Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Helping to Heal" for Sunday, September 17, 2017
Jeremiah 33:6 - Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.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
Imagine how difficult it can be for a depressed person to interact with others.
Now imagine how much worse things would be if that depressed person was suffering several illnesses which kept them isolated, alone, and feeling like an outsider. That is what Ana and María feel every day. Ana and María are a mother and daughter who are living a solitary lifestyle, with almost no friends or family.
They said, "Our isolation started when we became sick with one illness after another. Soon our only companions were doctors and nurses. It all happened so very gradually."
After some years immersed in this hermit lifestyle, Ana and María were afraid to leave their home, and with the exception of seeing physicians at the hospital, they were terrified of talking and interacting with other people.
María explained when she told us, "I was afraid people would mock me and that single thought made me anxious." Even so, when María saw the Lutheran Hour Ministries' posters promoting our brochures for depression and anxiety, she plucked up the courage to speak with us, and requested our brochures.
In our initial visits, she hardly spoke. After trust was established, she told us her story.
In order to distract them from the past and to encourage healthy social relations, our staff tried to help them and integrate them into talks, meetings with women, Christmas events, and activities. It was our hope that we would, in this way, break the hermetic circle of the solitude which had surrounded them.
Through the reading of the Word, Ana and María have been saved by the Savior who not only has forgiven their past sins, He also has blessed them with strength and encouragement.
Today, both mother and daughter are faithful volunteers at our headquarters. As they work at increasingly difficult tasks, we rejoice that the Holy Spirit has changed their eternities and their present lives. We are glad because Ana and María feel more up, thankful, and happier because they now see their lives as wonderful gifts from God.
THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we ask that through Your immense power, health will be given to the sick and comfort offered to the afflicted. May You, with Your immense love, remove all sin, suffering, and pain from their bodies and punishment from their souls. May they then, liberated by Your love, offer unending thanks to their Redeemer. This we pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by Carolina Delgado who is an English teacher and a webmaster and became involved as a volunteer with Lutheran Hour Ministries-Chile ten years ago. Today she primarily works as the social media manager at LHM-Chile.
Known in Chile as Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones-Chile, LHM has a ministry office in Santiago, from which it conducts evangelistic and outreach activities throughout the country. One strategy has been to sponsor workshops, or talleres -- which are led by volunteers -- music workshops, conferences, lectures, English classes, and even a class to learn German! This ministry center also uses brochures about social topics.
In this South American country of nearly 18 million people, LHM-Chile serves as the primary evangelism partner of the new Evangelical Lutheran Church of Chile (IELCHI). Conducting Equipping the Saints (ETS) workshops and distributing outreach literature and topical booklets in places like public health clinics, this ministry center works in conjunction with affiliated IELCHI congregations and mission starts. Additional LHM-Chile activities include youth music programs, elder care programs, holistic women's workshops, and drug abuse prevention programs.
Be sure to check out LHM's International Ministries' blog page. You can find it by clicking here. 
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: Isaiah 17-19; Ephesians 4
Isaiah 17:1 This is a prophecy about Dammesek:
“Dammesek will soon stop being a city;
it will become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of ‘Aro‘er will be abandoned,
given over to flocks lying down undisturbed.
3 Efrayim will have no defenses,
Dammesek will cease to rule,
and Aram’s survivors will share the fate
of Isra’el’s finest sons,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
4 “When that day comes, Ya‘akov’s glory will wane,
and his full body grow thin,
5 as when the harvester collects the standing grain,
reaping the ears of grain with his arm;
yes, as when they glean the grain
in the Refa’im Valley.
6 Yet gleanings will be left,
as when beating an olive tree —
two or three olives at the very top,
four or five on its fruitful branches,”
says Adonai, the God of Isra’el.
7 On that day, a person will heed his Maker
and turn his eyes toward the Holy One of Isra’el.
8 He will pay no heed to the altars
made with his own hands,
he will not turn toward what his fingers made,
the sacred poles and standing-stones for sun-worship.
9 When that day comes, his strong cities,
which others abandoned when Isra’el advanced,
will be like abandoned woods and forests;
they will be laid waste.
10 For you have forgotten the God who saved you,
failed to remember the Rock of your strength;
so you plant pagan-style gardens
and set out vine-cuttings for a foreign god.
11 Though you make them grow on the day you plant them,
and in the morning your seedlings flower;
the crop will vanish the day disease comes,
a day of incurable pain.
12 Oh, the terror-stricken uproar of many peoples,
roaring like the roar of the seas,
and the rushing about of nations,
rushing and surging like wild, wild waters!
13 Yes, the nations will roar like the mighty ocean,
but he will rebuke them, and far will they flee,
driven like chaff by a mountain wind,
like whirling dust in advance of the storm.
14 As evening falls, you can see terror;
before sunrise, they have ceased to be.
This is the lot of those who plunder us,
the fate of those who prey on us.
18:1 Woe to the land of whirring wings
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;
2 they send ambassadors by sea,
across the water in papyrus-reed boats!
Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and bronzed,
to a people feared far and near,
to a strong and conquering nation
whose land is divided by rivers!
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
you who live on the earth:
when a banner is hoisted on the mountains, look!
When the shofar is blown, listen!
4 For Adonai has said this to me:
“I will look on from my place and do nothing,
like heat shimmering in the sun,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the flowering is over,
and the bud becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off the branches with pruning-knives,
lop off the twigs and take them away.
6 They will all be left to the vultures in the mountains
and to the wild animals in the fields;
the vultures will feed on them in summer,
and the wild animals of the fields in winter.
