Friday, June 23, 2017

The Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States Daily Devotion  by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour: Saturday, June 24, 2017 "Reason to Rejoice"

The Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States Daily Devotion  by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour: Saturday, June 24, 2017 "Reason to Rejoice"

 
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Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
"Reason to Rejoice"
JSaturday, June 24, 2017
1 Thessalonians 5:16 - Rejoice always!
This past week I was talking to a lady about the list of things for which I am most grateful.
Even as I was speaking, I could see her sit up a little straighter, and set her jaw a little firmer. When I finished, with a tough tone in her voice and a steely look in her eye, she said, "I have absolutely nothing for which to be thankful."
This was amazing since this 81-year-old lady was very well off; she still lived on her own; she only went to the hospital when she was calling on her younger friends; and when she did visit them, she drove a very expensive, late-model luxury car.
Now I know some of you may find yourself in agreement with that lady. If that's the case, I've got something in my hand that will change your mind and put things into perspective.
And what can perform such a miracle? Nothing less than a copy of the health history form I got from my doctor. You know, the papers you have to fill out before you see a physician for the first time. Well, that's the form he gave me for this devotion. Now you may be having a bad year, but let me ask you what the doctor asked me.
"Do you have blood pressure or related problems, liver problems, gallbladder problems, yellow jaundice, hepatitis, heart trouble, kidney disease, stomach problems, indigestion, ulcers, bleeding tendency, excessive bruising, any part of your body paralyzed or numb, broken bones in the face, neck, jaw or back, back problems, excessive scarring?"
Folks, that's just part of column one in a document that runs four pages and is twelve columns wide.
You may have some of those things I just listed, but you don't have all of them. This means if you can't give thanks for what you've got, you can give thanks for the things
you don't have. Unfortunately, giving thanks just doesn't come easy to many of us.
Look at the story of the children of Israel. Through some mighty miracles, God had freed them from slavery and then He had destroyed Pharaoh's chariots. This should have made God's people thankful. It should have, but the 15th chapter of Exodus says, "And the people murmured against Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?'" (Exodus
15:24).  
God took care of that problem, and the people left God alone until the very next chapter. Chapter 16 says the children of Israel murmured against Moses (saying), "For You have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (see Exodus 16:1-3). God took care of that, and the people were pleased until chapter 17 where it says that the people murmured against Moses, and said, "Wherefore is this that You have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst" (see Exodus 17:1-3).
You get the idea. They came to God when they wanted something; they complained when He didn't give them what they wanted; and then they ignored Him until they wanted something else. 
We who no longer have our sins counted to us because of the Savior's intercession ought to learn from their mistakes. Because of the Christ, we have been forgiven; we have been freed from the terrors of hell; and we have the promise of eternal life in the mansions our Savior will bestow.
And that, my friends, is plenty cause for which to give thanks.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, when the Holy Spirit gives me a new heart, may a great part of it be reserved for the giving of thanks to my gracious Lord. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen. 
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: Song 6-8; Acts 7:22-43
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Song of Solomon 6: 

[Chorus]

Where has your darling gone,
you most beautiful of women?
Which way did your darling turn,
so that we can help you find him?

[She]

My darling went down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to pasture his flock in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
I belong to the man I love, and he belongs to me;
he pastures his flock among the lilies.

[He]

You are as beautiful as Tirtzah, my love,
as lovely as Yerushalayim,
but formidable as an army
marching under banners.
Turn your eyes away from me,
because they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Gil‘ad.
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
that have just come up from being washed;
each of them is matched,
and none of them is missing.
Your cheeks are like a pomegranate
split open behind your veil.
There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
as well as young women beyond number;
but my dove, my perfect one, is unique,
her mother’s only child,
the darling of the one who bore her.
The daughters see her and call her happy;
the queens and concubines praise her.
10 “Who is this, shining forth like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun” —
but formidable as an army
marching under banners?

[She]

11 I had gone down to the nut orchard
to see the fresh green plants in the valley,
to see if the vine had budded,
or if the pomegranate trees were in bloom.
12 Before I knew it, I found myself
in a chariot, and with me was a prince.

[Chorus]

7:(6:13) Come back, come back, girl from Shulam!
Come back, come back to where we can see you!
Why are you looking at the girl from Shulam
as if she were dancing for two army camps?

[He]

(1) How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
you daughter of princes!
The curves of your thighs are like a necklace
made by a skilled craftsman.
(2) Your navel is like a round goblet
that never lacks spiced wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat
encircled by lilies.
(3) Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
(4) Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
your eyes like the pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bat-Rabbim,
your nose like a tower in the L’vanon
overlooking Dammesek.
(5) You hold your head like the Karmel,
and the hair on your head is like purple cloth —
the king is held captive in its tresses.
(6) How beautiful you are, my love,
how charming, how delightful!
(7) Your appearance is stately as a palm tree,
with its fruit clusters your breasts.
(8) I said, “I will climb up into the palm tree,
I will take hold of its branches.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,
your breath as fragrant as apples,
10 (9) and your mouth like the finest wine.

[She]

May the wine go straight to the man I love
and gently move the lips of those who are asleep.
11 (10) I belong to my darling,
and his desire is for me.
12 (11) Come, my darling, let’s go out to the country
and spend the nights in the villages.
13 (12) We’ll get up early and go to the vineyards
to see if the vines have budded,
to see if their flowers have opened,
or if the pomegranate trees are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
14 (13) The mandrakes are sending out their fragrance,
all kinds of choice fruits are at our doors,
fruits both new and old, my darling,
which I have kept in store for you.
8:I wish you were my brother,
who nursed at my mother’s breast;
then, if I met you outdoors, I could kiss you,
and no one would look down on me.
I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house,
and she would instruct me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
fresh juice from my pomegranates.
His left arm would be under my head
and his right arm around me.
I warn you, daughters of Yerushalayim,
not to awaken or stir up love
until it wants to arise!

[Chorus]

Who is this, coming up from the desert,
leaning on her darling?

[He]

I awakened you under the apple tree.
It was there that your mother conceived you;
there she who bore you conceived you.

[She]

Set me like a seal on your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
passion as cruel as Sh’ol;
its flashes are flashes of fire,
[as fierce as the] flame of Yah.
No amount of water can quench love,
torrents cannot drown it.
If someone gave all the wealth in his house for love,
he would gain only utter contempt.

[Chorus]

We have a little sister;
her breasts are still unformed.
What are we to do with our sister
when she is asked for in marriage?
If she is a wall,
we will build on her a palace of silver;
and if she is a door,
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

[She]

10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers;
so in his view I am like one who brings peace.
11 Shlomo had a vineyard at Ba‘al-Hamon,
and he gave the vineyard to caretakers;
each of them would pay for its fruit
a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard is mine; I tend it, myself.
You can have the thousand, Shlomo,
and the fruit-caretakers, two hundred!

[He]

13 You who live in the garden,
friends are listening for your voice.
Let me hear it! —

[She]

14     — Flee, my darling!
Be like a gazelle or young stag
on the mountains of spices!
Acts 7:22 So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became both a powerful speaker and a man of action.
23 “But when he was forty years old, the thought came to him to visit his brothers, the people of Isra’el. 24 On seeing one of them being mistreated, he went to his defense and took revenge by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t understand. 26 When he appeared the next day, as they were fighting, and tried to make peace between them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers! Why do you want to hurt each other?’ 27 the one who was mistreating his fellow pushed Moshe away and said, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me, the way you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’[Acts 7:28 Exodus 2:14] 29 On hearing this, Moshe fled the country and became an exile in the land of Midyan, where he had two sons.
30 “After forty more years, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flames of a burning thorn bush. 31 When Moshe saw this, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to get a better look, there came the voice of Adonai, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.’ But Moshe trembled with fear and didn’t dare to look. 33 Adonai said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have clearly seen how My people are being oppressed in Egypt, I have heard their cry, and I have come down to rescue them, and now I will send you to Egypt.’[Acts 7:34 Exodus 3:1–2]
35 “This Moshe, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ is the very one whom God sent as both ruler and ransomer by means of the angel that appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 This man led them out, performing miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moshe who said to the people of Isra’el, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers’[Acts 7:37 Deuteronomy 18:15] 38 This is the man who was in the assembly in the wilderness, accompanied by the angel that had spoken to him at Mount Sinai and by our fathers, the man who was given living words to pass on to us.
39 “But our fathers did not want to obey him. On the contrary, they rejected him and in their hearts turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aharon, ‘Make us some gods to lead us; because this Moshe, who led us out of Egypt — we don’t know what has become of him.’[Acts 7:40 Exodus 32:1, 23] 41 That was when they made an idol in the shape of a calf and offered a sacrifice to it and held a celebration in honor of what they had made with their own hands. 42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars[Acts 7:42 Jeremiah 19:13] — as has been written in the book of the prophets,
‘People of Isra’el, it was not to me
that you offered slaughtered animals
and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness!
43 No, you carried the tent of Molekh
and the star of your god Reifan,
the idols you made so that you could worship them.
Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Bavel
.’[Acts 7:43 Amos 5:25–27]


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The Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States Daily DevotionThe Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States Daily Devotion  by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour - Friday, June 23, 2017 "Impatience"

I don't remember if the story I'm going to share with you is real or not.
I don't remember if the story I'm going to share with you is real or not.
 
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Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
"Impatience"
Friday, June 23, 2017
Numbers 14:18 - The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.
I don't remember if the story I'm going to share with you is real or not. I do know it was told to me by one of my parochial school kindergarten teachers about 35 years ago. It was winter in Minnesota, and boots and mittens were a necessity. Thirty-five years ago, without this stretchable rubber stuff, putting on boots was a struggle, a struggle the teacher did daily, without complaint.
It was only when she had almost wiggled and worked the second boot on one of her students that he commented, "Teacher, I think my boots are on the wrong foot." Sure enough, they were.
This has been a long day the teacher thought to herself. It didn't get shorter as she took the boots off.
With a heaven-sent prayer, she started the process all over again. When finished, she helped her student to his feet. The boy looked down and said, "Teacher, these aren't my boots."
In a calm, well-controlled tone the teacher whispered through clenched teeth: "Oh, I'm sorry, dear. Maybe that's why they went on so hard. Let's get them off and put your boots on."
Only after the boots were off did the boy comment, "These boots are my brothers. Mom said that I had to wear them today."
The Bible doesn't say so, but I have to believe there is a special place in heaven for people like that teacher who knelt down and struggled to slide those boots on one more time.
When finished, with a sense of satisfaction, she looked at her student and asked, "Now, where are your mittens?" He replied, "I didn't want to lose them so I stuffed them into the toes of my boots."
The subject for this devotion is patience.
Now it's true, I have been blessed to actually know people like that kindergarten teacher. To say that they are precious and rare is hardly an overstatement. Sadly, most people do not have that quality. Road rage, being upset with slow-moving lines at banks, grocery stores, and fast-food joints -- all point to the fact that one of the most common of human attributes is impatience.
In contrast to humankind, we have our Lord. His dealing with us is defined by the psalmist in the passage above. In that verse, I encourage you to note two things:
1. The first part of the verse says "The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression." His desire to have all come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved is of prime importance. To make this possibility a reality, the Father sent His Son into the world to be the single sacrifice who would balance the scale of justice and save all who are called by the Holy Spirit. Patiently, the Lord waits for repentant hearts to be made.
2. The second part of the verse reminds us not to think God's long-suffering patience is the same thing as being forever suffering. God's grace holds out salvation to all believe, but His justice demands that those who reject His Son will, themselves, be cast out into darkness. In short, the day is coming when the Lord's patience will be at an end.
But that won't be a problem for you, will it? That's because you wait patiently for Jesus' return.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, there are times when we grow impatient with life, Your people, and even with You. For impatience which is out of control or inappropriate, I ask Your forgiveness and ask for a deeper appreciation of Your patience with me. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.
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: Song 4-5; Acts 7:1-21
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Song of Solomon 4:

[He]

1 How beautiful you are, my love!
How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are doves behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gil‘ad.
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep
that have just come up from being washed;
each of them is matched,
and none of them is missing.
Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like a pomegranate
split open behind your veil.
Your neck is like the tower of David,
built magnificently,
on which hang a thousand bucklers,
each one a brave warrior’s shield.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle grazing among lilies.
When the day’s cool breeze comes up
and the shadows lengthen,
I will get myself to the mountain of myrrh
to the hill of frankincense.
Everything about you is beautiful, my love;
you are without a flaw.
Come with me from the L’vanon, my bride,
come with me from the L’vanon.
Come down from the heights of Amanah,
from the heights of S’nir and Hermon,
down from the lions’ lairs
and the leopard-haunted hills.
My sister, my bride,
you have carried my heart away!
With just one glance, with one bead of your necklace
you have carried my heart away.
10 My sister, my bride,
how sweet is your love!
How much better your love than wine,
more fragrant your perfumes than any spice!
11 Your lips, my bride, drip honey;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
and the scent of your garments is like
the scent of the L’vanon.
12 My sister, my bride, is a garden locked up,
a pool covered over, a spring sealed shut.
13 You are an orchard that puts forth pomegranates
and other precious fruits, henna and nard —
14 nard, saffron and aromatic cane,
cinnamon and all kinds of frankincense trees,
myrrh, aloes, all the best spices.
15 You are a garden fountain,
a spring of running water,
flowing down from the L’vanon.

[She]

16 Awake, north wind! Come, south wind!
Blow on my garden to spread its fragrance.
Let my darling enter his garden
and eat its finest fruit.

[He]

5:1 My sister, my bride, I have entered my garden;
I am gathering my myrrh and my spices;
I am eating my honeycomb along with my honey;
I am drinking my wine as well as my milk.

[Chorus]

Eat, friends, and drink,
until you are drunk with love!

[She]

I am asleep, but my heart is awake.
Listen! I hear my darling knocking!

[He]

Open for me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my flawless one!
For my head is wet with dew,
my hair with the moisture of the night.

[She]

I’ve removed my coat; must I put it back on?
I’ve washed my feet; must I dirty them again?
The man I love put his hand through the hole by the door-latch,
and my heart began pounding at the thought of him.
I got up to open for the man I love.
My hands were dripping with myrrh —
pure myrrh ran off my fingers
onto the handle of the bolt.
I opened for my darling,
but my darling had turned and gone.
My heart had failed me when he spoke —
I sought him, but I couldn’t find him;
I called him, but he didn’t answer.
The watchmen roaming the city found me;
they beat me, they wounded me;
they took away my cloak,
those guardians of the walls!
I charge you, daughters of Yerushalayim,
that if you find the man I love,
what are you to tell him?
That I am sick with love.

[Chorus]

How does the man you love differ from any other,
you most beautiful of women?
How does the man you love differ from any other,
that you should give us this charge?

[She]

10 The man I love is radiant and ruddy;
he stands out among ten thousand.
11 His head is like the finest gold;
his locks are wavy and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by running streams,
bathed in milk and set just right.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
like banks of fragrant herbs.
His lips are like lilies
dripping with sweet myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold set with beryl,
his body polished ivory adorned with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like the L’vanon,
as imposing as the cedars.
16 His words are sweetness itself;
he is altogether desirable.
This is my darling, and this is my friend,
daughters of Yerushalayim.
Acts 7:1 The cohen hagadol asked, “Are these accusations true?” and Stephen said:
“Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to Avraham avinu in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran and said to him, ‘Leave your land and your family, and go into the land that I will show you.’[Acts 7:3 Genesis 12:1] So he left the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this land where you are living now.
He gave him no inheritance in it, not even space for one foot;[Acts 7:5 Deuteronomy 2:5] yet he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him
,[Acts 7:5 Genesis 12:7; 13:15; 15:4, 7, 18–21; 17:8; 24:7; 48:4]
even though at the time he was childless.
What God said to him was, ‘Your descendants will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be in slavery and oppressed for four hundred years.
But I will judge the nation that enslaves them,’ God said,
‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’[
Acts 7:7 Genesis 15:13–14, 16]

And he gave him b’rit-milah. So he became the father of Yitz’chak and did his b’rit-milah on the eighth day, and Yitz’chak became the father of Ya‘akov, and Ya‘akov became the father of the Twelve Patriarchs.
“Now the Patriarchs grew jealous of Yosef and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But Adonai was with him;[Acts 7:9 Genesis 37:11, 28; 39:1–3, 21, 23] 10 he rescued him from all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him chief administrator over Egypt and over all his household.[Acts 7:10 Genesis 41:37–44] 11 Now there came a famine that caused much suffering throughout Egypt and Kena‘an[Acts 7:11 Genesis 41:54; 42:5] 12 But when Ya‘akov heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 The second time, Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers,[Acts 7:13 Genesis 45:1] and Yosef’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Yosef then sent for his father Ya‘akov and all his relatives, seventy-five people. 15 And Ya‘akov went down to Egypt; there he died, as did our other ancestors. 16 Their bodies were removed to Sh’khem and buried in the tomb Avraham had bought from the family of Hamor in Sh’khem for a certain sum of money.
17 “As the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise God had made to Avraham, the number of our people in Egypt increased greatly,
18 until there arose another king over Egypt who had no knowledge of Yosef.[Acts 7:18 Exodus 1:7–8]
19 With cruel cunning this man forced our fathers to put their newborn babies outside their homes, so that they would not survive.
20 “It was then that Moshe was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. For three months he was reared in his father’s house; 21 and when he was put out of his home, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
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The Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States for Thursday, 22 June 2017 "Hours to Double Your Impact!"

 
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On June 22, 1917, a group of individuals came together to start a movement within the church. That initial success was the catalyst on a Gospel-sharing journey over the next 100 years through the organization known today as Lutheran Hour Ministries. Today, God is reaching tens of millions every week in more than 50 nations through LHM.
As the world has changed over the last 100 years, Our Lord has been guiding LHM to share His Good News through new methods. That continuous evolution can be seen today in new ministries like THRED. New people are being reached online every day as God blesses this new vision.
To celebrate this visionary spirit that started 100 years ago and continues today, generous friends of Lutheran Hour Ministries are matching all gifts made online for the next 100 hours. Through 5pm CST on Monday, June 26thyour gift of any amount will be doubled! 
I Want to Double My Impact!
The countdown has begun! 

Change Their World. Change Yours.
This Changes Everything.
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