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Matthew 20:28 - (Jesus said) "Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."One week ago, Afghan Police Lieutenant Sayed Basam Pacha was alive.
One week ago, Pacha was an athlete, a weightlifter, the son of another police officer and, according to all reports from his fellow officers, a well-educated, resourceful young man who was destined to make a difference.
That all was changed when Pacha came face-to-face with a man whom he suspected to be a suicide bomber. According to those who were there, Pacha was first to notice a suspicious man approach the single gate to the hall which he and his men were guarding. In the hall behind him were all types of import dignitaries; alongside him were his fellow officers.
Pacha called for the man to stop. Instead of halting, the man began to run toward the building and his friends. At that moment, Sayed Basam Pacha had a choice: he could have run for cover and tried to save his own life, or he could ... he could do what he did.
Pacha ran toward the man, and stopped him by wrapping his arms around him and smothering him in a great bear hug. That was when the suicide bomber set off his explosive vest, which had been hidden under his coat.
Pacha, the bomber, and 12 other people were killed by the explosion.
Experts in explosives have concluded that the death toll would have been far higher if Pacha had not used his body as a buffer and a shield to protect them from the blast. It is not surprising that the newspapers and the rest of the media have agreed that Pacha, who did not hesitate to act on behalf of others, is a hero.
In a few days, Advent is going to begin.
Advent is that season where Christians repent of their sins which brought about the Savior's entrance into this world. It is also the time when we rejoice that our Father in heaven loved us enough to send His Son into a world which needed Him, but did not want Him; which should have embraced Him, but chose to kill Him.
Today a question occurs to me: if Sayed Basam Pacha is a hero because he saved the lives of people whom he loved and who loved him, what shall we call Jesus who lived, suffered, died, and rose for those who had rejected and murdered Him.
Hero seems like such a small, inconsequential word to describe the Christ who always knew that His life would be sacrificed on a Roman cross. Maybe we will have to be content to echo the angels who first called humanity's attention to that great event which happened in Bethlehem so many years ago.
How did they say it? Yes, I remember. They said a "Savior" had been born in David's town.
And so it was. Jesus put Himself between us and those forces of darkness which would condemn us. And because He did, we have been rescued. We are saved.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks that Jesus gave Himself as the Savior who alone can rescue us from the devil, the world, and our flesh. May I always be filled with gratitude for His selfless sacrifice. In His Name I pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Ron Nordland for the Independent on November 20. 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.
Matthew 20:28 - (Jesus said) "Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."One week ago, Afghan Police Lieutenant Sayed Basam Pacha was alive.
One week ago, Pacha was an athlete, a weightlifter, the son of another police officer and, according to all reports from his fellow officers, a well-educated, resourceful young man who was destined to make a difference.
That all was changed when Pacha came face-to-face with a man whom he suspected to be a suicide bomber. According to those who were there, Pacha was first to notice a suspicious man approach the single gate to the hall which he and his men were guarding. In the hall behind him were all types of import dignitaries; alongside him were his fellow officers.
Pacha called for the man to stop. Instead of halting, the man began to run toward the building and his friends. At that moment, Sayed Basam Pacha had a choice: he could have run for cover and tried to save his own life, or he could ... he could do what he did.
Pacha ran toward the man, and stopped him by wrapping his arms around him and smothering him in a great bear hug. That was when the suicide bomber set off his explosive vest, which had been hidden under his coat.
Pacha, the bomber, and 12 other people were killed by the explosion.
Experts in explosives have concluded that the death toll would have been far higher if Pacha had not used his body as a buffer and a shield to protect them from the blast. It is not surprising that the newspapers and the rest of the media have agreed that Pacha, who did not hesitate to act on behalf of others, is a hero.
In a few days, Advent is going to begin.
Advent is that season where Christians repent of their sins which brought about the Savior's entrance into this world. It is also the time when we rejoice that our Father in heaven loved us enough to send His Son into a world which needed Him, but did not want Him; which should have embraced Him, but chose to kill Him.
Today a question occurs to me: if Sayed Basam Pacha is a hero because he saved the lives of people whom he loved and who loved him, what shall we call Jesus who lived, suffered, died, and rose for those who had rejected and murdered Him.
