Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Into the Rag Bag" for Saturday, 8 August 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Into the Rag Bag" for Saturday, 8 August 2015

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.[Hebrews 10:23-24]
Let me talk for a moment to the wives listening.
Let me ask, ladies, does your husband have a favorite article of clothing that should be put out of its misery? Maybe it's a flannel shirt or an old pair of tennis shoes? Probably, this item is torn, worn, and when he wears it, he looks mighty forlorn.
Once more, let me ask, have you thrown that obscenity in the rag bag, only to find it resurrected? Have you tossed it into the garbage five minutes before the truck is supposed to come, only to find it has somehow made its way back to his closet?
Why does he love that thing?
I don't know. You don't know. It's not logical, is it?
On a far grander and more glorious scale, that's the way it is between God and us. Having looked into our hearts, having seen our sin, God should have thrown us into the dumpster of damnation. But in His grace, He decided to save us.
He pulled us from the garbage; He rescued us from our fate and He saved us. More than that, and unlike a husband's favorite shirt, God fixed us, cleaned us, and made us more valuable than we were before.
How valuable are you?
Listen carefully now because it's important. You are so valuable to God that He sent His Son to save you. God sent His Son to take your place. That's why Jesus was born in Bethlehem. That's why He suffered for you. That's why He endured indignity. That's why He died -- all for you. That's why St. Paul proudly proclaimed, "You were bought with a price," (1 Corinthians 6:20a).
The price God paid, the value He placed on you, was nothing less than His only Son. God valued you so highly, in order to allow you to live, His Son had to die. For six hours, God's Son hung suspended between heaven and earth.
That is your value.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I cannot understand why You were moved to mercy for lost humankind. I don't understand, but I still can give thanks for all Your kindnesses. Accept my praise in the Name of the crucified and ever-living Savior. 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:
Psalms 136:1 Give thanks to Adonai, for he is good,

for his grace continues forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods,

for his grace continues forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for his grace continues forever;

4 to him who alone has done great wonders,

for his grace continues forever;

5 to him who skillfully made the heavens,

for his grace continues forever;

6 to him who spread out the earth on the water,

for his grace continues forever;

7 to him who made the great lights,

for his grace continues forever;

8 the sun to rule the day,

for his grace continues forever;

9 the moon and stars to rule the night,

for his grace continues forever;

10 to him who struck down Egypt’s firstborn,

for his grace continues forever;

11 and brought Isra’el out from among them,

for his grace continues forever;

12 with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,

for his grace continues forever;

13 to him who split apart the Sea of Suf,

for his grace continues forever;

14 and made Isra’el cross right through it,

for his grace continues forever;

15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Sea of Suf,

for his grace continues forever;

16 to him who led his people through the desert,

for his grace continues forever;

17 to him who struck down great kings,

for his grace continues forever;

18 yes, he slaughtered powerful kings,

for his grace continues forever;

19 Sichon king of the Emori,

for his grace continues forever;

20 and ‘Og king of Bashan,

for his grace continues forever;

21 then he gave their land as a heritage,

for his grace continues forever;

22 to be possessed by Isra’el his servant,

for his grace continues forever;

23 who remembers us whenever we are brought low,

for his grace continues forever;

24 and rescues us from our enemies,

for his grace continues forever;

25 who provides food for every living creature,

for his grace continues forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,

for his grace continues forever.

146:1 Halleluyah!

Praise Adonai, my soul!

2 I will praise Adonai as long as I live.

I will sing praise to my God all my life.

3 Don’t put your trust in princes

or in mortals, who cannot help.

4 When they breathe their last, they return to dust;

on that very day all their plans are gone.

5 Happy is he whose help is Ya‘akov’s God,

whose hope is in Adonai his God.

6 He made heaven and earth,

the sea and everything in them;

he keeps faith forever.

7 He secures justice for the oppressed,

he gives food to the hungry.

Adonai sets prisoners free,

8 Adonai opens the eyes of the blind,

Adonai lifts up those who are bent over.

Adonai loves the righteous.

9 Adonai watches over strangers,

he sustains the fatherless and widows;

but the way of the wicked he twists.

10 Adonai will reign forever,

your God, Tziyon, through all generations.

Halleluyah!

1 Corinthians 3:1 As for me, brothers, I couldn’t talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as babies, so far as experience with the Messiah is concerned. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it. But you aren’t ready for it now either! 3 For you are still worldly! Isn’t it obvious from all the jealousy and quarrelling among you that you are worldly and living by merely human standards? 4 For when one says, “I follow Sha’ul” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you being merely human? 5 After all, what is Apollos? What is Sha’ul? Only servants through whom you came to trust. Indeed, it was the Lord who brought you to trust through one of us or through another. 6 I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 So neither the planter nor the waterer is anything, only God who makes things grow — 8 planter and waterer are the same.

However, each will be rewarded according to his work. 9 For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 Using the grace God gave me, I laid a foundation, like a skilled master-builder; and another man is building on it. But let each one be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah. 12 Some will use gold, silver or precious stones in building on this foundation; while others will use wood, grass or straw. 13 But each one’s work will be shown for what it is; the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire — the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If the work someone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward; 15 if it is burned up, he will have to bear the loss: he will still escape with his life, but it will be like escaping through a fire.

16 Don’t you know that you people are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 So if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you yourselves are that temple.

18 Let no one fool himself. If someone among you thinks he is wise (by this world’s standards), let him become “foolish,” so that he may become really wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is nonsense, as far as God is concerned; inasmuch as the Tanakh says, “He traps the wise in their own cleverness,”[1 Corinthians 3:19 Job 5:13] 20 and again, “Adonai knows that the thoughts of the wise are worthless.”[1 Corinthians 3:20 Psalm 94:11] 21 So let no one boast about human beings, for all things are yours — 22 whether Sha’ul or Apollos or Kefa or the world or life or death or the present or the future: they all belong to you, 23 and you belong to the Messiah, and the Messiah belongs to God.

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The Lutheran Hour
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
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