Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran HourSaint Louis, Missouri, United States ""Let's Get Armed" " for Tuesday, 20 January 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran HourSaint Louis, Missouri, United States ""Let's Get Armed" " for Tuesday, 20 January 2015

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.[Ephesians 6:12-13]

One of the toughest jobs in America has to be that of principal in a public school.
Naturally, our principals are expected to assemble a top-flight staff, which is able to teach in a manner that enables every student to test near the top of his or her grade, and to play sports on a near-professional level, and be fulfilled both personally, physically, emotionally and academically.
Our public school principals have been entrusted with setting up academic utopias where all are supportive and encouraging, and nobody would ever cheat, steal, bully, twerk, sext, do drugs, or anything else that might be demeaning or detrimental.
Maybe that's why Alabama middle school Principal Priscilla Holley made the national news when she said she wanted to "arm her students." Immediately, people began to imagine bands of khaki-clad, bandoleer-wearing students wandering the school halls, firing their assault rifles into the air, as the teachers were forced to hide under their desks.
Principal Holley explained that arming the students was only one small part of an overall program designed to keep the children safe from harm.
Oh, I forgot to tell you, Principal Holley's unusual weapon of choice in the arming of her students iseight-ounce cans of food. And yes, that's when people start laughing.
Principal Holley brushes off those laughs. She believes the students would prefer to do something,anything, rather than just sit and be shot by an intruder. She also thinks a bunch of eight-ounce cans, thrown with enthusiasm, can be a pretty formidable weapon. It is quite possible those cans could stop or slow down an attacker.
My friends, has it ever occurred to you that when Christians fight against rulers, principalities and cosmic powers, the Lord has placed some unusual weapons into our hands? Let's see, there's the "belt of truth" and the "breastplate of righteousness." We have the "shield of faith," the "helmet of salvation" and, as our offensive weapon of choice, the "sword of the Spirit," the Word of God (see Ephesians 6:10-20).
The world finds such weaponry amusing, laughable. Skeptics point with scorn at God's Word and say it is just one book of many. We know better. So did the writer of Hebrews. Speaking for all Christianity, he said, "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrew 4:12).
That's a weapon which can do the job ... if we use it.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, every person puts their trust into something. May my trust always be in You, Your crucified and risen Son, the Spirit, and the Word. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour^®
Lutheran Hour Ministries

Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Job 30: Job Continues
Young People Now Insult Me
1 Young people now insult me,
    although their fathers
would have been a disgrace
    to my sheep dogs.
2 And those who insult me
    are helpless themselves.
3 They must claw the desert sand
in the dark
for something
    to satisfy their hunger.[a]
4 They gather tasteless shrubs
    for food and firewood,
5 and they are run out of towns,
    as though they were thieves.
6 Their only homes are ditches
    or holes between rocks,
7 where they bray like donkeys
    gathering around shrubs.
8 And like senseless donkeys
    they are chased away.
Those Worthless Nobodies
9 Those worthless nobodies
make up jokes and songs
    to disgrace me.
10 They are hateful
    and keep their distance,
even while spitting
    in my direction.
11 God has destroyed me,
and so they don’t care
    what they do.[b]
12 Their attacks never stop,
though I am defenseless,
    and my feet are trapped.[c]
13 Without any help,
    they prevent my escape,
destroying me completely[d]
14     and leaving me crushed.
15 Terror has me surrounded;
my reputation and my riches
    have vanished like a cloud.
I Am Sick at Heart
16 I am sick at heart!
    Pain has taken its toll.
17 Night chews on my bones,
    causing endless torment,
18 and God has shrunk my skin,
    choking me to death.
19 I have been thrown in the dirt
    and now am dirt myself.
20 I beg God for help,
    but there is no answer;
and when I stand up,
    he simply stares.
21 God has turned brutal,
22 stirring up a windstorm
    to toss me about.
23 Soon he will send me home
to the world of the dead,
    where we all must go.
24 No one refuses help to others,
    when disaster strikes.[e]
25 I mourned for the poor
    and those who suffered.
26 But when I beg for relief
    and light,
all I receive are disaster
    and darkness.
27 My stomach is tied in knots;
    pain is my daily companion.
28 Suffering has scorched my skin,
and in the city council
    I stand and cry out,
29 making mournful sounds
    like jackals[f] and owls.
30 My skin is so parched,
that it peels right off,
    and my bones are burning.
31 My only songs are sorrow
    and sadness.
Job Continues
I Promised Myself
31:1 I promised myself
never to stare with desire
    at a young woman.
2 God All-Powerful punishes
    men who do that.
3 In fact, God sends disaster
    on all who sin,
4 and he keeps a close watch
    on everything I do.
5 I am not dishonest or deceitful,
6 and I beg God to prove
    my innocence.
7 If I have disobeyed him
    or even wanted to,
8 then others can eat my harvest
    and uproot my crops.
9 If I have desired someone’s wife
    and chased after her,
10 then let some stranger
    steal my wife from me.
11 If I took someone’s wife,
    it would be a horrible crime,
12 sending me to destruction
    and my crops to the flames.[g]
13 When my servants
complained against me,
    I was fair to them.
14 Otherwise, what answer
would I give to God
    when he judges me?
15 After all, God is the one
who gave life to each of us
    before we were born.
I Have Never Cheated Anyone
16 I have never cheated widows
    or others in need,
17 and I have always shared
    my food with orphans.
18 Since the time I was young,
I have cared for orphans
    and helped widows.[h]
19 I provided clothes for the poor,
20     and I was praised
for supplying woolen garments
    to keep them warm.
21 If I have ever raised my arm
to threaten an orphan
    when the power was mine,
22 I hope that arm will fall
    from its socket.
23 I could not have been abusive;
I was terrified at the thought
    that God might punish me.
24 I have never trusted
    the power of wealth,
25 or taken pride in owning
    many possessions.
26 I have never openly or secretly
27     worshiped the sun or moon.
28 Such horrible sins
would have deserved
    punishment from God.
29 I have never laughed
when my enemies
    were struck by disaster.
30 Neither have I sinned
    by asking God
to send down on them
    the curse of death.
31 No one ever went hungry[i]
    at my house,
32 and travelers
    were always welcome.
33 Many have attempted to hide
their sins from others—
    but I refused.
34 And the fear of public disgrace
never forced me
to keep silent
    about what I had done.
Why Doesn’t God Listen?
35 Why doesn’t God All-Powerful
    listen and answer?
If God has something against me,
let him speak up
    or put it in writing!
36 Then I would wear his charges
    on my clothes and forehead.
37 And with my head held high,
I would tell him everything
    I have ever done.
38 I have never mistreated
the land I farmed
    and made it mourn.[j]
39 Nor have I cheated
my workers
    and caused them pain.[k]
40 If I had, I would pray
for weeds instead of wheat
    to grow in my fields.
After saying these things,
    Job was silent.[Footnotes:
30.3 hunger: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 3.
30.11 God. . . do: Or “They have destroyed me, and so they don’t care what else they do.”
30.12 trapped: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 12.
30.13 destroying. . . completely: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
30.24 strikes: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 24.
30.29 jackals: Desert animals related to wolves, but smaller.
31.12 flames: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 12.
31.18 widows: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18.
31.31 ever went hungry: Or “was ever sexually abused” (see Genesis 19.1-11; Judges 19.22-30). In ancient Israel, the lives of one’s guests were sacred and had to be protected at any cost.
31.38 mourn: In biblical times there were strict regulations for proper use of the land, and land that was abused was said to “mourn” and become no longer productive.
31.39 pain: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 39.]
Matthew 13: Stories about a Mustard Seed and Yeast
31 Jesus told them another story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field. 32 Although it is the smallest of all seeds, it grows larger than any garden plant and becomes a tree. Birds even come and nest on its branches.
33 Jesus also said:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a woman mixes a little yeast into three big batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.
The Reason for Teaching with Stories
34 Jesus used stories when he spoke to the people. In fact, he did not tell them anything without using stories. 35 So God’s promise came true, just as the prophet[a] had said,
“I will use stories
    to speak my message
and to explain things
    that have been hidden
since the creation
    of the world.”
Jesus Explains the Story about the Weeds
36 After Jesus left the crowd and went inside,[b] his disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the story about the weeds in the wheat field.”
37 Jesus answered:
The one who scattered the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seeds are the people who belong to the kingdom. The weed seeds are those who belong to the evil one, 39 and the one who scattered them is the devil. The harvest is the end of time, and angels are the ones who bring in the harvest.
40 Weeds are gathered and burned. That’s how it will be at the end of time. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everyone who does wrong or causes others to sin. 42 Then he will throw them into a flaming furnace, where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. 43 But everyone who has done right will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. If you have ears, pay attention!
A Hidden Treasure
44 The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when someone finds a treasure hidden in a field and buries it again. A person like that is happy and goes and sells everything in order to buy that field.
A Valuable Pearl
45 The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a shop owner is looking for fine pearls. 46 After finding a very valuable one, the owner goes and sells everything in order to buy that pearl.
A Fish Net
47 The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a net is thrown into a lake and catches all kinds of fish. 48 When the net is full, it is dragged to the shore, and the fishermen sit down to separate the fish. They keep the good ones, but throw the bad ones away. 49 That’s how it will be at the end of time. Angels will come and separate the evil people from the ones who have done right. 50 Then those evil people will be thrown into a flaming furnace, where they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.
New and Old Treasures
51 Jesus asked his disciples if they understood all these things. They said, “Yes, we do.”
52 So he told them, “Every student of the Scriptures who becomes a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like someone who brings out new and old treasures from the storeroom.”
The People of Nazareth Turn against Jesus
53 When Jesus had finished telling these stories, he left 54 and went to his hometown. He taught in their meeting place, and the people were so amazed that they asked, “Where does he get all this wisdom and the power to work these miracles? 55 Isn’t he the son of the carpenter? Isn’t Mary his mother, and aren’t James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? 56 Don’t his sisters still live here in our town? How can he do all this?” 57 So the people were very unhappy because of what he was doing.
But Jesus said, “Prophets are honored by everyone, except the people of their hometown and their own family.” 58 And because the people did not have any faith, Jesus did not work many miracles there.[Footnotes:
13.35 the prophet: Some manuscripts have “the prophet Isaiah.”
13.36 went inside: Or “went home.”]
____________________________

Lutheran Hour Ministries
660 Mason Ridge Center Dr.
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1(800)876-9880

____________________________