Hero seems like such a small, inconsequential word to describe the Christ who always knew that His life would be sacrificed on a Roman cross. Maybe we will have to be content to echo the angels who first called humanity's attention to that great event which happened in Bethlehem so many years ago.
How did they say it? Yes, I remember. They said a "Savior" had been born in David's town.
And so it was. Jesus put Himself between us and those forces of darkness which would condemn us. And because He did, we have been rescued. We are saved.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks that Jesus gave Himself as the Savior who alone can rescue us from the devil, the world, and our flesh. May I always be filled with gratitude for His selfless sacrifice. In His Name I pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Ron Nordland for the Independent on November 20. 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: Ezekiel 22-23; 1 Peter 1
Ezekiel 22:1 The word of Adonai came to me: 2 “Now, human being, are you prepared to judge? Are you prepared to judge the city drenched in blood? Then make her realize how disgusting all her practices are! 3 Say that Adonai Elohim says, ‘City that sheds blood within yourself, thus speeding your own doom, and that makes idols for yourself that defile you: 4 you are guilty because of the blood you have shed, you are defiled by your idols that you have made. You have shortened your days, you have completed your years; therefore I have made you an object of scorn for the nations and a laughingstock for every country. 5 Those close by and those far off will taunt you, you who have such a defiled reputation and such great disorder.
6 “‘The leaders of Isra’el in you all use their power in order to shed blood. 7 In you, they make light of fathers and mothers, they oppress foreigners, they wrong orphans and widows. 8 You treat my holy things with contempt, you profane my shabbats. 9 In you, people gossip to the point of inciting bloodshed; in you are those who go to eat on the mountains; in you, they commit lewd acts; 10 in you, they commit incest; in you, they force themselves on women during their menstrual impurity. 11 In you, one commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another commits some lewd act defiling his daughter-in-law; still another humbles his sister, his own father’s daughter. 12 In you, people take bribes to shed blood; you demand and accept interest on loans; in greed you make profits off your neighbors by extorting them; and you have forgotten me,’ says Adonai Elohim.
13 “‘Therefore, I am clapping my hands together because of your ill-gotten gains and the blood shed in you. 14 Can your courage last, can your strength continue during the days when I deal with you? I, Adonai, have spoken it; and I will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the Goyim and disperse you throughout the countries; thus I will remove your defilement from you, 16 and you will cause yourselves to be profaned in full view of the Goyim. Then you will know that I am Adonai.’”
17 The word of Adonai came to me: 18 “Human being, the house of Isra’el has become an alloy of base metals for me; they are all copper, tin, iron and lead mixed together in the crucible, the dross left over from the silver. 19 Therefore Adonai Elohim says this: ‘Because you have all become dross, I will collect all of you inside Yerushalayim. 20 Then, just as they collect silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a crucible and blow fire on it to melt it down; so likewise I will collect you in my anger and fury, throw you in there, and melt you down. 21 Yes, I will collect you and blow on you with the fire of my rage, and you will be melted down in it. 22 As silver is melted down in a crucible, so will you be melted down in [Yerushalayim]. Then you will know that it is I, Adonai, who have poured out my fury on you.’”
23 The word of Adonai came to me: 24 “Human being, tell her this: ‘You are a land that is neither cleansed nor rained on in the day of fury. 25 There is a conspiracy of prophets in it like a roaring lion tearing up the prey; they have devoured people, seized wealth and valuables, and widowed many in it. 26 Her cohanim have done violence to my Torah, profaned my holy things, made no difference between the holy and the common, not distinguished between unclean and clean, hidden their eyes from my shabbats, and profaned me among themselves. 27 Her leaders in it are like wolves tearing up the prey to shed blood and destroy people, in order to benefit unjustly. 28 Her prophets have “plastered” for them with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says Adonai Elohim,” when Adonai has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have extorted, robbed, wronged the poor and needy and unjustly oppressed foreigners.
30 “‘I sought for a man among them who could build a barricade or stand in the break to oppose me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I am pouring out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my rage, bringing their own ways on their own heads,’ says Adonai Elohim.”
