Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "More Than a Number" for Saturday, September 23, 2017
Luke 12:7 - (Jesus said) "Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows."You remember the old song with the lines: "He's making a list, checking it twice, going to find out who's naughty or nice"?
Most people assume this song is speaking of our old friend, Santa. This devotion would not do anything to dispute that opinion.
On the other hand, that song's verse could also be speaking of the business company, Equifax.
Now even if you haven't heard of Equifax before, that doesn't mean Equifax hasn't heard of you. They know you and are watching to see if your spending habits are naughty or nice. That means Equifax has
• the numbers which say if you are delinquent in making your payments;
• the numbers which say how much you owe and how long you've owed it;
• the numbers which say you have too many open accounts, and
• the numbers of your credit cards and the unpaid balance on each.
Along with that information, Equifax also has other numbers, numbers like
• your address, your phone, your email and
• your Social Security card number.
Yup, Equifax knows just about every number about you which is worth knowing. About the only thing Equifax doesn't know is how to keep your information safe, secure, and away from prying eyes. Which is why, within the last month, they had to report that the private information of about 143 million individuals had been stolen by cyber thieves.
Now I've said Equifax may know a lot about you, but the truth is they don't know everything.
For example, Equifax doesn't know the number of the hairs on your head. Equifax doesn't, but God does. Equifax doesn't know the number of sins you have committed or the number of good things you have left undone. Equifax doesn't know if you are lost or saved, but God does.
And that's one of the greatest differences between the Lord and that company.
To the Lord you are not a compilation of numbers and statistics.
No, to Him you are a soul worth saving.
To that end the Lord Jesus Christ entered this world and offered Himself as the sacrifice which would forgive and rescue all who are brought to faith. His glorious resurrection from the dead says the thieves who had stolen you from your Lord have been put in their place and never again can destroy your rating with the Lord.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord I give thanks that in spite of knowing me and my sins, You decided to save me. Now I ask that You will use believers to share salvation's story. May the numbers of lost and unbelievers go down, and the crowd of those destined for heaven go up. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
The story which served as a base for this devotion was written by the editors of Newser on September 10 2017. For those who are interested, they can look at this website, which was fully functional when this devo was written: click 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 32-33; Romans 3
Isaiah 32:1 There is coming a king who will reign justly
and princes who will rule uprightly.
2 A man will be like a refuge from the wind,
like protection from a storm,
like streams of water on arid ground,
like a rock cliff shading a weary land.
3 The eyes of those seeing will not be closed,
the ears of those hearing will pay close attention.
4 The minds of the impetuous will learn to weigh carefully,
the tongues of the stutterers will speak readily and clearly.
5 The mean person will no longer be called generous,
or the miserly said to be noble;
6 for the mean person will speak meanness,
his heart planning evil, so that he can act godlessly,
spreading error concerning Adonai,
as he lets the hungry go on starving
and deprives the thirsty of drink.
7 The mean person’s means are mean —
he devises wicked devices
to ruin the poor and needy with lies,
even when their cause is just.
8 But the generous person devises generous things,
and his generosity will keep him standing.
9 You women who are so complacent, listen to me!
Overconfident women, pay attention to my words!
10 In a year and a few days more,
you overconfident women will shudder,
because the vintage will fail,
the harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you complacent women!
Shudder, you overconfident women!
Strip bare, wear sackcloth to cover yourselves.
12 Beat your breasts in mourning
for the pleasant fields and fruitful vines,
13 for the land of my people, producing thorns and briars,
for all the happy homes in the joyful city.
14 For the palace will be abandoned,
the crowded city deserted,
‘Ofel and fortress wastelands forever,
a delight for wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks —
15 till the Spirit is poured out on us from above,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
with the fertile field regarded as a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the desert,
and righteousness abide in the fertile field.
17 The effect of righteousness will be peace;
the result of righteousness, quiet trust forever.
18 My people will live in a peaceful place,
in secure neighborhoods and tranquil dwellings.
19 Just as the forest will surely come down,
the city will surely be laid low.
20 Happy are you who sow by all streams,
letting oxen and donkeys roam freely.
33:1 Woe, destroyer, yourself undestroyed!
Woe, betrayer, yourself unbetrayed!
When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you tire of betraying, they will betray you.
2 Adonai, show us mercy;
we have waited for you.
Be their arm every morning,
and our salvation in time of trouble.
3 At the sound of the tumult, the peoples wander off;
when you exalt yourself, the nations are scattered.
4 Your spoil is gathered as if stripped by shearer-worms;
they run over it like a swarm of locusts.
5 Adonai is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he has filled Tziyon with justice and right.
6 He will be the stability of your times,
a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge,
and fear of Adonai, which is his treasure.
7 Hear their brave men crying out for help!
The envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted, there are no travelers.
He has broken the covenant, despised the cities;
he has no regard for human life.
9 The land is mourning and wilting away.
The L’vanon is withering with shame.
The Sharon has become like the ‘Aravah.
Bashan and Karmel have been shaken bare.
10 “Now I will arise,” says Adonai,
“Now I will exalt and lift myself up.
11 You conceive chaff and give birth to stubble,
your breath is a fire devouring you.
12 The peoples will be as if burned into lime,
like thorns cut off to burn in the fire.
13 You living far off, hear what I have done!
You who are near, acknowledge my strength!”
14 The sinners in Tziyon are frightened;
trembling has seized the ungodly.
“Who of us can live with the devouring fire?
Who of us can live with eternal burning?”
15 He whose life is right and whose speech is straight,
he who scorns getting rich by extortion,
he who shakes his hands free of bribes,
stops his ears against talk of bloodshed
and shuts his eyes against looking at evil.
16 Such a person will live on the heights,
his refuge a fortress among the cliffs,
his food and water in steady supply.
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty,
they will gaze on a land stretching into the distance.
18 Your mind will meditate on the terror:
“Where is the man who did the counting?
Where is the man who did the weighing?
Where is the man who numbered the towers?”
19 You will not see the intransigent people,
that people whose language is so obscure,
whose stuttering speech you cannot understand.
20 Look at Tziyon, the city of our festivals;
your eyes will see Yerushalayim a secure abode,
a tent that will not be removed,
whose pegs will never be pulled out
and whose guy-ropes will not be cut.
21 But there in his splendor Adonai will be with us,
in a place of rivers and broad streams.
But no boat with oars will go there,
no majestic ship will pass by.
22 For Adonai is our judge, Adonai is our lawgiver,
Adonai is our king. He will save us.
23 For your ropes are hanging loose,
not holding the mast, not spreading the sail.
Then the plunder shared out is so huge
that even the lame get part of the spoil.
24 No inhabitant will say, “I am ill”;
the people living there will be forgiven their sin.
Romans 3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? What is the value of being circumcised? 2 Much in every way! In the first place, the Jews were entrusted with the very words of God. 3 If some of them were unfaithful, so what? Does their faithlessness cancel God’s faithfulness? 4 Heaven forbid! God would be true even if everyone were a liar! — as the Tanakh says,
“so that you, God, may be proved right in your words
and win the verdict when you are put on trial.”[Romans 3:4 Psalm 51:6 (4)]
5 Now if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what should we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict his anger on us? (I am speaking here the way people commonly do.) 6 Heaven forbid! Else, how could God judge the world? 7 “But,” you say, “if, through my lie, God’s truth is enhanced and brings him greater glory, why am I still judged merely for being a sinner?” 8 Indeed! Why not say (as some people slander us by claiming we do say), “Let us do evil, so that good may come of it”? Against them the judgment is a just one!
9 So are we Jews better off? Not entirely; for I have already made the charge that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are controlled by sin. 10 As the Tanakh puts it,
“There is no one righteous, not even one!
No one understands,
11 no one seeks God,
12 all have turned away
and at the same time become useless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not a single one![Romans 3:12 Psalm 14:1–3, 53:2–4(1–3)]
13 “Their throats are open graves,
they use their tongues to deceive.[Romans 3:13 Psalm 5:10(9)]
Vipers’ venom is under their lips.[Romans 3:13 Psalm 140:4(3)]
14 Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness.[Romans 3:14 Psalm 10:7]
15 “Their feet rush to shed blood,
16 in their ways are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of shalom they do not know.[Romans 3:17 Isaiah 59:7–8, Proverbs 1:16]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[Romans 3:18 Psalm 36:2(1)]
19 Moreover, we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those living within the framework of the Torah, in order that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be shown to deserve God’s adverse judgment. 20 For in his sight no one alive will be considered righteous[Romans 3:20 Psalm 143:2] on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are.
21 But now, quite apart from Torah, God’s way of making people righteous in his sight has been made clear — although the Torah and the Prophets give their witness to it as well — 22 and it is a righteousness that comes from God, through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah, to all who continue trusting. For it makes no difference whether one is a Jew or a Gentile, 23 since all have sinned and come short of earning God’s praise. 24 By God’s grace, without earning it, all are granted the status of being considered righteous before him, through the act redeeming us from our enslavement to sin that was accomplished by the Messiah Yeshua. 25 God put Yeshua forward as the kapparah for sin through his faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death. This vindicated God’s righteousness; because, in his forbearance, he had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past; 26 and it vindicates his righteousness in the present age by showing that he is righteous himself and is also the one who makes people righteous on the ground of Yeshua’s faithfulness.
27 So what room is left for boasting? None at all! What kind of Torah excludes it? One that has to do with legalistic observance of rules? No, rather, a Torah that has to do with trusting. 28 Therefore, we hold the view that a person comes to be considered righteous by God on the ground of trusting, which has nothing to do with legalistic observance of Torah commands.
29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is indeed the God of the Gentiles; 30 because, as you will admit, God is one.[Romans 3:30 Deuteronomy 6:4] Therefore, he will consider righteous the circumcised on the ground of trusting and the uncircumcised through that same trusting. 31 Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.
-------
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
2 A man will be like a refuge from the wind,
like protection from a storm,
like streams of water on arid ground,
like a rock cliff shading a weary land.
3 The eyes of those seeing will not be closed,
the ears of those hearing will pay close attention.
4 The minds of the impetuous will learn to weigh carefully,
the tongues of the stutterers will speak readily and clearly.
5 The mean person will no longer be called generous,
or the miserly said to be noble;
6 for the mean person will speak meanness,
his heart planning evil, so that he can act godlessly,
spreading error concerning Adonai,
as he lets the hungry go on starving
and deprives the thirsty of drink.
7 The mean person’s means are mean —
he devises wicked devices
to ruin the poor and needy with lies,
even when their cause is just.
8 But the generous person devises generous things,
and his generosity will keep him standing.
9 You women who are so complacent, listen to me!
Overconfident women, pay attention to my words!
10 In a year and a few days more,
you overconfident women will shudder,
because the vintage will fail,
the harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you complacent women!
Shudder, you overconfident women!
Strip bare, wear sackcloth to cover yourselves.
12 Beat your breasts in mourning
for the pleasant fields and fruitful vines,
13 for the land of my people, producing thorns and briars,
for all the happy homes in the joyful city.
14 For the palace will be abandoned,
the crowded city deserted,
‘Ofel and fortress wastelands forever,
a delight for wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks —
15 till the Spirit is poured out on us from above,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
with the fertile field regarded as a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the desert,
and righteousness abide in the fertile field.
17 The effect of righteousness will be peace;
the result of righteousness, quiet trust forever.
18 My people will live in a peaceful place,
in secure neighborhoods and tranquil dwellings.
19 Just as the forest will surely come down,
the city will surely be laid low.
20 Happy are you who sow by all streams,
letting oxen and donkeys roam freely.
33:1 Woe, destroyer, yourself undestroyed!
Woe, betrayer, yourself unbetrayed!
When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you tire of betraying, they will betray you.
2 Adonai, show us mercy;
we have waited for you.
Be their arm every morning,
and our salvation in time of trouble.
3 At the sound of the tumult, the peoples wander off;
when you exalt yourself, the nations are scattered.
4 Your spoil is gathered as if stripped by shearer-worms;
they run over it like a swarm of locusts.
5 Adonai is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he has filled Tziyon with justice and right.
6 He will be the stability of your times,
a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge,
and fear of Adonai, which is his treasure.
7 Hear their brave men crying out for help!
The envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted, there are no travelers.
He has broken the covenant, despised the cities;
he has no regard for human life.
9 The land is mourning and wilting away.
The L’vanon is withering with shame.
The Sharon has become like the ‘Aravah.
Bashan and Karmel have been shaken bare.
10 “Now I will arise,” says Adonai,
“Now I will exalt and lift myself up.
11 You conceive chaff and give birth to stubble,
your breath is a fire devouring you.
12 The peoples will be as if burned into lime,
like thorns cut off to burn in the fire.
13 You living far off, hear what I have done!
You who are near, acknowledge my strength!”
14 The sinners in Tziyon are frightened;
trembling has seized the ungodly.
“Who of us can live with the devouring fire?
Who of us can live with eternal burning?”
