Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Knowing Us" for Thursday, October 12, 2017
Psalm 139: 1-6 - O Lord, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.In 1937, you might have seen five signs along our nation's highways. They read,
The cannibals / Took just one view / And said / He looks too nice / To stew/ Burma-Shave
Of course, that was then, and this is now. No longer will the message on the sign be "one size fits all." Today we are seeing the dumb static billboard message being transformed before our very eyes. Appearing in select spots around the country is the smart digital billboard.
Here's how the smart digital billboard works:
1. The billboard looks at you, and a roadside camera reads your license plate, and sends it to
2. a computer, which will tell it who you are, your address, age, race, income level, etc. and then
3. flash a tailor-made ad up on the screen that advertisers think will be of special interest to you.
If there are a number of cars, the computer will decide if it wishes to go after one special customer, or average things out to appeal to the most people passing by.
According to one of the developers of the smart billboard, from beginning to end, this whole process only takes a second or two. Of course, the smart billboard doesn't need to work fast when it is examining and evaluating a bicycle rider or a pedestrian. And, yes, it can read a lot of information about you by calculating the speed you walk, the length of your stride, and a host of other small bits of information.
As I read about the smart billboard, I found the whole idea a little bit creepy. Yes, I know my web-browsing habits are reported to all kinds of advertisers who select what little commercials they are going to throw at me. Still, the idea that I'm not going to be anonymous even in my own vehicle is somewhat unsettling.
In contrast to the knowledge gleaned by the smart billboard, we have the Triune God. As our Designer and Maker, the Lord knows us from the inside out. Not just our buying habits, but everything about us is knowledge possessed by our Lord.
Sadly, when we say everything in the previous statement, we have to confess there are some things we wish would stay hidden. Our sins, our shortcomings, our many transgressions put us in opposition to the Lord and worthy of condemnation.
In response to our helplessness, the Lord has decided to give us not what we want, like a smart billboard might. No, in the Person of His Son, the Lord gives us what we most need: forgiveness of sins, salvation, and a home in heaven. With gladness at what the Lord has done, we are able to place ourselves in the hands of God and, like the psalmist, say, Lord, "Lead me in the way everlasting" (see Psalm 139:24).
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, we give thanks that even though You know our many sins, You still love us and have worked to save us. May we continue to rejoice in the salvation our Savior has won. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Tim Johnson for the Chicago Tribune on October 2, 2017 on. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion 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: Micah 4-5; Acts 21:18-40
Micah 4:1 But in the acharit-hayamim it will come about
that the mountain of Adonai’s house
will be established as the most important mountain.
It will be regarded more highly than the other hills,
and peoples will stream there.
2 Many Gentiles will go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Adonai,
to the house of the God of Ya‘akov!
He will teach us about his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For out of Tziyon will go forth Torah,
the word of Adonai from Yerushalayim.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and arbitrate for many nations far away.
Then they will hammer their swords into plow-blades
and their spears into pruning-knives;
nations will not raise swords at each other,
and they will no longer learn war.
4 Instead, each person will sit under his vine
and fig tree, with no one to upset him,
for the mouth of Adonai-Tzva’ot
has spoken.
5 For all the peoples will walk,
each in the name of its god;
but we will walk in the name of Adonai
our God forever and ever.
6 “When that day comes,” says Adonai,
“I will assemble the lame
and gather those who were dispersed,
along with those I afflicted.
7 I will make the lame a remnant
and those who were driven off a strong nation.”
Adonai will rule them on Mount Tziyon
from that time forth and forever.
8 You, tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Tziyon,
to you your former sovereignty will return,
the royal power of the daughter of Yerushalayim.
9 Why are you now crying out?
Don’t you have a king?
Has your counselor been destroyed,
that you are seized with pain like a woman in labor?
10 Be in pain! Work to give birth
like a woman in labor, daughter of Tziyon!
For now you will go out of the city
and live in the wilds till you reach Bavel.
There you will be rescued;
there Adonai will redeem you
from the power of your enemies.
11 Now many nations have gathered against you;
they say, “Let her be defiled,
let’s gloat over Tziyon.”
12 But they don’t know the thoughts of Adonai,
they don’t understand his plan;
for he has gathered them like sheaves
on the threshing-floor.
13 Get up! Start threshing, daughter of Tziyon!
“For I will make your horns like iron
and your hoofs like bronze.”
You will crush many peoples
and devote their plunder to Adonai,
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
14 (5:1) Now gather yourself in troops,
you who are accustomed to being in troops;
they have laid siege to us.
They are striking the judge of Isra’el
on the cheek with a stick.
5:1 (2) But you, Beit-Lechem near Efrat,
so small among the clans of Y’hudah,
out of you will come forth to me
the future ruler of Isra’el,
whose origins are far in the past,
back in ancient times.
2 (3) Therefore he will give up [Isra’el]
only until she who is in labor gives birth.
Then the rest of his kinsmen
will return to the people of Isra’el.
3 (4) He will stand and feed his flock
in the strength of Adonai,
in the majesty of the name
of Adonai his God;
and they will stay put, as he grows great
to the very ends of the earth;
4 (5) and this will be peace.
If Ashur invades our land,
if he overruns our fortresses,
we will raise seven shepherds against him,
eight leaders of men.
5 (6) They will shepherd the land of Ashur with the sword,
the land of Nimrod at its gates;
and he will rescue us from Ashur
when he invades our land,
when he overruns our borders.
6 (7) Then the remnant of Ya‘akov,
surrounded by many peoples,
will be like dew from Adonai,
like showers on the grass,
which doesn’t wait for a man
or expect anything from mortals.
7 (8) The remnant of Ya‘akov among the nations,
surrounded by many peoples,
will be like a lion among forest animals,
like a young lion among flocks of sheep —
if it passes through, tramples and tears to pieces,
there is no one to rescue them.
8 (9) Your hand will be raised over your enemies;
all your adversaries will be destroyed.
9 (10) “When that day comes,” says Adonai,
“I will cut off your horses from among you
and destroy your chariots.
10 (11) I will cut off the cities of your land
and lay waste your strongholds.
11 (12) I will cut off sorceries from your land;
you will no longer have soothsayers.
12 (13) I will cut off your carved images
and standing-stones from among you;
no longer will you worship
what your own hands have made.
13 (14) I will pull up your sacred poles from among you
and destroy your enemies.
14 (15) I will wreak vengeance in anger and fury
on the nations, because they would not listen.”
Acts 21:18 The next day Sha’ul and the rest of us went in to Ya‘akov, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, Sha’ul described in detail each of the things God had done among the Gentiles through his efforts.
20 On hearing it, they praised God; but they also said to him, “You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Judeans, and they are all zealots for the Torah. 21 Now what they have been told about you is that you are teaching all the Jews living among the Goyim to apostatize from Moshe, telling them not to have a b’rit-milah for their sons and not to follow the traditions.
22 “What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. 24 Take them with you, be purified with them, and pay the expenses connected with having their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is nothing to these rumors which they have heard about you; but that, on the contrary, you yourself stay in line and keep the Torah.
25 “However, in regard to the Goyim who have come to trust in Yeshua, we all joined in writing them a letter with our decision that they should abstain from what had been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled and from fornication.”
26 The next day Sha’ul took the men, purified himself along with them and entered the Temple to give notice of when the period of purification would be finished and the offering would have to be made for each of them. 27 The seven days were almost up when some unbelieving Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the Temple, stirred up all the crowd and grabbed him. 28 “Men of Isra’el, help!” they shouted. “This is the man who goes everywhere teaching everyone things against the people, against the Torah and against this place! And now he has even brought some Goyim into the Temple and defiled this holy place!” 29 (They had previously seen Trophimus from Ephesus in the city with him and assumed that Sha’ul had brought him into the Temple.)
30 The whole city was aroused, and people came running from all over. They seized Sha’ul and dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the gates were shut. 31 But while they were attempting to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman battalion that all Yerushalayim was in turmoil. 32 Immediately he took officers and soldiers and charged down upon them. As soon as they saw the commander, they quit beating Sha’ul.
33 Then the commander came up, arrested him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Everyone in the crowd shouted something different; so, since he couldn’t find out what had happened because of the uproar, he ordered him brought to the barracks. 35 When Sha’ul got to the steps, he actually had to be carried by the soldiers, because the mob was so wild — 36 the crowd kept following and screaming, “Kill him!”
37 As Sha’ul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “Is it all right if I say something to you?” The commander said, “You know Greek! 38 Say, aren’t you that Egyptian who tried to start a revolution a while back, and led four thousand armed terrorists out into the desert?” 39 Sha’ul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; and I ask your permission to let me speak to the people.”
40 Having received permission, Sha’ul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When they finally became still, he addressed them in Hebrew:
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The Lutheran Hour Ministries of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States for Wednesday, 11 October 2017 "Help Persecuted Christians"
Afraid for your other children, you fled where you were living in search of safety. You ended up in a new country that offered security and some type of shelter, but little else. Without money, food, or any kind of work, you wonder how you will provide for the rest of your family.
This is the situation for millions of refugees in the Middle East, many of them Christian. They have been displaced by violence and persecution and find themselves in foreign countries with little or no prospects for the future.
Most of these desperate souls are women and children.
You can continue to support persecuted Christians and other refugees through your prayers and financial support.
Will you consider a generous gift today to support parents like Sarah?
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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.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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