23:1 The word of Adonai came to me: 2 “Human being! There were two women, daughters of the same mother, 3 who were whores in Egypt — even as young girls they were whores. There they let their breasts be caressed, and there their virgin nipples were fondled. 4 Their names were Oholah, the older one, and Oholivah, her sister. They belonged to me, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their names, Shomron is Oholah, and Yerushalayim is Oholivah.
5 “Even when she belonged to me, Oholah prostituted herself; she lusted after her lovers from Ashur — warriors 6 dressed in blue, governors, rulers, all of them good-looking young men riding on horseback. 7 She gave herself as a whore to them, all of them the elite of Ashur; and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after. 8 She did not give up the whoring she had begun in Egypt, where men had sex with her, fondled her virgin nipples and flooded her with their fornication.
9 “So I handed her over to her lovers, the men of Ashur she lusted after. 10 They exposed her private parts, took her sons and daughters, and put her to death with the sword; so that she became notorious among women for the judgments executed against her.
11 “Her sister Oholivah saw this; nevertheless she was worse than her sister in lusting and likewise in whoring. 12 She lusted after the men from Ashur, governors and rulers, warriors dressed to perfection, skilled horsemen, all of them good-looking young men. 13 I saw that she had defiled herself; both sisters had gone down the same path. 14 She prostituted herself more than ever; because she saw wall-carvings of men, depicting the Kasdim in vermilion, 15 with sashes wrapped around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like military men, the very image of men of Bavel born in the land of the Kasdim. 16 The moment she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in the land of the Kasdim; 17 and the men of Bavel climbed into her “love bed” and defiled her with their lust. She was defiled by them, and then filled with revulsion at them. 18 Thus did she reveal her fornication and expose her private parts. When this happened, I was filled with revulsion at her, just as I had been filled with revulsion at her sister. 19 Still she kept increasing her whoring, remembering the days when she was young, fornicating in the land of Egypt. 20 Yes, she lusted after their male prostitutes, whose members are like those of donkeys and who ejaculate like stallions. 21 You yearned for the lewdness of your girlhood, when the Egyptians used to fondle your nipples and caress your young breasts.
22 “Therefore, Oholivah, here is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘I will raise up your lovers against you, the ones who fill you with revulsion, and bring them against you from every side — 23 the men of Bavel and all the Kasdim, P’kod, Shoa and Koa, and with them all the men of Ashur, good-looking young men, all of them governors and rulers, commanders and officers, all on horseback. 24 They will advance on you armed with chariots, wagons and with an army drawn from many peoples; they will array themselves against you from every side with breastplates, shields and helmets. I will give them the authority to judge, and they will judge you as they see fit. 25 I will direct my jealousy against you, so that they will deal with you in fury — they will cut off your nose and ears, and what is left of you will die by the sword; they will seize your sons and daughters, and those who remain of you will be consumed by the fire. 26 They will strip you of your clothes and seize your fine jewels. 27 Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your fornication brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will no longer raise your eyes toward them or remember Egypt any more.’ 28 For this is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘I am about to hand you over to those you hate, to those who fill you with revulsion; 29 and they will deal with you in hatred, seize everything you have worked for, and leave you naked and exposed — the full shame of your whoring will be exposed, your lewdness and your fornicating. 30 These things will be done to you because you have gone fornicating with the Goyim, and because you are defiled with their idols. 31 You walked down your sister’s path, so I will put her cup in your hand.’ 32 Adonai Elohim says:
‘You will drink from your sister’s cup,
a cup both deep and wide,
full right up to the brim
with scorn and derision,
33 filling you with drunkenness and sorrow,
a cup of horror and devastation —
the cup of your sister Shomron.
34 You will drink it, you will drain it,
and then you will gnaw it to shreds
and tear out your own breasts!
For I have spoken it’
says Adonai Elohim.
35 “Therefore this is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘Because you forgot me and flung me behind your back, you will bear the guilt of your lewdness and whoring.’”