15 He whose life is right and whose speech is straight,
he who scorns getting rich by extortion,
he who shakes his hands free of bribes,
stops his ears against talk of bloodshed
and shuts his eyes against looking at evil.
16 Such a person will live on the heights,
his refuge a fortress among the cliffs,
his food and water in steady supply.
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty,
they will gaze on a land stretching into the distance.
18 Your mind will meditate on the terror:
“Where is the man who did the counting?
Where is the man who did the weighing?
Where is the man who numbered the towers?”
19 You will not see the intransigent people,
that people whose language is so obscure,
whose stuttering speech you cannot understand.
20 Look at Tziyon, the city of our festivals;
your eyes will see Yerushalayim a secure abode,
a tent that will not be removed,
whose pegs will never be pulled out
and whose guy-ropes will not be cut.
21 But there in his splendor Adonai will be with us,
in a place of rivers and broad streams.
But no boat with oars will go there,
no majestic ship will pass by.
22 For Adonai is our judge, Adonai is our lawgiver,
Adonai is our king. He will save us.
23 For your ropes are hanging loose,
not holding the mast, not spreading the sail.
Then the plunder shared out is so huge
that even the lame get part of the spoil.
24 No inhabitant will say, “I am ill”;
the people living there will be forgiven their sin.
Romans 3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? What is the value of being circumcised? 2 Much in every way! In the first place, the Jews were entrusted with the very words of God. 3 If some of them were unfaithful, so what? Does their faithlessness cancel God’s faithfulness? 4 Heaven forbid! God would be true even if everyone were a liar! — as the Tanakh says,
“so that you, God, may be proved right in your words
and win the verdict when you are put on trial.”[Romans 3:4 Psalm 51:6 (4)]
5 Now if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what should we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict his anger on us? (I am speaking here the way people commonly do.) 6 Heaven forbid! Else, how could God judge the world? 7 “But,” you say, “if, through my lie, God’s truth is enhanced and brings him greater glory, why am I still judged merely for being a sinner?” 8 Indeed! Why not say (as some people slander us by claiming we do say), “Let us do evil, so that good may come of it”? Against them the judgment is a just one!
9 So are we Jews better off? Not entirely; for I have already made the charge that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are controlled by sin. 10 As the Tanakh puts it,
“There is no one righteous, not even one!
No one understands,
11 no one seeks God,
12 all have turned away
and at the same time become useless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not a single one![Romans 3:12 Psalm 14:1–3, 53:2–4(1–3)]
13 “Their throats are open graves,
they use their tongues to deceive.[Romans 3:13 Psalm 5:10(9)]
Vipers’ venom is under their lips.[Romans 3:13 Psalm 140:4(3)]
14 Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness.[Romans 3:14 Psalm 10:7]
15 “Their feet rush to shed blood,
16 in their ways are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of shalom they do not know.[Romans 3:17 Isaiah 59:7–8, Proverbs 1:16]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[Romans 3:18 Psalm 36:2(1)]
19 Moreover, we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those living within the framework of the Torah, in order that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be shown to deserve God’s adverse judgment. 20 For in his sight no one alive will be considered righteous[Romans 3:20 Psalm 143:2] on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are.
21 But now, quite apart from Torah, God’s way of making people righteous in his sight has been made clear — although the Torah and the Prophets give their witness to it as well — 22 and it is a righteousness that comes from God, through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah, to all who continue trusting. For it makes no difference whether one is a Jew or a Gentile, 23 since all have sinned and come short of earning God’s praise. 24 By God’s grace, without earning it, all are granted the status of being considered righteous before him, through the act redeeming us from our enslavement to sin that was accomplished by the Messiah Yeshua. 25 God put Yeshua forward as the kapparah for sin through his faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death. This vindicated God’s righteousness; because, in his forbearance, he had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past; 26 and it vindicates his righteousness in the present age by showing that he is righteous himself and is also the one who makes people righteous on the ground of Yeshua’s faithfulness.
27 So what room is left for boasting? None at all! What kind of Torah excludes it? One that has to do with legalistic observance of rules? No, rather, a Torah that has to do with trusting. 28 Therefore, we hold the view that a person comes to be considered righteous by God on the ground of trusting, which has nothing to do with legalistic observance of Torah commands.
29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is indeed the God of the Gentiles; 30 because, as you will admit, God is one.[Romans 3:30 Deuteronomy 6:4] Therefore, he will consider righteous the circumcised on the ground of trusting and the uncircumcised through that same trusting. 31 Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.
-------
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.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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