dove, hiding in holes in the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
let me see your face and hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
[She]
15 “Catch the foxes for us,
yes, the little foxes!
They are ruining the vineyards
when our vineyards are in bloom!”
16 My darling is mine, and I am his,
as he pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 Before the daytime breeze rises
and the shadows flee,
return, my love, like a stag or gazelle
on the hills of Beter.
3:1 Night after night on my bed
I looked for the man I love.
I looked for him, but I didn’t find him.
2 “I will get up now and roam the city,
through the streets and the open places,
I will look for the man I love.”
I looked for him, but I didn’t find him.
3 The guards roaming the city found me.
“Have you seen the man I love?”
4 Scarcely had I left them,
when I found the man I love.
I took hold of him
and would not let him go
until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
to the bedroom of the woman who conceived me.
5 I warn you, daughters of Yerushalayim,
by the gazelles and deer in the wilds,
not to awaken or stir up love
until it wants to arise!
6 Who is this, coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
chosen from the merchant’s crushed spices?
7 It is Shlomo’s litter,
escorted by sixty valiant men
chosen from Isra’el’s finest;
8 all of them wield the sword
and are expert fighters;
each one has his sword ready at his side
to combat the terrors of night.
9 King Shlomo made himself a royal litter
of wood from the L’vanon.
10 He made its columns of silver,
its roof of gold, its seat of purple cloth;
its inside was lovingly inlaid
by the daughters of Yerushalayim.
11 Daughters of Tziyon, come out,
and gaze upon King Shlomo,
wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him
on his wedding day, his day of joy!
5 What they said was agreeable to the whole gathering. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Ruach HaKodesh, Philip, Prochoros, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas, who was a proselyte from Antioch. 6 They presented these men to the emissaries, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God continued to spread. The number of talmidim in Yerushalayim increased rapidly, and a large crowd of cohanim were becoming obedient to the faith.
8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great miracles and signs among the people. 9 But opposition arose from members of the Synagogue of the Freed Slaves (as it was called), composed of Cyrenians, Alexandrians and people from Cilicia and the province of Asia. They argued with Stephen, 10 but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke.
11 So they secretly persuaded some men to allege, “We heard him speak blasphemously against Moshe and against God.” 12 They stirred up the people, as well as the elders and the Torah-teachers; so they came and arrested him and led him before the Sanhedrin. 13 There they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the Torah; 14 for we have heard him say that Yeshua from Natzeret will destroy this place and will change the customs Moshe handed down to us.”
15 Everyone sitting in the Sanhedrin stared at Stephen and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.
|
-------
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment