Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries b
y Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
"God's Protection" for Wednesday, 1
November 2017
As far as I can tell, there are two kinds of guardian angels.
The first kind of guardian angel is the kind spoken of in the Bible. You have the familiar verse from Psalm 91, which I just read. But, there's more than that. Jesus spoke of the children's guardian angels when He said, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10).
We dare not forget Exodus 23, which says there was a guardian angel assigned to the children of Israel: "Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared" (Exodus 23:20 ). And Daniel, freshly rescued from the den of death, reports: "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths" (Daniel 6:22a).
And the second type of guardian angel? Well, this type of GA is a special human being who shows up and, often, quite unexpectedly, does the Lord's work.
Recently, St. Louis saw the work of a guardian angel. Here's what happened: a man was being pushed by his wife in a wheelchair. They made it as far as the railroad tracks in Kirkwood, Missouri, where the man's chair got stuck on the tracks. The wife couldn't move forward or backward, which was a problem because a train was coming, and it was coming fast.
Julie and Chandler Flanders were watching from their car when a lady came out of nowhere and ran to the fellow in the chair. The woman picked up the man and his chair and moved them to safety. By the time Julie and her brother made it to the man, the train was half way through the crossing-and the woman who lifted the chair-bound man to safety? Nobody got her name, and she was gone.
The work of a guardian angel? Most definitely! Earthly or heavenly? Who can tell?
My friends, the truth is you have a Lord who loves you very much. His Son's life, suffering, death, and resurrection are proof of how much He is concerned about your eternity. But, we make a great mistake if we think the Lord's care and compassion is reserved only for the hereafter. The Triune God cares for you, and your guardian angel is just the way He shows His concern.
What, you've never seen your guardian angel? I'm not surprised. Most prefer to work anonymously.
But let me ask, have you ever almost been in an accident, but somehow, someway, managed to be spared? Now it is possible you avoided that accident because of your lightning-fast reflexes and tremendous skill behind the wheel. But maybe not. Here's another: please list all the times you haven't tripped, all the illnesses you didn't catch, all the friends who didn't betray you, all the jobs from which you weren't fired. You can't do it, can you? That's because those things never happened.
Was it luck or fate? That's what some would say. Me, I know the Lord gives His holy angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, for all Your blessings, including all the bad things of life from which I have been spared, I thank You. May I rejoice in these things, and the Savior who is with me always. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Katherine Hessel for Fox2 . 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: Jeremiah 51, 30; Hebrews 7
Jeremiah 51:1 Adonai says this:
“Against Bavel and those living in Lev-Kamai
I will stir up a destructive wind.
2 Against Bavel I will send foreigners
to winnow her and leave her land empty.
They will besiege her from every side
on the day of disaster.
3 Let the archer draw his bow,
let him flaunt his coat of mail;
do not spare her young men,
completely destroy her whole army.
4 In the land of the Kasdim the slain will fall,
those thrust through [by the sword] in her streets.
5 Isra’el and Y’hudah are not left widowed
of their God, Adonai-Tzva’ot;
but the land of [the Kasdim] is full of guilt
before the Holy One of Isra’el.”
6 Flee from Bavel, let each one save his life!
Don’t perish because of her guilt.
For the time has come for the vengeance of Adonai;
he will repay her what she deserves.
7 Bavel was a gold cup in the hands of Adonai;
it made the whole earth drunk —
the nations drank her wine;
this is why the nations have lost their senses.
8 Bavel has suddenly fallen.
She is broken; wail for her.
Bring healing ointment for her wounds;
perhaps she can be healed.
9 “We tried to heal Bavel,
but she cannot be healed.
So leave her alone, and each of us
will return to his own country.”
For the judgment against her rises to the skies
and reaches even the clouds.
10 Adonai has brought forth our victory.
Come, let us proclaim in Tziyon
the work of Adonai our God!
11 Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers!
Adonai roused the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
because he plans to destroy Bavel.
This is the vengeance of Adonai
vengeance over his temple.
12 Raise a standard against the walls of Bavel!
Strengthen the guard! Post the sentries!
Prepare ambushes! For Adonai
has both planned and accomplished
what he promised to do to those living in Bavel.
13 You who live near plenty of water,
so rich in treasure — your end has come,
your time for being cut off!
14 Adonai-Tzva’ot has sworn by himself,
“I will fill you with men as numerous as grasshoppers;
they will raise over you a shout of triumph.”
15 He made the earth by his power,
established the world by his wisdom
spread out the sky by his understanding.
16 When he thunders, the waters in heaven roar,
he raises clouds from the ends of the earth,
he makes the lightning flash in the rain
and brings the wind out from his storehouses.
17 At this, everyone is proved stupid, ignorant,
every goldsmith put to shame by his idol!
The figures he casts are a fraud,
there is no breath in them,
18 they are nothings, ridiculous objects;
when the day for their punishment comes, they will perish.
19 Ya‘akov’s portion is not like these,
for he is the one who formed all things,
including the tribe he claims as his heritage.
Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name.
20 “[Bavel] you are my war club and weapons of war —
with you I shatter nations;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
21 with you I shatter horses and their riders;
with you I shatter chariots and their drivers;
22 with you I shatter husbands and wives;
with you I shatter old and young;
with you I shatter young men and virgins;
23 with you I shatter shepherds and their flocks;
with you I shatter farmers and their teams;
with you I shatter governors and deputies.
24 “But I will repay Bavel and all living
in the land of the Kasdim for all the evil
they did in Tziyon,” says Adonai,
“before your eyes [, Y’hudah].”
25 “I am against you, destructive mountain,
destroying all the earth,” says Adonai.
“I will stretch out my hand against you,
to send you tumbling down from the crags
and make you a burned-out mountain.
26 No one will make cornerstones
or foundation-stones from you again;
but you will be desolate
forever,” says Adonai.
27 Raise up a banner in the land,
blow the shofar among the nations.
Prepare the nations for war against her.
Summon kingdoms against her —
Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Appoint an officer against her;
bring up horses like bristling grasshoppers.
28 Prepare the nations against her,
the kings of the Medes, his governors and deputies,
and all the land he controls.
29 The earth quakes and writhes,
as Adonai’s designs against Bavel are fulfilled,
to make the land of Bavel a ruin,
with no one living there.
30 Bavel’s warriors have given up fighting;
they remain in their fortresses;
their courage has failed; they are now like women.
Her homes are on fire, her gate-bars broken.
31 One runner runs to meet another,
messenger to meet messenger,
to report to the king of Bavel
that every part of his city is taken,
32 the fords have been occupied,
and the swamp thickets set on fire,
while the warriors are seized with panic.
33 For here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot,
the God of Isra’el, says:
“The daughter of Bavel is like
a threshing-floor at treading-time.
Just a little while longer,
and the time for harvesting her will come.”
34 N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel
has devoured me, crushed me.
He left me like an empty pot.
Like a monster, he swallowed me whole.
With my delicacies he stuffed his belly;
then he rinsed me out.
35 But one who lives in Tziyon will say,
“May my torn flesh be avenged on Bavel”;
and Yerushalayim will say,
“May my blood be avenged on the Kasdim.”
36 Therefore here is what Adonai says:
“I will plead your cause.
I will take vengeance for you.
I will dry up her river
and make her water sources dry.
37 Bavel will become a heap of ruins,
a place for jackals to live,
an object of horror and hissing,
with no one living there.
38 Together they roar like young lions,
growl like lion cubs.
39 When they are hot with desire,
I will prepare them a drink.
I will make them so drunk
they will have convulsions,
sleep forever and never wake up,”
says Adonai.
40 “I will drag them down like lambs to be slaughtered,
like rams and male goats.”
41 Sheshakh has been captured,
the pride of the whole earth seized!
Bavel has become an object of horror
throughout the nations!
42 The sea has flooded Bavel,
overwhelmed her with its raging waves.
43 Her cities have become desolate —
parched, arid land,
a land where no one lives;
nobody even passes through.
44 “I will punish Bel in Bavel
and make him disgorge what he swallowed.
The nations will no longer flow to him.
Bavel’s wall will fall.
45 Get out of her, my people!
Each one, save yourself
from Adonai’s furious anger!
46 Don’t be fainthearted, don’t be afraid
of the rumors spreading abroad in the land.
One year one rumor comes,
the next year another one,
rumors of violence in the land
and rulers fighting rulers.
47 Therefore, listen! The days are coming
when I will pass judgment on Bavel’s idols.
Her whole land will be put to shame,
as all her slain fall on home soil.
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will sing for joy over Bavel;
for the plunderers from the north
are coming to her,” says Adonai.
49 Just as Bavel caused
the slain of Isra’el to fall,
so at Bavel will fall
the slain of all the land.
50 You who escaped the sword,
go! Don’t stand still!
Remember Adonai from afar,
let Yerushalayim come into your minds.
51 “The reproaches we have heard have put us to shame,
disgrace covers our faces;
because foreigners have entered
the sanctuaries of Adonai’s house.”
52 “Therefore,” says Adonai, “the days are coming
when I will pass judgment on her idols,
and the wounded will groan throughout her land.
53 Even if Bavel scales the heavens
or reinforces her lofty stronghold,
plunderers will come to her
from me,” says Adonai.
54 An agonized cry is heard from Bavel!
Great destruction in the land of the Kasdim!
55 For Adonai is plundering Bavel
and silencing her noisy din —
their waves roar like the raging ocean,
their clamor sounds and resounds.
56 Yes, the plunderer has fallen upon her,
fallen on Bavel.
Her warriors are captured, their bows are broken.
For Adonai is a God of retribution;
he will surely repay.
57 “I will intoxicate her leaders and sages,
her governors, deputies and warriors.
They will sleep forever and never wake up,”
says the king, whose name is Adonai-Tzva’ot.
58 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“The wide walls of Bavel will be razed to the ground,
her lofty gates will be set on fire.
The peoples are toiling for nothing,
the nation’s labor goes up in flames,
and everyone is exhausted.”
59 This is the order which Yirmeyahu the prophet gave to S’rayah the son of Neriyah, the son of Machseyah, when he went to Bavel with Tzidkiyahu the king of Y’hudah in the fourth year of his reign. S’rayah was quartermaster. 60 Yirmeyahu had written on a separate scroll all the above words describing the disaster that was to befall Bavel. 61 Yirmeyahu said to S’rayah, “See to it that when you arrive in Bavel you read all these words aloud. Then say, 62 ‘Adonai, you have promised to destroy this place, that no one will live here, neither human nor animal, but that it will be desolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a rock to it, throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and say, ‘Like this, Bavel will sink, never to rise again, because of the disaster I am bringing on her; and they will grow weary.’”
(Up to here, these have been the words of Yirmeyahu.)
30:1 This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai: 2 “This is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘Write all the words I have spoken to you in a scroll. 3 For the day is coming,’ says Adonai, ‘when I will reverse the exile of my people Isra’el and Y’hudah,’ says Adonai. ‘I will cause them to return to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it.’”
4 These are the words Adonai spoke concerning Isra’el and Y’hudah: 5 Here is what Adonai says:
“We have heard a cry of terror,
of fear and not of peace.
6 Ask now and see:
can men give birth to children?
Why, then, do I see all the men
with their hands on their stomachs like women in labor,
with every face turned pale?
7 How dreadful that day will be! —
there has never been one like it:
a time of trouble for Ya‘akov,
but out of it he will be saved.
8 “On that day,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
“I will break his yoke from off your neck,
I will snap your chains.
Foreigners will no longer enslave him.
9 Instead, they will serve Adonai their God
and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 “So don’t be afraid, Ya‘akov my servant,”
says Adonai, “or be alarmed, Isra’el;
for I will return you from far away
and your offspring from their country of exile.
Ya‘akov will again be quiet, at rest;
and no one will make him afraid.
11 “For I am with you to save you,” says Adonai,
“I will finish off all the nations
where I have scattered you.
However, you I will not finish off,
but will discipline only as you deserve;
I will not completely destroy you.”
12 For here is what Adonai says:
“Your wound is past healing,
your injury most severe;
13 no one thinks your wound can be bandaged;
you have no medicines that can heal you.
14 All your friends have forgotten you,
they no longer seek you out.
I have struck you down as an enemy would,
punished as a cruel man would,
because of your great wickedness,
because of your many sins.
15 Why cry that your wound and pain are past healing?
I have done these things to you
because of your great wickedness,
because of your many sins.
16 “But all who devour you will be devoured,
all your enemies will go into exile,
those who plunder you will be plundered,
those who pillage you will be pillaged.
17 For I will restore your health,
I will heal you of your wounds,” says Adonai,
“because they called you an outcast,
Tziyon, with no one who cares about her.”
18 Thus says Adonai:
“I will return Ya‘akov’s captives to their tents;
I will take pity on his dwellings.
Cities will be rebuilt on their own tels,
with palaces where they’re supposed to be.
19 From them will come thanksgiving
and the sound of people celebrating.
I will increase them; they will not be decreased;
I will honor them; they will not be despised.
20 Their children will be as they used to be,
their community confirmed in my presence;
and I will punish everyone
who oppresses them.
21 Their leader will be one of their own,
their ruler will come from among them.
I will cause him to come close
and let him approach me;
for, otherwise, who would guarantee his heart
enough to approach me?” says Adonai.
22 “You will be my people,
and I will be your God.”
23 Look! The storm of Adonai,
bursting out in fury,
a sweeping storm, whirling down
upon the heads of the wicked!
24 Adonai’s fierce anger will not abate
till he accomplishes the purpose in his heart.
In the acharit-hayamim,
you will understand.
25 (31:1) “When that time comes,” says Adonai,
“I will be God of all the clans of Isra’el,
and they will be my people.”
Hebrews 7:1 This Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem, a cohen of God Ha‘Elyon, met Avraham on his way back from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him; 2 also Avraham gave him a tenth of everything.[Hebrews 7:2 Genesis 14:17–20]
Now first of all, by translation of his name, he is “king of righteousness”; and then he is also king of Shalem, which means “king of peace.”
3 There is no record of his father, mother, ancestry, birth or death; rather, like the Son of God, he continues as a cohen for all time.
4 Just think how great he was! Even the Patriarch Avraham gave him a tenth of the choicest spoils. 5 Now the descendants of Levi who became cohanim have a commandment in the Torah to take a tenth of the income of the people, that is, from their own brothers, despite the fact that they too are descended from Avraham. 6 But Malki-Tzedek, even though he was not descended from Levi, took a tenth from Avraham.
Also, he blessed Avraham, the man who received God’s promises; 7 and it is beyond all dispute that the one who blesses has higher status than the one who receives the blessing.
8 Moreover, in the case of the cohanim, the tenth is received by men who die; while in the case of Malki-Tzedek, it is received by someone who is testified to be still alive.
9 One might go even further and say that Levi, who himself receives tenths, paid a tenth through Avraham; 10 inasmuch as he was still in his ancestor Avraham’s body when Malki-Tzedek met him.
11 Therefore, if it had been possible to reach the goal through the system of cohanim derived from Levi (since in connection with it, the people were given the Torah), what need would there have been for another, different kind of cohen, the one spoken of as to be compared with Malki-Tzedek and not to be compared with Aharon? 12 For if the system of cohanim is transformed, there must of necessity occur a transformation of Torah. 13 The one about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar; 14 for everyone knows that our Lord arose out of Y’hudah, and that Moshe said nothing about this tribe when he spoke about cohanim.
15 It becomes even clearer if a “different kind of cohen,” one like Malki-Tzedek, arises, 16 one who became a cohen not by virtue of a rule in the Torah concerning physical descent, but by virtue of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is stated,
“You are a cohen FOREVER,
to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.”[Hebrews 7:17 Psalm 110:4]
18 Thus, on the one hand, the earlier rule is set aside because of its weakness and inefficacy 19 (for the Torah did not bring anything to the goal); and, on the other hand, a hope of something better is introduced, through which we are drawing near to God.
20 What is more, God swore an oath. For no oath was sworn in connection with those who become cohanim now; 21 but Yeshua became a cohen by the oath which God swore when he said to him,
“Adonai has sworn and will not change his mind,
‘You are a cohen forever.’”[Hebrews 7:21 Psalm 110:4]
22 Also this shows how much better is the covenant of which Yeshua has become guarantor.
23 Moreover, the present cohanim are many in number, because they are prevented by death from continuing in office. 24 But because he lives forever, his position as cohen does not pass on to someone else; 25 and consequently, he is totally able to deliver those who approach God through him; since he is alive forever and thus forever able to intercede on their behalf.
26 This is the kind of cohen gadol that meets our need — holy, without evil, without stain, set apart from sinners and raised higher than the heavens; 27 one who does not have the daily necessity, like the other cohanim g’dolim, of offering up sacrifices first for their own sins and only then for those of the people; because he offered one sacrifice, once and for all, by offering up himself. 28 For the Torah appoints as cohanim g’dolim men who have weakness; but the text which speaks about the swearing of the oath, a text written later than the Torah, appoints a Son who has been brought to the goal forever.
---
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.
Share this email:
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment