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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
I am participating as a volunteer in the activities organized by the ministry center of Christ for All Nations in Nicaragua.
I can recall one of the talks we offered to a prison in Leon City. While I was making a presentation to a group of women, I saw one lady who was paying special attention, but she was alone, that is, she sat separate from the group. At the end of my presentation, she came to me, asking several questions.One of those questions is the inspiration of her story and this devotion.
She asked me, "How can I overcome sin in my Christian life?" She was in a very difficult situation. Her crime had been bad, and her treatment in jail had been hard. The most difficult thing of all was she had become resentful of God. As she said, "The Lord has abandoned me."
I shared many Bible stories with her. The most important of those verses were those which came from the Savior's time on the cross. As He carried our sins so we might be saved, He called out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
I told her: "Jesus was forsaken so we would never be alone."
I believe the lady understood. During our conversation, the young woman wept and said she knew God was with her and was confident the Holy Spirit would bring great relief in her life. She said she now properly understood her crime and the nature of repentance.
What I have just shared with you took place some time ago.
Now, when we go back to her prison, she is one of the most active participants. She says she is reading the Bible because it is the Word of God that penetrates the hearts. In addition, she has found a great refuge in Jesus Christ.
You know, my friends, sometimes changes come quickly to an individual; sometimes they come more slowly. But the Lord who sent His Son to forgive and save us has promised He will produce changes in the hearts and lives of those who are brought to faith in Jesus Christ, their Redeemer.
THE PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sending us the Holy Spirit to comfort us in the most difficult moments of our lives. Most of all, I rejoice that You offered Your Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior and refuge from sin, death, and devil. In His Name I pray. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by Laura Miranda. She has been a volunteer with Lutheran Hour Ministries in Nicaragua since 2014. She is involved in different ministry activities, amongst which would be listed Christian and prevention talks in the different places we visit. She is also part of the FM radio team, which broadcasts in the remote countryside as well as the metropolitan areas of Nicaragua.
Lutheran Hour Ministries-Nicaragua is known in-country as "Christ for All Nations" or Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones in Spanish. Launching its Gospel efforts in Chinandega in 1999, LHM-Nicaragua offers Project JOEL, an educational program helping children and young people make healthy lifestyle choices. High school and university students benefit from this program as well. Offering Equipping the Saints (ETS) evangelism workshops to facilitate Gospel conversations and Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC) to build up and edify students of Scripture, inroads are being made into people's lives with the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ. Based today in León, this ministry center produces a weekly radio broadcast and 30-second on-air spots. These are augmented with "Radio Cristo Nica," an internet and radio program dedicated to sharing the Gospel and helping others in this Central American country of more than six million people.
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: Jeremiah 23-24; Hebrews 4
Jeremiah 23:1 “Oh no! The shepherds are destroying and scattering the sheep in my pasture!” says Adonai. 2 Therefore this is what Adonai, the God of Isra’el, says against the shepherds who shepherd my people: “You have scattered my flock, driven them away and not taken care of them. So I will ‘take care of’ you because of your evil deeds,” says Adonai. 3 “I myself will gather what remains of my flock from all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their homes, and they will be fruitful and increase their numbers. 4 I will appoint shepherds over them who will shepherd them; then they will no longer be afraid or disgraced; and none will be missing,” says Adonai.
5 “The days are coming,” says Adonai
when I will raise a righteous Branch for David.
He will reign as king and succeed,
he will do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Y’hudah will be saved,
Isra’el will live in safety,
and the name given to him will be
Adonai Tzidkenu [Adonai our righteousness].
7 “Therefore,” says Adonai, “the day will come when people no longer swear, ‘As Adonai lives, who brought the people of Isra’el out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘As Adonai lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Isra’el up from the land to the north’ and from all the countries where I drove them. Then they will live in their own land.”
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart within me is broken,
all my bones are shaking;
I am like a drunk,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of Adonai,
because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
because of a curse the land is in mourning —
the desert pastures have dried up.
Their course is evil, their power misused.
11 “Both prophet and cohen are godless;
In my own house I find their wickedness,” says Adonai.
12 “Therefore their way will be slippery for them;
they will be driven into darkness and fall there.
For I will bring disaster upon them,
their year of punishment,” says Adonai.
13 “I have seen inappropriate conduct
in the prophets of Shomron —
they prophesied by Ba‘al
and led my people Isra’el astray.
14 But in the prophets of Yerushalayim
I have seen a horrible thing —
they commit adultery, live in lies,
so encouraging evildoers
that none returns from his sin.
For me they have all become like S’dom,
its inhabitants like ‘Amora.”
15 Therefore, this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot says concerning the prophets:
“I will feed them bitter wormwood
and make them drink poisonous water,
for ungodliness has spread through all the land
from the prophets of Yerushalayim.”
16 Adonai-Tzva’ot says:
“Don’t listen to the words of the prophets
who are prophesying to you.
They are making you act foolishly,
telling you visions from their own minds
and not from the mouth of Adonai.
17 They keep reassuring those who despise me,
‘Adonai says you will be safe and secure,’
and saying to all living by their own stubborn hearts,
‘Nothing bad will happen to you.’
18 But which of them has been present at the council
of Adonai to see and hear his word?
Who has paid attention to
his word enough to hear it?”
19 Look! The storm of Adonai,
bursting out in fury,
a whirling storm, whirling down
upon the heads of the wicked!
20 Adonai’s anger will not abate
till he fully accomplishes the purpose in his heart.
In the acharit-hayamim,
you will understand everything.
21 “I did not send these prophets; yet they ran.
I did not speak to them; yet they prophesied.
22 If they have been present at my council,
they should let my people hear my words
and turn them from their evil way
and the evil of their actions.
23 Am I God only when near,” asks Adonai,
“and not when far away?
24 Can anyone hide in a place so secret
that I won’t see him?” asks Adonai.
Adonai says, “Do I not
fill heaven and earth?
25 “I have heard what these prophets prophesying lies in my name are saying: ‘I’ve had a dream! I’ve had a dream!’ 26 How long will this go on? Is [my word] in the hearts of prophets who are prophesying lies, who are prophesying the deceit of their own minds? 27 With their dreams that they keep telling each other, they hope to cause my people to forget my name; just as their ancestors forgot my name when they worshipped Ba‘al.
28 “If a prophet has a dream,
let him tell it as a dream.
But someone who has my word
should speak my word faithfully.
What do chaff and wheat
have in common?” asks Adonai.
29 “Isn’t my word like fire,” asks Adonai,
“like a hammer shattering rocks?
30 So, I am against the prophets,” says Adonai,
“who steal my words from each other.
31 Yes, I am against the prophets,” says Adonai,
“who speak their own words, then add, ‘He says.’
32 “I am against those who concoct prophecies out of fake dreams,” says Adonai. “They tell them, and by their lies and arrogance they lead my people astray. I didn’t send them, I didn’t commission them, and they don’t do this people any good at all,” says Adonai.
33 “When [someone from] this people, a prophet or a cohen asks you, ‘What is the burden of Adonai?’ you are to answer them, ‘What burden? I am throwing you off,’ says Adonai. 34 As for a prophet, cohen or [someone else from] this people who speaks about ‘the burden of Adonai,’ I will punish him and his household.”
35 So, when you speak with your neighbor or brother, ask, “What answer has Adonai given?” or “What has Adonai said?” 36 Don’t use the expression, “burden of Adonai” any more; for every person’s own word will be his burden. Must you twist the words of the living God, of Adonai-Tzva’ot, our God? 37 So, when speaking to a prophet, ask, “What answer has Adonai given you?” or “What did Adonai say?” 38 But if you talk about “the burden of Adonai,” then here is what Adonai says: “Because you use this expression, ‘the burden of Adonai,’ after I have already sent you the order not to say, ‘the burden of Adonai,’ 39 I will lift you up, burden that you are, and throw you off, away from my presence — you and the city I gave you and your ancestors. 40 Then I will subject you to everlasting disgrace — eternal, unforgettable shame.”
24:1 It was after N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel had carried Y’khanyahu the son of Y’hoyakim, king of Y’hudah, along with the leaders of Y’hudah, the artisans and the skilled workers into exile from Yerushalayim and brought them to Bavel, that Adonai gave me a vision. There, in front of the temple of Adonai, two baskets of figs were placed. 2 One of the baskets had in it very good figs, like those that ripen first; while the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they were inedible. 3 Then Adonai asked me, “Yirmeyahu, what do you see?” I answered, “Figs — the good figs are very good; but the bad ones are very bad, so bad they are inedible.” 4 The word of Adonai came to me: 5 “Here is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘I will regard the exiles from Y’hudah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Kasdim, as good, just as I do these good figs.
6 “‘I will look after them for their good,
I will bring them back to this land;
I will build them up and not tear them down,
plant them and not pull them up.
7 I will give them a heart to know me
that I am Adonai.
They will be my people,
and I will be their God;
for they will return to me
with all their heart.’
8 “But concerning the bad figs that are so bad as to be inedible, Adonai says: ‘I will make Tzidkiyahu the king of Y’hudah and his leaders resemble them, likewise the rest of Yerushalayim remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. 9 Everywhere I drive them I will make them an object of horror, repulsive to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace, a byword, a laughingstock and a curse; 10 and I will send sword, famine and plague among them until they have disappeared from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’”
Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, let us be terrified of the possibility that, even though the promise of entering his rest remains, any one of you might be judged to have fallen short of it; 2 for Good News has also been proclaimed to us, just as it was to them. But the message they heard didn’t do them any good, because those who heard it did not combine it with trust. 3 For it is we who have trusted who enter the rest.
It is just as he said,
“And in my anger, I swore
that they would not enter my rest.”[Hebrews 4:3 Psalm 95:11]
He swore this even though his works have been in existence since the founding of the universe. 4 For there is a place where it is said, concerning the seventh day,
“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”[Hebrews 4:4 Genesis 2:2]
5 And once more, our present text says,
“They will not enter my rest.”[Hebrews 4:5 Psalm 95:11]
6 Therefore, since it still remains for some to enter it, and those who received the Good News earlier did not enter, 7 he again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David, so long afterwards, in the text already given,
“Today, if you hear God’s voice, don’t harden your hearts.”[Hebrews 4:7 Psalm 95:7–8]
8 For if Y’hoshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later of another “day.”
9 So there remains a Shabbat-keeping for God’s people. 10 For the one who has entered God’s rest has also rested from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that no one will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience.
12 See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword — it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart. 13 Before God, nothing created is hidden, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
14 Therefore, since we have a great cohen gadol who has passed through to the highest heaven, Yeshua, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we acknowledge as true. 15 For we do not have a cohen gadol unable to empathize with our weaknesses; since in every respect he was tempted just as we are, the only difference being that he did not sin. 16 Therefore, let us confidently approach the throne from which God gives grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.
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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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