36 Then Adonai said to me, “Human being, are you ready to judge Oholah and Oholivah? Then confront them with their disgusting practices. 37 For they committed adultery, and their hands are dripping with blood. They committed adultery with their idols; and they offered their sons, whom they bore to me, for these idols to eat. 38 Moreover, they have done this to me as well: they defiled my sanctuary on the same day, and they profaned my shabbats. 39 For after killing their children for their idols, they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; this they did in my house.
40 “Worse still, you sent a messenger summoning men to come from a distance; and they came. For them you washed yourself, painted your eyes, decked yourself with your finery, 41 and sat on a sumptuous bed, with a table arranged before it, on which you put my incense and my olive oil. 42 The noise of a carefree crowd could be heard there; many of the men were brought in drunk from the desert. They put bracelets on their hands and magnificent crowns on their heads. 43 I thought, ‘That woman! She’s worn out from all her adulteries, but they still go to fornicate with her!’ 44 For every one went in to her; just as men go in to a prostitute, so they went in to Oholah and Oholivah, those debauched women. 45 Nevertheless, there are righteous men who will judge them as adulterers and murderers are supposed to be judged; because they are adulterers, and blood is dripping from their hands. 46 For here is what Adonai Elohim says:
‘Summon an assembly to punish them;
give them over to terror and plunder.
47 Let the assembly stone them to death,
dispatch them with their swords,
kill their sons and daughters
and burn their houses to the ground.
48 “‘Thus I will put an end to lewdness in the land, so that all women may be taught not to imitate your lewdness. 49 You will receive the punishment your lewdness deserves, and you will pay the penalty for your idolatries. Then you will know that I am Adonai Elohim.’”
1 Peter 1:1 From: Kefa, an emissary of Yeshua the Messiah
To: God’s chosen people, living as aliens in the Diaspora — in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bythinia — 2 chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and set apart by the Spirit for obeying Yeshua the Messiah and for sprinkling with his blood:
Grace and shalom be yours in full measure.
3 Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who, in keeping with his great mercy, has caused us, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to be born again to a living hope, 4 to an inheritance that cannot decay, spoil or fade, kept safe for you in heaven. 5 Meanwhile, through trusting, you are being protected by God’s power for a deliverance ready to be revealed at the Last Time. 6 Rejoice in this, even though for a little while you may have to experience grief in various trials. 7 Even gold is tested for genuineness by fire. The purpose of these trials is so that your trust’s genuineness, which is far more valuable than perishable gold, will be judged worthy of praise, glory and honor at the revealing of Yeshua the Messiah.
8 Without having seen him, you love him. Without seeing him now, but trusting in him, you continue to be full of joy that is glorious beyond words. 9 And you are receiving what your trust is aiming at, namely, your deliverance.
10 The prophets, who prophesied about this gift of deliverance that was meant for you, pondered and inquired diligently about it. 11 They were trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of the Messiah in them was referring in predicting the Messiah’s sufferings and the glorious things to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that their service when they spoke about these things was not for their own benefit, but for yours. And these same things have now been proclaimed to you by those who communicated the Good News to you through the Ruach HaKodesh sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things!
13 Therefore, get your minds ready for work, keep yourselves under control, and fix your hopes fully on the gift you will receive when Yeshua the Messiah is revealed. 14 As people who obey God, do not let yourselves be shaped by the evil desires you used to have when you were still ignorant. 15 On the contrary, following the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in your entire way of life; 16 since the Tanakh says,
“You are to be holy because I am holy.”[1 Peter 1:16 Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7]
17 Also, if you are addressing as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s actions, you should live out your temporary stay on earth in fear. 18 You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; 19 on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot. 20 God knew him before the founding of the universe, but revealed him in the acharit-hayamim for your sakes. 21 Through him you trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory; so that your trust and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth, so that you have a sincere love for your brothers, love each other deeply, with all your heart. 23 You have been born again not from some seed that will decay, but from one that cannot decay, through the living Word of God that lasts forever. 24 For
all humanity is like grass,
all its glory is like a wildflower —
the grass withers, and the flower falls off;
25 but the Word of Adonai lasts forever.[1 Peter 1:25 Isaiah 40:6–8]
Moreover, this Word is the Good News which has been proclaimed to 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.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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