The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Redemption Ready" for Friday, January 22, 2016

The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Redemption Ready" for Friday, January 22, 2016

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.[Titus 2:11-13]
The Bible verse says we should be ready and waiting for the return of our Savior. Elsewhere in Scripture it says it is imperative that we should alwaysbe ready. But how? How should we get ready? I believe we can learn from some people around us who always have to be ready. You know,
* people like those who are on the highway patrol. Their job demands they always be ready and watching the traffic. The officers are keeping an eye out for lawbreakers, accidents and breakdowns;
* firemen are always ready as they listen for the alarm bell to ring or the ambulance paramedics who wait for the phone to summon them. These folks must be prepared. They know the catastrophe that waits if they forget to be prepared.
Consider what happens if a supposedly ready person is ill-prepared. What would happen if an air-traffic controller should become too sleepy or too bored to keep a careful watch on his screen? What would happen if a bus driver becomes negligent or distracted for a second? Thirty high-schoolers could lose their lives. The screener in the airport dare not let a dangerous package slip by him undetected.
For these people to be unprepared is tragic, but their situation is not nearly as bad as that of a person who is not prepared to meet Jesus, the just Judge.
Are you ready to meet Jesus? You are if Jesus is your Savior. You are if you believe in Him who was, according to prophecy, born in Bethlehem. You are ready if you acknowledge Him as the Redeemer who never succumbed to sin and resisted Satan's temptations. Indeed, every day of His life, Jesus resisted evil enticements, which trip us up.
You know how when He was among us He was hated and harassed. He was laughed at by those who didn't understand Him and called names by those who wished to demean Him. He was misunderstood by the common people, deserted by His friends, and betrayed by a close associate. He was tried by men who purchased the service of witnesses who lied about Him. He was beaten, threatened and passed around from court to court.
The king of His home country asked Him to perform some tricks while He was on trial for His life, and the representative from Rome, even though convinced Jesus was totally innocent of any charges, eventually condemned Him to death. Add to these traitorous trials the sins you and I commit, and we cannot begin to understand the evil Jesus carried to the cross.
Jesus died and rose so you might be forgiven and saved. His gifts are free; they are for you, and they should be held as being of the greatest value. When we do that, we shall be -- and stay -- prepared.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant that I may value and continuously cling to the salvation that has been won for me. 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 34:1 Elihu continued speaking:

2 “Hear my words, you sages!

Listen to me, you who know so much!

3 For the ear tests words,

just as the palate tastes food.

4 Let’s choose for ourselves what is just;

let’s decide among ourselves what is good.

5 For Iyov says, ‘I am in the right,

but God is denying me justice.

6 Against justice, I am considered a liar;

my wound is mortal, though I committed no crime.’

7 “Is there a man like Iyov,

who drinks in scoffing like water,

8 who keeps company with evildoers

and goes with wicked men,

9 since he thinks, ‘It profits a person nothing

to be in accord with God’?

10 “So listen to me, you men with sense!

Far be it from God to do anything wicked!

11 For he pays people back for what they do

and sees that each gets what his conduct deserves.

12 It is certain that God does nothing wicked;

Shaddai will not pervert justice.

13 Did someone else put him in charge of the earth?

Who else established the entire world?

14 If he were to take back man’s heart to himself,

if he gathered to himself his spirit and breath;

15 all flesh would instantly perish,

everyone would return to dust.

16 “If you have any sense, [Iyov,] hear this;

listen to what I am saying.

17-18 Should a hater of justice be in control?

If you wouldn’t tell a king, ‘You’re a scoundrel!’

or nobles, ‘You are wicked men!’

then you shouldn’t condemn the Just and Mighty One,

19 who is neither partial toward princes

nor favors the rich over the poor,

since they all are the work of his hands.

20 They may die in a moment, in the middle of the night —

the people are shaken and pass away,

the mighty are removed without human hands.

21 For he keeps watch on a person’s ways;

he sees his every step.

22 There is no darkness, no death-like gloom,

where wrongdoers can hide;

23 for he doesn’t give warning to people

when they must appear before God in judgment.

24 He shatters the mighty without needing to investigate

and sets up others in their place.

25 Therefore, aware of what they are doing,

he overturns them by night, and they are crushed.

26 He strikes them as if they were common criminals

in the open sight of others,

27 because they turned away from following him

and gave no thought to any of his ways,

28 thereby bringing before him the cries of the poor;

and he hears the cries of the oppressed.

29 “But if God is silent, who can accuse him;

if he hides his face, who can see him?

He may do this to nations and persons alike,

30 so that godless men will not become kings,

and the people will not be lured into traps.

31 “For has anyone said to God,

‘I have been chastised without having offended;

32 teach me what I have failed to see;

and if I have done wrong, I will do it no more’?

33 Must his rewards meet your approval?

Well, you are the one who doesn’t like them,

so you, not I, should pick the alternative;

come on, say what you think!

34 Intelligent people will tell me,

every wise man who hears me will say,

35 ‘Iyov is speaking without thinking;

his words lack discernment.’

36 “I wish Iyov would be kept on trial forever,

because he answers like wicked men.

37 For now to his sin he adds rebellion;

he [mockingly] claps his hands among us

and keeps adding to his words against God.”

35:1 Elihu went on to say:

2 “Are you so convinced you are right,

that you say, ‘I am more just than God’?

3 For you ask what advantage it is to you,

‘How do I gain from not sinning?’

4 “Here is my answer to you,

to you and to your friends:

5 Look at the heavens and see;

observe the skies, high above you.

6 If you sin, how do you hurt him?

If your crimes are many, how do you affect him?

7 If you are righteous, what do you give him?

What benefit does he get from you?

8 Your wickedness can affect only others like you,

and your righteousness only other human beings.

9 People cry out from under many oppressions;

they cry for help from under the fist of the mighty.

10 But no one asks, ‘Where is God my maker,

who causes glad songs to ring out at night,

11 who teaches us more than he teaches wild animals

and makes us wiser than the birds in the air?’

12 They may cry out, but no one answers,

because of evil men’s pride.

13 For God will not listen to empty cries;

Shaddai pays no attention to them.

14 All the more when you say that you don’t see him!

Just be patient; he’s considering the matter.

15 But now, just because he doesn’t get angry and punish,

does it mean he doesn’t know what arrogance is?

16 So Iyov is being futile when he opens his mouth;

he is piling up words without knowledge.”

Matthew 14:22 Immediately he had the talmidim get in the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the crowds away. 23 After he had sent the crowds away, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night came on, and he was there alone. 24 But by this time, the boat was several miles from shore, battling a rough sea and a headwind. 25 Around four o’clock in the morning, he came toward them, walking on the lake! 26 When the talmidim saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said and screamed with fear. 27 But at once Yeshua spoke to them. “Courage,” he said, “it is I. Stop being afraid.” 28 Then Kefa called to him, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come!” he said. So Kefa got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Yeshua. 30 But when he saw the wind, he became afraid; and as he began to sink, he yelled, “Lord! Save me!” 31 Yeshua immediately stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “Such little trust! Why did you doubt?” 32 As they went up into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 The men in the boat fell down before him and exclaimed, “You really are God’s son!”

34 Having made the crossing, they landed at Ginosar. 35 When the people of the place recognized him, they sent word throughout the neighborhood and brought him everyone who was ill. 36 They begged him that the sick people might only touch the tzitzit on his robe, and all who touched it were completely healed.

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