7 At that time tribute will be brought
to Adonai-Tzva’ot
from a nation tall and bronzed,
from a people feared far and near,
from a strong and conquering nation
whose land is divided by rivers,
to the place where the name of Adonai-Tzva’ot
lives, Mount Tziyon.
19:1 This is a prophecy about Egypt:
Look! Adonai is riding a swift cloud,
on his way to Egypt.
Before him Egypt’s idols tremble,
Egypt’s courage melts within them.
2 “I will incite Egypt against Egypt,
brother will fight against brother,
friend against friend, city against city,
kingdom against kingdom.
3 The courage of Egypt will ebb away within it,
I will reduce its counsel to confusion.
They will consult idols and mediums,
ghosts and spirits.
4 I will hand over the Egyptians to a cruel master.
A harsh king will rule them,”
says the Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot.
5 The water will ebb from the sea,
the river will be drained dry.
6 The rivers will become foul,
the canals of Egypt’s Nile will dwindle and dry up,
the reeds and rushes will wither.
7 The river-plants on the banks of the Nile
and everything sown near the Nile
will dry up, blow away and be no more.
8 Fishermen too will lament,
all who cast hooks in the Nile will mourn,
those who spread nets on the water lose heart.
9 The linen-workers will be in despair,
along with the weavers of white cotton;
10 the spinners will be crushed,
the hired workers dejected.
11 The princes of Tzo‘an are utter fools,
Pharaoh’s wisest counselors give stupid advice.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I’m a sage, descended from kings of old.”
12 Where are they, then, those sages of yours?
Let them tell you, so all can know
what Adonai-Tzva’ot has planned against Egypt!
13 The princes of Tzo‘an have been fooled,
the princes of Nof have been duped,
Egypt’s clan chiefs have led her astray.
14 Adonai has mixed up their minds
with a spirit that distorts judgment,
so they make Egypt stagger in whatever she does,
like a drunk staggering in his vomit.
15 Nobody in Egypt
will find work to do —
neither head nor tail,
neither [tall] palm frond nor [lowly] reed.
16 On that day Egypt will be like women trembling with fear, because Adonai-Tzva’ot is shaking his fist at them. 17 Just mentioning the land of Y’hudah to the Egyptians will throw them into panic; they will be afraid because of what Adonai-Tzva’ot has planned for them.
18 On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Kena‘an and swear loyalty to Adonai-Tzva’ot; one of them will be called the City of Destruction.*
19 On that day there will be an altar to Adonai in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a standing-stone for Adonai at its border. 20 It will be a sign and witness to Adonai-Tzva’ot in the land of Egypt; so that when they cry out to Adonai for help because of the oppressors, he will send them a savior to defend and rescue them.
21 Adonai will make himself known to Egypt;
on that day, the Egyptians will know Adonai.
They will worship him with sacrifices and offerings,
they will make vows to Adonai and keep them.
22 Yet Adonai will strike Egypt, both striking and healing,
so they will return to Adonai.
He will listen to their prayers,
and he will heal them.
23 On that day there will be a highway
from Egypt to Ashur.
Ashur will come to Egypt and Egypt to Ashur,
and Egypt will worship with Ashur.
24 On that day Isra’el will be a third partner
with Egypt and Ashur, a blessing here on earth;
25 for Adonai-Tzva’ot has blessed him:
“Blessed be Egypt my people,
Ashur the work of my hands
and Isra’el my heritage.”
Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner united with the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
2 Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love, 3 and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as when you were called you were called to one hope. 5 And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion, 6 and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all.
7 Each one of us, however, has been given grace to be measured by the Messiah’s bounty. 8 This is why it says,
“After he went up into the heights,
he led captivity captive
and he gave gifts to mankind.”[Ephesians 4:8 Psalm 68:19(18)]
9 Now this phrase, “he went up,” what can it mean if not that he first went down into the lower parts, that is, the earth? 10 The one who went down is himself the one who also went up, far above all of heaven, in order to fill all things. 11 Furthermore, he gave some people as emissaries, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News, and some as shepherds and teachers. 12 Their task is to equip God’s people for the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah, 13 until we all arrive at the unity implied by trusting and knowing the Son of God, at full manhood, at the standard of maturity set by the Messiah’s perfection.
14 We will then no longer be infants tossed about by the waves and blown along by every wind of teaching, at the mercy of people clever in devising ways to deceive. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in every respect grow up into him who is the head, the Messiah. 16 Under his control, the whole body is being fitted and held together by the support of every joint, with each part working to fulfill its function; this is how the body grows and builds itself up in love.
17 Therefore I say this — indeed, in union with the Lord I insist on it: do not live any longer as the pagans live, with their sterile ways of thinking. 18 Their intelligence has been shrouded in darkness, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance in them, which in turn comes from resisting God’s will. 19 They have lost all feeling, so they have abandoned themselves to sensuality, practicing any kind of impurity and always greedy for more. 20 But this is not the lesson you learned from the Messiah! 21 If you really listened to him and were instructed about him, then you learned that since what is in Yeshua is truth, 22 then, so far as your former way of life is concerned, you must strip off your old nature, because your old nature is thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires; 23 and you must let your spirits and minds keep being renewed, 24 and clothe yourselves with the new nature created to be godly, which expresses itself in the righteousness and holiness that flow from the truth.
25 Therefore, stripping off falsehood, let everyone speak truth with his neighbor,[Ephesians 4:25 Zechariah 8:16] because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body. 26 Be angry, but don’t sin[Ephesians 4:26 Psalm 4:5(4)] — don’t let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger; 27 otherwise you leave room for the Adversary.
28 The thief must stop stealing; instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts. This way he will be able to share with those in need.
29 Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them. 30 Don’t cause grief to God’s Ruach HaKodesh, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you.
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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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